The Minister's Manipulation: (An Alpha Alien Romance Novel)

by Liza Probz

  The major's eyes narrowed. “How can I trust you? I just caught you with a Hareema infiltrator. You could just as easily be one of those things, trying to trick me into betraying my government.”

  Sylvie sighed. That was the problem with a shape-shifter invasion. No one ever knew who to trust. She honestly didn’t either.

  “You can shock me. Fill me full of volts and watch. I won't change shape.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “It’ll hurt like hell.”

  “I know, but it's the only way to tell for sure, and I need an ally badly. Make it quick. I’m worried about your regent.”

  The major nodded, and Sylvie steeled herself as she watched the familiar waves cover his skin. He put a hand against her arm and sent a powerful pulse through it.

  She fell to the ground, twitching as her teeth pressed tightly together. The shock was painful, but not nearly as bad as the ones she had experienced from X. Maybe she was building up a tolerance to it. Was this what it was like for a patient in electroshock therapy? Best not to think about it.

  The major grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet.

  “So you aren't a shape shifter, but you could still be working with them. This could all be part of an elaborate plan--”

  “Look,” she cut him off. “They've definitely got an elaborate plan, and I was probably part of it. Mostly a distraction, I think, one that has paid off. But I promise you that I've not once taken any action on their behalf deliberately.”

  She chafed against the bindings, but didn't bother to ask him to remove them. He didn't trust her yet. She had to try and make him understand, because if he didn't help her, she wouldn’t be able to engineer X's rescue alone.

  “I've done nothing since I've landed here to indicate that I'm working with the enemy, or that I'm disloyal to your regent. I took out two Hareema agents on my own and saved the regent from a kidnapping attempt. I stopped my ship from self-destructing and killing the regent. And now I'm begging you to help me rescue him once more.

  “I believe now that there must be Hareema on Earth, although I don't know to what extent or what their plans there are. I think they must have known about this mission, and timed it to coincide with their actions on Zanthar. I don't believe my ship was responsible for taking down the planetary defense shield, but I think someone on the inside here made the shield malfunction at the precise moment that I entered the atmosphere, making it look like it was my fault.”

  The major eyed her, but nodded. “I've heard that they haven't been able to figure out anything on your ship that could have caused the malfunction. You could be right.”

  Sylvie let out a breath of relief. She might be able to convince him. “The Hareema must have taken the place of at least one high official within your government. That's the only way they could have masterminded the entire set-up.”

  “You still haven't told me how you got out of that lab.” He lifted an eyebrow at her.

  The major seemed stuck on how he might have failed in his own duty more than anything else.

  “I don't know. I was unconscious. Did anyone go in or out while we were in the lab?”

  The major shook his head. “No. No one went in or out. There was a delivery about an hour or so ago. A cart holding some kind of equipment that you'd requested. The attendant just unsealed the door and pushed it in, but he didn't go in himself. Said you didn't want to be disturbed.”

  A cart with equipment? She didn't remember that. It must have occurred while she was sleeping.

  “Is the cart still in the room?”

  “No. A few moments later, the regent pushed it back out into the hallway, saying it was the wrong piece of equipment. The attendant returned a couple minutes later and wheeled it off down the corridor.”

  “What did the equipment and the cart look like?” Sylvie had an inkling of an idea, but she wanted more information before sharing.

  The major squinted into the distance, attempting to remember the details. “The cart was just a regular cart. It had some kind of sample case on it, about a meter square. The sample case was tinted, like the ones they keep phosphorescent samples in, to block out their light.”

  “I think I know how they did it.” Sylvie couldn't believe how easy it was for shape shifters to achieve their goals.

  “How who did what?” He appeared loyal, but perhaps lacking in critical thinking skills.

  “How the Hareema got me out of the room and their agents in.”

  The major frowned. “We followed protocol. When the attendant approached, we initiated an energy exchange to confirm he was Zantharian. He was.”

  “The attendant was probably just following orders, which seems to be a very popular action here on your planet. The attendant had nothing to do with it.”

  The Zantharian officer gave her a blank stare, so she continued, trying to maintain her patience.

  She sighed. “You're missing the point. The cart wasn't a cart. It was a Hareema agent. And another agent was hiding in the sample case.”

  The major's mouth fell open and Sylvie could tell he didn't understand. “Hareema can become anyone, right? And your government has protocols to prevent their infiltration, such as energy exchanges. While that might work for Hareema posing as Zantharians, it doesn't account for shape shifters taking the form of inanimate objects.”

  She moved through the event, point by point so the major could follow. “The attendant pushes the cart in and leaves, as he's been instructed to.”

  “Instructed by whom?” the major cut in.

  “By whichever Hareema put in the orders. It could be that an agent took the shape of the regent and put in a request for the equipment. The fake regent could have said he was busy and didn't want to be disturbed. He tells the attendant to push the cart in and leave, nothing more. So the attendant pushes the cart in, not noticing that we were unconscious on the floor because he's been told to leave the cart and go. So that's what he does.”

  Sylvie played the scene through in her mind as she talked. “The agent hidden in the sample case morphs into a copy of the regent and picks me up, making sure to grab my restraints as well. Then he sticks me in the sample case and closes the lid. I'm small enough and flexible enough that I could be folded into a meter square, I think. Especially if I was limp and unconscious at the time. The Hareema masquerading as the regent pushes the cart back out the door, telling you that the equipment is incorrect.”

  Sylvie could see it all so clearly in her mind. “The agent goes to the console and calls the attendant, telling him that he wants the sample case moved to a laboratory down the hall. Then he changes shape again, taking my form, and waits for the regent to wake up.”

  She tried to block out the sudden memory of the Hareema mimic in X's arms. It wasn't easy, but she pushed the image away and continued. “Meanwhile, the attendant moves the cart into an empty lab that is very similar to the original one, and then leaves. The cart, which has really been another Hareema agent the whole time, changes shape, taking the form of the regent, and pulls me out of the sample case.”

  Sylvie frowned. “They didn’t intend for either of us to notice a difference, but I did. I realized the creature with me was not the regent. I don't think the real regent was so quick on the uptake, though.”

  “So you're saying the regent is with an enemy agent right now?” The major’s eyes widened as little streaks of red appeared in his green exterior. Fear.

  Sylvie nodded, recalling the scene outside the lab. “What was all that commotion when I got your attention?”

  The major grimaced. “They were coming to arrest the regent.”

  “Arrest him? Then it's worse than I thought.” Her lips turned down as fear washed over her. “We have to come up with a plan to rescue him before it's too late.”

  The crimson slashes in the major's skin pulsed violently, drawing her attention to his emotions.

  “We better hurry, or the whole planet might be taken over by Hareema mimics before we can stop the
m.”

  How right you are.

  Zanthar was vulnerable, and their actions would be decisive in the struggle against the Hareema. But what seemed to worry her most was that X would be left alone with her copy and would do something he might regret. Something that would crush the fragile relationship growing between them. Or worse, something that would react with the mating frenzy and hurt him.

  Or kill him.

  “Before we go after him, we need a plan.” Sylvie closed her eyes and let out a sharp puff of air. Too much in too short of a span of time.

  “Let's get out of the hallway before we're spotted.” The major opened the cell in front of them and walked out.

  Sylvie followed him in, shivering as she once again found herself stuck in a Zantharian cell. But at least this time, she wasn't a prisoner.

  If they could figure out how to save the planet, she'd be a hero, but honestly all she cared about was getting X back and ensuring that he lived.

  Chapter 38

  Xivthar was being led down the corridor in disgrace. There was a squadron of guards surrounding him, and his own brother was leading the group, having used the mating frenzy as an excuse to put himself into power.

  This doesn’t make sense. If he'd only waited a few more days, or even hours, he could have had the title of Acting Regent without going to the council and building a case against me. If he'd waited until I was dead, there wouldn't have been a problem.

  But Drake hadn't waited. He'd informed the council of Xivthar's mating frenzy, brought on by the Earthling female, and used it as leverage to get himself declared regent. Now he was taking Xivthar to a cell somewhere to rot, until he died of the frenzy or the Hareema seized the planet.

  The only bright spot in all of it was the female by his side. She'd been bound like him, and was being marched to captivity as he was. The fact that she wasn’t immediately taken away gave him a bit of peace in the midst of the storm he faced.

  He glanced down at her, with her golden hair, intense green eyes, and soft lips. Xivthar cursed the interruption of earlier. He'd been ready to bury himself inside her, to relieve the burning lust he couldn't seem to get rid of. To mate with his chosen female.

  Instead, his brother had burst in and ruined everything.

  “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

  His brother Drake, former Minister of Defense and current Acting Supreme Regent, looked back over his light green shoulder.

  At least he's no longer maroon. Or maybe he should be. What comfort is there in knowing that he’s completely neutral over the thought of imprisoning me? I’m his only family. Some blue would be nice.

  “You've been charged with treason. You're going to be executed.”

  Xivthar was stunned. “Without a trial? I don't get to face my accusers and the charges against me in front of the council?”

  There was a strict adherence to the law on Zanthar, but those who'd been accused of a crime were always given a fair trial.

  “No trial is necessary.” His brother's smile was snide. “Do you realize, brother, that we're at war here?”

  “But that doesn't mean you can suspend all forms of justice--”

  “The council doesn't agree with you.” Drake's smile widened even further. “I convinced them to pass an initiative that would help us deal more aggressively with the Hareema threat. Any Hareema agent found on Zanthar is to be immediately disposed of. Any Zantharian collaborator proved to be working with the Hareema is to be considered a traitor and to be executed posthaste.”

  Drake had always been very serious in his defense of the planet, but these actions didn't sound like him. “No trial? Immediate executions? Isn't that going too far?”

  “To defend the planet? I don't think so.” Drake's response was met by the squad's affirmations and head nods. Apparently others agreed with his hard-line tactics.

  “You said once someone's been proven to be an enemy collaborator. What's the evidence against me that merits immediate execution?” Xivthar couldn't wait to hear his brother's response.

  “There were several charges brought against you,” Drake said. “The most damning evidence was your own skin. You've gone dark, given in to the mating frenzy, all for a female who we know works for the enemy.”

  “She does not,” Xivthar growled, wondering why Sylvie hadn't spoken up in her own defense. Come to think of it, she'd been very quiet. Usually she was asking questions and butting in every few seconds. Now she was walking down the hall at his side, head down, silent.

  Odd.

  “Her ship brought down our shields.”

  “You have no proof of that,” Xivthar countered.

  Sylvie remained silent.

  Xivthar looked at the Earthling female again and quickly realized that his gut wasn't acting in the same way it had been. It should have been chewing him to pieces for not plunging inside her when he had the chance. It should be driving him to irrationality, attempting to rescue her from the danger and protect her. Instead it was still, quiet. Why?

  Drake scowled. “We brought new evidence to light. Her ship was equipped with an embedded computer command to release a feedback pulse along the ship's shielding at the precise moment the craft entered the atmosphere.”

  Xivthar shook his head. “A feedback pulse from a craft that size wouldn't be able to knock out our shields.”

  “The scientists disagree,” his brother shot back. “And since we now know that she's working for the Hareema… that means she's the enemy. Seeing that you’re in bed with her, that makes you a collaborator.”

  “This is all shark shit,” Xivthar barked as rage pierced the center of him. “You have no real evidence.”

  “What I have is enough to destroy you, which is all I need.”

  Chapter 39

  The plan they'd worked out had gotten them into the chamber with her ship, but she wasn't sure how much farther it would take them.

  While they'd been planning in the lab, the major had pulled up a planet-wide bulletin on the console display. Xivthar had been arrested for treason and was on his way to being executed.

  His brother, Drak'Karren Rasveen, was Acting Supreme Regent and was apparently the one overseeing his own brother's execution. The Earthling female, who was currently a Sylvie-look-alike, was to be killed along with the former regent. The broadcast alleged that she'd been working with the Hareema to take down the planetary defense shield the whole time.

  “They say they found something on my ship to prove I took down the shields. The thing is, I don't think that command exists. We need to get back to my ship so I can talk to Magnis.”

  “Who's Magnis?” the major asked, confused.

  “Magnis is the ship's computer. He should be able to tell me if the so-called command exists or if someone is manipulating us.”

  “What about the regent? If they're going to execute him immediately, we don't have much time.”

  “I'm supposed to be executed as well. If they catch me wandering the halls, they'll think I'm Hareema for sure and zap me to death.”

  “If you get zapped, then they'll know the female by the regent's side is Hareema.”

  The major made a good point.

  “That will just cement further in everyone's minds that he's working with the enemy. We have to keep me out of sight.” She rubbed her wrists, glad to finally be free of her cursed restraints. “I still think getting to my ship is most important. If we can figure out a way to get it out of the lab, we can use it to rescue the regent. Somehow.”

  She'd come up with something on the fly, surely.

  “But how do we sneak you into the lab?” The major turned and crossed his thick arms over his chest.

  “Let's take a play from the Hareema playbook?” She smirked, unable to help herself.

  The major requisitioned a tinted sample case, which came on a cart just like the one the Hareema agent had impersonated. Sylvie had squeezed herself into the sample case, trying to keep calm while she was wheeled down the hallway
toward her ship.

  They'd met resistance in the hallway outside the chamber where her ship was kept, but it was almost expected at some point. The guards had demanded an energy exchange, then had questioned the major about the equipment and his purpose for entering the lab.

  The major played dumb. He was simply following orders. He was supposed to take the cart inside and to pack up some of the ship's equipment in the sample case. That was all he knew.

  Luckily, the guards must have been used to responses of this type because they let him in with little hassle.

  The chamber holding her ship was deserted as most of the scientists were distracted by the unfolding events.

  “Where is everyone?” Sylvie glanced around as she crawled out from her hiding place.

  “Most everyone turns out for an execution. They're rare, but well-attended. The scientists are probably all hustling to get good seats. This one is sure to be a really big deal. Never has a regent been sentenced to death before.”

  Public executions seemed to be a bit primitive for such an advanced people. But as this trip was teaching her, advanced technology did not necessarily entail advanced moral fiber.

  Still, it had worked to their advantage because now they were here, inside her ship, where the cameras couldn't see. Sylvie made her way to the main console and whispered to the green display.

  “Magnis, I'm back and I need your help.”

  The computer's voice was as monotone as ever. “Please explain.”

  “The Zantharians said they've found a code embedded inside you that created a feedback pulse from our shields when we hit the atmosphere. Is this true?”

  “I have no such record of a code.”

  Sylvie frowned. “Could such a code exist without you having a record of it?”

  “Unknown. I do not have enough training in philosophy to answer such a question.”