"There had to be other reasons too. I'm not the most qualified person on Ilotra to help it," Aria protested.
"Perhaps," Ryden allowed. "But as I said, convenient. Others get transferred, replaced. But not an ambassador. You both were firmly in place and that suited the hive mind nicely. It plays the long game. It always has."
"I just can't believe it chose us. It thought I would help it," Aria said.
The general was looking at her oddly as another blast rippled through the control center. Soon, Aria knew, she'd be evacuated away from the top levels. Away from Ryden.
"You didn't," the general said seriously. "You fought it. Sota was used, but it wasn't able to do the same to you."
"How do you know that?"
"If it was possible, it would have done it."
Well, if Ryden wasn't lying, that was certainly something. Aria shuddered, thinking of the hive mind controlling her. To be used like that, like Sota was... whatever she'd done without knowing it to avoid that fate, she was glad for it.#p#分页标题#e#
The look in Ryden's eyes was still odd.
"The actions of the hive mind make sense," he said. "Sota was a suitable victim and you have proven yourself as useful to me as it wanted you to be to the enemy. What I can't be sure of is whether it suspected that—"
The general trailed off. Another blast nearby sent the room around them rocking. Distantly, Aria noticed the crew starting to move out, to leave for lower levels and secondary centers. The Brions needed people to man the defense arrays and guns, but they also needed them to be alive. So deeper down into the moon they went. Aria was to follow them too.
"You can't be sure of what, General?" she asked, surprised to hear her voice shake a bit.
They were standing very close again now that they were no longer at the center of attention. Ryden's green eyes were deep and passionate, holding her gaze.
"There is much we don't know about the hive mind," the general said, his hands coming to rest on Aria's hips, pulling her gently but surely against him. "I can't know if it chose you because it already guessed how important you would become to me."
Aria felt like air was knocked out of her. The rational part of her wanted to struggle and get away, but from somewhere deep inside her, a stronger call came. A call to never leave the general's side.
It was too much. Denying him was hurting her more than it was worth, when every inch of Aria wanted to be near him, as near as it was possible to be. So fate wasn't on their side? That was fine. It seemed like they were lacking allies everywhere.
When Ryden leaned forward to capture her lips, Aria gave in.
So did the ceiling, when a missile struck home right on top of the command center.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Ryden
Aria was shaking with fury beside him, looking at the destroyed control center with sorrow and horror.
It was quite a miracle they were still alive. The outer wall far above their heads had held, but the ceiling of the control center itself had been weakened by the bombardment. A huge plate had been dislodged and crashed down upon the room.
There were hands protruding from under the wreckage. Ryden saw Aria's eyes fixed upon them and gently turned her away.
He'd managed to save them, but only barely. At the last possible second, he'd heard the ceiling shift. There had been no thinking, no contemplation. The shield on his wrist wouldn't have held against such an impact, not this time. At best it would have broken his arm, at worst it wouldn't have been able to cover them both. So he did the only thing he could. He'd lifted Aria into his arms and thrown them both out of harm's way.
Yes, it had been a miracle, but that was not what was bothering him.
"That wasn't a Clayor bomb," he growled angrily.
Aria stared at him, a puzzled look on her face, but Ryden was already opening his com link.
"Why are the Koliar shooting at Ilotra?" he demanded so sharply Aria winced.
"We don't know, General," the bridge replied, the confusion plain in the officer's voice. "Commander Stavor won't answer any of our messages. The last communication from him said that he was coming down to Ilotra. The flagship is taking aim again, sir."
Ryden cursed in Brionese. He knew Stavor, or at least he knew of men like him. They weren't traitors, but they were simple, and simple men were easy prey for the hive mind. If his suspicions were true, the worst had happened. At least the Koliar ships didn't have weapons as great as the Conqueror did.
He considered letting his own flagship deal with Stavor, but decided against it. The Conqueror was busy shooting down every Clayor ship that stood in its way. Ilotra would just have to take the Koliar ship's rage until he could find Stavor and put an end to it.
"Locate Stavor," he ordered.
So the hive mind had taken another victim. That was troubling. Ryden had expected better from Stavor, but it showed the Host's desperation. News was pouring in from all over the galaxy. Slowly but surely the union with the Brions on the front line were putting an end to the Clayors' attack.
It wasn't exactly good news. The hive mind knew it only had one chance to win and no more. To make it realize it was ultimately futile was only to make it reckless. That meant people would die and Ilotra would pay the price for the hive mind's failure. Ryden swore he wouldn't let it happen. Ilotra would suffer no more under the hands of the Clayors.
The bridge reported back with Stavor's location. Ryden confirmed it and closed the link. He would go and deal with the Koliar warlord, but before that he had to make sure Aria was safe.#p#分页标题#e#
"It is time," he said with a tinge of regret.
The emotion seemed reflected in Aria's eyes. Ryden cursed all the Clayors for ruining the moment he'd had with the beautiful Terran. He'd felt like she was finally giving him what he'd wanted from the moment he'd laid eyes on her, but war didn't offer many opportunities to be comfortably alone with Aria.
"Must I?" she asked, hope echoing in her voice.
"You will be safe there," Ryden promised. "You saw what happened here. The upper levels of Ilotra are under attack. I can't allow you to stay. If something happened to you—"
Aria's features softened at that. She looked like she was about to argue against going, clearly reluctant to leave, but she merely nodded.
"I'll see you again," she said, but the sadness in her voice made it sound like a plea.
Her words played in his mind as Ryden set out to bring his rogue ally around.
***
Stavor was clearly not trying to hide from him. Like the Host before, the Koliar warlord was waiting for him to walk into the trap.
Ryden was fine with that. He would take an honest fight over simply overseeing the war from the control room any day.
He met Stavor in a great, tall walkway with a group of bodyguards around him. The Koliar gave him a fake grin that banished any doubt Ryden had had from his mind. The Host had taken Stavor. That meant two equally important things. One was that he had to bring Stavor back to reason, or kill him before he did any meaningful damage to Ilotra.
And the other was that the Host was nearby. The Host's mind games wouldn't have been possible if it didn't somehow witness its victim. That was the reason it needed to control others sometimes.
He could take control, but he couldn't take knowledge. Unlike its own kind, the hive mind didn't see through the eyes of the victim. It didn't hear or think with its mind. It was merely in control. That was why it had to use Sota to do its bidding instead of stealing the knowledge from his mind.
The hive mind was mighty, but it wasn't all-powerful.
Though it might as well be if it can take control over a warrior like Stavor, Ryden thought, slowly walking closer with the spear already in his hand.
Later he'd have to find out if there was a reason why the Terran ambassador and Stavor fell when others didn't. Did it have something to do with their simplicity? One-track minds were easier to manipulate, Ryden figured.
"I know this isn't you, Stavor," he said, coming closer. "But if you don't throw the Host out of your mind, you leave me with no other choice but to kill you."
Stavor laughed, but even that motion didn't seem to be his own. Now that Ryden knew who he was dealing with, the little signs were more obvious to him. The hive mind enjoyed laughing at him, trying to make Ryden believe it was winning. It was not. All it was doing was delaying its end.
"As for the rest of you," Ryden told the other Koliars. "You should know your commander better. Ordering the attack on Ilotra isn't like him. Signal the flagship to stop."
"You will do no such thing," Stavor hissed.
Ryden saw the other Koliars exchange looks, uncertain. He guessed they agreed with him, but a part of him had to admire their ridiculous loyalty. In the many armies that roamed the galaxy, discipline and obedience was everything. Even if your commander was clearly not in control of himself.
All they did was edge away when Stavor ordered them to. Ryden wasn't surprised, he was simply disappointed. So the warlord had chosen the hard way to end it.
"You need to fight it," he said again.
"The only one I need to fight is you, traitor," Stavor hissed, drawing his sword. "You have gone too far. I will make you pay for it."
Keeping his eyes on the poisoned blade, Ryden wondered if it was difficult for the hive mind to stoke the irrational anger in Stavor. The Koliar was known for his temper and it was showing now, raging against Ryden's decision to not let the council stand in his way of defending Ilotra. He doubted it was a problem for the hive mind to urge that part of Stavor on, to make him truly believe it was his own idea. It also left the question of whether Sota had been the same, and if he had, what repercussions might that bring to him.