All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) (8 page)

      Kelly thought G’Fin was going to swallow his tongue at Kelly’s offer.
 
His voice almost broke and he had to cough before he answered, “No, Captain, that won’t be necessary.
 
The ship developed engine trouble, that is all.
 
Life support is unaffected and the task force has spare parts and technicians to repair it.”

      Kelly knew that all diplomats had several levels of guidance on what they could say in an official context and zeroed in on him while he was a bit out of balance, trying to get him to tell all he could.
 
“But surely you don’t need six ships for that.”

      The obviously flustered emissary responded, apparently off his guidance, “No, Captain, but we have new commodores to break in and we will be using this mission to further one’s experience at commanding multiple ship task forces.
 
Surely your fleet conducts similar mixes of training and operations?
 
We are in full compliance with the treaty.”

      G’Fin had gotten his diplomatic feet back under him and Kelly was unlikely to knock him off balance again.
 
Kelly looked at the plot, saw that it did end at the edge of K’Rang space and made no stops along the way. The shadow leader closed his valise and waited.

      Kelly spent a few moments more studying the plot silently hoping to draw the K’Rang officer into filling the conversational void, but to no avail.
 
Sensing he had gotten all he was going to get, he thanked the shadow leader and had him escorted out.

      Shadow Leader G’Fin chuckled as he walked away from the Human embassy.
 
“So the Captain tried to use the silent treatment on me.
 
He almost had me with that offer of assistance, but I deployed my guidance for how to react to that possibility and got through it.
 
These Humans are not as tricky as they think they are.”

      G’Fin didn’t understand the subterfuge.
 
As weakened as the K’Rang were, they would most likely need Human, and possibly A’Ngarii, help in this matter.
 
He walked on to the diplomatic ministry, content that he had done his duty and fulfilled his mission.

* * * * *

      Shadow Unified Force Commander M’Juna and the other Unified Force commanders met with Baron T’Kana and laid out their verdict and rationale.
 
They had voted unanimously to acquit Baron G’Rof on all counts.
 
T’Kana said nothing and maintained a poker face through their briefing.
 
M’Juna had broken the charges into five groups and each commander briefed a group of charges and specifications.

      At the end of the briefing, T’Kana stood and paced for a bit, looked them all in the eye and asked, “So say you one?
 
So say you all?”

      The commanders came to attention and replied, “Yes sir!”

      T’Kana hit some buttons on his data pad, smiled, and intoned, “I am overwhelmed with pride to work with K’Rang so honorable.
 
You have done the empire proud.
 
I was afraid my comments the other day might have influenced you to judge differently.
 
I am glad to see you have maintained your impartiality and ruled so wisely.
 
You are all released to your commands.
 
You should soon be receiving the first of your prisoners for your tribunals.
 
I will rest easy tonight, knowing their fate is in such honorable hands.”

      M’Juna looked to have a question and T’Kana motioned for him to speak.
 
“Sir, will all tribunals be under such severe time restraints?”

      T’Kana replied, “No.
 
There are emissaries on the way to G’Rof’s hunting camp to offer him Supreme Command of the Combined Imperial Forces.
 
It was imperative that his fate be determined before they arrive in an hour.
 
I have already signaled for him to be returned unharmed to his tent.
 
He will wake up with no recollection of any of this.”

* * * * *

      A groggy Baron G’Rof, with a head sore from more than a hangover, rolled over and came up against the sleeping form of T’Jana facing away from him in the pre-dawn darkness.
 
She gave off the smell of a female not in estrus, but pleasant just the same.
 
He inhaled her scent, a mixture of honest sweat, perfume, and, possibly, a whiff of recent coitus.
 
She stirred as she sensed him awake and rolled over into his arms.
 

      “Ah, you are awake.
 
Thank you for a wonderful evening.
 
I hope we can do this again sometime when you haven’t imbibed so much of that wonderful T’Pala.
 
It made you a little sleepy.
 
You tripped and hit your head as you came into the tent.
 
I checked it.
 
It is just a bump.
 
I tucked you in and joined the other group to watch the fireworks over K’Lana as she came in heat.
 
I’m afraid your nephews are a little worse for wear this morning.
 
They fought as a team and took out most of her prospective suitors, but your chief bodyguard joined the fight and bested the both of them to claim her as his prize.
 
Your lineage may not be at an end after all.”

      G’Rof guffawed and said, “That must have been a sight as my nephews suddenly had to fight G’Jiu instead of L’Gulla’s foppish hangers on.”

      T’Jana pouted, “It wasn’t too good from my perspective as I was on G’Jiu’s lap as he jumped up.
 
I decided to join you in here and get some sleep.”

      G’Rof howled with laughter as he imagined her tumbling to the ground.

      He shook off the last of the cobwebs, rubbed the sore spot on his head, and said, “Come, let us get some breakfast.
 
You must stay for the hunt today.
 
Maybe tonight we can try again without so much T’Pala.”

      T’Jana smiled, sprung from the oversized cot, and was opening the tent flap as G’Rof’s head bodyguard walked up.

      “Baron, we have some official visitors inbound.
 
They will be here in fifteen minutes by; and have requested a meeting with you as soon as possible.”

       He stepped out and looked to the east where the first hint of daylight crept over the horizon.
 
“Come, T’Jana.
 
We should get breakfast before we are disturbed.
 
G’Jiu, bring them to the cook tent when they arrive.
 
Let us see what the cooks have come up with for breakfast.”

Chapter Four

      Captain M’Taso and her two crewmen walked into the hills, looking for her geology teams.
 
After a fruitless day attempting to rendezvous with them, she found an easily identifiable clearing below a bare rock-topped hill and had them come to her on the double.
 
She told them to abandon most of their equipment in an easy to find location and come to her with all weapons, comms gear, and rations.
 
She expected them to join with her within two hours.

      It was closer to four hours before all twelve team members were present, but at last she had her fourteen K’Rang assembled in one spot.
 
She told them the basics of what she had surmised from watching the insectoids over a day from an overlooking hilltop.

      She paced in front of them as she recounted what she had observed.
 
Grief, despair, and shock showed on their faces. “We must have landed in the midst of a nest of them. We saw hundreds, if not thousands, of them as we watched.
 
I am judging the entire crew is dead.
 
We saw the bugs carry off enough corpses and body parts to account for the crew.
 
None of the crew walked off the ship.
 
We three must be the only survivors.”

      One of the team leaders stood and asked in an accusatory tone, “How is it that you survived, Captain?”

      M’Taso’s fur bristled at the unspoken accusation of cowardice for just a second, but she calmed back down.
 
“That is a fair question, G’Loba.
 
I don’t know how we escaped.
 
K’Tan had earlier heard one of our communicators go off in the proximity of the ship.
 
I ordered the comms team to call all the communicators again, thinking the missing team may be lost in the tall grass.
 
We had gone down the ramp to listen when the bugs struck.
 
A dozen or so came up the side of the ship and blocked our path back into the ship.
 
Another group of twenty or so came at us from the bottom of the ramp.
 
I pushed these two off the ramp and jumped behind them, trying to buy time to get out my communicator and warn the ship.
 
I tried, but only the bridge crew had time to react and seal themselves in.”

      “I ordered them to prepare an imminent danger message and send it to home world, but I can only hope they sent it before they were overwhelmed.
 
If home world knows of our situation they will send ships to come get us.
 
It could take them two months to arrive, so we will need to find food, water, and defensible shelter until they do.
 
We also need to determine what they’ve done to the ship.
 
Let us eat some of our rations, find some good shelter, and then go back to the ship.
 
Maybe she’s still flyable.
 
We might be able to lift off and bring her up here.”

* * * * *

      Candy yelled at Kelly to get dressed or they would be late for the reception.
 
Candy wore a black cocktail dress.
 
It was a color that accentuated her red hair and blue eyes and had been an unofficial women’s diplomatic uniform since the mid-twentieth century.
 
She was slipping on her black velvet pumps when Kelly came into their bedroom wearing his dress mess uniform with his vest and the gold aiguillette signifying his position as Defense Attaché.
 
Tonight, he intended to just have fun, although a small video device was mounted in the metal tip of his aiguillette.
 
Candy handed him the flamestone necklace to fasten around her neck.
 
He whistled upon seeing the gem’s size and quality, easily worth several years’ salary.

      Kelly’s hand stole down to her belly and felt the slight bump there.
 
He stood back to look at her, his breath catching in his throat, and said, “I’ve always heard that pregnant women glowed, but you are practically luminescent.”

      Candy blushed slightly and kissed his cheek.
 
She straightened his tie and brushed a fleck of fuzz from his jacket, then grabbed her purse and the invitation, and they headed down to await the embassy groundcar that would take them to the reception.
 
The K’Rang had not figured out how to train the Humans and Angaerry in K’Rang driving rules, so were not allowing the embassies to have groundcars until they did.
 
They were getting by with K’Rang chauffeurs until then.

      The car arrived and Candy noticed the driver maintained his position in the steering compartment.
 
Unfazed, Kelly led the way and opened the door for Candy, slipped in behind her, and closed the door.
 
It wasn’t our way, he thought.
 
It wasn’t the right way.
 
It was the K’Rang way.

      As the car moved through the embassy residence compound, Kelly looked at the houses that had formally been owned by K’Rang Shadow Warrior retirees.
 
A good many of them had been used as sniper’s nests during the occupation of G’Durin and had been heavily damaged during the Marines’ counter-fire, especially with the disruptor guns evaporating two-meter diameter holes in their exterior walls.
 
The K’Rang were going to bulldoze the whole lot and start over, when the GR bought the whole neighborhood for probably above market value and had a light construction battalion brought in to repair the damage.
 
The battalion repaired them in six months, making the grand old houses look like they had never been damaged.

      Heading north into the mountains, the driver quickly and smoothly delivered them to the Senior Elder’s residence.
 
Kelly opened the door, got out, and assisted Candy while the driver maintained his position.
 
Candy showed her invitation pro-forma and was admitted onto the grounds.

      A solicitous, short K’Rang female met them at the gate and escorted the Blakes inside.
 
Kelly marveled at the opulence of the Elder’s estate.
 
It would make the palace at Versailles look dowdy in comparison.
 
The grounds were meticulously groomed with topiaries of springing early K’Rang ancestors.
 
Statues of previous senior elders lined the path to the main entrance.
 
Vines were strung overhead like a living pergola.
 
The style could only be described as Art Deco meets stacked luggage.
 
The building was a series of cubes and rectangular boxes stacked on one another, making a structure of massive, but confused shape.
 
A number of K’Rang females similar in size to the guide were running about, escorting guests to the main entrance and running back to escort the next guest at the gates.
 
Kelly and Candy were handed off to a uniformed Shadow Warrior at the door.
 
He took Candy’s invitation, checked it closely with a handheld device, and stood aside for them to enter.