Page 2 of Clan and Command

Tranis found the one bright spot in the horrid mess. “The battlecruisers are a serious threat only if they’re properly manned. Reports say the ‘cruisers have been running with skeleton crews. Most of the Earthers have abandoned the lost war.”

Hobato reminded him, “The crews could be supplemented by former soldiers from our ground forces, the Kalquorians that went to the revolt’s side. In fact, we believe that’s the reason behind this large convention of the Earther ships at Batya.”

Piras stared at the vid. “A lot of the traitors went there when the attack on Kalquor itself failed.” He shrugged. “The loss of Batya and that sector is regrettable, but it’s not a primary concern at this time. I thought we were going to concentrate our efforts on reclaiming Lobam and Sib?”

The moons had been the fleet’s chief worry thus far since war broke out. The Basma’s forces had claimed two of the five natural satellites orbiting Kalquor. The enemy’s proximity to the home planet made the revolt’s presence there a real and immediate threat. Only fear for the large civilian populations trapped on the moons had kept ground forces and the fleet at bay. Small, strategic attacks had yielded no victories for the Empire thus far.

Hobato nodded, his keen gaze halting Piras’s pacing. “Of course Lobam and Sib remain our priority. But this matter of the Earther ships is a game changer. We need someone on the inside and soon. The question is, who do we send?”

“Trained spies. Our very best. Maybe the captain of the ship that got the footage of the ‘cruisers?”

“No good. Active spies on the roster are going to be suspect. That was the one part of the fleet the Basma wanted no part of…and the group he’s done everything to keep the most up-to-date information on. With some success.” Hobato offered a grim smile as he passed along that unwelcome news.

Tranis looked at Piras, his usually grim expression lighting with a smile too. “A former spy, one who hasn’t been on that type of duty in a long time, would be our best hope for infiltrating Maf’s inner circle.”

Piras snorted. “That leaves you out. You were promoted straight from a spyship command only a few years ago.”

He managed to keep the grudge out of his tone. Dramok Tranis had deserved his promotion to admiral. He excelled as the member of High Command who directed the fleet’s spyship group. He was smart, resourceful, brave, and everything else an officer of the fleet should be. A hero, without a doubt.

He was also the man who had taken away the one thing Piras had wanted most out of life. It was an unforgivable slight.

Not that Piras let any of that affect their ability to work together…well, except for one notable time several years earlier when the injury had been new. In this era of war, he couldn’t afford to be anything but professional. He didn’t have to like Tranis to work well with him. He’d proven that over and over in the time they’d spent together in Fleet Command.

Hobato continued to give Piras a penetrating stare. “It's not only a matter of Admiral Tranis having been out of the spyship game for barely five years. He’s also got an Earther Matara as part of his clan. That above all else disqualifies him.”

Like Piras didn’t know that. Like the still vid pictures hanging on the wall didn’t remind him, had he deigned to look at them.

It wasn’t that Piras cared one whit about Matara Cassidy, the beautiful Earther Tranis’s clan had won at the end of the war with Earth. Her sweet face might spark a little envy in Piras’s heart, but it didn’t compare to the pain he felt when he looked at another face in that portrait.

It hadn’t been enough that Tranis had managed to clan Cassidy. Or that he’d become admiral younger than any other man in the history of the fleet. No, he had also clanned the one man Piras had loved for sixteen years. The man he’d shared his bed and body with, thinking that at any moment, Nobek Lidon would finally say yes to his offer of lifelong companionship.

Was Piras wrong to feel jealousy towards a man who had won it all? Perhaps, but he refused to add guilt to his list of hurtful emotions. Lidon had been his Nobek in all but vow, working at Piras’s side on board their destroyer through scores of campaigns and battles. Within months of Tranis becoming their ship’s first officer, Lidon had accepted the younger man’s offer to clan.

Piras let none of the pain show. “I think it’s quite clear that the Basma would not welcome Admiral Tranis with open arms.”

“He might welcome you.” Tranis’s voice was low and careful.

Piras started and looked the bearded man in the face for the first time. “Me?”

Tranis shrugged his wide shoulders. Their black-trimmed blue uniforms were identical, they both had black hair and bark-brown skin, but there the resemblance ended. Tranis was bigger with more bulk than Piras, a sturdy man with a broad, masculine face. Piras would have liked to think youth and good looks had been what lured Lidon away, but he knew better. He knew exactly what Tranis possessed that Piras hadn’t…and never would.

Tranis’s surprising statement kept Piras from delving too deeply into the whys and wherefores of lost loves. That the leader of the revolt, Dramok Maf, might want Piras as a recruit claimed all his attention.

Tranis clarified his stunning claim. “Your service as a spy was long ago and short-lived, though you did go through all the training. You have no clanmates despite your age. Not even prospective clanmates that anyone is aware of. Most importantly, you have no Earther Matara. One might think you’re against the Empire’s ways since you don’t follow the norm.”

Piras felt his face heat. Was Tranis suggesting he could turn against Kalquor? “I have no Matara because I spent my career in the fleet and concentrated on my duty rather than chasing Nobeks and Imdikos.” That wasn’t quite true, and Tranis knew it. He at least had the good breeding not to negate Piras’s claim. “Then there was the war with Earth, and now—”

Hobato held his hand up. Piras immediately silenced his rebuttal since the Fleet Admiral outranked him. He bowed his head in respect to the unspoken command.

Hobato’s voice held a trace of warmth as he said, “Admiral Piras, your loyalty to the Empire is not in question. I believe that’s part of the reason Admiral Tranis and another knowledgeable party suggested you for this mission.”

Piras gaped at Tranis. It was his former rival’s turn to flush. Tranis was not a fan of Piras’s. Their shared dislike was one of two things they had in common.

Tranis managed a reluctant smile. “Your devotion to Kalquor is the reason I recommended you, along with the other considerations we’ve already mentioned.”

“I should hope I have some merit beyond not being clanned,” Piras said tightly.A status you helped make happen, damn your hide.

Tranis gave no indication he guessed at Piras’s thoughts. “I wasn’t with you when you captained a spyship. However, your record in that, while short, was exemplary. I also remember the kind of leader you were on the destroyer we served together on. You are without doubt a man of the Empire. We can trust you to get the job done.”

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