Last Flight of the Ark (22 page)

“We didn’t know they’d send a shuttle down without first contacting us. It appears they were surveying the city.”

“Well, at least they got my message.”

Frank nodded and pulled out a digital pad. He handed it to Kaleb. “One of our teams out tracking renegades came across that less than twenty minutes ago.” Kaleb stared down a picture of a shuttle. Bloody handprints covered the hull and equipment had been pulled from inside and was strewn about the ground. He studied the registration number. Was that one of his?

“The crew?”

“Either hostages or dead. Not sure which at this point.”

“Shit.” He so didn’t need this.

Frank took the pad back and typed in coordinates. “We’ve tracked them to the city, to this location.”

Kaleb glanced toward the hanger where the shuttles were docked. “Get a shuttle prepped and powered up.”

“Already done.” He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “You have to ask yourself something, Colonel.”

“Yeah, what would that be?”

“Why did Earth Command have a shuttle down here near the city without your knowledge?”

Good question
.

***

Kaleb climbed on board the Earth Command shuttle, Frank following close behind. Empty. Blood everywhere. The craft reeked of violence.

Frank dropped a jacket with Earth Command insignia on the sleeves into his hands. “Look at the tab.”

“Yeah.” Earth Command, but it was the tab that sat above the patch that he was sure Frank referred to. Damned Pathfinders. They’d come down to set up and secure a landing zone.

He sniffed the jacket and groaned. The jacket had belonged to a female. Not good. A few of the renegades were unmated males and would love to have a hybrid female to call their own. Good chance they’d converted her.

Yeah, no question. Earth Command would be looking for the missing crew. A big problem, followed by a bigger one. If they were female, the renegades would certainly have bitten them and his proof that they were harmless just went to shit. Now, even if they found them, they couldn’t go back to Earth. The infection couldn’t be allowed off-world. What would he tell Earth Command? Eight months they’d kept the secret. The mutation wouldn’t have spread to the arriving crew under normal circumstances and a big part of his plan had revolved around showing the mutation could be contained. The flu had run its course and the infection could only be spread by contact with blood and saliva. Lucky him. That’s just what the bastard renegades had done. They knew it would complicate things for him and they were paying him back for keeping them separated from their families.

“Damn it.” He hadn’t expected it to last, but it would’ve been nice not to have to explain the attack and it would have also been easier to convince Earth Command they weren’t a danger. Now, he wasn’t certain he could. “I really don’t need this.”

“We could blow the ship and make it look like a crash,” Frank said.

Kaleb shook his head. No. The crew would have contacted the mother ship when they landed. “We don’t need to fabricate anymore. We’re already in deep enough. It’s time to tell them the truth and take whatever consequences come.” Was there another way? No. Game over, but he could still locate the missing crew and perhaps buy them all some reprieve. “Get a team on them. We need to find and free them, pronto.”

“I’ve already seen to it,” Frank said and eyed the exit where the rest of the team waited. “Hopefully they haven’t condemned us all.”

***

Did Earth Command already know their secret? He strapped a laser on his thigh, flipping the safety off with his thumb. The more he thought about what Frank had said, the more he began to wonder. The shuttle had flown in under the radar. It was near the old city and the uniform patch on that jacket wasn’t just an Earth Command tab. What were they looking for and why were they setting up a landing zone?

Jessica walked into the room with a rifle. Her pregnancy barely showed, but accompanying them was the last thing she needed to do while she carried his children.

“You’re not going.”

“Try to stop me.” Jessica twisted her hair and knotted it at the back of her neck. Pissed didn’t begin to cover her mood when she’d learned Melissa was going and the tone in her voice implied he better not push it.

“I’m not arguing with you about this, Jessie.”

“Good, because I wasn’t going to listen to you anyway. You need someone who can treat their wounds.”

“That’s what the doctors are for.”

“Are they female? These women may have other injuries that require a special touch.” She was right. Becoming a female hybrid could be confusing: the emotions, the hypersenses, and the bite that sent them into heat within hours of infection. Only a woman would understand what they were going through. There would be little he could do in that instance but upset them further.

He sighed. “Fine. But if there’s trouble, get your ass back to the shuttle.” He wasn’t going to win this battle. He knew when to send up the white flag. He had bigger issues to deal with. Jessie had proved time and again she could take care of herself. Besides, there was no one as stubborn as Jessica, other than a pregnant Jessica.

“Where are we going?”

“One of our patrols has cornered the renegades in the old city.” The last place he wanted to go. The place reeked of bad energy and memories.

Melissa came up behind him. “The shuttle is ready to go.”

“Keep your eyes open and I want your weapons on full charge. These renegades have attacked once already.”

Melissa flipped the safety on her weapon and held his gaze. “Don’t worry about me, sir. Just fix this. We can’t let this get off-world.” The voice of calm, Melissa never wavered. She knew what needed to be done and would back him through it all. She was the best bet at a level head for this mission and she’d keep Jessica out of trouble.

“I’m going to do all I can.” He started for the door. What would happen if the mutation made it back to Earth? He didn’t want to even think about it.

Jessica reached out and stopped him. “Everything will be okay.”

Kaleb nodded and reached out to cup her face. He studied her for a moment. “Not too late to change your mind and stay here.”

Jessica snorted.

“Didn’t think so.” He brushed his fingers along her cheek. “Be careful. I couldn’t take losing either of you.”

“You won’t.” Jessica swept past him and out the door. All attitude and all his. God, he loved the woman. He watched her go, his mouth watering from the way her hips swayed with each step.

“You coming, or are you going to stare at my ass all day?”

“Yes, dear,” he growled, following.

***

“Do we have a headcount?”

“Seven.”

“Do we know from what sector?”

Melissa nodded. “Frank says it’s from Alpha.”

“Alpha? That’s my sector.” Kaleb frowned. “Who? I didn’t think we had renegades.” How could he have missed them? He’d never seen anything to indicate someone in his pack would do this.”

“You don’t.” Frank walked up behind him. “They’re from my pack. They were patrolling in your zone. I wasn’t aware, or I wouldn’t have sent them.”

“You’re supposed to keep track of your people and report any behavioral instability you notice.”

“Understood, but it’s hard to keep two eyes on over two hundred. They’d been reliable, and I had no reason to believe they’d do that. This mutation seems to make us all crazy.”

Kaleb nodded. Frank was right about everything but the mutation making everyone crazy. The mutation made their natures as unpredictable as the weather. However, feeding the urges and needs seemed to muzzle some of the more base instincts. The mated males didn’t seem to act on primitive impulses and the nature of their inner beasts seemed to be tamed, or at least reasonable.

He’d felt the ugly side of that beast seize control when he’d been with Melissa. All emotions had seemed amplified and he understood what they were going through. He’d be crazy, too, if he’d had to wait eight months to fulfill the compulsive desires and then have those he loved kept from him. After he’d claimed his females, the inner savage seemed satisfied with it, and calmed. Now, only when another male threatened what belonged to him did his hackles rise.

To not have any of the needs satisfied had to be maddening and the males were giving into months of denial, satisfying it the only way they could, by taking what they wanted.

Now that they had leverage, he was going to take it away. They weren’t going to let him without a fight. They’d die to get their families back.

No question about it. He’d do the same thing in their position.

Bolts of energy bounced off metal. Kaleb pressed flat against the wall and motioned for the rest of the group to stay back. “They’ve got a sniper in one of the buildings near the square. The acoustics around here make it impossible to tell where the shots are coming from.” He spoke softly into the com.

Jessica moved next to him. “Then stop using your ears and use your sense of smell. He’s in the second building on the north side of the square.”

He turned and raised a brow. So much for keeping things quiet. “You might be able to tell he’s on the north side of the square, but you can’t pinpoint which building with scent, Jess.”

“You can if it’s the tallest building with a direct line of sight to the square and the only spot blind to our location. If we can’t see him, he can’t see us. If you noticed, the rounds are coming from above. That rules out the other two without a line of sight. That means it could only be the second building to the north. Otherwise he would’ve shot us by now.”

Kaleb turned to look at her. “Didn’t I tell you to stay back?”

She smiled. “You know I’m right.”

Yeah, so she was, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “I’m a scientist, not a tactics officer.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Now that we know where he is, how do we get him to step into the open?”

Melissa slipped up next to him. “I know how.”

“Damn it. I told you both to stay back. Neither of you listen for shit.”

“No.” Melissa unbuttoned her top and dropped it to the ground. “We don’t. But I do know how to draw him out.”

His jaw fell open. He let his gaze travel over her bare flesh. The entire unit behind him could see her. He didn’t need a riot within his own ranks, and he didn’t need half the male population of Terra II ogling what was his. “What are you doing?”

“Getting naked.” Melissa undid her pants and wiggled them off her hips. “I’m in heat. I’ll be naked. He won’t shoot me.” She dropped her pants and reached for the clasp on her bra. A male behind them whined.

Kaleb glanced over her shoulder and growled. His men looked away. Then she dropped her bra.

“Shit.” He eyed her chest and his cock swelled. If they were alone, he’d have her against the building. Multiple times. He shifted on his feet and glanced back at the men again. They looked everywhere but at Melissa, pretending not to notice. They’d noticed. He could smell it, feel the tension in the air from her little striptease and hear the damned increase in their heart rates. He ground down on his teeth. They weren’t the only ones with issues arising.

Now was not the time to lose control. He had to get a grip and quick. Melissa wasn’t making it easy. He stared at her breasts and did his best to focus on the sniper. “Well, then.” He cleared his throat. “What makes you so certain he won’t shoot you?”

She reached up to cup his chin and bring his gaze to hers. “For the same reason I need to guide your eyes off my chest.”

“What?”

“Women are a big reason we’re in this situation in the first place. Think like a wolf, Colonel. What would you do if you smelled a fertile female and saw her naked?”

“Okay, you have a point.” He knew what he wanted to do just as a man, forget the more base and primitive desires of his animal side. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He looked at her breasts again. “This is a bad, bad idea.”

Melissa reached down and dropped her panties. “Be ready to fire the second he shows himself.”

He was ready to fire now and not his weapon. This wasn’t going to be good. Shit, shit, shit. He lifted his weapon. “Did I mention how much I don’t like this?”

“Quit being a baby. I can handle this.” Melissa stepped into the opening. Nothing but silence met her appearance and as she’d predicted, the bolts stopped flying. No, they didn’t want to shoot her. Kaleb cocked his head and listened. The wind whistled between the buildings. He tried to control his breathing, but found it hard. She raised her hands into the air. “I’m unarmed and here to negotiate.”

There was a crunch and the sound of footsteps as someone descended stairs in the building, and at a rapid pace. He fought the urge to growl. Well, the good news was her plan seemed to work. The bad news? There was more than one set of approaching footsteps.

Kaleb raised his weapon and pressed the end of the stock into his shoulder. He peered through the scope and waited.

He’d set it to stun and who knew if it would work. The men were fueled by a combination of testosterone and adrenaline. If stun didn’t work, he’d kill them. Not a choice he wanted to make, but Melissa’s safety was much more important. He hoped it wouldn’t be the case as several males stepped into the clearing. His gaze swept the area, taking a count. Five.

“Negotiate?”

They looked at each other and snarled, then back at Melissa as though she were the answer to all their troubles. They knew they were waiting and watching but the mutation refused to allow them to act as rational people. They’d gone too long with the cravings to care and a part of him pitied them for it; another part was pissed he had to be both the person that put them in this situation and the one who would decide their fate. He sucked in a breath and adjusted his aim. At that moment, when he saw the hunger on their faces, it took all his strength not to change the setting on his weapon from stun to kill.

Killing the men wouldn’t solve anything and it could stir up more resentment among the ranks. Still, the way they looked at her, studied her, made him want to shoot them all. He needed to be an example and losing control now wouldn’t be good.