Copy Cat

The filthy Canines have taken the Quartz Sector and overthrown Ramses' nemesis on Baast. The Emperor has vowed that the feline systems will NOT go to the dogs, so it's up to Herc Tom to once again to save the Empire AND the Baastards.But unbeknownst to our hero, Inga Quin left a surprise the last time she was in Herc's head, and he may not be quite himself, but someone else might be."Copy Cat" is a speculative fiction novelette, and is the eleventh of the "Herc Tom, Champion of the Empire" stories, following "Purr Mission", "Nipped in the Butt", "Cat and Mouse", "Baastards' Revenge", "Imperial Purrogative", "Cats Out of the Bag", "Reining Cats and Dogs", "Imperial Imperilment", "A Tail of Two Species", and The Cat's Paw." William Mangieri is a karaoke junkie, former theater student, and recovered wargamer who spends as much time wondering "what if?" as "why not?". He writes from Texas, where he and his family live at the mercy of the ghost of a nine-pound westie.William writes mostly speculative fiction (that's science fiction, fantasy and horror), although he also has a detective series with a soft sci-fi element (Detective Jimmy Delaney.) He completed writing his first novel (Swordsmaster) in 2019; prior to this, he has honed his skills on short fiction. He has been published in Daily Science Fiction and The Anarchist, and six of his stories have earned Honorable Mentions in the Writers of the Future contest. The adventures of Herc Tom, the self-satisfied Champion of the feline Ramses Empire.