Sheena rolled her eyes and laughed as they walked to Medical. “I’d love to have heard the discussion leading up to you dropping that announcement on Berg.”

“Thought that was why you were pussy-blocking me. For future decision making, you should keep in mind Darcone’s a slow mover. I’d barely gotten my shirt off,” Bri said.

“I was not…” Sheena chuckled, unable to repeat the crudeness. “I’m truly sorry to bother you. It was not my intention to keep you from getting lucky with your favorite alien tonight.”

Bri chuckled, choosing to see the humor in it. “It’s okay. I feel like the entire universe is conspiring against me sleeping with him. What’s up in Medical that was so important you came to get me?”

Sheena shook her head, her glance at Berg explaining her unwillingness to talk. Wondering now what her sister was hiding, they walked in silence the rest of the way. Nate was waiting for them, looking fuzzy-eyed and frustrated. Berg nodded to him and headed away.

“Anything changed?” Sheena asked.

Nate snorted. “Yes. Both samples increased another three percent. I think we need to neutralize them before they turn into another one of her. That would not be good.”

“What’s going on?” Bri asked, her gaze on petri dishes that had light pink blobs in the middle of them.

Nate leaned against the table, pointing at the samples. “Medical contacted me just before Sheena arrived. One of the techs who’d been on duty all day was leaving for the evening. She noticed the cells were visible at a distance and thought that replication was happening really fast for the specimens Sheena had dropped off just a few hours before. We came down to check just to be safe. Your sister took one look and guessed what was going on. Five seconds under a scope and she was sure.”

“Darcone was right about Maslin Jones not being human. Maslin is a clone, but not a completely human version,” Sheena said, her voice in a near whisper. “She’s an alien-human hybrid.”

Bri gave a grunt of disbelief. “Thought alien-human hybrids were impossible.”

Sheen winced as she shook her head. “If they were impossible, hybrid Earth children with alien fathers would never be born. However, creating a hybrid clone is just as impractical as cloning a full human because the cloning process does not allow for cell adaptation over a long enough period of time. That’s why we all start out as infants and grow into our DNA.”

“Is this a science lesson, Dr. MacNamara?” Bri asked.

“Sort of,” Sheena answered. “An alien-human hybrid has a slightly longer life cycle than a human clone, but only by a matter of years. Death is still inevitable. When I was working on them in my studies, my calculations showed them lasting for approximately five years, instead of the usual two for humans. I never let clone fetuses grow to the normal age of sentience in human embryos, so it was never proven out that I was right. No one else has proven or disproved it that I’m aware of at this time.”

Bri stared at her sister. “I don’t understand, Sheena. If you always got rid of your experiments, then what explains Maslin Jones existing?”

Sheena looked at Nate and then back to her sister. “You two always tease me about being obsessive about details, but I had an alien-human embryo go missing. That was a little over two years ago. Hybrids finish their development in half the normal time, so by age one in clone time she would have looked like she does now. Our rapidly growing samples are good evidence that the woman in the holding cells is an alien-human hybrid. I think Maslin was grown from my missing embryo.”

Bri grunted in disgust. “So Novus Prime double-crossed you and stole an embryo from your test group?”

Sighing, Sheena nodded. “That would be my guess, but before you blame them for this, the Guardians did that long before Novus Prime did. When you were in your forties, they actually made a copy of Mom and Dad even though I expressly forbade them to do so. When things started to go wrong, they called me to come help. The results were horrific. The clones the Guardians made didn’t last a year and both were mentally unstable. I thought I was never going to get over that trauma.”

“You never told me that. Why didn’t you tell me that?” Bri demanded.

“Because I never wanted you to know. I never wanted anyone to know,” Sheena said. “The alien culture that routinely produces long-lived clones like Berg and Toorg has been doing it for several millennia, but only out of necessity. Organic children are a rare, rare occurrence and life is extended through any means they can. They know better than anyone does that copies are not as stable as organically made beings. Clone instability is why they refuse to share their knowledge of the process with us. Plus, clones in that culture are made imperfect on purpose. It cuts down on people getting over-attached to them as well as contributing to focused development in one area of expertise.”

“So Novus Prime stole your embryo, grew Maslin Jones, trained her, and then sent her to kill me.” Bri ran a hand through her newly styled hair. Until she’d touched it, she’d forgotten about having it done. She briefly wondered if that was why Darcone had said she was pretty. What a fucking girl she was turning into…

“Or my father sent Maslin Jones to finish what he started,” Nate offered.

Sheena shook her head. “I think Bri’s right about it being Novus Prime, though both factions could be equally involved. They’re probably still worried about Bri remembering something about the mass murder she witnessed.”

“Do you know how long Maslin will remain alive?” Bri asked.

Sheena shook her head and sighed. “She’s sort of the first of her kind. However, if I had to make a guess from the samples, I would say Maslin has about two more years to live. The rapid multiplication of cells will lead to decomposition of internal organs. Depending upon how her systems adapts to that, it could be a matter of months before she becomes incapacitated.”

“Which alien’s DNA did you use to create her?” Bri asked, but a part of her already knew the answer. She wasn’t scientifically smart like Sheena, but she was great at connecting the dots. Darcone said Maslin smelled like home—his home.

Sheena ducked her head. “We used the only alien culture that the Matchmakers hadn’t been able to set up with a match. Novus Prime originally intended to use the cloning process to produce hybrid children and keep the loyalty of Darcone’s people through that means—after they managed to make sure the AAS program was discontinued.”

“That’s where Novus Prime was wrong in its thinking. It’s not just hybrid children the aliens want,” Bri said. “It’s women themselves—good breeders. They don’t want to go the route of Berg and Toorg’s planet. Their agenda is to help evolution along so they don’t risk dying out or have to resort to clone technology. They’ve realized their planet’s survival is contingent on every other planet surviving too.”

“Novus Prime has never accepted that any alien culture’s motives are that innocent. I’m not sure I do either,” Sheena said, staring at the samples. “Whoever sent Maslin sent her to the Alien Abduction Services airship because she’s expendable and will never be missed if she doesn’t return. Our planet still has a bias against aliens.”

“Bias is too nice a word for the hate many people secretly harbor,” Bri said.

Sheena sighed and nodded. “Guess I prefer to think of the haters as misguided instead of ignorant.”

Bri fisted her hands on her hips. “Dad said Darcone came here around the time of the first Guardians. He told me Darcone took his brother’s place. His brother went home to the planet and took the traditional route of their people in finding a mate. Darcone gave all that up to be his people’s representative here. If the motives of his culture weren’t good, they would have come back to hurt us anytime they wanted to in the last two hundred years. They have the power, the technology, and the ruthlessness. Earth people should be grateful Darcone’s home world remains our ally.”

“Brianna, you can’t assume all people are capable of that kind of higher thinking just because you are. We had educated, broad-minded parents. Not everyone does. That’s why cloning is kept a secret here on Earth. The average person would not understand the need to make sure our species can continue no matter what.”

Bri pushed a hand through her hair again. “Cloning is still illegal, Sheena. By Earth law, Maslin belongs to Darcone because his DNA was used to make her. He has a right to help decide what happens to her for her remaining life cycle.”

“Why? It’s not like she’s his child or even a relative, Bri,” Sheena said softly. “I purposely changed enough of his DNA to make sure she wouldn’t be much exactly like him. She’s just another version of his kind—like anyone else on his planet would be. Plus, she’s part human. In my world vision, providing they lived long enough, clones would have mated organically. I tweaked each set of DNA I used in preparation for future combining with full humans or aliens… or even kin if it came down to that being critical. Reproduction still isn’t easy on our planet either.”

“Fuck, your mind astounds me,” Bri said, pacing away from her sister. “It also makes me feel like you’re a stranger sometimes. What other of your mad scientist experiments has Novus Prime set loose on our planet, Sheena?”

Seeing Nate gear up to defend her, Sheena put a hand on his arm. “A few robots. A couple animals who are far superior to others in their genus. Nothing I feel bad about. I wouldn’t feel bad about Maslin if she’d gone into the recycler before she developed sentience like the others I helped along. In clones, sentience—therefore life—doesn’t happen until the being progresses to speech. Their brains grow to full term just before that happens.”

Bri blew out a breath. “I’ve spent my life fighting corruption. I’ve spent it trying to save everyone I could. Now the organization you served, and the one I served, are both out to get us. How can you question why I came here to join the alien bride program when I got into trouble? Most of these aliens are doing for their planet what I’m doing for mine, only in their own way.”

Sheena walked over to the sister she loved as much as she loved herself. “I was saving people too when I was at Novus Prime, Bri. I was saving people from their bad motives. I promise you, I was not one of the bad guys. I just worked for them.”

Bri looked down at her sister, nodded briefly. “I don’t like what you did there, but I get you felt like you had to work for their side.”

When Sheena put her arms around her, the desperation her sister was feeling finally got through. Bri groaned and hugged back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you were a bad person. I’ve just had a very long, very frustrating day.”

Sheena pulled back and patted Bri’s swollen face. “That nose post is causing your swelling. It needs to be removed so the wound can properly heal. Want Nate to do it tonight? He can do that while I destroy the samples.”

“Fine,” Bri grumbled. “Might as well.” She looked at Nate. “Darcone deserves to be told about all this.”

Nate nodded. “Your parents and I made sure that Darcone knew the truth of everything we could reasonably communicate to him without jeopardizing New Earth security. He, Toorg, and Berg are the only aliens on the ship who know Angus and Erin aren’t the exact originals. What Darcone doesn’t know is the origin of our alternates. So far he seems to accept they’re a new kind of clone, just as the rest of New Earth believes. Clones make so much sense to Toorg and Berg that they assume that without question. I’ve tried to propagate the complete rejuvenation theory. Only people outside the airship seem to accept that.”

“The fewer who know the real truth about Angus and Erin—the better,” Bri said, nodding in agreement. “And while I’d just as soon kill Maslin Jones as help her, she deserves to know what she really is before she dies. I also think Darcone deserves to know about her connection to him. It’s right to tell them both as much of this truth as we can.”

* * *

Bri saw herself back to her quarters. Berg wasn’t outside which meant Angus and Erin were locked in for the evening. Sighing, Bri touched a tiny button on her bracelet, one located away from the panel that controlled its more serious functions. The door to her room clicked and swung open for her. She entered and ordered the lights on low.

She didn’t see the male sleeping on the sofa so much as hear him. Darcone’s deep breaths and low rumbling noises made her smile. It was the first time in her life she’d ever come home to a man waiting for her… well, sort of waiting for her.

Slipping off her jacket, she hung it on one of the dining chairs.

She leaned over the sofa and studied him at rest, trying to decide whether she needed to wake Darcone up and tell him she was back. Then she remembered Maslin and decided she just wasn’t ready to get into that whole thing yet. Tomorrow she would make Nate tell him about the clone. Nate knew how to talk to him best anyway.

The swelling of her nose had gone down considerably after Nate removed the anchor post. The wound would never heal strong enough to put the post back in unless they screwed it into bone, which wasn’t worth doing for nothing more than a fashion choice.

Bri was still grieving the loss of her metal, but she was also kicking her own ass for the giant skin patch Nate had declared a necessity to keep the wound from going septic. The bandage made her look like she’d been in a fight and lost. It wouldn’t fall off until the skin under it reached a certain level of healing.

Her wounded nose was proof of one more poor decision she’d made in her life. The anchor post had been a bad idea from the day she got it installed, but she’d liked the way she looked with it. Or maybe she was just feeling sorry for herself tonight. It had been a long, frustrating day for several reasons.

At least Darcone only looked half as fierce in his sleep. She continued to stare at him, not the least surprised when his head slowly turned so he could gaze up at her.

“Always trouble, you find. Fight again?” he asked in concern, staring oddly at her face.

Bri chuckled and shook her head. “Not this time. Sheena insisted Nate remove my anchor post for my face chains. It was half torn out and making my nose swell.”

“Still look fierce, you do,” Darcone said, rising to sit. He patted the seat next to him.

Not knowing how else to respond, Bri walked around the sofa and sank down next to him. He took her chin in one hand and turned her face, inspecting her wounds more closely.

“Live, you will. Heal good now.”

Bri laughed at his pronouncement but stopped laughing when he leaned in and put his lips at the edge of her skin bandage. His kiss was so gentle, tears actually welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had kissed her just for comfort. She sniffled and found herself being dragged into Darcone’s lap. She was nearly as big as he was, but he seemed not to realize it as he tucked her head on his shoulder.

She was stunned seconds later when Darcone stood without straining and walked with her in his arms to her bed. It was a strange, surreal feeling. No male had ever carried her before. She probably hadn’t been carried since she was a child. Eventually, Darcone lowered her legs until she was standing.

“Sleep, you need,” he whispered. “Help you, I will.”

He divested her of her shirt as gently as possible and seemed satisfied to see her in only her bra once more. She kicked off her shoes herself. Darcone had her pants down and off in mere seconds as if he’d rehearsed the move many times. She grinned when he left on both pieces of her underwear. Then she was airborne a second time in his arms before her back gently hit the mattress. He pulled on the covers and had her tucked in securely before she’d realized he wasn’t climbing in with her.

“You can stay if you want,” Bri said, yawning as she patted the space beside her. “Staying to sleep is part of the invitation. I just can’t deliver on the rest tonight.”

Darcone stared at her for a few moments, then toed off his shoes and lightly vaulted over her body to the other side of the bed. His actions and surprisingly soft landing made her laugh. Next thing she knew, his arm held her firmly while he growled softly in her ear.

She yawned again. “Sorry things didn’t work out for us earlier. Can we try again tomorrow?”

A kiss by her eye stopped all further apologies. She sighed in relief and let his heat soothe her tired body. She fell asleep listening to Darcone make a noise like a purring panther in her ear.

* * *

The next morning Bri woke alone and got instantly grumpy because of it. Her growling bastard of an alien boyfriend had exited her bed without her knowing he’d done so. It wasn’t that she minded Darcone leaving… he had duties on the ship just as she did. She was just sorely disappointed in herself for not waking up.

She inspected her now-healing nose in the mirror before climbing into the shower. Testing Pru’s haircut, she scrubbed it free of the shuttle bay floor dirt gotten from her tussle with Maslin Jones. Thinking of the strange woman made her frown. She felt sympathy, something she’d never felt before for a target who had obviously been hired to kill her. The alien-human hybrid posed a serious security problem that, as Commander, she needed to resolve.

“Hello. It’s just me,” Sheena called through the bathroom door. “Have you had breakfast yet?”

“No,” Bri called back, fighting back a sigh. She was so ready to be alone in her quarters again. Sheena’s presence definitely cut into her brooding time.

The bath towels weren’t large enough for her six-foot body, so Bri emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a sheet swiped from the spare bed linens. She’d intended on walking naked to her bedroom after she was clean because the tiny bathroom didn’t allow her enough room to dress comfortably.

“What if I’d had company in there with me?” Bri demanded, sitting at the dining table in the sheet.

Sheena set a cup of Angus’s “tea” in front of her sister and grinned. “I knew that wouldn’t be the case. Darcone came to get Nate before I left. I’m guessing your favorite alien didn’t spend the night with you.”

Bri watched her sister hustle back to the kitchen for food. “I have no fucking idea. Darcone was asleep on the sofa when I came back. Bastard tucked me into bed and that was the last thing I remember.”

Sheena came back with food for both of them. Bri frowned at the morning rations. She knew she needed to eat, but she only had an appetite for one thing this morning. Food wasn’t it.

“This is disgusting,” Bri said.

Sheena nodded. “I know. I told Nate that he needed to let the ship’s cook look into some different breakfast rations.”

“Not the food,” Bri said tersely, sighing as she picked up the cup of herbal stimulant and sipped. “I’m talking about me—the way I’m feeling. How can I be disappointed in Darcone for leaving me without waking me up first? That’s…that’s… hell, disgusting is the only word I have this morning.”

Sheena smiled and sipped her stimulant. “Brianna, that’s the way love works.”

Bri nearly choked on a swallow. “Love?”

Sheena shrugged. “Yes. That’s how I am with Nate. I keep waiting for him to put the damn ship first. I don’t trust that he’s reshaped his priorities. And yes, I know I’m being unfair, but I can’t be logical where he’s concerned. I need to absolutely know Nate’s going to be there for me. I’m hoping this unreasonableness I feel gets better with time.”

Bri rolled her eyes. “If this is love, it’s too damn complicated for me. I don’t like it already. How can I stop feeling this way?”

Sheena snickered. “Do you honestly think I have that answer? I went through a lot of men in those hundred years Nate and I were apart—a lot more than his few wives for sure. I never stopped loving him… or wanting him. Even the idea of him disregarding me again hurts my heart. It’s called emotional vulnerability and I hate every bit of it.”

“Well, that sucks too then,” Bri said, taking a bit of her breakfast sandwich. It tasted like dust. “It’s no use. I’m just not going to be able to eat this morning. I’m too churned up from yesterday.”

“Just means you’re human,” Sheena said, eating without issue. “Despite all the drama yesterday, I had a good night. This morning I’m starved. That’s how good sex works for me. I wish you were feeling the same.”

“I wish that too,” Bri said, heading to her room to dress.

“Wear the jacket and sash again,” Sheena called out. “That outfit looks great on you.”

“Planning to,” Bri called back. “Got any hair gel? This is a great haircut, but needs some taming.”

Sheena stood and gathered up their plates. “No hair gel, but I have some specimen resin that works pretty much the same. Mix a drop or two with a little water and it should do the trick of controlling your frizz.”