Peace Army (29 page)

He picked up the pace and made for the center of the hallway.

* * *

Six hours late, Grant had had his fill of
shiale
.

As far as he was concerned, it was a useless custom that only aggravated, frustrated, and discouraged.

He was a man of action. He was used to analyzing data quickly, settling on a decision, then committing himself and his forces to a plan.

Unfortunately, the Telgorans were not.

The interminable need to spoon-feed Patahbay and his people each small piece of his plan, then have them consider it, debate it, and nod over it was becoming intolerable.

Grant had always considered Mr. Blue to be an unbearable bureaucrat. The supercilious administrator slowed progress at every turn by making sure every “t” was crossed, every “i” was dotted, and every rule remained intact and unsullied.

When compared to the Telgorans, Blue was a no-nonsense, quick-thinking decision maker who got things done in record time.

Grant took a breath.

Released it.

For the hundredth time, he reminded himself that these precious beings had developed on an angry world where the slightest misstep could end in death. Their need to consider each decision, regardless of its importance, was merely a by-product of their environment, a requirement of their evolutionary process. It was not their fault. Despite how frustrating it was for Grant, he could not blame them for their behavior. Instead, he fought to remind himself why he should admire them.

They were survivors on a planet where survival should have been impossible.

Grant took another breath. He flexed his shoulders and rolled his neck to relieve stress. He felt his blood pressure decrease.

Then he saw Titan smiling at him knowingly.

The Violent was getting a kick out of seeing him struggle against the Telgorans. He had doubtless found himself in the same position numerous times.

He smiled in return, but his blood pressure ticked back up a notch or two.

* * *

Patahbay could not believe the good fortune. The Family had made significant changes to their lives—in such a short time! Never in their history had so many decisions been made in a single Gathering.

The general was truly a great leader. The liberation of the Waa mining base was proof.

Over the years, thousands and thousands of brothers and sisters were sent racing across the plains, intent on casting the invaders from their walls. All had been taken from the Family. All had died without reaching the top of a single wall—without injuring a single enemy. The general and his people had taken the walls and overcome the defenders in a single attempt.

The true proof of the general’s greatness, however, was revealed during
shiale
. During the Gathering, the general had offered the Family a role in ridding Telgora of the remaining enemy.

The Family had pounced upon the offer with a speed and eagerness that Patahbay had never witnessed.

They would start digging right away.

* * *

“You continue to astound me, Little Man.” Titan and Grant had made their way out of the gathering chamber and were ascending back to the surface. “It only took twelve hours to get the Family to change their course of action against the Minith.”

“
Only
?” Grant asked. He had a difficult time keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. He was emotionally spent, mentally drained. He had lived through weeklong marches and day-long firefights that had left him with more energy.

“Ha!” Titan slapped him roughly on the back. The force of the strike propelled Grant forward a step. He had little strength with which to resist.

“Yes,
only
twelve hours. You don’t realize how quickly that went for them, Grant.”

“I was there, Titan,” Grant grumbled. “I think I know how
quickly
it went.”

Titan grabbed Grant’s right arm and jerked him to an abrupt halt.

“No, Grant, you don’t,” Titan explained. The words were biting and delivered a sharp cut. “You know how difficult it was for you, which I can appreciate. But you don’t know
how
difficult it was for them.

“I spent five years on this pitiful excuse of a planet. For the last four of those years, I argued, cajoled, begged, pleaded, and lied to the Family. Why? Because I saw that their attacks weren’t doing anything but getting them killed.

“And what did I get for my trouble, Grant?
Nothing
.”

Titan was angry. Grant was being lectured, and he knew the other man was right to do so. In his tired state, he had not considered what Titan had gone through during his time here. The ex-prisoner had watched these beings die time after time for no good reason except that it was their way.

Titan had argued with them for years. Yet, he had been unsuccessful at convincing them to change.

To Grant, if felt like twelve hours of clawing and fighting to finally gain their trust and their nod—their
shiale—
of
his plan. When considering what Titan had had to endure, twelve hours seemed like a very small price to pay. Grant realized he had been whining.

“I’m sorry, Titan. You’re right,” Grant conceded. He placed his left hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Thanks for helping me get my head out of my ass.”

Titan tilted his head and glared at Grant. He was obviously trying to see if he was being placated. Something in Grant’s demeanor must have put his mind at ease, because Titan released his arm, turned, and continued walking up the tunnel to the surface.

Grant rushed to catch up. He silently thanked Avery and their six years of marriage for teaching him a very valuable lesson.

Know when you’re wrong.

And when you’re wrong, apologize.

Chapter 41

“We cannot lose the mining bases on Telgora, Soo,” Rala reminded the general. “The Zrthns pose no threat only as long as we continue to supply agsel.”

“I know,” Soo growled. Her insistence on ignoring his title was growing tiresome. “You have reminded me enough times.”

The agsel, and the need to continue delivering the precious ore to the Zrthns, were regular topics of conversation. The need to keep Governor Truk oblivious of the link between their powerful trading partner and the ore that came from the Telgoran mines was also a constant topic.

Knowledge was power. And he—or she—who has enough power, ultimately rules. It was the Minith way.

Soo and Rala had quietly joined forces years ago. Her ongoing relationship with the Zrthns, combined with his control of the remaining military forces, made them a powerful duo. Without ever speaking the words aloud, both knew their endgame was ultimate control of the Minith worlds. Truk was the governor for now, but they envisioned a point in the near future when he might be tossed aside or used as a pawn in their game of domination.

The pressing question was, who would rule and who would be second-in-command. Soo worried that he already knew the answer. Or, to be more accurate, he worried that Rala thought she already knew the answer.

His brother’s mate was a thick mass of complex layers and hidden motivations. Soo often found himself struggling to understand her, to identify her plans and guess her thoughts. His failure to comprehend her actions did not stop the effort, however. Instead, it led to increased attraction. As a result, he had a difficult time being around her. The desire to touch her… the need to taste her… the urge to smell her… threatened to overpower his senses. They certainly affected his concentration and increased the likelihood that he would never rule her.

When the time came to seize the reins of power, she would undoubtedly rule over him.

“Did you hear me, Soo?”

Soo retrieved his thoughts and gathered the remnants of his shattered concentration. She had asked him about the mothership. The one currently on Telgora or the one he was outfitting for an expedition to the planet, he did not know. He decided to answer both.

“The mothership on Telgora came from Earth, obviously. The attack on the mining base was carried out by humans,” he stated. The admission still sounded strange. Humans could not fight.

He saw the question in her eyes—the one that wanted to know what that meant for Treel. Her mate. His brother. He chose to ignore the question until she asked him directly, and pressed on.

“The mothership just completed by the Waa will be ready to depart tomorrow. I will be on it.”

“You are going personally?” she asked.

He was pleased the information caught her off guard. She so rarely was. He wondered if she was asking because she worried about him, but promptly waved the thought away. She was still pining for her dead mate.

“Yes,” he replied. “I am tired of this mystery. I promise you, I will learn how the humans captured a mothership. I will also know their part in the destruction of the home world.”

“Good,” Rala said. “We can use that knowledge to our benefit.”

Soo gained a slim peek behind the mask of her thoughts. His desire to find out if the humans had destroyed their world was personal. For Rala, it was another tidbit of information to be used to her advantage.

“How long will it take you to reach the planet? I need to let the Zrthn minister know that we are taking action.”

“What? He knows about the attack?” Soo asked in shock. How could the foreigner know what happened on a Minith world?

Rala laughed.

“Of course he knows, Soo,” she jibed. “The Zrthns have spies everywhere.”

She removed a piece of lint from her purple sleeve and tossed it casually aside.

“The minister informed me of the human attack a full day before you decided to tell me.”

The accusation was implied. The reprimand was understood.

Soo struggled to contain his emotions, but he feared his ears would give him away. The fact that the Zrthn knew about the attack was distressing. The fact that Rala had learned about it from the off-worlder was also distressing.

The most distressing thing was Rala’s use of these facts to send Soo a message. The Zrthn’s spies were also her spies.

Another layer had been added.

* * *

Oiloo listened to the exchange with interest.

The female’s assertion that he had spies everywhere was mildly humorous. She was unaware of the extent or the manner of his eavesdropping.

The female, his contact with the Minith for all trade arrangements, appeared to be toying with the male. Either that, or the male was too dim to understand how politics worked within his own race. As the head of the Minith military, Oiloo would have expected the male to be more astute.

Either way, it made little difference to Oiloo. As the Manager of Trade for the Zrthns, he only cared about one thing.

Agsel.

The male was taking actions to keep the agsel flowing. This was good. It meant Oiloo would not have to act.

Chapter 42

The twenty-four fighter carriers were loaded; their pilots were briefed and ready for flight. The ships were split into six sorties of four fighters each and named Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot. All the sorties except Foxtrot would soon be hitting one of the five remaining mining bases with bombs and strafing runs.

Because the bases were located around the equator of the planet, the sorties were scheduled to depart at staggered periods. All would fly east ward with the wind at their backs. Gee had calculated distances, wind speed, and flight paths to find ideal departure times. If everything went as planned, all fighters would arrive at their primary targets at the same time. This meant that Alpha, which would target the farthest base, number five, had the farthest to travel—approximately four hours—before making contact. Echo, the last sortie to depart, would have the shortest flight before reaching its designated target, base one.

After the attacks, each group would continue around the planet, with the wind pushing them along, until they reached the mining base they had already captured and were using as their staging base.

Foxtrot was not assigned a target. This had not gone over well with the pilots, who, like their counterparts in the other groups, were anxious to re-engage with the Minith. But the tactics were sound, and grumbling was kept to a minimum. Grant was holding that group back to provide cover for the mothership. It could also be used as a reserve force, should one be needed.

The pilots not assigned to Foxtrot were on edge and anxious to get off the ground.

The first sortie, Alpha, was scheduled to depart as soon as Grant received word from Titan that the Telgorans were ready.

* * *

The days after the Gathering were agonizing for Titan. He was ready to create some pain for the Minith hiding behind the stone walls of their bases. The knowledge that he was so close to the goal he had envisioned for years did not help. In fact, it had the opposite effect. He felt like a six-year-old boy waiting for his birthday to arrive. Time ticked slowly along, the minutes dragged, the hours lasted for days.

Grant’s defeat of the Family’s
dindin
champion had won their attention. The attack on the Minith base had won their hearts and their single, mass mind. Because of those successes, the Family was prepared to listen; they were ready to change their ways and follow the guidance of a human they had just met. If Titan had not been so elated at their acceptance of Grant’s plan, he might have resented the other man’s succeeding where he had failed. Or he might have gotten angry that the Family he had come to love and admire had spurned his guidance and readily accepted another’s.

But he could be neither resentful nor angry.

Titan had left Telgora because of his inability to influence to the mass mind of the Family. He had returned to Earth with the express goal of bringing Grant Justice back to this rocky, windy, hellish place.

And Grant had done exactly what he had hoped for, but never thought possible.