Page 82 of Clan and Command

Kila scowled at him. “Make yourself a deadline to answer by, Chief. I’m not watching Piras suffer like he did before.”

Lokmi’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at Kila. He told Piras in a loud whisper, “He’s kind of pushy for a non-Dramok.”

Piras snickered. “No shit. Good thing there’s two of us to remind him of his place.”

They grinned at each other, the picked-upon Kila included. Piras felt their unconditional acceptance of him. He gathered its warmth around him like a comfortable blanket and basked in the sensation. He vowed that Lokmi would come to know the same feeling. He’d make it happen somehow.

Lokmi turned serious. “I’ll give you an answer within the year. I’ll take no longer to make my decision.” A flash of impish mischief brightened his face again. “I’m inclined to agree to it, so both of you are on notice to not fuck this up. In other words, Kila, stay the hell off my engines.”

Kila folded his arms over his chest, bestowing a mock glower on the chief engineer. “You’d better start looking for another Imdiko, Piras. This one won’t live long.”

Chuckles broke out over the group. Though Piras still felt a twinge of disappointment that his choice for a second clanmate was to be delayed, he understood it was imperative for Lokmi’s well-being. He felt confident that in the end, the Imdiko would make the choice they all wanted.

And if not, he still had Kila. Ancestors be praised, he had his perfect Nobek.

Chapter 23

Three days after receiving Dramok Sitrel’s instructions, Captain Kila’s destroyer reached the coordinates where the traitor and former admiral Piras was to join up with the Basma’s fleet.

After getting the word from his Nobek, Admiral Piras joined him on the bridge. He found their lover and intended Imdiko Chief Engineer Lokmi there as well.

They viewed the vid before them with trepidation. In the distance, a blue-hued world glimmered. The planet was designated Kuesht by the Kalquorians, but most now referred to it by the name of its one colony: Haven. Closer still was the ore-rich mining colony on the rocky planet Rokan.

Between the planets and Kila’s destroyer was a wall of Kalquorian vessels. Most were destroyers and other fighting ships. It was an impressive sight…or it would have been if not for the armada that threatened those loyal Imperial defenses. Monstrous Earther battlecruisers; long, clunky, but lethal ships all the same; dwarfed the Kalquorian ships. Rebel Kalquorian destroyers darted between the ‘cruisers, as if playing a deadly game of peek-a-boo with their former friends and allies.

“I haven’t seen a gathering like this since the war with Earth,” First Officer Uls muttered. “I forgot how nasty those ‘cruisers looked.”

“They’re not one thousand strong, though. The reports overestimated their numbers by twice too many,” Mostar said.

“No, the rest are still aiding the attempt to hold the areas Maf won,” Piras said. “They have the ships, but they aren’t all here.” That made the Basma’s fleet split into thirds. There wasn’t much comfort in that looking at the force before him, however. The Empire was in definite trouble.

Laro Station did not fall so I could fail. I owe those men I sacrificed. I owe their families. I must find a way to stop Maf and Copeland.

Com Officer Dramok Veko broke into Piras’s grim thoughts. “The Earther ships are hailing us, Captain. They order that we present admittance code.”

Kila’s voice was as cold and murderous as Piras had ever heard him. “Answer in Earther English: God gives us the right to our might.”

That elicited a few snorts from the bridge crew. Piras looked around, his jaw tensing, brow raised. “I fail to see anything amusing about our situation, Captain.”

“I agree, Admiral. Does my crew wish to share a joke with their superiors?”

There were no takers. Each man on the bridge wore a stiff attitude at the threatening rebuke. Even undercover and officially traitors to the Empire, discipline was maintained. Piras and Kila would not warn them again before punishment was enacted, and the crew knew it.

Veko’s voice was snappy with regulation respect. “Message sent, Captain. Waiting for their response.”

The silence that followed seemed to stretch into infinity. It was the kind of quiet that made men of guilty conscience believe they were about to be found out. Piras knew more than one of them wondered if the Basma’s force would turn on them in the next moments.

Even he felt the strain of the unknown in the hushed minute that followed. Kila never twitched a muscle, but he did mutter to Lokmi, “Chief, man your remote station and confirm phase and engines are online.”

Lokmi moved from his side to the computer podium where he could check all readouts and operations in engineering. “All systems at the ready, Captain.”

Still, there continued to be no word from the Basma’s fleet. Kila took a step towards the navigation and helm stations. “Standby to run or fight, Uls.”

“Standing by.”

“Mostar?”

“Weapons at your command, Captain.” Mostar, whom Piras remembered well from his stay on the ship during the war with Earth, sounded as unaffected as ever. The man either had steel for a spine or was as emotionless as an automaton.

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