Chapter 21
Captain Jennifer Brooklyn ran a hand through her hair, her mind trying to decide what to do next. She risked a glance at the male beside her. He was devastatingly handsome, tall and muscled. His chiseled features left her a little light headed, and his smile had butterflies dancing in the pit of her stomach.
At the moment, his skin was midnight black, matching dark eyes that stared at her, filled with unreadable emotions. Zantharians, as she was learning, had skin that changed color according to their moods. Brook had seen him shift into many shades: green, yellow, red, and her favorite, deep purple. But never black.
Black indicated some type of mating frenzy.
She didn’t fully understand what it was or what it might mean, but that was namely due to the fact that Ontarii wasn’t forthcoming on information about it. He’d made the cryptic remark that he needed to mate his chosen female or die, then turned into the strong-and-silent-type.
Brook had gotten more than she bargained for. It turned out that Zanthar was teeming with life, including a dominant species. From what she could tell, Zantharians were a demanding, bossy, and brutally handsome lot, but that might just have been her experience with one Zantharian in particular. She needed to sort out her feelings for the handsome, albeit conflicted, alien commander as well. That might prove to be the most difficult of her tasks.
“Does this bucket of rust have external views? Maybe we can spot whatever’s attached itself to us.”
Brook frowned at his disparaging remark about her ship. TheEarhartmight not be the prettiest ship in the galaxy, but it was one of the only faster-than-light ships that Earth had. It had taken many precious resources and man-hours to build her; however, compared to the Zantharian flagship Ontarii was used to commanding, theEarhartprobably looked like a jalopy.
“She does have external cameras, yes.” Brook walked to the console and brought up the outside view on the display screen.
There were several cameras stationed on the hull in order to get an accurate picture of theEarhart’s surface in case the ship was damaged during flight. Brook began slowly transitioning from camera to camera, looking for the stowaway.
“It must be somewhat large in order to affect the speed of your vessel.” Ontarii put his hands on his hips as his dark eyes scanned the screen in front of them.
The memory of those hands gliding all over her body caused heat to rush up her chest and coat her throat and cheeks. She pushed it away and concentrated on the task at hand.
“It can’t be that big. Our ship isn’t very large. Especially compared to your flagship.”
Brook risked a peek at him out of the corner of her eye. His face appeared as if carved from onyx. She couldn’t help but consider what had gone wrong between them after the most intense bout of lovemaking she’d ever experienced.
Maybe he didn’t enjoy it as much as you did. Maybe he finds you subpar.
That couldn’t be it. He had seemed to have enjoyed their time together greatly, if his moans had been any indication. Unfortunately, the minute their intimacy was over, and he’d realized that he had entered this so-called 'frenzy’, he hadn't been the same.
"Stop." His command brought her back to the present moment.
She refocused to see what he’d seen while she was lost in thought.
"There," he said, pointing to a shape on the very right edge of the screen.
She couldn't make out much, but used the console's touch pad to toggle the camera. The shape resolved itself into a small craft. It was oblong and couldn't have fit more than a few bodies. Maybe Hareema could make themselves smaller. Maybe an entire Hareema legion could squeeze itself into a ship that size.
A wave of fear washed over her, leaving her muscles tense and heart pounding in her chest. The Hareema could be anyone or anything.
How do you fight something you don’t understand and can’t detect?
"Let's go." Ontarii started toward the door, but was forced to stop due to it not opening.
She had sealed the bridge in their fight with her doppelganger earlier. Only her code would open the door.
"Hang on." She tried to think of a quick resolution, but weariness stifled her.
They knew at least one Hareema had already been present on the ship before the craft had attached itself to theEarhart's hull. Now there could be untold numbers. Not to mention the FIDOs roaming the halls, looking for intruders.
"We're wasting precious time," the major said, his impatience broadcasted in his jerky motions. He paced back and forth, running both hands through his tendrils as his eyes narrowed.
A moment ago he'd been cold to her, calm plastered over seething anger. Now he was agitated. She'd grown used to reading his moods from the color of his skin, but the midnight black he wore now revealed nothing.
"We can't just run out there half-cocked," Brook explained. "The Hareema could be anywhere, and the FIDOs are malfunctioning. Their laser beams could be more of a threat than the shapeshifters."
Ontarii scowled. "I had a run-in with your FIDOs earlier, and I took them out. Use your console to turn them off."
