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Nako came to a halt and grabbed his arm. “You will. You sat on the sidelines while Terig and I realized our goals. We’re satisfied with what we’ve accomplished. Everything else we might do is gravy, as Piper would say. Piper’s happy too, and not only because she gets to arrange a home for us.”
She did have a dream in particular for herself and her clan, and she’d talked to him about it a week before. They’d planned to discuss it with Ulof and Terig together. Ulof’s concerns forced Nako to break the news solo.
“Once we’re settled in the new place, she wants a baby.”
His announcement brought his clanmates up short. Terig blinked for a second, then a smile crept across his face. “She told you this?”
“She did. What do you think?”
“Yeah. Absolutely.” Terig’s grin was bright in his black beard.
“Ulof?”
The Imdiko’s eyes were wide. The angst feeding his anger at his shortcomings faded. “A baby. A child. Our child. It would be…amazing.”
It would also be life altering for Ulof. When he was around young children, particularly his nephews, there wasn’t a trace of frustration. He loved youngsters, from infants to teens. He was as patient as any of his official breed when it came to kids, ready to play with them like a child himself, doting when they needed attention. Ulof was the favorite uncle of the youngsters connected to Clan Nako for good reason.
Nako had no doubt he’d be a wonderful father. Piper had ardently agreed.
“We probably wouldn’t be so well set up to be parents if it weren’t for your work pushing us to a settled lifestyle,” Terig pointed out to Ulof. “Terraforming, which means staying in one place for extended periods, gives us the option.”
“I hadn’t considered that.” Ulof grabbed Nako’s arm. “Can we do this? Can we start having kids now?”
“Piper and I think it’s time.”
“Yes!” Ulof beamed, as delighted as he’d been upset moments before. Nako would have quit the fleet to witness him so happy.
Fortunately for his sense of well-being, it wasn’t required. “Life can’t get better, can it?” He basked in Ulof’s joy, in the promise of the clan’s bright future.
“Shall we toast to us?” Dramok Ospar raised his glass of leshella to the three men who stood with him, observing the celebration…particularly the singer who was currently all the rage in eight different star systems. Ospar counted snagging Matt Larsen for a private function as a coup, though the musician’s manager had driven a hell of a hard bargain. Ospar had been forced to pony up half the substantial fee from his private account to land the rising star who played guitar as well as he sang.
“I think we deserve to pat our own backs.” His business partner Dramok Rajhir raised his glass too, as did their fellow Dramoks, Diltan and Falinset.
“To us then, the fathers of a new Earth, whether the Earthtiques admit it or not.”
They chuckled and sipped their drinks. Ospar eyed Diltan with interest. “Tell us, Councilman, what’s the atmosphere in the Royal Council’s chambers when the traditionalists come up?”
Diltan shrugged. “The usual. The moderates say to keep an eye on Earth’s situation, as there’s no immediate threat they’ll gain real power in the near future. On the extreme sides, you have a group saying let the Earthers cut their own throats if they drift into fanaticism again, and another group urging to covertly ensure the most popular of the Earthtiques won’t attain real power.”
Ospar sighed. “What I wouldn’t do to be in the thick of it again.”
Rajhir patted his shoulder, regret drifting over his features. “We have our charitable foundations. They wield a certain amount of political influence.”
Not as much as Ospar would have liked. Barred from holding office for life, he and Rajhir often talked deep into the night about politics and what they’d do if they still held positions of power.
Falinset grimaced. “All the maneuvering and plotting outcomes that rarely end up how you hope they will? I don’t see the good in holding political office.”
“Because you saw only the damage your father did. Sometimes you can do wonders for your people. When the honor of the empire is enhanced because of the deals you made, when citizens possessing little hope are elevated because you saw to it they were? There’s nothing so life affirming.” Ospar spoke with religious zeal. Politics had indeed been his calling before desperate decisions to save the empire had resulted in war and the demise of the first planet named Earth. He'd been an integral part of those desperate decisions, and the fallout had wrecked his aspirations.
“My father believed he was upholding the empire’s honor while he damned near destroyed it,” Falinset muttered.
Ospar didn’t flinch from his miserable glare. Falinset was a decent man, unlike the late and unlamented Dramok Maf. It was hard to observe the pain he still nursed as the son of Kalquor’s most infamous traitor, but Ospar wouldn’t look away. To do so would give Falinset the idea he also was despised.
Rajhir gripped the younger man’s shoulder. “Your contribution to Earth has made up for the evils of the war Maf conducted. Whenever the chance has come up, you’ve been the first to ask how you can help those who suffered.”
“As my Imdiko would remind you, you can’t show your greatness unless there’s trouble to fight against,” Ospar chimed in. “When trouble came, you rose to the challenge, Falinset.”
Diltan raised his glass again. “Another noble outcome to drink to.”
