Dark Space: Origin by Jasper T. Scott

Dark Space after an outlaw fleet attacked them with a bioweapon and tried to steal their ship.”
    “Motherfrekker . . .” Gina said.
    “Yes, he is,” Caldin replied.
    Delayn’s jaw dropped. “Brondi’s using our own story against us! How can he get away with that? We have the overlord, not him.”
    Caldin snorted. “No, we don’t. Our overlord is an imposter, and apparently when the Valiant made contact, the one who contacted them was, to all appearances anyway, Overlord Dominic.”
    “Where in the nethers did they find another holoskin of the overlord?” Delayn asked.
    Caldin shrugged. “Maybe the same place as the first. Brondi had to have infiltrated the Valiant somehow.”
    Delayn gaped at her. “By replacing the overlord with a holoskinner?”
    “Maybe, but how he did it doesn’t matter right now. The fact is, our stories contradict each other, and there’s some reasonable doubt about who is who.”
    “That’s ridiculous!” Alara said. “It’s obvious we’re with the fleet!”
    “Is it?” Caldin turned to her. “If two Imperial vessels came to you, each of them with the same story—claiming to have been attacked by outlaws and then chased out of Dark Space—would you believe the ones who admitted to having an imposter overlord aboard, or the ones who knew nothing about the imposter, the ones who actually appear to have the real overlord. Add to that the fact that the Valiant is Overlord Dominic’s flagship, and he’s right where you’d expect to find him, and our position gets even weaker. It’s hard to believe that a ragtag fleet of outlaws could steal the biggest, strongest ship in the fleet.”
    Delayn winced. “We grew complacent. That never should have happened.”
    “No, it shouldn’t have, but we weren’t expecting our own race to turn on us when the galaxy is seething with aliens bent on human extinction.”
    “So where does that leave us?” Delayn asked, gesturing out the forward viewport to the huddled masses below.
    “Until our prisoners can be probed, we’re under as much suspicion as they are,” Caldin replied.
    Alara shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”
    “It gets worse,” Caldin went on. “Apparently Brondi gave them the vaccine for his virus.”
    “Why would he do that?” Alara asked.
    “He wouldn’t. I’m sure the vaccine is contaminated. He must be trying to spread his virus to the admiral’s ships, too.”
    “That will never work,” Delayn said.
    “Not now that there’s a reason to doubt his story and double check that vaccine, but before . . .” Caldin shook her head. “It all depends how cautious Admiral Heston is.”
    Gina nodded out the viewport. “I’d say he’s too cautious for his own good. He’s imprisoning his friends and letting his enemies run free.”
    “Wait a minute—” Delayn put in. “What about the Gors?”
    “What about them? The admiral doesn’t trust them, either,” Caldin said.
    “No, I mean, Tova and Roan— our Gors.” Delayn glanced over at Tova, but she didn’t react to the mention of her name. “I spoke with Tova before we left for Obsidian Station, and I had her tell her mate aboard the Valiant how to disable the carrier’s reactor and gravity for us. If they haven’t caught him yet, we could get him to sabotage the ship.”
    Caldin’s eyes lit up. “You’re a genius, Delayn—Tova!” she waited for the alien to respond. Tova’s helmet turned almost imperceptibly toward them. “Try to contact your mate. Tell him we’re here, and we need his help.”
    “I already contact him,” she said.
    “What? Why didn’t you say something?”
    “You are busy, so I listen and wait.”
    Caldin gritted her teeth. “What’s Roan’s status?”
    “He is well.”
    “Good. Great. Ask him if he remembers how to sabotage the carrier like we told him to.”
    They waited for a tense minute before Tova spoke again. “He is there. He says he already does what you ask.”
    Alara frowned, trying to understand