Page 72 of Clan and Command

Maybe someday Piras would believe that.

Kila pinned something on his shoulder. The Dramok gaze on a small metal square, just thick enough to hold a miniature circuitry board. He’d only heard of the phasing technology. He’d never seen the prototype mechanism, which had been developed from alien machinery captured a few years earlier.

“There, your own phase device, in case we have to let you go for some reason. Let’s get to the ship. The longer we stay, the greater chance something will go wrong and we’ll get caught.” Kila caught Piras under one arm, letting Lokmi hold him up on the other side. With the two men’s support and the Nobeks from Kila’s ship leading them, they moved across the room. Piras was grateful for the help, humiliating as it might be. Even with the stimulant in his system, he couldn’t seem to get his legs to move well.

The doorway was crowded with Fleet Security running in and out, trying to wrap their heads around Piras’s sudden disappearance. Rather than passing through that chaotic knot of bodies, Lokmi and Kila guided Piras through the wall instead.

Phasing put men and objects in an alternate sphere of existence. They were not only invisible to others, but could pass through solid objects. It was a curious and wholly unpleasant sensation for Piras to walk through the wall and into the corridor. He remained within his universe just enough to see what was going on and feel some of the effects of his normal existence. The wall seemed to drag through his body, as if he was water going through a sieve. It was particularly uncomfortable against his injuries, and he moaned.

“Hang in, Admiral,” Lokmi said. “We’ll get you out of here as fast as possible.”

Sirens began to blare. An announcement went over the public address, warning Fleet Command that the traitor Admiral Piras had escaped in the company of Captain Kila. The two men were to be apprehended with lethal force if necessary.

“You shouldn’t have appeared long enough to be seen,” Piras complained as they hurried down the hall. “All it took was one of you grabbing hold and making me phase with you to end the torture.”

Kila snarled. “Fuck them. They’re lucky they still breathe. They had no right to cut you.”

“Just the privilege of grief. They all lost someone on Laro.”

Kila growled but said nothing more. The corridor was congested with officers now, and Piras and his rescue party were being buffeted as men ran right through them. It was bizarre to see as well as feel it happening.

Lokmi winced instinctively as five men raced through him in quick succession. “It’s too bad we won’t be around to witness security explain all the blood in a soft interrogation room. I’d love to hear that song and dance.”

Piras felt strength seeping into his legs as the worst of shock ebbed. He was able to help them move him faster. “I’m more concerned with you getting the ship through the cordon they must have set up already. The phase device on it is operating at peak performance, I take it?”

Kila found a ghost of his old smile. “It works like a charm. On the shuttle we used to get here too. That technology could make all the difference in the war if Fleet Command had Lokmi’s improvements that make it perfect. Too bad for them that he’s going with me so we can fuck over Maf in person.”

“Speaking of doing things in person, you shouldn’t have come for me yourselves. The mission—”

Kila’s interruption came on a vicious snarl. “You’re more important than the mission.”

“Like hell I am. We knew from the start I was putting my life on the line.” Piras smiled despite the pain he was in and their still-desperate situation. “But thank you for the personal concern. I won’t forget that.”

Kila glanced at him and reddened. He looked away. After a moment, he said, “You’re right, of course. The mission is supposed to be the priority.”

“I expect you to remember that in the coming weeks, Captain.” Piras made his voice firm, though it was hard not to be warm.

“Yes, Admiral. I remind you, however, that the mission is to get you into the Basma’s inner circle. With respect, that meant we still had to come after you. As the man responsible for making sure you get to Maf, I led the rescue.”

“Which could have gotten you killed. It still might, seeing how we’re not out of here yet. That’s not acceptable given you’d be needed for execution of a new mission.”

“With me and my crew outed, we’re all expendable anyway. We’d be executed as traitors by the Empire. If we ran without you, we’d run the risk of being killed off by Maf for fucking up. I had nothing to lose by coming after you myself.”

Lokmi grinned. “All of us on Kila’s crew are traitors now. That makes you our ticket to life, Admiral. Not here, but with the Basma’s fleet.”

Piras sighed dramatically and then groaned as a shouting Diwal charged through his body. “And here I thought it was because I’m so damned wonderful to have around.”

Lokmi laughed, a shocking sound given their danger and the snarling Nobek security guards rampaging around them. “I wouldn’t say that, but I’m in no hurry for it to be otherwise.”

They made it to a conveyance and entered it, trying not to stand in the exact same spots occupied by other men. Piras had to put up with a Nobek’s arm through his ribs, but he bore it with resolve. He even thought he was starting to feel better, at least emotionally.

He decided he might even find hope again…hope he hadn’t sacrificed lives for nothing. Kila and Lokmi weren’t shrinking from the horror of what he’d done to Laro Station. They believed in the mission. They believed in him.

Maybe it was more than mere belief. Perhaps Kila considered it was his duty to personally see to Piras’s rescue, but the emotion he’d shown said otherwise. He’d come to defend Piras because he cared. Even more significantly, Lokmi had no excuse for coming with him. Not a professional one, anyway. The man was not ship’s security. He might have fighting skills, but he was an engineer first and foremost. He’d had no business showing up to save Piras.

The conveyance stopped at the High Command’s floor, and the three men along with their security escorts stepped off and headed toward the shuttle bay. Piras needed to get into duty-mode, but he felt the pressing demand to say something personal first.

“Kila and Lokmi, thank you for coming for me. Duty or not, I want you to know—”

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