by Ashley Ladd
He hated weakness, especially in himself, and caring for anyone was a vulnerability he couldn’t afford. Especially in this volatile situation. But he wasn’t in the habit of lying to his best friend.
Vizzy thumped him on the back commiseratively and then pantomimed the funeral march.
Caid wondered just how accurate his first mate’s was actions were. Too dead on, he feared. “Cut it out, bucko,” he ordered under his breath, a sharp edge to his voice.
Warriors materialized, swarming them. Siobhan, or at least a carbon copy of her, led the troops. The cool blonde marched up to him and stopped less than a foot away. “Are you the leader of this marauding band?”
He hitched up his chin a notch and met the conqueror glare for glare. “Are you the terror of the galaxy?”
The woman circled him, an interested gleam in her eye. “I’m asking the questions.”
Caid bowed ever so slightly. “My apologies.” The woman left him cold although she was as technically beautiful as his Siobhan. But she was a hollow shell, filled with hatred and cunning.
“My, my. What have we here? A well-mannered pirate?” Then she looked around the corridor and ordered, “Staging a coup isn’t so well-mannered. Tell your crew to drop their weapons or they’ll be decimated.”
Caid nodded at his men and sent a particularly emphatic glare at the real Siobhan. He counted on her military bearing to override her princess tendencies and was rewarded with a quick nod.
The pirates opened their fingers wide, dropping their swords and tasers at their feet. Their captors wasted no time retrieving the weapons.
“Release the commander,” the impersonator ordered to the pirates still holding Siobhan’s fiancé.
Caid started to snarl at mention of his rival, but caught himself and fixed his glare on the clone. “Who made you?”
Mallory two laughed without mirth. “Made me?”
“We both know you’re not the original Captain Siobhan Mallory. Who cloned you?”
“What makes you think I’ve been cloned?” The imposter narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, “Unless you know the captain.”
Caid cursed himself for saying too much already. He pursed his lips, refusing to answer. But Mallory two’s complexion paled as her glance slid to the real Siobhan and recognition lit her widening eyes.
Without a word, the copy shoved Caid out of the way and marched up to Siobhan. Roughly, she jerked the captain around to face her, then took inventory of her altered features.
Growling, Caid aimed his weapon at the clone, but slumped to the ground in an impotent puddle when a stun ray hit him full force in the chest. Vizzy howled his rage, and tackled the fraud from behind, to be tossed off like he was a featherweight.
* * * * *
“Amazing alterations,” Mallory two drawled, circling the real captain. “You almost had us fooled.”
“It’s amazing you could fool anyone. You may have my face but you aren’t the least like me,” Siobhan said, disdain ringing in her voice. Bristling, she spat at the woman’s boots.
Mallory two laughed uproariously. “On the contrary, I’ve convinced the entire universe. Even the Confederation has a manhunt going on for you.”
The vileness of her duplicate self sickened her. If her double could be so evil, did that mean she possessed those traits? They shared the same DNA so that meant she had similar wickedness deep inside her. Or perhaps not so deep. She could cheerfully rip the clone apart limb by limb.
“We’re very close to accomplishing our mission, aren’t we, Dennis? Soon we’ll command the entire universe and nobody will question our authority or they’ll wind up like the Kaloba Colony.” The clone sidled up to her fiancé and kissed him full on the lips as she rubbed her body against his sensually.
Disgust flooded Siobhan, but surprisingly that was the only emotion the display generated. She noted the absence of heartache and jealousy, wondering if they would return once she knew if the man standing before her was her real fiancé.
“You may do the honors, my sweet,” Dennis drawled, his lips thinning to such an extent they disappeared from view.
My sweet? Siobhan’s gut wrenched, but she stood tall, keeping her mask in place.
Caid writhed on the floor half a chamber away. His amethyst eyes glittering, he fixed a hate-filled stare on the commander. “What, are you too lily-livered to speak for yourself, commander? Do you have to hide behind the wench’s skirts?”
Murderous rage sparked in the commandanter’s eyes, and he strode over to the pirate and kicked him viciously in the stomach. Caid clutched his gut but didn’t utter a syllable.
Worry consumed Siobhan and she tried to go to the corsair’s side to evaluate the extent of his injuries and lend soothing. “You beast,” she hissed, seething, as the clone’s soldiers detained her forcefully, bruising her arms. “You must be cloned. My fiancé could never be so cruel.”
“You didn’t know your fiancé very well, then, did you?” Her double embraced Dennis’ midsection and sidled up against him as if she was his fiancée.
“And you do?” Siobhan grew tired of the barbs and avoidance to her direct questions. She fixed a lethal stare on her rival. “Who cloned you?”
“Question of the century,” Caid mumbled beneath his breath, making Siobhan spin around in his direction.
The clone ran hands down the commander’s length very intimately. “This is the real Dennis Minnikow. Can’t you recognize your own fiancé? Or should I say ex-fiancé? He’s all mine now.”
Siobhan turned to the rat. Shouldn’t she feel more than disappointment that a Confederation officer was evil? He had been her fiancé! Her heart should be shattered, but it wasn’t. He seemed like a stranger, as if she’d never known him. “Is that true?”
“That I prefer a warm, vital woman over a frigid bitch?” Dennis chuckled unkindly.
“No. The part about you being the real Dennis Minnikow.” She compartmentalized her emotions away for future evaluation. She couldn’t afford to allow his taunts to weaken her. They were in too weak a position already. She prayed Caid’s brethren would arrive soon.
“Of course I’m the real me.” Dennis became a braggart. “And I’m the one who cloned you, the great, invincible Captain Siobhan Mallory. I even discovered how to accelerate the process so that she could pass for you in record time. Poetic justice, don’t you think?”
Bile rose in Siobhan’s throat and she wondered how she could have ever cared for the serpent slithering before her, how he could have fooled her completely. “How so?”
Blinking, Dennis did a double take as if she should know the vile workings of his mind. “You’ve been ruling it over me for so long, in and out of bed, that I now have the upper hand. And I have the added bonus of making Daddy Dearest suffer for not accepting me into the family with open arms. I could have stood your swaggering bossiness if compensated sufficiently.”
Siobhan’s disgust turned to pure hatred, and she struggled against her captors. Primitive rage surged through her and she wanted to claw the monster’s eyes out of his skull.
Caid must’ve tapped into her emotions. His gaze burned into her, as if willing her to abide by his will. “He’s not worth it, Siobhan.”
The pirate had that right! Her ex-fiancé was no better than the many criminals she had meted out justice to. He wasn’t worth any amount of effort to save. But their lives and their freedom were worth the effort.
She noted that the pirate had managed to open his communicator. On the chance that the authorities could overhear, she asked again, “So you cloned me? And you masterminded this plot to make me pay?”
“I’m the brains behind this operation. Everyone, including the new improved Captain Mallory, follows my orders exclusively.”
“He’s the brains, she’s the muscle,” Caid said dryly, rolling his eyes.
Seething, feeling like the biggest fool in the universe, Siobhan couldn’t leave anything to chance if she wanted to resume her life and her pos
t. “So you had me cloned?”
Dennis snarled. “I think we’ve established that several times over. I had you cloned,” he said clearly and distinctly as if she was a hard of hearing child.
“But why murder innocents? Why throw away your illustrious career?” Siobhan pressed as long as he was in the frame of mind to answer her inquiries.
Dennis snorted. “What illustrious career? I wasted away in your shadow. Everyone was in awe over the wonderful Captain Mallory. No one could remember my name. I was merely the first mate or the emasculated fiancé.”
“He was obviously emasculated long before he met you,” Caid said with a tilt of his head.
“Get him out of here! I tire of his insipid mouth. That’s the sort of derision I’ve had to suffer since crossing paths with the likes of you.”
Siobhan thrust her chin forward and squared her shoulders, refusing to let him get the best of her. “If you despised me so much, why did you pretend to love me?” She could guess at the answer but she needed confirmation from his own lips.
“Isn’t that obvious?” her duplicate interjected. “He loved your money and the power it could bring. Now that he has me, he can have it all without having to put up with your insufferable attitude. Together, we’ll rule the universe and have fun spending Daddy’s fortune.”
Caid was clapped in irons and dragged away. But he made a parting shot, “But why would you want him? You don’t need him and you could have any man in the universe.”
“Shut up, slime worm!” Dennis became a bright, furious red.
“Think about it. Why share the universe when you’re the one with all the power and treasure? Why saddle yourself with a sniveling, whiny dog?”
Siobhan sucked in a sharp breath, fearful that Dennis would disintegrate him for such impudence, even if every word resounded with complete truth.
“That does it! You’ve outworn your welcome, pirate.” Dennis drew his weapon and went to fire.
Siobhan lunged forward, knocking the taser from his hand so that the shot went wild and hit one of the enemy soldiers, disintegrating him.
The clone grabbed her by her long hair and yanked her from the chamber. “This fight is between you and me, sister.”
Gritting her teeth, Siobhan managed to squeeze words out. “You’re not my sister. If this is over that two-timing rat, you’re welcome to him. I don’t want him.” Relief flooded her that she spoke the absolute truth. No love remained for the bastard.
“Oh, this concerns far more than a man. I like my identity and I don’t want to share it. Therefore, there can only be one of us.”
For the first time, Siobhan agreed with her double. “You’ve got that right.” She called forth her knowledge of cloning, scant as it was. “But you aren’t really me. You may have my DNA, but not my experience, my knowledge, and definitely not my morals.”
The woman snarled as she released her and went for her jugular. “Your power and fortune will suffice. What need do I have for your outdated morals?”
“It’s called humanity.” Which her clone obviously knew nothing of. How could a being be formed one day and learn morals and values by the next? Siobhan fended the deadly thrust off, kicking the woman’s feet out from under her, cursing the long hair that tangled about her.
Her double kicked back, sweeping her off her feet. They tumbled together, their hands at each other’s throat. Siobhan pinned the offensive creature to the floor, superior in her knowledge.
A moment later, the carbon copy choked off her air supply. “I’ve been trained in the martial arts, just like you.”
Gasping for breath, Siobhan struggled to escape before she passed out. So much for superior knowledge. Dennis must have anticipated this. She had to outthink her real enemy. “I’m not…your real…foe.” She could hardly choke the words out.
The woman chuckled menacingly, squeezing her throat tighter. “Oh no? Are you not trying to kill me?”
Siobhan’s vision blurred as she tried to loosen her opponent’s fierce grip on her neck. “Dennis Minnikow is using you…to get revenge on me…on the universe…for his own…demented…purposes. Do you…really want to be…his dupe?”
Her evil clone hesitated, her grip weakening for a fraction of a second allowing Siobhan a breath of sweet air, then it tightened again, fiercer than before. “Good try. Turn us against each other.”
Siobhan pressed her thumbs into her twin’s throat. “Just logical,” she said, gasping. The room blurred around her, whirling. When the clone banged her head against the floor, she nearly passed out.
With her last vestige of strength, she kneed the woman, and jabbed two fingers into her throat, tearing her off. “Take this bitch.”
The clone rolled away, clutching her throat, her eyes crossed.
Siobhan staggered to her feet, towering over her conquest. “You’ll only ever rate second best. No one bests Captain Siobhan Mallory.”
The door fell in and Caid rushed in followed by his band of cutthroats, brandishing swords and tasers. “Guess our services aren’t required,” Caid said, nonplussed as if he was disappointed to miss the action.
Love flowed freely through her as Siobhan gazed adoringly upon the corsair’s dear face. How could she have mistaken him for a scallywag? A criminal? Her opinions had come full circle. She barely felt like herself anymore.
She wrestled with herself. She didn’t want the authorities to catch up with her or Caid, and yet, she wanted justice served to the arch-criminals. “They’re required, all right. Now we have the dubious task of summoning the authorities as we keep their cohorts at bay.”
“Authorities?” Caid turned a sickly shade of green, which did not mix well with his violet sheen. “Did you forget they still want to string you up by the neck until you’re dead?”
Alarm slammed through her. Siobhan stepped over the woman still writhing on the ground, to reach Caid’s side. “We need to clear our names and restore peace to the galaxy. The only way is to turn them over to the Confederation.”
Caid squeezed her shoulders and dragged her against him for an intoxicating kiss that left her senses reeling and her knees weak. He gazed deeply into her eyes, his expression inscrutable. “In my experience, luv, you can never be sure what the Confederation will do. I’ve seen them break many a deal and arrest many a good man. They are not the sterling, morally upstanding entity you believe them to be. They’ve left many a man…and a woman…out to twist on the hangman’s noose. Leave the prisoners here and stay away from the Confederation.”
Vizzy nodded behind him, in large, exaggerated movements.
Caid’s use of the term “luv” in place of “princess” wasn’t lost on her. From his point of view, the Confederation was the enemy. If she failed to clear her name, she could never go home, never see her family again. Turning the clone over to the Confederation was the only way to resume her life. But she couldn’t make Caid take a chance that the Confederation would put him back on death’s corridor. Her heart ached that they would have to part ways after all they’d been through together, but she’d rather they part than put him in harm’s way.
Isn’t this what she had wanted since they met? To escape from him? Of course it was! But now that she was to get her wish, she was a jumble of conflicting emotions she dared not name.
Siobhan watched their captive, afraid she would somehow escape to continue pillaging and plundering weak colonies like Kaloba. “Detain her in a force field of the strongest magnitude. Take no chances.” She looked about her. “Where is the commander?”
“Taking a siesta, compliments of our brethren,” Caid said with a wink and a sweeping bow. “Put him in a separate containment field,” he ordered Vizzy. “Then prepare our departure.”
“You can’t just leave me here alone with them!”
When Caid looked askance at her, the truth struck her dead center in her heart. She was madly, deeply in love with the scoundrel. What she had felt for Dennis didn’t begin to approach this intense, all-encompassing
passion she felt for Caid.
Lord! How could she dare to love a pirate? If there was a chance that her post would be restored with the Confederation, her alliance with a pirate would kill it. And her parents would disown her! Pirates had been responsible for considerable damage to their weblinthium and latinum mining operations. They deplored pirates more than they detested the Confederation.
Like either of those things should matter? If her family loved her, they would eventually accept her choice. They wouldn’t forsake her. And what good was her Confederation post if she wasn’t happy? If they always kept a distrustful eye on her? But she loved Caid with all her heart, enough to let him go if it ensured his safety and continued wellbeing.
“Are you coming with us?”
With us? Did he mean? “To where?” She held her breath. Would he sweep her into his arms and beg her to marry him and they would sail the galaxy for the rest of their days?
“To any destination your heart desires. We can drop you off anywhere you say.”
Drop her off… Her dream of everlasting, undying love crashed about her feet. What was the use of leaving if she wasn’t going to be at Caid’s side forever? “I’ll take my chances with the Confederation. I have the evidence to prove my innocence.”
Caid rubbed his palms up and down her arms, increasing her longing to near unbearable levels. Did he have to touch her? Torture her? “You’ll be fine, sweetheart. You always were.”
Vizzy mewled and clasped her into a tight bear hug against him. Lime green tears slid down his cheeks, plopping onto her arms.
“Don’t cry, Viz,” she said trying to tamp down her own sorrow at parting from the creature who had became so dear to her. She patted his furry back, trying to calm his hiccoughs.
Meanwhile, she searched for a plausible reason to keep the captain and his first mate by her side, at least until she came to terms with her own wishes in this matter. Looking deep into his amethyst eyes, she remembered! Caressing his pronounced forehead ridges with her fingertips, she murmured, “You promised to have my appearance restored to normal when this was all finished. As pretty as you are—I mean as we are—in this lovely shade, I prefer our original faces”