Alien General's Fated (Brion Brides 5)(17)

Next to her, the Clayors were looking very pleased with themselves. Aria wasn't the best at recognizing their facial expressions, but that one was unmistakable.

"There is trouble brewing in the union  's ranks," the one closest to her said. "This is our moment. We can attack the shield while the Brions are vulnerable."

I don't think that's true, Aria thought. Brions are never vulnerable. What they are right now is distracted because I'm working with a bunch of lunatics. But I'll be damned if I explain the difference between those things to you.

She glared at the monitors showing the situation above their heads, up there in cold space. The other union   fleets were supposed to be allies, but they had all taken stances that were clearly attack-ready.

It was trouble, but Aria had problems of her own. Her idea had backfired horribly. Soon, the hive mind would understand that she had no intention of helping it and then she'd die. Aria had been prepared for that but she wasn't going to die in vain.

Think, girl, think. Distract them, delay them until you can escape.

"What do you need, Terran?" the Clayor asked. "We warn you in advance, if you try to trick us, your death will not be pleasant nor quick."

Aria nodded, frantically trying to think of something to save her. It was starting to look like the best she could do was delay her death for a few hours. Determination only got her so far. She was made of flesh and bone and the enemies carried very sharp knives. No bullshit would help her. The hive mind wasn't the council. It didn't negotiate.

"I need to get back to the console in the hangar," she said, hoping against reason that it was still under repair construction.

"Very well," said the Clayor.

Well, so much for that.

As they dragged Aria along with them, she saw the Conqueror turn on the screen.



I'm going to die.

It was pretty difficult to put a positive spin on that realization. Aria was hurried between the tall Clayor champions herding her along with long strides. They seemed to pass through perfectly ordinary corridors now and she finally knew which part of the fortress she was in, but that gave her little comfort. The knowledge would do her no good when she was dead.

With Ryden’s martial law set in place, the corridors were barren. They were in the parts of Ilotra that were forbidden to the moon's residents, but where were the Brion patrols?





The disappointment hurt more than she'd thought it would. Aria had never believed the general would take the bait, but the fact he left Ilotra undefended as well... that she couldn't forgive. Her body was making it all worse, unable to get rid of the irrational, all-encompassing desire.

The hangar was up ahead. There finally seemed to be a few guards, but the Clayor champions were many. Aria didn't think even the warriors could hold them back. Her eyes darted to the generator, still covered by the shield she'd brought up. There was no way she'd let them near it. No way in hell.

Aria pressed her lips to a thin line, unwilling to die a coward. She would not beg, not give them that submission. She didn't want to die, not one bit. Life had always been a wonder for her, one she wanted to keep enjoying, but not at the expense of others. Prayer wouldn't save her life. Aria wasn't asking to live, but to accept her death with dignity.

Through the giant hole in the wall, shielded with a force field until actual repairs, she could see the fleets still holding each other under aim. Would they destroy the Conqueror? Would Ryden go down with his flagship, like captains were rumored to back on Terra?

Aria couldn't tear her eyes away from the ship. Only the shout of the warriors brought her back to reality. They'd seen the Clayors and the fact they were outnumbered. Aria had no doubt reinforcements would come and the champions would either die or flee, but it would be too late for her.#p#分页标题#e#

"Be prepared," one of the Clayors told her.

Aria nodded mutely, not uttering a single word. They would not believe her if she brought up some lame excuse about the console being broken. Not when the hive mind had risked so many champions to bring her so far and would most likely lose all of them to Brion spears.

There were too many enemies with her. Some of them dashed out immediately to engage the Brion guards, while others dragged her to the console.

"Do it," one of the Clayors, as faceless to her as the rest of them, commanded.

Aria's hands went to the console, tapping a few buttons in the hope that it would be offline. It wasn’t, but at least she'd alerted the command if the guards hadn't already. Then her fingers stopped on the keyboard.

"Do it!" the Clayor champion demanded again, giving her a shove.

Aria was slammed against the console.

"No," she said. "I was wrong. I can't. I won’t."

With a ferocious cry, the champion pushed her aside. Aria fell to the ground, instinctively backing away from the furious enemy. The burning need to survive came to life within her.

If I could just get a weapon, maybe I could take one of these fuckers out with me.

"You lied," the hive mind hissed at her through every mouth in the hangar.

There was no mercy in any of their eyes. The hive mind had taken a terrible risk in the hope she'd be telling the truth, but now it saw it had doomed its champions for nothing.



She hadn't lied, not really. When the champion raised the knife above her head, ready to take her head off, Aria gritted her teeth, her mind working rapidly to find a way out. She forced herself not to look at the champion, or her will to die for Ilotra would be broken. She curled up into a ball, looking at the hangar ground, trying to hopelessly shield herself from the champion. No way out. She'd done everything she could. Life just didn't give her a way to save herself.

This is not the sight I thought would be my last, Aria thought when she heard the champion give a terrible roar.

But death didn't come for her. Instead, she heard the hive mind give a cry of unrestrained loathing. There were footsteps, and then the whole hangar went as bright as day. She heard another roar of fury, a more familiar one, and then something flew over her head.

Instincts kicked in. Aria turned around and almost screamed in terror as she saw the Clayor champion standing above her with the knife, a bloody spear protruding from his chest. The look on his face was shocked, dismayed, raging.

Turning around, Aria saw Ryden march to the hangar at the front of his warriors, an expression of pure determination on his face. His hands were empty. It had been his spear flying through the air, saving her life.

He was there on Ilotra after all, abandoning his ship for the moon. For her?

Watching the general coming toward her and retrieving his spear, giving her a quick look to make sure she was okay, Aria realized something. Ryden would be the one to save Ilotra. She might not have liked it, but he was clearly up to the task.

Ever

since meeting the general, Aria hadn't stopped feeling safe for a moment. It defied sense, it defied logic too, but she couldn't deny it. A man saving her life twice already did that to a girl.

She looked at him charging into battle, a warrior god in action, while his flagship was under threat... Aria felt her heart beating wildly in her chest, admiring the sight despite the violence it came with. Ryden tore into the enemies, giving the champions no quarter, no time to fall back and regroup. He and his warriors were merciless, driving back the champions without letting any of them escape.

The hive mind fought back furiously, managing to bring a few Brion warriors down by crowding them with all that it had, but Ryden was untouchable. Aria watched, disbelieving, as no blow even came close to hurting him. It seemed as though the general was standing out of time, blocking every deadly blade aimed to cut his heart out.

He easily broke through the ranks, coming to the aid of those Brions who were being crowded and saving them.

One by one, the Clayor champions fell and the hive mind was beaten back. In the end, only one remained, backing away from the approaching Brions.

"You think that was clever," it hissed at Ryden.

Aria saw the general lower his spear.

"I think that fault lies with you," he replied calmly. "But I have to admit I didn't foresee her outsmarting you like that. You are getting careless, desperate."

The hive mind laughed, but even Aria could hear it lacked the conviction that had been there before.#p#分页标题#e#

"A fluke, nothing more," it said. "It won't matter soon enough. The skies are filled with my enemies, your allies, all waiting to tear your throat out."

"We'll see," Ryden said. "It does not matter to me. I was sent here to do a task and I will not be distracted from that. Stopping you is my only goal."

The eyes of the last Clayor suddenly turned to Aria. She found herself at the center of attention of everyone in the room. The look on the general's face was one she couldn't be sure about. It seemed to be... regret.

"Is it, General?" the hive mind asked through the lips of the last remaining champion, the boasting edge back in his voice. "I wonder if you believe that lie yourself."

Ryden stepped forward, but the Clayor had already drawn its own knife and jammed it neatly into its slender throat. The general watched, a disgusted frown on his face, as the champion slumped down at his feet.

Then he turned and walked back to Aria. He extended a hand to help her stand.