“Understood,” Drake said, reaching down to pick up the robot. “We’d be honored if you’d help us along.”
“I wish to find my creator,” Herman replied. “And to save Earth.”
Jamie picked up her oversized handbag and opened it. “Aren’t you glad I brought this along now?”
Her smile was gloating as he placed Herman inside. “Now keep quiet in there, Herman,” she said as she closed her handbag.
Then Jamie was pulling out her phone. “I’ll start looking into flights to Chicago. But I hope you have a plan to sneak our robot friend through airport security.”
“No need,” he said. “We’ll be taking my ship.”
Her eyes widened. “Your ship?”
“Yes. A lightweight scout class ship.”
His original plan had hinged on returning in disguise with the crew in theEarhart. It would have gotten him entry into NASA, and the experience of the Earhart crew would have been invaluable.
But when he’d insisted on the plan, four sets of eyes had glared back at him. It turned out that Captain Brooklyn wasn’t so keen on being separated from her mate. And he’d known that Ontarii had physically restrained himself from punching Drake at the suggestion.
Not to mention the fact that there was already a bump showing how well the mates had gotten on together. Even if he could have convinced Ontarii to allow his mate to undertake this dangerous mission, he didn’t know how they would have been able to explain the accelerated and abnormal pregnancy of theEarhart’s captain.
And then there had been Lieutenant Jeffrey Brunt and his mate, Kat’Chinna Yarr. Although Yarr was a seasoned soldier, she’d taken Brunt as a mate and his seed had sprouted in her belly, a Zantharian-human hybrid growing inside her.
That had meant that half the remaining human crew had no desire to return to Earth at the moment. So instead of bringing the two remaining crewmembers back and having to explain their missing crew, he’d gone alone in a Zantharian ship that was undetectable to human scans.
He’d parked the ship outside the city limits, in an abandoned barn. He’d put warning beacons around the place so he’d know if anyone attempted to disturb it, and so far, it remained undetected. Now he’d use the ship to take them to Lakewood’s lab in a fraction of the time needed by conventional travel.
Despite the swiftness of their ship, he had a sinking feeling that they would not find the scientist in his lab, and likely not anywhere on Earth. Still, they had to try and tie up any loose ends that they could before he sent them on the most dangerous path they could take.
A path that led them to the Hareema prison planet.
Drake repressed a shiver. He had no desire to return to that evil place. But all signs pointed to it being the nexus of the Hareema technological advancement that made them impervious to Zantharian bioenergy.
Still, if he did have to go there, he would go alone. And it was possible he’d never come back.
If the mating frenzy doesn’t take you first, his mind warned. The doors finally unlocked, but it almost felt too late.
Shrugging off his dark thoughts, he put his arm around Jamie as he led her out of the lab and back down the corridor into the main area of the restricted section.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Jamie asked when they reached the security door that led back out into the lobby.
“The same way we got in. Make yourself small and stay behind me. I’ll find a way to distract the guard’s attention so I can turn and keep you invisible while we move towards the elevators.”
Although he sounded confident, Drake wasn’t certain that his plan would work. He shoved open the door, keeping Jamie hidden by slightly angling his body. He was lucky she was such a small little thing, or this plan would never work.
He shifted so she could crouch behind him as he approached the desk. “Hey there,” he said to the security guard sitting behind the desk. “Could you call me a cab? My cell died.”
The guard nodded and picked up the phone. While he was dialing in the numbers, Drake turned, pulling Jamie so that she was in front of him now and hidden by his body. They walked in tandem towards the elevator.
“Your cab is on its way,” the guard called out to him, and Drake gave him a small wave without turning around. He had to reach out to the side to hit the elevator button, and when the doors open, he sidled inside.
He was sure he looked like an idiot, but when the doors closed, it didn’t matter anymore. Jamie was staring up at him with her beautiful green eyes, and just looking at her filled him with such a sense of contentment that he could feel his anxiety beginning to subside.
They exited into the main lobby and the lights were low, the building almost completely empty. Security nodded at them as they passed, and soon they were out on the street.
“I literally cannot believe we pulled that off,” Jamie said, her smile bright enough to light up the entire street. And his heart.
“Me neither,” Drake said with a laugh, placing a tiny kiss on her upturned nose. “Let’s hope nothing happens to make them review their feeds in the next few days.”
