Alien General's Beloved (Brion Brides 6)(52)

They stumbled through the dark corridors, feeling the ship work furiously as it fired at the Claw. The pain in Lana's stomach was getting worse now that she was moving, but she bit her tongue and tried to suffer through it. The going was slow because of her and all along they heard the alarms blare without pause, signaling that the Abysmal was at war.

Reality started to slip away from Lana as her body grew weaker from the wound, but she kept her goal in sights. Escape, help Corden. Save the fleet. Yes, that was it.

Everything was going to be all right.

Lana believed that even when the raw, heavy reek of blood reached her. The guards helping her walk were not so optimistic, it seemed. One of them slowly approached the med bay in front of them, the spear on guard. The other waited a bit farther back with Lana, whose drowsy mind was starting to comprehend that something was wrong.

The fact that the med bay doors were ripped off their hinges should have been a dead giveaway. The guard peeked in and disappeared out of her sight for a long moment before returning, his eyes hateful and concerned at the same time.

"They're all dead," he said, both to Lana and the other clone. "There is nothing left of the bay. Judging by the bodies or what's left of them, I'd say it was the Torons. How did they get on board?!"

"She's dying," the other said as Lana started to drift away. "We have to get her to a healer."

Corden, Lana thought. Corden brought the Torons. He's here and I'm dying.

Her plan had backfired miraculously, but Lana no longer had the strength to even be upset. She heard footsteps from afar and so did her guards. They nearly dropped her when the steps sped up into a full-on charge. Lana slid down the wall, watching with heavy lids as her clone guards died at the hands of three attackers.#p#分页标题#e#

It took her a while to make out their faces, but she finally recognized them. Corden's new warriors. Lana couldn't remember their names, could barely remember her own. Only Corden's name was true and clear in her mind.

The three approached her carefully, looks of honest despair on their faces.

"Corden..." Lana whispered.

"He's here," one of the three said in a hurry. "So is Worgen. They're both looking for you and the Torons are on the loose. This place is in chaos."

Turning to the others, he added: "We have to get her out of here. She needs help, and fast."

"Down," said one of the others. "There is no other way."

Lana was no longer following the conversation. In her mind's eye, she saw only her gerion, on his way to rescue her.

The last thing she felt was one of the warriors picking her up. Lana's head rested on his shoulder as he carried her and the others followed, staying watchful. She tried to stay awake, fearing that if she passed out, there might not be any waking up.

Her strength ran out just as the warriors took a turn and descended down into impenetrable darkness.





CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Lana



Seconds passed, or maybe an eternity.

Lana woke with a cry and then she kept screaming when a hand closed over her mouth to silence her. After blinking her eyes a couple of times, the darkness began to wash away, revealing a face that she knew.

"Tuven," she breathed. "What happened? Where am I?"

A thousand ideas raced through Lana's mind. Everything was a mess and she didn't feel like she could trust her own memory, because all it seemed to give her was nonsense. Did she really willingly run into a Brion spear? Corden had warned her that they were the most powerful weapons in the galaxy, but apparently she didn't listen.

More questions followed. About Corden, about the lack of pain in her stomach. About the darkness around her and the warriors by her side.

Tuven was trying to explain.

"Captain Cormac," he said and Lana heard the raspiness in his voice. "You have to stay calm."

There was something oddly comforting about it, reminding her of the general, although the memory itself wasn't a pleasant one. They'd nearly killed themselves at his command and now Lana was at their mercy. She didn't feel like she was in danger, so Corden must have been right about them.

"Lana," she breathed. "My name is Lana."

The warrior seemed to hesitate, like calling her that was too impolite, but she didn't care. It would speed things up and frankly, she didn't even know if she had a ship anymore. With the Abysmal still in battle, what were the chances that the Flora was still in one piece?

"I..." she tried. "Tell me."

She didn't have the strength to list everything that she wanted to know, but luckily the warrior understood.

"You are aboard the Abysmal, safe and hidden for now," Tuven said. "You were hurt. Do you remember that?"

"Yes," Lana said. "I don't feel anything now."

That was true. She was lying on some sort of a table, everything around her just shapes and shadows in different shades of black. But the pain was definitely gone.

"Did they hurt you?" Tuven asked, an edge of anger in his voice. "The guards you were with."

"No," Lana shook her head, a bit dizzy. "I did that. I wanted an—"

She had to stop because even speaking seemed to be a task for her.

"I wanted an easy injury," she finished. "I wanted to get to the med bay."

Tuven nodded beside her. He was the only figure Lana could properly make out. Other people moved around them, quiet and unseen. Judging by the way their footsteps echoed, they were in a huge room of some kind.

"And when you got there, the bay had been destroyed by the Torons," Tuven concluded. "That was bad luck, but we were able to get you here and your wound has been taken care of."

"Where is here?" Lana asked. "I see these shapes, but I can't make anything out."

"Yes," Tuven agreed. "We are deep in the ship where it's dark like this. There is nothing to be done about that. I assure you, you are safe. For now."

"You keep saying that. What is going on?"

"We are not sure ourselves," Tuven shrugged. "All we know is that General Worgen returned."#p#分页标题#e#

His voice took on a weird tone when he spoke of his former commander. Lana had never heard anyone speak a name with that much distaste. Her Brionese wasn't the best, but the captain thought the name sounded like betrayer, or maybe deceiver. Both possibilities seemed fitting. Even she didn't hate the dark general that much, but it made sense. Worgen had made no one suffer like his own men, forever removed from their home and their honor.

"Right after he came back, the Claw arrived," Tuven went on. "And then General Corden and the Torons boarded. After General Worgen realized that, he closed the Abysmal off. All the landing bays are shut down. Nothing gets in or out. We are all trapped inside."

"I was right," Lana whispered. "He brought the Torons."

"He did," Tuven said. "Now they are fighting all over the ship. We don't know where the generals are, but I'm sure both are looking for you."

"What about the Flora?" Lana asked. "And the fleet?"

"We only hear what the intercomm says. There have been no news of any ships being destroyed. So far the Abysmal targets only the other flagship."

Okay, Lana thought, trying to rise up. So everything isn't lost yet. Just very fucked up.

Sitting up wasn't as easy as she'd thought it would be. Tuven lent her a hand, helping her, but despite going slow, Lana still felt nauseous. It was like every piece of her had been thoroughly shaken apart and then put back together.

"Why am I feeling like this?" she asked, trying to not throw up.

"It's the treatment we gave you," Tuven said. "It will pass. Normally you wouldn't feel a thing, but we had to hurry. The Torons could find this place or General Worgen might send units to look for us here. And those who helped you aren't really healers."

Lana glared.

That is almost like the Terran joke. What's the one thing you don't want to hear after waking up from a surgery? "How are you feeling? Good, that's good. You see, I'm not, technically speaking, a "doctor."

"Explain," she demanded.

"I will give you a bit of light," Tuven said, "you'll see."

Lana watched as the valor squares on the warrior's neck started to glow quietly. She could see Ilen and another warrior standing behind him, their own crystals lighting up too. It took a while for Lana's eyes to get used to the light, but eventually the picture began to clear.

Her mouth dropped open. Before, she had thought the room she was in was huge, but that was not appropriate. It looked like a hollowed-out mountain more than a room. In the dim light, she couldn't even see the edges of the place. Her insides turned. It felt like floating in a dark space with no actual dimensions, no end or a way out.

But it wasn't empty. Rows upon rows of huge tubes filled the dark laboratory as far as the eye could see.

They had brought her to Worgen's clone plantation.



***



Lana stumbled through the lab, feeling the effects of the healing give out slowly. She still felt dizzy and uncoordinated, but like Tuven had said, it was getting better. Soon, she hoped, she'd be back to her normal self. At least her mind was fine and as sharp as always.

The three warriors followed her at a respectful distance. The one she hadn't met before introduced himself as Arben. Lana could see a similar cut on his neck, frowning when she imagined the harsh test that had to be the cause of it.