Out Today! Dark Empire Book Three: Secret War - Chapter Four, Scene Two

 

It's here! The latest in the Dark Empire saga is on sale now. Need another "taste"? Imdiko Etnil gets cheesy.

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Alpha SpaceStation

Stacy wondered atKuran’s mood as they traveled the corridors toward Clan Rihep’s home. He’d beena bit grim lately, no doubt because he worried in the wake of some jackasssending her an explosive a couple months prior. Since the campaign rally,however, he’d been in the best mood she’d seen him in for weeks.

“Mr. Adams is doinga decent job, I gather?”

“I can’t fault himin the least,” Kuran said. “Of course, Earth’s population is still rathersmall, not to mention concentrated in a single area…”

“You’re allowed tocompliment him.” She chuckled.

He grinned. “My onlyreservation thus far is Ken Bryant hired him. If they have somethingunderhanded going on behind the scenes, I have yet to discover it.”

“Good.” They reachedthe door of the quarters, which recognized them and opened obligingly. Stacystepped in and grimaced. She called, “Oh Etnil, sweetie, what is happening inthe kitchen?”

“What?” The distantvoice indeed came from the direction where Stacy was certain the horrific odororiginated. She could barely breathe for the stench.

“It would seem oneof his cooking experiments got out of hand.” Kuran sighed as his clan leader,Dramok Rihep, stepped in the room.

“Yeah, I just turnedthe blowers on, so the smell should disappear soon.” Rihep, as calm andunflappable as ever, his handsome face serene, kissed Stacy hello. “I alsoordered delivery, so dinner will show up in a few minutes.”

“Funny how theventing is called a blower, when it’s actually sucking out the stinky air.”Etnil came in, his boyish and eternally mischievous smile bright despitewhatever awful thing had happened in the kitchen. “Maybe since blowjobs arealso referred to as sucking, housing engineers went with it. It should becalled a blow-me unit, right?”

He interrupted hishectic chatter to pucker his lips in anticipation of a welcome-home kiss forStacy. She held him off. “What were you making?”

“Burritos. Justnice, ordinary rice and bean burritos, plus a few other ingredients.”

“Such as dogcorpses?” she guessed. The odor was incredibly foul, though thankfullydissipating.

“It could have beenthe cheese. I’m pretty sure it was the cheese. Quite disappointing, given howmuch it cost. It doesn’t melt very well either. I thought it would be extraspecial, so I had Rihep import it from Haven, just to celebrate your campaignkickoff.”

Only an Earthphilesuch as Etnil would have decided burritos made the perfect celebration meal. Hewas enamored with human cuisine, especially the kind requiring no utensils toeat.

“What kind of cheesewas it?” Stacy asked. The urge to gag had departed, thank heavens.

“Limburger.”

“Etnil.” She shookher head. “Seriously? It would have stunk the second you unwrapped it, but youstill tried to melt it on burritos?”

“It’s expensive.It’s gourmet.” He looked at her as if she were the clueless one. “Howcould it not be delicious?”

A grin threatened tobreak over Kuran’s rugged features. “The smell didn’t tell you otherwise?”

“I held my nose andtried it. It wasn’t horrible. Kind of mushroom-y and a tang to finish.”

“No, the garbagechute to finish, which is where I tossed the works,” Rihep said.

“So mean. Hewouldn’t look at it, much less give it a try.” Etnil sighed.

“Anything that makesmy eyes water and my breath stop isn’t on the menu.”

“Classless thug.”Etnil showed no sign of upset, however. He smiled at Stacy and extended hisarms toward her. “Where’s my kiss hello?”

“When you just atelimburger cheese? I love you, but no. Hell no.”

“How about you,Kuran? Being a stinky thing, you’ve always appreciated stinky things, so youwon’t mind a kiss.” He reached toward his muscled Nobek.

“Maybe not on thelips, but you’re welcome to blow me. Or suck me, whichever terminology makesyou happy.”

Etnil grabbed thelaughing Rihep, acting as if he were on the verge of falling to the floor in afaint. “He joked. Kuran the Eternally Cheerless cracked a joke!”

“This is an event,”Rihep said, pushing Etnil away. “I assume from your good moods the campaignrally went well?”

The door’s buzzinterrupted them. Dinner, which featured steaks and wine-like leshella, hadarrived.

Minutes later, theywere seated on billowy floor cushions around the low table in the dining area.Glowing in success and grateful she wasn’t eating limburger burritos, Stacytold them of the exuberant reception she’d received.

“I told you it wasan excellent speech.” Rihep’s smile warmed her to her toes.

“You did, but I wasnervous anyway. I guess the Earthtiques stayed home.” She glanced at Kuran toconfirm he’d seen nothing suspicious.

“The crowd was onyour side. The new guy did a great job too, given no one tested us.” Kuransimply couldn’t give poor Mike Adams unconditional credit. It had to be a Nobektrait, Stacy thought.

She had a swallow ofleshella, then sprang the latest personal news on them. “I heard from my mothertoday.”

“Uh oh,” Etnilsing-songed, his eyes rounding. He gripped the edge of the table in pretendedfear. “Are we in trouble for not breaking away to visit her on Haven before youstarted your election bid? Will she—” he gulped “—ground us?”

There was no way hebehaved like such a goofball in front of his patients. Dr. Etnil’s clients weremostly Dramoks and Nobeks assigned to the space station, and they probablydidn’t wish to be in therapy in the first place. His handsome face would have beencratered by a fist by now if he’d carried on around them as he did at home.Stacy believed the ridiculous, and admittedly amusing, behavior was how Etnilblew off steam after hearing hours of other people’s problems.

“She isn’t groundingus, though she’ll probably send you out an airlock after the first hour oflistening to you in person. She and my sister are coming to visit Earth.”

The three menblinked at her. Etnil’s pretended anxiety shifted to the real deal for aninstant. He made a joke of it by imitating having a heart attack and collapsingto the floor, where she couldn’t see him.

Rihep’s momentarysurprise disappeared, replaced by his usual calm. He seemed pleased. “This is abig step for our relationship. On Kalquor, we don’t meet parents unlessclanship is essentially a given.”

“Which is wherewe’re heading.” Whether it was sooner or later was up to if Stacy was voted tocontinue as Earth’s governor. It was one thing to date a Kalquorian clan andremain in charge of the world struggling to find its identity and footing; itwas quite another to be in a formal relationship when so many humans continuedto regard their former enemies with suspicion.

“I look forward toit,” Kuran said. “They’ll be staying at Government Hall in your livingquarters? You’ll spend your nights there during their visit as well.”

“Yes. They’ll behere for a couple of weeks.” During which Stacy would sleep alone, because herfellow Earthers might also disapprove of her sweethearts bunking in theleadership’s official residence.

It was difficultnavigating between her love life and professional career as Earth II’s mostpublic servant. Stacy was resolute to be as open about her relationship withClan Rihep as Kuran felt was safe, but she was equally resolved to shepherd thenew planet in the right direction so humans could prosper. It was a minoritywhich wished to take Earth II down the dark path that had led to its firstincarnation’s destruction, but they were determined. Stacy couldn’t let ithappen.

Fortunately, herintended clan understood and were willing to wait the eight years she waseligible to be governor, should her people elect her to do so.

Kuran tapped hishandheld busily. “When will they be here?”

“In a couple ofweeks. Is that okay as far as readying safety measures?”

“I don’t know why itwouldn’t be since we already have established protocols and the manpower tocarry them out. I’ll be interested to find out how Adams assigns security foryour mother and sister.”

“I’m sure he’ll dofine. Will you be assigning any of your, uh, operatives to them? If so, will mymother and sister be advised?”

Kuran considered.“Maybe only when they’re in public spaces. I understand the preference forprivacy, and Government Hall will be guarded by the security assigned to it.You can tell them undercover agents will be watching them when they’re inpublic, but the phasing has to be kept secret.”

“Understood.” Itspoke well of Kuran’s trust in her that Stacy knew anything about the devices.Phasing was a closely guarded secret, according to her lover and bodyguard. Ifsuch technology fell into the wrong hands, the consequences could be disastrous.

She imagined phasedTragooms running around on Earth, grabbing humans at will. Or Bi’isils escapingtheir planet and exacting revenge on Kalquor. A chill ran the length of herspine.

Stacy trusted hermother and sister implicitly, but they wouldn’t learn of the existence ofphasing from her. It was easy to imagine them captured and tortured forinformation, if it somehow leaked out.

“Does Mom or Sislike limburger cheese?” Etnil’s hopeful voice roused her from her thoughts.

She threw a napkinat him. “Don’t even think about it.”

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Timeis running out to halt the Darks’ march to the Kalquorian Empire’sannihilation.

Finallyhome on Kalquor, Dramok Ilid is haunted by his encounter with the Darks, whichhe barely survived. His struggle far from over, Ilid’s sanity and the empire’sexistence hang on a quickly unraveling thread. When he learns the Darks havearrived on Kalquor, even his family’s love may not be able to keep him from anunthinkable end.

OnEarth II, head of planetary security Nobek Kuran’s hands are full: meeting hispotential in-laws, training his replacement, and keeping tabs on a roguelieutenant governor with a secret agenda. His troubles are only beginning whena deadly attack on those he loves drives him to the brink of murder. Meanwhile,spy Nobek Selt finds himself growing far too close to his subject, reporterBlythe Nelson. Does his clan dare to romance a woman devoted to uncovering thetruth, including their secret activities on her world?

Havingwiped out the entire Bi’is civilization, the Darks have seized control of theGalactic Council of Planets and attempt to bring the Kalquorian Empire to itsknees. Clans Tranis and Piras are desperate to stop the enemy from destroyingKalquor and its allies. Can Hope Nath and Chief Engineer Lokmi capture a lethalenemy capable of passing through all known barriers?