Alien Indiscretions (59 page)

That was when Rolat lost all patience. He swelled in fury to be challenged, his muscles bunching so that he looked twice his normal size to Diltan. He took a step towards the guards. They tensed and took up fighting stances.

“Hey!” Wal yelled. He jumped up on Rolat’s back, wrapping his arms around the thick, corded neck and his legs around the Nobek’s waist. “Just settle down, okay?”

Rolat didn’t seem to notice his clanmate clinging to him like a living backpack. He took another step towards the guards. They began to growl.

Despite Rolat’s size and fighting ability, Diltan knew he didn’t stand a chance against six battle-trained men. Even though he was more than a little ticked off that Rolat had blatantly thrown off his command, had even threatened him in front of the Imperial Clan, he didn’t want to see his Nobek beat down.

“Whoa!” Diltan jumped in front of his advancing clanmate. “Calm down. Take a breath. Think about what you’re doing.”

“What I’m doing is making people bleed if they don’t back the fuck off. Every one of you, get out of my way. I want my Matara now.” Rolat sounded nowhere near sensible.

Wal released his neck with one arm to pound his fist against the Nobek’s chest. “Stop being a fool! Wake up, you stupid animal!”

Diltan was too busy dancing in front of Rolat to appreciate how ridiculous his high court judge Imdiko looked. Wal perched on the Nobek like a child playing kestarsh-back. Diltan’s bouncing and wildly waving of arms was no doubt as indecorous as Wal’s behavior. Most of the other people in the room watched their performance with incredulous expressions.

The clan’s outrageous behavior was halted by Korkla’s shout of, “Global Security has taken the complex! Initial reports are that none of the women were harmed. They all locked themselves in their rooms. The rioters never went into the buildings that house them.”

Clan Diltan ended their antics to look in the direction of the news vids. Ospar, who monitored another feed, added, “The same has happened at the other Matara complex. The mob went after the administration areas, not the women. There was never any sign they wanted to harm the females.”

Clajak gave a sigh of relief. “At least the Basma hasn’t incited enough madness to hurt our Mataras.” He looked at Clan Diltan, still frozen in place. Diltan noted the way the emperor tried to keep his expression neutral ... and the grin that wouldn’t let him.

Jessica was not so amused. “Are you three asses done now? Cissy and Tasha should be safe. There is no reason to kill each other getting to them. Honestly, I’m not so sure I should give my approval to you clanning my cousin after that ridiculous performance.”

Diltan realized his arms were still in the air. He lowered them sheepishly as Wal slid down Rolat’s back. The Imdiko was bright red. After he’d gained his feet, he ducked behind the larger Nobek in his embarrassment. Snickers filled the room.

As for Rolat, his temper had cooled enough for him to recognize he wasn’t going to barrel through six Royal Guards. He stepped back, easing down. He gave Jessica a bow in apology.

“My regrets for being so aggressive, my empress. I lost my head in my fear for Cissy. The thought of standing by while Cissy cowered in that place, under a threat and no doubt frightened—”

The door opened behind the wall of guards. They stepped aside as Cissy and Tasha stumbled their way into the room. Bevau and Erybet followed, grins stretching their handsome faces. Diltan was sure the half-empty bottle of bohut in Erybet’s hand was not his.

Jessica snorted and said, “Yes, Nobek Rolat, my cousin looks utterly traumatized.” Eyeing the lurching Cissy, she added, “On second thought, you four do deserve each other. You have my blessing.”

Diltan barely heard her. Unable to contain himself, he rushed to Cissy. He and his clanmates surrounded her, kissing her, touching her, reassuring themselves that she was safe and whole. She squealed with delight over the attention, returning the caresses with no inhibitions. Diltan had to clutch her hands to halt her attempt to pull his pants open in front of everyone.

Tasha sounded disgruntled in the midst of all the laughter. “Hey. Where’s my kissy face? No fair. I was in danger and needing rescue too.”

Jessica joined in the merriment, enjoying the sight of her drunken cousins. She laughed, “Sorry, Tasha. My clan is off-limits.”

Mumbling against Diltan’s lips, Cissy said, “Give her one of those Royal Guards. Just make sure he either has a beat-up face or four bars.”

Diltan paused the wild welcome, wrinkling his nose at the overpowering odor of alcohol that clouded the air about her. “You are so drunk. In the middle of a riot, no less!”

She laughed. “And you’re cute for a pompous ass.” She got serious for a moment. “I am so glad you got out of your office okay. All of my guys are safe, it looks like.” She smiled all around at the men crowding her, and then peered around Wal. She beckoned to Erybet. “This calls for a celebration. Hand that bohut over, pretty boy.”

Wal snorted. “I think you’ve celebrated enough, my love.”

Clajak asked Bevau, “So you ran into no trouble retrieving our cousins?”

“They’d stumbled on the emergency access tunnels.”

Cissy brayed to Tasha, “Yeah, we
stumbled
on them, right Mata Hari?”

Tasha had found her way to a lounger and sprawled across it, for once every bit as unrefined as her twin. She waved a hand in the air as she said, “Stumbled on them, through them, out of them—”

Rolat looked from one sister to the other. “By the ancestors, you girls need keepers. Someone find Tasha a clan before she gets herself hurt.”

With the Matara Complexes secured, everyone found the ability to relax and laugh at the women’s antics. Diltan looked into the flushed face of his Cissy while she laughed along with them. Even with her eyes bleary, her hair in disarray, and stinking of booze, she had never looked so beautiful to him.

She gazed up at him. Defying the love that shone in her eyes, she smarted off, “I guess I’ve screwed up, huh? All vulgarity, none of your prized decor – decoration – um—”

“Decorum?” Wal suggested.

“That’s it! Whatever will you do with me, Dramok Diltan?” She batted her eyes and started to lean against him – and fell hard against his chest instead.

Diltan shook his head and grabbed hold to keep her from splashing to the floor. “If you’ll have me and these other two buffoons, I’ll clan you right here and now, you mad, messy little Earther.”

Cissy gave him wide, delighted eyes. “Yay! He asked me! I’m saying yes! I’m clanned, everyone.”

From her lounger Tasha yelled, “Woohoo! Pass me that bottle! She reeled one – I mean three – in!”

That brought more laughter and cheers from the rest. As Erybet hid the bottle he’d confiscated behind his back, Diltan looked for Clajak. It was good to see the Dramok Emperor, who’d had so little joy lately, looking cheerful for a change.

Clajak caught his eye, and Diltan pretended concern. “My emperor, she is contrary enough to ask to de-clan us later. She’ll claim intoxication made her accept my offer.”

The emperor came over to clap him on the shoulder. “From what I can see, she’s in too much need of supervision to be allowed loose again. She’s yours to keep, Clan Diltan. Our congratulations – and best of luck with her!”

Rolat and Wal whooped with triumph. Diltan looked down at the beaming face of his new clanmate as congratulations rang in his ears. Yes, Cissy was loud, crass, and scruffy. She was also his, now and forever. Diltan had never been happier.

Cissy crept through the halls of her clan’s getaway on the moon-based Itahi Colony. Clan Diltan’s second of five homes resided within an exclusive resort in a picturesque mountainous region. She snuck through the sun-spotted corridor.

Not real sun, she reminded herself as she passed one of the vids that simulated a window. The lovely snow-dusted mountain scenery was real enough, being transmitted from just outside the home. Windows were energy wasters, however, so Kalquorians didn’t tend to use them in constructed buildings such as this one.

Much as the landscape outside showed, the moon resort was renowned for its hot springs and picturesque beauty. Cissy had nevertheless experienced little of Itahi’s pleasures. She’d been too busy indulging in the sensual delights of her clan for the last three days following their clanning ceremony and its subsequent five-day celebration with family and her clanmates’ colleagues. Clan Diltan’s massive ballroom had gotten its use for the round-the-clock party. Rank had its responsibilities, and tending to guests had taken up much of their time during the festivities. Cissy and her men were more than happy to now exercise rank’s privileges in decadent luxury ... and exuberant fucking in the midst of that luxury. Responsibility had taken a distant backseat to pleasure, for at least three out of four of them.

Cissy tiptoed barefoot in a new soaksuit that made the one Wal and Rolat had first seen her in look demure. As usual, she was uncaring of the marble-tiled floors or the expensive rugs that covered them. Ridiculous extravagance, in her opinion. Floors were meant to be walked on, not be dressed up in silks and designs better left hung on walls to be admired. With a hot spring located in the middle of the house, things were bound to get sloppy and wet.

At least it was a small house, compared to the clan’s suite back on Kalquor. Diltan had told her it was the smallest of the clan’s five homes.

“Five homes? Who the hell needs five homes?” she’d yelled in disbelief. “That’s obscene!”

Diltan gave her a withering look. “One is within a day’s travel of the main prison colony on Jegar, which Rolat sometimes has to spend time at. One is on the moon where Wal’s parent clan lives. A third is on the second continent where we enjoy skiing and winter sports for a month or two at a time. Plus some of my investment interests are located there. There are valid reasons for having a residence at each of those places.”

“Valid, huh? Heaven forbid you stay in a hotel or with the parents. No, Dramok Diltan has to have his own house everywhere he parks his entitled ass.”

“Speaking of asses, yours needs a spanking for being so damned impertinent. Come here.”

Thinking of the way his hand had warmed her rear made Cissy wet in a way that had nothing to do with her recent relaxation in the spring. She hurried on her way.

She reached the entertainment room and peeked in the doorway. It wasn’t as opulent as their entertainment room in the cliffside home on Kalquor, but it was still luxurious with fine heavy furniture of the greatest craftsmanship. The loungers and chairs were all custom made, the fabrics lavish, the cushions plush, the decorating sumptuous. Cissy had made it a point to have ground ronka cheeseburgers shipped in just so she could eat low-class fare in such surroundings. It never failed to make Diltan roll his eyes.

Sure enough, Diltan sat in front of the vid. The sound was turned down low enough that Cissy couldn’t hear it. The exuberant sounds of the dance music she increasingly preferred to lemanthev and rimnastin throbbed merrily in the distance. Yet Cissy knew her Dramok watched the news feed coming from Kalquor.

With the Empire managing a tremulous peace these days, the councilman was supposed to ignore current events for the duration of their honeymoon. A host of people back home had promised the worried Dramok that they would inform him immediately if any emergency broke out. Even so, Diltan couldn’t help himself. His commitment to the Empire spurred him to sneak off and check in every chance he got. Cissy had to smile at her mate’s sense of duty.

There was no denying things were uneasy. In the aftermath of the riots following Yuder’s pardon, a third of the Royal Council had resigned in protest. The new elections held to fill those posts were decried by many as being unfair since the only people who ran were those sympathetic to keeping the Earther Mataras on Kalquor. Yet those who identified with Maf and his ilk refused to campaign for the seats. They insisted that fighting the established elite would be pointless.

As Jessica said, anyone with a thought in his head and an eye to see would recognize how ludicrous such arguments were. She sent out a statement begging those opposed to the current politics to run for election, to offer the Empire a balanced voice in the people’s representation. For the most part, her plea was hailed. That, plus the Imperial Decree issued by Clan Clajak vetoing the council’s vote to expel the Galactic Council’s representatives, went a long way towards quieting much of the dissension. Yet Maf and his followers, now comprising a new group called The Foundation for Truth, Honor, and Freedom, kept up a volley of partisan broadcasts, seminars, and talks that lured others to their call for a pure Empire and the dissolution of the current council. They also criticized the Imperial Clan at every turn, stopping just short of demanding their ouster as well.

Word spread that the Basma’s ranks were growing. His broadcasts continued, breaking into program feeds to exhort Kalquor to revolution, to push out the Earther infestation once and for all. Those broadcasts had increased in frequency after a few military high commanders and admirals disappeared, several of whom were among the Empire’s leading experts in encryption measures. The source of the broadcasts could never be traced.

Meanwhile, the new Royal Council continued to push for shutting its borders to the Galactic Council of Planets and any governments not recognizing Kalquor’s right to be free of outside ‘tyranny’. Led by Councilman Terbal, it voted five times within a month to cut off all relations with the Galactic Council. Every time, the Imperial Clan blocked those votes, keeping lines of communication as well as trade open.

Fortunately for Kalquor, the Galactic Council’s oversight board was patient. Recognizing one of their most influential members was in the midst of a major upheaval, one that could affect a large number of its affiliates, it ceased its efforts to extradite Yuder. It accepted his admission of guilt in absentia and postponed sentencing until ‘the current state of unrest in the Kalquorian Empire’ found closure.