"They can't be your aunts; they look like your regular, run of the mill, eccentric humanoid aunts; my parents told me they're my aunts, do you expect me to believe my parents lied to me in order to deliver me to you?" she accused with obvious skepticism.

"Marie and Helen are both citizens of Gattonia, they are a mix of our races. I told you our races had frequently mated and they are a result. Their job has been to monitor the progress of your planet and execute certain a.s.signments, such as yours. Your parents are both half Gattonian and gave their permission to collect you. It was not easy for them, but you have Gattonian blood on both sides. It was imperative for our race to have you." He watched, as the light in her usually expressive eyes died.

She'd been betrayed. Who would have thought that her parents would sacrifice her and not even COM to let her know? She'd had two strangers living in her house for almost a year, how could she have been so stupid. And Angel and Dee-their capture rested directly on her shoulders. How could they forgive her? She'd ruined their lives. She felt like a bowling ball that had just made the mother of all strikes. Her glazed eyes began to clear and settle on Zorroc, his expression showed concern and pity. He ought to pity himself, she decided, he was as stuck with her as she with him. The perfect way to incinerate an already doomed relationship.

"Well, at least I'm good for something. So, should I lay spread eagle and make the rape easy or are you going to wait until I'm asleep to attack?" she proposed, with icy detachment.

"Do not push me Catarina, we both know I can take what I want from you and make you like it, and if you continue to push me I will do exactly that. I want to make love to you, my cream; it is the only way to push through your barriers until you admit that you are more afraid of your feelings for me than in the situation you now find yourself. I will take you as many times as necessary until you face the truth about us. We are bound." He grew hard, knowing that the time had come to make her, his. The final lesson was about to commence and for the sake of the two of them and their future children, he would make sure she loved every moment of it. He moved in.

Cat knew exactly which way her cat man was blowing by the smoldering in his cat-eyes and the pole jutting prominently from his uniform. Unlike jeans, every male reaction could be seen clearly because of the flexibility of Gattonian clothing. The amber in his eyes had caught fire, burning her from the inside out. The final lesson had arrived. It would be an inferno and she would not be the same at its conclusion. Well she'd see if she couldn't give her proposed mate a little return fire. She relaxed her stance to let him know she accepted what was to occur. He read the change in body language and gave her his hottest, s.e.xiest smile.

"You will not regret this, my one," he purred. "I will teach you well and satisfy us both beyond bearing." He closed the distance between them and reached for her; she in turn took his hand, stepped up, and kneed him in the groin before whipping around and throwing him to the ground. Score one for the earth girls; she knew those self-defense lessons Dee had forced on her would come in handy some day.

She exited the Med-center in search of her friends, leaving Zorroc doubled over on the floor.

Chapter Six.

Cat had no problem locating Dee; she just followed the verbal hurricane. She was letting Prolinc have it again. She entered without knocking, feeling particularly pleased with herself for getting a little of her own back from Zorroc. She sighed; it looked like an exact replay of the first time she came upon them, sans Angel. She looked around for a moment, realizing they were in a sleeping chamber. Though not quite as elaborate as Zorroc's, it still provided s.p.a.ciousness and comfort. They didn't notice she'd entered so she waited for a break in the action to make herself known.

"I see communication between you continues to spark, Dee, but you're going have to learn to keep your finger off Prolinc; he could get the wrong idea and think you're trying to have your way with him. This is a different culture after all, and Prolinc, I've noticed, tends to take things very literally."

Silence finally. "Prolinc, I'm sure you'll excuse Dee, we need to round up Angel and disappear. Please meet us in five minutes at the trans-pad and your chest will be finger free forever."

He looked at her oddly, trying to change gears from Dee's a.s.sault to her Miss Congeniality act, no doubt. She smiled sweetly, grabbed Dee's arm, and propelled her to the exit panel, looking back to make sure Prolinc didn't intend to stop them. Nope, he still looked as befuddled as the first time she'd seen him. They almost made it through the exit but as she turned, she hit a solid wall vibrating with suppressed energy; make that rage; she amended, as she got a look at Zorroc's expression.

"Dee will stay with Prolinc, you will come with me. Now." He ducked down, scooped her over his shoulder, and proceeded toward their quarters.

"Zorroc, be reasonable, it won't work between us, so you may as well let us go home. You have an entire harem to choose from; what's a little Gattonian blood, when all is said and done? Think of this as ensuring the continuance of your family line because if you don't let us go my knee will constantly be planted exactly where you don't want it, which could cause serious repercussions long term. Zorroc -will-you-hear-me!" she shrieked, punctuating each word with her small fist pounding his back. To h.e.l.l with a finger.

It would not work between them? He would prove to her exactly how wrong she was. He sensed the s.e.xual tension humming through her body and felt their hot-wired connection. Why did she continue to defy him? "Quit fighting, it is too late. We left earth's atmosphere while you were under sedation. Your friends, the aunts and seventy-three additional earth women are bound for Gattonia, and you, my obstinate mate, are bound for my mat."

Cat was stunned. Seventy-three? How had they found seventy-three willing women in one day? The answer was perversely clear. They'd stolen them. He hadn't even had to lie about it; she'd gone along willingly and condemned all of them to an uncertain future at best. He'd manipulated her as easily as a parent bribing a child with a puppy. Only she wasn't a child. She wanted her old life back and her friends safe from these dictatorial feline s.p.a.ce pirates.

"This is cave man strategy, let's discuss it, you're about to do something you'll be sorry for later," she pleaded, knowing it to be fruitless or fruitful depending on how things progressed.

"It will be my strategy with you from now on, accept it," he said as the panel slid silently open then shut with finality.

He dumped her on the platmat and began to strip with slow purpose. She had seen him naked before, of course, but the unleashed raw s.e.xual energy oozing off his powerful frame held her spellbound. She stared helplessly; he personified the most awesome forces of nature as sensuality surrounded him...and engulfed her senses. The top of his uniform seemed to separate on its own as he slowly drew it down his shoulders and torso; she'd have to be dead not to be affected.

She squirmed at the dampness between her legs.

He smiled.

G.o.d, he was breathtaking. Her very own living, breathing, burnished gold statue. His ma.s.sive shoulders and arms rippled with power; his stomach muscles, clearly delineated, clenched as her gaze fastened on them.

She couldn't catch her breath.

He continued to reveal himself, drawing his garment past his abdomen to his manhood. He hung huge and hard and she grew nervous, wondering how it would fit inside her. Angel had a.s.sured her they did, but then she'd been talking about men, not Gattonians. Were they larger down there? Would he rip her to shreds? She began to have second thoughts about the whole process, and the more she stared, the larger it bulged and jerked. He discarded his uniform in a rectangular panel that opened and sucked it in then turned and headed toward the console. Hard and firm, his b.u.t.tocks flexed in time to his strides, and his legs, long and solid, corded and gleamed as he leaned over to issue orders of privacy. He would take no chances of being disturbed this night. She inched closer to panic mode. Her destiny had arrived too soon.

Zorroc read her unease and prepared himself for yet another futile round of negotiations. He would have his way in the end and nothing she could say or do would alter the outcome. He had a lot to teach her and he wanted to give it his full, considerable attention.

His Cat looked in danger of bolting. A little fear was a good thing he decided; just look what she had done to him earlier. She could have crippled his man root for life. Luckily, it seemed to have recovered nicely. She had many weapons at her disposal, as he continued to learn first hand.

"I will have you naked, Catarina," he began calmly as he sauntered toward his female. "I will help you undress and then we will begin the petting," he whispered hypnotically, all the while mindspeaking that all would be well, they would fit as a hand in glove; her pleasure would be his foremost desire. "Now, my present, we will unwrap you."

Her disquieting scrutiny pooled into his unfaltering one for a moment and then she relaxed, equal parts wary and expectant. He went to the front of her slacks and released them expertly. She wondered at his expertise as he stripped her of her slacks and panties in one deft motion. He was pleased with the possessive thought.

"Don't get too confident, cat man, I still have more weapons."

He looked at her incredulously for an instant; would she continue to fight him? As he studied her, reading the bravado behind her words. Though uncertain, she would trust him in this. Would she again trust him in anything else?

"I have unwrapped the best part first," he crooned softly. "The part that will take me inside you and make you mine beyond challenge." He gently brushed her hips, thighs, and abdomen with the back of his talented fingers. "You are perfectly formed; your legs are long and lithe, you thighs creamy but firm and I can circle your waist with my hands. Your belly is soft as a cloud and slightly rounded to remind me of how our babies will be cradled there; your hips, so small and compact that..." He grew silent and stared as if seeing her for the first time; the width of his one spread hand spanned her hips completely. With their many lessons on touching, why had he never considered her size?

Gattonians, as a race, were larger than earth humans though not so much so that mating const.i.tuted a problem; but she was tiny even by earth standards. What had her parents been thinking, and Helen and Marie as well. Would she be capable of carrying their children or, after everything...perish birthing his offspring. He had vowed protection and care, is this how he would repay her?

"I have recalled an obligation that can not be postponed; I must leave, no matter how much I wish to stay," he declared, hurriedly donning a clean uniform and spouting, simultaneously, a non-stop stream of plat.i.tudes. "You are exquisite Catarina, I will return as soon as I can. I will send your friends to keep you company." And with a last haunted glance toward nothing in particular, jettisoned through the retreating panel.

"What'd you do to your poor Gattonian, Cat?" Angel asked. "Earlier, Carpov told me Zorroc had issued orders regulating our time together. He didn't want the two of us getting between the two of you. And he didn't trust the three of us not to get into mischief." Not that Angel minded overly much. That meant more time with Carpov. He had a serious nature like her own and their specialties in the fields of Biochemistry and Medicine blended surprisingly well. He'd filled her in on what had occurred on Ganz and she had promised to a.s.sist him in finding a vaccine to help his people.

Dee snorted, "What'd he think we were gonna do; blow up their ship and float home? Zorroc must be one autocratic alien, but hey, aren't they all," she complained, testing out a hand coordination game she had found in Prolinc's quarters.

Dee and Angel had been delivered to her fifteen minutes before and Dee hadn't stopped pacing and protesting. "I have been quarantined in Prolinc's quarters for hours; locked in, held prisoner-as in 'Most Wanted'," she charged, continuing to circle the room mumbling a constant stream of expletives.

Angel and Cat studied one another. Both acted quieter than usual, each wondering about the other; then as one, shifted their attention to Dee. She acted like a top spinning out of control; neither had seen such erratic behavior from their friend before, but since b.u.t.ting chest with finger on Prolinc, she hadn't been the same.

"And you," directing the telltale finger at Angel, "he told me you were staying with Carpov but had the run of the ship." She took a breath and began winding down to normal Dee mode as she concluded, "and did you know that there are seventy-three women sleeping somewhere on this vessel?"

"Seventy-five not including us," murmured Cat, effectively silencing the room, "the aunts are here too." Before she could explain, Angel interrupted.

"That makes no sense, Cat. Surely, they wouldn't have kidnapped your aunts. What possible use could they be; their reproductive organs probably dried up before any of us were born."

"I think I should be awarded first place for most clueless in the history of gullible dolts. Not only did he use me to kidnap seventy-three innocent women along with the two of you; Zorroc also informed me that Helen and Marie are not my aunts, but citizens of Gattonian. It appears I have Gattonian blood on both sides of my family and they were sent to discern my suitability as a receptacle for Zorroc's sperm." Putting it into that context further flattened Cat's already squished ego. Her two friends resembled twin snapshots of dawning speculation. No one moved for a few moments, taking in the import of the information.

Dee whistled softly. "And you pa.s.sed."

"Well, that answers the provocative question of why you," Angel summarized.

"Yeah, my model parents set me up. h.e.l.l, I don't think they even sold me, they just delivered me to the Gattonians and said "boink yourselves out". I don't care about me, so much, but condemning the two of you on top of it all is beyond forgivable. I've ruined your futures and possibly your lives." She pressed her hands over her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"It was a plot, Cat, well laid out, and cannily executed. If there is one person blameless in all this, it's you. The fact that they took advantage of your guileless nature is the part I find reprehensible. The lying sneaks," Angel hissed. Just wait until she got Carpov alone, she would hit him where it hurt most both verbally and physically. When her thoughts proceeded to Zorroc, her lips twitched menacingly.

"But that's just it, he didn't lie; I just didn't ask the right questions. If I hadn't been so starry-eyed over his exotic appearance and caught up in his touching lessons this whole thing could probably have been avoided."

"The king of creeps would still have taken you, questions or no and I would've shot them out of the sky if they'd left us behind. Actually, they've fallen right into our trap; they might have been able to defeat one of us but not all three together." Dee's light humor in the face of their current disastrous situation made Cat hurt even worse. "Ah, come on Cat lighten up," she coaxed. "It's always been all for one and one for all, what makes you think we'd let you off the hook now. One thing is for sure; I doubt this will be a boring adventure. And look on the bright side, you're starring in you own science fiction movie. Think of the money you'll save on DVDs."

"Humph, if this were a movie, it'd carry a rating of B- on content and an X for adult situations," Cat grumbled morosely. * * * *

"How do we proceed from here?" Carpov moaned as the three studied the COM in Zorroc's quarters. He had been working hard to gain Angel's trust, but how could he compete with her friends? The three formed an impenetrable force. He glanced at his friends and thought of ways to accomplish the divide and conquer strategy. He would take her tonight and make her acknowledge the bond between them; it was the only way to secure her against her friends' erratic behavior and then he would keep her very, very busy. Carpov grew hard at the prospect.

"She is impossibly tiny, why did I not notice it before? Even her friends dwarf her," Zorroc commented to no one in particular. He would confer with the aunts to get some explanations. Someone should have told him she would be unsuitable because of her size. He wanted in her and the High Council depended on him to impregnate her with all haste. A deed that could not be faked.

"Do you comprehend the h.e.l.l I will face with my fireball when she is returned to my quarters? I will be up the entire night with her finger in my chest," Prolinc finished, resigned to his fate. The three Gattonians commiserated while their women plotted. Focused on the COM, they realized the truth; they would be plagued for eternity by these three earth females. * * * *

"Zorroc has handled this poorly, if he'd been honest with Cat, she would have understood. Instead she's feeling betrayed, threatened, used, and little more than a p.a.w.n in someone else's game." Angel had just returned to Carpov's quarters and was clearly shaken. "I told them nothing per our agreement, but I feel like I'm deceiving them, as well as myself, by keeping silent."

Carpov, after his first glimpse of Angel, had known she belonged with him. As a result, he had revealed their entire dilemma and asked for her a.s.sistance. With her intelligence and expertise in germ warfare and biochemistry, he hoped to pool their knowledge and come up with an antidote or even a cure for the virus that had been blanketed onto Gattonia twenty-some months previously.

"Angel, I want to mate with you," he blurted, unexpectedly. "It would be a lifemating, I warn you. Afterward there would be no other female for me and no other male for you. I could take you and make it so, but I would prefer honesty and trust between us." Carpov studied her trying to divine the palatable wariness behind her eyes. He sensed something amiss; he read panic in her suddenly haunted countenance. He had been sure that the feelings he had for her were mutually shared.

Angel thought furiously about how to respond. She used s.e.x as a tool for manipulation and gratification in that order. It sounded as if Carpov offered the equivalent to marriage in her culture. How could she tell him that she was soiled goods; not worth his time or attention; let alone his name and protection, and perhaps love?

Angel had loved him from the moment he appeared, looking fierce yet not frightening. She'd felt an invisible force field of protection envelop her the moment his gaze settled on her. She'd been a victim of s.e.xual hara.s.sment by the president of her company recently, and had felt threatened and isolated-a feeling very similar to the one she'd experienced at the ed-center. The job that had begun as a challenge and refuge had become a nightmare. Being kidnapped by the Gattonians, in truth, had felt more like a rescue. She and Carpov had spent hour's together working on a solution for the virus plaguing his planet, and conversing on all manner of subjects. He had not tried to approach her in a s.e.xual manner even though his every move sparked s.e.xual awareness. She felt flushed and breathless whenever they shared the same works.p.a.ce and wanted to explore the chemistry between them to discern the truth behind the pull she encountered whenever he drew near. The chances of that, however, emerged slight. He deserved someone better...cleaner.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I can't lifemate with you, Carpov, it wouldn't be fair to you. I've been used by men and used them in return. I'm ruined and certainly not good enough for you." There that should do it; for once she'd done the right thing.

Carpov smiled gently. "Angel, in my culture we become s.e.xually active at a very young age. Until we choose a mate, we are free with our bodies to whoever is handy. I seriously doubt you could have more experience than I, and I would expect fidelity only after our mating. Anything before means nothing to us now. Do you desire me Angel, do you want me inside you hard and pulsing until you know you belong to me? Do you want me to make love to you until neither of us can stand?" He started toward her. "Answer me now or it will be too late."

"Carpov, a man at the school I attended, raped me repeatedly from the age of thirteen until I was seventeen. I don't make love, I have s.e.x; and I never enjoy it, not like a normal person. Is that what you want in a mate?" she proposed, horrified by her own admission. She'd never told anyone of her ordeal and now that she had, her life sounded even more sordid. She couldn't meet his eyes to see the disgust and pity she knew would be there. She turned to leave with her head high and quiet pride intact.

"Who is the bug-dropping that did this to you?" he thundered. "You have to know it was not of your making. The shame lies with him, Angel, never with you. I cannot believe your friends would let you feel this way," he hissed, gently bending down to lift and carry her to his platmat then follow her down, holding her as one would a wounded child.

She cried. She cried with all the shame, anguish, hopelessness, and rage that she'd kept bottled in her soul for more than ten years and Carpov cried, as well, feeling every emotion along with her. His Angel had been misused and he would die before anyone but him touched her again. He could not change the past but he could do something about her future and vowed that her future would also be his.

He began gently, by kissing her tears away, then moved to her forehead, earlobe, and pulse-point on her neck that increased in rhythm. He worked her clothes off her, first her shirt and bra, next her leggings and panties. He paused to look his fill. She surpa.s.sed everything lovely. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, while not large, distended firm and high, her waist proved small enough to eclipse with his hands, and her hips flared proportionately to the most beautiful legs he'd ever seen on a female. He rose quickly to shed his uniform and returned to her side. She, in turn, perused him. Her eyes, which only moments before had looked defeated and desperate, had begun to smolder with hot antic.i.p.ation.

He was bigger, better and more potent than any s.p.a.ce pirate or bandit in one of Cat's old DVDs. He was black all over; his hair, skin, eyes, and even his shaft, as it jutted larger and thicker than any she had known, and she had known a lot. Angel looked up to realize she'd been caught licking her lips.

"Does it meet with your approval?" he drawled with mixed expressions of arousal and amus.e.m.e.nt clear in his onyx eyes.

"I think I could get used to it, but you need to show me how it works." She flashed him a wry grin.

It proved all the invitation he needed. His kiss was open, moist, and hot and it seared her to her toes. He started running his tongue along her neck and shoulders, working his way down. Almost as if he were cleaning her, freeing her of her past nightmares. He suckled her nipples until they budded tightly then moved on to her rib cage and stomach; he discovered every erogenous zone she possessed leaving not one square inch ignored. He moved between her legs and holding her b.u.t.tocks in his hands, spread her legs wide and began to feast. She had become so sensitized with his ministrations; she almost came straight off the mat as he then proceeded to purr into the soft folds of her womanhood. Never had she felt anything so intoxicating. She climaxed almost immediately and when he moved up her body to meet her eyes, her expression shouted disbelief and amazement. She had just experienced her first o.r.g.a.s.m.

"What are you people, some new sort of pleasure weapon?" She pulled him to her and launched her own counter a.s.sault. She rolled him over and attacked his manhood with her luscious mouth licking and sucking him while kneading his inner thighs, abdomen, and chest with her talented hands.

"Enough!" he croaked finally, and grabbed her upper arms, rolling until he covered her from shoulder to thigh. He buried himself inside her with one hard deep thrust. He did not try to control the tempo of their mating; he just gloried in the sensation of finally getting her right where he wanted. He pumped with sure hard strokes until she begged; then he lowered his hand between them and placed his thumb on the swollen nub nestled there. She shot off, crying his name repeatedly as he followed with equal enthusiasm. He bit into the place between her neck and shoulder hard enough to draw blood. The sensation of pain and pleasure warred within.

It was done; she was his mate. Zorroc had but to witness the bite and it would be official. He left her sleeping peacefully and headed toward the late night meeting with Zorroc and Prolinc. * * * *

Zorroc paced like a tiger in a cage. Back and forth, back and forth, he made the aunts positively dizzy. It was most Un-Gattonian of him. Usually, when one of their race became agitated they stilled to immobility; Zorroc flew in the face of this behavior, clearly off the charts with frustration. His aunts remained perfectly still, observing him. What an incredible relief to be with their own people once again; it had been difficult to maintain a human demeanor for so long and at such close range, while residing with Cat. They had grown to love her as a daughter and knew her adjustment to this new situation would prove a difficult one; they only hoped she would choose to forgive their deception and let them a.s.sist her in navigating the coming changes. Spock and Scotty observed Zorroc with equal interest, both sets of b.u.t.ton eyes following his every movement as he fumed. The kittens had been near death when dropped at the Habi-Cat several weeks before. Cat had taken them home to be cared for and they had simply remained as a part of the family.

"Why did you not tell me this mating would be impossible," Zorroc accused. "Your entire purpose was to evaluate her suitability; what were you thinking to let this taking go forward?" he demanded ferociously.

The aunts were not intimidated; they had raised Zorroc since his birth. "Whatever do you mean? You have received our reports; she is entirely suitable. She is intelligent, warm, kind, loyal, attractive, maybe a little fluff-headed from time to time but you can't expect everything, my dear," Helen explained.

"But she is too small!" he informed them with quiet rage. "If I don't tear her apart in her taking; my offspring surely will. I want her but cannot have her and she is a temptation I am not sure I can resist. How do you propose I get around this? I trusted you and you have placed me in an untenable position," he hissed with vengeance.

"She is a carbon copy of her mother, Zorroc, you knew exactly what you would be getting when we planned this," Marie snapped, having heard enough of her nephew's ravings. "She will take you and your offspring just fine. She is small but st.u.r.dy with a strong spirit. She is beyond suitable, if you would just do the deed as Zazu intended," she finished.

Zorroc stilled. It took him a few moments to grasp the gist of her declaration. They were right of course; Rowan was every bit his size and Nancia could not be much larger than Cat. She must be muddling his brain, it was the only explanation; he would take her when he saw her next and that would set his mind and body to rights.

"I have a meeting to attend, thank you for your time," he muttered politely, slightly chagrined as he bent to kiss his aunts on their cheeks. Maybe everything would be all right after all; he would take Catarina tonight and proceed from there. Zorroc headed to the meeting room feeling lighter with each step.

Chapter Seven.

Prolinc and Carpov were waiting when Zorroc arrived. Prolinc looked churlish while Carpov looked pleased and relaxed. Ridiculously pleased, he realized, on closer inspection. "We will make this meeting a quick one. I am sure we all have places we would rather be; Carpov what do you propose," Zorroc asked, wanting to make this uncomfortable decision as soon as possible.

"The women are still asleep; we could choose several, inject the virus and await possible symptoms. If they begin to have problems, at least they would be unaware of the changes taking place in their bodies and we could keep the ones we experiment on well away from the others, as a precaution. We have another month in s.p.a.ce before we reach Ganz giving us plenty of time to evaluate possible side effects. The real problem remains dosage. It will be impossible to match because of the method of administration-injecting the women with the virus versus airborne exposure. The remaining option, of course, is not to inject them. The extensive testing we conducted on earth's atmosphere indicate a better than average chance the earth females will suffer minimal side effects from the virus. Maybe we should do nothing and let nature take its course," Carpov ended, as uncomfortable as his friends with the discussion.

Dee had collected Cat moments before, telling her she'd seen their Gattonians slip away for a meeting. They weren't hard to locate, they normally a.s.sembled in the conference room and this night, hadn't even bothered to secure the panel, obviously confident that everyone would be safely tucked into their platmats. Because of the miscalculation, Dee and Cat heard enough of the conversation to freeze their blood. Bad enough, they had taken innocent women, put them into suspended animation, and were speeding toward their home planet with them. Now they discussed the possibility of experimenting on them like laboratory rats. Cat reeled sickeningly. How could she have been so wrong about their motives? The conversation proceeded.

"What if the females have a severe reaction to the serum," Prolinc posed, preoccupied with how this could affect Dee.

"We would jettison them while asleep, it would be the kindest and safest thing to do all around." Zorroc stated thinking of Cat. If he had his way, he would jettison the serum. Discussing the possibility of testing the females before they procured them, proved daunting enough, but now, with identifiable faces and distinct personalities to take into account, combined with the strong instinct to protect those under their care; made the situation they contemplated more than he could stomach.

Sirens began to sound all around them as the ship jerked sharply to the left then jarred and shuttered. "We are under attack!" Zorroc shouted incredulously. "Carpov, get those women out of suspended animation and a.s.sign crew members to care for them. They are helpless in their current state. They will be confused, disoriented, and frightened with all this noise and their current situation; instruct the crewmembers to turn on the charm.

"Prolinc, secure our females, I will get to the main deck and determine our situation. Do not be long, Prolinc, meet me on deck as soon as you can; I will silence those d.a.m.ned alarms." He strode purposefully from the room tripping over Cat and Dee, in the process of scrambling to gain their footing; they had been knocked off their feet with the ships unexpected jarring. He realized they must have listened in on the meeting and cursed his carelessness but could not waste time worrying about his oversight. He grabbed Cat by her upper arm, secured Dee with his other hand, and barked at Prolinc to grab Angel from Carpov's quarters; he had found the other two.

He proceeded to march them quickly toward his destination. "What in the h.e.l.l is going on," Cat screamed, dragged at a run beside Zorroc. Dee had a slightly easier time of it, with longer legs, but still maintained a trot in order to keep up. She occupied herself trying to evaluate the situation and how she could contribute. A sudden decent occurred that would have knocked Cat and Dee to the ground again if not for Zorroc's firm grip.

Dee's mind worked on the ramifications of this latest crisis. They were under attack and Prolinc was head of security and guardian to Zorroc, she needed a quick weapons lesson in order to back him up, not that he didn't have his own people, but she had more of a vested interest in him. After the conversation she and Cat had just overheard, she had not even begun to make him as miserable as she now intended. Zorroc threw them into the jet-quik and propelled them to the main control level. The deck const.i.tuted a study in chaos. A fire loomed directly in front of them; Zorroc grabbed a flask from the wall and extinguished the growing flames like it happened regularly.

"The situation Sycor, now," Zorroc demanded, as he stormed into the main control room with Cat and Dee in tow. He proceeded to the main board and punched in the numbered sequence required to silence the warning sirens. He checked the console to confirm that the shields remained up and holding then checked an adjoining screen to a.s.sess the damage to the ship. It had to have been a well-planned trap to catch them so off guard, which meant only one thing. Dargons-the ruthless warrior race with no discernable ethics, morals, or rules except to destroy all in their path.

A sudden explosion sent Dee and Cat to the floor again, while the main COM started smoking, setting off another series of alarms. He had a bad feeling about the survival of his ship; it lurched at an odd angle that did not bode well for it or them. How had the Dargons located them? Had they known of their mission to earth? That sounded impossible.

Sycor met his gaze with somber clarity. "The news is bad, it was an ambush, and I think it is clear by whom. The ship will not survive. I have scouted available planets reachable by trans-pad and Pod and there are three. My recommendation is to transport to all three, spreading out as much as possible. We will be harder to track and if one group does get hit the others will have a better chance for survival. I think they are too far out to have us on visual, but if they do; our tails are cooked. Our beacons are untraceable to anyone but our own people and I have sent a COM to Gattonia apprising them of our situation and location; we have food and survival equipment for three weeks, which should leave adequate time for rescue," he summarized gravely.

"Make preparations to abandon ship as soon as possible, we cannot take a chance with our female cargo." Zorroc turned and spoke into the COM. "Carpov, I need an update, we have to prepare to abandon ship with all speed; how are the females faring?"

"They are awake, some are adjusting better than others, we will begin herding them toward the Pods with all speed, where is Angel?"

Zorroc whipped his head around to search for their females; Prolinc emerged with Angel and his gaze met and locked with Zorroc's. A message pa.s.sed between them before Prolinc left again to implement evacuation plans. "She is safe, Carpov, and anxious to see you from the look of her. Which Pod are you headed for; I will have one of the crew deliver her to you." Zorroc noticed the mating tattoo visible on her neck and knew the reason for Carpov's earlier mood and present concern. "And Carpov, your mating has been witnessed."