AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next evening, Patrick found himself once again staring at Fal’ran across a room.
Except this room had a training field’s worth of ground space and two balconies. The atrium of Base Ship Givast’s administrative wing could have fit twenty-five of Serihk’s libraries inside of it. And instead of comfortable, casual, borrowed clothes, Fal’ran wore a Klah’Eel military dress uniform. The ensemble was complete, with a brightly colored sash stretching across his chest and tight pants showing off every muscle in his legs and ass.
He was unbearably handsome, and Patrick couldn’t take his eyes off him.
“Oh, are those more kebabs? I missed those last time. If you’ll excuse me, so good to see you again, Patrick.”
“You, too. Enjoy, they’re delicious.” Patrick wrangled his attention back to the captain he’d been talking to in time to lift his glass in a friendly farewell. The smile slid off his face like oil when the man turned his back. He’d thought he was friends with that captain once, before the man had frozen him out the second Patrick slipped up and ended on the bad side of the brass.
“Delicious is a strong word.” Emissary Serihk appeared at Patrick’s shoulder with Bryant Harrison, as Patrick’s fair-weather friend scurried away. “They’re passable for being prepared on a flying military base.”
“I think they’re good.” Bryant pulled a chunk of meat off his own delicate skewer. He smirked at Patrick as he chewed it and flicked his eyes in the direction Patrick had been staring moments ago. “Not that you’ve been paying attention.”
“I haven’t,” Patrick admitted. He turned to look through the crowd of dignitaries and servers carrying trays of finger food to Fal’ran. He was speaking with a man who wore the stripes of a brigade commander. “Look at him. He’s even playing politics well.”
Serihk tilted his head as he followed Patrick’s gaze. “He has an impressive knack for conversing with power, considering his upbringing.”
Fal’ran had been nervous as they’d traveled to Base Ship Givast earlier in the evening. He’d fiddled with his sash and the tight collar of his sleeveless shirt. When they’d arrived and begun exchanging pleasantries with diplomats and high-ranking officers and politicians, Fal’ran had shot Patrick constant, questioning glances, searching for confirmation he was doing it all right. As the night wore on, the glances became fewer. He held his chin higher and smiled easier. He hadn’t looked at Patrick the entire time he’d been speaking to that brigade commander.
“I think his upbringing is what’s helping him.” Bryant set his empty skewer and dirtied napkin on a passing tray with a grateful smile to the human waitress, before turning back to them. “Showing no fear is just as important with people like these as it is on the streets, in my experience.”
“Either way, it seems he’s got quite the military career ahead of him.” Serihk sipped his drink. “I saw the communication from General Yal’rest come through.”
“You haven’t finalized that, have you?” Bryant rounded on Patrick with an aggression that stuck out in their posh surroundings.
“Only the offer.” Patrick recoiled, surprised by Bryant’s vehemence.
“Whether or not to accept the offer is entirely up to Fal’ran.” Serihk came smoothly to Patrick’s defense.
“You should have bothered.” Bryant crossed his arms and widened his stance as he looked across the room at Fal’ran. “You should tell him what you’ve worked out with the rest of your squad and bring him onboard.”
Serihk raised an eyebrow. “Because my trying to solve all your problems without giving you another option went over so well.”
Bryant barked a laugh. “Fal’ran’s different. He already knows what he wants, and it isn’t a glamorous military career.”
“But you don’t know that,” Patrick scowled.
“I do know that.”
“You don’t.” Patrick set his own stance stubbornly. “He deserves options. His whole life he’s had no good options and I’m going to make damn sure he has them now.”
“And that’s admirable.” Serihk set a hand on Bryant’s shoulder that relaxed the human, before turning to Patrick. “But Bryant has a point. You’ve kept the young man in the dark long enough.”
Patrick couldn’t argue with that. “I know. I’ll talk to him as soon as we get back to the ship.”
Bryant pointed over Patrick’s shoulder with his chin. “I don’t think you’re going to have that long.”
Patrick turned to see General Yal’rest, the various medals and insignias on his dress uniform shining in the harsh ship light, making a beeline for Fal’ran. “Shit.”
With a half-atrium head start, Yal’rest got to Fal’ran far before Patrick. Fal’ran greeted him with a flicker of surprise that morphed into a smile, calibrated to be both friendly and indulgent. He read the power currents in a room well. Although Yal’rest’s rank far outstripped Fal’ran’s, Fal’ran had arrived with Qeshian Emissary Serihk and Patrick Smith, the man who had brought the Insects to the negotiating table. Yal’rest, meanwhile, struggled to keep the lodestone of his association with the now resigned War Minister Hashi, the man who had poisoned a continent and advocated full-scale genocide instead of dialog, from dragging him into the depths of disgrace.
Patrick’s star was on the rise while Yal’rest’s careened toward the ground, so the General was here to make nice. That didn’t mean he couldn’t do some serious damage. As Fal’ran and Yal’rest spoke, they shifted, putting Fal’ran between Yal’rest and Patrick with his back to Patrick. So, Patrick couldn’t see what Fal’ran’s face did when his spine suddenly straightened, and his hands twitched.
“Ah, Smith.” Yal’rest smiled at Patrick over Fal’ran’s shoulder when Patrick reached them. “I was just telling your protégé here about my own time in the Ranger Corp.”
All the fancy food Patrick had eaten that evening scrunched into a sickening weight in his stomach. “You must have some fantastic stories, sir.”
“I flatter myself to think I do.” Yal’rest chortled as though they were truly two friendly men having a laugh and Yal’rest had never publicly torn Patrick’s captain’s stripes from his back. “Nothing compared to the stories young Fal’ran here will have one day, I’m sure. Especially considering everything he’s already done.”
