Jeffrey frowned. It was likely she was right. Still, if he could manage to get anything out of the creature, it would help them prepare for whatever they’d face in trying to recover his ship.
There was a commotion near the entrance and Jeffrey turned to watch. Major Ontarii make his way into the chamber, advancing until he reached his side.
“Has it told you anything?”
Jeffrey shook his head. “Nothing of consequence yet.”
“Let me take a stab at it.”
Jeffrey stepped back, giving the major room. His eyes flitted to Kat, who was watching her commanding officer with her full attention.
The change in the electric cell brought his gaze back to the Hareema. Its shape was shifting, and suddenly he was no longer looking at his mirror image. His form had been replaced by another human imitation.
This time it was Captain Brooklyn’s form staring out at them.
“Cute,” Major Ontarii said. But his calm tone was belied by the flecks of yellow that started to appear in his skin.
“What’s wrong, Major?” the creature murmured. “I’ve learned you enjoy the human form.”
“Cut the shit,” the major said.
Kat started at his side. She apparently wasn’t used to the bite in her C.O.’s voice.
“Where is the human ship?”
The Hareema plant shook its head. “Is that any way to talk to your mate?”
Major Ontarii’s entire skin flashed yellow, and murder filled his eyes. Jeffrey glanced at Kat and noticed the female’s expression had hardened.
She doesn’t like the fact that Major Ontarii’s fallen for Captain Brooklyn.Is it because she doesn’t approve of human-Zantharian pairings? Or could there be something more to it?
The idea that Kat was against interracial coupling bothered him. Yet she’d opened herself up to the experience on the flagship with little protest. Until after her climax, anyway.
Perhaps there was something more here that he was missing. Could her brittle demeanor now hint at deeper feelings for the major?
Jeffrey didn’t realize that his hands had tightened into fists. An intimate relationship with Major Ontarii would explain her unwillingness to consider that he’d been replaced on the flagship. She had defended him over and over, not wanting to admit that his form could have been imitated.
Somehow the thought that Kat wanted the major was worse than the notion that she might not approve of the mixing of their species. His stomach was a hard knot inside him.
Jeffrey forced his attention back to the interchange between the major and the Hareema captive. He could stew about Kat’s possible lust for her commander later.
“You seem very sure that your people will be successful in their plot to take control of our planet. Are you that certain that your plans have the full support of your race?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Major,” the creature replied. “We are of one mind. Command and control all that we survey.”
“I don’t think everyone on your planet agrees. In fact, I met a Hareema who assured me that a large portion of your planet refuses to go along with the plan, and are, in fact, actively working against it.”
The thing with wearing Brooklyn’s face turned nasty. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Is that right?” Major Ontarii continued, his words coming out like blows. “I think you do know. Although your High Council spits out propaganda to convince your people that it’s your right to rule the universe, not everyone believes it. How do you think I escaped from your prisoner cell? It was only with the help of a Hareema that I made it back to Zanthar alive.”
Jeffrey goggled at the major. Was what he was saying true? Were there Hareema factions working against the expansionist agenda? A sudden glimmer of hope at surviving the situation and besting the shapeshifters began to take shape inside him.
“You’re spewing lies in the hopes of getting me to talk, but it makes no difference. The pitiful resistance forces are no match for the High Council.”
“So you admit there is a resistance,” Jeffrey spoke up.
The thing with Brooklyn’s face scowled at him. “I’m done talking to you.”
