Her lips twisted. “Depended on the person. The general in charge didn’t really reveal how she felt about it, unlike the colonel, who’s convinced you’re here to enslave or destroy humanity.”
The claim raised his brows. “Why would we do that?”
She shrugged. “Dunno. He thought you might be kidnapping women so you could study and use them for the creation of a lethal virus.”
“We would never do such a thing.”
“He also had a theory you were spying on us to relay information for the armada he believes is en route to wipe us out.”
“This colonel doesn’t sound too intelligent.”
Colette snickered. “Agreed. The doctor they had at the interrogation seemed more curious than worried. She wanted to know all about you and Jaspar. Apparently, you’re not the first blue aliens to be spotted.”
“We have been visiting for some time now. I am not surprised they would have some record of our visits. Did the military give you instructions for me or Jaspar?”
“Just that they’d like to have a talk.” She frowned. “It occurs to me, though, that they didn’t give me a way to contact them.”
Beta spoke, and only he could hear.
“Uniformed humans have infiltrated the building and are ascending toward your position. Ready for transport.”
“Hold off,” he murmured aloud. Cade never had been good at the whole thinking hard enough for the communicator to understand.
“What?” Colette replied, not realizing he spoke to Beta.
He didn’t tell her of the approaching soldiers. “How did this general know you’d met with us?”
“Something about an energy pulse every time you beam. Guess their sensors picked it up. They knew about your visit to my office and then the one to my home.”
Interesting, and a recent development, obviously, since previous incursions by the Xamian hadn’t been detected. “Do they know the location of our vessel in orbit?”
“They didn’t say, although they did mention you cloaked when you entered our orbit.”
“More soldiers have just dropped from a flying craft onto the roof.”
Meaning Cade had little time.
“We need to apprise Jaspar of the situation.” He cocked his head, waiting for a reply.
A clueless Colette assumed he spoke to her. “Agreed, but I don’t think you need to panic. The general seemed more interested in finding out more about you than anything. Thankfully, she’s not crazy like the colonel. Otherwise, I doubt I would have been released so quickly.”
Not released so much as let loose as bait. Cade saw through the tactic.
Through his communicator he heard Jaspar speak. “Do not resort to violence, as it will defeat our mission. You should return to the ship rather than engaging.”
“Let’s not be hasty. Colette says they want to speak.”
“Are you talking to someone else?” Colette frowned as she stood from her chair.
He glanced at her and mouthed Jaspar. Then tapped his ear, hoping she understood.
The confusion in her expression cleared.
“Beta says they’re wearing body armor and carrying weapons. Doesn’t sound like they’re there to have a conversation.”
“Would you confront a stranger from another world unarmed?” he pointed out. “Seems more likely that they’d want to capture me in order to question.”
“Capture?” Colette exclaimed, only having heard his half of the conversation. “No, they said they wanted to talk to you.”
