Baffled, he put it back in the drawer—even more baffling than that was Kusac’s reaction to last night. He’d have expected him to have been angry, but he’d shown no reaction except distress at the time. Mind, considering the drugs had made him amenable in the extreme, he wouldn’t have been able to feel anger till the effects had worn off. Still, all things considered, Kusac had taken it too well in his opinion. And as for refusing the tests ... He supposed he could understand that, but it was still strange that he’d turn down the opportunity to find out who it had been— unless he really was too embarrassed, or he was protecting someone.
Thoughtfully, he leaned back in his seat. The female who came to mind first was Doctor Zayshul, but she’d arrived with Kezule so that was unlikely. He hadn’t seen Kusac actually take an interest in any of the other females, unless Dzaou was to be believed about the incident in the corridors with Zhalmo, one of Kezule’s daughters. Unfortunately, everything Dzaou said was suspect because of his determination to show Kusac up as unfit to command the group.
His wrist comm buzzed, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yes, Jayza,” he asked, answering the call.
“You were going to join us in the rec,” said the youth. “The Captain’s already here. It’s quiet tonight, we were going to start up a card game.”
“On my way,” he said, getting up.
As he approached the iris just before the rec room, he heard low, angry voices, female ones, and instinctively ducked back into the residential side corridor that mirrored their own. Out of their sight, he strained his ears forward trying to make out what they were saying. At the same time he dug in his pouch for a coin he could drop as an alibi if he needed it.
The voices were too low for him to hear them clearly, and even when he edged closer, he could only catch the odd word. He did, however hear the last hiss of displeasure and the footsteps as one of them headed off down the corridor. He hovered there, unsure whether or not to wait for the other one to leave when he heard the second female start walking and the door of the rec open then close.
Sprinting through the opening, he glanced down the corridor but it was already empty. There had barely been time for her to make it to the next corridor junction, therefore it was likely her quarters were up there. He hurried into the rec, hoping at least to catch sight of the other female. Only one, Zhalmo, was on her feet and threading her way through the tables to the bar. Was Kezule somehow involved in this?
He acknowledged Jayza’s gesture of greeting with an ear flick and made for the bar himself, running through his mind what he’d heard. Something about scents that they, the Sholans, couldn’t smell—which was not news—and M’kou, Zhalmo’s brother.
He nodded politely to Zhalmo as she looked round when he joined her at the bar.
“Lieutenant,” she said, with a smile.
“I was wondering where M’kou was,” he said as the male behind the bar began to pour an ale for her.
“He’s off duty tonight,” she said. “Spending some time with Lazaik for a change. Is something wrong? Can I help you?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing that can’t wait till tomorrow. I didn’t know M’kou had a partner.”
“Oh, yes, for some time now,” she confirmed. “One of the civilians we brought with us.” Smiling politely, she turned back to take her drink then headed over to a table where her sister sat with some friends.
Carrying his drink, he made his way over to join the others, wondering if perhaps he was sniffing at the wrong scent. Maybe Zhalmo was just being protective of her brother. Kusac was the only one who could tell any of the Primes apart by scent alone, and if he’d been too drugged to be able to recognize her scent again, then unless she gave herself away to them, identifying the female responsible was virtually impossible.
“You look very thoughtful,” said Kusac as Banner sat down.
“Me? No,” he grinned, then decided to play a hunch. “I was just appreciating Zhalmo. She’s an attractive female for a Prime. Well-muscled and trim.”
“I prefer her sister Shezhul,” said Jayza, grinning as he automatically looked over to where Zhalmo was sitting.
“I don’t doubt you do. I’m not myself attracted to any of them,” said Khadui. “Not that I would criticize any of you for forming a relationship with one,” he added.
“What about you, Kusac?” Banner asked, raising his glass to his lips.
Kusac glanced over at her then back to Banner. “She’s attractive,” he agreed, “but if you’re wondering if it was her last night, forget it, that’s not her style. She’s too direct. She propositioned me on the first day. Deal the cards, Khadui.”
Banner moved his seat slightly, making sure that as well as not being able to see the other’s hands, he had a good view of the room. He wanted to keep half an eye open to see if anyone showed an overt interest in their group, and in Kusac in particular.
His effort was wasted in one way as throughout the evening, upward of half a dozen females wandered over to chat with them, each of them standing as close to Kusac as possible without it seeming impolite. What it did prove to him, though, was that there was something about Kusac that made him more attractive to the females than the rest of them. And whatever it was, M’kou had it, too.
When the evening was over, on their way back to their quarters, they saw Dzaou being escorted to his room by a guard.
“Excuse me,” he murmured to Kusac. “I want to have a word with him, see if he left anything out of his statement. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Dzaou was angry and kept pacing the length of his small room. “All this because I tried to stop that female from getting into his room!” he snarled, tail swaying in wide arcs.
“No, your punishment is because you attacked the guard when he tried to stop you and then you forced the Captain’s door open.”
“Don’t give me that crap, Banner,” he said, rounding on him. “Those guards knew what was happening! They were there far too quickly!”
“You had long enough to be able to mess with the keypad before the night watch found you,” Banner pointed out from where he sat at the desk. “As for the others, you had the first two disabled for long enough to actually get into the room before the second pair arrived. You aren’t trying to tell me that they let you break in?”
“No, of course not!” he said, the movements of his tail becoming jerky. “They did stop me, but they knew she was going to be there! How else do you explain them ignoring her when she ran out of his bedroom?”
“I don’t suppose it occurred to you that Kusac might have invited her to his room?”
“He’d no right to if he had. That’s fraternizing with the enemy!”
“We’re not enemies,” said Banner calmly. “We may be here under duress, but we’re not being treated as prisoners. Kezule has offered several times to return us to Haven.”
“Us, yes, but not the cub!” said Dzaou, resuming his pacing.
Banner got to his feet. “I think you’re the one who’s become unfit for this mission, Dzaou. You should listen to yourself sometime. You will stop spying on the Captain because I am not going to relieve him of command just to satisfy your paranoid delusions. I suggest you get some rest, you’ll need to be up early in the morning.”
“There’s more going on than you know, Banner,” said Dzaou, watching him make his way to the door. “You’ll find out one day and then you’ll know I was right. He’s hiding something from us, something big, and that isn’t good. I reckon he’s in league with them against us. You should have seen him last night, he was actually enjoying ...”
“Good night, Brother,” said Banner firmly, closing his door. Outside, he nodded to the guard who then locked Dzaou in for the night and left.
Sighing, he made his way to Kusac’s room to report to him on the conversation. When he was done with that, he intended to see what he could find on the data banks about the Prime females. If a male could secrete a substance in his bite that
would bind a female to him to the degree she’d go almost feral to protect him, then it stood to reason the females might have the same ability, but of a less violent nature. If he found nothing, he would have to start paying more attention to Lorish, see whether he could soft-talk the information out of her.
He also needed to talk to Khadui. It was worth keeping an eye on Zayshul and M’kou. With Kusac disinclined to push the matter, he was pretty sure Kezule wouldn’t, on an official level at least. He might, however, deal with the female responsible on a less obvious level, if for no other reason than that he couldn’t afford the breach to his own code of discipline.
“I can understand the Captain not wanting to push for the female to be found,” said Khadui, relaxing back on his bed and looking over to where Banner sat on the sofa. “It’s not unusual. No male, especially a Brother, would like to admit publicly to being raped, Banner, and if she’s found, there would be very public consequences. I don’t know that you should pursue this against his wishes. I’ll follow your orders, of course, but if we find out who it is, I suggest we deal with it ourselves in a less public fashion.”
He considered the suggestion and reluctantly nodded. “We could do that,” he said. “Scare the hell out of her and threaten to tell Kezule. We can decide that if we find her. Meanwhile, as I said, just watch the Doctor and M’kou, see who they speak to, try and eavesdrop if you can. The Zan’droshi gets cut loose in three days and we’ll be working here again.”
Khadui nodded as Banner got to his feet. “You really going to get close to Lorish?” he asked.
“If I have to,” said Banner.
“May I suggest that you do it before Dzaou gets off his punishment detail? You don’t want him messing it up one way or another.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, opening the door.
K’oish’ik, Palace kitchens, same day
K’hedduk continued sprinkling the chocolate flakes over the dessert as Lufsuh came into his small cold room.
“Stand back, K’hedduk,” said the Inquisitor, holding the electronic wand ready.
He glanced up at him and then returned to the sprinkling, spinning it out for another half minute. Then he stood back.
Lufsuh came closer and waved the wand carefully over the food and the few preparation dishes of fruit and chocolate.
“What’s this?” he demanded, peering at it.
“Cakes soaked in sweet alcohol with fruit, a fruit gelatin mixture on top, then cream with the flaked chocolate,” he replied.
“It’s clean,” said Lufsuh, making a face. “Don’t know how anyone can eat that stuff.”
“The Empress became fond of it when she was pregnant,” he replied, then, lowering his voice he said, “Tell M’zzik I’m striking on the nineteenth. He’ll need to make sure the entrances we discussed last time are left open. Have you the sedative for me?”
“We’ve had no word back from M’zull,” said Lufsuh, equally quietly, as he reached into his pocket and slipped a bottle to him.
“I know. That’s irrelevant. I only need them as backup after I’ve taken control,” said K’hedduk, palming it into his trouser pocket. “I can’t afford to wait. I have more than enough people if those who pose a danger are killed that night.”
“M’zzik says don’t look for more help from us than the opening of the doors.”
“I won’t need any more,” he snapped, trying to keep his impatience in check.
Privately he was glad there had been no reply from M’zull. He could hold K’oish’ik himself for some time, he had no need of reinforcements courtesy of his brother, even if they were led by those loyal to his cause. It also gave them more time to gather support for him from the common soldiers. “You’d better leave; the chef is going to suspect me of using poison at this rate!”
“The Enlightened One is still on Shola.”
“We could wait forever for him to come back. He’ll be dealt with later,” snapped K’hedduk. The Prince’s continued absence did annoy him, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to move soon, establish his own power base now before the false Emperor tried to make treaty negotiations with M’zull and discovered the true situation.
“M’zikk wishes to know when your brother, the true Emperor will arrive.”
“I don’t know, he hasn’t told me! Now get out of here!” he hissed angrily.
Lufsuh stared at him coldly. “M’zzik is concerned that there are too many loose ends.”
“Is there a problem, Inquisitor?” said a voice from the doorway.
“None,” said Lufsuh, straightening up. “I was intrigued by the smell of this dessert and asked what was in it. Perhaps the Head Inquisitor would like to sample this delicacy himself.”
“It’s not all for the Empress,” said K’hedduk, suddenly obsequious. “It will be served to all present at the Royal table tonight. I’m sure High Inquisitor M’zzik will be there and will be able to taste it for himself.”
Lufsuh nodded and moved toward the door. “I’ll be sure to tell him what’s in store for him tonight.”
“Get on with it!” hissed the chef as the crimson-robed Inquisitor disappeared.
K’hedduk hissed in anger. The nineteenth couldn’t come soon enough, then he’d be rid of both this chef and the annoying Head Enforcer!
Kij’ik Outpost, Zhal-Mellasha 13th day, early morning (February)
The proximity klaxon blared out suddenly, startling the entire bridge crew. Zhalmo slammed her hand down on the control, silencing it, then routing her readings to the duty officer, hit the main alarm and the Outpost-wide comm system.
“General Kezule and main crew to the bridge. All other personnel to emergency stations. Initiating Outpost-wide lockdown in three minutes. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.”
“Begin power shutdown. Terminate all active scans and initiate emergency backup systems,” ordered Zaykkuh, hands flying over his board, checking the readouts and pulling up an image of the surrounding area on the long-range, passive scanners. “Cut all fuel feeds to the mess areas and temples.”
“Draining hydro level stream, Captain,” said Shartoh. “Pool emptied, sealing air locks to contain the water.”
Kezule, closely followed by Q’almo and Maaz’ih, entered the bridge at a run, taking the Captain’s chair that Zaykkuh hurriedly vacated. “Status,” he demanded as the lighting level briefly fluctuated.
“Powering down initiated for silent running,” said Zaykkuh, taking the board to his left. “Proximity alarm went off and the passive scans show a large vessel heading our way.”
“Get me visuals on screen,” ordered Kezule. “What’s the status of the Zan’droshi?”
“No one’s on board, General,” said Shartoh. “All utilities to it have been severed. Only the last cables anchoring her to Kij’ik remain.”
“Winch her in against the landing bay doors,” he snapped, cursing silently. Only a few more hours and they’d have cast the damned ship into a decaying orbit around the gas giant. “Are the landing bay doors closed yet?”
“Flight command is doing that now, General,” said Zaykkuh. “Meson cannon being retracted.”
“Preparing to shut off life support and gravity to main Outpost.”
“Leave gravity on, Shartoh. Shut down the atomics. Kill all other power except for bridge functions, passive scans and the Officers level sick bay. Route all comms and computing functions through the bridge.”
“Aye, General. All irises closed. Initiating emergency air circulation,” said Q’almo from Life Support. Like a slow heartbeat, they heard the sound of the giant fans in the air shafts begin to pick up speed. “I’m ordering corridor sweeps now to locate any stragglers.”
“Flight control reports bay doors closed and winching in the Zan’droshi has commenced,” said Shartoh.
“Zhalmo, I need visuals now,” said Kezule, glancing toward her comms station.
“Reports coming in from Officers and Command mess areas conf
irming safe shutdown of facilities,” said Q’almo.
“Laser signals coming in from the active defense asteroids, General,” said Maaz’ih from the Nav board.
“Shut them down, we don’t need offensives.”
“It’s coming into range, General,” said Zhalmo. “On screen ... Now.”
Silently, the flattened diamond-shaped nose of one of the Primes’ two science ships edged its way onto the screen.
“The science ship Zh’adasho,” said Maaz’ih.
Kezule swore briefly. “Put up tactical, M’zynal. They’re not science ships, they’re heavy cruisers,” he said. “What the hell are they doing out here? See if you can pick up any internal communications from them on passives, Zhalmo.”
“Yes, sir,” Zhalmo said, grabbing her headset.
He scanned the display, calculating the Zh’adasho’s probable course and weighing his options. “Shartoh, tell engineering to route control of the attitude jets to my board. We need a ninety degree rotation to conceal the Zan’droshi. As soon as rotation’s complete, cut gravity to the Outpost.”
“Aye, sir. Command routed to you now,” she said. “Flight command reports the Zan’droshi will be anchored to the side of Kij’ik in ten minutes.”
“Tell them they have five,” he snapped. “The Zh’adasho is coming in at 11:00 high to the plane of the ecliptic. I want the Zan’droshi at 6:00 low as soon as possible. Where are the Sholans?”
“The Captain and his Lieutenant called in. He’s in the gym, and Lieutenant Banner is in the main assembly hall with the rest of their crew and the majority of the civilians on that level,” said Zhalmo.
“Tell them to report to the briefing room. I want them on corridor sweeps—except for Dzaou. He can stay where he is.”
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