Hide.

Darting out of the shuttle, she quickly moved around the side of the crashed ship, putting the large hunk of metal between her and the strange looking soldiers. She was still out in the open. Glancing at the side of the ship, she leapt toward the top, and tried to get a grip on the side of the ship. Suddenly her fingers elongated into short claws, which manged to puncture the ship enough to get a grip, and let the athletic woman scramble up to the roof. Keeping low, she moved to the middle of the ship, and lay on her back listening for their approach.

Lexi held her hands close to her face, and looked at the short claws. The tips of her fingers had vanished and elongated about an inch into razor sharp metal spikes. This was starting to really freak her out. Concentrating the young graduate watched in awe as her hands further elongated, her fingers becoming huge, jagged claws. Concentrating again, she watched the claws shrink down, the metal slipping seamlessly beneath her skin, leaving her normal soft hands unmarred by the process. It was like a liquid metal was emerging from her skin, and forming tendrils, or claws depending on what she needed.

Stern thought back to when the ship had crashed, that glowing chunk of metal that had slammed through her chest, and should have killed her. Had it been some sort of alien metal, or substance? Was it responsible for healing her? Was it responsible for her new found powers? It was like something straight out of a comic book. Lexi loved comics, but this was real life, so what the hell was happening?

Alexis was brought back to reality, when she heard the soldiers stomping across the sand and surrounded the ship. They weren't talking, but they were noisy as they began to search the perimeter.

Glancing across the desert, she saw their ship sitting by itself, unprotected. She also knew she now had a way to fight back, though they had large **** rifles of some kind, and she wasn't sure that claws were going to win a gun fight, but if she could separate them, she had a chance. The only problem was, she didn't know if they were the good guys, or the bad guys.

Lexi just didn't have enough information so she decided to stick around and learn what she could. Some soldiers watched the perimeter, while others stomped their heavy metal boots into the shuttle and looked around for the person who had made the transmission. After a few minutes one of them walked outside, and glanced around.

“Whoever they were, they seem to have left. Maybe spooked when they saw our ship. Command says blow the vessel, and head back. We will do a sweep from the air, see if we can spot the insurgent.” The male soldier told the others.

It was now or never, either she caught a ride with them, or slipped away when they left, and found her own way back to the city.