Alien General's Fated (Brion Brides 5)(4)

It wasn't in the nature of Brions to be the defending side, but that was a different matter completely.

"Why me?" he asked, relaxing his body like a big cat after pouncing, like attacking the High Senator was something that he took little to no notice of.

"Again, you're not happy," she shot back at him, glaring, supporting herself on her seat.

Happiness serves no purpose, he thought dryly.

That may have been a justified comment, though, Ryden figured. Perhaps he had overreacted in his disappointed fury. All generals wanted to immediately distinguish themselves. How else would they assert authority over thousands of bloodthirsty killers in their new command? To hear he was to babysit a bunch of bureaucrats had tested his temper.

"Interested, this time," he said, hoping Eleya didn't need more to see he was being truthful.

Luckily, the High Senator wasn't one to hold a grudge. Luckily for her, that was, if one were to ask Ryden.

"I think you can do it," she said. "We need someone on Ilotra who can whip those lazy bastards into shape. Someone who can immediately react to new dangers. I trust you to be able to do that, to defend the whole moon."

"You flatter me," Ryden growled. "I asked for a real answer."

"I do," Eleya admitted. "Doesn't mean I don't believe it. I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself beyond anyone's expectations. And you have the support of your fellow generals."

That was surprising. Ryden had only been a general for an hour, counting the time clearing the senate room of the rats and the men barely worthy of being called Brion. When did Eleya have a chance to consult the others? But of course news like that traveled at the speed of light.

"Really," he said, disbelief muddling his words and a wry smirk playing on his lips. "I doubt Faren or Diego Grothan would be thrilled to leave all the glory to someone else."

The High Senator grinned at him, smiling like only Brion warriors did.

"I assure you," she said. "Those were their exact words. 'That arrogant prick will do it,' General Faren said, 'or we will achieve a decisive victory cleaning up his incompetence.' Diego Grothan merely laughed."

Ryden nodded, recognizing the attitudes of the two most feared Brion generals immediately. He didn't feel bad; on the contrary, it might have seemed morbid, but Brions took life simply and rationally. In their stead, he would have said much the same. Coming from the only two men he could say he begrudgingly respected, simple recognition was high praise.

"I will go to Ilotra," he told Eleya, already turning and walking away, "let them know."

"Gladly," he heard the High Senator replying with a hint of laughter in her voice. "I'll tell them you're their problem now."

Ryden grinned, but his mind was already on Ilotra, his hand resting around his spear, always ready. There had been no painstaking plotting, no planning that had led to this moment. He had seen his opportunity and taken it. He'd feared his first task as a general would be an inglorious one, but he'd been wrong.

Glory awaited him, glory like nothing else. To fail would be to die, but that was all he'd asked of the fates. A chance to die or triumph—it was all a Brion warrior needed.





CHAPTER FOUR

Aria



Aria was standing in the biggest hangar on Ilotra, staring out of the huge view screen. Traffic around Ilotra was busy as always, ships coming and going with smaller vessels and transport drones shuffling between them. Without an AI to point out the correct ship, it was almost impossible to distinguish any of them.

She'd been told she couldn't possibly miss the Brion warship.

Her assistant was looking into the space around the fortress as well, a concerned expression on his face.#p#分页标题#e#

"They look nervous, don't they?" he asked.

Aria had to admit it was true. There was a fidgety sort of unease about the ships. In peaceful times, Ilotra was a center of trade as well as politics, creating a busy but excited atmosphere around the armored moon. It wasn't unknown for a huge flock of ships to connect to each other with long, airtight corridors, making it possible to travel around them without venturing into open space.

With the threat of war upon them, there was nothing of the sort. Ships jumped into hyperspace as soon as they were clear of Ilotra's gravity and vice versa. Vessels bound for Ilotra clearly couldn't wait to be under her protective shadow, safe and sound in its immense hangars.

"Yes," the young ambassador allowed. "What do you expect, Elik? Clayors are on the warpath. Against the Galactic union  . Something that ridiculous hasn't happened in ages. Not in our lifetime, certainly."

"You're not worried?" the assistant asked. "They could be right upon us."

Aria looked at her reflection on the screen, which was transparent and filled with stars. A young, confident woman stared her right in the eye. An ambassador, no less. Only she wasn't a full-fledged ambassador yet. Terra had only five ambassadors appointed, and the others had seniority over her. Her pink lips, usually smiling, were drawn into a tight line. Long straight honey-colored hair fell in two neat lines over her shoulders. The form-fitting gown she wore over her curvy body—the GU's pure silvery white marked with an ambassador's sash—should have given her power beyond her comprehension. Only it didn't, yet. All she had to do to get into the big boys' club was control a temperamental warlord. Easy peasy.

Aria regained her composure. She could pout about them clipping her wings at some other time. Right now she had a job to do. A task she did not relish.

"No," she told Elik. "Clayors are insane, but they're not magical. All reports say they're delayed in the Delta sector."

"By the Brions," the assistant added carefully.

"Yeah," Aria sighed, "by them. I'll eat my favorite hat if they ever let us forget that."

"They're the best we have," Elik pointed out. "It's better to have them with us than against us."

"So they keep saying."

Elik was quiet for a moment.

"You don't like them very much, do you?" he asked.

"I have a long memory, that's all," Aria said dismissively. "But Terra likes them right now, because of that woman binding to one of their generals. We're friends."

"Your tone says plenty about that."

Aria sighed again.

"It's not that I hate them," she explained. "All species in the galaxy have their place, and so do they. But they've proved time and time again that the only thing they're really good at is waging war and making trouble for the rest of us. Inviting them to protect us is pretty much just choosing one kind of trouble over another, hoping they'll leave us less broken than the Clayors would. And I'm supposed to greet this new general who has come to tell us what to do."

"I heard Ambassador Sota say something different."

Aria laughed.

"Yes," she admitted. "My secret task is to make sure he doesn't start a civil war, their temper being what it is. How do they imagine I control a Brion general? Sota thinks I can talk to him, make sure he doesn't blow up like they all do."

"I take it you don't agree."

"Talking. I think I need tranquilizers and a very big stick to even make him listen. They don't listen to anyone. Notice how the Brion ambassadors aren't here? They know it's futile. If this new guy wants to have things his way, he will."

"But you'll try."

"Of course I'll try," Aria said. "And I better succeed. But I'm just saying that if he tears this moon a new one, there might have been nothing we could have done."

Elik looked like he was about to say something about that, when a new light blinked to life close to the system's edge. A huge... something appeared suddenly in the system, with a flash so bright even the screen couldn't entirely filter it out. Aria and Elik both yelped at the horrible brightness, blinking to regain their sight.

"That was a ship," Elik said, unbelieving. "That was the flash of a ship coming out of hyperspace. How big is that thing?"

Aria didn't answer. She was too busy staring, wide-eyed, at the newcomer slowly coming closer.#p#分页标题#e#

All right, she thought. Sota was right about this at least. I really can't miss the Conqueror.

The ship was gigantic, practically a floating fortress itself. It was so huge that smaller vessels had trouble getting away from it and some transport drones were simply dragged into its wake. For a terrible second, Aria wondered if it could rip Ilotra itself out of orbit if it came too close.

But the Brion warship stopped right outside of the gas giant Ilo's gravity pull. Aria tried to wrap her head around the fact that it was actually very, very far away. It should have been impossible for her to see anything at such distance, but there it was.

General Ryden's flagship was an ugly beast, Aria thought, but she knew it was on purpose. Brions were experts in using every intimidation technique they were aware of to win their wars. Their warships were not built to look aesthetically pleasing. They were built to look like they could tear through smaller moons.

They had. They would again.

As they watched a flotilla of smaller ships appear from the Conqueror, Aria couldn't choke back panicky laughter.

"Yeah," she said, absently smoothing her gown and checking her reflection again before turning to walk to the hangar. "The commander of that ship is sure to listen to reason."