Chapter 19
As sweetly as Piras had dropped off, wakefulness returned with the rude buzzing of someone’s com. Kila was on his feet in an instant. As fleet officers who’d had their share of sudden emergencies, Lokmi and Piras were not far behind him.
Piras’s mood was black before he’d even opened his eyes. He’d been having a nightmare in which he was pursued by Maf. In a twist that made him simultaneously feel guilty and infuriated, the Basma had been hectoring him with endless questions in Calna’s voice. Maf had insisted he couldn’t sleep unless Piras would guarantee he’d give him Laro Station for use as a Bi’isil colony.
Temper ready to fire, Piras searched through his clothing to answer his com. He had quickly realized that was where the abrupt summons came from.
It clicked off in mid-buzz. Piras cursed and finally found the thing, which had fallen out of its pouch on his belt to the floor. It beeped in response, indicating a text message had been left. He retrieved the message and squinted through sleep-bleared eyes to read it.
“What the fuck? Damned last-minute meetings.”
He flung the com onto Kila’s bed. He picked up his uniform and started dragging it on while he ranted. “And of course it’s in an hour. Assholes.”
Kila yawned and stretched. “With great responsibility comes great steaming heaps of ronka shit. Better you than me.”
Lokmi sat down on the sleeping mat. He stuffed Piras’s com into its appropriate pouch as the Dramok stuck his arms in the sleeves. “Don’t forget to com your mom today too. We can’t have her worrying over her little boy, although the charges of treason are going to trump missing a weekly com.”
Piras snapped up at the comment, his already fiery temper ramping up higher. “Just because I prefer being on the bottom for sex doesn’t make me a wimp. I’m not a mama’s boy if that’s what you’re inferring. It’s called respect for parents, you ignorant fuck.”
Lokmi arched a brow at him. “Cool the defensive shit, hothead. It was a joke. I meant nothing by it.”
“Sure you didn’t,”
Piras seethed.
Kila was in a mood of his own. He snarled, “Both of you shut the fuck up. It’s too early for this.”
Piras yanked his boots on and gave them his most scathing look. “The two of you can crawl in a boost rocket and fire it. I don’t have time for insults and arguments.”
He stormed out, pissed off with them and the entire universe.
At his home, Piras took a quick shower and changed uniforms. Realizing he was going to be late to whatever meeting he’d been summoned to no matter how much he rushed, he headed out on the balcony. He needed to settle his thoughts before dealing with anyone at Fleet Command. As was usual for him when hard thinking occurred, he paced up and down the wooden planks, breathing deeply of the fragrant woods and taking in the calming view.
He considered the defensive way he’d reacted to Lokmi’s statement about his relationship with his mother. Had he overreacted because of the dream he’d had? Or was it because others throughout his life had accused him of being tied too closely to Calna? That was probably it.
It was concern for his mother’s anxieties that kept Piras sugarcoating any dangers he’d faced throughout his fleet career, as well as why he had to answer when she commed. Facing the reality that he was about to hand her the biggest tangled mess of worry she’d ever faced and knowing how his treachery would shatter her made his stomach hurt. He’d not be able to allay her fears and settle her mind on that account for perhaps a very long time. The guilt choked him if he thought too hard about it.
Yes, he’d made far too big a deal out of Lokmi’s teasing. It made the headache pounding in his head that much worse. He didn’t want to be at odds with the Imdiko and Kila, and not because he’d soon be stuck on the same ship with them if all went according to plan. Also not because of the spectacular sex they’d shared on two occasions now.
Just as he gave full throttle to his temper, so he did with his other feelings. It was clear to Piras that the affection he felt for the Nobek captain and his chief engineer could grow into more intense emotions.
“Stupid,”
he sighed to himself. “After Lidon, you know it’s beyond ridiculous to contemplate anything beyond a working relationship, with a little sex thrown in to relieve the tension. Considering the enormity of this assignment, it’s doubly dumb to consider having more.”
Yet there was no denying Piras was getting in deep. At least he wasn’t the lone moron of the trio. Kila had made no pretense that he was looking for something long term. Maybe even permanent. He’d pursued Piras, and the Dramok liked that he meant that much to Kila. It made him glow inside to know he was worth being the one chased after.
Piras needed more time with Lokmi to figure out if the something might happen there, but the signs seemed favorable. The Imdiko’s sexual needs matched Piras’s. There was respect between them. They even had similar interests.
It could be more. Piras was almost certain of that.
“Maybe Lidon’s rejection wasn’t the end of the world after all,”
he mused. Thinking about his former lover brought pain as it always did. It seemed less at the moment, however, like a distant echo of the old hurt. It didn’t tear at his heart.
Piras wanted to continue thinking about things, but his handheld computer, worn in a pouch next to his com, buzzed a reminder warning to him. He was supposed to be at the meeting at that moment, and he wasn’t even sure who had called it yet. His money was on Hobato though. With the attack on Rokan and Haven, there were sure to be many abruptly called meetings in the next few days.
With a huff of breath, already rehearsing his apologies for being late, Piras left for work.
* * * *
Piras landed his shuttle in his usual spot within the admirals’ bay of Fleet Command headquarters. He noted the small group of Fleet Security standing in the wide-open space. He got out, wondering what they were up to. Had headquarters come under a threat, or was it a routine security check?
He found out neither was the case when the four Nobeks marched straight up to him. The one in the front, his once-handsome face marred with many knife scars, bowed to him. “Rear Admiral Piras. You were to be at a meeting fifteen minutes ago.”
Piras bristled at the high-handed greeting from a lower-ranked officer. “I didn’t realize Admiral Hobato would take my tardiness so hard as to send an armed escort upon my arrival.”
“Your meeting is with me, sir. Not the fleet admiral.”
The commander’s eyes were piercing with intent.
Piras’s mouth went dry. Had Fleet Security already gotten wind of his activities? Was he pinpointed as a traitor so soon?
Displaying none of the panicked thoughts rattling his brain, he hid behind his typical angry attitude. Fortunately, his temper came easily when confronted with unforeseen inconveniences. “I see. How kind of you to follow the usual protocol of scheduling an interview with my aide.”
He sneered with real ire at the Nobek, who at least had the good sense to look at him with a bit more uncertainty. Piras was grateful in this instance for his reputation as an asshole.
He continued to berate the man, acting the part of enraged admiral. “This smacks of insubordination, Officer. Summoning me, as if I was some lowly crewman? Making me think I should rush in because an emergency had occurred? You do realize we are at war, or has that little detail escaped your limited consciousness? That any abrupt change to my schedule would be viewed as a crisis?”
The Nobek and his team looked at him with wide eyes. The commander spoke with a thread of concern weaving through his tone. “Admiral, I felt it necessary to move with all haste—”
“You thought? Well, I’m delighted you are capable of that. At the very least, you could have alerted me to whom I was going to be speaking with. Nobek—?”
“Diwal, sir, Senior Security Officer of Fleet Command Headquarters.”
Nobek Diwal seemed to regain his confidence as he stated his title. “I apologize if I have been out of line in any way. However, I assure you that our meeting is of a sensitive nature and the highest priority. Come with me.”
He turned and nodded to his team. Diwal marched off, heading towards to in-house conveyance as the squad closed ranks around Piras.
Piras’s temper went into the stratosphere. He stood his ground with fists clenched and shouted after Diwal. “I don’t know what this is about, but I will not be marched through headquarters like a criminal! If you’re charging me with something, then do so. Otherwise, go fuck yourself with a percussion blaster. I’ll be glad to help you with that, if you can’t manage. I know exactly where to stick it.”
Diwal swiveled to face him. He did not regard Piras with surprise or any of the earlier unease. Instead, his attitude seemed curious…and perhaps even amused. The idea Diwal thought their confrontation would be humorous pissed off Piras all the more. He ground his teeth together.
Instead of addressing Piras, the senior officer spoke to his men. “The admiral will accompany me on his own. You are dismissed to attend to your usual duties.”
The men bowed to him and then Piras. At least they still looked apprehensive. They hurried away, as if to escape before Piras could include them in the target zone of his infamous temper.
He continued to remain standing in place, scowling at Diwal. The Nobek was forced to relent and approach him once more.
Piras’s grating voice showed how little control he had left over his fury. “If that little show was to impress me, you don’t know my record at all. You are fucking with the wrong man, Diwal.”
“It was an unfortunate necessity, I assure you, Admiral. One never knows what will take a man off his guard and lead him to spill his guts.”
Diwal grinned, but there was no longer humor in the expression. He looked ready to bite someone’s head off. “I am well aware of your record. I would have been disappointed if you’d gotten rattled by my greeting you in such a fashion. Please, Admiral, come with me.”
He bowed again, very low.
Hardly mollified but relieved, Piras followed him to the conveyance. No matter how assured Diwal was now, he’d had a moment of trepidation. That alone told Piras he wasn’t yet under suspicion.
Thank the ancestors. I can’t be fingered as a traitor before Maf’s fleet gets Laro, or the whole game is shot. Maf won’t want me anywhere near until my plan for him succeeds.
They went to one of the lower floors of headquarters, the whole of which was taken up by the security branch of Fleet Headquarters. Diwal ushered Piras into his office.
Piras looked around, curious despite himself. He’d never been in the security section. Diwal’s office was much as one might expect of a Nobek: spare for the most part, with little furnishings beyond a desk, chairs, and table where a conference of about half a dozen men might be held. The walls were crowded, however. Like Piras, Diwal had chosen to decorate the vertical space with his passion. His interest lay not in model ships though.
Implements of terror hung from ceiling to floor on all four walls of the room. Weapons like blades and blunt beating instruments jostled for space with various restraints, both practical and horrendous. The collar with the spikes pointed inward was of particular awfulness to Piras…and the points were dark colored and crusted, as if blood from some victim had dried on them long ago.
It was in this seeming torture chamber that Diwal motioned Piras should take a chair at the conference table. “Please, make yourself comfortable,”
he invited.
Piras remained standing, letting his foul mood continue to hold sway. It kept him from feeling intimidated by Diwal’s mode of decoration. He snapped, “Don’t think you’re wasting my entire day on whatever it is you’ve dragged me in here for. If you’ll inform me what this is about, so I can get back to important things? Like the war we’re trying to win?”
Diwal leaned against the table. His mocking smile didn’t have the sexy effect Kila’s did, though something about it chilled Piras. “You have interesting friends, Admiral,” he said.
“I’m an interesting man. Don’t fuck around with games. What do you want?”
“Captain Kila has caught our attention. How well do you know him?”
Warning signals went off in Piras’s head, but he maintained his aggressive demeanor. “You know damned well we associate outside of our duties, since you’ve called me here. If you’ve done your work properly, then you also know his destroyer was my squadron’s flagship during the war with Earth. On that occasion, he proved himself to be a first-rate officer.”
“Yes. His record is impressive, particularly since Nobeks don’t always rise to the rank of captain on destroyers. That’s more a Dramok path.”
“You sell your breed short, Officer. Nobeks make fine ship leaders when they apply themselves and get over the administrative headaches of the role.”
“There have been suspicious transmissions coming from his ship.”
Piras blinked at the sudden change in subject. Feeling as if he’d missed a chunk of conversation, he said, “Define ‘suspicious’.”
Diwal’s smug expression intensified. “Suspicious as in scrambled and coded. The first coms we detected went to Sector G15, which is currently in enemy hands.”
He referred to the area near the Galactic Council’s borders that Maf held. Piras relaxed, ready for that concern. “I’m sure your investigation revealed Captain Kila has cousins living on a colony in that area. If he is speaking with them, perhaps trying to gather intelligence as he checks on their welfare, of course he is scrambling his transmissions.”
“So you believe it is Kila who is making those coms?”
“I don’t have a fucking clue. Why don’t you ask him?”
“I’m asking you. Can you think of anyone else who would use a secure and scrambled frequency on board his ship?”
Piras rolled his eyes. “What about other members of his crew who have family and friends in that sector? Have you checked on those? Or would you like me to do your job as well as my own and verify that for you?”
Diwal crooked a brow. “Of course I’ve checked. I’ve learned Kila’s former chief engineer had such ties, but that man has since been re-assigned. Abruptly re-assigned.”
“So? Kila’s an asshole with his engineers since he likes to fuck with his ship’s power. A speed junkie, as I once heard a member of his crew call him. Why are you not discussing this with him?”
Diwal didn’t answer Piras’s question. Instead, he said, “Yesterday, his ship sent another transmission, a rather lengthy one. It routed to the area containing the Haven and Rokan colonies, which are currently under siege by the enemy.”
That meant Dramok Sitrel was part of the siege group. Piras found it interesting that Maf’s top aide wasn’t hiding behind the lines, safe and sound.
Realizing that Diwal was waiting, expecting a reply to his information, Piras gave him an irritated shrug. “And?”
“Captain Kila has no ties whatsoever with anyone on those colonies.”
“Perhaps he was checking in with the defenders. He has plenty of friends within the fleet.”
Diwal’s eyes narrowed. “Regulations stipulate no coms are to be made to any warship involved in a Level Five situation outside of High Command itself. Captain Kila has no reason to talk to anyone out there.”
“Don’t quote regs to me, Tragoom bait. Kila is not the kind of man to worry overmuch about rules when people he cares about are in harm’s way. If it is Captain Kila.”
Diwal changed tack yet again. “How involved is your relationship with him?”
“We’re not clanned. We fuck. Outside of that, it’s none of your damned business. My personal affairs are mine alone.”
“Not if treason is involved, Admiral. Have you shared any information with him? Let slip any sensitive or even classified matters?”
Piras was in his scarred face in a second, shouting hard enough that spit sprayed the Nobek. “You dare? You fucking dare? You slimy piece of Bi’isil shit, are you accusing me of sharing top secret information? Me?”
Diwal shoved him back a couple of steps. Piras bladed his body, his fists coming up as he set to fight. He’d take the smug fuck apart for such a question. That he indeed shared secrets mattered not one bit at that moment. He was primed by desperation to divert Diwal’s attention from Kila.
The walls of weaponry no longer looked intimidating to the irate Dramok. It beckoned as a wealth of hurt Piras could use against the law officer. Who needed a balcony to fling someone off of when there was such an incredible arsenal at hand, begging to be used?
The Nobek held out his hands in a ‘calm down’ gesture. Once more, his shocked expression showed he had been rattled by Piras’s vicious temper and Dramok command. “Hold it, Admiral. I’m not trying to insult you. You have to know I’m charged to investigate anything questionable, even from our highest-ranking officers. Surely you’re aware we’ve had some high-profile spies discovered.”
“That’s it, isn’t it?”
Piras seethed. “Did discovering Banrid’s treachery do something for your career, Diwal? Are you looking for more now that you’ve got a taste of heroism? Is that why you’re coming after me now?”
Diwal snarled, his pride stung. “I am protecting Kalquor from traitors. I am doing my job by questioning the activities of Captain Kila, to whom you have such a strong connection.”
“You’re chasing glory, you pathetic dribble of a Nobek. You’ve got nothing but questionable transmissions you haven’t decoded. In short, you’ve got nothing at all. Yet you’re ready to accuse me and one of our finest officers of treachery. I should tear your fucking head off and use your face to wipe my ass.”
Diwal had his expression under control again, though he wiped Piras’s spit off his face with obvious distaste. “I didn’t say I was accusing you. I also didn’t say we haven’t decoded those coms. How do you know that to be true?”
Piras snorted. “Dear ancestors, you truly are an idiot of unfathomable proportions. If you had decoded anything, we wouldn’t be doing this little dance. You’d be arresting someone or, more likely, playing with yourself to get over your disappointment that you’re unworthy of notice. So, you pathetic little tricked-out tyrant, unless you can give me something substantial right here, right now, I am leaving.”
Diwal’s eyes glittered with rage at the barrage of insults. He stood at his full height, which was about the same as Piras’s. He flexed his muscles, which were quite a bit larger.
Piras was not impressed. He’d taken out bigger and much better. He sneered at Diwal, showing him how little he thought of the man’s attempts to daunt him.
Diwal gave up. He bowed stiffly, reluctantly, though it was Piras’s due as an admiral. His voice was tight. “Then I will say goodbye until our next chat, Admiral.”
Piras’s smirk deepened as he took outraged pleasure in getting the best of the man. “There won’t be one, because we have nothing to discuss.”
“We shall see. The coding of the messages is admittedly complex, more than our current operatives can decipher. I’m bringing in a couple of experts from outside. Maybe after they’ve had a look, you and I will have a reason for another talk. Along with Captain Kila, and – who is the new chief engineer you were seen with last night? Oh yes, Imdiko Lokmi.”
He waited. Piras rolled his eyes. “Congratulations on discovering my other lover, the one I openly consort with in the most public of places. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, Nobek.”
He turned and stomped out of the security head’s office. Personnel in the corridor saw him coming and did double-takes at his glower. Fortunately for them, they got out of Piras’s way.
He headed for the higher levels. As he left the security wing behind, the red-tinged fury and bravado that had carried him through the exchange with Diwal faded. Piras’s heart hammered to know he, Kila, and Lokmi had come under suspicion.
Diwal was bringing in more codebreakers. Someone whose expertise was on the level of Lidon’s maybe? Someone who could unscramble the signal and discover Piras had been discussing Laro with Sitrel?
Too soon. Too soon, damn it! But there was nothing Piras could do to stop Diwal’s investigation. Ready or not, the game was now in full swing.
His next move was no mystery.
He needed to warn Kila that Fleet Security was tracking his coms.
With that uppermost on his mind, Piras changed his course.
He headed for his secret office rather than the official one. He had a nasty suspicion that his public office and computer were under surveillance by Diwal now.
Maybe the second work area and computer were too.
Though Piras thought of it as his secret office, he hadn’t made any real effort to conceal his use of it.
Fleet Security was aware that he had commandeered the space, having given the approval for him to use it.
Still, few people had taken note of his comings and goings through the years he’d been with Fleet Command. Maybe Diwal remained unaware of its existence as far as Piras was concerned. It was the Dramok’s best chance to get a message to Kila undetected.
He decided to take a circuitous route to the office within the power department.
Piras had royally pissed off Diwal.
No doubt the Nobek would welcome a chance to take Piras down now.
Since he might have decided to have the admiral followed or watched, the Dramok wove a tangled path through Fleet Command, winding down corridors through sections he rarely visited.
One department he found himself approaching was Communications Central.
In that vast room, fleet personnel monitored coms throughout the Empire.
Always the first unit to detect trouble in any sector of Kalquor’s territory, it was often deemed the most important division of Fleet Command.
No doubt one of its operatives had been the person to first raise concerns about the coded transmissions coming from Kila’s destroyer.
Piras hurried past the large door that led into the cavernous room.
Communications Central was a massive maze with its banks of computers, vid units, and huge com receivers.
Someone had once called it the Ears of the Empire in Piras’s presence.
He was nearly past the dark room with its dozens of floating vids and colorful blinking lights when sudden cries arrested his progress. As angry and disbelieving shouts erupted throughout the room, Piras stepped in to discover what had triggered the alarmed exclamations.
He didn’t have to guess. The star maps floating high above everyone’s heads were flashing alerts in one particular sector…the one where Laro Station resided.
Piras grabbed a lower-ranking officer who tried to race past him. “What is it? What’s happening?”
The monitor operator jerked to belated attention as he recognized Piras’s rank pins. “Laro Station is under attack, Admiral! The Basma’s fleet is firing on it with dozens of destroyers. They demand surrender or they’ll destroy the station!”
“What of the unmanned stations nearby? Aren’t they defending Laro?”
“They’re unresponsive. They’re all offline.”
The monitor stared at Piras with wide eyes. “But that should be impossible! Shouldn’t it?”
Piras shook him. “Who have we got nearby? What destroyers? Send them in immediately to defend Laro, authorization Rear Admiral Piras.”
“Patrols are too far away to get there in less than two days. There aren’t enough in any case to mount a real defense against what the Basma’s sent in.”
“Where are all the ships? The border with Bi’is can’t be that vulnerable!”
“Only the bare minimum required to defend the border are there now, and they’re stretched thin. Everything else was deployed to defend Kalquor’s main interests or to fight the attack on Rokan and Haven Colonies.”
The monitor, a young Dramok probably only a couple of years into his fleet career, had gone pale. “I’m sorry, Admiral, but I’ve got to get to my station. Protocol says I must man my unit during an emergency like this.”
“Go.”
Piras released the young man, who hastily bowed and raced off.
He watched the mayhem for a few moments more, listening to the desperate coms coming from Laro’s command staff. Voices from far away reported the huge numbers of ships attacking the station. They demanded to know why the unmanned stations were offline. They begged for destroyers to come to their aid, knowing any help would be too late to save them.
The commander of Communications Central rushed up to Piras. “Admiral, I didn’t see you here in the confusion. Do you wish a direct report to High Command?”
“Yes, Commander. Contact Admiral Hobato’s aide to arrange for information transfer, current and from the beginning of the incident.”
The commander rushed off to comply.
A weight had lodged itself in Piras’s gut as the desperate voices from Laro grew more desperate still. As the pleas for help turned into last reports of the conquered, he pulled his com off his belt and dialed the frequencies of the rest of Fleet’s High Command. He triggered the unit to set off the priority signal, which would stop every admiral in their tracks to listen.
He raised the com to numbed lips and tried to speak. “Rear Ad—”
That was as far as he got before his voice caught, choking off. Piras drew a deep breath and rubbed the stinging emotion from his eyes before trying again.
“Rear Admiral Piras to all senior officers of High Command. Emergency meeting required immediately. I repeat, emergency meeting required immediately. Please assemble in the Fleet Admiral’s Hobato’s conference room. Secure tie-ins with all relevant departments. The Basma is attacking Laro Station on the Bi’is border. Fall of the station is imminent. I repeat, Laro Station has been lost to the Basma’s forces.”
He switched off the com, his ears ringing as the frantic last broadcasts of Laro came through. On legs as numb as his lips, he turned and headed for the meeting he’d called.