“Uh-huh,” Paul agreed. “Shit. It’s almost like one of those pet chips my wife had implanted in our dog in case he ever got lost. Maybe a bit bigger.”

“He was tagged with a tracking system of some sort?” Justice had returned. He wore the same type of outfit as the nurse, only in a larger size.

“I don’t know what it is,” Ted admitted. “We won’t know until I remove it.”

“Do it,” Fury demanded.

Moon nodded. “Yeah. Get it out of me. I don’t know why they’d want to be able to track me though. Our enemies know exactly where we are. Here or at Reservation.”

Harley growled. “What if they have some kind of weapon that could target a certain location? A missile of some sort. It could be sending out a homing signal.”

“Get it out of him now,” Justice ordered. “I’m calling Tim and getting his input. He’d know all about military-grade weapons.”

Moon’s first thought was of Joy as he stared up at Harley. “Get Joy out of here. Take her to human housing and stay with her.” He didn’t want her anywhere near him until he could be sure of what was going on. He also didn’t want to lose Harley if Medical came under attack.

“I’m not leaving you.”

Damn stubborn Species. “Are you really a brother?”

Harley’s dark eyes narrowed and he softly growled. “You’re pulling that card?”

“Yes. Get her to safety and stay with her.”

“Fuck.” Harley spun away and marched toward the door. “You don’t play fair.”

“Put on some pants first,” Moon called out. The idea of Joy seeing so much of Harley didn’t sit well with him. What if she found him more sexually appealing? The concept alone had him ready to call Harley back. He didn’t say anything though and lay still.

Chapter Eleven

Joy paced the living room of the cottage and chewed on her bottom lip. Harley watched her from the couch, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Is that helping any? This exercise of yours?”

She resisted the urge to flip him off. The male was annoying but she knew he was worried about what was going on with Moon at Medical. So was she. Harley had told her about the object in Moon’s arm.

“You should have told me about his arm before we left Medical.”

“Would you have left?”

She stopped walking. “No.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“Doesn’t the NSO have antimissile systems or something similar to shoot anything down if someone launches an attack?”

“We have armed guards with weapons to deal with anything that is a threat. We aren’t sure why anyone associated with Mercile would put a tracker inside Moon but that’s the nastiest scenario we could think of and it’s better to be prepared for the worst. Maybe they only wanted to see if we’d fly him to Homeland from Reservation. They may have wanted to track our flight patterns. We change them often after one of our helicopters was shot down. I can think of a dozen more reasons they might have done it.”

“I don’t know how you live like this.” Joy paced again. “So many ass**les to deal with and so much danger. Why can’t they leave Species alone?”

“We wish they would stop harassing us too. Wishing doesn’t make it so.” He crossed his ankles, his bare toes wiggling. “Your world isn’t so safe either. We get your news on our televisions. There are no muggings, rapes, or carjackings on NSO lands.”

Joy kept pacing.

“We don’t steal from each other. We don’t—”

“I get it!” She groaned. “I’m overreacting and not being reasonable. Your crime rate is much lower here. I’m a bit freaked out over the whole tracker-missile thing. You have to admit that is kind of sinister.”

“The term enemy implies they aren’t pleasant to deal with.”

Joy knotted her hands together at her waist and shot him an exasperated look. “I’m ranting, Harley. It’s a normal way for people to express their frustrations. I’m worried about Moon and what is going on with him.”

“Oh. This is a human thing?” One eyebrow arched.

“Yes.” She shrugged and relaxed. “More specifically, a woman thing. You’re supposed to nod, not start an argument with me.”

“Got it.”

She studied him. “You’re pretty calm for a Species under stress.”

“We’ve come a long way since we were freed, Doc. Don’t expect me to lie back on this couch and start discussing how I feel. It isn’t happening. I’m also not going to tear up my fists punching your nice walls. It’s tempting but it won’t accomplish anything unless you want a more open feel between the kitchen and living room.”

Joy smiled. She liked the Species when he wasn’t threatening her or accusing her of doing nefarious things to Moon. “I doubt the NSO would appreciate you remodeling one of the guest cottages.”

“Probably not.” He glanced at his wrist and then sighed. “I keep forgetting I don’t have a watch.”

“What happened to it?” She was curious about how dependent Species had become on technology. It had been a long time since she’d been around them. Gadgets had been foreign to them after Mercile.

“I laid everything too close to that stove. My watch and boots were ruined.” He glanced down his body at the sweats and NSO-logo T-shirt with a grimace. “I miss my jeans but I promised Moon I’d make sure you got here and stayed.”