But in the end, he reminded her that she was different. And even if he hadn’t meant it the way she’d chosen to take it, it didn’t matter. Theyweredifferent. Different species. From entirely different planets.
She gave herself a few moments to imagine what choosing Jeffrey as her mate would mean back on Zanthar.
Ridicule. Shame. Embarrassment.
Abandonment.
She would lose friends. Lose stature. Perhaps lose her career.
And even if she didn’t lose those things. Even if she was accepted, as much as she could be, by her peers, there were still too many differences dividing them.
They were both lieutenants on different starships, with different missions and different protocols. How would they ever find time to get together?
Enough traveling down the trail of What If, she told herself. He was scratching an itch, satisfying his curiosity. He now knew what seducing an alien female felt like. Who knew if he’d even be interesting in repeating the experience.
The officer stationed at navigation broke through the haze of her thoughts. “We’re on our descent course now. T-minus four minutes until landing.”
Kat swallowed, taking a deep breath. She expected quite a backlash for the events she’d set in motion. And she couldn’t even warn them of what was coming.
“Attention all crew. We are making our descent into the Zantharian atmosphere and will soon be landing. Because of the nature of the Hareema threat against us, all crew are ordered to remain in quarters or at their posts until ordered otherwise. Any breach of these orders will subject you to the strictest possible disciplinary action, and will arouse suspicion that you have been replaced by a shapeshifter.”
She thought that last bit might be a bit too strong, but she’d never been one to hide things from her crew. They would all be under the harshest suspicion from the beginning, and she preferred it that way. If the Hareema operative were allowed to sneak off the ship and onto the home world, the threat to their people would be incalculable.
As they approached Central Command, two smaller ships flanked the flagship on either side. “Major Ontarii, this is Central Command. Why didn’t you warn us of your unscheduled return?”
“This is Lieutenant Kat’Chinna Yarr, current commander of the Zantharian Flagship. We were forced to return to the home world due to circumstances beyond our control.”
“And those circumstances are…?”
Kat frowned. “We can’t be sure this channel is secure. The situation is threat level midnight.”
Threat level midnight meant a crisis of planetary proportions. She thought she heard a gasp over the comm, before she heard Central Command’s response. “Threat level confirmed. Quarantine procedures initialized. You are ordered to secure your ship after landing. We’ll come to you.”
Kat rodgered her agreement, then inhaled hard at the next words. “If any of your crew attempts to set foot off the ship before we’ve cleared them, they will be terminated with extreme prejudice.”
“Understood.” Kat relayed Central Command’s orders to her crew, reminding everyone of the extreme danger of their situation. It would be the height of folly to make it all the way home, only to be taken out by their own comrades.
As the ship made its way into the largest hanger on the base, she watched as Zantharian troops spilled out of command centers to converge on the ship. One it had settled into place, Kat leaned back. There was nothing to do but wait as the special command squads cleared the ship room by room.
The squad hit the bridge fairly quickly, and she was soon subjected to an intense energy exchange to confirm her identity. Then, with the remainder of the bridge crew, she was led off the ship and shuttled to the office of the ranking officer.
As Kat stepped through the membrane into the office, she was surprised to find herself confronted by the Supreme Regent himself. Xivthar Rasveen was one of the largest males she’d ever seen. His body rippled with repressed strength, his eyes bright and discerning with a keen intelligence that had served to protect his position for years.
With something akin to fury in those eyes now, it was hard for Kat not to be intimidated.
“Oh Xiv, stop it,” a female voice said. “You’re scaring her half to death.”
Kat turned, surprised to see the form of a small human female, standing near the shelves of digital tomes to her right. Dr. Sylvia Cohen.
So the rumors are true. The Supreme Regent has chosen a human for his mate.
Although there was nothing definitive in the fact that the female was in the office with them now, Kat nonetheless knew that these two had become a pair. For one, no woman but the regent’s mate would dare to give him orders.
Zantharian males became extremely possessive over their females, not allowing them out of their sights for long. And there was something in the way the regent was looking at her, as if Dr. Sylvia Cohen were a plate of octopus hors d’oeuvres and he’d been stranded in space for a month.
“Supreme Regent,” Kat said, moving forward toward the desk behind which Rasveen was seated, “I have urgent news to report.”
“Where is Major Ontarii?” Rasveen’s face was cold, his words harsh.
