Free Alien Hostage by Tracy St. John Page A

clan leader, his Nobek looked more brave and noble with them. Knowing what Wekniz had gone through, saving lives in the midst of a raging inferno, only intensified that notion. Falinset thought he preferred the marked left side more than the unscarred, handsome right.
    Falinset offered his noble Nobek a grim smile. “Why worry ourselves about honor at this point? They’ve made it so we’re well beyond that. Go ahead and pound Feyom and Maf with my blessing.”
    Nur came close to sit on Falinset’s desk. He scowled. “We have honor. We are not our parent clans. Or our biological parents.” He lifted a perfectly arched brow at Falinset.
    Falinset woofed out a breath, his large jaw tensing. “We’re still suspect if our parents’ misdeeds are ever discovered. I keep thinking about how good it would be to pick up and leave the Empire. Just get out for good.”
    Wekniz’s rumble was comforting even as he reminded Falinset, “We can’t outrun all of it.”
    “Particularly not Maf’s latest scheme. Feyom hinted strongly that he may be aligning himself with the Basma in this rebellion craziness.”
    Nur’s mouth dropped open in shock. “By the ancestors, is he mad?” On the heels of that statement, he found a note of hope. “Maybe we can turn that to our advantage. We could report your suspicions to the authorities.”
    Now it was Falinset’s turn to remind someone of unpleasant facts. “And Maf will spill his guts about your parent clan’s drug deals and Wekniz’s fathers’ embezzlement of government contract funds along with stealing security secrets.”
    “If it was an anonymous tip—”
    Wekniz cut the Imdiko off. “Maf already said if he goes down for any reason, he’ll take everyone he can with him.”
    Falinset nodded his grim agreement. “He doesn’t have to know who called him out. He’ll retaliate against everyone he’s got under his thumb.”
    The old expressions of shame clouded his clanmates’ faces. Yet again Falinset silently cursed Maf for threatening everyone who had something he wanted and Feyom for not keeping her legs closed.
    His throat closing with the familiar fury of powerlessness, Falinset told the others, “We say not one word. I will have nothing to do with Maf as much as possible. Not to aid him, not to hinder him. We’ve carved out a decent life for ourselves by keeping him and his dealings at a distance. I see no reason to change that.”
    Wekniz eyed him speculatively. “What if it comes out he’s somehow helped the rebellion?”
    “Then we know nothing. Feyom did not come out and say anything definite about the matter anyway. For all I know, she was just spewing another of her many lies.”
    Falinset looked from one to the other. Wekniz and Nur. His Nobek and his Imdiko. The only people he would ever stick his neck out for, because the rest of the universe was a rotten cesspool of liars and schemers.
    He said decisively, “We have no allegiance to anyone outside our clan. Let the Empire continue or fall. It’s all the same to us. Right?”
    After a moment, Nur nodded reluctantly. Wekniz scowled again, but he came over and clapped a hand on the Dramok’s shoulder in agreement.
    They had each other. With their parents committing so many wrongs, it would have to be enough in their small, isolated world.
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    Kalquor plunged into chaos after Princess Noelle was abducted. Rioting renewed in public areas as pro-Empire and pro-Basma demonstrators clashed. Martial law was declared to keep the peace, but trouble kept erupting anyway. Fires were set at government facilities and the homes of anti-government people alike.
    The Basma sent out a message to the Empire. Even with the revolt’s leader’s voice electronically altered, the glee he spoke with was clearly heard.
    “The first true blow against our impure, treasonous leaders has been struck. I have the princess, one of the half-breeds that would presume to lead our proud culture into infamy. She