Copyright
Good thing he was at Ft. Lukman, Lieutenant Liam Corland thought. At any other military facility, he would never feel comfortable walking calmly with his dog, Chase, across the nearly empty grounds, in his casual camo uniform, later in the morning than he should be reporting for duty. In fact, he wouldn’t feel comfortable working at any other military facility, period.
But this was where Alpha Force was stationed. He had just left his apartment in the bachelor officers’ quarters. Now he headed toward the building across the compound that contained so many important functions—mainly laboratory, cover dog kennel and offices, including his own.
Sure, he should have started his important assignment of this day an hour ago, so he didn’t want to make his lateness too obvious. He avoided the most used pathways, hustling along behind buildings occupied by units other than Alpha Force. Chase and he would be picked up on security cameras when they sneaked in through a back door of the appropriate building, but no one would do anything about it, since they belonged there. Besides, he had a good excuse, and he probably wasn’t the only one who slept in a bit. Not that he had gotten much sleep anyway.
There had been a full moon last night. He had shifted, of course—pretty much on his own terms, thanks to Alpha Force.
And thanks also to the help of his aide, Sergeant Denny Orringer, who now waited for him in the kennel and lab building. Covering for him, if necessary.
He’d talked to Denny earlier, and—
There. Chase and he had reached the back of that building, near the doors leading into the kennel area. The shapeshifters’ cover dogs like Chase were kept there frequently, along with other dogs that helped this military base look like it had a lot of well-trained canines living here all the time.
Of course Alpha Force members who had cover dogs also kept them with them a lot as well, both at Ft. Lukman and when they were traveling—as long as there were some living here, too, to keep up appearances.
Liam, a tech expert, used the key card he had programmed himself to open the back door. He slipped in and enclosed Chase in one of several fenced areas, joining three dogs that resembled him.
Of course, Chase looked wolfen, resembling Liam himself while he was shifted...
“See you later, guy,” Liam whispered to his canine companion, who was already being greeted by his fellows.
Heading for the stairway down to the most important floor of the building, which contained offices and the laboratories where the very special Alpha Force elixir was brewed, Liam walked slowly, figuring he was likely to run into someone else dressed like him.
But fortunately, he saw no one—so no one saw him, either, as he again used a key card to open a door, this time to the stairs.
He heard raised voices from down the hall when he slipped carefully into his own office. They sounded excited. With his special senses, even when he was in human form, he could easily have eavesdropped had he wanted to.
But what he wanted was to get to work.
First, though, he
