Chapter 2

Major Thrak’Lin Ontarii stood in front of the opaque membrane with his hands crossed behind his back. He’d had the crew haul in the little Earthling ship with the tractor beam, and the engineers had finally secured access to the smaller ship’s entry hatch. When Ontarii gave the word, the membrane would open and he could enter the ship’s hatch.

Although he’d never been on a scouting mission to Earth, he’d done coursework on all sentient life forms in the nearby systems. Once he’d heard that it was an Earthling female that took down the defense grid around his planet, he’d reviewed everything he could get his hands on about Earthling anatomy, society, and development. Funny enough, it wasn’t the Earthlings, or “humans”, as they liked to be called, that he was worried about.

The ship’s sensors had detected Hareema DNA on the human vessel. Ontarii had been closely following communications traffic on Zanthar for the past couple months, ever since the Minister of Defense had been revealed to be a Hareema infiltrator. Although no more Hareema had been found on Zanthar since, Ontarii knew that constant vigilance was required in the face of the insidious threat the enemy posed.

The Hareema were intelligent life from the outer reaches of the system. In their natural form, they were six-feet tall gelatinous rectangles with a reddish hue, but one rarely met a Hareema in its natural form.

Over the millennia Hareema had evolved the skill of shapeshifting, meaning they could take any shape, animate or inanimate. A Hareema operative could become the complete duplicate of whichever object it chose to imitate, including a Zantharian. A Hareema could hold the chosen shape for approximately six to eight hours, according to the latest scientific reports. Granted those reports were now centuries old, so Ontarii wondered what advances the Hareema might have made with their abilities in that time.

Six weeks ago, a small human vessel with only one life form aboard had somehow managed to knock out the defense shield that covered the planet Zanthar. Although the scientists on his planet had not yet been able to determine exactly how the shield was taken down, what they did know was that it was part of a complicated plot involving a conspiracy that pointed to a Hareema presence on Earth.

Although opinion on Zanthar was still divided, the Supreme Regent Xivthar Rasveen had assured everyone that he was working to get to the bottom of said conspiracy. He was doing so with the aid of his mate, the human female, Dr. Sylvia Cohen.

The thought of a Zantharian mating with a human set off a chaotic mixture of feelings in the major. He had concern over the political ramifications of such a union, discomfort regarding who could be trusted with state secrets. There was a twinge of curiosity at the nuts and bolts of their attraction to each other, and a bit of disgust at the thought of mating outside of his own species.

He knew his confusion was shared by other Zantharians, and the Supreme Regent had been having a hell of a time keeping ahead of the other political factions on Zanthar. Ontarii thought the Hareema threat hanging over their heads was the sole thing that kept Rasveen in power.

That and the fact that his brother was missing.

The Minister of Defense had been replaced by a Hareema operative who had used its power to manipulate his underlings and somehow take down the defense grid. The real Minister of Defense, known by those closest to him as Drake, had yet to be found.

Ontarii figured Drake to be dead. The Supreme Regent, however, wasn’t ready to give up hope of his brother’s recovery. He had parties searching throughout the system for him, and the ships that made up the defense perimeter around Zanthar, including the flagship that Ontarii was currently commanding, had orders to scan everything for signs of Drake’s DNA.

So far, nothing had been uncovered that might sustain the regent’s hope.

Ontarii took a deep breath, pushing away his rambling thoughts. It was time to investigate the human ship to determine if a Hareema infiltrator was on board. The ship was small and quarters were tight, which left Ontarii able to take two men with him. He was secure in his superior abilities and technology savviness, so a few extra eyes and hands were all he required. Besides, the flagship would be monitoring their movements should anything go awry.

Part of Ontarii hoped something would. The silence was killing everyone. The Hareema were masters of disguise and that meant anyone around, at any given time, could be the enemy seeking to take you out. They needed advancement on their search. He would take anything afforded him to relieve this tension of not knowing whom he could trust.

Ontarii gave the signal to open the membrane. A thin slit appeared in the center of its surface and he moved forward, nodding to his companions as they moved inside.

The human ship was miniscule compared to the flagship, and the technology was incredibly outdated. It would be considered quaint by antique collectors on Zanthar no doubt. Ontarii was slightly surprised that there was no one to greet them at the hatch.

Scanning the surroundings, he moved forward and gestured for his men to follow.

The corridors were tight, forcing them to walk single-file, with Ontarii in the front position. He reached a doorway quickly and found the button that activated it. Ontarii waved to his men to take up positions on the left side of the door while he pressed his back to the wall on the right before hitting the button.

The doors whooshed open and Ontarii crept to the edge of the doorway to peer through it. No one greeted him on the other side. He motioned his men forward into what appeared to be the crew’s mess.

Where are the humans? Surely they aren’t ignorant enough to set up an ambush on such a small craft. Even worse, they could all be Hareema agents using human form for cover.

It was impossible to tell by the readings they’d received on their ship.

Ontarii stood in the center of the mess and debated which of the two doors that led out of the area he should try first. From their scans of the ship, he knew one led towards the crew quarters and the infirmary, while the other headed towards the bridge.

Ontarii frowned, considering his options. He could split his men up, search one option while they searched the other. But dividing his forces didn’t make sense to him. That meant he needed to choose a direction.

Ontarii relied on instinct to guide him often in military situations, but when dealing with an almost completely unfamiliar life form such as humans, he didn’t think his instinct would provide an adequate guide. He did what he thought best, and left the choice completely up to chance.

“Through there,” he said, his voice low as he motioned toward the door that would lead in the direction of the bridge.

The corridor was empty, and the ship eerily quiet. On either side of them were two doors, leading to what he assumed were small scientific stations. In front of them stood another door, this one leading to the bridge. He moved toward the final door, as he motioned to his companions to take up their positions on the left side while he went right.

Before they could reach their destination, the bridge door whooshed open. Ontarii was confronted by two large mechanical beings. Their shape resembled a person's, with two arms and two legs, but the area where their faces should be were instead light displays. The displays were bright red and flashing angrily.

“Intruder alert,” the units said in unison.

Small hatches on the units’ shoulders opened to reveal laser weapons that swiveled to lock in on him. Ontarii breathed deeply and started charging up his bioelectric weaponry. Zantharians had the ability to discharge powerful pulses of electric energy from their bodies. The discharge should be powerful enough to take out the unit.

The door behind him opened, catching him further off guard.

“Intruder alert,” came from behind him. He risked a glance and found two more units stationed behind them. They were effectively trapped between the robot pairs.

Ontarii wasn’t used to someone getting the drop on him. It rankled. While he and his companions could each discharge into one of the robots, they would still leave one unaffected, and that one robot could do significant damage before they were sufficiently recharged to use their bio-weapons again. Still, they couldn’t stand here and do nothing.

“Prepare for shock discharge,” he said, powering up his own weapon.

“Stand down!” a strong feminine voice commanded.

Ontarii’s head shot up at the command. His eyes narrowed as his gaze fastened on the one who’d spoken.

A human female stood behind the two robots blocking the entrance to the bridge. She was tall, for a human, only a couple inches lacking six feet. Her hair was dark and pulled back tightly. Her eyes were a light amber that reminded him of starlight seen through the tinted glass dome of Noruma’s temple. His heart fluttered uncommonly in his chest.

That’s an unexpected thought to have while facing down the enemy. Ontarii chastised himself. Focus on the matter at hand.

“Call off your robots, human,” he said, his voice firm.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her tone sweet but her face expressionless. “I can’t do that. It looks like you’re charging up some kind of weapon of your own, if the pulses in your skin are any indication. Why should I disarm myself when you’re not willing to do the same?”

Ontarii had to admit that she had a point.

“Perhaps you’re mistaken about your situation here,” he said. Point or no point, she’s outnumbered and outgunned. She will back down. “Your ship is tractored to our hull. I’ve got over one hundred soldiers on that vessel. Your paltry vessel couldn’t hold more than a dozen, and I doubt you have that many with you. Even if your robots succeed in overtaking us, they still can’t match the force we can bring to bear.”

“Maybe not,” she said, her dark eyebrow rising. “But my robots will still be able to put a hurting on you and your companions before your ship of soldiers can get to you. So stand down, stop charging up whatever weird weapons you’ve got, and let’s talk like civilized beings.”

Ontarii considered her words. The Earthlings posed no real threat, and if he wanted to push the issue, he could alert the flagship and have this tiny craft flooded with Zantharian soldiers within seconds.

He didn’t appreciate the tone the Earthling female was taking with him, nor the way it was making him feel. He had half a mind to blast her with his charge and see how she took it. Hopefully it would wipe the smug look off her pretty face.

Ontarii’s eyes narrowed as he stared down the human female, giving her a minute to think through her strategy.