Chapter 21
Kila had moved his ship out of Kalquor’s orbit before coming after Piras. The destroyer waited safe and undetected, but the Nobek’s hackles went up to see the other vessels that crowded close to search for it.
“They must have detected the energy displacement when we moved,”
Kila said as he surveyed the scene before docking. “We’re going to have to fight our way out of this.”
“I’ll be in engineering. I’ll handle anything that comes up myself,”
Lokmi said. As soon as their shuttle docked and the hatch opened, he sped to his station.
Kila ran to the bridge with a rejuvenated Piras on his heels. The captain was not surprised to see the crew there ready to do what came next, but he still felt a rush of pride. In combat readiness, they obeyed the protocol that said they did not have to rise and bow in acknowledgement to the admiral who had entered their station. Kila smiled at grim satisfaction, knowing they were about to take on men as loyal to the Empire as themselves. He loved a good fight, but this combat would be bitter to deal with. He didn’t pretend it was even a hint of the emotional storm Piras was going through over Laro though. The Dramok had rent his soul to carry out the assignment, and Kila was awed at the strength it had taken to do so.
Podium control panels and computer stations centered in the middle of the circular bridge. Helm, weapons, navigation, com stations and their backups were manned by the men who Kila considered to be the best in the fleet. Even the newest bridge member had been with him for over a decade. They knew the ship and their captain. They knew their jobs. Kila had faith in few things outside of himself, but he trusted his crew implicitly.
Surrounding the stations and men were banks of vids. Kila had a 360-degree view of the space outside his ship. Green-blue Kalquor and its five moons lay to his right, surrounded by satellites, stations, and ships. Beyond that, the velvet black of space went on endlessly.
He noted his crew, though minding their readouts and attentive to his presence, were darting glances at Piras. He checked on the Dramok and winced. Piras had closed his uniform, masking the awful cuts he’d sustained, but blood seeped through the blue fabric.
Kila wished with all his fierce heart that he had time to go back down to Fleet Command and take its security staff apart. The fucking assholes.
Instead, he asked, “Admiral, may I direct you to Medical?”
Piras waved off his concern with his usual imperious impatience. “Don’t worry about me. Get us out of here.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Dismissing his concerns and admiration for the moment, he turned to his first officer, who was also the destroyer’s helmsman. “What is our status?”
“Our course is laid in. There is no sign the fleet knows where we are, though all destroyers in the vicinity are in a hunting pattern.”
Dramok Uls, an experienced and able officer, delivered the assessment in a tone that hinted at nothing but professional efficiency.
“They’ll detect our trail as soon as we move,”
Kila told Piras.
He nodded. “Energy displacement can’t be masked. It’s the phase technology’s one weakness.”
“I have an idea or two on how to thwart it. Weapons Commander, are you ready?”
Mostar nodded, his brooding face as unexcited as Uls’s voice, as if he wasn’t about to open fire on comrades. “Ready, Captain.”
Piras narrowed his eyes. “Weapons? Kila, they can’t harm us as long as we’re phased.”
“But they can still follow us if we don’t throw them into confusion. We’ll do as little damage as possible to the other ships. I don’t want Kalquor’s ability to defend itself undermined.”
Now that Piras was safe with him, that had become Kila’s top priority…keep Kalquor itself protected from the Basma.
Piras nodded, though a shadow moved through his eyes. Kila felt the tug of worry he’d been trying to fend off. He wondered about Piras’s state of mind after sending so many on Laro Station to their deaths that day. Knowing what must happen and making it happen were two different things. His lover had to be taking it hard. The torture he’d been subjected to in Fleet Security had probably been nothing compared to the guilt assailing him now.
Kila mentally shook his head for letting himself get distracted. He didn’t have time to fix any more of Piras’s emotional storms. He had a crew to save and a mission to carry out.
“Crew, operate as we discussed. Ready all stations.”
“Stations report ready, Captain.”
Mostar’s flat voice helped settle Kila’s mind for the task at hand.
“On my mark. Standby…execute.”
The destroyer began moving. Though capable of incredible speeds even without Kila’s beloved boost engaged, it crept towards the heaviest concentration of the nearby destroyers. Kila gauged the closest vessels on the huge monitor at the front of the bridge. They were sweeping the area, searching for a sign of Kila’s ship. He was certain they thought he’d hidden behind a standard cloak, which didn’t serve destroyers well due to their size and configuration. Warships like his were not made for subtlety.
Surely someone on the planet had guessed how Piras had disappeared, though. People didn’t cloak well either, due to their bodies giving off heat and perspiration. They remained solid as well. Someone in Fleet Security had to realize by now that Piras and his rescuers had been phased. They would have relayed that to the ships hunting his. The other destroyers should be scanning for energy displacement, not the telltale shimmer of a poorly camouflaged ship.
When the ships he approached continued their grid pattern search, Kila snarled, “Come on, damn it. Pick us up, you slow-witted—”
He broke off, seeing the two foremost destroyers diverting course as Uls said, “They’ve keyed in on us, Captain. I’ve got two – make that four destroyers coming around towards us.”
“I feel like a tease. Let them have a brief look, Uls. Ship out of phase, return at your discretion.”
“Confirmed, phase off.”
Mostar almost sounded bored. “Brace for fire. Incoming.”
A speck of brilliant white light appeared at the bow of one destroyer. It grew phenomenally fast, a circle that rippled violently at the outer edge.
“Phase on!”
At least Uls was starting to feel a little excitement.
The white filled the vid monitor, then the bridge. Then it was gone, leaving the crew blinking. Uls looked over his shoulder to grin at Kila. “Phase confirmed. The blast passed right through us.”
Mostar verified the report, this time showing a hint of combativeness as his lip wrinkled up to display one fang. “No damage to the ship or casualties to the crew reported.”
Communications Officer Veko was bent over his station in a familiar posture that kept his long hair draped in such a way that his face couldn’t be seen. His voice carried to Kila clear as day, however. “Captain Sorp demands our surrender, or they will fire to destroy.”
“Fire on what?”
Kila smirked. The device was working better than he could have hoped, thanks to the extra tweaks Lokmi had made. The fleet’s research and development department would be begging the Imdiko to join them once this assignment was done.
He had news for them. Lokmi was staying on his ship, even if he had to chain the demanding bastard to engineering’s bulkhead.
For now, they had a getaway to make. “Helm and weapons, show them how we play hard to get,”
he invited.
Uls and Mostar went to work, doing what they did best. Kila’s destroyer darted between opponents, coming out of and going into phase to draw fire and trigger nonlethal hits on the other destroyers. Within a few minutes, they had their rivals in chaos.
Piras spoke quietly so that only Kila heard him. “You are enjoying this far too much, Captain. Such an unequal battle should inspire pity for your adversary, not pleasure.”
Kila realized he was grinning like a fool to see his plan so perfectly executed. He straightened and attempted a more majestic attitude. Only it wasn’t working. He was enthralled by the success of getting Piras to safety and the new capabilities of his ship.
He covered his poor attempt at poise by comming Lokmi. “Chief, how are you holding up in there?”
Lokmi’s tone contained all the glee Kila couldn’t admit to. “My upgraded phase device is a thing of beauty, captain. As are my engines. Have you noticed how much better they respond?”
Kila rolled his eyes. “His engines, he says. I swear I’m going to go in that department and fuck everything with a hole in it to mark my territory.”
The Imdiko’s merry voice grated on his ears. “I already beat you to it, Captain.”
Piras shook his head, looking mildly incensed. “There is no dignity to be found with you two. Not one damned bit—”
He was cut off as a blast hit the ship. The floor beneath their feet shuddered hard. In an instant, Kila’s momentary fun disappeared. “Report.”
Mostar grimaced. “Glancing percussion hit. Minimal damage. I think they’re catching on to our game.”
Uls’s hands flew over his computer panel. “It was a lucky shot, Weapons Commander. It won’t happen again.”
“With respect, Commander Uls, we’re keeping to a limited zone and the arena is getting tighter with each passing second. Captain Sorp’s destroyer hit us as soon as we came out of phase that time. We will take more damage the longer we remain.”
Kila eyed the vids showing a mass of ships surrounding his. They had zeroed in on his position as he’d planned, but they had made the mistake of crowding him…again, as he had hoped they would. They were also seven ships deep in a few directions. Their power and weapons signatures overlaid his, and once he made his move, the energy displacement would be hard to pick up right away.
He gave Kalquor a last fond look. The planet hung like a green-blue pearl, as lustrous and gorgeous as a priceless treasure. Indeed, it was precious, and he wondered when – or if – he would see it again.
The sentimental moment passed as quickly as it came. He was a Nobek, after all, a creature of action. The twinge of longing disappeared, and he said, “All right, I think we’ve worn out our welcome. Chief, I want that six-second burst.”
He could hear the grin in Lokmi’s tone. “Yes, Captain. I’ll let you borrow the engines for that long.”
Kila growled. He was going to teach that Imdiko a lesson if it was the last thing he did. “Uls, get us out of here. Top speed.”
“Engaging now, Captain.”
Kalquor and the armada of ships defending it hung around them for another instant. Then all of it was gone, streaks of light firing past them.
Uls counted down. “Boost automatically disengaging in three…two…one. Engines at three-quarter power.”
Star-speckled eternal night came into focus on the vid banks. Kila ignored what they told him for the real story. He turned to his weapons commander, who studied the analysis coming from sensitive instruments. “Signs of pursuit?”
“Sensors detect none. Com monitors are still operational and tied in.”
Still hidden behind his thick mop of hair, Communications Officer Veko reported. “I’m hearing that all destroyers we encountered at Kalquor are still in search mode. We would seem to be clear, and our escape remains undetected at this time.”
“Keep an eye on that, Com Officer. Watch for any energy signatures or displacement from hidden pursuers.”
Piras said, “Those spyships are a tricky bunch, even with their old-fashioned cloaks.”
“No kidding.”
Kila regarded the Dramok. The front of Piras’s uniform was soaked with blood. His long hair hung in sweaty tangles. His swollen face was drawn in pain, and he looked unnaturally pale. He swayed a little, adrenaline no doubt fading as the immediate danger receded.
The man was a mess and then some. He was still all Kila could ever want in a man. Well, almost.
Okay, I might want that irritating dual-breed too. More than likely, I’ll keep chasing Lokmi, even if he’s an engine-hogging pain in my ass. Damn the delicious bastard.
Feeling he’d gotten far more trouble than he’d bargained for with this mission, Kila told Piras, “We need to get you to Medical.”
His lover looked down at himself and nodded tiredly. “I think you’re right, Captain.”
“Helm, follow the course I gave you. Anything that looks wrong, com me right away.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Kila took Piras’s arm, though he thought the feisty Dramok might rip his hand off for daring such while they were on duty. To his surprise, Piras simply snorted and pulled away.
Ah well, the guy had had a rough day. Kila thought Piras would be his old rabid self in the next day or two. His old rabid, and in the right situation, wonderfully submissive self. He could hardly wait.
“Admiral?”
Kila bowed, not bothering to hide the delighted smirk stretching his lips. He escorted Piras from the bridge.