Page 8 of Advance and Retreat (Dark Empire #6)

The human made her careful way toward them, apparently working out stiffness after spending hours in the cramped bin. She grasped the edge of the latest box and peered at the stacks of circuit boards. “I’m the first? Can I help?”

“Not if we want to keep our jobs. Sorry,” Ershma said. His smile was almost respectful as he sought to charm her. “Don’t worry; we’re making this as quick as possible. I’m Ershma. What’s your name?”

Behind the woman’s back, Ivad rolled her eyes. She wasn’t interested in sleeping with Boy-Girl, and Ershma would be wise to figure it out sooner than later.

“I’m Matara Hope of Clan Piras.”

“Very nice to meet you, Matara Hope.”

He picked up the pace, and the bin was cleared faster than Ivad would have preferred. The next one had better be worth it.

Her pique was forgotten as a well-muscled Kalquorian was revealed. He uncurled his bulk far quicker than the Earther had, though he’d been stuffed tighter in the confines. His gaze was wide, almost fearful, until he caught sight of Hope.

“My Matara,” he breathed and grabbed her for a quick kiss, then sprang out. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. Glad to be free of that bin. I never imagined I could be claustrophobic until now.”

He held her close. His stare pinned the Beonids. “Where are the rest?”

“We’re working on it.” Ershma flinched, shot a significant glance at Ivad, and hurried to another crate.

Ivad paused a moment before joining him. The man’s soft gaze on the Earther had initially given her the impression of him being a gentle Imdiko...an undeniably delicious Imdiko she’d have been nice to the woman to have a taste of...but he now displayed the uncompromising command of a Dramok.

Hell, she’d fuck the Earther’s brains out to have a go at him. He made her tremble.

“No one in this bin,” Ershma muttered when it opened to display a miscellaneous pile of used parts, half of which were probably junk. The sides of the bin were standard thin.

They moved on. The Kalquorian stood over them as they opened it to find new holo monitor projectors. They wasted no time on inventorying and stacking them on the shelves. Instead, they set the shipment on the floor and opened the false bottom.

Ivad licked her lips as a feral and bearded Kalquorian stood tall, his posture indicating he was ready to fight. Scars crisscrossed his arms, left bare by a sleeveless but armored top. Hello Nobek. He relaxed only slightly to see his clanmates grinning at him.

“Piras?” he rumbled as he climbed out to join them.

“Apparently in one of those two,” the first male answered, gesturing toward the remaining bins. Ivad still hadn’t settled in her mind if he was an Imdiko or Dramok.

The Nobek moved close to one, then the other, his nostrils flaring. He pointed to the farthest. “In there.”

Barely a minute later, the smallest of the males was among them. One look and Ivad had no doubt he was the Dramok of the group. He was disheveled, but his state and stature did nothing to diminish the air of authority he wore like a second skin.

She and Ershma exchanged a lustful glance. When it came to Kalquorians, demanding Dramoks were their mutual weakness.

Disappointment washed over them when the man identified as Piras gave them a casual examination before dismissing them. “Tell your supervisor I wish to speak to him now. We have a lot of ground to cover in a short span. Thank you.”

Ivad pouted but couldn’t deny someone who wielded command like a weapon. Ershma at her side, she hurried to fetch Elcoger.

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“Y ou’re saying the Darks give every indication they have to come by information through the usual means?

Bribery, coercion, seeing evidence for themselves?

” Piras asked their Dantovonian host. He stretched, still trying to work the kinks out after having been cramped for so long.

Being smuggled wasn’t the most pain he’d endured, but he was in no hurry to do it again.

“So it would seem. Why wouldn’t it be different?

” Elcoger also stretched, extending limbs Hope would have called his grasshopper legs since he was among the spare-bodied of his kind.

Fatter Dantovonians she’d compared to frogs.

She claimed it was hard to reconcile the species’ insectile and amphibian attributes.

“You aren’t dealing with just the Darks, the offshoots of the All. The All itself is here, enveloping Jedver, its moons, and a swath of space beyond,” Piras informed him.

Elcoger grimaced, grinding the segmented scales of his face together. “I had no idea. Then again, reliable information regarding the occupier is difficult to come by. Those who discover too much disappear.”

“The endgame is for all of us to disappear. If the All can’t be defeated, the entire dimension is on borrowed time.” Piras had no idea if Elcoger would care enough to do more than angle for profit until the end came, but he had nothing to lose when it came to attempting to make invested allies.

If he’d impressed the Dantovonian, he saw no indication of it. Elcoger showed them the security of their abode. “This room’s defensive containment is set to kill when armed. The agreement is you won’t venture out and expose my involvement until you decide to leave the planet.”

“That’s the plan. We’ll be sending out nanobots aboard drones, however.” Piras flicked a glance at Hope and Lokmi. They listened, their interest rapt. Neither gave any indication of his half-lie.

“Drones are most helpful when it comes to keeping an eye on matters,” Elcoger agreed. “We’ll key those I have monitoring the neighborhood to recognize yours as friendly. This is how they’re deployed.”

He produced a remote device, a small black rectangle dotted by a few buttons. He showed the spies how to open a thin slat in the wall near the ceiling. It was just big enough for a drone to exit and enter by. He also demonstrated how to open a window in the containment corresponding to the slat.

“What about exits for us?” Kila asked, eyeing the sole door from the room dubiously. “One way in, one way out? Smells like a trap to me.”

“You’d think so, and it certainly could be. However, when authorities decide to inspect my facility, they invariably surround the entire building. No doubt they fear a secret exit. If there were one, you’d walk right into their waiting arms.”

“As opposed to having them come in and apprehend us here.” He scowled at Piras, clearly disliking the situation.

“If they can find you. Observe.” Elcoger pointed his remote at a set of shelves.

The unit and the wall it was attached to obligingly opened to reveal a space.

“The walls are made of stelnium metal. Fully shielded, and the door itself is undetectable to scanners. Even my employees are unaware of this space.”

The clan approached the area between walls.

It was large enough for them to stand in.

They could also lie in it, provided they did so in a line, heads to feet.

It would hardly be comfortable if they were forced to hide for hours, but it was an improvement over the cargo bins they’d stuffed themselves into to reach Elcoger’s repair shop.

To keep from being captured by the Darks, Piras deemed it adequate.

“There’s a light in the space. Should you be forced to use it, I’ll switch it to blue once the danger is past.” Elcoger hop-turned and pointed a pincer at a cylindrical bulb over the door to the front service area.

“The regular lights will blink and that will pulse red if someone shows up whom you’d best conceal yourself from. ”

Piras glanced around. The two beds in the main storage area would be barely adequate for any of the men to sleep on.

He, Lokmi, and Kila would have to take turns on the floor, two at a time.

Then he considered where they could set up their workspace and discovered they really had no hope of doing so.

On second thought, the beds could serve double duty as tables.

Hope and Lokmi would have to learn to keep their tools and devices better organized than they were used to.

The pair had a bad habit of strewing their project parts.

The four spies were in for an uncomfortable stay, but it was their best...hell, their only...chance to find and get Secretary-General Mereta off Jedver.

Piras accorded a respectful bow to Elcoger. “Thank you for your help on our mission. We’re grateful.”

The Dantovonian beamed to receive deference. He gave the admiral the remote for their sanctuary. “I wish you luck on your enterprise, Kalquorians and Earther. Let me know if you need anything beyond our agreement, and I’ll compute the cost.”

They saved their chuckles until he left. “Gotta love those Dantovonians. Everything comes at a price,” Lokmi snickered.

“At least we know what to expect from them. Shall we set up?” Piras asked.

“Where?” Hope eyed the rows of crowded shelves, the scant floor space, and the small beds dubiously.

“You’ll have to use the beds as your workstations,” Piras said. “It’ll be a headache to clear off when someone wants to sleep, but they’re all we have.”

“Damned terrible use for what should serve the little recreation we have available,” Lokmi groused.

“You are not thinking of sex after we were squashed flat in those cargo bins for so long?” Hope demanded. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need at least a week to recover. Every inch of me is kinked. My kinks have kinks.”

“I love it when you’re kinky,” Lokmi grinned.

“Forget it. I don’t trust these people to have washed the sheets recently, and Elcoger or his employees might come strolling in unannounced.”

“Not if they’re worried about dying by lethal containment barrier.”

“They can still open the door and look in.”

Lokmi approached her. “I thought you were ready to be watched by others?”

“And judged? You missed how those sneering Beonids looked at me, especially the sister. No thanks.” She crossed her arms across her chest.

But she didn’t back away, even when Lokmi began stroking her. Piras watched to see how the situation would play out and if he’d be allowed to take part.