To Clan and Conquer (Clan Beginnings) (25 page)

Lidon had his hands full with getting the destroyer’s engines repaired.  He ran endless diagnostics and drills on ship’s weaponry.  Having seen the Earther battlecruiser they would soon be chasing after, he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

With the emergency they operated under, it was some time before the three men were summoned to Piras’ office for a discussion.  They stood before the captain’s desk, Lidon and Degorsk ranged on either side of Tranis.  Piras sat in his chair, tapping a finger on the surface of his workspace.

He spent long seconds looking at them before finally speaking.  “I am putting in for commendations for all three of you.  First Officer Tranis and Weapons Commander Lidon, your ruse at the colony which destroyed two enemy ships and saved ours was brilliant.  I cannot stress enough my gratitude for your work.  And Doctor, Commander Tranis already put in for you to be recognized for your efforts at the mining colony.  I have also noted the long hours you’ve worked in treating our wounded following the fighting.  Despite the infraction you committed that led to disciplinary action here on Wetor, your excellent work otherwise deserves due accolades.  Well done, all three of you.”

Lidon didn’t twitch a muscle.  Piras’ compliments were effusive, utterly unlike him.  He waited for the other shoe to drop as the captain consulted vid reports.

Piras looked at them again.  “We will have the destroyer back up to full strength in less than an hour.  Weapons Commander, your department reports we are still tracing the signal from that Earther battlecruiser.”

Lidon answered, “It continues to fly deeper into Joshadan space.  It appears to be heading for an area with a large gas giant.  The only occupied place in the vicinity is one of the planet’s moons, which is named Phescxo.  My understanding is the Joshadans have an experimental colony there, something to do with primitive farming practices.”

“Any sign of distress from them?”

“None.  We don’t dare try to contact them either for fear the Tragooms become aware of them and attack.”

“Or take hostages,” Tranis added.

Piras nodded.  “We’ll have to hope the Tragooms don’t notice them there.”

He stood and turned away, staring at the wall full of stellar ship models he’d painstakingly built.  Lidon knew there were hundreds of hours invested in those intricate pieces, pieces Piras had designed himself.  Beautiful work.  Once upon a time, Lidon had meditatively watched his captain as Piras put the small crafts together.  After only a few days, it seemed as if that life had belonged to another man.

After a few moments of silence, Piras turned back to them, his expression resolute.  “My behavior on Wetor towards the three of you was inexcusable.  I let personal issues cloud my judgment.  My only comfort is that your defense strategy was so effective against the enemy and allowed us to save this colony.  If you decide to cite me for my foolishness, I will admit to everything.”

Lidon immediately looked to Tranis.  He noted Degorsk did the same, and he started.  They were acting as if the first officer was their clan Dramok, the man who spoke for the group.  It was so natural as to be frightening.

And just like them, Tranis fell into the clan role.  He looked at Lidon.  His mouth dry, the Nobek gave a slight shake of his head.  Tranis turned his head to gaze at Degorsk. Another small negative shake.

Tranis turned to Piras.  “We have no intention of filing complaints, Captain.  The situation resolved to a satisfactory conclusion.  We wish to go about our duties with no further mention of the incident.”

Piras’ expression remained stoic, but Lidon saw his shoulders relax a little in relief.  “I appreciate your generosity.  You may resume your posts.”

The three men bowed and chorused, “Captain.”

As Lidon turned to leave, Piras’ quiet voice reined him back.  “Lidon, one final word, if I may?”

Tranis shot the Nobek a quick look.  His mouth tightened, but he walked out of the office with Degorsk.  Lidon wondered if it had been on the first officer’s tongue to demand Piras what he wanted with him.  As if he was Lidon’s Dramok.  He thought maybe that had been the case.

As soon as the door closed, leaving them alone, Piras met Lidon’s gaze.  “I’m wholeheartedly sorry.  It’s not easy to be cast aside after so many years.  I was hurt.  Embarrassed.”

Lidon could understand that.  He didn’t want to carry a grudge, not against a man he’d shared so much with.  “I’ve known for some time I wasn’t able to give you enough as a Nobek.  I’m sorry I let it go on the way I did.”

Piras nodded, grimaced an approximation of a smile.  “Well, in any case, I retract my offer to clan.  I hope you find happiness.”

“And I, you.”

“Dismissed, Weapons Commander.”

Lidon bowed.  “Captain.”

Feeling as if a massive weight had rolled off his back, Lidon left for the bridge.

* * * *

Tranis stood at his station, feeling very good about things.  The tension between Lidon and Piras had eased considerably.  Tranis himself was getting a commendation.  Frequent checks on Degorsk had shown the Imdiko was seeming to handle the many injured crewmen without undue stress.  The destroyer was back to full functionality and they had left Wetor behind hours ago.  Sure, they were chasing an overwhelmingly armed enemy that may or may not be the harbinger of a full on invasion force, but Kalquorian Command had been alerted to the potential problem.  A portion of the fleet was on its way to Joshadan space.

All things considered, life was going quite well.  Well enough that the Dramok was contemplating getting together with Lidon and Degorsk at his first opportunity.  Not just for sex, though that was certainly on the menu.  Having shared so much with the pair, Tranis was curious to know more about the men themselves.  Maybe they could have dinner and spend some time talking about things that mattered, the past events that had shaped the philosopher-warrior and passionate jokemaker.

Lidon’s voice interrupted Tranis’ thoughts.  “Small craft in our flight path, Captain.  It’s Joshadan and flying erratically.”

Tranis consulted his computers.  The destroyer’s sensors showed a very small craft, one that wouldn’t normally be flying in deep space.  It was suited more for small jumps between planets and moons in close proximity to each other.

Piras asked, “Are we in communications range?”

Tranis said, “Just barely.  Com Lieutenant, boost the signal and make contact.”

“Put it on vid if a visual is available,” Piras ordered.

At first Tranis thought there was no visual, then a weak signal flitted on the sensors.  He tapped his computer, enhancing the signal strength, and brought the vid up.

He was startled by the sight of humanoids that were not the brightly furred Joshadans he’d expected to see.  The aliens almost appeared to be short-haired Kalquorians, though there were substantial differences beyond their unfashionable hair length.  Their coloring was the first piece of strangeness.  The four men staring back at him were of varying skin that ranged from pinkish-pale to deep ebony.  Body structure was the other major distinction.  With the exception of one man with wide shoulders and chest that strained his gray shirt, they were devoid of the defined musculature that came naturally to Tranis’ race.  The pinkish man in front was spare, almost reed-thin.  Another man in the background was very nearly round.  The last man fell somewhere in between.

Tranis didn’t have much time to contemplate these almost-Kalquorians as the one in front began speaking gibberish at them.  His odd brown eyes with round pupils were wide with surprise or panic.

Tranis’ fingers flew over his computer, though his gaze remained riveted on the aliens.  “Translators are on line, Captain.”

His superior’s voice boomed with authority.  “I am Captain Piras of the Kalquorian fleet.  Can you understand me?”

The slender pink man turned to the ebony-skinned one to his right.  “Is there a translator on this
sardine
can?”

Tranis frowned.  The translator hadn’t been able to decipher the foreign word ‘sardine’.  And the aliens couldn’t understand a single word Piras was saying.

He said, “Com Lieutenant, tie our translator into their com link.”

“Translator tied in, Commander.”

Piras tried once more.  “You are aboard a Joshadan ship but you are not Joshadan.  The Kalquorian Empire protects the territory of Joshada.  Identify yourselves.”

Pink Man turned back to the vid.  “Oh good, that’s got it.  Hello, Kalquorians.  I’m senior pilot George Huberts, part of the Joshada-Earth farming co-op on Phescxo.”

Earthers.  Tranis looked the men over carefully.  So these were the aliens that built such insanely huge ships armed to take out entire colonies.  The same race many wondered were Kalquor’s fabled Lost Tribe.  This was the species members of the Galactic Council hoped were breeding compatible with the rapidly disappearing Kalquorians.

The Dramok was fascinated by how outwardly similar and yet different the Earthers were to his race.  Just with this sample of four it seemed the Earthers came in a diverse range of colors and shapes.  How was that possible?  Was it a breed thing, like Dramoks, Nobeks, and Imdikos that somehow translated physically as well as temperamentally?

Georgehuberts was speaking, and Tranis forced himself to pay attention.  “We’ve got a big emergency, and we’re en route to the Kalquorian Empire to get help.  Did we make it to your space, sir?”

Piras said, “I am Captain Piras of the Kalquorian fleet.  You are still in Joshadan space, however.”

The Earther seemed relieved.  “Thank God I found you.  Captain Piras, the Phescxo colony is overrun with Tragooms.  They’re using it as a base of operations for a huge fleet orbiting the planet.”

Lidon’s voice was steel.  “A fleet?”

Georgehuberts blinked.  “Well, maybe not a whole fleet, but they’ve got a good two hundred-and-some ships in space and over two hundred shuttles on the ground.  We were kind of in a hurry to escape and find help, so I didn’t get an accurate count.”

“How close do you think your count is?”

Georgehuberts shrugged.  “Sorry, I can’t really answer that.  I’m just a simple pilot employed to transport goods from the colony to visiting supply carriers.  I can tell you the Tragooms have a lot of different types of fighting ships including some of our battlecruisers, your destroyers, Bi’isil hunter-killers, gosh everything you can imagine.  You name it, they’ve got it.”

Piras exchanged a look with Lidon.  The weapons commander said, “We need to know exactly what they’ve got before our fleet gets here.”

The captain nodded.  He turned back to the visage of the sweating Earther.  “Pilot Georgehuberts, I need you to dock your shuttle with this ship so I can get a full report from you.”

The pink man nodded.  “I’ll be glad to, Captain sir.”  He went from pink to nearly red.  “Um, I’m pretty good with my Earth shuttle, but this Joshadan thing is giving us fits.  We’re having some problems figuring it out.  I’m not so sure we can dock it without doing some damage to both our vessels.”

Tranis said, “We can lock traction on the shuttle and I can pilot it into a dock, Captain.”

“Do it.”

All four men hunched in the cramped confines of the Joshadan craft visibly relaxed.  Georgehuberts said, “Jesus, Mohammed, and Moses, I’ll be glad to get out of this tiny ship.  Thanks for the help, Captain Piras.  I only hope we got here in time to save some of the people back on the colony.  Those Tragooms are eating people and Joshadans.”

Piras grimaced.  “Yes, pilot, they have a nasty habit of that, along with other things.  I’ll meet you in the dock.  End communications.”

The Earthers blinked out.  Tranis put his attention to grabbing onto the nearing Joshadan vessel and guiding it to the destroyer’s landing bay.

Piras said, “Lidon, with me.  Commander Tranis, join us as soon as you’ve got that shuttle safely locked down.”

“Yes Captain.”

As Piras and Lidon hurried past his station, the weapons commander barked orders into the ship’s com system.  “Security detail to Dock Seven, level alpha.”

“They didn’t look demanding of alpha strength,” Piras muttered as they got into the intership transport.

“I’m not going to take chances.”

Tranis carefully steered the alien vessel closer to the ship.  They’d been correct that there was a Tragoom attack fleet.  The Kalquorian response was still days away, and the closest ships were only a little more than one hundred strong, half of what the Earthers said were out there.

Those Earthers.  They excited the Dramok’s imagination enough to distract him a little from the concern of a Tragoom attack force.  They were so much like his own people, which somehow made their differences incredibly exotic.  Too bad there weren’t females on that ship, because Tranis was eager to know what they looked like.

He had an instant of imagining a female as pale as Pilot Georgehuberts and softly rounded like the communications officer.  Now that would be something to see.  Something amazing to touch.  He hoped Earther women didn’t wear their hair as short as their male counterparts.  Long, silky hair to go with a warm, yielding, pale body was an idea to his liking.

Too much to his liking, it turned out.  The warning ache in his groin made Tranis turn his thoughts away from alien women and focus his attention on his work.  He wasn’t about to greet his first Earthers with an erection.