Chapter 12

Brook breathed deeply, trying to get a hold on her emotions. Two of my people are dead, or two that I know about. My whole crew could be murdered and their bodies hidden around the ship.

Not all of my crew. Some hadn't been human to begin with.

Brook wondered if Hareema agents had been with them from the start of their journey. From Earth. It seemed the only possible solution, as there had been no interactions with others while heading toward Zanthar, at least none that she knew about.

If the Hareema agent on board could tamper with the ship's log, they could have found time while she was resting to dock with an enemy ship and take on more passengers.

That still meant there had to have been at least one Hareema agent that had boarded on Earth. Which meant Earth had already been infiltrated by shape-changing aliens. No wonder the Zantharians were so distrustful.

Brook opened her mouth to share her thoughts when an alarm sounded off loudly.

"What is that?" Major Ontarii moved up beside her, his eyes scanning the compartment.

"It's the signal for the airlock. Someone's opening it."

"To the bridge, then, to find out who's at the controls."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "We should get to the airlock. It could be a member of my crew getting pushed out into space by enemy agents. We've got to try and rescue them if it is."

Ontarii nodded then started running back in the direction of the crew quarters. In a moment they were in the corridor, watching as the warning lights on the airlock door blinked red.

Brook slammed into the door and hit the button to open the shade of the small window installed there. The window shade lifted, giving her a view of the airlock.

"We're too late," she said, her voice filled with sadness. "I'm sorry."

Ontarii stepped up behind her and bent down to peer out the window. His breath caught in his chest when he realized what was on the other side.

The two Zantharian soldiers were floating in open space. Their faces were slack, their limbs limp as death had already claimed them.

Brook and Ontarii watched them until the outer airlock door shut and the warning lights and alarm stopped. Brook hit the button to close the window shade and turned to the major.

His face was bleak, his expression one of failure.

"I'm sorry," she said again, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hareema bastards!" he yelled, his skin flushing yellow. He slammed a massive fist into the ship's metal wall, causing the craft to shake around them.

Brook flinched at the intensity of his outburst, but understood exactly where he was coming from.

Suddenly there was a noise in the crew's mess. The sound of metal against metal.

Ontarii turned and flew back down the corridor the way they'd come.

"Wait!" Brook ran to catch up, but the major made it out of the corridor and around the corner before she could, leaving him out of her line of sight.

She rushed into the crew's mess only to find pots and metal containers strewn everywhere. There was no sign of Mike's body nor the major. She rushed down the corridor towards the bridge and made it just in time to see the bridge door close.

"Fuck," she muttered, then ran to the bridge door and paused.

Ontarii had only been out of her sight for less than a minute. Was that enough time for him to be waylaid by the Hareema and replaced? She knew it didn't take long.

"No. Dammit." She pulled out the laser pistol that was strapped to her waist and brought it to life.

The major was on the other side of this door, on the bridge, the place from which someone or something had just opened the airlock door and spaced the bodies of the two Zantharians.

He could be replaced by a Hareema agent, or one could have been snatched by one in the mess. That made more sense. The agent had created a diversion to lure them into the mess, had grabbed Ontarii because he'd made it first, and pulled him into the crew corridor. Then the one on the bridge had opened the door and closed it again, making it seem like Ontarii was now on the bridge.

And she was about to walk into a trap. Wasn't she?

No more time to debate with yourself. It’s time for decisive action, Captain.

With a deep breath, Brook pushed the button that opened the door to the bridge.

Ontarii, or what looked like Ontarii, was bent over the control panel, pushing buttons with a look of frustration on his face.

“Step away from the controls.” Brook filled her voice with as much backbone as she could muster. She pointed the laser pistol at the major and prayed he’d obey her orders willingly.

She wasn’t sure if she could take him in a fight. Even with the laser pistol.

Ontarii didn’t bother to look up. “According to the log, someone activated the airlock from the bridge. That means the Hareema agent could still be in here, right now.”

“Step away from the controls,” she repeated through gritted teeth.

“Don’t be foolish.” He tapped the console rapidly. “I’m attempting to modify your scanners to see if they can isolate organic matter from inorganic. I’m not sure if the scans can pick up Hareema DNA, so—”

“Step away from the controls!” she screamed loudly.

The time for patience was over. Who knew what that thing could be doing to her ship from the main console? If it was a thing, and not the major.

Ontarii finally looked up. His eyes widened when he realized she had him at laser-point.

“What are you doing?” His voice was deadpan.

“If you don’t step away from those controls in the next five seconds, we’re going to find out if a Zantharian can be killed by an Earth laser beam.”

Ontarii moved slowly away from the console, his face blank, but his skin a bright yellow that bordered on neon. “Why are you doing this?”

“We can’t be out of each other’s sight, remember?” She moved toward the console and debated glancing down to see what he’d been doing. It might give her a clue to whether he was who he said he was, but the risk was too great. Given an opportunity, he could clobber her in an instant.

The major frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Brook sighed. “You ran down the corridor from the airlock and around the corner before I could catch up with you. I can’t even be certain you made it to the bridge.”

His midnight eyes narrowed. “You think I’m Hareema.”

She nodded. “I can’t take the risk that you aren’t. I have to behave as if you’ve already been replaced.”

Too many of my crew are dead, she wanted to add. Dead or missing. I can’t risk letting my guard down or I’ll end up just like them.

The thought that she couldn’t trust him filled her with a sadness that surprised her. The handsome alien had saved her life in the engine room. He’d supported her when she’d discovered Mike’s body. He was the only person she thought she could trust, now that she knew at least one member of the Earhart crew was a Hareema agent.

For the first time in her life, Captain Brooklyn had been able to share the burden of the command. A spaceship captain’s word was law in the abyss of space, and orders had to be followed. The responsibility of running a crew during dangerous missions weighed heavy on the captain of the ship. For a moment she’d thought she might have someone with whom to share commonality and experience.

And it doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome, she thought. And he kisses like a playboy.

Still, there was too much riding on her being smart and making the right choices. Brook couldn’t trust anyone at this point. Everyone and everything could be the enemy.

“Captain Brooklyn,” Ontarii said, moving closer.

She straightened her arms, making sure to accentuate the pistol in her grasp.

The major paused as a frown marred his perfect features.

“I’m not Hareema,” he said, his words like ice.

She stared him down. “Prove it.”