Clan and Conscience

Fighting murderous enemies. Battling each other. It's the perfect recipe for romance, Kalquorian-style.

On the surface, young Dramok Ospar has it all: money, prestige, power. Yet what he dreams of most is outside his grasp. His drive to prove himself has left him lonely, with no one to turn to…except the Nobek bodyguard who is decidedly unimpressed with his accomplishments. Oh, and there's the matter of the local crime syndicate trying to kill him too.

Nobek Jol faces his worst security assignment ever: guarding the most irritating Dramok to draw breath. It's not that Ospar isn't handsome, intelligent, brave, and charitable. It's just that he'd be so much better gagged into silence.

Temple of Life priest Imdiko Rivek wishes for inner peace and total enlightenment. He knows he won't find it in the lethal world Ospar and Jol inhabit. However, fighting the allure of the pair to achieve perfect tranquility is proving to be more difficult than he could have imagined…plus the fact that their enemies think he's the perfect target to bring Ospar and Jol to heel.

Read on for an excerpt:

Dramok Ospar, general operations director of Itga Mining, blinked at his companion. Dramok Misru was glowing with supernatural brilliance, his face growing brighter.

Not just Misru. A bright flash illuminated the entire cavern of the platinum mine. Startled, Ospar wheeled to find the source of the blinding light. The mine wall he'd stepped away from five seconds ago, where he'd admired a thick vein of platinum, disappeared in a thunderous blast. Machinery and over a dozen men vanished, swallowed in the black billow of dust and rocks. He stared in astonishment.

A blast of air streamed his shoulder-length hair back. Ospar had the strange sensation of an invisible force lifting him off his feet, of a giant warm hand shoving him through the air toward the middle of the cavern.

What? What?

The stone walls, ceiling, and floor shook violently around him as he flew. He was flung through a shower of rock pellets. They stung his face. The thunder of larger chunks pummeled down in the wake of the explosion's boom, sending up a choking billow of dust.

The floor!It came up fast, rocketing toward him.

Ospar winced an instant before he landed. The Dramok hit the floor ahead of the shockwave, thudding painfully. He slid ten feet across the once well-smoothed surface, plowing through debris. When he stopped, he instinctively curled into a ball, his arms flung up to cover his head.

For several moments, all was chaos. The whole of the earth rumbled beneath and about him, as if rousing in poor temper from deep slumber. The vivid work lights installed in the cavern blinked on and off, strobing Ospar's surroundings. It made the stone seem to fall in stop-motion intervals.

A blast. Cave-in! We're going to die!

On the heels of his panicked thought, the shaking stopped. The lights strengthened again, coming to dimmed power as the shudders eased and the grumbling giant quieted.

Ospar remained curled and motionless for a few moments, listening to the larger stones settle, the smaller ones still pinging down. Catching his breath. Counting his blessings. He was alive.

He inventoried his body to reassure himself he could feel everything, and that what he felt wasn't pain. He noted burning hurts on his face, forearms, and hands, the parts of him where the skin had been exposed to the shrapnel. Otherwise, he detected no severe agony and no numbness. The cave-in…he assumed it was a cave-in and discounted his first impression of an explosion…had done him no real harm.

A scream echoed off the cavern walls.

A surge of adrenaline responded to the agonized sound. Someone was hurt. Ospar leapt to his feet. He noticed Misru had ended up next to him, knocked across the room alongside him. The elder Dramok blinked at his surroundings as he shakily came to his knees. A thin line of blood ran from his scalp, the red shockingly bright against the gray dirt covering his features.

Ospar bent and grasped his arm. "Are you all right, Misru?"

"I…I believe so, Director." He gazed up at Ospar uncertainly. "There aren't supposed to be explosives in here."

Ospar dismissed the man's confusion, peering at the mayhem of massive slabs of fallen rock and broken machinery. The conveyor belt used to carry ore to the refinery was a twisted skeleton of metal. The sifting machine feeding it was a crushed hulk. Black dust sifted, making the room appear cloudy and dim. The scream hadn't been repeated. He couldn't spot anything moving except the shifting curtain of semi-darkness. Another threatening rumble sounded, and a slight tremor rose from the floor up his legs. Fear spiked, but he held his ground. Others were present, somewhere.

Someone cried out. "Help! Help!"

Without thought for his own safety, Ospar ignored the warning mutterings of the damaged earth. He dashed toward the twisted metal carcass of what had been a digging machine, where the frantic cry had come from. He jumped over large pieces of rock to reach the vehicle, which had been knocked on its side. The operator was nowhere to be seen, but Ospar was sure it was where the call had emitted from.

He was right. The worker, his bloody features twisted in pain, was pinned beneath the vehicle from the thighs down. Ospar swallowed a cry of horror to see the blood, which wasn't confined to the man's face. It was everywhere.

I'm in charge. This is my mine. This man is dependent on me. I can't fuck up.

The thoughts helped settle Ospar, switching on the decision-making machine in his head. He stopped looking at the carnage and took in the state of affairs as a whole, as the director of Itga Mining.

The trapped Nobek shivered. The mine was indeed chilly, far cooler than the springtime warmth come lately to the mountain regions of the Wenza Territory. However, Ospar feared the worker was going into shock. He whipped off his jacket and covered the injured man's torso, pausing long enough to grip his shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "Hold on. We'll get you out of this."

The question was, how? The digger was huge, too heavy for Ospar to lift. His mind clicking through possibilities, he surveyed the room for assistance. His gaze fell on the other digger, which had been working another wall. It didn't appear damaged, and its driver staggered from behind it into Ospar's view. He looked dazed, but unhurt. Besides Ospar and the kneeling Misru, he was the sole person moving.

How many had been in the cavern as Ospar was being shown around? A dozen? Two? Many had been standing where the thickest of the rubble now piled. Sickness roiled in Ospar's belly.

Concentrate on those you can find. The men you can help. This Nobek first. Manage this situation, then move on to the next.

"Hey! Dramok Heca," Ospar called, glad he had a good memory for features and names. "Are you hurt?"

"I…I think not too badly. Is that you, Director Ospar?" Heca stared at him uncertainly though the dust was beginning to clear the air. "What happened? I thought I heard an explosion."

The man at Ospar's feet, Nobek Patlen, groaned. He teetered on the verge of unconsciousness. Misru was only now climbing to his feet, looking dazed and lost. No help there.

Ospar concentrated on the most vital matter. "It isn't important what happened at this moment. Nobek Patlen is pinned and injured. Can you use your digger to haul this one off him?"

Heca's eyes cleared. He hurried over and gazed at the scene with a practiced eye, his concentration jarring for a flash as he recognized the trouble his fellow worker was in. "Mother of All!"

"Heca. Answer me. Can your machine pull this off him?"

"I might be able to. Hang on, Patlen."

Heca rushed to the intact digger and jumped in the cab. A second later it fired up, its drone surprisingly quiet for such a large machine. It still drowned the growing chorus of moans from other unseen victims.

"Stay ready to yank him loose in case I lose hold of it," Heca shouted to Ospar.

Ospar squatted behind Patlen, grabbing hold of the now-unconscious Nobek by the armpits. He set his feet and braced as Heca brought the digger close, choosing the path least littered by rock.

As Heca neared the destroyed digger, half a dozen men burst in through a gaping tunnel opening. They wore the red-trimmed tan security uniforms of Itga Mining. At the head of the group was Nobek Talu, Itga's chief of security. His intense gaze fell on Ospar.

"Director Ospar! What happened?" Talu dashed over. He hurdled the slabs of fallen stone with more ease than Ospar had, though he was more than twice the Dramok's age.

"There might have been an explosion. We have to get this man out of here."

Heca had his digger in position. Talu shouldered Ospar aside. "Let me and my men handle this. Stand back, please."

Another Nobek, his ferocious but handsome countenance intent, took Ospar's place at Talu's side. Itga's director of general operations had no choice but to step aside and watch as Heca threaded his machine's massive drill piece through the top of the broken digger's cab. The drill rose, lifting the metal carcass of its twin to free Patlen's blood-soaked legs. The machine wobbled in the other's grip.

"Quickly!" Talu shouted. He and the younger Nobek pulled the injured worker clear an instant before the busted digger rocked loose and crashed to the stone floor.

A rumble sounded, as if in protest. The floor beneath Ospar's feet shifted, and a sheet of dirt and pebbles flowed from ceiling.

The creases in Talu's brow drove deeper as he handed Patlen off to another member of his team. "Take him to the medical department. Call in emergency services. This is a Code One situation, so be alert. Let's evacuate everybody in here and the next two caverns. Nobek Jol, make certain Director Ospar gets to safety immediately."

Ospar was quick to protest, "I can help."

Talu gave him a level look that managed to be polite and yet said don't fuck with me. "With all due respect, Director, leave or Jol will carry you out. I refuse to explain to the owners why their nephew remained in danger a second longer than was necessary."

Ospar scowled, his temper flaring to be ordered about. Yet he couldn't fault the head of security for doing his job. Talu had been employed by Itga since its start. He had been a familiar presence for the majority of the young Dramok's life. Ospar's rank wouldn't deter Talu from making good on his promise to have somebody lug him from the mine.

The brooding Nobek Talu had nodded to was the one who'd aided him in pulling Patlen from danger. Nobek Jol looked eager to obey his supervisor. His purple eyes riveted on Ospar, hands flexing in anticipation of grabbing the director and hauling him off.

Ospar gave in, but only because arguing would slow Talu's rescue effort. The men under the debris were the priority, and he wouldn't chance their lives on his pride. It failed to keep him from scowling as he marched from the scene. He paused to wrap his arm around the shattered-looking Misru to lend support, though the mine's supervisor appeared to be regaining his wits.

Ospar could feel his unwanted security escort on his heels. Like most Nobeks, Jol was silent. No matter. Ospar had known his share of the deadly breed. He didn't have to hear or see the security guard to be assured he was there.

* * * *

In Misru's office, Jol watched as Ospar examined the shaken mine supervisor's injuries. Misru's aide Imdiko Rost hovered over them, but the Nobek paid him little mind. He found it was easy to dismiss others in Ospar's presence. The man exuded authority, even covered in grime.

Itga Mining's director of operations, the nephew of the company's owners, was usually a handsome man. Jol had seen Ospar from time to time at headquarters. He knew the Dramok for the easy grin he wore, an expression that came as if it were second nature.

Charmingwas the word many used to describe Ospar. A bully, his detractors claimed.

The man's attractive features and warm grin were presently nowhere in evidence. Dust and soot from the explosion had turned Ospar's visage dark gray in places, flat-out black in others. Under the mask, he could have been the most stunning man in existence, but no one would be able to tell. It was a wonder Jol could read the concern filling the man's expression.

"I'm fine, Director. I just had my brain rattled for a moment," Misru insisted. His face was as filthy as Ospar's, smeared where they'd tried to wipe off the blood. He perched on the edge of his desk. His balance wavered every now and then, as if caught in spells of dizziness.

Jol couldn't keep from glancing at the vid commendation hanging on the wall behind Misru. It declared Itga's platinum mine had gone seven years without an accident. The streak had ended, it seemed.

Then again, what had happened minutes ago might not qualify as an accident. Talu calling a Code One bore Jol's suspicions out. Perhaps Misru's record would be allowed to stand as uninterrupted. Espionage was no accident.

"You were unconscious for more than a moment." Ospar's blue-purple eyes were vibrant, nearly glowing in the midst of the mine dust. "The cut on your head isn't bad, and I think you're only in shock. It would still be best if medical personnel checked you over to be sure." He turned to the aide. The hovering Imdiko was so clean compared to his begrimed bosses, he damned near sparkled. "Rost, the emergency personnel who are here are busy with the injured. I doubt they'll be able to attend the supervisor. Would you take Misru to the hospital yourself?"

The Imdiko took Misru's arm immediately. "Absolutely, Director."

Misru continued to act slow on the uptake, blinking at Ospar. "But the reports…and…and…the men…"

Ospar patted his shoulder and smiled. Or maybe it was a grimace. It was hard to tell under the soot. "I'll take care of everything here until Rost returns back. In fact, I don't want you on the job until tomorrow, and only if the doctors clear you for it. Anything Rost and I can't handle will wait. The mine is closed until an investigation is completed."

Either Dramok Misru was one of those who subscribed to the belief that the director's word was law, or he was too shaken to argue. Having read the man's file prior to accompanying Director Ospar's entourage to the platinum mine, Jol was inclined to assume it was the latter reason. Ospar was doing the right thing in sending him to be evaluated.

Rost quickly coaxed Misru out of the office. As the door shut behind them, Ospar appeared to note Jol's presence for the first time. He scowled, and a flash of temper lit those brilliant eyes.

His tone accusing, Ospar said, "You're still here, Nobek? I'd have thought you'd run to where the real action is. Or are you incapable of anything beyond babysitting?"

An instant of anger lit inside Jol. If unleashed, it would have been more than a match for the director's. However, Ospar had been remarkably calm thus far, given he'd just survived an explosion. Not for a single second had Jol noted a crack in his controlled veneer.

He's antagonistic because it's better than having a screaming fit after nearly being killed. Since the danger has passed and he doesn't have Misru to take care of, everything will start hitting him.

It also could be the Dramok was frustrated he was stuck in the office. He'd wanted to assist the rescue efforts and had resented Talu sending him away. Jol experienced a sense of similar helplessness, playing bodyguard in a safe area rather than rendering aid to those who needed it.

Jol wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt. However, he was aware of Dramok Ospar's reputation. The cynic in him wondered if he wasn't seeing the director on the brink of living up to the rumors.

Many accused Ospar of being a bully when he failed to get his way. He was known for resorting to intimidation tactics when he couldn't charm situations to his satisfaction. Maybe it was why he baited Jol, acting the tyrant who had no redeeming reason for his actions.

It didn't matter. In the end, Jol worked for Itga, which meant he worked for its director of operations. He tamped down the flash of hot resentment and bowed to the chain of command as Misru had. He kept his mouth shut.

When Jol offer no answer, Ospar's annoyance grew. "Hello? Are you hearing me, Nobek?" He spoke insultingly, as if instructing a child. "There's a mess in the mine. An accident has occurred. People may be under the rubble. Shouldn't you be there, rescuing them? They need help. I don't."

Asshole.Jol had punched faces in for far less condescension.

Stay in control. He's scared from the blast. His main concern appears to be for the workers.Jol could forgive the man's rampant insolence in that light. And ignorance, considering the larger issue to be considered. Jol had been pondering it while Ospar fussed over Misru.

Cocking an eyebrow at the man, his single concession to the disrespect from his employer, Jol answered, "There were a lot of men in there."

Ospar's comically shocked expression mocked him. "It speaks! The creature is capable of communication. How amazing." He dropped the act and glared disdainfully. "Yes, by my count there were at least a dozen men in there who could use a strong Nobek to rescue them. Why are you here?"

Because Talu is thinking the same thing I am about the explosion. Code One is rarely called unless sabotage is suspected.

Beyond the cold calculations of his job, Jol was beginning to believe the tales of Ospar's arrogance. It was in each word he uttered, the statements of the rich boy handed everything on a silver platter. Jol decided he wouldn't make further excuses for the pompous jerk.

Instead of answering the director, Jol indulged his pique. He teased Ospar with the conclusion he'd arrived at, starting by correcting him. "There were almost two dozen workers in there. A lot of men for a mostly automated job, wouldn't you agree? But then, the site supervisors like to put on a show for the director and owners when they show up. It looks impressive when you have workers busy digging ore and minerals."

Ospar scowled. "What in the ancestors' names are you talking about?"

Jol kept dangling tidbits at him, curious if the blowhard would catch on. "It was known you'd be making a visit, Director. It's a big deal when you schedule a stop in your mines, isn't it?"

"If you have something to say, Nobek, I'd appreciate you doing so."

"How often are explosives used in mines? After the initial opening of a new chamber, that is?"

Ospar's eyes narrowed. Suspicion was beginning to dawn. "Your point?"

"Misru trotted out a lot of people he didn't need. He did so to impress you. However, he'd never detonate explosives to show off to the heir of the Itga fortune. Especially when a blast could squash said heir under a ton of rock."

Ospar froze. He stared at Jol, his mouth hanging open. "You're saying the explosion was no accident. I was targeted?"

At least he was as sharp as Jol had been told, which was good. It might help Talu's security force keep him alive during work hours, if Jol's suspicions proved correct.

"You've made a enemies in the past few months. Particularly Dramok Urt, owner of Pladon Industries. I'm interested in learning what the investigation into this incident digs up…no pun intended."

The space between Ospar's brows creased, driving the mine dust into darker lines. "Hold on a second. I wasn't the only one in there. There were innocent men as well. Urt wouldn't dare…he couldn't."

Jol shrugged. He was again struck by how Ospar thought first of those who'd been caught in the blast. He possessed wealth and rank, yet cared for those who worked for him, the men who literally got dirt under their nails. Could a man be a jerk and possess a conscience as well?

The Nobek shared none of those notions. He addressed the matter of his favorite suspect in the unexplained explosion. "Just in case your competitor or anybody else would attack you in such a fashion, I'll do as I was ordered and stay close to you. I'll ensure they don't get another chance."

Ospar stared at him, real distress pinching his features. Horror even. Jol felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. Realizing his presence might have placed the workers in danger was an ugly epiphany for Ospar.

Maybe he wasn't such a jerk.