by Liza Probz
“It’s locked.” She’d always been brought back into the secured area by functionaries or by Lance himself. She hadn’t even thought about encountering an obstacle as simple, or as frustrating, as a locked door.
“Move,” Drake said, shouldering his way to the locked door and trying the handle himself. He then pulled out a tool that resembled a pocket knife, but when she saw that what should be a blade looked more like a long key, she realized it was a lock pick.
It only took him a moment to unlock the door and then they were inside. The lights were set on motion detection and came on automatically when they entered. The office wasn’t large, but it was orderly.
Drake pulled out Lance’s chair and seated himself in front of the computer. Jamie cautiously picked her way through the shelves and drawers, being careful not to noticeably disturb anything.
The clacking sound coming from the computer console made Jamie turn her head to watch. Drake’s fingers were a blur on the keyboard, and the screens were shifting so fast as he maneuvered through them that she couldn’t keep up.
The man has skills, she thought. And he keeps revealing new ones. Physical strength and stamina. Lock-picking. Computer hacking.
And let’s not forget the ability to seduce you into a mind-blowing orgasm, her inner voice reminded.
As if she could forget that little fact.
While she watched, Drake pulled out a small device from his pocket and plugged it into the USB port. The device didn’t resemble anything she’d seen before. It was small, oblong, with a row of flashing lights in red, green, blue and yellow.
Once the device was activated, windows began popping up and disappearing at light speed. She’d never seen anything like it. Although she was by no means a technology expert, Jamie was certain this device wasn’t available at her local retailer. It must be some kind of spy tech.
Drake continued to hack his way through the classified data while Jamie did her best to snoop. The problem was, she had no idea what she was looking for. There were dozens of memos and schematics and spreadsheets, but nothing seemed to hint at a conspiracy.
Jamie pulled open the top drawer of the filing cabinet and proceeded to scan the folders found there. Each folder had a name and an initial. Personnel files.
The next drawer held binders labeled with years, 2010 through 2015. The drawer below that had binders starting at 2016, but she noticed the one for this year was missing.
She bent to open the bottom drawer, hoping to find the binder for the current year. Unfortunately, there were no binders and no folders in the drawer. It seemed to be filled with random parts and tools. Making a half-hearted effort to dig through the pile, she sighed, wishing she had a least a rudimentary understanding of spacecraft engineering.
The clacking at the keyboard stopped, and when she looked over her shoulder, Drake was standing behind her, staring down. The look on his face was anything but subtle. His eyes blazed with a desire to which she’d become acquainted with last night.
Jamie slid the drawer closed and stood up, a strange tingle working its way up her spine.
Chapter 10
Drake almost licked his lips when he caught sight of Jamie bent over, her shapely hips and perfect ass nearly begging him to claim her. Even in the middle of a covert operation, this woman knew exactly how to turn him into a ravening sex fiend.
He hadn’t been able to sleep a wink last night, his cock aching inside the skinsuit. Although the suit had to be taken off every fourteen hours, he had decided not to take it off last night because he’d known he’d be unable to deal with the throbbing erection he’d had. Without the suit to keep him in line, he could have wasted an evening of unfulfilling climaxes, thinking of the human female’s delicious body.
Drake had known he was taking a risk, not recharging his suit, but he figured their office snooping should take less than the few hours he needed before his suit had to reset. But if he let her distract him now, if he did all the things his dark desires were screaming at him to do, then they’d never get out of the secured area.
And this morning, rather than going to the door, he’d gone around to her window with the lame excuse of them being watched. It was unlikely the Hareema were keeping an eye on Dr. Cohen’s sister, and even if they were, they’d have no idea who he was within this full-body disguise.
The truth was, he didn’t trust himself to go inside her apartment again and not immediately begin to worship her body. It seemed his legendary self-control completely deserted him when she was in the room.
And now she was in front of him, driving his brain haywire. There was a strong appeal to laying claim to Jamie in her fiancé’s office. A perverse craving to place Jamie on Cargrave’s desk and make her come with his mouth invaded his thoughts.
Then she turned, piercing him with those bright green eyes, and he knew instantly that she had caught onto his thoughts. He should have turned away and focused on the task at hand. Instead he inched closer as she turned to face him.
He could read the conflict on her face. After the way she had given herself so freely to him last night, Drake knew she was ripe for his brand of seduction. Still, she was engaged, and despite the flightiness she displayed, he knew she wasn’t the type to cheat without remorse. It was best if he kept his hands off of her.
But great Noruma’s Ghost, I want my hands all over her sexy shape.
“Drake,” she started, then immediately cleared her throat. There was a very becoming blush on her pale cheeks. She began again, “Drake, about last night-“
“Shh…” he said, holding a finger up to those perfect lips to stop the next words from coming out. “It happened, and I don’t regret it, but I know you’re in a relationship and things are difficult at the moment. It’s best if we keep things professional from now on.”
Her expression remained neutral, even as he searched for signs of a reaction. Was she relieved? Disappointed? Or was she indifferent? The last might hurt the worst.
“Agreed,” she replied after a moment’s pause. “Did you have any luck with the computer? I haven’t really found anything in the rest of this stuff.”
“I’ve got his entire drive copied, and all the files on all the networks he is connected to.”
Her eyes widened, and Drake wondered for a moment if he’d said too much. Although humans had stumbled upon faster than light space travel, that didn’t mean they had all the same advances as Zanthar. In fact, they were still considered quite backwards technologically.
Then Jamie shrugged and he let out a breath, relieved she hadn’t noticed his gaffe. “Let’s check out Danner Thompson’s office next,” he said, heading towards the door.
Drake was careful to relock the door on his way out, then stood looking around the common area. He’d gone over the plans before the mission but it was one thing to stare at a layout on paper and another to find an office in a large area crowded with cubicles and cabinets.
Not wanting to let on that he wasn’t as familiar with NASA’s offices as Jamie was, he stopped at a nearby desk and began flipping through papers. She stood beside him, her gaze bouncing around nervously as time passed. When he could stall no longer, he spoke.
“You head towards Thompson’s office and I’ll follow. I might want to check out a thing or two on the way.”
Jamie sighed and then headed between the rows of cubicles towards the back. There a hallway branched off from the main room, and Drake tailed Jamie, enjoying the view of her backside as she made her way down the hall. There were conference rooms on either side, empty tables barely visible in their dim interiors. At the end of the hall were three doors, one on either side of the hall, both lacking windows and with badge readers.
The third door was at the end of the hall, with a name placard pasted to the inside of the window next to the door. “Danner Thompson, Chief Administrator,” it read. Jamie reached for the knob and turned it, finding it locked again.
“Come on, Super Spy,” she said, turning back to face
him. “I need your top secret skills again to get inside.”
Drake made quick work of the lock and the door swung open, the lights popping on with a faint click. This office was larger than Cargraves’ and more finely appointed. There was a sitting area with a small leather sofa and two matching chairs, settled around a low table.
Thompson’s desk dominated the room, however. It was massive, made out of dark wood. There were no stacks of papers on his desk, however, unlike Cargrave’s workspace.
Drake settled into the chair and turned on the computer, wanting to make sure that there were no files he’d missed in his last sweep. He plugged in his Zantharian data-mining device and set to work, quickly copying anything the computer and its attached networks held.
Meanwhile Jamie wandered around, attempting to pull open drawers. It seemed Thompson was a little more security-conscious than his functionaries, as each cabinet and desk drawer were locked.
“It’s going to take all afternoon to pick these locks,” she said when he’d finished at the computer console. “Where should we start?”
They progressed methodically, Drake picking each lock and then pulling out the contents of each drawer. His mouth pressed together in a tight line after the third drawer. There was nothing in consequence in any of the cabinets they opened.
Although he’d had high hopes for this operation, Drake was beginning to wonder if they’d find anything at all helpful. Most of the files were filled with mundane details that barely warranted the label ‘classified.’
He slammed the last drawer closed, muttering a curse under his breath. Jamie picked up on his frustration. “Maybe all the good stuff is on the computer files you copied?”
“Maybe,” he answered, although he had a sinking suspicion that the Hareema were being very careful about their plans. This fishing expedition could end up landing them nothing but minnows instead of the trophy fish he’d been hoping for.
They left the office, Drake locking the door behind them. “Now what?” his companion asked, her green gaze fastened to him.
Drake was at a loss. He knew there had to be some clue to the enemy’s plans somewhere in these labs. If there weren’t, he had no idea where to search next. His eyes roaming over the corridor, they lit on the plaque on the door to their left. “Experimental Research” it said.
He remembered the laboratory from the schematics he’d looked over. It was a blank black box on the map, unlike the other rooms which had shown their inner divisions. Perhaps this lab would yield the clues they were looking for.
“Let’s look around in here,” Drake said, not willing to give up without trying every possible avenue. He pulled Cargraves badge out and held it to the pad, hoping it would gain them access. The light turned green, and the door unlocked.
The lab was larger than he would have expected, with several smaller rooms off a large central area that were dotted with workstations. “Check out the stations,” he said, pointing Jamie in the direction of the main area, while he made his way around the room, checking out each office.
“Propulsion advances,” one read, and the next “Remote sensing technologies.” Then there was “Human spaceflight research,” “Communication technologies,” and “Experimental terraforming technology.” But when he reached “Robotics and electrical field research,” he paused.
The wheels in Drake’s mind started turning. The last advance the Hareema had exposed was the one that made them resistant to Zantharian bioelectricity. It had been the driving force behind his own mission, to determine how they’d managed to suddenly find a way to protect themselves from the bioweapon after centuries of vulnerability.
This single advancement could tip the war to the enemy’s favor and destabilize the entire quadrant quickly. He’d debated for hours with his brother, Supreme Regent of Zanthar, and their security council on how to counter this threat. They’d also gathered intelligence from their human counterparts and gone over every detail of Dr. Cohen’s mission as well as Captain Brooklyn’s trip.
One detail that had stuck out had been the ability of the human’s robotic defense robots, affectionately known as FIDOs, to pick out Hareema DNA. Human scanning technology wasn’t very advanced, compared to the Zantharian’s and others’ scanners, so it was surprising that the robots had found a method of determining friend from foe.
Now, standing in front of the lab that dealt with both robotics and electrical fields, Drake wondered if there wasn’t a connection between the two. He opened the door and waited for the lights to come on. The lab was the messiest he’d seen yet, with papers and schematics strewn everywhere among parts and assemblies whose functions he had no idea about.
There were two smaller chambers at the back of the room, both with their own doors, and Drake made his way over to the one of the left. He opened the door and found a small office crammed full of books, mechanical parts, and a series of robots lining the shelves.
“Whoa cool,” he heard from behind him and turned around. Jamie stood there, taking in the room. “Look at all these creatures,” she said, heading towards the shelves and their inhabitants.
“Find anything?” he asked, shuffling through some papers on the overflowing desk. Apparently the desk belonged to a Dr. Keith Lakewood, premier researcher in the field of electronics and robotics.
“Nope,” she replied, fiddling with the robots. “But I don’t know how you expected me to. I know double nothing about science. Now, if this was an experimental fashion design lab, I might be able to help you, but for now, everything’s Greek to me.”
Drake wondered idly who this “Greek” was but decided not to ask. Suddenly there was a high-pitched chirping noise, and Jamie jumped back from the shelves. There was movement, then a series of beeps.
“HERMAN activated!” a low-pitched voice said, and then a robot in the shape of a ball bounced itself off the shelf and onto the floor.
“Oops,” Jamie breathed. “I was just admiring the robots but I didn’t mean to turn one on.”
Drake bit back a reply about how she should be careful about turning on unwitting creatures like himself and instead watched as the ball rolled around the room, beeping delightedly. “It doesn’t look like it can cause much harm,” he said. “It probably has a motion detection array. It will likely turn itself back off when we leave.”
“Correct,” the device chimed in. “HERMAN wakes up when motion is detected.”
“How cute,” Jamie squealed. “Herman, that’s your name?”
“Correct. Human Emulating Robotic Assistance Negotiator. HERMAN for short.”
“I love him,” Jamie said, her eyes full of mirth.
Drake wanted to laugh but had to play the straight man. “We don’t have time to make new friends, Jamie. Let’s check out the room across from this one.”
“Fine,” she said, waving at the electronic ball. “It was nice to meet you, Herman.”
“Likewise,” the ball responded.
Drake rolled his eyes, walked out of the office, and opened the door for the small lab across from it. The chamber was stark, a large contrast from the messy office they’d just departed.
Jamie followed behind him, and Drake was surprised to see the round robot roll in after them. He looked around, but there wasn’t much to see. The center of the chamber was empty, with the exception of a contraption that hung from the ceiling. There were no tables, no chairs, just the control panels and monitors that were attached to the walls.
“Nothing to see here,” Jamie said, then turned to go back out the door. She failed to notice Herman, who’d come to a stop behind her. She tripped, stumbling into the door and pushing it closed. At the same time her hand hit a panel beside the door.
The entire room flashed red, and there was a loud click. Jamie righted herself, then pulled on the door handle. It wouldn’t budge.
“What’s going on?” she asked, tugging on the door.
“You initiated the time lock mechanism,” the robot said.
“
Time lock?” Drake was on instant alert.
“Correct. This lab tests electrical fields. In order not to damage other sensitive equipment, the lab is time locked to ensure no entry during the testing phase.”
“So we’re locked in?” Jamie’s voice had a frantic edge.
“Correct.”
“For how long?”
“Approximately three hours.”
“Shit!” Drake was furious. The damn robot had completely fucked him.
Jamie pulled out her phone to glance at the clock. “That means the door will unlock at 7:35 or so.”
No, no, no. That’s too late!
All of a sudden, his decision not to recharge his skinsuit last night seemed like the greatest folly of all time. He’d thought they’d be out of NASA and he’d be home by six at the latest. That would have left him enough time to get out of the suit before it reverted back to its gelatinous form.
But now he was trapped in this room for three hours. Almost an hour longer than the time he had left on his suit.
That meant that his real form would be exposed. In a little over two hours.
Then Jamie would see what he really was and his cover would be irrevocably blown.
Fuck!
Chapter 11
Drake almost shoved her out of the way to get to the door. He tugged at the handle but the door stayed shut tight.
Jamie moved back, a frown on her face. She could understand him being upset at their being trapped, but his expression was closer to a feral animal than a frustrated man.
“Hey,” she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “So we have to wait a few hours. I doubt anyone will notice us locked away in this back room.” She glanced around the room, looking for the ubiquitous light-ringed cameras she’d seen in the other offices.
She couldn’t find any. “There don’t seem to be any outside cameras in this lab. We can just hunker down here for a few hours and no one will be the wiser.”
“That’s not going to work for me,” he said, turning his attention to the locking panel. There wasn’t much to see there, as it was all recessed. She heard Drake growl in frustration and bang his fist against the panel. Nothing happened.
