“That’s not a fucking locust. I’ve seen locusts at the zoo,” Daniels said.
Hysterian stepped back. “On Atrexia, it’s known as a locust.”
She and the rest of the crew circled the enclosure and stared at the creature raging within. Claws came out to swipe at the glass. Its wings hit the sides.
“They swarm areas destroying everything in their path, consumed with a breeding rage when entering adulthood. Their strength is beyond any animal borne of Earth, their rage indomitable. The males, like this one, will go from one female and to the next, forced to copulate as much as possible. They’re the only beasts we know of that are continuously in heat after they mature. Everything we know about them is in your requisition files.”
“Great,” Raul muttered, glancing at Alexa. “Guess we’ll have our hands full?”
She shrugged.
Hysterian glanced down at her. “It’s your job to keep them alive and contained.”
Hysterian’s abysmally dark eyes twitched again, and her brow furrowed. When he looked away soon after, she stared after him, confused.
Was it just me, or did his pupils bulge?His words came back to her, warning her of getting close.He’s right beside me.She stopped herself from taking an extra step away.
Her eyes narrowed.Is he testing me? Again?
She fisted her hands at her sides.
“And why is it here, on Earth, and in our possession?” Horace asked. “I thought we were picking up and delivering resources, taking the odd jobs the EPED is known for?”
Raul hmphed. “We’re delivering this, obviously. Why else would theQuestorhave a menagerie and enclosures like these”—he waved his hand at the space around him—“if it wasn’t for animals like that?”
“That wasn’t mentioned in the job description.”
“Maybe because it has nothing to do with the bridge crew.”
“I want to know if there’s dangerous creatures confined in the same space as me,” Horace quipped.
Raul laughed. “What did you think odd jobs stood for?”
“Enough,” Hysterian barked. Raul and Horace glowered at each other. “We have several more to onboard before we can take off. We can talk after we’re in the sky.”
“Yes, Captain,” Raul muttered.
“There’s more?” Daniels asked, sliding his tranq gun into the waist of his pants instead of setting it down.
Daniels wasn’t nearly as handsome as Raul, but was built all the same. With a closely shaved head and stocky features, the bridge officer looked more like infantry than someone who sat all day in front of a computer.
The doors to the lab zipped open behind them, revealing another, smaller crate and several tarmac servicemen.
“There’s always more. This is the job. If you don’t like it, there’s still time to leave.” Hysterian said, heading for the incoming crate, shooting Horace a look.
She watched him walk away, giving orders to the servicemen. He was the only one who wore a black suit, unlike the rest of them, who wore gray. Hysterian’s suit was devoid of metals, straps, or even buttons, and only had his name tag pinned to his right breast and a belt that had a gun attached at his hip.
His suit was strange, tight, leaving nothing to the imagination, unlike what she pictured he would wear. She’d never seen material like the one Hysterian seemed so comfortable in. Because when it came to revealing everything…it did; the bulge of his crotch, his physique, the play of his powerful muscles as he moved. She tried not to check him out each time she saw him, but it was hard not to.
Was vanity his weakness?
He’d been the object of her vengeance for so long; she still couldn’t believe how near he finally was. Before this, she’d only glimpsed him from afar on several occasions, and had her one picture of him.
One truth Alexa realized this day was that Hysterian was fucking intimidating up close, even to other men. She knew killing him was going to be hard, but this just made it all the more difficult.
“Fucking hell,” someone said behind her. “Poor Alexa.”
“Don’t call me—” Alexa faced the enclosure and came face to face with the primate. She jumped, taking a step back.
