There was no doubt in Drake’s mind that NASA had been infiltrated. There had been Hareema on the rescue ship sent after Sylvie, Jamie’s sister, disappeared, after all. And Sylvie’s ship itself had been connected with the failure of the Zantharian defense shield.
Although it was unlikely the ship itself had caused the shield to fail, the coordination it would have taken to drop the shield at the precise moment the Earthling ship entered Zanthar’s atmosphere required that the Hareema have precise knowledge of Earth’s plans regarding space travel.
These facts pointed to Hareema agents having taken up residence on Earth. The pieces fit. Still, it wasn’t enough to give Drake a full picture of the situation. Random puzzle pieces still floated around, seemingly without a connection.
Drake had learned from Ontarii and his human mate, Captain Brooklyn, that theFIDOs on her ship had somehow been able to distinguish human from a Hareema shape-shifter in human form. Although Zantharian scientists had been looking into the makeup of the defense robots, they so far had no leads on what tipped theFIDOs off, as the Earth robots did not have means of scanning DNA.
And then there was the most troubling advancement of the Hareema in the last hundred years. They were no longer vulnerable to Zantharian bioelectricity.
For decades, the Zantharians’ inborn ability to project bioenergy had protected them from a full-scale Hareema invasion. When a shape-shifter was hit with bioelectricity, it was forced to revert to its original form, a six-foot tall block of red jelly.
However, recent developments now made them impervious to bioelectric attack. During his last days as a Hareema prisoner, Drake had seen Hareema fight off an electrical attack. Although not all Hareema seemed able to do so, as those on Captain Brooklyn’s ship and the Zantharian flagship had proven, it seemed likely that it wouldn’t be long before all Hareema were upgraded with the defensive capability to withstand bioelectricity.
How long would it be before they made a full-force invasion of Drake’s planet?Not long, he supposed.
That’s what made Drake’s mission so vital.
It was growing darker, and with the departure of twilight, a stiff breeze had started kicking up the streets. Drake’s steps slowed, and he lingered to take in the sights around him.
Earth was so different from Zanthar. So much land, so little sea, compared to his own planet which was almost entirely water. Zantharians were most comfortable under the swirling surface of their oceans, and almost all of their structures were deep under the waves.
But here, tall structures made from materials dragged out of the earth, sprung up all around him. He felt strangely exposed, walking the streets where vehicles and pedestrians teemed around him.
The buildings on his home world seemed somehow more delicate, more organic, than the concrete and brick ones surrounding him now. Most had been tunneled out of the rock and coral, a warren of hallways and chambers. On Zanthar, the people were enclosed, in their caves and under the water.
But here, on Earth, the open sky oppressed him in ways he’d never experienced back home.
He found himself on a busy street, full of shops and eateries. He recognized the area as Georgetown, not far from the university. Well-dressed men and women strode in and out of storefronts and restaurants, talking quietly and walking with a purpose that was lacking in his own meandering steps.
Drake found himself peering into windows as he walked, trying to relate to the humans around him. They often seemed obsessed with inconsequential things, like acquiring and consuming cheap goods and gadgets. He idly wondered if their forays into space would change that mindset, now that the universe was at their doorstep.
Easing his way around an older woman laden with shopping bags from exclusive boutiques, he marveled again at the human penchant for purchasing and surrounding oneself with so manythings. Always on to the newest, the brightest, the rarest. His thoughts naturally ran back to Jamie, who seemed to excel at such behavior.
She was always immaculately attired, endlessly searching for new trends to be on the vanguard of. While such behavior would be looked upon as foolish by most Zantharians, for some reason Drake found it oddly endearing. She was just sogoodat it.
He realized suddenly, as he came to a stop outside the floor to ceiling windows of an eatery he was passing, that the object of his thoughts was seated inside. He’d know that shock of red hair anywhere, the reflected light from the candles on the tables seeming to see her locks ablaze.
Drake couldn’t help himself. He stopped and stared, his eyes taking in her elegant form like a man gulping the air after being submerged beneath the waves for too long. She was just so beautiful. Flawless skin, shapely limbs, and a smile that made his chest ache.
A smile that she was currently gifting to the man seated across from her. Lance Cargraves. A scowl took residence on his face as he watched Lance return the smile with a charming one of his own.
Drake knew he should hurry on his way, but his body refused to obey him. He’d never felt such longing for another before. It made him feel irritated, out of sorts, no longer in control of his own actions.
Suddenly his obsession turned her head, her eyes meeting his. Drake was frozen, staring into their gorgeous green depths. Then he caught the look of recognition that entered her eyes and was hit with a jolt.
Get out of here, Drake, he told himself.You’re endangering the mission, standing here like a dolphin in rut.
But he couldn’t make himself move. He stared as if to memorize the perfection of her features.
He noticed that a faint blush started to tinge her pale skin, and that hint of color caused a strong reaction. He could feel the blood racing to his cock, making it ache with an agony he’d felt too often the last six weeks.
Too soon, Jamie’s head turned away, and she responded slowly to a question from Cargraves. Drake caught a look of concern on the astronaut’s face, and suddenly his body was once more his to control. He moved from the window and picked up his pace, walking swiftly down the street and towards the nearest Metro entrance.
His heart was beating fast, he threw himself into the hard plastic seat and focused on slowing his respiration. Drake wanted to punish himself, to hit his fists against his stupid head. His whole mission hinged on his being able to blend in, to not alert his targets of his presence.
Instead, he’d stared at Jamie from the street. It was a wonder he hadn’t been drooling when she’d locked eyes with him.
You have to focus, he admonished himself.The fate of multiple worlds hangs in the balance.
And yet, as the train swayed towards his stop, it wasn’t thoughts of his mission that filled his mind. It was the memory of a woman, beautiful but untouchable.
Noruma, how I want to touch her.
