Alien General's Baby (Brion Brides 7)(26)

Listening to Sinetha made Naima feel like she was drenched in the syrup of her voice. She was suddenly very glad Braen didn't like the Chali to begin with. The general seemed to have regained his composure.

"Satiate my curiosity then," Braen said, easier this time than when he’d reacted to the android. "You offered to help. What assistance could a Chali offer to Brions? Your android can't fight the Fearless."

The corners of the android's mouth tugged upwards in a humorless grin. It was horrible to watch. She knew AIs had personalities of their own and that meant by taking control over Alona, Sinetha was also morphing it into something it was not.

The visual was similar to someone being forced to smile by hooks pulling on the corners of her mouth.

"Are you so sure, General?" Sinetha asked. "Alona can take on any of your men and walk away without a scratch. She is programmed to know every fighting technique in the galaxy. She might even give you a fight."

Seeing the way Braen's eyes burned, Naima suddenly realized why the Chali hadn't come in person and brought her ship close enough for the Benevolent to fire, choosing to track them through space until Braen agreed to meet. Braen might have given the command to destroy the Chali and her ship just for disrespecting him like that.

The general's hand moved to the spear, with clear intention to accept that challenge.

"No," Naima shouted. "Braen, please don't – The android..."

It was miraculous to watch, in a way. Naima had known that as the general's gesha she would have some say in how he acted, but she would never have predicted anything like what happened.

Captain Gordon had loved discussing intergalactic power struggles with Naima. The man was military, after all, and like all warriors, he loved no other topic more than others of his kind. They had often argued who was the most powerful man in the galaxy, who was the cruelest, the most feared and so on.

Brion generals naturally featured heavily in those discussions.

Bottom line was, they could have ruled the galaxy if they wanted to. It was doubtful if even the combined forces of every other species in the Galactic union   could have stood against them if all Brions fought together as one.

Of course, it was a theoretical notion. The Brion Elders had been promoting peace for years now and even people who hated Brions the most couldn't deny they had honor that nothing in the universe could shake. They’d proven that a few times as of late.

The Galactic union   wasn't so easily convinced, though, at least not entirely. They considered all fifteen of the generals to be the most dangerous potential enemies alive.#p#分页标题#e#

Knowing all that, Naima was stunned to see Braen's hand freeze on its way to the spear. The man had held whole worlds at his mercy, but by her word, the general stopped. Braen glanced at her for a moment, and the ferocity in his eyes kicked the breath from her lungs.

"You are lucky," Braen growled, lowering his hand. "My gesha seems to have developed a fondness for your proxy."

"Good," Sinetha said cheerfully. "Alona is my offer of help, after all."

"I see no need for it," Braen replied dismissively. "We have all the AIs and drones we could ever want."

"But no androids?" Sinetha guessed. "I know Brions don't favor them. You consider it dishonorable for a machine to fight for you. I think Alona could help you when you reach the Darnetta system.

"Drones are fine, but on those dark, frozen worlds an android with heat vision might be useful. Drones don't talk, can't offer advice or insight. Alona could keep up with you, provide cover fire and even fight."

Naima looked at Braen, waiting for his reaction, and saw the general smile a feral grin. Alona's face twitched in what looked like fear to Naima. Apparently he had no problem scaring someone who was thousands of miles away from him.

She could see why.

"What's in it for you?" he demanded, the dark tone of his voice holding a warning.

Naima hoped that Sinetha understood it was in her best interests to tell the truth. The Benevolent likely wouldn’t live up to its name if Braen decided to go on a hunt for the Chali.

The android sighed. It was a curious motion coming from someone who didn't actually breathe, but it was forced to mimic whatever Sinetha was doing.

"Personal gain," the trader said. "Of everything I've said to you, I know you can believe that, General. I want the Fearless. I will settle for a piece of it. I hear you can't actually kill the thing."

"For what purpose?" Braen asked, frowning. "If you seek to clone it or anything even close to it, you will be my next target."

"Nothing of the sort," Sinetha replied, the fake smile returning to Alona's face. "No, I want something much simpler. Memorabilia."

Naima gasped in horror.

"You what?" she asked, disgust plain to hear in her voice. "You will cut it up into pieces as fucking souvenirs?"

Alona turned to her, the android's bright gray eyes watching her with cold emptiness.

"Why not?" Sinetha asked, shrugging. "It doesn't matter what I think of it. There are plenty of people in the galaxy who would pay for that. What's it to you, Terran? It is a monster."

"I don't care," Naima snapped. "The Fearless is pure evil, but this is just as vile."

"Very well," Braen said, making Naima turn towards him sharply.

She wanted to protest, every inch of her being resisting what Sinetha was proposing. The general gave her a look that made her hold her tongue.

"Just one thing," Braen went on, turning his piercing gaze back to the android. "I will be taking Alona with us, not you."

The android glared as well as an artificial construct was able. To Naima, it looked like the light behind its glassy eyes turned brighter for a moment.

"I'm afraid that is impossible," Sinetha said. "Alona functions fine without me, but it is still just an AI. It needs me to make critical decisions. This is not up for debate."

"It really isn't," Braen replied calmly. "I wasn't asking you or starting a debate. I'm taking the android. If it behaves, I might let you have what you asked for. If I catch even a whiff of your presence, spying on me, I will feed your precious proxy to my mechs and we'll see how well it handles Brion battle drones. You will fall back with your vessel and cease following the Benevolent."

Alona was snarling, its features twisting and turning in Sinetha's fury.

"You forget, it's just a machine in the end," she hissed at them. "If you destroy it, I will transfer the AI to another proxy body."

"Go on," Braen replied. "That one will not be with me and you will lose even the slim chance you have now that I'll give you anything."

After a long silence, Sinetha gave a curt nod with Alona's body.

"Alright," she snapped. "I agree –"

"Fine. Now get out before I find you and we'll see how far your little ship can flee from me before I turn you to ash. And the next time you need something from me, you better show your face in person or I will cut down all your little toys until my face is the last thing you will ever see."#p#分页标题#e#

I have to hand it to him, Naima thought as Alona's eyes practically burned in its head and then Sinetha was gone in the blink of an eye. The man sure can ask nicely.

She looked at Alona standing at ease now, the android's features more relaxed and kinder than when Sinetha was controlling it.

"You think she'll keep her word?" Naima asked Braen, who was observing the android as well.

Wordlessly, the general led her away from Alona, who stayed behind with Kerven keeping watch over it. Once they were out of hearing range, Braen turned back to give it another cold look.

"I will hold her to it," the general said. "For your sake, I hope she does. I understand you like our new guest."

His words sent warmth through Naima's body, complementing the awe she'd felt before when the general had stayed his hand for her. It was an amazing feeling, empowering even, to know that such a man listened to her. That Braen actively tried to make her happy, to the point where he forgave a slight just for her.

Brions didn't do that. Not normally, at least.

At the same time, it was entirely horrifying. Wasn’t this exactly what she’d been afraid of?

Then she remembered.

"You aren't actually going to give Sinetha what she asked, are you?" Naima asked, wondering if Braen would change his mind for her sake again.

Braen grinned.

"No," the general said to her instant relief. "The Fearless is way too dangerous to be cut up like that and I will make sure that once I'm through with it, there won't be a piece of it left. No matter what, Sinetha can't have it. None of the Chali can."

Naima's eyes flickered to Alona, wondering if an android's hearing was better than a Brion's.

"Are you not worried that the trader will try to trick you?" she asked.

"I'm absolutely certain Sinetha is going to try," Braen nodded, his blue eyes filled by silent fury when Naima's gaze moved back to him. "That is why I accepted. I want to keep the android close to see what she really wants. Settling for a piece of anything is unnatural for a Chali. There is much she's not telling us, but perhaps the android will. If I had said no, she would have looked for other options."