Chapter 10

Brook didn’t understand what had happened. An hour ago they’d been calmly headed towards JL-398. In the last hour she’d made first contact with an alien species, been zapped by bioelectricity, watched her crewmember plunge to his death, and narrowly avoided joining him on the other side.

What a difference an hour makes.

Now she was locked out of the bridge, and her ship was headed into the unknown, having broken free of the Zantharian flagship that had held it. How had the ship detached itself? And could she expect a retaliation blast from the flagship?

“This is Major Ontarii,” she heard, turning her head to watch the alien commander as he spoke into a device that must have been tied into the intricate knot on his right shoulder. “Report.”

No reply.

He fussed with the knot, repeating himself. “This is Major Ontarii to the Zantharian flagship. Come in.”

The alien’s face was bleak. “Communications are out.”

“Great,” Brook muttered and turned back to the door to pound against it. Once again she got no response.

Moving to the panel beside the door, she worked to get the covering off. “I’ll pop the manual override. Hopefully we’ll have better luck here than in the engine room.”

“We need to re-establish communications with my ship as soon as possible.” The major’s voice was firm and demanding.

“Of course, boss,” she said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her tone. “I’ll get right on top of that.”

Brook fiddled around in the panel compartment until she found the lever for the manual release. She tugged it upwards and the door slid outwards an inch so that she was able to grab the edge.

Ontarii beat her to it, putting his large hands on the edge and yanking the door open.

Brook pushed past him and into the chamber that served as her ship's bridge, finding it completely empty.

"Where is everybody?" she asked, half to herself. She hurried to the navigation console. A course had been set, apparently towards JL-398, or Zanthar, as her companion had named it.

Ontarii scowled at the empty bridge. "Bring up your external display."

Brook rankled at his tone but punched in the command to bring the exterior view on the screen. She focused on the emptiness before her, confused. They seemed to be alone in space.

She changed the display from the front view to the rear. Since they'd just disengaged from the flagship, it should be visible on the display screen. But there was nothing there.

Ontarii moved up beside her. "Where are the controls for your sensors?"

Brook pointed, pulling up the ship's log and leaving the major to figure out the sensor controls on his own. "According to the log, the coordinates were set, propulsion was engaged, and then...nothing."

The small escape pod had not been launched. None of the external hatches had been opened. According to the log, her crew should still be there. Somewhere.

"If I'm reading your primitive device correctly, there is not another ship within two astronomical units. Which makes no sense, because our defense perimeter requires that our ships be within one AU of each other."

Ontarii's face was a battlefield. Anger and frustration warred with concern, and his color was changing again, becoming a sort of mustard yellow with stripes of red appearing here and there.

The color changes must be connected to something. They can't be random.

All thought left her head when he turned his midnight eyes in her direction.

"Captain Brooklyn, I'm afraid the Hareema have infiltrated the flagship. There's no way your ship could have detached without help from outside. My crew knows better than to disobey an order and break the defensive line. An enemy agent is the only thing that makes sense."

"How could they have gotten over to your ship without detection? Don't you have safeguards set up to expose any enemy infiltrators?" Brook recalled the shock she'd received to prove she was the human only an hour before.

The major nodded. "We've got safeguards, but the enemy may have become familiar with our protocols. We may not be able to root the agent out until it's done some damage. It can take on any shape, including my own."

The idea sank into Brook's mind, bringing with it the realization that she could run into a double of herself while attempting to complete her mission. There could already be a false Captain Brooklyn, telling her crew to do God knows what.

"I need to communicate with my ship," Ontarii said. "Can you make that happen?"

Brook slid over to the comm, and was instantly dismayed by the number of red lights blinking on the console.

"Shit," she muttered, trying to get into the system and failing. "I'm locked out of the communication systems and I can’t even begin to figure out how to break in."

She needed the ship's engineer, but even with Talia's assistance, she wasn't sure if the alien would be able to reach his ship. Moving back to the navigation console, Brook determined that, at their course and speed, it would take approximately twelve hours to reach JL-398, er, Zanthar.

She stood and headed for the door, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" The major's voice was harsh and gravelly.

"I'm going to check the ship, to see where my crew is hiding."

"Not alone you're not." He turned her to face him. "From this point forward we are not out of each other's sight. That's the only way to make certain that neither of us is an imitation."

Brook stared up into his handsome face. She refused to be distracted by his striking eyes and classic good looks. "You know, I've been a good sport thus far, but it’s damn well time that you stopped bossing me around."

His face tightened as he stared down his nose at her. "Frankly, I don't care what you think. This is one order you will follow."

"Or what?" she asked, anger blasting through her veins.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I don't make empty threats, little human. You will stick to me like glue, or you'll undergo another one of my shocks."

"Sadist," she spit back at him. "You bullied your way onto my ship and have been giving me orders ever since. I don't appreciate it, and I don't have to obey you."

He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. "Stop playing games, little girl. This isn't the time or place."

"Let me go," she growled through gritted teeth, trying to pull away from the much larger major, but she couldn't break his grip.

He bent nearer until his face was mere inches from hers. "The rule is for both of our benefits. It insures that neither of us can be replaced by a Hareema without the other knowing. So cease in your efforts to be contrary and let's go search the ship. Together."

Brook's eyes burned into his, so close now she noticed the thin ring of gold around his pupils. Although she was mad enough to spit, she still felt aware of the major, as a woman was aware of a man. His nearness was distracting her, making her forget her anger as he held her close.

"Let go of me," she repeated, but she was only capable of mustering up a low whisper. She wasn't sure if she even wanted him to let go anymore.

The corner of his lip turned up in a wicked smile as she stiffened. Need raced through her and she tried to pull from him again. It had been too long since she’d been with a man. Her work required everything of her, but denying her physical needs was going to land her in bed with an alien. Not good. She promised herself a few dating adventures the minute she got home.

He moved even closer and stopped just before their lips touched, his eyelids lowering and his breathing growing heavy. "What are you doing to me?"

"I...I don't know what you’re talking about." She was unable to move, unwilling to shift again due to the weight of his gaze and the way it burned her insides.

"Whatever it is, don't stop," he whispered roughly before jerking her against him and pressing his lips to hers.

His kiss was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. His lips were firm but soft, his taste exotic, bordering on sweet and tart. It reminded her of lemonade on a hot summer day.

She groaned as his tongue pressed softly against her lips, lapping at her sensually and beckoning her to open up for him. His fingers tightened on her back and she turned her face a little, opening her mouth and brushing her tongue by his as he moaned deeply in his chest.

When he broke the kiss, she wanted to whimper with desperation, but she forced herself to press her fingers to his chest as she licked at her lips.

His eyes ignited with lust as he followed her tongue, and he bent back in, ready to claim her in another passionate kiss.

"No." She pushed against his thick chest. "This isn't the time or place, remember? We need to locate my crew and your ship."

His hand covered hers, and Brook realized that his skin had shifted to light purple.

"What's with the color change?" she asked suddenly. "You've gone from green to yellow to red and now purple."

His expression turned serious. "Zantharians skin color's shift with their moods. Yellow is anger. Red is fear. And purple is..."

Purple is passion. How interesting...

"Come on." She turned and let out a shallow breath, trying to get her heart to stop beating so damn hard in her chest. "We need to search the ship again, top to bottom, and see if we can locate our missing crewmembers."

Ontarii fell into step behind her, not uttering a word.

She led them off the bridge and back into the corridor where they'd met just over an hour before.

We need to find the crew soon, and not just to solve the mystery of their disappearance.

She wasn't sure what would happen if she spent too much more time in the major's company alone, but some huge part of her wanted to find out.

The man was dangerous.