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.”

Brook frowned, but there was nothing she could say against the idea. It wasn’t as if she’d be able to get them to leave. “Fine.”

“And I’m coming with you.”

“The hell you are.” She tried to shove past him, but Ontarii was a concrete wall.

“You can’t look for your crew alone, not with the possibility of a shapeshifter among them. Right now you’re the only one, barring your drooling crewmember there, who I know for certain is human.”

“Move,” she said, pushing against him with all her strength.

He didn’t shift an inch.

“I’ve got the means to protect you if we do come across the Hareema agent. If we search together, the rest of our companions can be secure in the knowledge that it is us, and not Hareema, who are coming back to greet them.”

Fuck, why does he make such excellent points! It’s so damn frustrating!

Brook wiped the scowl from her face and stared up at him. “Fine. Let’s go.”