“Thank you for securing him for me,” Sheena said, her body no long over-reacting to Darcone’s answering growl. She shared his preference for ripping her former father-in-law’s head off his shoulders, but that would not serve their purposes nearly as well as what she had in mind.

Sheena pulled a chair over and sat directly in front of the chair Nate’s father was tied to.

“My absence will mean your eventual death. Your own organization will see you as a threat if I go missing.”

“Oh, you won’t be missed. The Guardians will just go to another universe and bring back a nicer version of you. See? Problem solved.”

“You’re just the Matchmakers’s daughter—a scientist. You know nothing of the real world.”

Sheena glared. “I know I love your son more than you or his mother does. I know I’m not about to let you fuck with Nate’s mind any longer or try to kill what’s left of my family. You’re going to tell me everything I want to know and we’re going to come to an agreement.”

“Why would I do that?”

Sheena grabbed his jaw, held his gaze, and pressed the delivery tube in her hand against his neck. She gave him twice the dose Nate and Scott had gotten. “You’re going to do it because I said so.”

She waited a couple minutes until he started blinking. “You look tired. I think you need some sleep.”

“Too much going on to sleep,” he said, eyes rolling back in his head.

Sheena waited two minutes more. “Who were the six people you and my boss watched be incinerated?”

“Experiments. We replaced the originals with their alternates. No one even suspected.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Alternates do what we say. They want to go back to their home and we use that to our advantage.”

“But they can’t go back to their home, can they?” Sheena demanded.

“Re-insertion is possible, but too difficult.”

“So what was the goal with all that collecting and replacing of people?”

“Goal?”

“Yes. Why bother to replace those exact six people?”

“They’re the ones who operate the portal.”

Sheena rose and paced. “All six of them?”

“Yes. I hired them myself.”

“Who directed this to be done? Novus Prime or the Guardians?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Who ordered the deaths of the originals? Who ordered the alternates to be brought here? Was it just you and the Novus Prime director working on this?”

“Many fund our efforts. Even criminals want things to change. The aliens cannot be allowed to steal our females any longer. By controlling the alien portal, we can travel anywhere in the known galaxy or across universes. One day we will find the proper weapons to fight them. That will be true liberation.”

Sheena closed her eyes. So the cover-up was going on right under Guardian noses. “What about biologics?”

“Weapons of the weak. If humans are meant to die, so be it. Not every threat can be neutralized. Death with dignity is honorable.”

A fatalist. She was grateful for that. They ignored things like plagues and sickness and the horror such things took on people’s lives. “And what about our treaties? What about our peace with the aliens? They saved us. Our presence is only possible because of that history. Humans alone would have lost that war.”

“Not proven. Intervention was too costly. They have taken our women. With the matchmakers gone, that would be obvious. No one would believe the lies any longer.”

Sheena nodded sadly. “Yes. It certainly would look like true abductions were happening without Angus and Erin to mediate.”

“The matchmaker alternates must be eliminated.”

“Didn’t you hear? They’re not universe hopping alternates. The alternates the Guardians retrieved all died,” Sheena said firmly, making sure this was one lie she told well. “The new matchmakers are my clones—my personal experiment in saving my parents. If I get to study their evolving DNA, I believe I can perfect the process. They’ll live at least another hundred years or so. It would be a great discovery for New Earth humans if clones last that long. Imagine what that could mean for longevity.”

“Clones?”

“Yes. They’re clones, but you must not tell anyone except the director of Novus Prime. As my boss, he’s the only one allowed to know. I may have to stop my work though. It’s become obvious that I’m not safe here. Even you tried to kill me.”

“Can’t kill you now because of the clones. We must have that technology.”

“Yes. You must. And Bri saw only criminals that day, but she fears for her life too. She’s staying on in the AAS program.” Sheena shook her hands as she thought. Ideas. She needed something he could easily believe. “Nate’s firing the captain his mother hired. Brianna will be taking his place. I’m staying to study the clones… and to be with your son. The matchmakers may die any time. Do you understand what I’m suggesting?”

“Your sister is joining the airship crew. You’re studying the clones and fucking my son.”

“Close enough, I suppose,” Sheena said, exasperated with his personality. “Don’t forget it was your son who saved your ass because if it wasn’t for him, you’d be getting incinerated too. What are you going to do tomorrow?”

“Contact Novus Prime. Tell them about the clones.”

“Very wise of you. You should call your wife when you get done. Tell her you want a divorce. The woman needs to start over and find someone decent. Maybe she’ll get a real life and leave her son alone.”

“Some things cannot be changed.”

Sheena chuckled. The unconscious mind was a deep pool of truths. “Sleep now. That was a bad bump you got on your head.”

“What bump?”

Sheen walked behind him, picked up a guard baton, and whacked Nate’s father. She watched with great satisfaction as his head swung limply forward.

“That was for shooting my sister. Nobody messes with my family and gets by with it, you self-serving bastard. Be grateful I don’t make your dick limp for the rest of your life.”

Throwing the baton to the floor of the cell, Sheena walked out. She passed Darcone on the way and got a respectful nod. “Take him to medical. He’s ready for Nate now. Let him heal the bastard and send him back to where he came from.”