All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) (9 page)

      Kelly took Candy’s hand and they walked into the reception hall together.
 
Candy called out, “Whoa!” as she saw the immensity of the room and its decorations.
 
The room was rectangular, approximately half the size of a football field.
 
At the end of the hall, a center stone staircase rose to a middle landing, above which stairs spiraled up to the right and left.
 
Doors under the central staircase had K’Rang signs denoting male and female restrooms.
 
Tapestries representing the fifty worlds of the K’Rang Empire covered practically every square inch of the walls that were not floor-to-ceiling window.
 
The richly woven tapestries were all similar in design, each featuring a stylized rendering of a planet, with the K’Rang name of the planet embroidered at the bottom.
 
Kelly and Candy strolled around the room admiring the tapestries, while his hidden video camera recorded the planet’s image and name.
 
The geographers in Fleet Intel would appreciate this stroll.

      There were few guests at this time, mostly Human and Angaerry.
 
It was K’Rang custom not to show up for parties until just before the host made his entrance, usually thirty minutes after the time on the invitations, which in this case was also sunset.
 
One of the first guests they encountered was Jotil Laptee, the cousin of Jotil Lenkva, the Angaerry Fleet commander in the Battle of G’Durin and Kelly’s boss at that time.
 
Jotil Laptee had been Kelly’s liaison officer aboard Kelly’s ship, the Orion, during the battle.
 
It had been Jotil Laptee who had informed Kelly that Jotil Lenkva was female, causing Kelly no end of worries that he may have said something untoward around Jotil Lenkva during their early interactions.
 
Jotil Laptee convinced him not to worry.
 
Any faux pas would have been put down to peculiarities of Human speech.

      Jotil Laptee was typical of his race.
 
The Angaerry were descended from a salt-water mammal similar to Earth’s porpoises.
 
He stood about a meter and a half tall.
 
His skin was shades of grey and his arms and legs were thin and bony.
 
His snout was long and slim and festooned with sharp inward facing teeth.
 
Angaerry wore only minimal to no clothing normally, but tonight, Jotil Laptee was wearing ceremonial robes decorated with a nebula in full color on the back.
 
As with all Angaerry the robes were cut too long and the hem dragged the ground, threatening to trip him if a misstep should occur.

      Where’s your boss, Jotil Laptee?” Kelly asked.

      “He had to return to headquarters for a meeting with Minister Jakah Burin.
 
It was called at the last minute and he had to run through our mini-gate to get there in time.
 
I sometimes wish your government had not been so gracious as to give us one for our embassy.”
 
Jotil Laptee broke out into his infectious high-pitched laugh that had endeared him to the crew of the Orion.

      It suddenly dawned on Kelly that Jotil Laptee and he had been chatting in Angaerry and rudely leaving Candy in the dark.
 
He quickly introduced Candy to Jotil Laptee.
 
She was given the Angaerry hand signal and imitated the one she had seen Kelly give earlier.
 
Jotil Laptee switched to his limited Galactic Standard and expressed his joy.
 
“It is a great happiness at finally meeting Kelly’s mate, of which I have heard so many positive things.”

      Candy was charmed and was quickly laughing along with Jotil Laptee at the story of Kelly learning that Jotil Laptee’s cousin was female.
 
Jotil Laptee stared at Candy and walked around her, appraising her from all angles.
 
Candy, not sure whether to be amused or guard, asked what Jotil Laptee was looking for.

      “You will please forgive me and stop me if I have made offense, but I have seen few human females other than the few onboard the Orion and a few from your embassy here.
 
Now that I have seen you, I can say that I have truly seen a human female.”

      Candy blushed, thanked Jotil Laptee for the compliment, and curtsied to him.
 
He did not know what to make of this gesture and turned to Kelly and asked in Angaerry what it meant.

      Kelly replied, “It is an old Earth gesture, similar to your hand wave.”

      Jotil Lenkva asked, “Is there a response gesture?”

      Kelly showed him how to bow properly and Jotil Laptee tried the gesture on Candy, albeit a little jerkily.
 
Candy curtsied again, causing Jotil Laptee to bow again.

      Kelly noticed the hall starting to fill as the time for the host’s entrance approached.
 
Kelly excused himself and Candy then worked the room, making the rounds of the K’Rang that Kelly or Candy knew or recognized.

      At one point, a minor official in the K’Rang Combined Imperial Fleet was haranguing Kelly, when the official casually mentioned that many of the problems of the fleet would be solved as soon as Baron G’Rof took command.
 
Kelly took note of this tidbit, as he had heard nothing on this before.
 
Kelly felt pretty good.
 
He had just gotten his first piece of cocktail intelligence.

      Conversation in the hall died off as a liveried servant in a resplendent red cape stepped out onto the first landing of the massive stone staircase.

       “My lords and ladies, warriors, honored guests, please stand for the entrance of his eminence, Senior Elder J’Gon.”

      Elder J’Gon appeared at the top of the right upper staircase and began his slow walk down the massive stone staircase.
 
Kelly had to admit he looked majestic in the azure-lined cape of an elder of the empire.

      Candy whispered in Kelly’ ear, “What a lovely shade of blue.
 
Perhaps we could paint the nursery that color.”

      Kelly didn’t respond and Candy turned to find his face lit up.
 
“A boy!
 
When did you find out?
 
I thought we weren’t going to ask.”

      “I didn’t ask, but the doctor slipped up and forgot we didn’t want to know.
 
He asked me how I felt about having a son.”

      Kelly wanted to pick up Candy and carry her about the room, but decorum required their attention back to Elder J’Gon’s march down the staircase.
 
Kelly composed himself and watched J’Gon’s slow progress down the stairs.
 
At the middle landing, he was joined by Shadow Warrior H’Kona, his military aide.
 
Kelly looked at her and wondered if J’Gon knew she was a cousin of Elder G’Tol.

      Elder J’Gon finally descended the last step and stepped out into the crowd of K’Rang warriors and petty nobility that faced him and stood at attention whenever J’Gon got within five meters of them.
 
Kelly and Candy laughed at this mobile petrification as J’Gon glad-handed old friends and attempted to drive away the sycophants and wannabe entourage.

      Then J’Gon saw Candy and walked away from a group attempting to engage him in conversation.
 
He left them so abruptly that his aide, who was recording what was being asked and what was being promised, was left behind and had to hurry to catch up.
 
Her haste caused some of the Shadow Warrior security detail to alert and surround Kelly and Candy, warding off some unidentified threat to the Elder.
 
One was about to push Kelly bodily to the ground when J’Gon said a K’Rang “safe” word and they melted away as if they had never been there.

      J’Gon spoke to Kelly in K’Rang and his translator, who appeared from seemingly nowhere, said, “Excuse this inadvertent display of my security detail’s efficiency, Captain Blake.
 
I hope you were not injured in any way.”

      Kelly assured the Elder through the translator that he was undamaged and turned to introduce Candy.

      “Candy, allow me to introduce his Excellency, the Senior Elder J’Gon.
 
Your Excellency, permit me to introduce my wife, Candy Blake.”

      To Kelly’s surprise, the Elder switched into slightly accented Galactic Standard and said, “It is always a pleasure to meet a fellow advocate.
 
Do not be so surprised, Captain.
 
Before I was elected by my clan to be elder, I was a junior legal advisor to the cease-fire negotiating team at the end of the Capricorn War.
 
Months of hard fought negotiations helped me to acquire quite some facility with your language.

      “Of course I hide it, as do you your facility with our tongue.
 
I watched you at the treaty negotiations.
 
You did not always wait for your translator to finish before answering.
 
Do not worry.
 
Your secret is safe with me.
 
That should allow you to gain some valuable pieces of information here once the T’Pala starts flowing.
 
You should try some, Captain and Mrs. Blake.
 
It is quite good and has been tested to ensure no ill effects to Humans beyond a mild hangover.”

      Kelly expressed a desire to try it, but Candy begged off because of her pregnancy.

      J’Gon asked if there was something else he could have brought for her.
 
Candy asked for ice water and it appeared simultaneously with two glasses of T’Pala.

      “Try it, Captain.
 
We think it compares to your best Scotch Whiskey.
 
The formulae are remarkably similar, even considering we both are using native ingredients and came up with our spirits independently.

      “Oh, forgive me, Mrs. Blake, you said you were with child and I completely missed the significance.
 
There are holes in my human vocabulary you could steer the Orion through, right Captain?”

      Kelly grinned and in a low voice said in fluent K’Rang, “Of course, Your Excellency.”
 
 
      The two sipped the T’Pala and chatted for a good ten minutes while the rest of the room waited, some looking daggers at Kelly.
 
There were probably a good many petitions awaiting the end of their conversation.

      Kelly, in a low voice, said, “I don’t wish to monopolize your time Excellency.
 
Your other guests appear to be getting impatient.”

      “So they are.
 
It is good for them.
 
I know what they want even before they ask it.
 
That one wants a distant cousin to be granted residency so she can resume her affair while her husband, a destroyer captain, is away on patrol.
 
That one wants to be made a baronet.
 
This one wants some of his neighbor’s land, out of spite over a slight remark.
 
You are right, though, I should not be rude.
 
Stay late if you can.
 
There are some things I would like to discuss with you over some more of this excellent T’Pala.
 
My aide will come get you when it is time.
 
Do not worry, Mrs. Blake.
 
I will not keep you long.”

      He turned to his aide and asked, “Where to next?”

       
She led him to a cluster of K’Rang wearing the cloaks of the F’Dor faction.
 
Kelly would have loved to listen in, but realized the dozen burly Shadow Warriors wouldn’t allow that.
 
He and Candy walked away to find where the food had been laid out.
 
They were starved and the T’Pala was getting to Kelly.

Chapter Five

      The Supreme Queen, deep in her birthing chamber on their main world, reviewed the reports coming in from the frontier of five new worlds being completely dominated by her children.
 
She was heartened by the report of a navigation system from the furry, bipedal race being captured and ready for pick up.
 
Perhaps it would give them insight into which worlds beyond the frontier were habitable.
 
She hated losing queens, even if only larval stage queens, to deadly atmospheres, crushing gravities, and volcanic lava on nascent, unexplored worlds.
 
They were launching pods indiscriminately at any identified world, losing ten colony pods to every successful one.
 
Of the successful ones, only three out of ten managed to become the dominant life form on their planet.

      Five successful colonies gave her a decisive foothold.
 
It was time to move the conquest fleet with the massive sterilizer ships capable of mass population genocide.
 
The colony ships, with their senior queens laying new queen eggs, would become the initiators of the next colonization phase, as they launched new colony pods deep into the furry bipedal race’s space.

The furry bipedals’ navigation computer – to be picked up in about three weeks – would tell them where to aim the pods.
 
The habitable but uninhabited worlds deep within their space would be the first priority for colonization; second priority would be those lightly populated worlds, and finally, the move to invade and take the race’s main worlds.
 
It would be their downfall to live on worlds perfectly suited to the Civilization’s requirements.