The door rattled and opened. Drako lifted his head. He’d rested as much as he could in the upright position. He didn’t need as much sleep as humans, but he couldn’t sustain his strength for long without water. Eventually, he’d also need nutrients. He didn’t need an evaluation from a medical expert to know his wounds were infected. He could feel the foreign bacteria invading his cells.

Expecting Frik to enter with more of his questions and torture, he blinked in surprise as a female carrying a tray covered with a cloth walked into the room. The door slammed shut behind her. She was very appealing, even by Krinar standards. Her smooth skin was the color of mocha. Black hair curled down her back, and her dark eyes were framed with long lashes. Judging by the size and unnatural firmness of her breasts, they were cosmetically enhanced. She wore a short dress and heels so high they had to come with a safety warning. Toned legs flexed as she swayed her hips. Her lips were glossy, painted with a shiny veneer. Despite her physical beauty, her odor was offensive. Her blood was pumped full of chemicals. He could smell it, even from the distance.

“Hey, honey.”

She spoke with a sultry voice, but he could smell her fear.

She took a step closer, holding out the tray. “You hungry?”

Her voice was deep and raspy. A drug humans called nicotine carried on her breath. When he didn’t reply, she carried the tray to the gurney and swiped some of the medical supplies aside to deposit it. She lifted the cloth and picked up a bowl and spoon. A sickening fragrance of dead flesh filled the space. She closed the distance and lifted the bowl for him to smell.

“Soup,” she said. “It’s beef.”

He didn’t bother to explain that Krinar didn’t consume flesh. He doubted Pete was going to cater to his fussiness.

The woman ran her gaze over his form, her eyes lingering on his crotch. They widened slightly before glancing fleetingly at the mirror. “It’s not poisoned. I promise. Look.” She dipped the spoon into the broth and brought it to her lips. She opened wide and swallowed. “See? It’s safe. You should eat.”

When there was no reaction from him, she huffed and left the bowl on the floor.

Propping her hands on her hips, she looked back at the tray. “Orange juice, then?”

He swallowed. His throat was so dry he could drink his own piss.

“Good,” she said with an approving nod, obviously taking the small gesture as a yes.

She walked back to the gurney and returned with a paper cup in which a thin tube resembling a straw was inserted. It was long enough to reach his lips. The smell confirmed she hadn’t lied. Oranges were exotic to Krina, but he’d studied the Earth food types and their synthetically created flavors and perfumes before his mission.

He drank greedily until the cup was empty.

“Right, big boy,” she purred, setting the cup down next to the bowl. “Hungry for something else?”

The way she jutted her breasts at him suggested she was offering something other than food. He growled from deep within his chest when she neared, not wishing her hands on him.

She chuckled. “No need to get all animalistic, now. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

She was making too many promises for her own good. The smell of her perfume was too strong, but not strong enough to mask the chemicals that soured her blood. It repulsed him. He grimaced when she went down on her haunches and reached for his cock. She curled her fingers around him, stroking up and down.

“Remove your hands from my body,” he said, his voice tight with anger.

“Now, now,” she cooed, not stopping her movements, “just relax.”

When his cock remained flaccid, she directed it to her lips and opened her mouth. He gritted his teeth against the unsavory sensation as the wet heat of her mouth surrounded him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like oral stimulation. Like every other man, he loved it, just not with her. The food might not be poisoned, but her tongue was. He didn’t care for it. Everything about her seemed artificial.

She spat him out with a pop, letting him see her slimy saliva on his skin. “That’s it, baby.” She stuffed him back down her throat, panting and making mewling noises. Pop. His limp dick fell from her lips. “You make me so hot.”

He winced when she lapped at him, dragging her tongue over the sensitive head. The falseness of her words added to the bitterness of her infected blood. Her lies smelled foul. No female arousal permeated the room, only frustration as she sucked harder and took him deeper while throwing a concerned glance at the mirror. She abandoned his cock and attacked his balls, sucking and licking with vigor.

“Come, baby. Get hard for me.”

When that didn’t work, she popped out her breasts, but the sight of those curves only repulsed him further. Wasn’t his style.

“You want me naked, honey?” she said, dragging her nails over his ass.

No reaction came from his cock. Not even a twitch.

“Argh!” She slapped his dick and pushed to her feet. “What the hell are you? Impotent? You prefer men?”

“It’s nothing personal,” he said, “but you’re not––How do you say?––my type.”

“Fuck you.” She flipped her dress over her breasts and stomped to the door. “Let me out. I’m done in here.”

The door opened to reveal a red-faced, stiff-dicked Frik. Apparently, she was his type.

“I thought you said you were good, whore,” he snapped.

“I am.” Her gaze dropped to the front of Frik’s pants. “There’s your proof.”

“Shut up, slut.”

She held out her palm. “I want my money.”

“You’re not getting paid. You didn’t do the job.”

She stretched herself out in an indignant pose. “He,” she pointed a long, varnished nail at Drako, “is seriously fucked. Good luck for getting any reaction out of him.”

He grabbed her arm and jerked her over the doorstep. “Get out.”

Before he could close the door, Drako said, “By the way, I’m vegan. You forgot to ask about my dietary requirements.”

“Shut your mousetrap, freak.”

Frik banged the door so hard the metal creaked.

Drako grinned. He couldn’t help himself from getting a rise out of the man. He’d probably pay for it later, but it was worth the whole two seconds it had lasted.

A moment later, the door opened and a furious Frik stalked inside. He kicked the soup bowl, sending it flying through the air. The porcelain crashed against the wall, the broth spilling down the concrete and onto the floor.

He grabbed the electric prod that was hooked onto his belt. “Let’s see how hard you get when I stick this up your ass and send a few volts to your balls.”

“Frik.” Pete rushed inside and grabbed his wrist. “Calm down. All this shocking can’t be helping him to get it up.”

“The DNA might as well be Morse code, and the whore we hired didn’t work. What’s your plan, now, huh?”

Pete dragged him to the door and shut it. Their argument continued in the hallway, the thick walls and metal not masking their words from Drako’s hearing.

“We can’t fucking decipher the DNA,” Frik yelled, “or whatever is running through that alien’s veins, because it sure as hell doesn’t look like any DNA I’ve ever seen, and now we don’t have semen, either.”

“We’ll get the semen and sell it for artificial insemination,” Pete said in a placating tone.

Drako chuckled quietly to himself. They were in for an even bigger surprise. He wasn’t going to tell them his sperm was incompatible with humans and they were going to look like the biggest clowns in history if they attempted to sell it. Besides, the longer they remained ignorant, the longer he’d live. The minute they realized he was of no use to them in any way, he was dead.

“If it doesn’t work, we’re going to have to kill him,” Frik said, confirming Drako’s conclusion. “You know that, don’t you? After what we did to him, there’s no way we can let him go.”

Pete sighed. “Yeah. I know. Don’t worry. It’ll work. Before you know it, we’ll be selling superhuman sperm to every government in the world, but only after we’ve harvested enough to fill our own sperm bank and reinforce our army. Just lay off the violence for a while. With the way you’re carrying on, we won’t have a sperm donor for long.”

Frik laughed softly. “I look forward to milking that motherfucking extraterrestrial’s dick until it shrivels up and drops off.”

Drako ground his teeth. Incompatible with a human ovum or not, he’d rather die before he gave them a drop of his sperm.

“I think I have another plan,” Pete said slowly.

Damnation. He had to escape. Fast.

* * *

It was after seven when Ilse pulled up at her house in Milpark, not far from the hospital. It was small, but it was hers, bought and paid off with the money her parents’ had left her. More than that, it was home, a place where she felt happy, safe, and relaxed. She exhaled in relief and rubbed her aching neck. For the whole two hours she’d been stuck in traffic, she’d thought about one thing only––the SS building and the man held inside. She wanted to help Drako, but how? How could she fight the SS? Who would believe her claim that the Secret Service was holding a man of a different species in a deserted building? If she spilled the beans, how long would she live?

She was so preoccupied with thoughts of Drako and what to do, she didn’t notice the man sitting on her porch until she’d exited her car. Her heart jerked when she recognized Agent Pete Evans. It was too late to get back into the car and speed away, because their eyes had already locked. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen him.

As if sensing her hesitation, he got to his feet with a smile. “Good evening, Ilse.”

She pushed through the garden gate, hoping her face didn’t give away her fear. “Hello, Pete.”

He regarded her with his hands shoved into his pockets as she walked down the path and climbed the steps. “You’re not asking what I’m doing here.”

“That’s because you can only be here for one reason. You want me to check on your prisoner.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “In fact, there is something else.”

He indicated the wicker chair facing his, as if it was his home and his right to extend hospitality. When she’d taken a seat, he sat down and crossed his legs. On edge, she kept alert, thankful they were outside in the open and he hadn’t asked her to let him inside.

“You’re a clever woman, Ilse. You must know Drako isn’t your average human.”

Damn. Feigning ignorance was over. He knew she knew the truth, and that could get her killed.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Nothing will happen to you as long as you keep your mouth shut.”

She took a deep breath, forcing her voice to sound normal and not as scared as she felt. “Is this why you’re here? To warn me?”

“I’m here to ask your help.”

“With what?”

“An experiment.”

Her throat tightened. “What kind of experiment?”

He leaned forward and steeped his fingers together. “This may sound bizarre, but Drako claims he’s from another planet, and I believe him. He landed in the Ellis Park Stadium in a flying craft no one on Earth has ever seen.”

Drako had told the truth when he’d said he’d survived a crash. “Are you saying he’s an … an extraterrestrial?”

“We believe so. We also believe he and his kind mean us harm. He’s a very dangerous man, Ilse. He killed one of our agents with his bare hands, literally ripping him apart.”

She shuddered at the image.

“We need to keep him detained for mankind’s safety,” he continued. “Imagine what a whole planet of his kind could do to us if they all descend on Earth.”

“What are you saying?” she asked with rising panic.

“We need to be prepared. Invasion has always been on the charts, but now it’s a real possibility.”

“Prepared how?”

“We need to match them in strength.”

“I’m not getting where you’re going with this.”

“His DNA is too foreign for us to work with. We need his sperm.”

She reeled in shock. “You want to use his genetics to enhance the human race?”

“More or less.”

“This is your experiment?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t like where this was going. “What do you need from me?”

“I need you to take a sperm sample.”

To tell him she wasn’t compliant was signing her death warrant. “That’s not part of my usual professional duties.”

He gave her a penetrating stare. “I’m not talking professional duties, here. We’ve already tried all the mechanical equipment for sperm extraction, including e-stim. We’ve even hired a prostitute. Nothing works.”

She flinched at the prostitute part.

“We couldn’t help but notice that our prisoner seems to be partial to you.”

Her body turned cold in the heat of the summer evening. “It was just a biological reaction to touch.”

“No one or nothing else has managed to evoke a similar biological reaction. That’s why we’re counting on you.”

“Are you asking me to do it … naturally?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Without his consent?”

“He’s not human, Nurse Gouws,” he said harshly. “Don’t think of him as a man. Think of him as an animal, a predator set on wiping out our race. Our laws don’t apply to him.”

“It doesn’t change the principle,” she exclaimed softly.

“All is fair in love and war, and this is definitely war.”

“It remains immoral.”

“Let me put it this way. If we can’t use him for this experiment, he’s a liability to our country—to our world.”

Ice filled every pore of her body. If Drako couldn’t deliver sperm, they were going to kill him. Now that she knew, she was a liability, too. If she disagreed, Pete would have no choice but to kill her. Dear God. It was like being trapped in a terrifying thriller. She wiped her clammy palms on her thighs. Even if she objected to this horrendous experiment with every fiber of her being, she had to play for time. For Drako, but also for herself. She had to make her compliance look real. Pete was no fool.

Feigning a calm she didn’t feel, she asked, “What’s in it for me?”

The half-smile returned to his face. “Name your price.”

She grabbed the first ridiculously big number that came up in her mind. “One million.”

Without batting an eye, he said, “Deal,” extending a hand.

Shaking his hand made her feel sick. She had to inhale several times not to empty her stomach. Her skin crawled where he’d touched her.

“I’ll throw in a bonus,” he said, “and organize an offshore bank account so the money can’t be traced.”

She forced herself to sound grateful. “That’s kind of you.”

“I knew it would be a pleasure doing business with you. You’re a logical and reasonable young woman.” He got up. “Shall we go?”

“Now?”

“Is there any time better than the present?”

She needed time to think, to devise a plan, but to refuse would look suspicious. She had no choice but to follow suit and push to her feet. “I suppose you’re right. I’m just apprehensive.”

“Understandable.” His look was sympathetic. “I know the task isn’t agreeable. Just think that it’s for your country while you’re doing it.”

“Exactly how are you expecting me to collect his sperm?”

His stare was direct. “In any way necessary.”

“I hope it will work,” she said through dry lips.

“For his sake, I hope so, too.” He took a blindfold from his pocket and held it to her. “You know what to do.”