Chapter 16
Lokmi felt the fuzzy beginnings of waking. Delicious warmth made his limbs heavy. He was aware of the strange but agreeable sensation of being curled around the heat of another man.
Piras, he thought an instant before the Dramok’s demanding growl entered his ear.
“You’re not on vacation, you know. Wake up and get moving.”
“I’m not on duty until later this afternoon. Give me a good reason to get up.”
“Me kicking your ass. How’s that for a reason?”
Lokmi opened his eyes and found himself face to face with the grouchy-looking admiral. Last night’s submissive was back in Dramok mode again. He wondered if he was about to be court-martialed for taking advantage of the situation Kila had concocted. Well, some things were worth trouble. Having Piras surrender the way he had had been worth a great deal of woe. His cocks gave a throb of agreement.
Lokmi smiled at him, not caring about rank or duty in the afterglow of amazing sex and a good night’s sleep. “Good morning to you too, Admiral. Don’t worry; I’m already saluting you beneath the sheets.”
Piras’s eyes narrowed. Just as Lokmi thought he was going to start swinging, he burst out laughing instead.
On the other side of the Dramok, Kila sat up. He shook his head at the two of them. “What a pair you two are. I must be out of my fucking mind to put myself in this situation.”
“Be careful what you ask for, as the Earthers say,”
Piras agreed. He crawled out from between them, slinking his way on hands and knees to the end of the mat. He stood and looked them over. The sun coming through window-vids lit his long, nude body, accentuating the graceful lines.
Lokmi’s cocks gave another appreciative pulse. It was impossible not to admire that gorgeous creature or the commanding light in Piras’s almond-shaped eyes. He was no fan of bedding Dramoks but even in command mode, Piras fascinated him. As for the giving lover…well, that side of Piras was definitely to Lokmi’s tastes.
The admiral glowered at him. “Stop eyeing me like a meal, Chief Engineer. You’ve had your taste, and now it’s time to get back to business.”
“I’m only to get one serving?”
Lokmi kept his tone light, but the idea he might not get another round with Piras was unwelcome news.
There was the briefest moment of wavering; Piras licked his lips, and his face softened. Then he stood up straight and stalked to the wall. He jabbed at it until a drawer slid open. He drew out a dressing skirt and clasped it around his hips. “Lokmi, you’re a senior member of the destroyer’s command crew. We’ve already brought you in the loop. I want to keep you there, apprised of the entirety of our mission, if Captain Kila agrees.”
Kila remained in bed, sitting up against the wall it butted up to. The sheets had slid down low enough that a portion of his primary cock was visible. His hair was mussed. Yet he somehow exuded official authority even in a state of tousled nudity. Lokmi couldn’t help but regard him with some awe.
The Nobek’s gaze was locked on Piras. He snapped a quick nod. “I believe Chief should be privy to everything to do with the assignment. His knowledge will be an asset when it comes to keeping the ship ready for whatever might be thrown at us.”
“Good.”
Piras paced back and forth, his arched brows drawing close together over his straight and elegant nose. Lokmi was more enthralled with watching his leg muscles work, and silently thanked the dressing skirt for being so short. He appreciated Piras’s apparent need to walk ruts into the floor when he thought hard. The man was poetry in motion.
As Piras brought Lokmi up to date on his plan to hand over Laro Station to the Basma, the Imdiko’s delight in watching him came to a halt. When Piras finished speaking, he repeated in a daze, “Laro?”
“Problem, Chief?”
Kila said, his tone challenging. “It’s a good target, one I’m sure the Basma will appreciate.”
“Yes, he would. The admiral’s reasons are sound.”
Lokmi swallowed. “I was thinking of all the layovers I spent on Laro. I made a lot of friends there.”
Piras dropped his ‘lord and commander’ demeanor to grimace. “I have an attachment to it as well. I met the Nobek I once intended to clan there.”
“I knew it,”
Kila said under his breath.
Piras gave him a tormented look. Lokmi thought perhaps the choice of Laro was causing the man emotional trauma. His Imdiko side rose to offer an out. “Maybe it’s not the best target then. Not if it’s going to cost you heavily.”
Piras drew a breath. He stopped pacing and faced the two men in his bed with renewed assurance. “Laro is the only worthwhile scapegoat for our assignment. I’m sure of it. However, if you have a valid concern outside of sentimentality, I’ll be glad to hear it. I mean it, Chief. I’m begging you to give me a reason and a better victim.”
Lokmi turned the matter over and reviewed all the details and reasons Piras had offered. He thought up arguments against Laro and discounted them one by one. He couldn’t deny the admiral’s plot was smart and well thought out. In the end, he shook his head, to Piras’s obvious disappointment. “I’ve got nothing. I just hate to see Laro in that bastard’s hands. Thank you for allowing me to share my opinion though.”
He tried to lighten the mood, hating the despondency that filled Piras’s face. “I wouldn’t have thought you capable of listening to a lowly engineer, given your reputation as a hardass.”
Piras made a rude gesture. “I’m not a hardass. I just have an incredibly low tolerance for stupid.”
A glint lit in his eyes, and he added, “Somehow, I tolerate your captain anyway.”
Lokmi laughed. With a low roar, Kila jumped from the bed to grab the Dramok and fling him facedown on the mat. He ripped the dressing skirt from the cringing but compliant admiral. Moments later, Kila was fucking Piras with bruising thrusts.
Watching Piras surrender, Lokmi was struck by how much he liked the man. Respected him as a commanding officer. Desired him as a lover. With Piras, the old argument against getting involved with Dramoks made no sense. The coming mission, involving weeks or months in the admiral’s company, had a new and unexpected attraction.
Later, with his cock enfolded in the warmth of Piras’s ass, Lokmi thought he’d keep an open mind about the matter.
* * * *
After the morning’s festivities, the men sat down to breakfast on the balcony with a good appetite. Lokmi had retrieved the seating cushions Piras had tossed to the ground the night before, so no one was forced to recline on the hard plank flooring. The sun peeked out from behind fluffy clouds that promised not to rain on him and his companions. Piras had checked in with the office, and all was quiet there for the moment. He could take his time before going in to work.
He forced himself to concentrate on duties that fell far short of the pleasure of his exciting companions. Even then, he couldn’t properly suffer over the gravity of the subject matter. He felt too good in his heart and soul.
He forced himself to speak soberly. “The way for the Basma’s fleet is clear. Now that I have the codes to the unmanned defensive stations, they have a chance to win that section of the border with Bi’is.”
Kila mused as he bolted down the imported pork sausage patties Piras had prepared. “My main concern is that Maf will listen to his generals. They’ll insist on maintaining the area they have and adding to it through nearby sectors. They will most certainly protest him splitting their forces to grab Laro.”
“Can you convince him he’s got enough to pull it off with the addition of the Earther battlecruisers? That he can afford to divide his fleet? If you remind him that the Empire will be as hard pressed to fight on two fronts, it might be enough to sway him.”
Lokmi dipped a boiled swala egg in cream sauce. “I wonder if Bi’is will try to take advantage of the Empire losing control over a portion of its border with them. Are you keeping all the sausage to yourself, Kila?”
The Nobek tossed a patty onto his plate. “Damned straight the little bastards will want to sneak in with the boundary compromised. But I can tell you Maf will be cautious on that account. He trades with them because he needs the funding, but he’s no fan of Bi’is.”
“Do you know that for a fact?”
Piras asked.
Kila grinned. “I do. That snide asshole Sitrel told me that right after taking the Empire back and cleansing it of the Earther infestation, Maf plans to go after Bi’is. Our last great act before extinction would be to destroy them first.”
Lokmi barked disbelieving laughter. “How does he plan to pull that one off?”
“No idea. I doubt he knows either.”
Piras ground his teeth, recognizing a new threat. “Based on what you know through your spying, would Maf ask Bi’is for help fighting the Empire?”
Kila thought about it and shook his head. “Ask? No. Accept an offer to help him hold the border against us? Maybe. But you can bet, he’ll be ready to waste them if they get too aggressive.”
Piras stole a sausage from Kila, who seemed determined to hoard the entire platter. “I have to say, I think so too. His voting record while on the Royal Council has been in favor of everything from sanctions to outright war against them.”
“The sooner he can rid himself of financial dependence, the happier he’ll be. Then he can try to kill everyone.”
Lokmi stared into a glass of juice moodily. “Wouldn’t many of his followers turn on him if they knew what he was up to? Selling Kalquorians as lab specimens, I mean.”
“I’m sure they would. I get the idea that little tidbit is being hidden from most of his converts. I thought Dramok Sitrel would fill his pants with shit when I alleged I knew about them trading war prisoners with Bi’is.”
Piras had a flash of insight. “That’s why Maf has had the Earthers conduct the transactions in the past. It helps keep the matter from reaching his supporters.”
Lokmi growled at his half-eaten sausage. The sausage didn’t react, so he turned a fierce expression to Kila. “Permission to strangle Maf on sight?”
Kila ate his last patty and gazed despondently at his egg. “Denied. We’re on his side until we can turn the tables on his whole fleet. Once that happens, everyone in the Empire will be fighting each other for the opportunity to kill the asshole.”
“Painfully,”
Piras opined.
“Slowly,”
Lokmi added, perking up. “It’s going to be the biggest execution free-for-all ever seen.”
Kila winked at the Imdiko before getting serious again. “The way I see it, only one question remains. How will his attack fleet move across Kalquorian space? They’ll exhaust their resources fighting to get to Laro Station. They won’t have anything left to take the border itself. Sitrel insisted on an answer for that.”
Piras gaped at him. “Damn it, are they that stupid? It’s a wonder we haven’t destroyed them yet.”
As Kila eyed him, waiting patiently, Piras threw his hands in the air. The answer was so obvious to him, it never occurred to him that no one else would figure out what was to be done. “I guess I have to run the whole revolt for them? It means a distraction, dimwit. Maf needs to stage a diversion that will cause the majority of the Empire’s fleet to go the wrong way. Then his attack force hauls ass to Laro while our ships are occupied.”
Having made the matter clear, Piras picked up his knife to deal with the remainder of his breakfast and discovered he’d already eaten it all. Muttering about idiots who couldn’t see the noses on their own faces, he dropped the knife on the table, enjoying the clatter. Lokmi’s snickers at the sullen look on Kila’s face made Piras feel better.
The Nobek recovered, his demeanor becoming one of wounded dignity. “I’m only the messenger. I thought a diversion was also the apparent answer. However, I wanted to know if you’d come up with anything they could use, and thus endear yourself to our glorious revolution.”
Piras rolled his eyes. “Of course I have ideas. Since I’m apparently the sole owner of a brain, I will draw up the plan. I will spell out, in rudimentary steps any witless idiot can follow, a diversion that will allow Maf’s vessels to get to Laro before Fleet Command notices.”
“Ah, Piras. Why did I ever doubt you?”
“Because you’re an asshole.”
Lokmi laughed hard at that. His enjoyment of Kila being put in his place was so infectious that Piras joined him in the hilarity. Kila gave them both a deadly look that promised pain and suffering.
Maybe Piras should have been worried, but it only made him laugh harder.
Lokmi recovered and switched subjects. “Admiral – Piras? May I call you by name for off-duty conversations?”
Piras felt a flicker of warmth at the request. “Please do.”
“All the ship models in your home. You built those?”
“It’s my hobby. I do them all from scratch. They are accurate to the smallest detail.”
Piras wasn’t trying to brag, but he was proud of his craftsmanship. He worked hard on his miniatures.
Lokmi seemed impressed. “I couldn’t help but admire them. Where did you learn to do such complex work?”
“My fathers are builders. They do large-scale projects like buildings and structures. My Dramok father always insisted that a project be both sound in its functionality and a delight to look upon. His designs are intricate. Artistic, really.”
“I assume you were trained to some degree by your parents? How did you go from architecture to model ships?”
“I wanted to join the fleet from an early age. The quiet of space appealed to me. Building models was an expression of that wish.”
Kila crooked a brow. “Quiet was your impetus to become a fleet officer? Did you have loud Nobek brothers or something?”
Piras’s face heated. Pre-emptive anger disrupted his happy feelings as he guessed how a full explanation would be received. “No, the noise came from elsewhere.”
Kila waited, his brow still raised. Piras did not want his judgment but felt compelled to explain. “My mother is an anxious person.”
Kila maintained his expectant silence. It was Lokmi who prodded him. “In what way?”
He gave them both a warning look. “Constantly asking questions, second-guessing things, fretting and worrying. She can’t even wait for answers to her questions, because she’s already on to the next concern.”
Kila nodded. “Space was your escape. You joined the fleet to get away from your mother.”
Piras glowered. “Do not for one second think that I do not hold her in the highest of regard. She is a wonderful person who cares deeply for everyone around her.”
Lokmi’s tone was textbook diplomacy. “But the amount of worrying she does is taxing to you.”
“Her love for you drives her to behave in a way that demands you find some distance.”
Kila nodded. “That does not make her a bad person. As a Dramok who likes to command the parts of life she would know about—”
his eyes twinkled evilly “—not being able to control such a level of anxiety would drive you crazy.”
They understood and believed him. Piras relaxed. “She can barely sleep a full night for all the agonizing she does. I can’t keep her from doing it. Being in space meant I could escape some of that, that I could control the amount of upset she felt she needed to share with me.”
“Does she live near here?”
“No. I was able to use Fleet Headquarters location as a good reason to not live on the Esofu Continent near my parents.”
Kila sighed. “Mothers and fathers. They are a demanding lot, though they do it out of love.”
Piras regarded him. “Your parent clan is legendary. Were their demands the reason you didn’t remain in shuttle racing?”
The Nobek chuckled. “No, sheer boredom caused that. Too many rules and regulations in the sport, with more added all the time. I felt I’d gone as far as I could go in that profession.”
Lokmi grinned. “Now you play with the bigger ships instead, ignoring fleet rules and regulations until your engineer stops you.”
Kila laughed outright. “Or I shake a ship apart because I gave it too much juice.”
Piras gasped. “Did you actually do that?”
“I came close with the first engineering job I was assigned to.”
“Go on,”
Lokmi invited, his smile growing larger.
“It was on board a courier ship. We had a rush delivery, and the captain told the helm to give it all she had. No one knew I had changed the ‘all she had’ setting to a much higher rate of speed. That poor little courier possessed more power than a destroyer once I had gotten to its engines. The damned ship nearly tore itself apart in the two seconds it took for helm to bring her to a stop.”
Lokmi roared with laughter. “Ancestors help us, you still haven’t learned a thing since then. Hopefully our dear admiral can teach you a little bit about finesse.”
Piras shook his head, though he laughed too. “I somehow doubt that’s possible. Kila is too much the brute. How about you, Lokmi? How did you end up in this great fleet of ours?”
Lokmi pushed his hair back. “Like you, I’m something of a builder. I loved creating models of ships and alien buildings I saw in vids. Nowhere near your level of model building, but I had fun with it. Seeing my interest, my parents steered me towards architecture.”
“Interesting that we have that in common.”
“I enjoyed it, but then I became fascinated more with mechanics than form. I love engines, the intricacies of how they work. It’s like this masterfully choreographed dance. When everything meshes together just so, you get the most amazing performance.”
He reddened, seeming to note how he rhapsodized about his love for engineering.
Piras smiled in appreciation. “It’s all right to show how much passion you have for it. I always feel better working with people who are invested in their career.”
“Speaking of passions, ask Chief about his musical past,”
Kila snickered.
Lokmi tossed a napkin at the Nobek. “Damn it, don’t bring that up.”
Piras could tell there was an interesting story there. “Are you a musician as well? How cultured of you.”
Kila roared with laughter. “Cultured!”
Lokmi gave him a disgusted look before sighing at Piras’s interest. “I was in a lemanthev band that had a hit song a million years ago. It’s not a big deal.”
Piras blinked. “Wait, is that why I keep thinking you look familiar? I thought I recognized you, but decided it was because you and I were on the same ship at some point.”
“You don’t strike me as a lemanthev fan.”
“No, I can’t say I am. Sorry to be such a snob, but it sounds like a noisy mess to me.”
“That’s fine. It was a tiny part of my history. Not important at all.”
Lokmi gave the still chuckling Kila a dour expression.
Piras didn’t want him to downplay his success. “If it was a hit, you have every right to be proud. What was the song’s name?”
Lokmi’s face flamed. He ducked his head and mumbled. Piras heard him anyway. “It was called ‘Forget Love, I Just Want to Fuck’.”
Shocked silence hung over them for a beat. Piras stared at Lokmi, trying to reconcile the determined and dutiful Imdiko with the song title. Then he shrieked gales of laughter, and Kila joined him. Lokmi buried his face in his hands as they bellowed humor at his misspent youth.
They calmed after a little while. Between chortles, Kila choked, “By lemanthev standards, it’s an embarrassingly sentimental tune.”
Piras hiccupped and added, “Mother of All, Chief, I’m so glad you decided to go into the fleet instead of continuing your music career. The whole Empire is better for it.”
Lokmi stopped hiding behind his hands. He managed a humiliated smile. “Yeah, most likely.”