Chapter 17

Brook hid underneath a table in the crew’s mess, watching as the FIDOs headed toward the bridge. It seemed the robots were less help than she had expected.

The automatons had been programmed by NASA as a means of defending against possible life forms hostile to humans. NASA had supposedly set a strict protocol that would not allow a FIDO to fire on a human; however, something had gone haywire.

Brook didn’t know if it was a malfunction or something more sinister that had caused the robots to turn on her. She had been headed toward the cargo bay and the source of the mysterious sound. The robots had been following behind her, their weapons at the ready.

At the entrance to the cargo bay, Brook had molded herself to the corridor wall, leaning over to peek into the bay with her laser pistol at the ready. In the distance she saw a shadow, a figure with some sort of weapon in its hands. It was banging the weapon against the oversized hatch, which was the only escape pod on the ship.

She couldn’t be sure if the figure was trying to break into the hatch to get access to the pod, or whether it was trying to damage the door so that no one else could get to the pod. Either way, she had to do something.

“Follow me, and stay sharp,” she told the FIDOs. The robots nodded to affirm that they’d processed her voice command. The team of five swept into the cargo bay and headed straight for the figure.

Distracted by its mission, the figure didn’t seem to realize that they were approaching until Brook was close enough to make out exactly who was pounding away at the hatch.

Confusion rose sharply inside of her and she stood dead in her tracks. “Talia, what are you doing?”

Her ship’s engineer spun around, the weapon raised high. She had managed to dent the hatch, and Brook wasn’t sure if it was still functional. Talia stood there, not saying anything. She had an ax tightly in her grasp, which was a bit shocking.

“Why are you hitting the hatch?” Brook’s eyes narrowed, the possibility that this was not Talia looming large in her mind.

A whir of motion resounded from behind her and she swiveled her head to see what the hell was happening. The display screens of all four FIDOs blinked from blue to red.

“Intruder alert,” they said in unison, their lasers beginning to charge.

“Fucking robots,” her engineer muttered. Then without warning, the smaller woman sprang forward, slamming the ax into the FIDO closest to her.

Brook skittered backward, her jaw dropping in amazement. The ax bounced off the FIDO’s sturdy frame causing sparks to fly as metal met metal. Talia rolled out of the way as she narrowly avoided a laser blast from the defense robot.

Suddenly the woman was on her, tackling her to the ground and knocking the laser pistol out of her grasp to skitter across the cargo bay floor and out of reach. Brook groaned and closed her eyes as her head banged against the floor. When she opened her eyes, she was staring up at an exact duplicate of herself.

Brook’s eyes widened in realization. It wasn’t Talia at all, but a Hareema agent. Her self-defense skills kicked in and Brook grabbed her doppelganger’s shoulders, yanking sideways as she rolled herself out from under the creature.

The agent wasn’t quick to let go, and the pair rolled across the floor, struggling for domination. They hit a large storage container and wrestled one another for a moment, each attempting to get the other in a submission hold of some kind.

Brook spared a glance for the FIDOs and realized that the four of them had frozen, their lasers at the ready, but not firing. Apparently they could recognize the distinction between the captain and her identical twin.

Her opponent took advantage of her lapse in attention and shoved her head back against the floor, the impact making her ears ring. Then suddenly, the Hareema did something so strange, Brook was unable to respond.

The creature, mimicking her so perfectly, leaned in and pressed her lips against Brook’s own. It wasted no time shoving its tongue into the captain’s mouth in a sloppy kiss that made Brook want to retch.

Using all her might, the captain shoved hard against the Hareema. The agent’s head flew back, and its face crashed into the storage container, coming away with a cut along its cheek.

It smiled at her, and Brook wanted to vomit. It was a strange sensation, watching the creature wear her skin as if it belonged in it.

“Intruder alert.” Brook’s eyes flew to the FIDOs. Four lasers charged in tandem.

The Hareema released her and fled backward, seeking shelter behind a support beam. Two of the FIDOs branched off to pursue her, but the other two still held their lasers pointed directly at her.

“Shit.” Brook rolled to the side, then scrambled to her feet, speeding out of the cargo bay and narrowly avoiding the beams of red light that blasted in her direction. She slid down the hallway and into the mess hall, ducking underneath a table and trying to catch her breath.

What the hell is happening? The FIDOs had seemed to know the difference between their human companion and the Hareema, until suddenly they didn’t. What had changed? Had there been a malfunction? Or did it have something to do with her one-on-one struggle with the creature?

Brook held her breath as she heard the FIDOs coming her way. They marched through the mess hall, scanning the area, then headed towards the bridge. She stayed put, trying to formulate a plan.

Knowing there was a dangerous shapeshifter loose on her ship was terrifying enough. Now she had lost her defense weapons. Even worse, those very weapons were being turned against her. What was she to do?

Brook considered her options. If she could get to the bridge, she could turn the FIDOs off, dealing with one of the problems. But if she deactivated the FIDOs, she might not be able to use them against the agent in the future.

You could free Ontarii. He could help you figure out what’s happening with the FIDOs and maybe help you capture the hiding Hareema.

It was a good idea, unless the Zantharian major was also an alien infiltrator in disguise.

As much as Brook wanted to trust the major, as much as she wanted to lay all of her worries at his feet and watch the strong, capable Alpha-male take care of business, she knew that she could only depend on herself.

Besides, she barely knew the guy. He was almost as big a mystery as the Hareema haunting her ship. And what was worse, he had to hate her by now.

She’d seen the betrayal in his eyes when she’d locked him in. Although it had made sense at the time, it still hurt when she’d witnessed his reaction. The things he’d said to her bordered on unforgiveable.

No, she couldn’t count on Ontarii to save her. She had to use her own wits and skills to take her ship back on her own.

Brook decided to make a move, but paused when she heard a noise coming from the direction of the bridge. The four FIDOs were on their way back, marching in formation through the mess and back toward the cargo bay.

She bit her lip, afraid that this time they would spot her. Thankfully they kept moving and were soon out of sight. There wouldn’t be a better chance to make an escape.

Sliding out from under the table and praying that she made no noise, Brook picked her way through the chaos of the mess hall and into the corridor that led to the bridge. With as much speed as she could muster while remaining silent, she rushed to the bridge.

The whoosh of the door opening forced her to pray that the FIDOs weren’t around to hear it. Once the door closed behind her, she headed to the control panel and locked the door against intruders. Although the FIDOs’ lasers could probably burn through the door’s surface, she didn’t think they’d be likely to do so without a specific order. Since she didn’t think anyone would get close enough to the robots to give that order without getting fried, she immediately experienced a sense of relief.

Taking a seat at the main console, Captain Brooklyn took stock of her situation. According to the display, their course was still taking them straight towards Zanthar. That worried her. She didn’t want to cruise into a heavily-defended planetary zone in a ship housing Hareema. Especially since she didn’t know exactly how many were on the ship.

Brook considered altering course, but she wasn’t sure where to go. Heading home would likely be the safest course, although the prospect of taking the Hareema back to Earth with her was stomach-turning.

Still, at least one of the creatures had to have boarded the vessel on Earth. Maybe heading back toward home would enable her to warn her people and get assistance before landing. She could set down on the moon base and call home. If Hareema got loose in the small base, they could be easily kept in quarantine until reinforcements arrived.

Decision reached, Brook plotted a course away from Zanthar and back toward Earth’s moon. She locked in the course with her personal access code, hoping that the Hareema would not be able to override it.

It would take a few days to reach her home system, and she hoped she could survive long enough. If not, she needed to warn the people of Earth about the threat of alien invaders.

Taking a deep breath, Brook keyed in the commands to start the ship’s visual log. “This is Captain Jennifer Brooklyn of the Earhart. We were unable to complete our mission to attempt to locate Dr. Sylvia Cohen due to unforeseen circumstances.”

As Brook laid out the situation for the ship’s log, she reflected on how confusing the circumstances really were. She could be sure of nothing. Was Dr. Sylvia Cohen alive? Were the Zantharians friends or foes? How had the Hareema infiltrated her ship? What had happened to her crew?

Each question led to another question, then another. She hoped whomever received the message wouldn’t think she’d come down with a case of space sickness, and ignore her log altogether. At last she signed off, frustrated and feeling like a failure.

She looked to her left as a blinking light on the panel lit up. The airlock had been opened.

Brook bit her lip. It seemed the major was loose. But how?

There was no way Ontarii could have opened the airlock from the inside. He would have needed someone to let him out, and that someone certainly wasn’t her.

More likely, it was a Hareema agent. Which meant Ontarii had probably been replaced by the Hareema as well. What other reason would the enemy have for letting him out? It would be more likely that the infiltrator would have jettisoned him out the airlock if given the opportunity, wouldn’t it?

Brook frowned, surprised at the way her heart contracted in her chest when she thought of the alien major being ejected into space.

Get over it. He’s probably not the major anyway, but a Hareema agent.

The memory of him kissing her and holding her tight rolled over her. She’d felt so incredibly safe in his arms. She didn’t think he’d been a Hareema then. And now he was...where? He’d been replaced, which meant the real Major Ontarii was…

Dead?

The word echoed in her head like church bells at a funeral. Tears burned her gaze and she pressed a shaky hand to her face, feeling so overwhelmed all of a sudden.

Apparently the alien major had made her feel deeply in a very short time, which was highly unusual. Now he was gone, replaced by an evil twin bent on destroying his planet.

Not on my watch.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside the bridge door, alerting her to the fact that they were there to get her.

Brook searched the bridge for a weapon of some kind, hoping the closed door would keep whoever or whatever was on the other side at bay. Remembering how effective Ontarii’s bioelectric weapon had been on the Hareema they’d met in the engine room, she wondered if there were anything electrical she could use to defend herself.

Time ran out faster than she’d anticipated. There was a small popping sound, making Brook turn around to watch the door. A green hand appeared, gripping the door and pulling it open.

Then Brook was left facing an angry Zantharian major with her identical twin standing by his side.