Chapter 20

Drake could feel Jamie start to shake at his side. He wanted to growl, to smash both smug Cargraves impersonators in their faces. Instead he gave them a short nod.

“Command said to bring the prisoner to Lakewood.”

One of the Cargraves gave him an answering nod. “We’ve been informed.” The other entered a code into the pad beside the entrance, and after a moment the door opened. “You can go in.”

Drake pushed Jamie ahead of him into the room. He waited until the door closed behind them, then moved closer to the room’s only inhabitant.

Dr. Keith Lakewood was bent over a workbench, his hands a blur as he assembled parts. He was a small human, balding, with big round glasses. His once white lab coat was filthy, encrusted with grease and burned in several places. He had yet to acknowledge their presence.

Drake did a quick sweep of the room, noting the cameras positioned at several points in the room. They would have to be careful, for they were certainly being watched.

“Lakewood,” Drake said as he approached. “I’ve brought your assistant, Jamilla Herman. She’ll be working with you.”

The human scientist’s head shot up at his words. His expression was confused, but his eyes were shrewd behind his glasses. “Herman?” he said, after a moment. “How did you get here?”

Jamie swallowed. “We were looking for you. I got your coordinates from the array you built.”

Lakewood’s eyes narrowed. “But the array wasn’t strong enough to find me from Earth.”

“I wasn’t on Earth,” she replied. “We took off from Chicago and searched until we found your signal.”

“We?” Lakewood looked Drake up and down. “You and this guy?”

“He’s not technically a guy,” she said. “He’s an alien.”

Lakewood nodded. “I thought he might be a robot.”

Drake caught on to the code Lakewood was using. He let out a short laugh. “Incorrect. Although your mistake is understandable. You do not have access to the needed information.”

He hoped that his use of a modified phrase from Herman’s lexicon would be enough to signal to Lakewood that he was on his side. The scientist stared hard at him, then gave a short nod.

“Well, you’re here to help, so come over here and look at this.” He motioned for Jamie to join him at the workbench. Picking up a pencil, he rapidly scribbled something down on a piece of paper. “Is this calculation right?”

Drake leaned in until he could read the words. Can he be trusted?

“Yes, I’m certain that’s correct,” Jamie replied.

Lakewood scribbled something else. Escape?

Jamie nodded. “That’s what we were working on, yes.”

“And have you come to any conclusions in my absence?” the scientist asked.

Jamie nodded, but before she could reply the chamber door opened. In walked one of the Cargraves. He pointed at Drake. “You’ve been ordered to report to Command. They want a full debriefing.”

Drake wanted to scowl. His gaze flicked to Jamie. Her eyes were wide with fear. “I think it would be best to remain with the prisoner now. I’ll debrief as soon as I’m able.”

Cargraves looked at him like he was crazy. “No one disobeys a direct order from Command. We’ve got the prisoners covered. Now go.”

There was no way in hell Drake would allow himself to be separated from the human female. Not only would it throw a wrench in their plans, but the mating frenzy would not allow it. “No,” he spit out.

Cargraves eyes narrowed, going from Drake to Jamie and back again. “You’re one of them. The rebellion. Trying to steal our scientist from us?”

There is no way to talk my way out of this, Drake realized. Time to improvise.

He threw his fist towards Cargraves with a speed that was unexpected. The man’s head bounced back, and Drake hit him again, knocking him to the ground. “Looks like it’s time to make our move,” he said.

The Hareema was back on his feet faster than expected. He emitted a high pitched squeal, and a moment later the door was opening and the second Cargraves rushed in. “Traitor,” the first said, pointing in Drake’s direction.

Both Cargraves came for him. He fought them, throwing punches faster than lightning, but their shapeshifter forms protected them. One got behind him and put his hands on him. Suddenly, the suit around him began to malfunction.

The Cargraves at his back let out a gasp, and Drake looked over his shoulder. Where the thing’s fingers should have been, red tendrils had appeared, melding with his suit. Apparently the shape-shifters were able to somehow merge their forms, something he’d not been aware of.

His cover was blown, he realized, as the suit melted off his body.

“Holy fuck,” the Cargraves in front of him exclaimed. “What the fuck have you done to our brother?”

Drake assumed he was talking about the Hareema who had died to become the suit he’d worn. But rather than speaking he replied with his fists, popping the Hareema in its mouth.

Then he spun, sweeping out his legs to knock the one behind him to the ground. He was still partially merged with the suit Drake had climbed out of, so Drake turned his attention back to the Cargraves in front of him.

Jamie grabbed Lakewood’s arm and started leading him in the direction of the door. Before they could get around the guard on the ground, he reached out and wrapped a tendril around her ankle.

Jamie let out a scream of fright that sent a torrent of rage through Drake. How dare the creature touch his mate? Without thinking, his bioenergy flowed through him and he shot a charge at the Hareema touching Jamie.

The blast hit its target, but nothing happened. They’d already been upgraded, it seemed.

Meanwhile, the other Cargraves took the opportunity to leap on his back. Drake tried to grab his shoulders to pull him off, but the shapeshifter used his abilities to evade Drake’s grip.

The other Cargraves was standing, grabbing Jamie more securely and hauling her towards him. Drake let out a bellow of anger, the thought of his mate being accosted driving him near mad.

Suddenly the creature behind him let out a scream of pain. One moment it was on his back, a Hareema in the shape of Cargraves bent on taking him down. The next moment he was an explosion of red jelly, splattering all over the room and then disintegrating into a sick gray puddle.

“What the fuck?” the other Cargraves yelled, releasing Jamie and rushing towards Drake.

A series of commanding bleeps came from behind him and Drake made a split second decision. He turned so that his back was facing the rushing Cargraves, and in the next moment there was another scream.

Then, another explosion of red jelly.

“Herman!” Jamie yelled jubilantly. “You got them!”

“But how?” Drake asked, cocking his head over his shoulder to look at the robot strapped to his back. “My bioelectricity did nothing.”

“While on your ship I scanned your bioelectric properties. I realized you were able to emit a rotating charge. I postulated that if I reversed the rotation of the charge and emitted a blast, I might be able to affect them.”
“Affect them,” Jamie laughed. “You blew them away!”

Lakewood came forward, patting Herman affectionately. “Your conclusion was correct, Herman. In fact, I purposefully left that vulnerability in when I was forced to help them adjust their physiology to counter the Zantharian weapon.”

Drake shook his head in wonder. It seemed they now had a secret weapon against the shifters. Now they just had to get them off the base and into Zantharian hands.

“We need to move,” he said. “If anyone was watching, they’ll be on their way here.”

He led the group to the door. “Herman, you stay ready to blast when I give you the word. We’re going back to the ship.”

“Wait,” Jamie said, tugging on his arm. “What about the rebel agent? We’ve got to get him out of here, remember.”
“No time for that. We have a new plan, getting the four of us off this damn base and back to Zanthar safely.”

Jamie shook her head. “No. We still need to contact the rebel factions. We should stick to our original plan.”
“I don’t have time to argue, Jamie,” he said, trying to stay calm. “They’re going to be coming for us as soon as they realize what’s happened.”

“Then Herman can blast them to smithereens. But I’m not leaving until we rescue at least one more prisoner.”

Drake debated picking her up and carrying her out bodily, but he needed his hands free for fighting. Then he looked closely into her face. There was sorrow there, and guilt.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, her pain a physical blow to his guts.

“There are so many creatures trapped here. We can’t leave them all to these bastards. Please.”

Drake appreciated the tenderness she displayed, even at the most inopportune time. Still, she’d insisted that he take her with him and that had been the right decision. Should he trust her instincts?

“I agree with Jamie,” Herman piped up. “The rebel agent is still valuable to us.”

“Right,” Drake said. If the two of them thought they should stick to the plan, then he wasn’t going to argue. “If we’re doing this, we have to go now.”

“According to the data from Thompson’s computer, the agent is being held in high security near the center of the complex.”

“Just give me directions,” Drake said. “And be ready to run.”