Last Flight of the Ark (4 page)

Jessica hit her com. “Melissa?”

“Melissa, here.”

“He ditched me on the lift. I need to take a look at his arm. He…. I thought he’d injured it. He’ll listen to you.”

“How bad is it?”

“It should be mangled. Sheba did a number on his forearm, or at least I thought I saw her do it. But his arm seems normal, like he never hurt it. I can’t get a closer look to make sure it’s not nerve damage, and I’m certain the bioscanner has to be malfunctioning. You said we were all good to go, but he can’t be, and he’s being a baby about it, avoiding examination.”

Melissa groaned. “Let me get the ship on auto and I’ll find him and drag him to med. Make sure you’ve got everything you need when I get him there. We might have to knock him out to get a look. You know how he was with the hives.”

“Roger.” They’d chased him around the ship with a steroid shot and a topical anesthetic cream. It had taken five days to catch him. They’d practically had to sit on him and hold him down to get the cream on his boo-boos. Jessica smiled. Maybe this time she could offer to kiss and make it better?

***

Kaleb ran his arm under the water and slowly peeled the shirt off. He lifted the fabric to his nose and sniffed. He could smell her, even under the blood. She’d been aroused before she’d taken it off, before the wolf had bitten him.

Damn.

He dropped it to the floor and stepped into the shower. The water seemed dirty. He could smell and taste the chemicals used to recycle and filter it. He glanced down at his arm, expecting to see shredded meat. Instead, small scars puckered up from where the wolf’s teeth had punctured flesh. He blinked and raised it closer. Wounds didn’t heal that fast. And people couldn’t smell fear or hear someone’s heart race from across a lift.

Now that he was away from her, he could think, and now that he had mental clarity, his thoughts scared the hell out of him. This couldn’t, shouldn’t, be possible.

He shut the water off and strode out of the shower, dripping everywhere. He wiped his hand across the mirror and studied his reflection. Golden eyes stared back: cold, feral, and hungry. He blinked and looked again. They practically glowed. Had the radiation somehow merged the wolf’s DNA with his? He ought to know. He was a geneticist. Everything about the situation screamed mutation. Those eyes weren’t human. His sight, sense of smell, the urges weren’t human. The hunger wasn’t human. Well, maybe a little. Eight months of celibacy would make any man hungry.

If the wolf’s DNA had merged with his, did the same happen to Sheba? She’d bitten him, had his blood in her mouth. He wiped down, pulled on a pair of pants, and yanked his combat boots on, drawing them up tight. Kaleb took one more look in the mirror and hit the lights. He was willing to bet Sheba was feeling as human as he was animal.

Kaleb wrapped the dressing around his arm and taped it into place. Better they not see the bite, or more to the point, the scar. Until he figured out how it had healed so fast and why he begun to experience the strange, wolflike side effects, it seemed better to keep it hidden. He’d needed to get to the lab and take a look at his blood under a scope. If something had happened on a molecular level, he’d see it there for sure.

But they also needed to prep the animals and separate them to the appropriate crates, a priority as the
Genesis II
was only a week behind them. Any deviation to the schedule would raise questions. Questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

Not all animals were being dropped in the same location. They certainly couldn’t drop a polar bear in the tropics any more than they could stick an ape in the frozen tundra. Sorting out species and setting up mini-ecosystems took time. They needed to be monitored and managed until they thrived.

Two years sounded like a long time, but Kaleb wondered if it would be enough. The planet would have its own natural laws. It would take time to learn about the diseases, viruses, and bacteria of this world. They’d only scraped the surface. Hell, Earth still had viruses and unknown bacterial strains they’d yet to figure out, and this planet certainly had a monkey wrench or two waiting to be tossed into the works.

Plus, some things couldn’t be tested in a lab, and that was why he was here. It was his mission to bring the lab to Terra II, and he prayed it’d work. It would be tricky. Even the length of the day could affect breeding cycles. Some of the plants were native, most imported over a careful transplantation process, shuttled in, and planted via specialized robotics.

Nobody knew how the foreign species would do in the new environment until they’d been there awhile. The population could explode, dwindle, or evolve. That was Kaleb’s job. He’d monitor any mutations and study them to determine the reason. It could be as simple as a longer day or something far more dangerous, like radiation exposure. If they started to evolve, he’d be the first to know, and it looked like at least one species already had. Too bad it wouldn’t go in his report to command.

Another team of scientists would arrive within the week to bring the total number of crew members to two thousand three. The
Ark
was to remain in orbit until they contacted them. Teams would be dispatched to help with pulling the animals out of stasis and coordinating the drops. Several others would be on the ground waiting as they arrived with the animals. Ten shuttles, each fitted out for different animals, were docked in the
Ark
. One large shuttle was big enough to haul buffalo, grizzly, and the exotics that wouldn’t fit in the smaller shuttles. The Arctic creatures had cooled transports to ease stress and help them acclimate faster.

Because of the number of animals they transported, resources like oxygen, water, and fuel had been limited, and only three personnel were assigned to the
Ark
to babysit the cells and keep the ship on course.

The small crew was both a blessing and a curse. If he alerted them, they were required to notify command. There were procedures to be followed should they become compromised by a virus or illness. Since it wasn’t the flu they were dealing with, quarantine would go in effect for the entire crew and cargo. That meant they’d all die orbiting a living, breathing world. Oxygen and fuel didn’t last forever.

He wouldn’t be the reason they died. He’d launch himself and that wolf on a one-way trip into deep space before he’d let that happen.

The first stop was down to the bay, where he could examine Sheba. If she exhibited signs of the mutation, there was a good chance the condition was caused by the exchange of DNA right before the jump through that irradiated cloud. He’d remove another pair of wolves from cryo and examine them.

Now he only needed to hide his eyes and pray that one of his other crew members didn’t notice. Melissa would be flying the shuttles and busy. Little chance they’d come into contact with one another. Jessica was another matter. He’d be working side by side with her, prepping and loading the animals for the drops. He could assign separate bays, but eventually they’d meet up. Hiding his eyes would be difficult. He was lucky she hadn’t noticed in the previous encounter. He only had a week to figure it all out. When the
Genesis II
arrived, he’d better have answers or he’d better be gone.

He pressed his palm into the predator bay lock and disengaged the hatch. Kaleb poked his head into the bay. Empty. Good. Without Jessica present, he should be able to examine Sheba more thoroughly. He walked past several cages and stopped in front of Sheba’s. She rose to her feet and trotted over to where he stood by the door. She playfully flopped to her back and wiggled back and forth like a puppy.

“I’m not falling for that line again.”

She whined, rolled to her belly, and dropped her head on her paws. She stared at him with intense, blue eyes. He leaned in, studying them. “I’m not the only one.”

“Only one, what?”

Kaleb jumped as Melissa came up behind him but was careful to keep his eyes away from her gaze. “Anxious to get off this ship,” he said.

“We need you on deck in an hour and a half, sir. We got a message from our sister ship. She’s arrived early.”

Early? How was that possible? They were at least a week behind the
Ark
. Perhaps she was trying to lure him up to med bay? When she didn’t question him further, he relaxed. “Very good, Captain.” He nodded his head, keeping his eyes on Sheba and away from Melissa. “I’ll be up shortly. Just checking on our star passenger.” Actually, he’d no intention of going up. Not yet. Not now. He needed to get the other wolves out of cryo, get blood samples, and go over to his lab, away from observant eyes. Away from Jessica and Melissa.

“I heard about that.” She stepped closer. “Was it bad?”

“Surprisingly, a flesh wound. I put some ointment on it and wrapped it up to keep it clean. Took a shot of antibodies. All set.”

She moved away. He could smell the worry on her, even though she tried not to show it. “Looks like you’ve got it under control.”

“Yes, thank you, Captain.” Now why did that lie make him feel like a complete ass?

Melissa spun on her heel.

Because he was.

The door whooshed open and closed. He sucked in a deep breath.
She knows I’m hiding something
. He rubbed his face. Question was, would she keep it quiet or report him? No reason to wait around and find out. Kaleb pressed the com. “Captain Deluzio.”

“Sir?”

“I need to speak with you a moment—privately.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll wait for you on the lift.”

“I’ll be right there.” He shut the com off and groaned. That damned tight space again. This day wasn’t turning out to be one of his finest. He strode toward Melissa and the confrontation he’d rather avoid.

***

He’d lied!
Melissa punched the metal panel and immediately regretted it. She shook her hand and bounced up and down, swallowing a really inappropriate word.

Instinct told her she’d find him there. She’d watched as he’d stared into the cage at the wolf that bit him. Sheba thumped her tail and glanced at him with adoring eyes. She couldn’t blame her. He was fine male flesh. A little older than her taste, early forties, but he’d held together well.

Twelve years ago his hair might have been the color of wet coffee grounds; now silver streaked through it. It didn’t take away from his appeal, but added to it. It gave him a mature look and his glacier-blue eyes all but glowed next to it.

He hadn’t gone in with Sheba. Instead, he’d stood there, talking to her, making up. A part of him, even though he didn’t like to admit it, had a softer side. Melissa found it incredibly sexy. It didn’t show often, but when it did—wow.

That didn’t make him weak, either. He’d bitch night and day about not being a tactics officer, that he was a scientist and not made for the military. He might be a scientist, but he had the backbone of a war-hardened veteran and he was commander for a reason. He was a born leader, and the powers in charge had seen it. Everyone had seen it but him. He had a way with people and animals, an instinct one had to be born with. He could read faces and with one look, know if you were friend or foe.

He wasn’t too tall or too short, around six two. She could wear heels and still be an inch shorter. He worked out every day, ate healthy, treated his body well, and it showed. But there was more to the man than a great face and body. He was complex and had more layers than anyone she knew.

Kaleb Titan was a genius who could be charming or aggravating, funny or serious, but he always stuck to his own moral code. He never wavered or second-guessed and never hesitated to put his crew first. He’d go down with his ship if he knew it would save lives. So why the hell had he lied to her?

She’d startled him when she’d come up from behind, intruding on his moment. He didn’t turn to address her. Strange behavior. He always looked her in the eye. Well, not always. She’d caught him looking lower a couple times.

He could pretend he didn’t notice, but he did. In fact, she wanted him to. He was the only man she’d ever wanted to notice her. Melissa preferred women, but there was something about Colonel Titan that tripped the igniter in her body and she damn well wanted to find out why. But right now, the switches he’d flipped didn’t have her afterburners going. She was pissed.

He’d called her captain, addressed her by rank. The bastard was hiding something and her gut told her it wasn’t just the condition of his injury.
He lied
. As long as she’d known him, he’d never done that. Rage rolled through her. Why start now? Didn’t he trust her with the truth? He claimed they were family out here. Family didn’t do that. So she’d left. She’d left before she did something she’d regret.

Now here he was, like he’d been with Sheba, kissing up and trying to make it all better.

“Why’d you lie to me?” she asked.

“About what?”

“A flesh wound? Jessica told me Sheba shredded your arm. She thought you would bleed to death it was so bad. But what really gave you away is you always call me Melissa. Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I report this incident? And don’t tell me you’re anxious to get to the planet.”

Kaleb raised his gaze to hers and she lost her breath. His eyes. They glowed. They’d changed. They were….

“Shit.”

“I think the radiation spliced my DNA with Sheba’s.”

“Your eyes.”

“Yeah, and other things. I think it’s a result of the bite and the gamma cloud. Besides the wolf that bit me, I think I’m a singular case. Our DNA seems to have merged.” He studied her. “Have you felt anything odd? Jessica seemed a bit…. maybe I was kicking off pheromones. Never mind.”

Melissa shook her head. She hadn’t, but he obviously was experiencing some strange side effects. Jessica was fine. She’d examined her fully. “I ran a full diagnostic on Jessica and myself an hour ago. It’s bizarre, but you wouldn’t even know we’d been exposed to the gamma. Are you a danger to the mission, sir?”