by Liza Probz
“Yes,” Kat said, giving a small smile to the scientist before returning her focus to the regent. “I can’t be certain when the major was replaced, but my suspicion is that he was impersonated after he returned from the Earthling vessel.”
“That would support our theory that Earth has been infiltrated.”
Dr. Cohen crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at her mate. “We don’t know that for sure. Clearly we humans are being used as pawns in this intergalactic game of whose-got-the-bigger—“
“Enough, my mate. We’re not going to rehash that same argument.”
“Don’t cut me off, Xiv. I have just as much a right to speak as you. In fact—“
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Kat said, gnawing on her bottom lip. “But there is one more thing you need to know right away.”
“And that is?”
Before Kat could speak, the small console on the desk started to chirp. “Report,” Rasveen ordered after pushing the comm button.
“There’s a Hareema on the flagship.”
The voice sounded rattled, causing the regent to pin Kat with a dark look. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes.” She hurried to explain the plan to keep the Hareema contained with a constant current.
“You’re aware of our protocol?” Rasveen asked gruffly.
Kat nodded, but Dr. Cohen put a hand on her arm and spoke up. “Xiv, I told you that protocol needed to be changed if we’re to make any progress in our fight against the Hareema. It sounds like she’s caught us our first prisoner.”
For a moment, Kat wasn’t sure how the regent would respond. After several seconds, he pushed the comm button. “Continue to keep the creature contained, as the lieutenant has done. I want it in a secure cell under guard immediately. And keep pumping that current into it. But not too much. I want the prisoner alive. Understood?”
There was fear in the voice of the officer on the other end. “Understood.”
The regent leaned back in his seat and kept his gaze centered on hers. Kat wanted to melt into the floor, but she kept her blank expression and stared back.
“I wouldn’t have expected this kind of creative thinking from you, Lieutenant,” Rasveen said after a pause. “I familiarized myself with your dossier when I heard you’d taken command of the flagship. You’re an excellent officer, but you always follow orders. What led to the idea of taking prisoners?”
Kat took a deep breath. “I can’t take full credit for the prisoner’s capture. It was a human, Lieutenant Jeffrey Brunt, who convinced me to try and hold the Hareema.”
“Lieutenant Jeffrey Brunt,” Dr. Cohen said in a wondering tone. “I’ve met him. He’s known as somewhat of a prankster at NASA. Always telling inappropriate jokes. His crew is devoted to him. He serves under Captain Jennifer Brooklyn. Which means the ship you encountered was the Earhart.”
Kat was amazed how quickly Dr. Cohen had put the pieces together. The regent had done well in his choice of mate.
“Yes. During a routine patrol of shipping lanes, we found the Earhart. We scanned the ship and found traces of Hareema DNA. Major Ontarii tractored the ship in and took two guards aboard the human vessel to investigate. When Major Ontarii returned, or what we thought was Major Ontarii, he brought with him three human prisoners.”
“So there are humans on the flagship?” Dr. Cohen’s eyes lit up, but at a tense look from Rasveen, she deflated. “Are you sure they’re humans?”
“They were tested,” Kat said with a nod. “Major Ontarii’s impersonator ordered me to interrogate the humans. I began with the lieutenant, and it was during the interrogation process that Brunt convinced me that Major Ontarii had been compromised.”
“You’re telling me that a human, one who’d you spent a handful of minutes in his company, discovered Major Ontarii was a plant before his own second in command did?”
Kat wanted to hang her head in shame, but she refused to show weakness. “The human lieutenant was able to provide an outside perspective. Once I reviewed his logic, I agreed, and ran a current through what I thought was the major.”
Sylvia made the same sound Jeffrey had hours earlier, pushing air through her pursed lips. “That was quite a risk. You’d have faced heavy punishment if you were wrong.”
“But I wasn’t.”
Rasveen cocked an eyebrow. “It seems as if you and this human lieutenant make quite a team.”
If you only knew the half of it, Kat thought in reply.
Chapter 12
Jeffrey tried hard to keep from gawking at the array of ocean creatures he saw out the windows of the Central Command corridors. He’d never really paid much attention to the wildlife of Earth, his imagination always fired up by what he might find on another planet. And now that he was seeing exactly what the universe had to offer, he was hard pressed not to stop in his tracks and stare for hours.
Unfortunately, the Zantharian guards at his back wouldn’t allow him to pause for long. When they’d initially herded him and his human companions through the large doors of Zanthar’s military headquarters, they’d been above the surface. But soon, the endless hallways that reminded Jeffrey of caves on Earth, but smoother and more evenly colored, had led them down into the depths, and they were now surrounded on all sides by the sea, if the windows were to be believed.
At last they came to a stop in front of a membrane. One of the guards opened it and motioned them inside.
Jeffrey turned around immediately when he saw it was another cell, very much like the one they’d spent the last several hours in on the flagship. Before he could complain, the membrane closed and they were once again locked in.
Until a detail of Zantharians had entered the cell and subjected them to another energy exchange, they’d been stuck exchanging hypotheticals while the flagship made its way to the home world. Now it appeared as if they had another wait ahead of them.
Tan and Chao resumed their earlier conversation, attempting to outline the possible targets for Hareema infiltration in NASA command back on Earth. Jeffrey listened with half an ear, but found his thoughts straying back to the beautiful Zantharian lieutenant.
What had she told her superiors about their interactions? Jeffrey doubted that she would admit they’d been intimate. Would she reveal his contribution to the capture of the Hareema agent, or would she claim all the credit?
She didn’t seem to have a lust for glory. But she certainly wasn’t without lust entirely. A sudden memory arose of her beneath him, the golden ring around her eyes glowing as she stared up at him, her skin flushing lavender, her breathing heaving, while she waited for him to resume kissing her. Jeffrey had to concentrate hard to banish his arousal before his flight suit showed that he wasn’t staying on task.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about the seductive lieutenant. Saying she was different from any woman he’d ever known was a colossal understatement. She was from another world, with color-changing skin and the ability to blast him into next week with her bioelectricity if he got out of line. But her alien-ness wasn’t the only thing that set her apart.
She was smart, motivated, and more than capable of taking command when called upon. Kat was also brave, willing to take risks to keep her people safe. And her iron-fisted control over her emotions both amazed and frustrated him.
She’s able to freeze her feelings in a block of ice faster than a one-legged man in a bucket-kicking contest, as Grandmama used to say. But she unfreezes easy, if you pet her in the right way.
The problem was, would he get close enough to her to pet her again? Or would he spend the rest of his days in this blasted cell?
It seemed they weren’t to be left alone for long. In less than an hour, the cell membrane opened and in walked two figures, one a towering Zantharian, and one a much smaller and more familiar female.
“Dr. Sylvia Cohen, as I live and breathe,” Jeffrey said, standing up from where he’d been resting against the wall. “Zanthar seems to agree wi
th you.”
The scientist laughed. “Lieutenant Jeffrey Brunt, you old charmer you. Only you could turn captivity on an alien world into a place where your formal dinner manners are on display.”
“Did someone say ‘dinner,’” Chao said, rubbing her stomach. “It’s been hours since we’ve had anything to eat or drink.”
“My apologies,” the Zantharian male said, nodding to Chao. “A meal will be sent up shortly. We can’t have people back on Earth saying Zantharians are inhospitable.”
Jeffrey moved closer to the human scientist, intending to shake the hand of a colleague he hadn’t seen in close to a year. He was glad to see that Dr. Cohen was safe and obviously well-treated here on Zanthar.
Before he could get close enough to even extend his hand to her, the Zantharian male was blocking his way, fixing him with an angry glare.
Sylvia slugged the bulky Zantharian on his arm and pushed her way around him. “My apologies, Jeffrey. Zantharian males are a bit over-protective of their mates.”
Mate? Dr. Cohen had been missing for a couple months, and already she’d managed to land a buff boyfriend?
“This is Xivthar Rasveen, Supreme Regent of Zanthar.”
And the king of the planet no less. Sylvia works fast.
Jeffrey nodded to the regent, reminding himself that he’d managed to seduce the lieutenant in the space of a couple hours. If the relationship between Dr. Cohen and the regent followed the same trajectory as what had started between himself and Kat, it was no wonder they were already tied at the hip.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that Zantharian females had the same level of obsession as the males, as Kat had had no problem separating herself from him at the first opportunity.
“Well, Dr. Cohen, I’m impressed. You were able to hook a supreme leader in record time, even after you were accused of taking down their planetary defense system.”
“Regent,” Rasveen corrected.
Sylvia ignored him, pressing her hand to her chest and giving a giggle. “You heard about that, huh?”
“You make quite an impact, don’t you,” he said with a mischievous grin.
“Oh Jeff, you’re such a kidder,” she said, putting her hand on his arm while they laughed.
Rasveen’s face was darker than a thundercloud. He grabbed Sylvia by the waist and pulled her back. “This will be your only warning, human. Touch my mate again, and I’ll feed you to the gnarsharks myself.”
Jeffrey put both of his hands in the air. “She touched me, Your Majesty.”
“Stop it,” Sylvia said, squirming to be released. “He’s a friend from work. Be nice to him.”
The regent set Dr. Cohen down and bent low, nuzzling her neck before speaking in a low voice to her. Jeffrey was barely able to make out his words. “Don’t test my patience, woman. You know the rules. Any other male touches you, I rip his arms off.”
Sylvia chuckled. “Oh, X. You’re so romantic.”
Jeffrey’s brows furrowed. He was unable to tell if her words were meant ironically or not. Still, it was clear the little human scientist and the large planetary leader had an intense connection. He decided immediately not to push things.
Besides, he liked his arms attached to his body.
“If you don’t mind an interruption to this love fest,” Dr. Tan said, approaching the entwined pair, “would you mind telling us what’s going on around here? Have your forces located the Earhart yet?”
The regent frowned. “Afraid not. We’ve got most of the fleet searching, but space is vast, and our security protocols make this kind of search slow and plodding.”
“Did you locate the other Hareema on the flagship?” Jeffrey asked. He knew it was the thing that Kat was most concerned about.
This time the regent’s face tightened, his eyes narrowing as streaks of yellow worked their way up his otherwise green skin. “No. Our men have been searching every inch of the ship, but so far we’ve found nothing.”
“The Zantharian crew has been tested and removed, and the Hareema prisoner is currently under guard in the most secure facilities. The flagship itself is locked down, no one and no thing allowed out of the hangar without testing.”
Jeffrey nodded, realizing a weight he hadn’t even known he’d been carrying was lifted from him chest. “And the prisoner, is it still being subjected to constant current?”
“Yes,” Rasveen rumbled. “It seems we have you to thank for assisting in the capture of our first Hareema prisoner. Although I must say I’d almost rather you’d let Yarr kill it.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Jeffrey replied, then grew serious. “We need the information it has. We have to find out how they learned to imitate your energy exchange. And to determine how many Hareema might be here on Zanthar. And on Earth.”
“You’re right,” Sylvia said, elbowing the regent in his ribs.
“I agree,” he said, giving the scientist a smile. “Still, it makes me nervous, having a Hareema in captivity.
“I’m working with Zantharian scientists to determine the means of imprisoning the creature without having to keep blasting it with a constant energy stream. I don’t think it can even talk until we’ve done so. Its molecules are too destabilized.”
“I’d be willing to help with that,” Dr. Tan said. “I’m a medical doctor. Although I have no experience with alien anatomy, I have kept up on current exobiological theory.”
“I’d appreciate your help,” Dr. Cohen said with a smile.
“What about me and Lieutenant Cheerful?” Chao asked. “Is there some way we might be of use too?”
Rasveen stared down at the woman who appeared tiny next to the towering Zantharian. “I will think on it. Right now, you can all help by staying put. Although my people are slowing warming to my chosen mate, sentiment on Zanthar remains against humans. As we have not been able to determine the level of infiltration and cooperation between Hareema and humans, conspiracy theories run rife. For your own safety, I’d like you to stay here in the cell a little longer.”
Jeffrey wasn’t pleased by those words, but he could understand the issues the regent was facing. Beset by enemies on all sides and beleaguered by his own constituents, it couldn’t be easy to be in Rasveen’s shoes at the moments.
If he wore shoes.
“Agreed,” Chao said, speaking for the three of them. Her stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble. “As long as you feed us soon.”
The regent let out a loud chuckle. “Of course.”
Chapter 13
Kat’Chinna walked down the corridor at a steady rate, even though she wanted to run to the briefing room. The word that had made its way through the barracks was that Major Ontarii had returned to Zanthar, and he wasn’t alone.
She’d been summoned a few moments ago, and she’d immediately started for the briefing room, her nerves fighting like eels in a sack. She was working hard to keep her skin an even green color. Now that she was only a few paces away from the entrance, she took a deep breath, making sure her expression hid any of the anxiety gnawing at her insides.
The membrane opened and Kat stepped inside. She had to fight to disguise her surprise when she saw the human lieutenant staring back at her.
He wasn’t alone in the room. His two female crewmates were with him. They were huddled together, their faces excited. Seems like they’ve heard the news as well.
“Hello, Kat.”
Although she wanted to avoid eye contact, she forced herself to meet Jeffrey’s gaze.
“Lieutenant,” she replied, giving him a polite nod.
Hurt flitted over his features but he covered it quickly with a sardonic grin. “Looks like you got everyone home safely, and managed to land your first Hareema prisoner. Well done.”
Kat wasn’t sure how to respond. She’d known that at some moment in time, she’d have to interact with Jeffrey Brunt again. She’d hoped she would have a little more time before that moment arrived, however.
So instead of respon
ding she kept quiet, relying on a tactic she’d used on soldiers of lower rank. Just stare at him until he shuts up and goes away.
She knew it wasn’t the right way to respond, knew she should say something, but she refused to give into blind panic and start sputtering things she would regret later. So she stood and stared and watched his face get redder.
“We need to talk.”
A ripple of anxiety ran through her. She wasn’t sure how it went on Earth, but on her planet, usually the female utter those words to a recalcitrant male. Perhaps humans were different.
She thought for a moment of continuing her silent treatment, but knew she was being unfair. Besides, Jeffrey looks like the tenacious type. I doubt he’d give up until he got a response.
“So talk,” she said, wincing inwardly at her tone.
She watched as his brows lowered and his respiration rate increased. “I wanted to talk about what happened in that interrogation room.”
“What are you referring to? Our capture of the Hareema infiltrator?”
Jeffrey shook his head. “You know that’s not what I'm referring to.” The last words came out close to a snarl. It seems she’d already pushed him to the edge.
Maybe if she pushed him over it, he’d leave her alone and let her get back to her life. A life of fighting the enemy. A life of harmless crushes. A life where she didn’t have to worry about her confusing feelings, where she didn’t have to risk her career and her reputation on a relationship.
Although she knew she was being cruel, it seemed the only appropriate course of action. “That capture was the only thing of consequence to happen in that room. Nothing else is worth talking about.”
Kat wanted to look away, to block out the anger and hurt in his features, but she forced herself to be brave, using all of her energy to maintain her mint-green skin and her neutral facial expression.
“You know that isn’t true,” Jeffrey said, becoming animated as he launched into his tirade. “You might want to pretend that I was the only one affected by our little interlude, but believe me, you were right there with me. If anything, you were—“