Page 72 of Stealing Jia

The look of horror on Rakk’s face had me giggling. It seemed the twins’ exploits had spread across the fleet.

Trayon gave me a stern look.

I fluttered my eyelashes at him.

“Unless you want females to be permanently banned, you will behave yourself,”Trayon advised on our private link.”

I crossed my heart.“I’ll be a good little girl.”

“That I doubt.” Trayon held out his hand.

I took it and as I passed Rakk, I said, “You’re lucky you still have your tentacles. Chiara finds them quite tasty.”

Chiara hissed at him.

“Do not torment my warriors,” Trayon growled.

“Where’s the fun in that?” My eyes widened as I took in the war room. It was basically a conference room like you would find on Earth, except one wall held a slew of blood-stained antique swords. The other walls held scanners and viewscreens. An assortment of Coletti, Askole, Farin and Alliance warriors were sitting at a long platinum table. Built into the right arm of each chair was a high-tech control panel.

Trayon escorted us up to the head of the table where Sariel, Zarek, my father and a Chinese man with cold, cop eyes were seated. “This is Jia, my mate. She is responsible for the destruction of Threll and seven Rodan battle cruisers.”

“Not entirely true. Without our help Jia would have never obliterated Threll,” Loki stated from the end of the table.

I examined Loki’s and Ivan’s battered faces. “He’s right. It was a team effort. Just like I needed Chiara’s assistance to destroy the Rodan ships. If we work as a team, we can annihilate the Rodan.”

The Chinese man surveyed me from head-to-toe.“There is no doubt she is human, not a replicant?”

I frowned. He thought I was a clone. Had Giovanni actually created one?

“Jia is my daughter in every way Zan,”Dad stated firmly.

My eyebrows rose. The Chinese guy was the famous Commander Zan. According to the news vids, he had single-handedly rescued three hundred women from the slave traders. Zan had started out as a lowly enforcer and rose through the ranks until he was the head honcho. He reminded me a lot of the hard-nosed cop I had played cat and mouse with when I worked for Matteo. I held out my arm. “Would you like to take a DNA sample?”

Zarek interjected,“That will not be necessary. The replicant’s DNA always matches the donors. You have my word Commander Zan that Jia is not a clone.”

Cazzo. How could he tell? I quickly accessed Trayon’s knowledge. Replicants were all psychic duds with no telepathic abilities. Whew! That let me off the hook. My gaze fixed on a humanoid with long silver hair and pointy elf ears. Trayon’s memories were a little vague but I knew he was a high ranking Farin. His amused grin was annoying. “You are?”

“Captain Jubal. I have been tasked with recovering our stolen technology.”

I winced.“The cloaking device was wrecked when I blew up Lilkee’s transporter room.”

“But the personal camouflage shroud is undamaged.”Trayon pulled out a chair and on our private link ordered,“Sit. Do not speak unless asked a direct question.”

I gave him the stink eye and sat.

“Want me to port us out of here?” Chiara asked.

“No. We are the first females in over three hundred years to be allowed to attend a war council. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

Trayon took the chair next to me. “We were able to salvage most of the cloaking device, Jubal. I will have the remnants transported to your ship.”

Yeah, as soon as Sariel scanned every little piece.

Jubal turned his attention to me. “How did you blow a hole in Lilkee’s ship?”

“Thermite grenade.”

“You were taught how to use weapons?”

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