Alien Indiscretions (58 page)

Diltan thought his heart might stop. “Cissy. Cissy and Tasha.”

Bevau and Erybet had been in ground troop-issued armor the entire time Diltan had been there, the former soldiers ready to go into battle at a moment’s notice. Now they moved towards the door. Bevau looked at Jessica and Diltan as they went. “We’ll get our cousins and bring them back here.”

Jessica had the presence of mind to yell, “Be careful. Oh, what the hell am I saying? You’re a Nobek. Erybet, make sure you both come home to your Mataras!”

Erybet sketched a wave as Bevau snorted. “As you command, my empress.”

Diltan’s frozen body found its way through the shock to chase after the two men. “Wait! I’m going—”

Jessica grabbed his arm as Korkla, Egilka, and Clajak moved to stand in his path, blocking him from following the two warriors as the door shut behind them. Ospar and Rajhir took positions in front of the door, also preventing him from leaving.

Jessica said, “No, you are not going. Cissy is one of the few people I’m afraid of having mad at me, and she will be mad if you put yourself in harm’s way.”

Korkla gripped his shoulder, his expression compassionate with understanding. “I know your very being cries out to rescue your beloved. You are not a warrior, however.”

Clajak added, “Plus I don’t want to face your Nobek if he shows up and discovers we let you go into harm’s way. I won’t tell you to not worry, because that’s an impossibility. Be assured though that Bevau and Erybet will get Cissy and Tasha out.”

Diltan’s fists clenched. A million arguments rose to his lips. His heart screamed that he must run to Cissy now, that he had to snatch her from the jaws of danger. But he also knew the men before him would never allow it.

He’d have to wait, at least until Rolat got there. And meanwhile, the clock was ticking against his Cissy, facing who knew what dangers.

* * * *

After the alarms went off, an announcement blared that the complex had been overrun and all Mataras must lock themselves in their rooms. A drunken Tasha grabbed Cissy’s arm with one hand, a freshly opened bottle of bohut with the other, and tugged her out of the apartment.

“Let’sh go,” she slurred. “We’re coushins of Jeshica. We’d make good hoshtaches – hostashes – mustaches.”

Cissy smothered a bray of laughter that tried to escape. She lurched unsteadily after her twin, following her to a door that led to service corridors. The complex’s staff used the back utilitarian hallways to carry out their work and stay out of the way of the Mataras. Cissy had never been in these areas.

“You know your way aroun’ here?” she asked as Tasha navigated turns with staggering confidence.

“Yeah. There are lotsh of good places to have fun with the guards and staff.”

Cissy boggled at the knowledge her sister had been carrying on with the complex’s personnel rather than her dates. “It’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for,” she said, feeling the greatness of her wisdom.

Tasha tossed her an unrepentant grin and tossed back a swallow of bohut. She made another turn that led to a narrow set of steps. Cissy thought about being cautious, but her sister’s confidence made her toss that notion aside. She followed her into an empty hallway that seemed long deserted.

“Whirr are we goin’ anyway, you wild, back-hall harlot?”

Tasha took another swig and handed the bottle to Cissy. “There are milesh of tunnels behind – I mean, beneath the complexsh and markesh – marshest –
marketplace
. No one but a few of the higher up military guys know about ‘em. They lead out to the beash. We’ll come out practically in Jess’ front yard.”

Cissy blinked at her twin, impressed. “No shit. Glad you been fucking the right ranking people and not humping the privates of privates.”

Tasha adopted a haughty tone. “Only the men with at least four barsh on their uniforms.”

She stuck her nose in the air to affect snobbery. With her eyes off the floor, her bare feet tangled together. Cissy grabbed her, barely preventing her from falling. For a few moments they clung tight together, smothering their giggles on each other’s shoulders.

When they got going again, Cissy asked, “So what are the tunnels for? Besides naughty getaways, of course.”

“In case something like what ish happening happens. If there are riots or terrorists in the marketplace or anywhere underground, the military can rush in and surprise the attackers.” Tasha put a finger to her lips in a shushing motion. “It’s s’posed to be top secret. If we run into anyone, act super surprised, like we found it by accident.”

Cissy raised the bottle to salute her sister. “Well, of course. I’d hate for your pet cocks to get into trouble.” She giggled, sipping bohut. “You really are a thug under that sweet smile.”

“You have no idea.”

They turned a corner and there was another flight of stairs. At the bottom, Tasha stopped. She shoved at a wall panel in such an ungainly manner that Cissy thought her sister had lost her balance again. She gasped and reached for Tasha ... then gasped again as a portion of the wall swung out to reveal the circular mouth of a tunnel behind it.

“Shit, thass cool.” Cissy squinted at the darkness beyond. “No lights?”

“A few. Come on.”

Tasha and Cissy entered the warren of dimly lit passageways dug into the rock. The twilight environs reminded Cissy that Kalquorian eyes were much more sensitive to light than that of Earthers. Little by little she adjusted to the dark.

Tasha led her. She hesitated from time to time when presented with more than one tunnel to travel in.

“You sure you know where we’re going?” Cissy asked, taking another drink. She had the vision of someone stumbling across their skeletons a few years from now, both clutching the bottle of bohut. For some reason that struck her as funny and she snorted the alcohol up her nose. She coughed and gagged as her eyes ran with tears at the burn.

“Pretty sure. About another half mile and we’ll be—”

Tasha stopped short as they rounded the corner, coming face to face with a group of black uniformed Nobeks. Cissy stared at the percussion blasters pointed at her and her sister. A surge of fright found its way through the muddle of her alcohol-soaked brain.

The tunnel erupted in Kalquorian curses. The blasters lowered, and one craggy-faced man came striding forward to confront the women.

“Mataras! What are you doing down here?”

Tasha grabbed the bottle from Cissy and said, “What do you think? We were looking for a place to hide, Nobek. In case you haven’t heard, the complesh is under attack.”

Cissy looked at the officer’s Global Security insignia. She had to lean in so close to see it clearly that her nose brushed the fabric. She straightened to tell her twin, “Only three bars. He’s not one of yours, I take it?”

Tasha peered at him and smiled. “Nope. Wish he was, though. I’d lower my sights and panties for a piece of that.”

Cissy blinked to clear her gaze as she looked the seething Nobek over. Great body, plenty of muscle, but his weathered face said he was rough around the edges. His nose was big and bent, as if it had been broken half a dozen times. His jaw was too aggressive. She saw a couple of scars on him too. He was compelling, but not a pretty man by any stretch of the imagination.

She looked at her twin in confusion. “Do I know anything about you? Anything at all?”

The commander turned from them, huffing with impatience. He told one of the younger officers, “We can’t have them roaming around down here. Take these women to headquarters.”

Cissy slapped his bulging shoulder to reclaim his attention. “Actually, you can take us to the Imperial House. We’re the cousins of Empress Jessica. Hup, hup, big boy. Let’s go.”

He glared at her, as if he’d rather put her over his knee and give her the walloping of her life. Cissy thought of Rolat’s nice hard hand and sighed. Now that was a Nobek. Worthy of five stars – or bars – at least.

“Rawr,” she said, unaware she’d made the sound out loud. Tasha bellowed laughter.

The commander scowled at the bottle in Tasha’s hand. “You’re both drunk is what you are. If you weren’t Mataras, I’d put you in a cell to teach you better sense.”

The officer he’d told to escort them away cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Your pardon, Commander, but I recognize them from news vids. They
are
of the Imperial Family. Mataras Cecilia and Natasha, I believe.”

The commander turned the white-hot glare on the young officer. Cissy rolled her eyes. At this rate, Earth would be inhabitable again before she and Tasha got out of here. Shouldn’t these men be liberating the Matara Complex instead of arguing over where to put a couple of women?

She shoved the commander’s shoulder this time. “The kid is right. So get on with saving the rest of the gals and let us by. Otherwise, it’ll be off with your heads.” She made chopping motions towards the commander’s neck to demonstrate.

Tasha gave her an impatient push, nearly knocking Cissy off her feet. “Oh for heaven’s sake. You are such a bull in a china shop. Try some charm every now and again.”

Tasha turned from her reeling twin to give the shocked Nobek a sweet, drunken smile. “Excuse my shister. She has no sense of prospostefy – prefostrophy.
Propriety
, damn it. We keep her chained in a corner most of the time where nobody can see her. It’s true!” she continued, as if the man had denied the claim. “Do you know it was only through my efforts that she managed to get engaged to be clanned? Cissy is impossible, but you can see that. Please don’t take her lack of good manners personally.”

“My lack of manners? You’re the one humping everyone but who you should,” Cissy swiped to grab the bohut away from Tasha. Her sister held it out of reach while continuing her attempt to charm the commander.

“Sir, we really are the cousins of Empress Jessica, but wherever you wish us to go, we’ll be glad to do so. Thank you. I hope the rest of your day gets better.”

The commander looked flummoxed rather than mad now. Cissy thought she detected some of his squad fighting back smiles. She wondered what was so funny.

The officer abruptly bowed to them then turned back to the young Nobek who had affirmed their identity. “Take them straight to the Imperial House. If there is a problem, the Royal Guard can deal with it. The rest of you, let’s go!”

He led the men down the tunnel towards the complex. They hurried past Cissy and Tasha. A few dipped their heads in hurried respect, grins lighting their faces. Then they were gone, except for the one officer left to take care of the women.

The young Nobek gave them a bow. “Mataras, this way please.”

They fell into step behind him, weaving from side to side in his wake. Cissy grabbed the bottle from Tasha and hissed in her ear, “Little Miss Sweetie-Pie. What a performance. I bet your pussy drips sugar.”

Tasha smirked and flipped the hem of her skirt. “That’s what they tell me.”

The sisters cracked up, hiccupping laughter. Suddenly, the officer went on alert, his blaster coming up as he swung an arm out to keep them back. “Who’s there?” he yelled.

A vaguely familiar voice called from the darkness ahead. “Ease down, soldier! It’s Emperor Bevau and his aide Dramok Erybet!”

“My emperor!” The soldier bowed so deeply that Cissy thought he might break his nose on his knees. “My apologies! I didn’t realize—”

Bevau emerged from the gloom, with the too-pretty-to-be-a-man Erybet at his shoulder. The emperor returned the officer’s bow.

“Well done, Nobek. No apology is necessary. I appreciate your readiness to defend my cousins and thank you for doing so.” His attention moved to the goggling women. “Are you two all right?”

Cissy and Tasha paid no attention to him. Instead, they looked at the officer. The young Nobek was still bent double bowing. His ass stuck up in the air. The women exchanged a glance and then shrieked with laughter.

Bevau stepped forward and took the half-full bottle of bohut from Cissy. He handed it to the snickering Erybet. The Nobek put his arms around the sisters, gently guiding them.

Cissy looked back to see the officer being left behind, his expression confused as they walked away. That made her laugh even harder.

Bevau’s rolling chuckles joined in on the merriment. He told Erybet, “At least someone on Kalquor is having a good day. Maybe we should douse the whole Empire in bohut, Erybet.”

Cissy said, “I’ll drink to that.” She would have too, but Erybet wouldn’t give the bottle back.

“You’ve had enough, young lady.”

“Spoil sport. I bet you and Diltan would get along famously.”

It was one of those situations that Diltan would have laughed uproariously over had he heard it as someone else’s tale. Maybe he’d laugh about it later anyway ... but for now, matters were anything but funny.

Rolat and Wal had arrived minutes after Bevau and Erybet’s departure. When he got the news Rolat wanted to head out for the Matara complex to rescue his Matara and her sister. Diltan wanted to go with him. Everyone else protested them going into what the news vids were proclaiming to be a ‘tense situation’ between converging Global Security squads and a large group of protestors who had overrun the complex’s security staff. Even Wal shoved at his clanmates, telling them to not be such macho asses looking to get themselves shot.

Rolat not only wanted to storm over, he wanted Diltan to stay behind. “You’ve got no fighting experience,” he said, dismissing Diltan’s insistence on going. “I can’t rescue Cissy and keep your ass protected too.”

“Neither of you goes anywhere,” Clajak stormed at the pair. “Stop acting like fools and wait for Bevau and Erybet to bring the women here.”

“I am responsible for my Matara. I will see to her safety.” Rolat growled. “Enough talk. I’m leaving now. If you try to go with me, Diltan, I will beat your ass in front of everyone.”

“Oh, save us all from chest-beating men,” Jessica said. She spoke into her com. Seconds later, half a dozen armored Royal Guards filed into the room and lined up in front of the door.

“No one leaves,” Jessica told them. “Especially those two idiots.” She motioned to Rolat and Diltan.