Alien Redemption [Clans of Kalquor 06] (11 page)

Both wore gloomier looks than usual. Conyod hoped his news would lift their spirits a little.

The men looked at him as he came out on the balcony, murmuring greetings. Conyod went to the low wall of the balcony, but was too excited to appreciate the way the setting sun tinged the green-hued sea with amber highlights. He faced his clanmates.

He searched their eyes, as he always did these days, for a glimmer of warmth as they gazed at him. It was that bare touch of affection that kept him from completely giving up on the altered pair and running away. He found it. They still cared for him; they were simply too lost in their misery to display much of it these days.

Erybet even managed a ghost of a smile. “My Imdiko is home from work before dark for a change. This is a special occasion.”

Conyod clasped his hands behind his back to conceal their slight tremor. Undoubtedly, Sletran had already detected his nervousness, but Erybet might not have. Since it was his Dramok who had to be handled carefully in the matter, Conyod didn’t want to give Erybet any reason to refuse considering Rachel. He worried his leader would do so out of spite because of the hard time Conyod had given him over the other Mataras. The old Erybet wouldn’t have, but now…

He smiled back at Erybet. “Actually, it is a special occasion. Do you remember Rachel?

My patient you met last night, the one who had just begun to speak?”

Erybet eyed him carefully. Okay, Conyod’s words had come out a little too fast, a bit too high-pitched to convey the casualness he’d planned on. But Erybet didn’t comment on that.

Instead he answered, “Such a beautiful girl. Who could forget a face like hers?”

Sletran added, “She was the brave one who opposed her government. Did she speak more today?” He too was managing a hint of a smile, his gaze warming on the Imdiko.

“Much more. Govi is ecstatic over her progress.” Conyod swallowed. His next words came out in a rush. “So much so that she is to be released soon from the hospital and will be going into the lottery system. She wishes our clan to present its case for her first.”

The eyes on him widened. His clanmates exchanged a look with each other, their expressions becoming careful.

It was the Nobek who quietly asked, “You’re her primary therapist, aren’t you? Will considering her for clanship be allowed?”

“Maybe. Govi is looking into the matter and will give me an answer tomorrow.” Conyod caught Erybet’s gaze and held it. To hell with pretense. His Dramok would have deduced already how important this was to Conyod. “I beg you to consider it.”

Erybet leaned forward in his seat, his stare never leaving Conyod’s face. “You’ve had no interest in previous Mataras.”

Conyod couldn’t continue to match that intense gaze. Erybet had a look that made him feel like he could read every thought in the Imdiko’s head. He dropped his eyes. “I have a confession to make, my Dramok. I didn’t want any of the others. I only wanted Ray-Ray.”

There was a long beat of silence. Conyod could feel those eyes boring into him. Under the weight of that gaze, something inside his heart shrank. Erybet was going to say no.

Sletran spoke, giving Conyod a small reprieve from the other man’s scrutiny. “Are you in love with her, Conyod?”

Conyod looked at his Nobek. As always, Sletran regarded him with gentle strength, a look the fierce warrior reserved for him alone. It gave Conyod the resolve he needed to answer, “Yes.

With all my heart. She says she loves me too.”

Erybet said, “There are two other men in this clan, men she will have to want as well as you.”

The Imdiko dared to look at his clan leader. The look Erybet gave him, one that was almost as caring as Sletran’s, allowed Conyod to take a breath.

He said, “I know, Erybet. She’s intelligent, though. She’ll see what good clanmates you’d be to her.” He hoped. “If you only get to know her, you will want her as much as I do. She’s smart and caring and courageous and perfect…”

Conyod had to pause to take a breath from the recitation of all that made Rachel wonderful.

In that moment of silence, Sletran laughed. It was the first time Conyod had heard him do so since he’d returned home from the war.

“Conyod, you’ll be writing poetry next.” Sletran shook his head, but his smile was indulgent. For a moment he was so much like the Nobek Conyod had known, the Nobek he’d been overjoyed to clan with.

Maybe Erybet was right. Maybe having a Matara will be enough to snap Sletran out of his
trauma. Crazier things have happened, right?

Sletran turned to Erybet. “We can’t stand in the way of this, my Dramok. It can be no worse than the other candidates.”

Erybet snorted and took a swallow from his cup. “I have to give you that. May we meet with her tomorrow, Conyod? Spend a little while getting to know her better? That’s supposing Govi gives his approval.”

Conyod thought his heart might explode. His clanmates were saying yes! He couldn’t help the huge, stupid grin that made his face ache. “Absolutely. Thank you, thank you both so much.”

Erybet looked at him, his eyes bright. He blinked hard, and Conyod had to look away.

Erybet never cried, at least not in front of him. The Imdiko was afraid the naked emotion on his Dramok’s face would bring his own tears.

Erybet’s voice was steady at least. “Perhaps we will finally get the new start we’ve so desperately needed. Conyod, fix yourself a drink and sit with us for a while.”

Conyod obeyed. For the next few hours he told them all about Rachel, sharing the things that had made him fall hopelessly for her. They ate dinner and drank companionably, discussing the possibilities, and to Conyod, the suddenly bright future before them. For a little while it was almost like the old days again.

* * * *

And so you will remain, my Imdiko. I swear it.

Shoulder to shoulder with his Nobek, he gripped the low wall of the balcony, letting the breeze blow back his hair. Warmer weather had arrived after the troubling winter, but it still became quite cool at night. The clan had yet to indulge in a soak in the balcony’s large whirlpool.

The body next to his sang with tension. His clanmate also gripped the wall, and moonlight showed the whiteness of his knuckles. With their third member safely unaware, he let his carefully constructed façade slip off his face. The Nobek’s face was equal parts misery and fury.

Don’t talk,
the Dramok inwardly urged his clanmate.
Don’t say what’s been on your mind
to tell me all evening. By the ancestors, I truly don’t want to know.

Of course the Nobek dashed his hopes, as so many had been dashed because of the war.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. About what’s been going on. About where I’ve been.”

The Dramok shuddered. “You took that Matara.”

“And the others. The dead ones, anyway. I’m not part of the rebellion. The political abductions have nothing to do with me.”

By the ancestors. He was saying he’d killed all those women.

But I knew already, didn’t I? I think I knew something evil was happening even before this
horror.

Emotion tried to close his throat. His words came out choked. “Why? I know New Bethlehem was horrible, but how can you—?”

He couldn’t finish. All he could do was stare at a man he thought he knew so well. His Nobek’s tormented face belonged to a stranger. A face much like his own had become.

The other man’s growl was bestial. “They use their beauty against us. They know how much we want them, how we’ll do anything for them. That one on New Bethlehem … you know the one I’m talking about, my Dramok.”

The one before the massacre. The Earther woman who had broken a brave and mighty Nobek’s mind.

My clanmate is killing Mataras. If it gets out, he will be executed. My innocent Imdiko and
myself ostracized. We will lose everything, with no hope of starting over.

It had finally gotten beyond the Dramok’s control. He searched for a way out of the chaos, the madness that had started on a small, insignificant Earther colony.

The secrets we’ve kept are choking the life out of my Nobek. I don’t want to know what
happened in his head that day. But I must listen. If he tells me all of it, maybe that will stop
him. Hearing the tale from his mouth might arrest the need for vengeance.

He swallowed. He really didn’t want to know how that pivotal event had led to New Bethlehem’s infamous Slaughter of Innocents. But things had gotten out of control. The war was over, but his Nobek was still killing. It had to stop.

“Tell me. I know the story, but tell me every detail from your point of view. I’m the only one who understands, the only one you can talk to about how you felt.”

“We share so much that is secret. What are a few more confidences?” The other man turned from him to stare out at the roiling blackness of the sea, churning its fury under a moonlit sky. “She came to us as so many did. She wanted food. I sent her with one of my best men to the kitchen at our camp. It was right at meal time. She knew exactly when to do it.”

The Dramok swallowed. “And there was no check for weapons.” The big mistake. A mistake any Kalquorian male would have made at the time. Nevertheless, his Nobek had not been able to live it down. His clanmate was a good soldier. A great soldier, who never let any detail get past him.

“I should have checked beneath her coat. It was big and bulky, perfect for hiding arms. If it had been a man, I would have. But she was so small and lovely. So innocent looking with her big wide eyes sending tears down her face.”

His Nobek’s greatest weakness had been exploited. The man had always been a fearless protector of those smaller and weaker than himself.

The Dramok tried to assuage his guilt yet again, knowing the Nobek wouldn’t hear him.

“You weren’t the first to be fooled by an Earther woman. It happened many times after that incident.”

“I could never imagine one walking into a camp wearing explosives like that. Even if I’d seen it with my own eyes, my mind would not have accepted it. But the explosion – ” He stopped. His eyes were wide, his gaze faraway, seeing the horror. A strange sound came from his throat, one of absolute agony. His whisper barely rose above the growl of the surf. “Body parts flung everywhere. She took nearly two dozen men with her, my Dramok. Men who would have done anything to help her. Some of my best men, men that looked up to me.”

The clan leader clutched the other man’s shoulder. He felt how his Nobek trembled, but whether from grief or anger, he wasn’t sure. His voice intense, he insisted, “The war is over.

This must stop.”

A sigh. His head bowed. “I know. But they are so evil. So many men, men who trusted me, and I sent her right into their midst.”

“No more killing. I order you.”

“Yes, my Dramok. I will try.” He didn’t look at him, and that was worrisome. It was as if he didn’t think he could halt the murderous compulsion that had overtaken him. That perhaps he didn’t even want to. Still, he took a deep breath and finally met the clan leader’s eyes. “I have the chance to begin again. Each day is a new start.”

The shoulder beneath his hand had stopped shaking. The Dramok squeezed that mound of bunched muscle. His clanmate was strong. He would prevail. Putting all his faith in his voice, he told him, “Exactly. Put the past behind you and start anew.” He thought a moment and added, “I know I needn’t remind you our Imdiko cannot suspect any of this. This is a very sensitive time for him, what with the new developments. We must make right what was nearly destroyed.”

The Nobek stiffened. Nothing roused his protective instincts more than the third member of their clan, the sensitive Imdiko they would shield at all costs. “He will never know what I’ve done. And I will do what I must to keep him from being hurt again.”

The Dramok wondered at the exact meaning of that last statement. In the end, he was too afraid to ask.

Chapter 5

Govi had grilled Rachel over her intentions towards Conyod and his clanmates the day before. ‘Grilled’ indeed, if such a word could exist in connection with Imdiko Govi. Getting interrogated by the gentle head psychologist was like getting beaten by the softest pillow in existence. Still, Rachel had realized that if he wasn’t happy with her responses, he’d put the brakes on her hopes to charm Erybet and Sletran. She’d poured her heart out to him, hoping to impress upon the Imdiko her absolute adoration and devotion to Conyod. At the same time, she made sure Govi knew her gratitude to her primary therapist and her love for him were two separate things.

Apparently it had worked because Conyod’s Dramok and Nobek were coming to speak to her. She’d managed to schmooze Conyod into finding her a halfway decent sheath dress for the meeting. He’d cocked an eyebrow at her request, obviously confused.

“They’ve already seen you in your hospital gown,” he pointed out.

That earned him a scowl.
Hardly impressive. I thought you wanted me to win them over?

“They’re impressed by your mind and your bravery. They don’t care about your clothes.”

That got the most expressive eyeroll she could muster.
You may be brilliant when it comes
to trauma, but you have a lot to learn about a woman’s typical behavior, Conyod. No dress, no
meeting. I’m not going to speak to your clan about joining them while looking like a pathetic
beggar.
Even though she felt like one.

The Imdiko threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll find you a dress, Ray-Ray.” As he walked out of the room, she heard him mutter, “Earther women are as demanding as Dramoks.”

Poor man. He had no idea.

Conyod had not only brought her a suitable dress, he’d managed to find one close to her size. Marcus had never been able to pull that off. And the purple shade, similar to the Kalquorian’s eye color, looked good against her dark chocolate skin tone. If it was just a bit daring up top, showing a good two inches of cleavage, Rachel decided that would only help her case with the female-deprived Kalquorians.