“Ilid, listen to me. Scientists are working on the issue as we speak. You let them worry about stopping them. You’re doing your part, setting our first line of defense by offering us the clues we need to spot them. We have to be able to do that in order to know where to shoot once we have those weapons. The rest isn’t your problem. Okay?”

  He could tell he wasn’t reaching the miserable Dramok. After what Ilid had been through, Degorsk wondered if anyone could.

  * * * *

  Ilid restrained the impulse to run down the corridor to his room when its doorway came in sight. His small quarters in the medical center wasn’t truly safe. Nowhere was, but his room at least offered the illusion of security when the lights were turned up on full, keeping the shadows at bay.

  The orderly escorting him triggered the door. “You have visitors.”

  Ilid’s heart, which thundered in panic whenever he was in larger spaces or around too many people, eased its frantic pounding when he saw his Dramok and Nobek fathers waiting for him. Codab and Gruthep were at his side in an instant when he reached for them. Their arms surrounded him, and he clutched at their sleeves until the door shut behind him, closing out whatever might be lurking in the hall.

  “Easy, Ilid. Breathe.”

  He was gasping despite tension seeping from him. Their arms around his waist, hands holding his to their chests, they led him to the sleeping mat and sat him down.

  “I have to tell you,” he panted. “It’s classified, but you have to know, because the fleet believes the Darks are coming.”

  “Get your breathing under control,” Codab urged. “You won’t feel so panicked and can better consider what you should share.”

  Ilid obeyed, but he’d made up his mind. Degorsk had told him defenses were being drawn up against the Darks, which meant the highest authorities were bracing for invasion. The riders were on their way.

  As soon as Codab and Gruthep stopped guiding his breathing, he explained everything: the shadows on the shoulders of the landing party when they’d returned to Bi’is and his crewmates’ odd behavior. How the strangeness had spread to the command staff. His ability to spy the Darks being revealed to the enemy. The horrific experiments done on him and others who could detect the entities. The Imdiko orderly Derir, who’d helped him escape Medical and sabotage the ship in the hope it would be stopped from reaching Laro Station. He explained what Dr. Namro had informed him about his brain, which allowed him to see the Darks.

  “But they said they’re readying in case these Darks come,” Gruthep rumbled soothingly. “Obviously, there’s been no sign of their approach yet, or we’d have been warned.”

  “As rare as your ability to notice them is, there are others,” Codab added. “The fleet is no doubt watching for these Darks. They’ll be able to do so more effectively since they have the scans to learn who else has your gift.”

  They made sense, but Ilid couldn’t shake the dread filling him. “We don’t have the means to stop them if they come. The nightmare might only be beginning.” He buried his face in his hands. “Even if they don’t show up on Kalquor or in empire space, I’ll won’t be able believe it’s over. They’re out there. It’ll never be over.”

  “Ilid, my son, I wish I could take this pain from you.” Gruthep sighed, his craggy features creased heavily.

  “You can’t tell me you’re not ashamed. After what you went through when you were captured by Tragooms, you returned to fleet service for five years. You faced what frightened you. All I want to do is curl up and hide.”

  “How many ways must I say you can’t shame me?” Gruthep hugged him tightly. “I’ll never judge you for how you feel. Your fears are valid. All I want at this point is to help you find a path to enjoying the good you can still discover in life, whatever the future holds.”

  “We’re here, Ilid,” Codab insisted. “We aren’t going anywhere, no matter how you struggle to return to normalcy.”

  “You can’t restore who you were before. No one could. But we’ll support you as you discover who the new, healthy Ilid will be, however long it takes.” Gruthep considered. “Have you kept up on your meditation skills, Ilid?”

  “I’d let it lapse, but I’ve picked it up again. I’d hoped it would get me through this.” So far, he hadn’t noticed the practice Gruthep had taught him as a child doing any good beyond easing him to sleep…where the nightmares waited.

  He had a feeling the night terrors were about to become worse in the wake of discovering the empire was readying defenses. Ilid gazed at his fathers through a tear-blurred gaze. He’d never loved his parents more…or feared for them so much.

  * * * *

  “Piras and his clan have agreed to come and evaluate the situation in regard to Hobato,” Tranis told Lidon as they headed home from work that evening.

  “What are your plans until we can somehow get him and Ensign Ilid in the same place to verify he’s being ridden? I wasn’t able to trace the source of your anonymous warning, so that avenue of verification is closed.” The Nobek checked their shuttle’s instruments despite traffic controls having taken over the piloting.

  “I’m proceeding as if he’s compromised. As of now, I believe him to be under the influence of an enemy agent I’m unable to move against.”

  “He has a hell of a lot of power and access to the empire’s defenses.” Lidon scowled.

  “I have a plan, but I need your help. You’re better at computer espionage than I am, as is Piras. Between the two of you, we can wrest some command control from Hobato by setting up alternate authorizations to change current fleet movements. Keep the old paths open to him, make our vessels appear to answer and obey his orders—”

  “While maintaining regular security without his knowledge.”

  “Not just maintain it. Enhance it, including on the planet. We have the results of Ensign Ilid’s brain scans. The scientists think they’ve found the biological reason he and a few others from his spyship saw the Darks.”

  “How can you send an order for operatives to be tested and avoid Hobato discovering it?”

  Tranis drew a deep breath. He was looking at a court martial once his activities came to light, and his solutions to the Dark threat meant taking Lidon and Clan Piras down as well if they went along with him. If he was correct about Hobato, they’d escape unscathed. However, if he was wrong and a military tribunal found them to have acted lacking probable cause, the prison sentences would be lengthy.

  “You do realize I’m acting on more of a hunch than actual proof? I haven’t found any actual wrongdoing on the rear admiral’s part.”

  Lidon’s gaze was level. “You’ve never been an alarmist, my Dramok. If you’re certain Hobato’s comprised, it’s good enough for me.”

  “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to be right…but if it means sending us all to prison, I do want to be right.”

  “Tranis, answer my question. How can you have operatives tested for the ability to spot Darks without Hobato catching on?”

  “Until you and hopefully Piras block his computer access to the fleet ships, I can’t do anything on that front. But he pays very little attention to what’s happening on Kalquor itself. The same goes for our moons, space stations, and colonies.”

  “Because the fleet doesn’t spy on its own people.” Lidon’s brow lifted. “An excellent plan to have lookouts on the ground, if you can quietly implement it.”

  “I believe I can. A shadow agency operating in our spy division…it’ll definitely land me in serious trouble once it comes to light, which is why I hesitated to tell you.”

  “I’ll be tested. If I can see the Darks, I want to be in charge of training operatives.”

  Tranis was unsurprised Lidon would volunteer for such a posting. “What happens to Degorsk, Cassidy, and our unborn child if we’re both incarcerated?”

  Lidon growled, but only for a split second. “I’m more worried over what happens to them if the Darks have shown up and we don’t know until it’s too late.”

  * * * *

  Kila’s spyship

  Hope stared at Kila from the entrance to his spyship’s bridge. He was barking orders on the com and at the bridge crew, notably reduced by the absences of First Officer Deram and Weapons Subcommander Selt. After five years it was odd to witness other men, whose names she hadn’t yet learned, at their duty stations.

  “You’re going to put him in a shitty mood, aren’t you?” Com lieutenant Nobek Veko, his handsome, brooding face exposed for once…he wasn’t bending over his com station with his waist-length hair curtaining its surface…stalked past her. His tone was morose. It almost always was when it wasn’t full of dire warning.

  Kila was already in a bad mood. The question was, would she make it worse? Unfortunately for Kila and his crew, she didn’t care if she did. Her present temperament wasn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows either.

  “Chief, why haven’t I received Engineering’s readiness report?” Kila roared at his com.

  The snarling reply came almost immediately. “Because we’re only two hours into the standard three-hour maintenance and recharge cycle. Captain.”

  Lokmi sounded as out of patience as Hope felt. She knew damned well Kila had registered her presence on the bridge the instant she’d set foot on it, though his gaze had never flickered in her direction. He was too attuned to his ship and his clanmates to have missed her entrance. The fact she was no longer an acting crewmember on the spyship should have had him ordering her off the bridge immediately. He was avoiding the confrontation she was intent on having before Piras boarded and they got underway for Kalquor.

  Fine. She was perfectly willing to bring the fight to him.

  Hope walked down three steps to his command podium. His lips thinned. He whispered, “Not now, my Matara. We’re behind schedule as it is.”

  “Right now, my Nobek. Either here or in your ready room, because my clan is more important than a departure time.”

  His gaze slid to her, his eyes narrowing and brow lowering in warning. Her eyes widened and brows rose as her lips stretched in a snarl, issuing a threat of her own. Do you really want to go here and now? He’d damned better understand she wasn’t waiting another second. She’d be perfectly happy to unprofessionally air their dirty laundry in front of everyone if necessary to fix their personal situation.

  He knew it. His fist crashed onto the computer podium, which was built to take the abuse. Hope managed not to jump, having expected such a reaction.

  “Fine.” Kila stalked past her toward his office. Hope followed on his heels.

  She allowed him no chance to tell her off or mount a defense. The instant the door closed behind them, she barked, “Either you trust Piras, or you don’t. If you don’t know, figure it out.”

  “He kept Lidon’s presence a secret. Weeks of that Nobek at my Dramok’s side while I was gone, and he didn’t tell me!”

  “I think it’s pretty damned clear why he kept it quiet until you returned. You’re acting like a jealous wife, checking his collar for lipstick stains every day when he comes home from work.” Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “They were done with each other, what, fifteen years ago?”

  “A lot less for Piras. You never saw him, the hurt and betrayal when he and Lidon crossed paths for years afterward. His wish it had turned out otherwise was obvious.” Kila went to his desk, simply to slam his fist on that surface too.

  “After he clanned you?”

  “Of course not. We weren’t clanned until after Piras was branded a traitor, when there was no chance of contact between him and Lidon afterward. But before—”

  “So since you became his Nobek, you haven’t seen him and Lidon in the same room. You haven’t seen him look at his once-upon-a-time Nobek the way that upsets you so much. Do I have it right?”

  “Did you see anything?” Kila’s gaze bored into her. “Tell me there wasn’t anything I should be worried about when they were together longer than I’ve even known Piras.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Kila.” Hope couldn’t believe they were having such a conversation. “Yeah, I saw them. Usually, Lidon stayed phased, but he showed his face to introduce himself to me and once to ask about my nanobots.”

  “And?”

  “And Piras either ignored him or was impatient, the way he gets when someone is wasting his time. Or on that particular occasion, my time. ‘She can’t spend all day answering your questions’ were his exact words. Lidon could have been any idiot on your crew from how Piras behaved.”

  Kila paced. “It doesn’t mean when you weren’t there—”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Hope shouted. “Do you really think Piras prefers Lidon over you?”

  Kila paused. “No. It’s just…what they had, at least in his mind, was huge. For over a dozen years, no one was more important to Piras than Lidon. Then the memory of what he was to him haunted him. I ask myself, how could I compete with the Nobek who got away? If I hadn’t come back from Bi’is, would it have devastated Piras as much as Lidon leaving did?”

  “Oh, Kila.” Hope at last saw the inferiority complex her clanmate had built for himself. In a way, she couldn’t blame him. From what she’d gathered about Piras’ earliest relationship, Lidon would have indeed been a hard act to follow.

  She also knew their Dramok’s feelings for each of his clanmates. “Piras would have been destroyed if anything had happened to you. He barely slept while you and Lokmi were gone. He checked his coms, personal and official, at all hours of the day and night in case you’d sent news. As for his feelings where Lidon is concerned, he’s definitely a thing of the past. Just after he arrived, I walked in on Piras raging to Admiral Tranis, telling him next time he decided to put a special guard on him, to send his Imdiko instead.”

  “Piras said that?” A chuckle was surprised from Kila. “He told me ages ago Dr. Degorsk was the most aggravating person he’d ever met. His words were, ‘to spend a minute in Degorsk’s presence is to want to claw your ears off.’”

  Hope drew close and wrapped her arms around Kila’s waist. “You’re Piras’ Nobek. He chose you. You know how he is, Kila. If he were still hung up on Lidon, he’d have carried it like some dumbass badge of honor for the rest of his life. He’d parade his losses and grudges for the world to view.”

  Kila laughed harder. “It’s a good thing he has so many excellent points to outweigh his quirks. I guess I just need to rate as high as his ex did.”

  “I doubt it.” She grinned at his shock. “I’m sure you’ve surpassed Lidon. Piras wouldn’t have settled for second best. He would have just kept lugging around his lost chance, whining how he was cheated.”

  “Okay. Okay, I get it. I’m the winner of the Piras sweepstakes. Lidon’s a blip on the horizon at our backs.”

  Kila’s often-present grin was used to display a variety of emotions: fury, threat, and disdain, in equal measures. It had been days since its appearance had meant actual happiness. Hope was delighted, and greatly relieved, to see that version at long last.

  “I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. Give me a kiss, you big, jealous lug, and I’ll let you get back to terrorizing your crew.”

  * * * *

  Earth II

  Kuran eased through the crowd gathered for Stacy’s latest campaign rally. He was phased, but he had a great dislike for passing through others’ bodies, as the technology allowed him to do. He hated it, in fact. Going through people or any solid objects produced a slight dragging sensation. He had the odd superstition he was leaving behind small bits of himself and adding traces of whomever or whatever he passed through to his own genetics when he did so.

  As far as anyone knew, besides Stacy, he wasn’t present. Kuran was supposedly allowing Michael Adams to run the security show, with only human officers on his team. He glanced at the stage and the two towers from which officers, Adams among them, watched the audience. A look over the heads of the smaller humans verified the rest of the spy division surrounded the rally, altering positions as needed to keep the best view on the animated crowd. Several uniformed members also roamed among the audience, keeping careful watch and unaware of the phased Kalquorian spies Kuran had tapped as emergency backup, should the Earther contingent falter in their mission of keeping Stacy safe.

  Many concentrated on the small group of Earthtique protestors who’d shown up, predominantly men. They stood in the middle of the crowd. They were well covered by officers seen and unseen, so Kuran wasn’t terribly worried about the couple dozen whose thin catcalls barely registered over Stacy’s amplified voice and the approval of the majority.

  He kept his hearing tuned to the conversations and asides from those gathered, as well as to Stacy’s speech. At the moment, the crowd was nearly silent as she detailed the details of the explosive mailed to her weeks before.

  “…sent by those who wish to return our government to the repressive regime of our former planet. Some would call them Earthtiques. They call themselves God-fearing patriots. But I’ll name them for what they are: cowards.”

  Cheers rose from the crowd. The angry objections from the knot of protestors were drowned out.

  “There’s talk my lieutenant governor, a man I’ve considered a friend, might choose to run against me.” Over the scattering of boos, Stacy went on. “I don’t doubt Ken Bryant wants what’s best for Earth. But what he thinks is best is a return to old ways. Why? Why would we go back to that? Because, like those who attacked me, he’s afraid of stepping into the future. He’s afraid to forge a new path. Let me tell you; Mr. Bryant was firmly in lockstep with the old regime. How entrenched was he? He and the so-called Holy…and I use ‘holy’ very loosely here…he and the former Holy Leader, Browning Copeland, were good friends.”