by Liza Probz
Her upper lip curled and her eyes narrowed to slits as his heart picked up its pace. Why was her anger leaving him feeling things he hadn’t felt in a long time? Her pretty lips were plump and pink, and her eyes were shining with an inner light. Probably rage at my remark.
She surprised him. Instead of matching his jab with her own cutting remark, she honed in on the substance of his words. “You believe Earth is involved in a conspiracy against your world? How is that possible when we didn’t even know you people existed?”
“That is what Dr. Cohen said,” he replied. “We have reason to believe that a contingent of humans had been informed of our existence. This contingent pushed for the mission to Zanthar, or JL-398 as you so quaintly call it.”
“Been informed? By whom? We thought we might be alone in the universe until we discovered signs of life through a probe that had passed by your planet. You’d know that if you actually talked to Dr. Cohen.”
Ontarii sighed. Now wasn’t the time for exposition. The Hareema agent could be anywhere, or anyone.
Still, Captain Brooklyn looked to be a tenacious major. She wasn’t going to be easily fobbed off with an excuse.
“I will explain everything,” he offered generously. “But first, we need to subject you and your crew to a short physical test to assess your threat level.”
“A short physical test?” The human female smirked. “You want us to run a lap around the ship and do a hundred pushups? What kind of test?”
Ontarii stared down at her. I can think of a way to silence that smart mouth of hers and chances are she might actually like it. He took a deep breath and reined himself in, a little unnerved at his wayward thoughts. Where did that come from?
“We need to ascertain that you are exactly what you say you are: humans on a rescue mission. The test is simple and takes only a moment. You will experience discomfort, but no lasting damage.”
The human captain crossed her arms over her chest. “How much discomfort are we talking about? Are you taking blood or tissue samples?”
Ontarii shook his head. “No. You will be subjected to a short energy discharge. Once we confirm your human status, we can discuss more in-depth testing on the flagship.”
“This is ridiculous,” Captain Brooklyn replied. “You haven’t even given us your first ‘discomforting’ test and you’re already talking about further tests. I want to speak to Dr. Cohen… now.”
“The test is first.” It was essential to find the Hareema as quickly as possible, and trusting the woman was out until he knew that she was, in fact, a human.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. How do I even know Dr. Cohen is alive and well? Maybe you’ve cooked up this conspiracy plot to justify whatever you’ve done to her!”
“Dr. Cohen is very well. I spoke to her two days ago. She’s on the surface with the Supreme Regent. How would I know her name if I were lying?”
“How can I trust you? Intel is easy to access. I’m not a fool,” the female replied, her voice low.
Ontarii froze. He could tell she was concerned, for her crew and for herself. It made him wonder if he was being too hard on her.
How do you know it’s even a her? It could be a Hareema agent attempting to play on your sympathies.
“If you and your crew submit to the test, I will allow you to speak to Dr. Cohen immediately afterward. Then you can see that she is alive and well for yourselves.”
There was a long moment of silence that stretched out between them, but he wasn’t willing to break it. Ontarii scanned the faces of the humans who were grouped behind their captain. Their expressions ranged from wonder to concern to anger.
It must be difficult meeting an alien for the first time. Unless I’m not the first alien they’ve talked to.
Ontarii wasn’t sure how far the conspiracy went, but he was certain of one thing: Hareema agents had infiltrated Earth, and they had plans to invade his planet. Precautions were absolutely necessary, and although these humans might not like what happened next, he couldn’t back down.
“Fine,” the human captain relented at last. “Give me the test.”
“Wait!” Another human pushed toward the front of the group. This one was small, with dark brown hair cut in a bob around her face. “You can’t agree to a test like this without knowing what the effects will be.”
Captain Brooklyn put a hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Tan. Someone has to be the first, and we need to get this over with if we’re going to find Dr. Cohen and get home.”
The smaller woman would not be mollified though. “How do you know these aliens are sufficiently familiar with human anatomy and physiology? This ‘test’ could kill us, if it isn’t properly calibrated.”
Captain Brooklyn turned her large golden eyes toward him. “Dr. Nguyen has a point. Have you tried this on a human before?”
Ontarii nodded. “Your Dr. Cohen has undergone the test herself on multiple occasions. It has not had any long-lasting ill effects.”
The human female nodded. “Okay. Do it.”
“No!” The doctor wasn’t so easily swayed. “We’re just supposed to take this guy’s word for it?”
“We don’t have any choice, Tan,” Captain Brooklyn replied. “Now stand down.”
“But if something goes wrong, we’ll be without a captain. If you insist on going through with this, you shouldn’t be first.”
Captain Brooklyn’s voice was strong and unyielding. “I refuse to put any member of my crew through something I have not experienced first myself. Lieutenant Brunt is a capable major. If something happens to me, he’ll get you home.”
The doctor wasn’t ready to let the matter drop. “But-”
“Enough,” Brooklyn said, her tone confirmed that she’d had all the argument she would accept.
She gained Ontarii’s respect in that moment.
The human captain stared up at him. “Let’s get this over with.”
Ontarii nodded, then started to charge up for the energy exchange. It would not be a lethal amount of electricity, but she didn’t know that. Hareema could not hold their shape under an energy discharge, so Zantharians used energy exchanges to flush out any hidden agents. It would hurt, but it wouldn’t kill.
The energy flashed over his skin and he took hold of her arm, releasing the discharge quickly.
Captain Brooklyn gritted her teeth and tried to hold still under the onslaught, but as soon as the discharge left her, her legs began to wobble.
Ontarii kept his grip on her arm, holding her steady.
“You are what you say you are,” he said, his voice low. A surge of regret went through him and he quickly repressed it.
When the captain could stand on her own, she yanked her arm away. “Some discomfort, eh?”
The one called Alvarez had his weapon up again and pointed straight at Ontarii. “You okay, boss?”
Captain Brooklyn shook her head vigorously as if to clear it. “I’m fine. It hurts like a bitch, but no lasting damage.”
“The remainder of your crew will have to undergo the same test now,” Ontarii said.
The captain nodded, but the grimace on her face told the tale of her unhappiness.
“All right, fall in,” she said, turning to face her crew. “It’s painful, but you’ll survive.”
There was agitation among the other humans.
“I’m not doing that,” one said, his voice high-pitched and frightened.
“Smith, what’s the problem?” The captain sounded tired.
Ontarii thought no one else might notice the fact, but since he was a commander himself, he knew the signs. Still, she kept her control. Another reason to admire her.
“I’m not doing it,” he said. Ontarii focused in on the dissenter, a heavy-set man with curly brown hair and a bushy moustache.
A short female with almond eyes and a shaved head came forward and put a hand on his arm in comfort. The name patch on her chest read ‘Chao’. “It’s okay, Mike. I’ll
hold your hand if you want.”
The doctor shook her head. “No, you can’t hold his hand. The current will pass through him and into you.”
“I’m not doing it!” Mike’s voice rose higher.
Ontarii thought hysteria was right around the corner for this human.
“I agree with Smith,” the short woman with red-gold curls who had whispered in the captain’s ear earlier said. “No thanks on the offer of electro-shock therapy.”
“This isn’t up for discussion,” the captain said. “Line up.”
“Maybe it should be.” This was a new voice. It belonged to a tall, pale blond man. His eyes were light blue, lines around them indicating his anger.
“Weitz, we don’t have time for this. It stings, but you’ll be fine. Let’s get this done so we can carry on the mission.”
Weitz folded his arms over his chest and refused to move. “No.”
“Look, everybody, I know you’re upset.” This was the one the captain had called Lieutenant Brunt. “But the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get Dr. Cohen and go home.”
“Shut up, Lieutenant Cheerful!” Mike Smith was shaking, his face red. “You can sunshine and rainbows your way through this. I’m not doing it.”
“Me neither.” Weitz was firm in his resolve.
The crew erupted into chaos, their voices echoing down the corridor.
“Can it!” Captain Brooklyn’s words silenced them all, except for the one called Smith, who was now openly whimpering.
“I’m afraid of electricity,” he said. “When I was a kid I grabbed the cord of a lamp that had been stripped and it shocked me so bad I had to go to the hospital. I’ll never put myself through that again.”
“I understand it’s difficult,” the captain said, heading toward the man. “But we’ll all be here for you. Dr. Nguyen won’t let anything happen.”
“I can’t promise that,” the doctor muttered under her breath, earning a sharp look from Brooklyn.
“He shouldn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.” This was from Weitz. “Why should we submit to some alien test when they won’t even prove to us that Cohen is alive? Just because they zapped the captain and nothing happened doesn’t mean it will be the same for the rest of us.”
“Weitz, you’re not helping,” Lieutenant Brunt responded.
“I disagree,” Weitz said, puffing out his chest.
“Let me out of here!” This from Smith, who had started a high-pitched moan. The man struggled away from the bald woman’s grip and was waving his arms around like mad.
“Calm down,” the captain said, trying to get closer to Smith.
“Why should he calm down?” Weitz said, the volume of his voice climbing. “You’re trying to force him to do something he’s deathly afraid of. He’ll be lucky not to have a heart attack if they zap him.”
“Heart attack?” Smith was nearly shrieking.
“Stop it,” the lieutenant said, getting closer to Weitz.
“You stop it,” Weitz replied, then shoved the man who was trying to close in on him.
There were gasps and general commotion. Ontarii nodded to his men, and the three of them started to charge up their bioelectricity.
The short curly-headed woman pointed in their direction. “They’re getting ready to attack!”
The captain turned and started heading toward Ontarii.
Smith let out a scream and started barreling toward the door. He knocked into Brooklyn’s back, causing the female to tumble.
Ontarii shifted forward, grabbing the human captain before she could hit the ground. Her eyes moved up to lock onto his as Smith pushed past them and sprinted down the corridor.
One of Ontarii’s men grabbed him, sending a bolt of electricity through him.
Smith started shaking, his mouth filling with foam. Then the man fell to the ground.
Everything happened at once.
Alvarez brought up his weapon and held it against the head of the other guard, who was holding his bioelectric weapon charged and ready. The guard who had discharged into Smith was bending over the man, trying to determine if he was okay.
The bald woman ran to Smith’s side and started yelling at Ontarii’s guard.
Then the lights went out.
“Let me go,” the captain said, pulling away from Ontarii and shoving forward in the blackness.
Fuck, Ontarii thought. That went to shit quickly.
Bodies moved around him, but the only light was coming from the luminescence of his bioelectricity. There was no way to get a handle on the chaos.
The lights flashed back on and Ontarii’s eyes flew to the captain who was standing in front of a console. He scanned the room. Three of her crew were no longer in the area.
He approached the human female, entering the small bridge. “Captain, we have a problem.”
Chapter 5
Brook couldn’t catch her breath. Her crew had lost their minds, and she had to get her head on straight if she was going to gain control back.
But it wasn’t an easy task. She was still fried, literally, from the alien’s test. What was worse was that her skin was tingling more from his touch, not the electricity.
Ontarii had caught her when Mike had pushed past her, surprising her a little. He’d held her gently in his strong arms and she’d felt a momentary desire to cling to him. It was completely out of character for her. Captains were strong in any situation. They weren’t weak, wilting flowers. They weren’t romantic and needy. At least, she wasn’t.
She turned to pin the alien with a hard stare, her face a mask of emotion. “What’s the problem?”
“We need to perform this test on all of your crew members. It’s the only way we can be sure there are no enemy agents on your ship.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked as she motioned for her lieutenant to check on Smith.
“We stopped your ship because our scans revealed traces of Hareema DNA. We have to make sure there are no Hareema on this vessel.”
“Hareema? These are the enemies you’ve been talking about?”
Ontarii nodded.
“Well, you can see we’re all humans and not Hareema, so I don’t understand what the problem is. Do you think there’s a stowaway or something?”
“The problem is we can’t see that you’re all human. Hareema are shapeshifters. Any one of you could be an agent. Well, not you, and obviously not Mr. Smith. Hareema can’t hold their shape under an energy discharge.”
Brook’s jaw dropped open. Not only was she about five minutes into her first meeting with an extraterrestrial life form, but she’d just been informed that another ET, a shapeshifting alien no less, might be loose on her ship.
Not one to remain immobile for long, Brook took action. “We need to locate this shapeshifter ASAP.” Scanning her crew, she realized that Alvarez, Weitz, and Chao were missing. She needed to find her crewmembers and make sure they were tested.
If they still are your crew.
The thought of a shapeshifting alien taking the place of one of her crew made her nauseated. There was no time to dwell on the thought though. She had to do something, to prove their innocence as being Hareema agents. They weren’t. She knew that, but wasn’t entirely sure how to best perform the search and find them to start that process.
If she split people into teams to search the small ship, it could make the situation worse. She needed to make sure her people stayed in one place while she searched the ship. Usually this was a duty she would assign to her security specialist, Alvarez. Unfortunately, he was among the missing.
“We’re wasting time,” Ontarii said. He’d moved up behind her and the heat from his closeness rolled over her. She took a short breath and gave him a look of dismay over her shoulder. He was a distraction she didn’t need.
“I’m trying to think this through. The last thing we need is a sloppy search that could give the infiltrator a chance to escape, or worse.”
“Let me and my men
handle the search,” Ontarii replied.
Brook’s hands settled on her hips as she turned to face him. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t say that I’d trust you to take charge of this operation.”
“Have I given you a reason to distrust me?”
Was his skin lightening? It was. The alien was shifting from pale green to a color that resembled chartreuse.
Brook didn’t feel like going through all the reasons why she didn’t trust some strange alien she’d just met. She turned back to her crew.
“Brunt, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the crew. No one leaves the bridge. I’ll be back after I’ve located the rest of our people.”
“You’re going alone?” This from the alien major.
Brook ignored him, claiming a laser pistol from the ship’s engineer.
Talia gave her a forced smile that Brook didn’t return.
A hand clamped down on her shoulder and turned her to face Ontarii. “You can’t go alone, and you can’t leave your lieutenant in charge.”
“Why not? He’s a trusted member of my crew.” His nostrils flared at her words. “I’m the only one, barring Smith, who’s obviously in no shape to deal with anything, who’s been proven human. I can retrieve my crewmembers while Brunt keeps everyone in place.”
“How do you know he’s Brunt?”
Brook froze at his words. He had a point. She shook her head and started down the corridor.
Ontarii was right behind her. “How do you know any of them are who they say they are?”
“I don’t have time for this. When I get the rest of my crew back to the bridge, your men can zap them all to confirm. Right now this takes priority.”
“Let my men zap them now,” he said, pulling abreast of her, then blocking her path. “They can test them while you search.”
“No.” That wasn’t going to happen. “I’m not leaving the process unsupervised.”
The alien’s face tightened. He clearly wasn’t used to his orders not being followed. “Then let them assist in supervising your crew, to make sure none of them leave the bridge.”