Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series) by David VanDyke Page A

would appear a faceless metal golem.
    “My God,” one of the women gasped, raising a hand. “Jill Repeth.”
    The other Blends turned curiously toward the speaker, then back to Jill and nodded in agreement. “It does appear so,” one of the men said. “My received memories are very clear.”
    Bull moved aside and told the Marines behind him, “Spread out and secure the complex. The Smaj and I got this.” Once they had gone, Bull pointed at the woman, watching carefully. “You. Talk.”
    The tall, dark-haired woman who had first spoken kept her hands in view and moved to her right, away from her fellows. Once she was well out of reach, she said to Repeth with a steady gaze, “Welcome home. I’m Leslie Denham.”
    “Holy shit,” Repeth replied. “One of Skull and Rae’s kids?”
    As she spoke, one of the men in yellow moved with lightning speed, plunging a hand into his sleeve to retrieve a pistol, which he pointed at Leslie. “Traitor!”
    Leslie was already moving behind Bull, who stepped in front of the muzzle, apparently confident nothing that size could penetrate his battlesuit. The bullet spanged off his chest, adding a small ding to the Star of David painted there.
    At the same moment Repeth drew her own backup weapon, an ancient PW5 Needleshock pistol, and drilled the Blend in the gut before he could get off a second shot. The man folded as the electrical charge stored in the round caused his muscles to convulse, knocking him unconscious to the ground. “Anyone else want a little taste?” she asked as she swept the pistol left and right.
    The others backed away, shaking their heads. Leslie stepped out from behind Bull and kicked the man’s fallen pistol into a corner. “You certainly took your time,” she said.
    “A little thing called the speed of light got in the way,” Jill deadpanned. “Humanity has a colony at Gliese 370 now.”
    “I know. I’m highly placed. My siblings and I have been working for decades behind the scenes, preparing for your arrival and our liberation.”
    “You buying this, Reap?” Bull asked.
    “For now…but she might be an imposter. How can we tell, with Blends? They could have caught the real Leslie Denham and stolen her memories. The only one who will know for sure is Ezekiel.”
    “My brother’s alive?” Leslie asked, her face delighted.
    “Yes, he’s fine. At least, he was a few days ago.”
    “Do not listen to the traitor,” one of the yellow-clad women said with venom.
    “If I’m a traitor to the Empire, obviously they should listen to me, Fiona,” Leslie retorted.
    “Unless you’re just pretending to be a traitor,” the woman replied, “and I’m helping convince them…Llewella. Or should I call you Leslie now.”
    Leslie sneered at the other Blend. “You’re not nearly as clever and twisted as you think you are.”
    “That’s not what you said the last time you shared my bed.”
    “I fooled you in to thinking I enjoyed it, didn’t I?”
    “Ladies, ladies,” Repeth broke in. “Don’t make me shoot you both.” She gestured with her PW5 at Fiona, who had taken a step toward Leslie.
    “We should have brought a Blend with us,” Bull grumbled.
    “As I recall, you vetoed that yourself. You said you didn’t want to trade a Marine away for a noncombatant,” Repeth said.
    “Let’s just get them to Conquest and we can confirm her identity,” Bull replied. “Leslie, here’s your first test. Patch us through to Captain Absen on the following frequency,” and he gave her confirmation codes and a freq for voice comms.
    Leslie took a seat at a console and switched it on. Jill watched her with growing confidence. Something about the way the woman moved reminded her of Skull Denham, and more pointedly of her mother Raphaela. Also, Blends, like Meme, were notorious egoists, unlikely to suicide no matter what the gain. That also made their loyalties questionable…but Rae’s children had been born Blends, not made up of Meme and mind-wiped