Alien Protector: Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Paranormal Romance Read Online Free Page B

curb, and she was brushing any crumbs from her hands and clothes by the time she hit the stairs that led up to the gilded double doors.
    She checked her reflection in the shiny glass of the doors and then pulled one open, stepping immediately into the air conditioned lobby. They weren’t open to the public yet, so the lobby was quiet, safe from the sounds of people going about their jobs. Calla was stocking the cash register, ready to assist people in purchasing tickets for the exhibits, and there was Donald, walking the shiny floor and giving it a once over to make sure the night crew had waxed and cleaned it to perfection.
    Her boss was nowhere to be seen for the moment, and she was pleased with that, not ready to deal with him just yet. He was the one dark part of an otherwise perfect job, and Stephanie liked to pretend that he didn’t exist whenever she could.
    Inhaling and squaring her shoulders, she made her way across the floor.
    “Steph!”
    No sooner had she crossed the polished floor than her name was being called. She looked up and smiled at Nate, one of the researchers who had taken her under his wing when she’d started working there, who was leaning over the railing of the stairs waving at her with a grin on his face.
    “Good morning,” she called back, waving. “What’s the emergency?”
    “No emergency, just come and see!”
    Her grin doubled in brightness at that, and she took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to catch up with him. “Is it the new find?” she asked, a bit out of breath when she reached him.
    He nodded. “It’s extraordinary. Like nothing we’ve seen before, actually. We haven’t made that much progress yet since it just came in yesterday, but already we’ve pretty much figured out that we don’t have anything to compare it to.”
    Steph’s eyes widened at that. “Really? What is it?”
    “It’s a weapon, we’re pretty sure. Looks like a blade from a sword. I told Simone that you would have a better description for us, little miss weapons expert.”
    She laughed at that. “I’m not an expert. I just know a lot about swords. But I can’t wait to see it.”
    And she didn’t have to wait long. They went up another set of stairs and then into the quieter office area. Past that were the labs where things were cleaned and worked on before being put out for people to see.
    Through the clear glass of the large windows, she could see a couple of the researchers in their white coats and gloves, touching something that shone brightly even from where she was standing. “It's been cleaned already?” she asked.
    Nate nodded. “A bit, but it was that shiny when it was brought in. We haven’t even attempted to try and figure out what it’s made of yet, but we know it’s not iron or bronze just from looking at it. Maybe some kind of silver, but we’d have to run some tests.”
    “Incredible,” Steph breathed. “Where would it have come from if they were making weapons out of silver ?”
    “We’re not sure. Thing is, it’s definitely old, but we have no idea how old or what we’re looking at. This could be quite the find.”
    The prospect of something that no one had ever found before had Steph excited, and she couldn’t help but drift towards the glass of the window, nose nearly pressed right up against it as she peered at the process and tried to get a better look. She could hear Nate chuckling behind her, and he held out a pair of gloves to her and then jerked his head towards the door. “Get in there. I want to hear your thoughts on this.”
    “ Thank you, ” Steph said, practically melting with delight as she grabbed the gloves and put them on. It was standard procedure when dealing with any of the items they had on display and especially when they were dealing with the ones that hadn’t gone out to the main part of the museum yet.
    Nate held the door open for her and she stepped in, smiling when the other two looked up at her.
    Simone, the head researcher for