Alien General's Beloved: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (33 page)

The general would have taken any other option over putting their loyalty on the line, but he saw none. That was the way it had to be.

The three warriors were waiting for him when he arrived at the agreed meeting spot. The wounds on their necks had been dealt with, mostly thanks to the Brions' naturally quick healing factor. All three stood on guard when he approached, saluting him fist over heart.

"Your general is coming soon," Corden said.

"Our general is here," Tuven replied, his voice still ruined by the cut on his neck.

Corden wondered if it would ever really heal, but maybe it was better that way. It was a mark, a sign like the valor squares. Only this one served two purposes. It showed a man had been weak, siding with a traitor to all Brions. And it also proved he was taking steps to make up for it. Both were equally important.

Their answer was good, but it didn't banish his doubts.

"I will kill him today," he said, searching their eyes for a reaction.

The result surprised him, honestly. All Brion warriors were loyal to their commanders; it was impossible to follow without it. As such, Corden had expected
some
sort of protest to the idea, but the valor squares all pulsed
joy
. Relief, even. Hope.

At a later time, when he had the moment to spare, Corden wanted to know what had happened on the
Abysmal
during its long exile. Worgen had clearly driven his men mad, one way or another. In some, it manifested in insane obedience, like the warrior who had laughed at the idea of penance. And in others, like the three men before him, it had bred a deep-seated hatred.

They wanted Worgen to die, and were looking forward to it. Any one of them might have challenged the mad general, but Corden doubted they were good enough.

He was and they knew it, that's why they greeted his words with genuine delight.

"I shall do that," Corden said, "while you have a chance to prove yourselves."

They nodded, waiting for his command.

"This is not a test like the one yesterday," the general said, deep and threatening. "I promise I will kill every last one of you myself if you decide to betray me and scrape your names from the annals of our people."

That got their attention. They didn't look hurt by his distrust, knowing they didn't deserve his trust, not yet.

"We will do as you order, General," said Arben.

You'd better, or there will be no corner in the galaxy dark enough to hide you from me.

"You will take the shuttle you came with and return to the
Abysmal
," Corden said.

The looks in their eyes told him exactly how little they wanted to do that, but not one protested.

"You are not to leave before Worgen is on his way here. Unlock the other fighters and shuttles in the bay. I won't be coming alone. As for the real task, I don't care what you have to do, but once you are on the
Abysmal
, you will take control of the station that monitors approaching shuttles," Corden continued.

"Once I have killed your former commander, I will follow you to the
Abysmal
and conquer it. All of this has to happen before the flagship hears of his death. Under no circumstances is it allowed to shoot at the fleet and the
Flora.
"

The trio nodded now, understanding.

"You can lie or fight your way through the enemies, but you must be quick," Corden said. "I don't expect Worgen to go down easily, but I can't have the
Abysmal
shoot me to pieces on approach. I will have no way to contact you after this moment. Do you understand what you need to do?"

"Yes, General," they chorused.

He nodded, watching them leave. It was all he could do, to set the pieces in motion. Corden had to trust himself now, above all. Trust that he had made the right judgment calls about all of them... Yarel, the Torons, his new warriors.

He grinned, knowing he had. It wasn't in his nature to doubt himself, but putting Lana on the line shook everything else in his life, made him consider every aspect twice as hard.

Corden didn't have to wait long to hear the ship's intercomm start to report the Toron attacks. Slowly, he started making his way back to the landing bay. And finally he heard the announcement he'd been waiting for.

Worgen had taken the bait. He was coming.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Lana

It was the most nerve-racking thing Lana had ever done.

She stood in the landing bay with Yarel, waiting for the mad general to arrive. Before, he had terrified her as a figure of malice. Worgen had that effect on everyone. That wasn't news. But Lana had her own individual reasons now to want to keep as far away from him as humanly possible.

The Torons were attacking the lab. That was what the report had said that came to the bridge. Lana had felt her heart drop, thinking that it would disrupt Corden's plan, but Yarel calmed her. The Palian looked neither worried nor surprised, so it had to be a part of what Corden had in mind. Lana resisted the urge to try and figure out what was going on. She was bright enough to do it, but purposefully kept her mind blank.

That, of course, left it wide open for the memories of Worgen to flood back. Lana had never before felt so helpless. If the mad general decided he'd honored the
gesha
fighting tradition, it was all over for her. She didn't know where Corden was, but if he didn't reach her in time, Lana would be out of his reach on the
Abysmal
.

She didn't even want to imagine what would happen there.

Worgen's fighter landed and the general approached, flanked by his warriors. Lana noticed there were quite a few of them this time, clearly ready to defend the lab.

The mad general's eyes were burning with promise of violence. Lana prayed to any god that could hear her that Corden's plan worked, because if it didn't, a lot of people were about to die.

"What happened here?" the general growled at her, the venom in his voice forcing Lana to take a step back.

"I wasn't there, General," she began, "so I know what I was told. The Torons attacked the lab and managed to kill some of your men."

The roar that escaped Worgen's lips was almost inhuman. Lana exchanged a quick look with Yarel, who was similarly shaken. The captain honestly didn't think Worgen cared that much about his men, but their deaths were an irreplaceable loss.

"That is impossible," the general said, the dark eyes beaming with fury. "My men are Brions, real warriors. The Torons are beasts, nothing more than animals. They might hurt the clones, but these were real fighters."

"The Palians tell me the men were sedated at the time," she said, wincing when Worgen's gaze became outright murderous. "They were in the middle of a procedure."

The mad general stomped closer to her, his fiery armor engulfed in red flames. It wasn't the first time Lana thought he looked like a demon straight out of hell. Only this demon was real.

"
You
were responsible for the safety of my men," he growled.

"With all due respect, General," Lana argued, despite the fact her heart was beating so loudly she could almost hear it. "You just said it. I didn't believe your men were in danger. And the Torons seemed to have calmed down."

"Clearly they did
not,
" Worgen said, coming closer until he stood right in front of her.

Lana didn't dare back away further. It would have practically meant running away from the general. She forced herself to stand her ground and face whatever came.

"Yes," she said. "I didn't know it would happen."

"You should have," the mad general said. "Now the
Flora
is going to pay for this."

"No," Lana protested at once, but Worgen was done listening to her.

"Do not worry," he said coldly, "I will not hurt you."

"That is not what I meant," Lana countered. "The ship has done everything you asked. This is not their fault."

"A lesson must be taught. No one disobeys me."

The mad general turned to his warriors. "Find the Torons. I want all of those creatures dead. I should have killed them all the moment I heard those animals were aboard, but I was merciful."

Lana thought that Worgen had an absolutely absurd idea of mercy, but that was not the problem anymore. She watched as the Brion warriors marched away to kill the Torons. Out of the corner of her eye, Lana saw Yarel signal something, but she couldn't understand what.

Worgen turned his attention back to her.

"You will take me to the Palians and their lab," he said.

"I—" Lana began to argue.

"
Now
."

Worgen's voice brooked no argument from her. Lana was about to take her chances anyway, but Yarel appeared by her side, very gently nudging her forward. She got the message, but thought that if Worgen saw the Palian touching her, the commander would be dead within a second.

"As you wish, General," she said. "Lead the way, Yarel."

The lab wasn't far from that particular landing bay. It had been chosen for that very reason, so it didn't take them long to get there. Lana felt like she was walking around blindfolded, every corner threatening her with a new surprise. She wished that Yarel and Corden had told her what was going on, because the plan seemed to be spinning out of control.

Yarel led the way. The hallways emptied before them, people running to get out of Worgen's path. The ship's intercomm kept announcing new attacks and warnings against the Brion patrols. Lana hoped that good sense kept most of the passengers and crew hidden.

Here and there, she saw the signs of the Toron attacks. They were bloody and brutal. Unlike the Brions who excelled in combat because of their skill, the Torons relied on their strength alone. They had no particular style of fighting, pushing through every conflict with sheer force.

It was why they'd been so easy to subdue by other species, as they lacked clear leadership and tactics. Their single attacks were devastating though, and Lana kept her eyes away from the floor.

Worgen said nothing either. Every time Lana dared to peek his way, the armor appeared to be hotter and hotter until it was painful to walk close to him. She wondered if it reacted to his mood somehow, like the Brion valor squares did. By the time they got to the lab, Worgen was an inferno by himself.

The scientists had been gathered to answer to him. With disdain, Lana noticed the way they were huddled together like a pack of sheep. Not fighters, as she'd suspected. She was afraid too. It would have been foolish not to fear Worgen, but at least she tried to be better than the terror inside her.

"You are the ones responsible for the death of my men?" Worgen demanded.

Lana couldn't imagine any of them would ever answer that. Beside her, Yarel had tensed up too.

"We were working on the techniques you ordered, yes," the bravest of them finally said, clearly figuring silence was damning.

"And what happened?" Worgen boomed.

Lana saw them all wince, wishing she could somehow share her own courage with them. The cowards were about to doom them all. She didn't know what was going on with Worgen's army exactly, but Yarel and Corden had both hinted there wasn't going to be one.

"The... Torons, they attacked us..." one of them dared to say.

"And you let them," the mad general said, drawing his spear.

All of their eyes were nailed to it. The spear's shaft was as dark as Worgen's armor, the blade sharp enough to cut through them without effort.

"General, we are Palians," Yarel came to their aid, "we are not a match for Torons. And they aren't even warriors."

Worgen turned to him and Lana thought how brave it was to draw attention to himself in a situation that explosive.

Silence stretched as the general measured Yarel with a dark look of his black eyes.

"How did the Torons know?" he asked at last.

"General?" Yarel asked, but Lana had seen the flash of fear in his eyes.

"How did the Torons know it was the lab they needed to attack?" Worgen asked, coming closer to the commander. His voice was no longer threatening; it didn't need to be when it was very clear Yarel was seconds from his death.

"We told everyone to stay away from the lab," Lana cut in, knowing it wasn't the best excuse, but she had to do something. "They might have figured out that there was something valuable to you here."

"The Torons?" Worgen asked, his voice showing his disgust. "They are
animals
. No Toron would put the two things together. No, they had help from someone who saw an opportunity to hurt my cause. And you Palians have always had your
lies
."

Things were going from bad to worse fast. Lana could practically see Yarel's mind spinning, looking for a way out, but no words seemed to be forthcoming.

Help came from the most unexpected source, but the words froze the blood in Lana's veins.

"It might be the weird Brion, General," one of the Palian scientists said.

All eyes turned to him. The Palian shrunk back from that threat alone. He was a timid creature, short even for a Palian, and the naked fear in his eyes was clear for all to see.

Corden
, Lana thought.
No. Not now.

"A weird Brion?" Worgen asked, moving away from Yarel.

The spear was still in his hand, a bare threat. The scientist's eyes flickered between him and Yarel. Lana thought he was probably trying to help, to save one of his kind, but in fact he was killing them all. And she was unable to stop him. There wasn't anything she could say to convince Worgen he'd heard wrong.

In the thundering silence, the Palian nodded.

"This is not our fault, General," the man hastened to say. "I saw a strange Brion a few days ago. He had killed some of the others and he was looking right at me. He said I couldn't tell anyone, but I have to now. He must be the one. I'm sure of it! He led the Torons here!"

Lana wanted to punch the man so badly her fingers itched. She had to bite her tongue not to scream. She couldn't even
begin
to count all the mistakes the Palian was making, trying to push the blame on Corden.