Last Flight of the Ark (8 page)

They both spun around as she hit the floor and glanced up at the open shaft. She pointed her laser. They raised their hands, eyeing her.

“Who are you?” they asked in unison.

“I’m Captain Melissa Deluzio of the
Genesis I
.”

A tall man with dark hair and cocoa skin nodded. “I’m Captain Bryant James, in charge of security on this vessel and this is Lieutenant Frank Jeffers. My profile is on the console behind you. The security code is—”

“Don’t need it. You wouldn’t have a private conversation in English if you’re one of the imposters, and we’re working for the same team here. I have access. Care to tell me where the rest of the crew is?” Melissa holstered her laser. That wasn’t the only reason she knew they weren’t the imposters. Strange. She could hear, feel, sense he was telling the truth. Perhaps her senses were heightened because of the danger. She’d heard flight for life could trigger such awareness. She avoided thinking about what the other reason could be.

He relaxed and lowered his hands. “They missed us. We were quarantined here in the med bay because of the flu. The rest of the crew, except command personnel, is on the lower decks as far as we can tell. We’ve been communicating by tapping Morse code on the water pipes to the level below.” He pulled out a digital clipboard, where he’d recorded the conversations. “Nobody really knows what’s going on above, except our command crew, and we haven’t been able to locate them.”

Melissa nodded. She needed to get them out of here and maybe they had some decent intelligence. They could also help her access the ship’s logs, need-to-know data she couldn’t get into. From there, she could see what the hijackers had been doing with the
Genesis II
since they’d taken control. But now wasn’t the time for that conversation. “Tell the others we know what’s going on and we plan to rescue them. Tell them to hold tight.”

“Captain, excuse me for saying this, but doesn’t the
Genesis I
only have a crew of three?”

Melissa nodded. “We may be small, but we’ve got Colonel Titan on our ship. If anyone can figure out a way to rescue you, it’s him.”

“I hope you’re right. You’re not going to believe what we’re dealing with.”

“You’d be surprised, Captain James. I’ve become a believer in a lot of things lately.”

***

She wanted off this ship. She wanted off bad. The imposter commander fought to keep still as Kaleb discussed the evolution of single-celled life forms and how it could be applied to the new world. He eyed the clock. Two hours. Melissa had been gone for two hours. Jessica had excused herself an hour and half ago, after Melissa paged her to assist in helping a grizzly with constipation. When she offered to give a demonstration on how to give the bear a suppository, their guests had looked appalled. He fought the smile that threatened.
If only
. He’d give them first crack at it.

“How much longer on this presentation?” The imposter sniffed. She looked at him with watery eyes. “Are there canines on this vessel?”

A little allergy problem, commander?
“Why, yes. We have several down in the bay. Wolf…coyote. Would you like a tour?”

She sniffed again and sneezed. “Not today. We’ll take our leave now and come back at the same time tomorrow. I need that drop schedule.”

“Right, the drop schedule. I’ll be damned if I know what I did with it. I have to make some changes anyway. Move the schedule up.” He glanced at the clock. Where was his crew? “I still haven’t gone over my presentation on—”

“I’ve had enough for today,” she barked and sneezed again. “Are you sure there are no canines up here?”

Kaleb nodded.

She rose to her feet and went through a series of sneezes, one after another, finally stopping on a count of twelve or so. She sucked in a deep breath and started again. Her bodyguards followed on her heels as she sneezed and walked, sneezed and walked, all the way out the door. If he wasn’t mistaken, she wasn’t the only one affected by his canine DNA. Her escorts had teary eyes and red noses. As soon as the doors shut, he hit the com.

“Melissa, report.”

“I just docked the shuttle. They’ve got the crew locked up in various rooms all over the ship. We can spring the locks via a transmission from our ship. I hacked into their ship’s computer and implanted a transmitter, but it’s going to take time for me to get the right codes so we can download the
Genesis II’s
logs.

“I also rescued a couple of their security personnel. They were quarantined with the flu in med-bay and were locked into an area I could access. They’ll fill you in on what they know once the envoy is off our ship. They should be able to help us access the
Genesis II’s
logs and get a bigger picture of what’s going on. Just wrapping up on the shuttle now.”

“They’re on their way down. You’re going to have to sit tight for a moment.”

“Roger.”

Kaleb walked over to the glass and stared out at the
Genesis II
. He’d hated putting Jessica and Melissa at risk like that. Who knew what the encroachers were capable of? They didn’t seem to have any trouble seizing a vessel with two thousand passengers and locking them up. Somehow, sometime, the commander of the
Genesis II
had underestimated them. That wouldn’t be the case with the
Ark
.

***

As she debriefed Kaleb on the status of the
Genesis II
, Melissa began to feel hot. Her temperature kept climbing until she thought she would faint. She tried to focus, but only caught bits and pieces of what was said.

Having been in quarantine with the flu, the security officers knew little, but they planned to hack into their ship’s mainframe after the meeting. With the information they should be able to secure, they’d have a better idea of what was going on. When she finally wrapped things up, she turned the remainder of the meeting over to Captain James and excused herself to go to her quarters, claiming she had a headache. It was almost impossible not to run from the room in a panic. She needed to stay calm, even with her body on fire. Something wasn’t right.

As soon as she hit the door, she rushed to the facet and cranked it on full. Melissa leaned over the sink and splashed water into her face, not caring that she soaked her uniform. Nasty. She sniffed and reached over to grab a towel, rubbing the moisture from her skin. The water smelled like sewage. Why hadn’t she noticed that before?

Something was wrong. She’d gone from hot to cold and back to hot again. She’d only exposed herself to the flu two hours before. There was no way it could affect her so quickly. And then there was the other problem, the reason she was in the latrine splashing ice-cold water on her skin.

She burned. Every square inch of her flesh burned. She unzipped her flight suit and shoved up her T-shirt sleeve. Infected? Melissa peeled the edge of the bandage off her shoulder to expose the skin underneath. There was blood on the bandage, but—Melissa leaned toward the mirror.
No. Oh God
. Maybe she was looking in the wrong spot? She tugged her shirt over her head and shoved her bra strap off her shoulder. She brushed her fingers over her skin.

Nothing.

No wound, no mark, no nothing. “Oh, hell.” She twisted her shoulder toward the light, examining it at another angle. “It’s there. You need to wash the blood away.”

She dipped the towel under the water, wrinkled her nose, and began to scrub, harder and faster. She looked again. Nothing but red skin from the vigorous buffing. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

The door slid open. “What?” Jessica walked up behind her.

“Nothing.” Melissa slapped her hand over her shoulder, hiding the spot.

Jessica raised a brow and reached over to grab her hand and pull it off. She stared for a moment and released it, letting it drop. “You’re infected.”

Melissa sucked in a breath. “That’s what it looks like.” There was a good chance she’d never see Earth again. Her heart sank. If Kaleb couldn’t cure this, they’d never go home.

“Anything else?”

Actually there was. She wanted Jessica. The moment she’d walked in, she could smell her and her heart began to pound. She wanted to taste her, kiss her, and touch her. The burning in her body raged into an inferno, threatening to ignite her from the inside. Melissa grabbed the front of Jessie’s flight suit and yanked her face to face.

“Yes, there is.” She closed her eyes and inhaled. Jessica’s heart pounded against her breasts, sending a flush of heat between her legs.

“And that would be?” Jessica’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“I’m hungry.”

“For a second I thought you were going to say—”

“For you,” Melissa growled and kissed her.

Her tongue slid between Jessica’s lips, coaxing her mouth to open. She tasted sweet. It all seemed amplified, every smell, taste, or touch. The need coiled tighter, winding her body like a spring. Never had she hurt with lust. She did now. She had to have her or she’d die.

Jessica ground her body against her, whimpering. The smell of her arousal washed through Melissa’s senses. She grabbed Jessica’s skirt and tugged it up, sliding her hand up her leg. The pulse in her thigh thrummed against her fingertips, tapping out a staccato beat under her touch. Higher and higher she slid her hand, savoring every inch of silken skin that slipped under her fingers. Jessica moaned and rocked against her, urging her closer to the heat, needing, wanting.

Melissa dropped to her knees and shoved her skirt to her waist. She ran a finger along the inside of Jessica’s panties and pressed her face against the fabric, inhaling, taking in all that was Jessica. Lust. Fire. Desire. “You drive me crazy.”

She ripped her thong off, shredding the delicate weave. Her flesh blazed under her touch as Melissa pushed her fingers inside and twisted.

Jessica’s knees gave way. She fell back against the sink, bracing herself. “Melissa,” she said, riding her fingers, taking her deeper. “Please.”

Melissa positioned Jessica’s leg onto one of her shoulders and licked her clit. She tasted like honey. Melissa groaned and sucked her clit between her teeth. Jessica’s body quivered. She fisted her hair and tipped her head back, crying out. Melissa continued, sliding a third finger in and worked them in and out. She laved Jessica with her tongue, licking, sucking, unable to get enough, wanting more, needing more, never having been so desperate.

Jessica’s legs shook and she whimpered. Melissa worked her tongue deeper and slipped another finger inside, stretching her as far as she would go.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Jessica’s orgasm exploded around her fingers. Muscles clenched tight, pulsing in wave after wave of pleasure. Melissa felt it at that moment. The animal inside wanted more, demanded more. It roared and fought for control. The smell of Jessica’s lust, the taste of her arousal, brought Melissa to climax. She came hard and fast, knocking the breath from her lungs. All without touch.

And still, it wasn’t enough.

The burning increased. “Shit.” Melissa pulled away. She scrambled backward to the corner, putting space between them. Her teeth hurt, her mind buzzed, tuning out everything but the ravenous need.
More. More. More
. A low whine rolled from her chest. It hurt. She clutched at the fabric of her skirt, fisting it, fighting the urge.

“Melissa?” Jessica took a step toward her.

“No. Please don’t come any closer. I think it’s happening to me.” She panted, trying to catch her breath. “Please.” Melissa hugged her knees and began to rock. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“What’s happening?”

“What happened to Kaleb when he bit me.”

“Sir, we need to talk.” Melissa’s voice blasted from the com. Kaleb snapped out of his trance.

“Roger. You know where to find me, Captain.” He’d been in the lab for hours and hadn’t realized how much time had passed. No question what she wanted to talk about. He figured it was coming anyway. He’d smelled the change in the hall before the meeting and knew she’d had issues during the briefing. She’d retired to her quarters to rest, claiming she had a headache. He knew better. He’d infected her with his condition and though he hated himself for it, maybe it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

He leaned in and stared into the scope for probably the hundredth time. This had to be the freakiest mutation he’d seen. Instead of being detrimental and creating a weakness, it seemed to accelerate healing and allow cells to regenerate and rebuild when he tried to destroy them. They renewed, repaired, and stopped once they obtained perfection. Who’d have thought?

He added a drop of Jeffers’s blood that contained the flu strain from the sample he’d acquired after the meeting. He watched and waited. In a matter of seconds, the mutation began to work, and altered Jeffers’s cells. After transforming the host’s cells, it went after the virus and the flu went dormant. He added another drop of blood, the mutated flu strain. The virus woke up with the introduction of fresh cells and attacked, converting the new cells to the mutated wolf-human form. Once done, the mutation did what it did best: it destroyed the virus. So, if what he saw was real, shortly after infecting the host, the engineered virus would burn out. In only a few hours, the contagion would be gone. That had him stunned. The damned mutation was smart and knew when it didn’t need the vehicle anymore.

He lifted his head and stared at his notes. If he were on Earth, the scientific community would have their shorts in knots over this. Most likely, they wouldn’t believe him if he told them the mutation had a kind of intelligence. Well, they weren’t looking through his scope, at his blood, and seeing the way the mutation selected what it would change and repair—and when.

He peeked into the scope again. “I can’t believe I’m seeing this.”

“Seeing what?” Melissa strode through the door of his lab.

Kaleb jerked his head up.

“I know this is bad timing, but something’s wrong. Really wrong.”

Before she even spoke, he’d known what she would say. He set the vial in the centrifuge. “You have a heightened sense of smell and hearing? Your libido has gone haywire and all you want to do is fuck?”