Page 19 of Infiltration

“Tell me your name, Ensign.” When the boy’s eyes began to drift closed, Nako bent closer, ignoring Dr. Zo’s attempts to wave a scanner over him. “Dramok, who are you?”

“Ilid,” came the answering wheeze.

“Who was your captain, Ilid?”

Zo pushed at him, none too gently. “Captain, I need room to work. He’s badly—”

“Your captain’s name, Ilid!”

“Abgi. Taken by…rider. All command staff…Darks.” A sob broke from him as his eyes began to roll over white. “Darir. Ved. Dead.”

“What happened to your ship, Ilid?”

“Blew up.” The whisper faded at the end.

“Captain!”

Nako got out of Zo’s way. Ilid’s lids slid shut.

“Weapons Commander, if the shuttle is secure, let’s give the medics room to work.” Now that Nako knew it hadn’t been Kila’s ship that was destroyed, he was ready to grant Zo all the space he needed to save the kid’s life.

Captain and weapons commander disembarked. Terig instructed his two men to examine the ship’s hull. Trained in forensics, they unpacked bins full of instruments allowing them to analyze and take samples from the shuttle.

As they began their painstaking work, Nako and Terig loitered near the hatch, listening to Zo and his team mutter over the injured Ilid.

“You were worried it was Clan Piras’ vessel,” Terig whispered.

“Reading my mind, my Nobek?”

“We always wondered what happened to them. It would have made sense they’d been assigned duty far from the home world. Out of the empire was an even better bet.”

“Five years, though? Even if spying on Bi’is was their initial deployment after the war, the fleet surely wouldn’t have left them there for so long.”

“Piras is still a name people hate.”

Nako’s com beeped. “Nako here.”

“Vaskiz, sir,” the communications lieutenant said. “Admiral Tranis responded to your request for orders by text. He says, ‘Stand by.’”

“Understood.” Nako clicked off and snarled at Terig. “Stand by? What the fuck response is that?”

“Well, it was a spyship—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just not in the mood for mysteries.” He glared at the shuttle’s carcass, willing the damned thing to talk. It ignored him.

* * * *

Alpha Space Station

“It’s quite easy to get to you, Admiral Piras. Too easy, I’m afraid,” Kuran noted as he stood on the other side of the Dramok’s desk, where a computer and a picture of his clan’s Matara rested.

“Are you here to kill me?” Piras was chipper for a man wearing a bullseye on him while his Nobek was off on a mission. Amusement danced in his gaze.

“I prefer to wait for Captain Kila’s return. It’ll be greater fun if I have to go through him first.”

Kuran could hardly believe he joked with Piras, the man responsible for his youngest brother’s death. The more they interacted, however, the more he appreciated the corner Piras had been backed into during the war. Forced to choose to give up the military installation, where Kuran’s sibling had been stationed, in favor of a civilian colony hadn’t been a choice at all. Piras’ mission to stop the rebellion had robbed him of a safe home for himself and his clan. As the weeks had passed, Kuran’s enmity had begun to ease into respect.

“I don’t accept meetings with those who might take the opportunity to cut my throat because of Laro,” Piras said. “You’re a man of honor, and you’ve sworn to work for the good of Earth. Therefore, I allow you easy access to me so we can guarantee the humans their safety.”

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