“I trust Kat,” he said.
The medic moved closer and began spreading the salve. Tan pulled a blob out on her fingertip and sniffed at it.
As the salve touched his skin, it began to heat up and tingle. Tan took over for the medic, applying the salve to every bruise and scrape. “It smells like steamed broccoli,” he said, turning up his nose at the stink. Once he’d been covered and the cream had absorbed into his skin, the medic closed his case and made to leave.
“Wait,” Chao said, stopping the Zantharians before they could exit. “Can you tell us what’s happening now?”
“I’m afraid not,” the guard answered, his face blank. “Our operations are confidential at this juncture.”
“Please,” Dr. Tan said, grabbing the medic by the arm before he could pull away. “We just want to know what’s become of our ship.”
The Zantharian medic stared down at the little woman by his side. He towered over her in typical Zantharian fashion. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I don’t know where your ship is.”
“Where are we headed?” Tan asked, refusing to release her grip.
It didn’t seem like the medic minded her hold on him. In fact, if Jeffrey had to guess, he’d say the medic was instantly taken by the small human doctor.
“A new course has been laid in. We’re headed to the home world.”
“Let’s go,” the guard said, his skin starting to mottle with spots of yellow. “You’ve said enough already.”
Tan let go of the medic and he gave her a small smile before both men left the cell.
“Headed to the home world,” Chao murmured.
“But without theEarhart,” Tan added.
Jeffrey nodded. “During the interrogation, Kat mentioned that we’d disengaged from our ship and were headed somewhere. She was locked out of the navigational display, so she couldn’t tell us where we were going. Looks like she’s got things back under control now.”
“So it’s Kat, is it?” Tan said, giving him a probing look.
Jeffrey wanted to sigh. But he was forced to keep up his cheerful demeanor. It was what his crew expected of him. “I told you I’m irresistible.”
Chao laughed, but Tan stared at him a moment longer. Her gaze moved to the floor. “You trust this Kat?”
“Yes.”Unequivocally, he thought of adding, but didn’t want to give away too much of what had happened between him and the sexy Zantharian lieutenant.
Tan was too perceptive by half. “You’re entrusting our lives to a woman you’ve known for a handful of hours. What has she done to earn such trust so quickly?”
Jeffrey pulled up his knees and leaned his head back against the wall. “She was honest with me. Told me about the Hareema infiltration on Zanthar.”
He closed his eyes, not really wanting to see the expressions on his crewmates faces. “She had to make a choice in that room. What she thought was her commander was screaming at her to kill me. She chose to take him out instead, risking her career and her planet’s safety to do so.”
“I don’t blame you for trusting her,” Chao said quietly. “I can’t imagine how I would respond if Captain Brooklyn was taken over by these shapeshifters and started giving orders. She took a big risk.”
Jeffrey opened his eyes and gave a small smile. “She did.”
Tan began to pace. “What worries me is, Captain Brooklyn could have been taken over and we wouldn’t know. Isn’t it true that the real Major Ontarii could be on theEarhartright now? That would mean that the Major Ontarii who brought us here could have been a Hareema from our own ship.”
Jeffrey nodded, following her logic. “The real Major Ontarii could be on our ship right now, battling it out with Hareema who could look like anyone.”
“But that means some of our crewmembers weren’t human.” Chao’s voice wavered as she spoke.
“How do you fight a shapeshifter?” Tan asked the air. “You might not ever know someone’s been replaced until it’s too late.”
Chao’s eyes were wide. “How can we trust anyone now?”
The fear in the cell was palpable. Jeffrey knew that he had to step in now, before morale sank any lower.
