He did so. His report was as horrific as what they’d heard on Copeland’s monitor.
“He wants to erase all those lives because they offend him,’ Hope muttered. “I think he wants that more than to win his stupid war.”
Piras nodded, anger touching his elegant features yet again. “Between Maf and Copeland, I’m not sure which of the two men are more monstrous. I don’t care to find out either. I simply want them stopped.”
He told them more in depth about his plans to phase as many of the Earther ships as possible and getting control over the weapons systems of the Kalquorian destroyers.
Lokmi bore the weight of the phasing part of the plan. “We’re working round the clock now to get the devices finished. If you’ll pinpoint the ships you think are the most dangerous to Haven’s defenses, we’ll concentrate on installing them there first.”
Borey wasted no time in starting a list. “I’ll have that for you before you leave here tonight. Keep talking.”
Piras said, “We’ll also need you to get a message to your allies. They have to do what they can to immobilize their ships. Except for the one which is captained by your supporter. We may need his help.”
“I’ll compose the order for extreme sabotage and Hope will send it on. It won’t be many ships, though.”
The admiral shook his head at the enormity of the mission. “I’m also facing a lack of time. Placing the counter-commands in the weapons systems of our destroyers is not going as speedily as I’d hoped. Kila’s crew is good at what they do, but no one has the skills needed to help me infiltrate all those systems and place the sabotage programs.”
“Why couldn’t I help you, Admiral Piras?” Hope asked. “If you could explain to me how those systems work and the coding you’ve developed, we could double your efforts.”
The Kalquorians looked at her with interest. Hope had half-feared her father would rebut her offer, but he glowed with pride instead.
“Hope is excellent at codebreaking. She’s one of our best hackers, according to her supervisor. She knew you’d spoken to Maf before you got in touch.”
Piras’s expression was one of surprised respect. “You already knew what was happening then?”
Hope shook her head. “Your use of fluctuating frequencies makes it impossible to lock into the com pattern. All we’ve ever gotten was a word or phrase here and there. I knew Maf had commed you, but I couldn’t grab the actual signal long enough to decode it.”
Kila smirked. “It takes a specific mechanism to lock our frequencies down. We closely guard the technology. Good thing, with people like you trying to find us out.”
“So I don’t get a peek?” She pretended disappointment, but Hope hadn’t believed they’d take her offer seriously anyway. It had been worth a try.
Piras surprised her. “I would welcome the help, Matara. It could make all the difference in stopping Copeland and saving Haven. With so little time, I’m more than willing to let you work on this project.”
A rush of excitement filled Hope. She’d be making a real difference at long last, rather than passing messages between her father and the others. Defeating Copeland would keep the abusive shithead away from Charity.
That it also might mean working close to Piras wasn’t a bad thing either. Now that she’d had a taste of Lokmi, her attraction to the other two was growing more profound. Her shaky morning revelations had resolved themselves for the most part. Hearing the difference between what Copeland did to his wives and what she’d enjoyed with Lokmi had taken away nearly all the remaining reservations.
Hope could hardly believe her luck when Piras said, “It would mean taking you to our ship, however. You won’t be able to break into the destroyers’ systems from here.”
Her heart racing at the prospect, she tried to keep her voice light. “Let me guess. The same technology which keeps me from listening to your coms would make it impossible for me to access the weapons systems on your ships. You can’t transfer any of that access to my computer.”
“Exactly.”
Her dad mused, “You could be sick for a few days. There’s a stomach virus making the rounds again. Two members of my staff are down with it.” He told Piras, “Water and air filtration issues are among the many problems plaguing us on these ships. Someone’s always getting sick from something. The inability to do basic maintenance is telling on us.”
“Let’s take this availability while we can get it,” Piras said. “I gladly accept your offer. Shall we start tomorrow?”
At Borey’s node, Hope said, “The sooner the better. We’re almost out of time.”
Lokmi said, “We’ll have you borrow someone’s phase device to get you off the ship. I’ll be able to provide you with your own devices by tomorrow night.”
He and Piras rose to stand with Kila. The admiral said, “One of us will return for Matara Hope in the morning, General. Thank you for all of your assistance.”
Borey grimaced. “You’re doing most of the work, I’m afraid. I wish I could offer more than a few efforts to disrupt the operations of the battlecruisers.”
“Even taking out one gives us better odds.” Piras bowed as was typical for his race. When Borey offered his hand, he and the other two shook it.
Then the Kalquorians bowed to her. Lokmi caught her eye, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward. It was the first acknowledgment he gave of their tryst.
The first of many, perhaps? Hope was going to their ship. Even with the weight of time rushing them, could she find herself alone with the Imdiko again? Would they be able to explore more of their attraction? What of the other two men who she imagined were also eyeing her speculatively before they all disappeared?
Chapter 12
Hope guessed Lokmi must have spent the entirety of the night working on the phasing devices. When Kila arrived the next morning to fetch her, he had the small brooch-like phases for each member of the family. “May they keep you all safe,” he said with a grand flourish.
Her eyes wide, Charity accepted hers from the big handsome brute. Once Kila instructed them on how to use the devices, she took to hers with a glee that frightened Hope. Charity cackled with jubilation as she listed the jokes she could play on Sister Miriam.
“Don’t you dare. You activate it only in case of an emergency!” the elder sister exclaimed.
When the youngest Nath scowled in response, their father gave her a mild but intent gaze. “Charity.”
The single word was enough to take the deviltry out of her, at least for the moment. “I won’t abuse it,” she sighed.
She soon left their quarters to go to class, giving Kila a wide berth as she did so. He seemed to find it funny she kept her distance. But then, Nobek’s almost constant grin made him appear amused with everything.
Hope had to admit she found phasing exciting too. She walked through a wall a couple of times, feeling like a ghost. She wasn’t thrilled with the sensation of things dragging through her body when she moved through them, but a little discomfort was worth the ability. It was amazing to think she could go anywhere without detection. Borey was enthusiastic as well.
“It’s too bad my staff always knows exactly where I should be all the time,” he chuckled after disappearing from the sitting area and reappearing by the dinette. “Otherwise, I’d be shadowing Copeland each moment of the day and gathering evidence to turn everyone against him.”
“I wish the bug’s recordings were enough,” Hope sighed. “But it would be easy for Copeland to say the data was hoaxed and to find techs who would support his claim.”
Once they were finished playing with their new ability to disappear, Borey called in for Hope, telling her supervisor she’d fallen sick. He passed along the head technician’s wishes that she make a speedy recovery. With well wishes for the day traded between father and daughter, Hope and Kila phased.
Minutes later, the pair were on their way to the captain’s destroyer. Hope had wondered if the Nobek would mention Lokmi’s solo visi
t, but Kila gave no indication his clanmate had revealed anything that had happened. Instead, they discussed the mission and concerns about Charity being in danger, especially given what they’d overheard from the Holy Leader’s bedroom the night before. Kila made Hope laugh over his observations that perhaps Charity’s attitude would make Copeland think twice, should he see her personality in full force.
“It’s the age,” Hope snickered. “At least, I think that’s her problem. I don’t remember being so difficult.”
The flight was over before she knew it. Kila apologized for not giving her a tour of his ship or more of his time, but he had to get back to work. He said, “Perhaps later I will have the opportunity to take you around. I hope so.”
It was weird to roam the corridors of a destroyer, Hope thought. It was a far cleaner and better operating ship than the aging ‘cruiser she’d grown used to. And full of Kalquorians. Her tension eased in short order, however. The men she passed in the corridors nodded and smiled as she passed them, even those she thought were Nobeks. They were certainly far friendlier than the ones working with Maf.
She regretted Kila’s inability to show her around. She saw no sign of Lokmi as they made their way to the office where she’d be working with Piras. Hope thought she was being foolish, but she had wanted to see the Imdiko most of all.
Kila took her straight to his ready room, where Piras was already working on their assignment. The admiral’s greeting was warm enough to make her glow, but he wasted little time. Within seconds of her entering, Kila was gone and Piras was explaining how to send the command codes to the destroyers in unidentifiable pieces.
“Just do it,” Hope said. “I’ll look over your shoulder. What I don’t understand, I’ll ask about.”
Piras’s brow lifted, but he merely smiled and got to work. Part of Hope’s training had included reading Kalquorian characters and learning some of their basic system requirements, so she was able to follow much of what he did. The rest relied on the intuitive leaps which made her one of the best hackers on her ship.
“Here, let me try,” she said after watching him for a few minutes. “So to tie these twenty-five parts of a single command into one framework of separate maintenance orders, you do this—” she reached over each of his shoulders, straining to tap at the command icons “—and then you execute this link command along with the shadow directive which will mask this portion and a mirror code that further distorts the command.”
Piras snickered, probably because with her leaning so hard against him to reach the keyboard, his nose was a hairsbreadth from touching the vid monitor. Hope giggled too and moved back—though she kept in contact with him.
Upright once more, Piras looked over her work. “You’ve got it right.” He took his turn tapping large keys with alien symbols on them. “Then you send through this other command, which will transfer control to me, but it goes in pieces within these maintenance directives here…here…here…and here.” He looked up and grinned at her.
Hope tried to concentrate, though it was hard to do so with Piras gazing up at her the way he was. The back of his head was in contact with her chest, with her arms bracketing him. It was almost intimate. “Okay, so let me try this. We’ll see if I’ve got a handle on it.”
She tapped away at his computer, this time letting Piras move to one side. She missed the feel of him against her chest, but he remained close enough that she brushed up against him.
Hope finished her attempt and let Piras take over. She grimaced he quickly corrected a couple mistakes she’d made. As dismayed as she was at her performance, Piras was effusive with his compliments.
“You are good at this. You’ve got a real gift. Go ahead and try again. I’m sure you’ll have it perfect this time.”
Hope did try once more, and he was right. She sighed with relief when she got through all the steps without an error. “Whew! I can keep my hacker cred.”
Piras chuckled. “Twenty more subsets to go, and this grouping will be done.”
Hope checked the time. “Sweet prophets, it took us twenty minutes for one. No wonder you’re sweating this.”
Piras pointed her to another computer. “I’ve programmed that one for you. You can jump in and tackle your first solo grouping. It will route to me when you’re done, so don’t worry about sending out something incorrect. I’ll be able to check it before it gets to the destroyers.”
“Good. I’d hate to be the cause for the fall of two colonies,” she said, sitting down to work.
He winked at her. “No, if there’s a screw up, it’s all on me.”
Hope settled down to work. Side by side, she and Piras stared at their vid monitors, tapping intently.
It didn’t seem so different from working at her job in Hacker Heaven—yet it was. She wondered that it somehow seemed better to have a Kalquorian next to her, rather than Carl Andrews at the station to her right and Emil Schmidt on her left.
The silence was companionable. It felt to Hope that Piras was aware of her as she was of him, that they felt the other keenly.
How strange she should think of Piras with such familiarity. Sure, she was physically attracted to him. She had been since walking into him on the battlecruiser. Yet it was Lokmi she’d been intimate with. Was the perceived warmth she felt for Piras because of the close relationship he had with the Imdiko? She’d detected a similar ease between herself and Kila on the way to the destroyer. Somehow it felt as if they were somehow in sync, much like how she clicked so easily with coding and mechanics.
Maybe I shouldn’t analyze it. Maybe I should let it be what it is and enjoy this impression of regard.
Letting herself settle into the comfortable notion, Hope worked happily, enjoying the quiet camaraderie and fascinating assignment.
The morning passed in this pleasant way. At last, Piras called a halt to order their lunch, which he told her would be delivered to the office. Hope stood and stretched, feeling her spine crackle enjoyably. She’d been so involved in the work that she’d not taken a break at all.
Piras leaned back in his hover chair and smiled at her. “I owe you a great deal of thanks.”
Hope waved off the gratitude. “It’s my fight too, you know. My fellow Earthers are on Haven. Besides, I’ll take any chance I can get to help save innocent lives of any race.”
“I meant something more personal. I’m talking about Lokmi. You gave me my Imdiko clanmate at last. I’m grateful to you, Hope.”
“He would have joined your clan in the end. He simply needed the obvious pointed out to him.” Hope grinned, making light of the matter because the depth Piras’s sincerity unsettled her. “I’m good at pointing out the obvious. I’ve had a lot of practice with my sister. It was nice to discuss matters with someone who would actually listen.”
Piras chuckled. “Sometimes the obvious is the hardest thing to see.”
“I agree with you on that.” Hope looked Piras over, realized she was ogling him, and flushed. “I don’t suppose he told you about our whole meeting?”
Piras grinned. He left his answer unspoken.
The heat of her face grew fiery. She muttered, “Yeah. He did.”
At least the Dramok didn’t leer, though he did return the favor of her scrutiny by letting his gaze drift down and up her body. “He didn’t have to. We could scent you all over him. Kalquorians have an acute sense of smell.”
Hope groaned and turned away, embarrassed. “That’s great. Tell me it’s true your race doesn’t judge rampant sexual urges the way we Earthers are so famous for.”
His voice was warm and considerate. “We regard sex as such a basic need that we treat it with almost appalling casualness. Unless we’re in a committed clanship, many Kalquorians have no problem with enjoying many lovers. We also do so as often as we wish. Well—in most cases, at any rate.”
Hope turned to Piras, feeling a little put out with what he’d told her. A little put out—and a lot hurt. “In other words, I’m nothing special as far as Lo
kmi is concerned.”
Piras shook his head. “Most certainly untrue. Lokmi is not a man who indulges in intimacy lightly. As a dual breed Imdiko and Dramok, his needs are particular. If he made love to you, it was because you offered him what many cannot. That would make you special to him. You’ve been on his mind constantly since your encounter.”
Hope relaxed. She liked thinking her liaison with Lokmi had not left him indifferent. “I’m shocked my lack of any experience wasn’t a drawback where he was concerned.”
“I am not surprised it made little difference to him. Nor am I surprised you fell for his charms. He is a persuasive, as well as a talented lover.”
Hope thought about how Piras would know about something like that. The bisexual leanings of Kalquorians was well known, and a subject of disgust among most Earthers—at least, publicly.
The arrival of an ensign bringing their lunch into the office gave her a moment to consider the matter. She thought about her feelings on the subject of men loving men as she sniffed appreciatively at the stew of colorful alien vegetables and ronka meat.
From the admiral’s statement, it was clear Piras and Lokmi—and presumably Kila—had been intimate. Given the condemnations she’d heard her entire life when it came to same sex relations, Hope was surprised that she wasn't concerned about the matter. However, if men wanted to have sex with each other and it harmed no one, what was the big deal? Maybe it was in the bible that such acts were sinful. Yet people committed worse crimes every day and felt themselves excused if they prayed for forgiveness.
But then, my beliefs have always been pretty casual. Especially when someone like Copeland thinks he can go around re-writing the bible. Voice of God, my ass. It’s more likely he’s speaking for the other team.
No, Hope didn’t care if Piras and Lokmi enjoyed each other’s company in extremely personal ways. If they were happy together, more power to them.
It was nice to think she could share some of what had bothered her about her time with the Imdiko—or more accurately, her reaction to her time with him. Hoping Piras wouldn’t mind talking about personal matters, she said, “Lokmi’s a little demanding, don’t you think? Are all Kalquorians like that?”
Alien Revolt (Clans of Kalquor Book 11) Page 16
