To Clan and Conquer (Clan Beginnings) (6 page)

Degorsk’s hands ran over Tranis’ chest.  He stood and moved against the young officer.  Tranis felt the other man’s growing erections against his.  He growled low in his throat and clutched the Imdiko’s ass, holding Degorsk tight so he could grind hard against him.

For a moment, Degorsk softened in Tranis’ demanding embrace.  The sensation of another man’s surrender brought heavy heat to the Dramok’s groin.  The combined scents of their arousal hung in the air, and Tranis growled again, louder.  He started to lower Degorsk to the desk behind him.

The Imdiko shoved against his chest, struggling.  Degorsk broke the kiss with a sharp twist of his head.  He gasped, “Those clear panels on my door will give everyone more of a show than I think is proper.”

Tranis’ groin throbbed almost painfully as he looked into the doctor’s dilated eyes.  But the man had a point.  Not letting go of his forceful embrace of the Imdiko yet, Tranis said, “Meet me for drinks tonight.  I’m free, unless you want to change your mind about my worthiness for duty?”

Degorsk shoved again, but Tranis refused to let him go.  Scowling, Degorsk said, “I can’t clear you, First Officer.  Your poison levels are well above the safety limits.”

He was trying to skirt the issue of meeting later.  Tranis grinned down at him, enjoying his power over the slighter man.  “Since I’m not on duty, you can call me Tranis.  When do you go off duty?”

“Not for awhile.  Four hours.”  When that still didn’t get Tranis to let him go, Degorsk pointedly asked, “Don’t you think you’re a bit young for me?”

Tranis felt the still aroused body against his, felt how the Imdiko’s cocks pulsed with need, a need as great as his own.  He looked at the vid, then the mold of that delicious ass.  His eyes lingered on that and he grinned with anticipation.  “No, Dr. Degorsk.  The way you like to tease, I think you might be too young for me.  I’m trying not to hold that against you.”

Tranis released him.  Without another word, he turned and walked out of the office.  Behind him he heard Degorsk mutter, “Damned Dramoks.  Especially that one.”

Chapter 3

Piras’ frustrated growl filled the bridge.  “Keep trying to reach those sites.”

The lieutenant in charge of off-ship communications bent to his station as if being just an inch away from his readout would hasten results.  “Yes, Captain.”

Piras paced in front of his and Lidon’s consoles.  Lidon could feel the tension boiling off him.  It had been a tense shift with too many questions and not enough answers.

The transport door opened, and Tranis walked onto the bridge in uniform.  Lidon raised an eyebrow and stiffened when Piras froze in mid-stride.

The captain looked at his first officer with narrowed eyes.  “I was told you wouldn’t make your shift, Commander Tranis.”

Tranis halted on his way to his console.  He carefully answered, “I feel fine, Captain.”

“That may be, but regulations call for our chief medical officer to release you for duty, whether we respect his credentials or not.”

Lidon’s fists clenched as anger sparked at Piras’ belittlement of Degorsk.  At the same time, Tranis’ eyes widened.  The Nobek thought he saw Tranis’ upper lip curl slightly.

His tone remained respectful, however.  “I have the utmost faith in Dr. Degorsk’s opinion, Captain.  My shame of being temporarily relieved of duty caused me to undermine his orders.  I will excuse myself from the bridge as ordered and beg your pardon for having to miss my shift.”

He bowed, obviously prepared to abandon his ill-advised move of reporting for duty.  Piras raised a hand, stopping him.

“Hold a moment, First Officer.  You should know what is happening so that when you do return to duty, you’re fully informed.  Weapons Commander?”

Lidon was still fuming.  A full second passed before he spoke.  “Sir.  Commander Tranis, as you know, two defense stations reported some strange energy readings in Joshadan space.  We have made contact with them since then at regular intervals.  Five hours ago, Cagu Defense Station reported they had lost communications with the Cori Defense Station and Natamev colony, which lies at a point roughly between the two stations.  We also could not raise those locations.  An hour ago, we lost contact with Cagu as well.  Efforts to re-establish communications have met with no response.”

Tranis’ expression turned grim.  “Definitely not a good sign.  Do you think they came under attack?”

“It could be whatever is emitting the anomalous energy readings is simply disrupting communications.  Old communications satellites that have broken their orbits and wandered through space have been known to cause such effects.”

“You don’t think that’s the case.”

Lidon shook his head.  “Three different locations on the border going dark like that?  No.  I think we should be prepared for Tragoom raiders.”

Piras told Tranis, “We’ve put the fleet on alert, and two other destroyers are on their way.  They are at least five days behind us however, so we’ll be on our own for the initial investigation.”

A flash of excitement crossed the young first officer’s face.  “Where are we going first?”

“Cagu.  It’s closest and the last to go dark.  We’ll reach it in ten hours.  You’ll be cleared for duty by then.”  Piras scowled at him.  “And I trust you will avoid all excuses to miss your next shift?”

Tranis flushed.  “Thank you, Captain.”  He bowed and left the bridge.

Lidon considered Piras, who took up his pacing where he’d left off.  The captain had let Tranis off remarkably easy, an indication of how much the silent stations and colony had absorbed his attention.  However, that unwarranted comment on Degorsk’s abilities…

“Captain, can I possibly have a private word?  It will only take a moment.”

Piras’ head jerked in his direction.  He nodded at Lidon.  “In my office, Weapons Commander.”  To the communications officer, he snapped, “Lieutenant, you have command, but I want immediate notification if anything of note happens.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Lidon nodded to his second to take over the weapons stations and followed Piras to his office.

The captain immediately went to the raised seat behind his desk.  The power position.  He motioned to the chair on the opposite side.  The seat of this chair was much lower than his.

He regarded the Nobek.  “How is your leg, Lidon?”

“Fine.”  Lidon remained standing, quietly challenging the captain.

Piras only rolled his eyes.  “Now what?”

Lidon glared at him.  “That was incredibly inappropriate of you to cast dispersions on our head medic’s abilities in front of everyone.”

The Dramok glared back.  “You stick to security issues.  Ship’s personnel is my affair, Commander.  That – that—”

“Esteemed doctor,” Lidon provided.

“—ridiculous buffoon has earned none of my respect.”

Lidon folded his arms over his chest.  “Dr. Degorsk is a talented professional.  His record is without blemish.  Whether you like his attitude or not, his abilities speak for themselves.”

Piras leaned back and regarded him with something akin to disgust.  “Why don’t you just take the damned man to bed and have done with it?  Get him out of your system once and for all.”

“What’s the point if I can’t look forward to the potential of keeping him?”

“I am not clanning that foolish creature.  And I can’t believe you, a warrior of your status, would want to either!”

Lidon sneered. “I’ve stayed with you this long, haven’t I?  Perhaps foolish creatures are my style.”

Piras’ face went blood red.  “You are seriously pissing me off, Lidon.  If you’re telling me our clanning depends on courting that Imdiko, then you’re in for a longer wait than fifteen years.”

The comment took Lidon aback.  Was that what he was waiting for?  Why he kept putting Piras off?  He tried to imagine the three of them together as a clan.  Degorsk as Piras’ Imdiko.

He didn’t like what his fantasy revealed.

“By the ancestors, a Dramok like you would break his spirit.  I’d never subject him to such a fate,” Lidon growled.

Piras’ expression was thunderous.  “What are you saying?  That I’ve broken yours?”

Lidon’s lip curled.  “You don’t have that kind of power over me.”

The Dramok jerked in reaction.  He let an expression of hurt cross his face for an instant before frustration returned.  His jaw worked as he ground his teeth.

Lidon dropped his arms to his side.  As usual, reasoning with Piras was getting him nowhere.  “What I’m saying is, the men you approve of get all the accolades they deserve.  You inspire loyalty like few others.  But if there’s just one little personality trait you don’t agree with, you waste too much breath belittling the owner of it.  As the Book says, ‘Let not a small, displeasing blemish blind you to the beauty of the whole.’”

Piras looked away.  “I overlook plenty when it comes to you,” he muttered.

“As I do with you.”

The captain stared up at him.  “Why do I get the feeling that if I changed my entire being just to please you, it wouldn’t be enough?”

“That’s not what I want.  I want—”

Lidon suddenly stopped.  What did he want?  The vision that flashed in his mind’s eye nearly made him gasp.

Piras said, “Maybe instead of memorizing that damned book, you should meditate on just what it is you’re truly after.  Think hard on it, Lidon.  And when you learn to appreciate what I offer, I’ll be waiting, as I have all this time.”

He turned away and busied himself at his computer.  Lidon stared at him.  He wondered why, when he’d asked himself what he wanted, it was Degorsk and Tranis’ faces that flitted through his thoughts.

Degorsk, yes.  He’d had his eye on the reluctant Imdiko for a while now.  But the youngling Dramok?  Tranis, who was thirty years his junior?

Whatever other nonsense Piras spouted, he was right in one thing:  Lidon did need to carefully consider what it was he truly wanted.

* * * *

At the end of his workday, Lidon went to the ship’s crowded lounge.  The place was always busy at shift’s end as people took the opportunity to transition from work to off time.  Every one of the low tables scattered in the space was taken, and only a few seating cushions surrounding them remained.  Most eyes were trained on the vids that replayed kurble matches from home and the latest news feeds.

Lidon nodded at the hails of other Nobeks and went to one of the liquor dispensers.  There he debated his choices.  The more potent the drink, the less allowance of it you were allowed.  On a destroyer, no one on active duty was allowed to get drunk.  Every man had to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice, even when patrols were deep in the Empire’s territory.

Lidon waved his hand at the scanner, letting it identify him and display his alcohol ration amount.  He chose kloq.  If he stuck to the popular spirit, he’d be allowed five glasses before the dispensers cut him off.  Tired from the kurble game and working a shift immediately afterward, he doubted he was going to be that sociable, but who knew?  He had a lot going on in his head, things that might make sleep difficult to come by.

The lounge was filled with men who had also played earlier today or had watched the game.  Snatches of conversation drifted to Lidon as his glass was filled.  Everyone he heard was agreeing it was a great match.  Many of the players, winners and losers alike, were on the receiving end of invitations for intimate entertainments from those who had stood on the sidelines.

Lidon’s drink finished dispensing and he grabbed the glass from the machine’s tube opening.  He stopped short when he saw Tranis and Degorsk sitting nearby, deep in conversation.

So the first officer had liked the Imdiko’s ass after all.  And Degorsk, who was almost never seen in the lounge unless he was in the company of his staff, had agreed to have drinks with him.  Well, well.  The Dramok was surprising Lidon yet again.

As if feeling Lidon’s gaze on him, Degorsk looked in his direction.  Their eyes met.  The medic flushed and nodded acknowledgement before returning his attention to Tranis.

There was an empty seat next to Degorsk.  Lidon debated joining them when the head commander of the fighter complement called to him.  “Come sit with us, Commander.  That was some game you played this morning.”

Lidon reluctantly joined the table full of Nobeks.  They shifted to make enough room, some sharing seating cushions so he was able to have one to himself.  He was still sore and his brace made him feel clumsy.  He still managed to lower carefully down so that he didn’t fall on his ass and embarrass himself.  The position of his seat allowed him to keep an eye on Degorsk and Tranis.  Alerted to Lidon’s presence, Tranis raised his hurling hand to him.  Lidon nodded back, noting the poisonous swelling was gone and it had turned a healthier color.

To his companions, Lidon said, “I haven’t played in some time.  I enjoyed it.”

The fighter commander, an older Nobek named Gewit, rumbled laughter through his barrel-shaped chest.  “I guess you did!  Nosdin is still bitching about the broken jaw you gave him.”

Lidon sneered.  “He should have his sight tested.  Maybe he wouldn’t have kept running into my fist if he could see better.”