5. Chapter 4

No one looked up when Rocor and Jasmine entered the hall together. Everyone sat at a long table at one end of the chamber. Jasmine's team sat intermixed between the Assans on both sides of the table piled high with roasted meat. Everybody helped themselves.

Rocor sat down across from Jasmine, right where she couldn't fail to look directly at him. She distracted herself by looking over the other people at the table. She saw Warku and Freya, along with an older lady Jasmine assumed must be the Clan's matriarch, Rocor's mother. "Where is everybody? I thought there were more people living in this Keep."

"My father is sick," Rocor replied.

"What about Gao?" Jasmine asked.

"My brother got injured this afternoon. He's recuperating in his room."

Jasmine's head shot up. "Injured! How? He was fine earlier."

Rocor shrugged. "He went out into the forest, and he hurt his arm. He'll be fine in a day or two, but right now, he's too hurt to leave his bed."

"That's too bad. I was hoping to meet your father, too."

"His health has failed these last few months. We have no idea how much longer he'll last."

Dana spoke up from farther down the table. "What will happen if he dies? What traditions do you have for succession?"

Rocor's eyes slipped down the table toward his brother Warku. The next instant, he recovered and came back to looking in front of him. He couldn't stop Jasmine seeing that glance, though. What loaded meaning did that glance carry between the brothers? "Traditionally, it's the oldest son who succeeds the patriarch."

Warku voice boomed down the table. "That won't happen now, though. You can count on that."

Jasmine looked back and forth between the brothers. "Why won't it happen now?"

Rocor shrugged. "My brother wants to challenge me for succession."

"Wants to!" Warku thundered. "Forget about wants to. I do challenge you. I challenge you right now. I'll tear you apart and leave you for the vermin."

This pleasant meal started to turn into something Jasmine didn't want to be part of. "Is there some problem here?"

Rocor turned to Warku. "You can't challenge me when Father is still alive. He might recover."

"You hope he recovers," Warku shot back. "You hope and pray you don't have to face me. We both know you could never defeat me."

Jasmine help up her hand. "Let's not argue about this. I'm sure you can work out your differences without violence."

Rocor kept his eyes fixed on the piece of meat in his hands. "A challenge of this kind can only be settled with violence. It's just as well Father will be dead and won't see the outcome. When this is all over, he'll have only one son left alive, since Gao wants to challenge both of us for succession, too. We'll fight until one of us triumphs."

"And that will be me," Warku added.

Rocor's eyes shot to his brother's face, and he laughed out loud.

That laugh infuriated Warku worse than ever. He exploded away from the table and launched himself across the stunned team. Freya jumped up at the last second and flung her arms around him. She stopped him attacking Rocor just in time.

"I'll kill you!” Warku thundered. "I'll flay you alive! You want to destroy our Clan, but I won't let it happen. I warned Father about you. I tried to get him to pass you by, but he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't turn away from his favorite son."

"His favorite!" Rocor bellowed back. "You poisoned Father against me for years. The very instant he's dead, I'll make sure you never interfere with me again."

Warku strained against Freya's arms. "You snake! You foul-mouthed wretch! I'll lick your blood off my...."

Before he could finish, Rocor rocketed across the table. He extended both arms toward his brother. Jasmine screamed out, "Rocor, no!" but he didn't hear.

At the same moment, Warku threw off Freya's arms and flew forward to meet his brother. Jasmine raised her arms to cover her eyes so she wouldn't see them attack each other. She started to close her eyes when a different voice pounded into the hall. "Stop right there!"

That voice commanded the attention of everyone present. Every face turned toward the sound. A tall man with sandy hair strode into the room. He carried his muscled shoulders cut straight out from his body, and his eyes flashed around the hall.

Freya leapt toward him. "Callan!"

The combatants fell away from each other and stared. Freya embraced the newcomer and escorted him toward the table. "This is my oldest brother, Callan. He's married to Haya Harkniss, and he lives in Harkniss Keep."

Jasmine glanced around the table. Rocor frowned at Callan, and Warku shifted from one foot to the other. So, this was the oldest son, not Rocor. If Callan wanted to succeed his father as patriarch of Clan Assan, all these other brothers would be out in the cold.

Jasmine put out her hand to Callan. "You must know our other team. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Callan looked down at her hand, but he didn't move to shake it. "Yes, I know your friends. That's why I'm here. Your fellow Commander, Rose, sent me here to tell you the Allies intend to escalate their invasion. They wanted to withdraw the team, but Rose and her sister Reyna, as well as Rose's son Ben decided to remain on the planet. Rowan Harkniss sent out fliers to the other Keeps to warn them about the Allies' intentions, and he asks you to do the same. We can form a united front against the Allies. They won't be able to split us up."

Rex spoke up from Jasmine's other side. "We know all about it. We talked to General Duncan ourselves."

Jasmine shot him a black look, but she addressed her reply to Rocor. "I tried to tell you this before, but you were too busy planning your assault against the Ulasso. This is further confirmation the Allies pose a much greater threat to you than any other group of your own people. You should drop your plans against the Ulasso and prepare to meet the Allies."

Rocor shook his head. "I won't break off my attack against the Ulasso. You're from the Allies yourselves, aren't you? I see no threat from you."

"We're the advanced wave," Jasmine told him. "We're the thin end of the wedge. Once you accept us, that will make it so much harder for you to resist them in the future. I agree with Callan. You should send fliers to warn the other Clans."

"I can't do that. I need every man to fight the Ulasso."

"If you fight the Ulasso," Warku interrupted.

Jasmine spun around to face Rex. "You can confirm what I'm saying. Tell them."

Rex cocked his head to one side. "Tell them what?"

"Tell them what we just talked about in my room. Tell them the Allies aren't as peaceful as they pretend to be. Tell them this research mission is a pretext to establish an Allies presence on this planet." She whirled around to face Rocor. "General Duncan just told us what would happen outside. She wants to withdraw us and send in the diplomatic team. Don't you see what this means? They'll force you to join the Allies whether you want to or not."

"That's exactly what Rose says," Callan put in.

Rocor turned to Rex. "Is this true? Is any of this true?"

Rex shrugged. "I don't know what she's talking about. The Allies are perfectly peaceful. They never forced anybody to join their Alliance. In fact, more planets want to join than would be allowed in. They all want to take advantage of the Allies' prosperity."

"Rex!" Jasmine cried. "How can you sit there and lie about this?"

"The Allies are the most benevolent force in the galaxy," he replied. "You know that, Jasmine. You've dedicated your entire career to the Allies. We all have. If the Allies are so bad, why have you worked so hard to further their work? You've headed dozens of these missions. You never worried before about them being the thin end of the wedge."

Ron Simons bent over his food and shook his head. "This isn't possible. The Allies never hurt anybody."

Abigail patted his arm. "Of course, they haven't. We're all loyal to the Allies."

Sophia looked back and forth between all the people standing around the table. "I don't know. If Rose says the same thing, maybe it's true after all."

"How can it be true?" Abigail asked. "How could you work for the Allies all your lives, only to turn against them now?"

"It seems like a lot of reliable people are saying the same thing," Sophia replied. “Even Reyna is staying on the planet. You wouldn't expect those two sisters to make a move like that if they didn't have some reason to believe the worst."

Ron pointed at Rex. "He's the Allies rep. He says the Allies are benevolent."

"Of course, he says that," Sophia countered. "He gets paid to say that."

Rex snarled down at her. "Better watch what your step, sweetheart. You wouldn't want me to say the wrong thing about you in my report when you get home. You could wind up in a very uncomfortable position."

Sophia bent her head over the table. "Of course not."

Jasmine couldn't contain her rage any longer. She charged at Rex. A feral shriek ripped out of her throat. "You liar! You fraud! How dare you sit there and say the Allies are benevolent when you just said the opposite in my room? You bastard! I'll destroy you."

Rex bit back a smile. "Don't lose your head. You'll need that later."

His casual indifference drove her out of her mind. She hurled herself at him. Only Dana blocked her from ripping him apart. She screeched out loud and clawed the air to get at him. "You'll never come near me again. What an idiot I was for ever looking sideways at you. And to think I actually let you touch me. I could scrape my skin off with a knife to get rid of the taint of you."

Rocor pricked up his ears. "What's all this about?"

Jasmine turned bright red, but she couldn't stop herself saying these things. She shouldn't air her personal problems in front of strangers, but Rex made her so mad she couldn't stop herself. She jabbed her finger in his face. "If you say one word about what Sophia said in your report, I'll make sure you never represent the Allies again. Don't think I can't do it, either. If you make any trouble on this mission, I'll hound you out of the Allied Command. I'm sure there are lots of young women who can do the job as well as you can, if not better."

Rex's grin vanished and he looked away.

"Do you really think the Allies could invade us?" Rocor asked. "Is the Commander of the other team saying the same thing?"

Jasmine nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. The Allies are taking the soft approach. If they think for an instant you plan to resist them, they'll pound you with every gun they have. They've set their sights on this planet, and they'll stop at nothing until they bring you under their heel."

Rocor frowned. "If what you say is true, maybe we should...."

"You're not listening to her," Warku broke in. "Her own people can't decide whether it's true or not. You can't break off our plans against the Ulasso on something she said."

"We ought to at least consider it," Rocor countered. "If she's right, we can't leave ourselves unprotected."

"Why should we change our plans?" Warku argued. "I say carry on the way we were until we see what's what. If the Allies attack us, we'll know about it."

"We won't know about it if we're halfway across the southern desert on our way to fight the Ulasso," Rocor pointed out.

Warku started to answer when Callan's voice boomed out one more time. "You don't know which way to scratch your neck. You want to disagree with everything everybody says. You always were a thorn in our sides."

Warku flared up at him. "Don't think you can waltz in here, throwing your weight around and barking orders. You don't even belong to this Clan anymore. You took your prize and ran for the hills, and that's where you're going to stay."

Callan puffed out his shoulders at him. "Is that what this is all about? You're still nursing a broken heart over my wife, and now you'll use any excuse to niggle and nag until everybody weeps over your misfortune. You can make as much of a stink as you want. Haya is still mine and always will be. You'll never get near her again as long as I'm alive."

Sophia gasped under her breath. "What in God's name is going on here?"

Rocor interrupted. "This has nothing to do with Haya. Warku would oppose me, no matter what you said. He'll take any opportunity to challenge me, and now he's using this as an excuse. He wants to be a big shot, and he'll get his head bitten off before he quits."

Warku bared his teeth and snarled at his brothers. "Is that what you think? You think I'm full of threats with no tooth to back it up? You'll see. I can take on both of you any day of the week."

He took a flying leap at Callan, but Rocor stepped between them. He straightened his arm and slammed his palm against Warku's chest. Warku bounced off and hit the floor. He foamed in rage, but before he could jump up, Jasmine moved into the mix. She held out both hands to the brothers. "Please, let's not turn this into a fight. We have enough problems without arguing amongst ourselves. At least put your differences aside until we figure out what to do about this."

Warku got to his feet. His breath rasped through his bared teeth. "You'll pay for this. You'll all pay for this."

He spun around on his heel and stormed out of the hall.