Clan and Conviction (Clan Beginnings) (20 page)

“But there’s no guarantee they won’t set it up again!” Gelan raged.  “And the ones who are most guilty could still get away.”

Wynhod was patient with him.  It was almost as if he was the calm, controlling Dramok and Gelan the warpath-storming Nobek.  “It would take an insane amount of capital to make Delir happen again at the level it was.  That manufacturing plant is ridiculously expensive.  They did it once, but can they do it again?  Even if they can, it won’t be for any time soon.  Meanwhile, hundreds – probably
thousands
of lives are saved because Delir is off the market.  Isn’t that the most important thing?”

Gelan clicked his computer to bring up the images of the missing four gang members.  He stared morosely at the feral faces glaring back at him from the vids.  If he could catch just one of those men, one in the next tier of the gang’s operation, he might be able to take the whole thing down.  How many levels could it possibly be to the leaders themselves?  Surely no more than two.  At the most, three.  No gang he’d ever heard of had more than four levels:  aspiring gang members, the main group of grunts, a few officers, and the leader or leaders. 

Nobeks Anam, Huk, and Wason.  Dramok Behor.  The names of the four third-tier gang members who had gone missing were burned in Gelan’s brain.  Their vicious, snarling faces etched on his memory.  If he could find just one of them, it could finish this once and for all.

“My fathers want to know when we’re going to have the clanning ceremony.  They need to put in for leave from work to attend.”

Wynhod’s statement jerked Gelan out of his reverie.  He blinked.

“By the ancestors, Wynhod, we haven’t announced our clanship yet.  You haven’t even moved your stuff in.”

With the Delir case moving so fast, Gelan and Wynhod had delayed telling everyone but their parents that they were officially a couple now.  They had agreed to hold off filing their status until things at work had settled down.

There had been mixed reactions at the beginning from the parent clans.  Gelan’s mother and Dramok father in particular had protested it.

Ten days prior, Matara Asilef had glared at the pair over the vid transmission.  “You must be joking.  You haven’t spoken in what, seven years?  A few days back together and you decide you’d make good clanmates?”

Dramok Kehah weighed in.  The father Gelan most closely resembled scowled, putting deep lines between his brows.  “You couldn’t be bothered to stay in touch all that time, yet now you can’t live without each other?  You know we like Wynhod, my son, but this is most suspect.”

Asilef nodded, her curls springing up and down from the violence of her motion.  “Exactly.  It’s too soon.  You need more time.”

“I disagree.”  Gelan’s Nobek father Rovew had his turn next.  “If after all this time they have reconnected to the degree that they are driven to clan, then I think the bond is secure.”

“Gelan is mature beyond his years,” Imdiko Hasbu asserted.  “He is also old enough that our permission is not required.  I appreciate the respect of seeking our blessing however, my son and my son’s Nobek.”  He smiled.

Asilef rounded on her clanmate.  “Wynhod is not his Nobek yet.”  Her eyes widened and she turned to Wynhod.  “Are you?”

He bowed his head.  “He has not asked formally.  We have only exchanged our intention to clan.” 

“Well, why not keep it at that level for a little while?  You’re still young.  Gelan hasn’t even reached his thirtieth birthday yet.”

Rovew pointed out, “He will soon.  He shouldn’t get much older before seeking an Imdiko anyway, and having a Nobek like Wynhod would attract more interest.”

Asilef stared at her Nobek.  “Mother of All, why are we talking Imdikos now?”

“As a rule, that breed clans young.  Gelan and Wynhod don’t want to be too much older before finding one.  A significant age gap can make things difficult.”

Hasbu nodded his agreement.  “When I came of clanning age, men only ten years older who courted me seemed ancient and out of touch.  I and my friends didn’t have the sense to appreciate older Dramoks and Nobeks, and we rarely took their suits seriously.  It is time Gelan started his clan.”

Asilef wasn’t convinced.  “So why can’t he remain merely intended to Wynhod while they search out their third?”

Wynhod’s voice was quiet as he spoke to Gelan’s mother.  “Am I not worthy of being Gelan’s Nobek?”

Asilef gaped at him and waved her hands in horror.  “By the ancestors, Wynhod, you know I’ve always loved you like a son.  That we’ve exchanged regular coms throughout the years should tell you I would be thrilled to have you as part of my family.”

“Then why are we arguing about this?” Hasbu sighed.

“Because I want them to be sure of each other before making a lifelong commitment!”

Meanwhile, Gelan turned to Wynhod in surprise.  “You kept in contact with my parents after I left?”

Asilef gave him a reproachful look.  “Yes he did, my son.  Sometimes he was better about it than you.”

“I told you, I love her chafga casserole.  I had to remain in her good graces.”  Wynhod smiled winningly at everyone.

His statement cracked them all up, easing the tension.  By the end of the conversation, Asilef and Kehah were still reluctant about the clanning of their only son, but Gelan thought they would come around.  His parents genuinely approved of Wynhod.

The Nobek’s surviving Dramok and Imdiko fathers were also torn about the sudden re-kindling of Gelan and Wynhod’s relationship.  However, their concerns weren’t nearly as intense.

After a few days, all the parents had accepted that the two would clan.  Asilef even laughingly agreed to make her casserole for the reception after their official ceremony.

His impending clanship with Wynhod was another reason Gelan felt impatient to get the Delir case resolved.  Somehow he felt it would not be a good omen to begin their lives together with something of such great import distracting them from each other.

He scowled at the four faces snarling at him from the vids.  Anam, Huk, Wason, and Behor.  If he could catch just one…

Wynhod grinned, his handsome face a jarring counterpoint to the sneering vids he peered at Gelan between.  The Nobek propped his feet up on his desk.  His look possessed pure deviltry as he said, “Well, officially clanned or not, I’m okay as long as I get to fuck you on a regular basis.  But now that we’ve won the parents over, they are getting a bit impatient.”

“I know.”  Gelan sighed.  Asilef was becoming increasingly vocal about the ceremony too, wanting to plan it to the tiniest detail.  “My mother is already asking for a guest list and good locations for the ceremony.  If we’re not careful, she’ll have it as elaborate as one fit for an Imperial clanning.”

“As long as she makes that casserole, she can arrange whatever she likes.”

Gelan laughed and shook his head.   “It is so easy to read you.  You either think with your stomach or points below.”

“And that’s a problem because…?”

Before Gelan could reply, his emergency com went off.  He and Wynhod were on their feet in a second.

“Investigator Gelan here.”

“Nost.  We’ve got major activity at the Delir lab.”

“On my way.”

He and Wynhod raced out of the department and down the corridors.

Chapter 12

Gelan, Wynhod, and Nost arrived at Undercover Ops’ surveillance command post, half a mile away from Advantage Industries.  A massive complement of enforcers and snipers came with them.  Gelan and Wynhod let Nost lead them to where his men had been stationed for the duration of their stakeout.  There they found the site commander, a Nobek named Gij, waiting for them.  He sent the enforcer squads to cover the Advantage cavern system’s access points.

“What’s happening?” Gelan asked once they’d been deployed. 

Gij grimaced, the lines in his wide face deepening.  “It looks like they’re trying to pull out the Delir operation.  Nearly thirty men are loading machinery and bins onto shuttles, and about fifty armed men showed up to stand guard.”

He took Gelan, Nost, and Wynhod to a viewing station, where all the surveillance equipment feeds played.  The main entrance into Advantage Industries was a hub of activity, all right.  Brutal-looking men with percussion blasters at the ready were lined up, watching as hover carts flew out of the cave mouth, laden with equipment and bins.  Other men were quickly loading five large transports and sending the emptied carts back into the plant’s interior.

Gelan’s heart hammered.  “By the ancestors.  I knew they were using military-grade blasters, but the transports are battle armored too.  Where did they get that shit?”

Wynhod looked over the situation, his eyes alight.  “It’s going to be a hellacious firefight.” 

Gij grinned at him.  “Sorry to break it to you Enforcer, but I’ve order in a shockwave-capable shuttle for those nasty boys on the outside.  However, it looks like there are a lot of people inside that building too, so you might still get some action.”

Nost told him, “Investigator Gelan has pulled in everyone from all shifts to get this done.  Whenever you’re ready, site commander.”

Gij nodded.  “I think we should get this going before we lose all our evidence.”

“We’ll get into position,” Gelan told them.

He and Wynhod left the command post, hurrying to the ridge that surrounded the Delir lab and its cover company.  Soon they were creeping stealthily to a spot where they would be able to shoot at anyone who tried to escape once the shockwave hit.  They were still several yards away when the Nobek pointed to a small rise in the landscape. 

Wynhod said, “That would be good cover for you.”

“Are you kidding?”  Gelan pulled his blaster out of its holster on his belt.  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.  Why should you enforcers have all the fun?”

He kept going, passing the concealment for something closer to where the action would be.  The Dramok was more than ready for a fight.  In fact, he’d gotten semi-erect just thinking about the potential battle ahead.  His fangs kept descending, like those of the Nobek enforcers he joined behind a rocky outcropping. 

Wynhod slid next to him, his own blaster out and ready.  He looked carefully around at the other men.  The attack force spread out along the ridge that rose over the caves hiding the manufacturing plant and the men guarding it. 

The Nobek leaned close to whisper so no one else could hear, his lips moving against Gelan’s ear.  “Do me a favor, my Dramok.”

Gelan choked off a growl though he was sure Wynhod was about to ask him to stay back when the fighting commenced.  Not that he had any intention of that happening.

Fixing his partner with a narrow glare, he snarled, “What?”

“Never let anyone challenge your breed designation.  I want our clanship to stand.”

Gelan stared at Wynhod, confused.  His mind had fixed on the coming battle, and the fact the Nobek wasn’t trying to talk him out of being a part of it left him puzzled.  As hard as he tried to figure out what Wynhod had said, he couldn’t quite decipher it.  He was too riveted on capturing the lab.

The site commander’s voice in his earpiece ended the attempt.  “Officers, take up your positions and prepare for battle.  The shuttle with the shockwave will arrive in less than a minute.” 

Gelan shifted so that he faced the ridge, ready to spring up and fire on targets at the signal.  He flipped on his helmet visor, which gave him a ghostly image of the scene on the other side of his protective barrier.  One of the transports being used to take pieces of the lab away was apparently at capacity.  Its hatch closed and engines cycled up as it readied to depart. 

The hum of a nearing shuttle alerted him that the attack on the lab was imminent.  It streaked overhead and past, drawing to an abrupt halt over the gang’s guards and transports.  A buzzing sound filled the air. 

All of the guards and many others dropped instantly.  People on the edge of the shockwave staggered and tried to run for the cave, pulling blasters from holsters.  The running transport rose off the ground a few feet and moved forward, no doubt attempting to escape.  The police shuttle fired on it, knocking it back to the ground.

Several men rushed out of the cave.  At the site commander’s signal, Gelan and Wynhod rose with the rest from their hiding places and opened fire.  Return blasts shivered the air before them, buffeting their bodies hard.  Their protective armor kept anything from doing mortal damage, though they jerked from the force.

The battle went on for what felt like forever, though Gelan knew it was only a few minutes.  The police shuttle hovered out of blaster range over the cave, ready to unleash another shockwave should any of the gang venture out.  They had their deadly enemies pinned in.

Site commander Gij signaled the next offensive.  “Forward squads, advance on the cave’s main entrance.”

Gelan would have given anything to be at the front of the fight, but he was not part of an enforcement squad.  He knew better than to disrupt their tactics, so he let Wynhod lead him out, moving to the far edge of the group.  What the hell; it was still better than staying behind and watching.