Page 27 of Shadows Approach
“That isn’t a denial.”
She shrugged and sipped her drink. She had fantasies, all right, and they starred the whole damned clan.
“Okay. Since you won’t share, I’ll tell you mine,” Etnil said, letting her off the hook.
“Mother of All, please.” Rihep winced. “Stacy, I’m not responsible for him. Truly.”
“Hush. I’m sharing my sensual secrets. Okay, so my fantasy with you, lovely Stacy, begins with us in front of a roaring fire, lounging naked with drinks on a Kuran-hide rug—”
“You’re sleeping in the corridor tonight, outside our quarters,” the Nobek said.
* * * *
Alpha Space Station, corridor
Hope exchanged a glance with Piras and rolled her eyes. Her Dramok bit his lips together, no doubt holding off a bout of laughter.
He guided a hover cart. Their belongings from the spyship piled high on it. They were moving to the spacious quarters provided them on the orbiting space station. Kila and his crew, which included Lokmi, would perform routine five-day patrols identical to the rest of the squadron assigned to Earth, but the clan would live on the station.
Hope, excused from patrols since she’d functioned as a specialist rather than a member of Kila’s crew, was delighted she’d have plenty of room to work on her nanobot projects. She wasn’t quite as thrilled she’d lose Kila and Lokmi’s warmth in their shared bed for half the Kalquorian ten-day week, however. It was a hell of a sacrifice as far as she was concerned.
More concerning was Piras would be lacking Kila’s protection during those tours. The pair had had a couple of shouting matches over it, during which Kila threatened to resign his commission. “I don’t need a babysitter!” Piras had yelled.
“No, you need a Nobek keeping the assholes at bay who won’t let Laro go!”
They were still snarling at each other. The biggest issue was Clan Piras wouldn’t be roaming the station phased. They could and probably would on occasion, but Piras refused to slink around like a criminal…to some extent.
He’d prevailed when it came to moving onto the station unphased, but due to Kila’s insistence, they were traveling a back, barely used corridor of the station. The deactivated phase devices were pinned to their shirts in case of an emergency.
Hope thought little of the compromise. Admiral Piras and Captain Kila, the most hated men in the Kalquorian Empire, were walking through a Kalquorian facility, their bare faces hanging out. She couldn’t help but watch the doorways they passed suspiciously, waiting for a vengeful assassin to fly at them.
All wasn’t fear, however. The reason she’d rolled her eyes at Piras was walking behind her. She and her Dramok had stacked their belongings to be transferred on the hover cart, like sane people. Kila and Lokmi, however, gasped and strained as they carried armloads of their stuff.
Lokmi had challenged Kila to a contest, in which they’d carry their possessions instead of being sensible and using a second hover cart. The first man to drop his armload would lose. Kila, never one to refuse a contest from his competitive Imdiko, had been quick to accept.
Hope had been forced to listen to them wheeze, grunt, and curse for the past five minutes. The bulging muscles were fun to look at, but she was certain they’d give themselves hernias, if not heart attacks, before it was over. Their faces were awfully red, and the effort of every step appeared monumental.
Piras, responding to her eyeroll, glanced over his shoulder at the pair. “At least their good looks make up for the lack of brain cells.”
Hope snickered, then brightened as two familiar faces came around the corner ahead and walked in their direction. They were escorting an empty hover cart, apparently returning it to the ship after offloading their own belongings in their new station quarters.
“Hey, Selt and Hadlez. All moved in?”
“I think so,” the Imdiko medic responded. “Do you need a second cart, Captain? Here, you and the chief engineer can use ours.”
“Nope. Got this,” Kila wheezed.
“Go on,” Lokmi sneered, sweat running down his face. He was bent nearly double under his load, carried on his back in a rucksack and in his arms. He peered at Kila through hair that had fallen over his eyes. “I don’t feel like carrying my stuffandyou, but I could.”
“You couldn’t carry a tune at this point.”
“Ah, it’s a competition,” Hadlez guessed as Selt chuckled.
“It’s rampant stupidity,” Piras sighed. “If you stick around a second or two, you could probably toss both their carcasses on the cart. Or leave them on the floor. It’s all the same to me. Hello, Tranis.”
The admiral Piras hailed was rounding the corner Selt and Hadlez had appeared from and striding their way.
Hope had never met the admiral who’d served as Piras’ first officer years before when Piras had captained a destroyer. Tranis was also the Dramok who’d apparently seduced the Nobek Piras had initially intended to clan, the man who triggered Kila’s jealousy.