Chapter 6

Jeffrey let out a ragged exhale and ran both hands through his hair. Out of the fucking frying pan, into God knows what. But it’s definitely worse.

He stared at the alien female before him. She tapped at the station in front of her, a flush of red creeping into her mint-green skin. The station most resembled a rugged outcropping of coral, but a holographic display screen had risen from the rocky surface when she’d touched it.

“Damn,” she muttered, hitting the button with more force and speed. “I can’t get into the navigational display. It’s been locked to Tier 1 access.”

“What does that mean?” He stood behind her, leaning in to try to decipher the screens that were cascading in front of them.

“It means I can’t see where we’re going.”

“But you’re the second in command. You don’t have this…this Tier 1 access?”

She turned to him, a slight frown pursing her lips and causing a small wrinkle to crease her otherwise smooth forehead. “No. Only the Flagship Commander has Tier 1 access.”

Jeffrey couldn’t help his hands from balling into fists at his side as his anger spiraled. Kat’Chinna noticed his reaction and blinked, then her expression became neutral, her skin tone once again evening out.

Keep a level head, his inner voice counseled. His counterpart seemed able to calm herself, but his own equanimity was hanging on by a thread.

He glared at his companion. She was back in Ice Queen mode. He did his best to match her frigid demeanor, bringing his logical mind back online. “Is this standard operating procedure for missions of this sort? Like your energy exchanges?”

The female’s eyes narrowed, as if she was debating her answer. “No,” she said at last, turning back to the console. “I’ve never been locked out like this before.”

In that moment, Jeffrey’s gut twisted. Something’s wrong. A conspiracy at the highest level.

He was distracted when a face filled the screen in front of them.

“Yes?” It was Major Ontarii, and he seemed to be staring daggers at his second.

“Sir, we’re moving away from the human ship.” Kat’Chinna’s voice was level, giving away no hint of the emotions she must be feeling.

“And?” The Zantharian commander had the appearance of a picnicker annoyed that an ant had crawled up his arm.

He saw Kat’Chinna swallow. The major was intimidating her, even if she was doing her best not to show it. “I’ve been locked out of the navigational display. I wondered…what is our current heading?”

An eyebrow arched and the major’s face tightened. “That’s a need to know right now, Lieutenant. Have you gotten the information I need from the prisoners?”

“Not yet.” Her voice sounded smaller to Jeffrey, less sure of itself.

“Then stop worrying about things that don’t concern you. You have your orders.”

The screen went blank.

“That guy’s an asshole,” Jeffrey muttered.

Kat’Chinna turned to him, her eyes narrowing. “He’s right. I haven’t done my job.”

“Are you serious?” Jeffrey threw his hands into the air and turned around, slamming himself into his seat. “He knows I don’t have any information for you. He’s stalling you, keeping you distracted while he makes his move.”

“That’s ridiculous.” The alien female stalked to the table, putting her hands on the surface and leaning in, giving him a delicious view of the cleavage between her tightly-bound breasts. This time, though, it was an unintentional display, and not an attempt at seduction. “Major Ontarii doesn’t hide things from me.”

“Except our current course.”

She frowned, but then quickly blanked her face. “There is no need to argue. I trust the commander. And I’m going to follow his orders. So start talking.”

“Look,” he said, leaning his chin on his hand. “I’ve told you absolutely everything I know. I haven’t heard of the Hareema until your crew invaded my ship. We were on a rescue mission. I’ve been with the same crew for years now, and I trust each of them implicitly.”

“Then how do you explain the Hareema DNA?”

“I can’t.” Jeffrey rubbed a hand across his face. “If, like you say, they could be anything, then maybe they’re masquerading as a table. Or a lamp. Or a goddamn peanut butter sandwich, for all I know.”

“Or a member of your crew,” she fired back.

“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “If these things exist and they can take any shape, then I suppose they could be disguised as a member of the crew. But if the enemy has infiltrated my ship, I have no knowledge of it.”

“Oh, they exist, Lieutenant Brunt,” she said, leaning closer, a sinister cast coming over her face. “They’ve taken control of seventeen planets in the systems around Zanthar. Seventeen that we know of.”

“And you think Earth has been infiltrated?” Jeffrey countered. “Why? We’re a backward, primitive planet, according to you Zantharians. Why bother with Earth?”

“That’s what I’m here to find out.” Her features hardened. She slid into the other chair, leaning back and pinning him with her glare. “Who gave you your orders? Who sent you to find Dr. Sylvia Cohen?”

Jeffrey shrugged. “NASA HQ. Likely at the insistence of the government, and the public. Everyone wants to know what happened to the scientist in search of life on other planets.”

“Your HQ, is it possible that they’ve been infiltrated? Couldn’t your orders have been a front, a means of getting more Hareema onto Zanthar?”

Jeffrey gave her words consideration. Could NASA have been infiltrated by some alien menace?

The command for the rescue mission had come from the top. From NASA director Danner Thompson himself. If the director had been compromised, then who else could have been taken over by the shapeshifting jellies?

All of this is conjecture, he told himself. “We could sit here all day debating whether the command back on Earth has been taken over by the enemy. It won’t help us out of our current situation.”

He stood, circling the table and approaching the alien female. “Right now your ship is headed God knows where, and my ship is gone too. Things are spiraling out of control, and command personnel from both ships are locked in this room bickering.”

He leaned in close. “Don’t you think that’s strange? Doesn’t it worry you that your commander no longer seems to trust you with vital information? Can’t you consider for a moment that your orders might be a distraction, a tactic to get you out of the way while your ship is diverted?”

Kat’Chinna looked up at him, her widening eyes the only hint that his words might be getting to her.

Jeffrey had to press his advantage. Instead of continuing to loom over her, he squatted, bringing his face level to hers. “I know you think my crew, my ship, hell, my entire planet has been taken over by your enemy. But, just for one moment, please consider that your ship is in just as much danger of infiltration.”

His voice lowered, his tone earnest. “And who better to impersonate than the commander of the Zantharian flagship? Who could question him?”

The alien female shook her head, but he saw the red flush from earlier begin creeping into her skin again. He took her hand, clasping it in both of his. “What is this?” he asked, momentarily distracted by the change in her skin color. “Why does your skin change like this?”

Kat’Chinna seemed to be staring at their hands. He felt a faint tremor in her body. “Our skin changes with our emotions,” she said, her voice small. “Green is calm. Yellow is anger. Red…well…”

“Fear,” he murmured. It made sense now.

A flash of memory hit him then. The gorgeous alien female underneath him as he kissed her. Her skin has changed then, too.

“And purple,” he asked, his voice gruff. “What does purple mean?”

She blinked at him, then turned away, standing up suddenly. “Stop wasting time.”

The spell was broken. Once again, he’d tried to get her to open up, to let down her guard and relate to him. And once again she’d turned away.

Jeffrey stood from his crouch and crossed his arms across his chest. “Stop pretending that my idea has no merit. You’re just as much a pawn as I am right now. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We could work together, figure out what’s going on aboard your ship, confirm for ourselves that the enemy hasn’t taken over.”

“The idea is ludicrous. You saw yourself on the bridge. Major Ontarii exchanged energy with another crewman. He can’t be Hareema.”

Jeffrey’s brows furrowed. “Are you absolutely certain? Couldn’t the energy exchange be faked somehow?”

Kat’Chinna shook her head. “No. Not that I’m aware of.”

“You said the Hareema were on seventeen planets. Surely all of those planets weren’t entirely defenseless. They must have found a way around those defenses, so why not a way to fake the energy exchange?”

“Our energy is bioelectric. It’s a part of our genetic makeup. Although the Hareema can impersonate solids and liquids, they still have substance. They can’t create energy where none exists.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, but Jeffrey thought he detected a hint of doubt underlining her lecture.

“I assume your people have studied the Hareema. Have you done a full genetic analysis?”

He saw her lips purse slightly. She didn’t like what she was about to say. He held his breath, paying close attention to her answer.

“Because the Hareema are considered an extinction-level threat, protocol dictates that they be destroyed on sight.”

Jeffrey frowned. “You’re telling me that your scientists have never studied one?”

Kat’Chinna stared at the floor, raising one shoulder slightly in a shrug. “We’ve studied their remains, what little was left after our energy blasts.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

His harsh tone brought her gaze back to his. “They’re the most dangerous force we’ve ever encountered. It’s considered too dangerous to try and take one prisoner. If it escapes while on Zanthar, we’d have no way of recapturing it. It could lead to our downfall.”

Jeffrey shook his head. He understood the risk. If a Hareema operative could be anyone, it would be very dangerous if it escaped on the home world. Still, for such an advanced race as the Zantharians, it seemed complete folly not to study the enemy in detail.

“You’re telling me that you’ve never had a Hareema captive in your labs? No Hareema has ever set foot on Zanthar.”

The alien female looked away, her face like stone. She’s hiding something.

Jeffrey grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back to face him. “Tell me. The safety of both our worlds hangs in the balance.”

“There have been Hareema infiltrators on Zanthar,” she admitted at last, her icy demeanor cracking, giving way to anger. “Our Minister of Defense was captured by the enemy and impersonated. Because of his position, it took days to discover the truth.”

Jeffrey let her slip from his grip. It was Kat’s turn to pace the room it seemed.

Words tumbled out, freed at last. “It was due to the minister’s infiltration that Dr. Sylvia Cohen’s ship got past our planetary defenses. The Hareema are very clever. They made it seem as if her ship brought down the shields. They turned us against the human race while they attempted to take control of our government.”

Jeffrey almost slapped his own forehead. “Don’t you see?” he nearly shouted. “They’re doing it again, right now! Playing you and me against each other while they plot both our planets’ downfalls!”

He strode to her side, grabbing her again and putting a stop to her pacing. “Goddamn it, Kat, why won’t you trust me? I trust you. I believe you when you say that an alien enemy has left its mark on my ship. I trust that you have your people’s best interest at heart. So trust me.”

His voice was low, urgent. “I don’t want these creatures to take over Earth any more than you want them to have Zanthar. I’ll fight them with every fiber of my being. But I can’t do that if you keep me locked here, asking the same questions over and over again. Questions I have no answer to.”

Her eyes stared up at him. He was struck again by their beauty. She trembled, and he pulled her closer until he embraced her tightly. She felt too good in his arms. It nearly drove him to ignore the danger swirling around them, just to taste her lips again.

“Please,” he whispered, drawing closer. “We have to work together if we are going to have a chance against them. I trust you.”

His mouth was an inch away from hers. “Now you have to trust me.”