Clan and Conscience

by Tracy St. John

  No close friends he could com. Definitely not his uncles. Tebrok and Sallid were already considering pulling out of the negotiations for Eruz. Ospar was determined after the day’s events that it would not happen. He wouldn’t com his parents on Rokan either. He couldn’t worry them when they were so far away.

  Besides, if he did have enemies determined to blow him to smithereens, the last thing he needed were friends around to endanger. It was bad enough that some of his workers had been hurt.

  “Those circumstances won’t turn me into a buddy-magnet at any rate,” Ospar snorted. “Except for maybe Nobeks. They enjoy danger.”

  That reminded him of the Nobek with the dangerous but handsome face who’d guarded him at the mine. Chiseled arms, displayed in an all-too entrancing view by his sleeveless uniform. Good night, what a specimen. The fall of sleek, black hair. Those knowing eyes. That voice of quiet, distant thunder. The whole demeanor of calculated, restrained menace.

  I can think of a few activities with such a man that would make me feel better.

  However, Ospar hadn’t cared for the man’s attitude. He’d reeked of cold, detached smugness. Nobek Jol had seemed self-righteous when he’d explained how Ospar had made himself a target for the syndicate.

  “Frigid, pushy bastard. I bet he’s tons of fun on a night off.” Ospar snorted. Still, he couldn’t help but indulge thoughts about the security guard.

  He drained his drink and decided to go to bed—the loneliest place of all, especially with visions of the muscled Nobek in his head.

  Chapter 4

  With daylight, Ospar’s sunny disposition returned in full force. Though he knew more trouble might be brewing in the wake of yesterday’s explosion, a night’s rest had done him a world of good.

  He flew from the cavern’s shuttle bay to that of Robelo Mountain, where Itga’s headquarters filled the upper half of the lonely, hollowed peak. After they’d mined Robelo, Tebrok and Sallid had leased the whole edifice from the government. As with most mined mountains, the interior had been outfitted with stories of usable space for Kalquor’s people to inhabit. The brothers sublet the bottom tiers to apartment managers, shops, restaurants, and entertainments. With the cavern complex stretching for miles beyond Robelo, half of Wenza Territory’s population made the area their home.

  From the shuttle bay, Ospar rode the conveyance to the section where his and his uncles’ offices were tucked in prime locations. Ospar’s own workspace overlooked the gorgeous valley in the shadow of Robelo.

  Tebrok and Sallid’s shared office had a view of the valley on one side and the distant Canaras Lake on the other. In the first years they’d headquartered Itga Mining within Robelo, the brothers had started many workdays on the balconies, having breakfast as they took in the magnificent daybreak views. They seldom held to such rituals any longer. Since Ospar had taken over as director of operations, Tebrok and Sallid didn’t feel compelled to show up until midmorning on most days.

  Because he had no reason to believe they’d come in early, Ospar didn’t bother to stop by their office. Instead, he strolled through the level, calling out greetings to the executive staff and their aides as he went. His voice rang over the constant buzz of coms and conversation. A few called out their delight that he was still whole, to which he laughed. Ospar was relieved no one made a big deal out of the explosion.

  With the whole matter downplayed, Ospar saw no reason to dwell on the unpleasantness of the day before. A delightful, light scent drew him, adding to his ebullient mood. When Ospar came to the well-stocked food station that supplied his floor, he grabbed his favorite fruit pastry. He’d eaten breakfast at home, so he silently ordered himself to go jogging that night to offset the indulgence.

  He traded pleasantries with others making selections from the station. As Ospar turned to answer a hail from the assistant supervisor of promotions, he caught sight of Nobek Jol at the end of the corridor. Ospar didn’t remember ever noticing the security guard on his floor before, but that was no surprise. A lot of people were in and out of the hub of Itga’s executive offices.

  The imaginings he’d enjoyed before falling asleep the night before recurred to Ospar. As his gaze met Jol’s, he took in the Nobek’s stony regard. Ugh, Fantasy Jol had been a lot more enticing. Remembering how he’d pondered the guard’s probable fun quotient on a night out, Ospar smirked and waved to the Nobek. Jol frowned as he stared at the director. Ospar laughed out loud, taking it as a sign he’d been accurate about the man’s inability to enjoy life. He’d stick with the fantasy and not the real-life version. He went on his way, his steps jaunty as if he’d scored a particularly insightful joke.

  He soon reached the office of his receptionist and aide, Imdiko Emano. The handsome assistant rose from his desk and bowed to his boss.

  Ospar grinned at him, appreciating the striking visage of his right-hand man. Certainly, Emano’s attitude was far warmer than Jol’s. “Good morning, Emano.”

  “Good morning, Ospar.”

  Unlike most of Itga’s workers, Emano obeyed Ospar’s preference that he not be addressed by his title. Nonetheless, the aide never seemed comfortable with the casualness of calling his boss by name. It usually came out forced.

  Ospar hated being called Director. Maybe he’d appreciate it once he secured the Eruz contract. Perhaps then he’d feel he’d earned it.

  Emano’s bright greeting continued. “I’m glad you’re not suffering any ill effects from yesterday’s excitement. You say ‘good morning’ as if you mean it.”

  “I do mean it. Besides, it’s a bonus to gaze upon your gorgeous, smiling face.”

  Emano shook his head in gentle warning, but he knew his boss was harmless. He chuckled and waved Ospar off. Ospar offered a guileless shrug, his eyes wide with pretended innocence.

  He knew better than to flirt with a clanned Imdiko. It was hard not to, however. Emano was easy on the eyes and smart. Not for the first time, Ospar thought what a damned shame it was that the man was claimed.

  Attractive and intelligent as he was, Emano wasn’t worth Ospar getting his ass kicked. A pummeling would happen if his aide’s Dramok caught Ospar behaving in such a fashion. It didn’t matter that he would on no account touch another man’s clanmate inappropriately. The teasing would not be taken well.

  Ospar was in too chipper a mood to worry about overbearing decency. Besides, Emano’s Dramok was not there to catch him flirting. With a final unabashed wink, Ospar left his snickering assistant to his duties. He entered his own office beyond the door at Emano’s back, ready to take on the day.

  Ospar beamed with appreciation at his workspace. Though not as large as his uncles’ shared office, he enjoyed it because it was his. He kept it tidy and uncluttered. A few mementos sat in their particular spaces. The room exuded efficiency and a sense of competence. It helped Ospar believe he might achieve the importance his title claimed he already enjoyed.

  Best of all was the view of the valley beneath Robelo Mountain through the massive window behind Ospar’s desk. He went there first, stepping up to the shatter-proof glass that gave him an unimpeded panorama of the landscape. Spring was in full swing, and the river below sparkled under the sun as if studded with diamonds. Flowers unfurled in a lush carpet at the foothills and trekked up the mountain itself. The sight of their vibrant colors made Ospar think of a scattering of precious gems, similar to the those once found within Robelo when it was still just a mine itself.

  He sighed with pleasure at the gorgeous vista, enjoying it as much as the pastry he’d snagged from the cart in the corridor. His ebullient mood settled into a quieter contentment. It was at such moments that Ospar thought he might make something worthwhile of himself after all; that his dreams of doing great things could come true.

  He licked the final crumbs of his sweet from his fingers and turned from the astounding scene outside his office. He settled at his massive desk and brought up his computer readout. “Check messages,” he instructed.

  The first
was text-only. It was a doozy, yanking Ospar out of his joyful serenity. YESTERDAY WAS YOUR ONLY WARNING. STEP ASIDE OR BE STEPPED ON.

  Ospar stared at the bald threat in shock. Seconds ticked by as he tried to wrap his head around the words shouting at him from his holographic screen.

  Little by little, his senses recovered. Ospar swallowed and sat back in his comfortable hover chair. He licked his dry lips. His heart slowed as he began to contemplate the implications of the message.

  Though he’d known better, he’d half-hoped the explosion had been a mistake and not an attack. “It would seem I deluded myself,” he muttered under his breath. Nobek Jol and Talu had been right after all. He’d been targeted. Someone was out to scare him from the Eruz contract. Failing that, they wanted him dead.

  Ospar’s typical reaction to being intimidated in any manner was to respond with anger. To menace the peril in return, and at a greater intensity. It was the Dramok in him, he supposed. Some detractors had accused him of bullying instead of searching for compromise. Ospar hated to feel pushed about, however. Even when he recognized it was for his own good.

  People had obstructed him before. He’d been threatened with having his ass kicked. Hell, Ospar’s ass had been kicked on occasion. Nonetheless, he’d always met such issues without a second’s hesitation. He’d never experienced the insecurity he felt now.

  But then, I’ve never had my very life threatened before.

  Still staring at the awful missive spread over the screen, Ospar reached to his desk com and keyed it. “Get me the head of security.”

  The automated system obeyed, and Talu’s gruff voice answered a second later. “Head of security Talu speaking. How may I help you, Director?”

  “I’ve received a threatening message.”

  He wasn’t sure what to say after that. Fortunately, Talu wasn’t keen to waste time. Without waiting for any further details, he replied, “I’m on my way. Don’t touch anything. I have a man in the vicinity who will be there in seconds.”

  The com link clicked off. Ospar felt strangely vulnerable with the tenuous voice connection broken. He continued staring at the message, as if it might somehow jump off the screen and throttle him if he took his eyes off it.

  Emano’s rising voice beyond Ospar’s door broke the spell. “May I help—sir, you can’t just walk into the director’s office!”

  Ospar looked up as Jol came in, his long legs striding with quick purpose. Emano burst into the room behind him, sputtering with outrage.

  Ospar held up a hand to his aide, though he was too unsteady to stand and offer Jol the customary bow of greeting. “It’s all right, Emano. I have a situation Nobek Jol is checking into. “

  Jol was at his side, bending to glare at the message. He pushed against Ospar to get a better view. Emano gasped in indignation at the careful but rude shove.

  What ire the threat hadn’t awoken, Jol’s disrespect did. Ospar glowered at the Nobek, but Jol didn’t spare him a glance to note it.

  Some people are complete boors, Ospar thought, trying not to note the warmth of the other man’s body and the clean, musky scent he gave off. Nor the memory of his sensual fancies of the night before.

  Real-life Jol. Not intriguing in the least.

  The Dramok glanced at Emano and rolled his eyes at Jol’s churlish behavior. Ospar ordered the vid display to shift up and over so the security guard would stop pushing against him. The Nobek’s response was to order the display back and jostle Ospar further over so he could reach the keyboard. His thick fingers hammered commands, bringing up three more screens, on which he opened security and coding files.

  The man was an utter oaf. Ospar snapped, “I’m sorry I’m in your way, Nobek.”

  “Then move over so I can work.”

  Hot, explosive retorts were on Ospar’s lips, ready to pour forth like lava when Talu raced in. “Report,” he barked at Jol as he gave Ospar a hurried bow.

  Jol snapped to attention. “The text-only message is an allusion to yesterday’s explosion, plus a direct threat issued for the director to step aside. Source of communication has been blocked or erased. I am sending it to our system diagnostics team in the hopes they can track the its origin.”

  As Jol spoke, Talu came around the desk to read the message himself. Both men stared at the dispatch hovering in the air. As they did so, Ospar was struck with the notion that they looked remarkably similar to each other, more than the identical expressions should have warranted.

  He scowled. A well-mannered man would have stepped away to give his superior room, not thrust even more determinedly against Ospar. Who did Nobek Jol think he was?

  Ospar’s growing anger eased at the soft touch against his opposite shoulder. He turned his head to see Emano hovering there, his expression terrified as he read the threatening missive.

  In an instant, Ospar pasted a comforting smile on his face and straightened. He cupped Emano’s elbow, steering him from the desk while trying not to offend the clanned man with his touch. “They’re empty words, no doubt written by cowards, Imdiko. However, Nobek Talu will have to take up some of my time with the matter.” Ospar took relish in ignoring any contribution Jol might make. “Do me a favor and delay my schedule an hour, would you?”

  “Make it two.” Talu’s intent gaze pinned Ospar. “We need to discuss immediate protective measures, Director.”

  Ospar’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. He had the feeling he wouldn’t like where this was going.

  * * * *

  “Ridiculous. I don’t need a fulltime bodyguard. I’m capable of taking care of myself,” Ospar seethed.

  Talu gazed at him levelly. “I disagree. We are faced with dangerous enemies, the kind of men who will kill to get what they desire.”

  They stood in Sallid and Tebrok’s office amongst the models of mines. Talu had called in Ospar’s uncles early for an emergency meeting. The two men had greeted the news of the threat against Ospar with horror. Their faces were knotted in worry as they assessed the situation.

  Sallid said almost the very thing that Ospar did not want to hear. “Again, we have to consider whether or not to drop our bid for the Eruz Mountains.”

  Ospar was adamant. “Out of the question. If the empire’s leading mining company lets itself be intimidated by thugs, then no one will stop them. We are powerful enough to take a stand, even against the syndicate. We must take a stand.”

  Talu wasted no time in pressing his intent. “Then you have to concede to round-the-clock protection, Director. The law enforcement reports came in on those explosives less than an hour ago. They were placed in such a fashion that it is obvious there was no accident. It was not a forgotten detonation left from the mine’s first opening.”

  “Which would never happen. Our safety record is impeccable.” Admitting to such wouldn’t help Ospar from keeping a bodyguard off his back. However, his pride in Itga’s careful practices demanded he speak to the matter.

  The head of security was dogged in pressuring Ospar and his uncles. “The explosives were set off remotely. Whoever was behind the attack knew the director was in the cavern when they detonated it. They may have been monitoring the area.”

  “In that case, they committed a huge mistake. I was barely scratched.”

  “It could be they waited on purpose. It was meant as a warning, not an actual attempt on your life.”

  “Which the message more or less said. I was never in any danger.” But the other men were. That was the part that made Ospar eager to throttle someone.

  “Probably it was only a warning,” Talu admitted. “Otherwise, the whole ceiling could have been set to come down on your head.” He appealed to Ospar’s uncles, the men with the power of a final decision. “We must assume the next attempt will be serious. The missive claims it will be.”

  Ospar chafed. He did not want a babysitter, particularly not the man standing behind Talu. Jol stared at him, with an air that said he found Ospar to be little more than an odd bug he’d stumbled ac
ross. A creature curious enough to hold the Nobek’s attention for the moment, but in the end, not very interesting.

  Ospar thought of men brought close to death, just to frighten him from the Eruz contract. Who else would be endangered?

  The notion gave him hope there might be a way to make Nobek Jol someone else’s problem. He asked Talu, “What about my uncles? They must be in danger too?”

  “You are the one being directly threatened. You are in charge of day-to-day operations, as well as the man challenging Dramok Urt and Pladon at every opportunity. However, I agree Itga’s owners may be targeted along with you. I’m assigning bodyguards to them too.”

  “Which we’ve accepted the need for.” Tebrok didn’t prevaricate as Sallid did. His voice was flat. Uncompromising. “Get over it and deal with it, Ospar. Or we kill the contract.”

  Sallid added, “We might do so at any rate. Even a bodyguard couldn’t have kept tragedy from happening in the mine yesterday.”

  Jol twitched the barest of motions, but his presence was such that they all looked at him. He gave the owners a confident look. “I swear to protect the director from all danger, sirs.”

  The Nobek wore a deadly expression. He glowered, as if to show them how stupid the syndicate would be to fuck with Ospar with him as the Dramok’s bodyguard. Tebrok and Sallid gazed at him as if impressed. As for Ospar, he had to fight the urge to laugh.

  Just what he needed. A posturing Nobek who was no doubt hoping for an upgrade in pay. Ancestors help me, Ospar thought.

  Yet his uncles put his safety ahead of profits. They put him above the good of Itga itself. They’d shut the whole damned company down if they believed Ospar’s enemies could go through with killing him. Their regard was yet another reason he felt determined to prove himself to them. What made it so guilt-maddening to consider leaving Itga for political aspirations.

  With a mix of exasperation and affection, he conceded. “As you wish, my uncles. If it helps you sleep at night and blocks Urt from winning Eruz, I’ll concede to having a bodyguard. But once this contract is won, we will re-assess the situation.”