Page 71 of Bernadette

“Nobeks.” Tumsa shook his head and smirked. The one word was all that was needed to convey dozens of meanings, all appropriate to the occasion. She chuckled with him.

Doljen said nothing. Bernadette wondered if his mind was on his own Nobek, and Hal’s insistence he would never accept the final breakup of their clan.

She’d decided to accept Doljen’s and Tumsa’s silence on the matter, at least at the moment. She could always argue later if the subject came up and she didn’t like what she heard. She was pretty sure she’d roped Tumsa into keeping the clan intact, if at all possible. As for Doljen, it seemed best to let him stew without interference. Too many attempts to convince him could backfire.

“Do you guys want to help me with repairs on theRogue?” she invited.

“I’d say yes, but mechanics isn’t my strength,” Tumsa answered.

“Nor mine,” Doljen agreed.

“You’ll learn new skills today, then. Broaden your horizons. Keep yourselves occupied while we wait for word on Hal.”

Despite Doljen’s wary glance at Tumsa, he said, “I can’t argue with that. Okay. Derelict repair for beginners it is.”

“Derelict?” Bernadette sputtered before he grinned and winked at her. “Ooh, I’ll shove you in the brig if you call my baby a derelict again, even as a joke.”

* * * *

By the time the hospital commed to tell them Halmiko was awake and allowed visitors, Tumsa had found reasons to feel good. Doljen was thawing toward him. There were still distance and subjects the Dramok didn’t dare broach, but they were speaking. Joking even, as they struggled to learn from Bernadette and Vonin how to put an engine together.

“For a doctor, you’re all thumbs,” Bernadette grouched when a ham-handed Doljen broke a switch he was trying to install. Fortunately, they had a decent supply of switches.

“I have magnifying sights and vids and tools for delicate work,” he pointed out. “Look how small this is and how big my fingers are. Of course I’m clumsy.”

“Cry me a river.”

“I might. It cut me.” He showed her his fingertip, on which perched a bead of blood. His lower lip stuck out with ridiculous pitifulness. He answered Tumsa’s chuckle with a ready grin.

Ancestors, he looked so much like the bright, open Doljen he’d known. Was his Imdiko still in the man before him?

Any further teasing was cut short by the hospital’s alert. Within minutes, they set out to visit Halmiko. Tumsa didn’t miss how relieved Vonin appeared to see them go.

Tumsa was cheered by his Nobek clanmate’s apparent return to health after being rocked by how weak, vulnerable, and unbelievably mortal Halmiko had appeared the day before. The old spark of brutish nobility was in his eyes, though his few movements were slow and pained.

“The bastards knocked me out as if I were a child and kept me knocked out,” he grouched, snarling at the nurse that came in to adjust the medi-bed controls and left without reacting to his angst. “Unbelievable! They treated me as if I were a soft lusgo worm. It’s insulting. I’ll find out who ordered it and hand them their own taste of unconsciousness.”

“Careful. They said they might release you tomorrow if you continue to improve. I’d hate for them to keep you because they feared for their safety.” Tumsa delivered the news while suppressing a relieved smile that Halmiko might escape further surgeries after all. The former kurble star was still as tough as a Nobek could be.

“If they’re willing to let me out of this purgatory, I could find it in my heart to forgive them.” His tone was magnanimous.

It made it harder for Tumsa to resist laughter. “You have to agree to bed rest for several days.”

“Bed rest!”

“You’ll beat Kom to the ship. If you obey orders to take it easy, you might even be on your feet before he returns.” Bernadette was the very soul of encouragement.

Tumsa noticed she failed to tell Halmiko he’d make it to theRoguefirst because Kom had to be fitted and trained for his prosthetic. Despite losing a limb, the security head had suffered fewer life-threatening injuries and was likely to be running around committing Nobek nonsense before Halmiko.

She’d made a wise call. Halmiko vowed he’d obey doctor’s orders, despite glowering as he promised to be a good boy.

He glanced at Doljen, who’d stood silent since walking in. The Imdiko wore his contemplative look again. His thoughts, once so easy for Tumsa to read, were indiscernible.

The Nobek’s gaze moved to Tumsa. “Where are we then?”

Since he’d been drugged when he’d sworn to fight for the clan’s reunification, Tumsa kept his tone bland. “If it’s what youand Doljen wish, I’ll file for us to dissolve the clan.” He ignored Bernadette’s jaw dropping and the fury that lit in her eyes. “It goes against everything I want, but after the damage my reaction to Zakla’s death did to us, I won’t fight you on it.”

“You trusted us to keep him straight.” Doljen’s voice grated with pain.

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