"We can't be sure why he's decided to show you favor that he hasn't shown to anyone else," he said, aware of the edge of bitterness in his tone. "You already tested his patience once. And so far the only way you've been able to deal with him is by not lying."
"He'll see right through me anyway. I swear he knows about the Levi."
"Suspects, maybe. He can't know that, not unless you confess. That is what he does. Fear. Intimidation. He'll make you confess to things you barely remember."
Lana nodded, deep in thought.
"All right," she said. "So I have to tell him everything is going as planned."
She was almost out of the door, Corden following her with his gaze, reluctant to let her leave even to the bridge. Lana turned and looked at him sadly.
"I'm just worried that I will accidentally tell him something he shouldn't know. He ordered me to be aware of everything that is going on here. He expects me to. It all feels so risky."
Corden truly loathed the word. And as much as it pained him to admit it, the need to purposefully keep Lana in the dark was risky. But it was the only way he dared to let her anywhere near the mad general, who he'd already seen cutting down innocent people without remorse plenty of times. If whatever it was about Lana that appealed to the fabled warlord ran out, he wouldn't hesitate to do the same to her.
"Trust me," he said.
Nothing else could have lifted his heart the way Lana did, smiling and then disappearing from sight. The fact that she did trust him emboldened the general even further. Corden had never doubted his abilities, but with Lana, everything else in the world felt doubled, including his spirits.
His gesha was scheduled to meet with the originals and direct them to the scientist crew. A part of Corden still felt like he should have killed the Palian who saw him. It felt like a loose end, a factor in his plan that he hadn't chosen. He resolved to handle the matter later.
Right now, he had enemies to deal with.
***
He had to wait until the originals went through the docking bay and were sent off with the scientists. Corden didn't want to get too close to them. He knew he could stay hidden, but taking more risks in an already dangerous situation seemed too much to him. The general stayed exactly far enough away to keep an eye on Lana.
It was with some relief that he saw that Worgen wasn't there.
That was the Brion pride he knew and appreciated so much. Worgen had already decided he'd won, so there was no need for him to come and see to the details. It was the exact attitude that lost wars to despots and tyrants, and honestly Corden was thankful for that.
An overconfident enemy had already made a fatal mistake and was bound to repeat it until his death.
Yarel joined him after he'd played his part, while Lana returned to the bridge to report to Worgen. Even that small gesture grated on Corden's nerves, like her hearing Worgen's voice somehow made her closer with Worgen.
"How did it go?" he asked the Palian.
"Good," Yarel said. "Better than expected, honestly. I didn't think it would be so easy."
"There wasn't much that could go wrong."
"Do you think it will be worse?"
"One way or another, yes," Corden said. "This can't end without a fight, and a battle like that doesn't have a predictable outcome. We are all in danger, but it doesn't mean we'll lose. I won't let it happen."
"She did well," Yarel said.
Corden smiled, a new instinct whenever someone mentioned Lana in his vicinity. He hoped Yarel wasn't doing it on purpose or he'd pay for the privilege. But the Palian seemed to be above such tricks. He was honestly complimenting Lana's performance.
What else could it be called but a charade, and all of them actors in it?
"She sent them off?" Corden asked.#p#分页标题#e#
"They're on their way. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. This is the only honorable way."
"I mean the second half of it. How could you trust them?"
"In times like these, trust must be earned, but one has to be prepared to give it too. Remind me exactly how long have I known you?"
The Palian smiled, the first true expression Corden had seen on his face. That was promising. The commander looking like a proper Palian again showed he had hope, a perpetual state of his species that only truly horrendous events were able to shake. Like the appearance of a legendary monster.
"Fair enough," Yarel said. "If you are sure."
"You do not know me, so let me put it this way: if I choose to trust someone, you can turn your back on them."
He left the Palian behind and headed to the lab. On his way, Corden saw signs of the Torons on a rampage everywhere. In one hallway, he actually noticed a whole arm lying in the middle of the floor. He wondered if it was left behind by accident or if it was a warning to the other Brion units.
It was lucky for them that Worgen didn't seem to want to spare his originals on the beasts. Corden hadn't heard any report of them stopping to put an end to the Toron assaults. The clone units were busy enough though.
The general regretted he hadn't been able to tell Lana that part of his plan either, but he didn't doubt her ability to explain the events away. After all, all he'd done was give the Torons a little nudge and a direction in which to channel their anger. While the Torons were providing a distraction for Worgen, he was able to focus on the bigger problem.
The originals were not really taken to the lab. Instead, they'd been told to wait in a gigantic hall meant for some sort of tests the lab required. Considering the sheer size of the room, Corden didn't really want to know what experiments they were conducting there that were safe near such a civilian population.
Be that as it may, it was empty now and had been given to his command. Yarel had ordered the scientist crew to lead the Brions there, secure the room discreetly, and not return for any reason. No one was to set foot near the place. That would be a bit suspicious to the Palians, but the Flora had succumbed to the overbearing fear that seemed to permeate the fleet like any other ship. There weren't many questions.
The only troubling part for Corden was that Yarel reported exactly how terrified the scientists had been to put their lives on the line. The off chance that the Brions would somehow realize what was going on was laughably small, but Corden supposed it wasn't a comfort to those who really feared the originals.
Despite their fear, the Palians had done as asked. The originals were locked in, still unaware that once more, their fate was not in their own hands.
The perks of an unknown technique, Corden thought. How can you tell what is supposed to happen and what is not?
He was observing the Brions from above, from a vantage point above the ceiling beams as he preferred. The ceilings of space ships were usually smooth, but almost all of them had rafters and ledges to support an agile warrior. After all, Brions were much more masterful in the art of covert movement than they were given credit for.
The Brions were getting restless, though. They'd been asked to wait, but naturally they should have been a priority.
Corden climbed down from his perch above their heads, still hidden by the shadows under the roof. When he'd come far enough, the general dropped the rest of the way, landing neatly before the nine warriors. Like one, they drew their spears, pointed at him.
Corden's valor squares pulsed a challenge to them. The general never boasted, relying on his reputation to speak for him, but these warriors didn't know anything about who he was. Only perhaps a mention in passing as the man who died aboard the Raptor, though he had scarcely heard them exchange a word amongst one another, which didn't make him exactly noteworthy.
The message his valor squares sent them was fairly simple. In words, it might have said something like, "I'm not dead and you will not kill me either." There was more—the Brion crystals were infinitely complicated objects—and it stopped the warriors in their tracks.
Not out of cowardice, no. They didn't come to a full stop, but they approached him like a real enemy now. No straight-forward charge, no needless heroics. They settled into a battle formation, coming closer with practiced unity.
That was the kind he'd seen before on the Raptor. Real warriors, not their cheap copies.
"Is this what you became warriors for?" he asked, the tone of his voice cutting through them like a blade.#p#分页标题#e#
He saw their immediate reaction, but bare to the naked eye. Like a slap to the face, it froze time. All nine had halted in their advance, spears lowered slightly.
The question was an ancient one. During their warrior training, every Brion was sent on a number of missions. One of them was a false one, designed to test the warrior's natural inclination to obey their commanders.
Many disliked the idea, but the Elders insisted and Corden was glad for it. Those who wanted the false mission's removal were men who wanted to simply follow and never think. But the whole purpose of the false mission was to see how far a warrior would go under orders.
It began with small sacrifices, building to bigger compromises. Warriors who carried out the mission despite everything were never admitted. Judging by how long it took for the warrior to realize the mission, their captain would greet them with a different message on their return.
"Is this what you became warriors for?" he'd ask them and no punishment was ever that cruel.