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  “Overkill for one small vessel. They must suspect something.”

  “She’s paranoid. She has my DNA.” Perhaps Siobhan could outthink the clone. They shared the same brain cells only she had experience regarding how she would react in a given situation.

  Caid relinquished the craft’s controls and summoned Vizzy to the bridge and explained the situation.

  As tractor beams drew them inexorably closer to the planet, Siobhan grew more tense, every nerve ending on high alert.

  Vizzy holstered phaton cannons to his back and packed tasers in both hands.

  Caid plucked them from him and stashed them in a closet. “You’re asking to be shot.” He held out his hand. “Cannon.”

  Siobhan shared the Shellik’s frustration. How could they fight without weapons?

  As if he could read her mind, Caid said, “Reconnaissance. Patience.”

  Patience wasn’t her forte. But his advice held wisdom. Not that she had long to wait for well within a hensep, they were landing, boarded, and she came face to face with her double.

  “I am Captain Siobhan Mallory and you will bow to me. You will swear allegiance to me.”

  Caid stepped in front of her, shielding her. “With all due respect, Captain Mallory, our sole allegiance lies with the Queen of Violetia.”

  The evil imposter regarded them coldly, without emotion. “Then die. Take them to the execution chambers.”

  Guards grabbed their arms roughly and jerked them forward.

  “Remove your hands from my mate. We’ll comply.”

  She would swear Caid’s voice held a hint of possession and concern. She must be delusional. Or he’d interjected it for effect. Pirates only cared for themselves.

  Then why was he still with her? The niggling doubt taunted her. He could have ditched her long ago and escaped with a new identity to freedom and safety.

  This one was certainly an enigma. But she didn’t have time to puzzle it out now.

  “Take them to the court where they’ll swear their allegiance to me. Then assign them posts in our army quarters.”

  She’d heard of conscription, but never so aggressive.

  “We are a peace-loving people. We don’t believe in being warrior-like.” Caid kept a bland expression on his face as he placed a hand on her arm.

  “You will learn to obey my every command or be dealt with harshly.”

  Caid bowed and kept his mouth shut. He linked his fingers in hers and led her behind the soldiers.

  Anxious to learn the truth, she was dying to question her double. Why was she doing this? Where was her fiancé?

  They were marched across a gray compound and shoved into dim quarters. “We’ll return shortly to escort you to Orientation.”

  Their chamber door was dead-bolted behind them.

  Siobhan checked the seal, swearing under her breath when she found no way out. “Reconnaissance.”

  Caid put his finger to his lips to shush her. Then he pantomimed to his ears and the walls.

  Frustrated, she threw her hands up and paced the cell, looking for surveillance equipment.

  Vizzy mewled pathetically, dropped to a corner of the floor, and buried his face in his hands. His shoulders shook and he began to molt.

  Caid squeezed his shoulder sympathetically.

  She watched the scene surreptitiously.

  Despite herself, she admired Cain for his concern for others and his cool head under pressure.

  His head lifted suddenly and his bright gaze pierced her, causing heat to rise in her cheeks. He swaggered over to her and dropped down beside her, sliding a compassionate arm across her shoulders. Whispering in her ear, his warm breath tickled her sensitive flesh and his sultry tones caressed her. “Don’t say anything aloud you don’t want them to hear. Snuggle up to me in case they’re watching. We want them to think we are who we say we are.”

  “A happily married couple?” Caid’s warmth seeped into her and she was troubled that his mere touch could make her quiver. She needed to do some serious rethinking about her engagement if she could be so hot for any man other than her betrothed. Not that she could possibly have any real feelings for this pirate. For God’s sake, he was a pirate with capital letters, the scourge of the universe, a station only a few rungs above her evil imposter!

  His deep laughter caressed her, delighting her more than she cared to admit. In a surprising gesture, he tapped her chin with his forefinger and feathered a kiss on the top of her head as if he truly cherished her.

  “Keep that up and you’ll win a thespian award,” she purred, burrowing against his warm chest. Her blood simmering, she longed for the privacy of their ship’s cabin again. She wanted Caid all to herself.

  Footsteps stomped down the corridor and doors creaked. Muted voices drifted into their cell. Caid stilled and put his finger to his lips for her to be quiet and listen.

  Vizzy crawled to the door, put his ear against it, and cupped his paw around his ear. His fur stood on end and his body trembled.

  Siobhan tucked her hair behind her ears to hear better, but the gesture was in vain. Within moments, their door clanged open and two guards, one a pipsqueak Ulcherian elf, the other a repulsive Kombiant who had to duck under the doorway due to his massive height, delivered dinner, if the nauseating scent could be termed anything so palatable. “Sustenance for strength. Your orders are to consume,” the Kombiant said in a tone-deaf pitch that grated down her spine.

  Not sharing her qualms about the vile- smelling rations, Vizzy dug a paw deep into the communal dish, licked his paw and dug in for more. Even if she had been hungry before, she would have lost her appetite after his inelegant display.

  Caid scrunched up his face at the Shellik. He peered into the dish and turned to the guards. “This is inedible for our species. We require a special diet.”

  “We will consult with our superior. Do not get your hopes up.” Grunting, they exited the room and locked it behind them with a metallic clang.

  “They won’t have to execute us. They’ll just starve us.” Siobhan sighed, assured her Confederation training would prompt her to consume anything edible regardless of personal likes if the alternative was starvation. As Caid was a survivor, she had no doubt he would also do whatever was necessary.

  Several henseps later, the guards returned with her fiancé. All the blood drained from Siobhan’s face to her feet making her lightheaded. Her head reeled and she leaned against Caid for support. Dennis was their superior? Did he willingly serve the conqueror? Or was he being forced to capitulate?

  Or, this could be an imposter as well? If someone was willing to risk the death penalty for cloning one being, what would the difference be for cloning two?

  Stiff and unrelenting, Dennis glared at them with icy eyes. To the guards, he commanded, “Bring them to the interrogation chamber.”

  Damn! Had they been discovered? Had they made a mortal miscalculation? Siobhan calculated their chances of overpowering their captors. Trying to overpower them now would be risky business. They didn’t know the layout of the building, or the size and position of the enemy army. Perhaps this was normal procedure. Remaining nonchalant could be their best defense. As Caid made no move to escape, he must be thinking along the same lines.

  She kept her head low and her eyes averted, watching Dennis with her peripheral vision. She wasn’t confident he couldn’t recognize her. Someone who knew her well could see a resemblance of her former self.

  She hoped Caid recognized him so he would be extra alert. On second thought, it might be better that he didn’t. If Dennis didn’t recognize her, he wouldn’t expect them to recognize him, either.

  They were escorted into a briefing chamber on the next floor up. Again, the door was sealed behind them. The guards stood at a circumspect distance, their countenances aloof as they stared straight ahead.

  Dennis motioned for herself and Caid to sit down at the sole table in the room. “My men report that you refused our hospitality.” He peered at them cl
osely through narrowed, suspicious eyes.

  Chills coursed through Siobhan’s veins. How could she ascertain Dennis’ true allegiance without revealing her identity? If she didn’t know him already, she’d have no doubts regarding his loyalty to the evil commander.

  Caid put pressure on her knee, reminding her to keep a silent vigil. Whether he intended his touch to provide comfort or not, it provided a small measure of soothing. Up to this point, the pirate had proved a resourceful ally. She ached to realize that she trusted him far more than she did her own fiancé.

  Chapter Five

  Caid recognized the former Confederation officer from the images Siobhan had shown him. So this was the sterling icon? He had to bite back a snort. He wasn’t impressed.

  He was hypersensitive to Siobhan’s reactions, from her shocked recognition to the way she bristled beside him. She had contained herself admirably under the circumstances and he congratulated himself on giving her advance warning on what to expect. As usual, his source had proved correct. Astute about people, he sensed the deep-rooted evil in the blond man seated across from them. What surprised him was Siobhan’s glowing testimony of the monster. He couldn’t decipher the reason for her bristling and could only presume it was due to the man’s frigid demeanor.

  The interrogator pressed his palms flat together above the table. “So tell me, what nutrients meet your dietary requirements?”

  Caid cursed himself for not committing to memory the Violetian diet. He hadn’t intended on being taken prisoner so easily or feasting on their cuisine. Searching his memory, the only food he could remember reading from the scrolls was the gloriseed, a flower-like vegetable with a bitter tang. “Gloriseeds and motlock,” he bluffed, making up a dish. He wasn’t acquainted with all the dishes of his world, so it would be quite a feat for an off-worlder to know all the dishes of Violetia.

  “What about boutouck?” Dennis leaned back in his chair.

  Caid hesitated. Was the man making up a food, too, to trick him? Or should he know it? Going on the premise that no individual would be familiar with every food a world offered, he decided to disavow knowledge of it. “It is unfamiliar to me.”

  The officer rose to his full height, linked his hands behind his back, and paced the room. “Boutouck is the main staple of Violetia. My chef assures me of this.” He leaned heavily on the table and locked gazes with Caid. “He also assures me that all Violetians know this food. I can only presume, then, that you are not Violetian.”

  Caid thought fast, his mind a flurry of excuses. “We come from a small island far from the mainlands. Our climate differs vastly from the rest of the planet.”

  Dennis’ attention had riveted off him and focused on the captain. He sauntered to Siobhan’s side and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it to his inspection.

  Caid forced himself to breathe, but he couldn’t make his heart beat steadily. His every nerve ending screamed to take action but he reigned in a rash reaction. Their adversary was too wary. His fingers bit into Siobhan’s thigh where his hand still rested, warning her to remain composed.

  “You seem familiar. You have a glancing likeness to someone I know well…” The commander turned Siobhan’s face to the side.

  Caid itched to physically remove the man from his mate. Drawing on Violetian custom, he drew himself to his feet. “No man besides a female’s mate is permitted to touch her.”

  “Remove him! Lock him back in his cell. I want to speak to the woman alone.”

  Caid attacked the officer, but was quickly restrained by the guards, and then held at taser-point. Breathing hard, he strained against his bonds.

  “Get him out of here! Shoot him if he tries any more stunts.” Fury shot from the commander’s eyes.

  * * * * *

  Siobhan drew on every ounce of her training and experience and still came up empty-handed. This was her first experience dealing with a treacherous loved one. Or rather, she would know what to do if she was assured of his duplicity. That was the crux of the problem. She didn’t know and didn’t have the tools to find out without risking exposure.

  She averted her gaze demurely and strove to conceal her voice. “I have not acquainted many off-worlders, or many men of my own world. Pray tell, I would remember you and we have not acquainted before.”

  Dennis gazed deeply into her eyes. “Nevertheless…”

  Breaking off the gaze, he looked at the guards and snapped his fingers high in the air above his head. “Bring the medic immediately.”

  Alarm bells sounded in her soul. This was her cue to bust out of here, tasers blasting. But there was not a weapon within reach, except her own body.

  Calculating her chances, she wished Caid was here. The pirate would more than double her chance of success. But he wasn’t and she wasn’t one to dwell on missed opportunities.

  Reconnaissance was no longer their priority. If Dennis wanted a medic, it couldn’t bode well. Either he wanted to test her DNA or have her dissected. Neither scenario appealed.

  Lightning quick, she kicked his feet out from under him, grabbed his neck in a chokehold, and stole his taser. “One false move and I’ll shoot.”

  Her heart was a jumble of confusion. How could she harm the man she thought she had loved? Yet the man she held hostage didn’t behave in the least like the man to which she was affianced.

  In a strangled, clipped voice, the commander accused, “Violetians conscientiously object to violence. They are not trained in the art of combat, particularly not the females. Thus my presumption that you are not Violetian, would be correct, would it not?”

  She refused to be sucked into inane deductions.

  The door blasted inward and Caid rushed in leading several armed pirates. Relief flooded her but she didn’t relax her hold.

  When the guards reached for their weapons, Caid felled them with a quick taser burst. “Bring the commander as our guest,” Caid ordered with a wicked twist of his lips. “We’ll be needing a bargaining chip.”

  “Foul pirates.” Glowering, Dennis spat on Caid’s boots.

  Caid squared off against her ex-fiancé glared at the commander. “Between the two of us, which one is the filthy traitor?”

  Vizzy yanked the commander up, almost tearing his arms from their sockets. Howling his rage, the Shellik jerked him around to face the pirate captain, none too gently.

  “You’ll never escape alive. By now your ship is surrounded, if not already destroyed.”

  Caid snarled. “Then you’ll provide another ship.”

  “Who are you?” Siobhan couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you cooperating with this criminal massacre?”

  “A Violetian female with such an air of command…” Dennis drawled, apparently unappreciative of his precarious position.

  “It’s none of your concern.” Caid looked him up and down, seemingly unimpressed. To her he said, “I don’t see the attraction.”

  “Attraction?” Dennis honed in on the word, his eyes widening, searching her. Recognition flashed. “But you’re supposed to be…”

  “Dead. Hanged by the neck,” Siobhan finished for him, bile rising in her throat.

  “Mallory…” It wasn’t uttered with love or adoration. Not even with fear. Loathing hit closer to the mark.

  The glittering hatred directed at her sliced at her heart, but amazingly didn’t shatter her. After all this trouble, the commander wasn’t worth further consideration.

  “Mallory? As in Captain Siobhan Mallory, scourge of the universe? Mass murderer? You must have me mistaken.”

  Caid opened communications to his reinforcements. “Battle stations. Transcart us now. Be prepared for a hostile guest.”

  The pirates stood at the ready, their attention focused on Caid. All except Siobhan. “What happened to you, Dennis? Or are you the original Dennis?”

  The commander’s face contorted with black hatred and this time, he spat at Siobhan’s feet. “I grew tired of being subservient to the great Captain Mallo
ry. To her superior position and her elevated wealth. Her father pressed me to sign prenuptial agreements so that I would receive nothing of her vast fortune.”

  Caid lunged forward, pressing his taser to Dennis’ jugular. “Treat the lady like that again, and it’ll be your final act in this dispensation, my friend.”

  Shocked, Siobhan stared from the man she thought she’d loved heart and soul, to her true defender and rescuer, questioning every precept she held dear. She needed time to search her heart and soul and time was their most precious, rarest commodity. Any second, the invading forces would materialize.

  They waited interminable seconds, but nothing happened. Finally Caid barked into his communicator. “Status? Why have we not been transcarted to the ship?”

  “The controls be dead, captain. Or the signal’s been blocked.”

  “Keep trying,” Caid ordered with more authority than most Confederation officers.

  Siobhan couldn’t help but admire his command skills. But more practical matters took precedence. “We can’t stay here,” she warned, standing tall and proudly at Caid’s side, feeling oddly more in place and at home than she could recall.

  Caid nodded, almost imperceptibly, no trace of annoyance at taking a suggestion from a woman or comrade. “Let’s check out of this resort. We’re sitting targets here.” To his awaiting vessel, he commanded, “Keep to the code. Rendezvous with the others and bring more of our brethren.”

  “Aye, aye, captain. Thiessen out. God be with you.”

  * * * * *

  Mewling plaintively, Vizzy followed on Caid’s heels closely as they sought an escape route. He had relinquished hold on the hostage per his captain’s command.

  Caid crept stealthily along the corridor, searching his heart, not much liking the only answer that rang true. “I find myself in love with the wench.” Worse, her life, her wellbeing, meant more to him than his own. He swore violently, hating the dilemma in which he found himself. It was not one many a pirate would relish. Women plus love equaled danger.