by Voxley, Vi
Good. Serves you right.
Out loud, Aria said, "They haven't found you either."
There was movement near her, a shifting of something huge, coming toward her suddenly. Aria took an involuntary step back. The creature came closer, whatever it was. Aria's mind was working frantically, trying to understand how something so big could not be found already. It felt like the world was closing in on her. The presence she sensed was enormous, but that wasn't the most frightening thing about it. It seemed to press down on her mind, overwhelming all her senses, making her thoughts feel claustrophobic. With the last vestiges of her self-control, Aria only just barely managed not to scream.
A voice so deep she barely made out words said:
"They're not really looking."
Aria didn't respond. She couldn't utter a single word, nor move. Cold sweat ran down her back, her entire body felt paralyzed, frozen by someone else's will. While her body was unable to move a finger, her mind was similarly fixed in place, focused on the horrifying presence near her.
Then, as swiftly as it had appeared, it was gone. Aria was left trembling. She could barely stand, her entire being seemingly drained of energy.
The Clayor from before continued.
"We believe they are not... motivated to root us out," the enemy explained. "It's not how they do things. Their nature rebels at the idea of tedious searching with no leads. They wish we'd come out into the open and face them honestly. Naturally we won't do that. Instead, we wish to give them the incentive they need to come look for us, seriously this time."
Shaken, Aria made herself nod. It was better she didn't provoke them until she had a better understanding of what they intended.
"I don't understand. What does that have to do with me?" she asked warily.
The Clayors around her laughed. It was a peculiar sound, a vibrating chorus of amused chortling. It was clear there was a joke somewhere and she wasn't in on it.
"You are the incentive," the enemy said then. "The Brions will turn this moon upside down to find you."
***
The darkness came to an end in a tiny room barely large enough for her to lie down. As soon as they took her blindfold away, Aria rounded on her captors with the intention to identify them later.
The Clayor handling her was the leader of the "peace delegation." Aria knew it wasn't him; she'd seen him die with her own eyes, but the similarity was uncanny. He was a practically an identical copy, but she wondered if the term clone suited the situation better.
The Clayor was grinning, clearly aware of her surprise. Aria frowned, realizing they were doing this to her on purpose to freak her out. She refused to give them that satisfaction. Ignoring the mind games, she tried to note anything that could be useful to her, but found very little. The hive mind was cleverer than she'd thought, it seemed. The enemy worked meticulously, carefully, with a clear tactic in mind, never wavering from the path it had chosen.
It knew facing Brions would mean its death, so it hid. That made sense, a lot of it in fact. She had hoped that the war was a simple affair of misplaced anger or boredom. That the GU could handle. There were plenty of species out there who needed to vent from time to time.
Like Brions.
It was an unpleasant surprise to find that the hive mind had a plan, a real purpose.
While Aria didn't believe for a moment that she was the incentive the enemy imagined she was, there was no denying that the hive mind knew exactly how to handle its opponents. The Brions were too predictable in their fury, their codes and principles known to the galaxy.
The hive mind was playing them without a mistake so far.
Her guard left Aria alone without giving her anything to use against them. He was a perfectly normal Clayor, with its stretched body swaying like a slender tree in the wind. The big, lidless eyes gave her the creeps like all of his species did. All the Clayors wore a tight black bodysuit that looked like soft plastic, so common for them some thought it was fused to their bodies.
Only their bald heads were uncovered, showing their pale bluish skin. They wore sharp ceremonial knives on their belts, long enough to be swords in her hands.
Aria watched the tall champion go. It was a pity he'd seen her surprise. The hive mind wanted everyone on Ilotra to behave irrationally, to be controlled by their emotions so it could take advantage of the mayhem, but she refused to give in to that. If she had to die, she'd do it without giving the Clayors the satisfaction of seeing her panic.
She would remain calm, come up with a plan, and escape.
Aria looked around her. She knew Ilotra well, but the room was too tiny and bereft of anything that could give her a telltale hint. Different sectors of the moon were marked with symbols and patterns to help the residents and guests navigate the gigantic fortress, but the hive mind had—of course—removed all of that.
There was no way for Aria to tell where she was. She had been in their hands for so long that she could be anywhere on the moon by now, including right next to her own quarters.
It put a bit of a damper on her mood, but Aria recovered quickly. She had time to think now.
Apparently my entire function is to be bait.
Aria found that incredibly insulting, but her self-esteem wasn't the big problem. The fact the hive mind had no appreciation for her real talents was a huge advantage for her.
That left the actual issue. If Ryden didn't immediately jump to her rescue, it wouldn't take long for the Clayors to figure their captive was unnecessary to them. Before that happened, Aria had to figure out a way to survive that unfortunate discovery.
Aria was focused on surviving and escaping, she totally was. But the idea she had been trying to hold back finally surfaced.
The hive mind thinks he'll tear this moon apart to find you.
It was absurd, that's what it was. Aria knew the general found her attractive enough to screw, but she doubted he'd risk losing ground in the war to find her. If she was his fated gesha, then it would be different, of course. If Aria was his fated, the man wouldn't rest for a second before he'd found her, and everyone in his way would be dead.
She firmly forced the idea away, disappointed with herself to still think of him, but the doubt refused to go. The hive mind was incredibly smart; it had to be with millions of brains to think with. If it thought to trap Ryden with her, then might there be...
No, she told herself resolutely. Whatever the hive mind thinks, whatever Ryden thinks, nothing can happen there. I do not want... I would not allow it. That butcher is not the man for me.
***
Days passed without Aria seeing another living soul. The wall-mounted console delivered her food and took the dishes away again. That told her... practically nothing. Almost all of the habitable rooms on Ilotra had the console installed in them.
Aria busied herself trying to come up with a plan. Every day she spent there raised the risk of the hive mind deciding to get rid of her. And since it was clear no one was coming for her, Aria had to fend for herself.
This is good, actually, she assured herself. I can talk to our enemy. If I had anything to say, anything at all to throw the hive mind off the course...
And finally it came to her.
Getting the hive mind's attention proved to be more difficult than she'd thought, however. Banging on the door didn't help. Neither did shouting. By that point Aria wondered if she was being guarded at all, and when all evidence started pointing toward a resounding no, she was sincerely upset.
Sure, Aria knew she wasn't a physical threat like Ryden—who probably needed entire units to be reined in—but no one? That was insulting.
Finally she had to send tiny messages through the console, slipping them in with her dishes. After a long while, the door opened to reveal another Clayor. Aria had already given up trying to differentiate between them. All she knew was that the hive mind was listening, looking at her through the eyes of the proxy.
"Am I talking to the hive mind?" she asked.
/> The Clayor inclined its head, looking down at her.
Aria took a deep breath. If she was caught with the lie, the hive mind wouldn't trust her again and she'd probably die there in the cell when she outlived her usefulness.
Those odds could be better, but I have no choice. Time to channel the inner damsel in distress.
"I don't know what you plan to do with me once this is done," she began, "but I do not want to die."
The Clayor said nothing. The hive mind seemed to be listening. Aria gritted her teeth, hating that she was in the dark about what was going on. She was negotiating blindly.
"I know how to disable the shield," she said.
There, a flash in the enemy's eyes. Suddenly he looked a lot more alert and present. Aria felt herself come under close scrutiny. She did her best to hide the lie from her eyes, hide the fact she'd never take down Ilotra's main defense for the enemy.
But letting the hive mind think it could have a use for her seemed like a solid tactic. Aria wanted to convince it she was scared for her life, desperate to do anything to save herself.
There was, of course, a big risk that it would backfire horribly. If she was actually tasked to do it and refused, there would be nothing to save her. Aria was taking the chance that the shield generator as well as the control room would be heavily guarded.
The hive mind seemed to consider her.
"You were the one who raised the shield around the generator," the Clayor said.
"Yes," she said. "I can lower it again too."
The Clayor was silent for several moments. His eyes moved around in the room, fixing on nothing that Aria could see.
She held her breath. If she was completely honest with herself, Aria had no idea how she might escape from the clutches of the enemy if they already had access to the shield. She was neither dumb nor unskilled, but Aria was no escape artist either. If her plan didn't work, she would more than likely die.
It is a good plan. It's worth risking my life for.
It was incredibly simple, too. All she wanted was to make the hive mind change their plan. So far, the enemy had been firmly in control, because it predicted everything. Aria had to serve up bait that would be impossible to refuse.
Even if it cost her life.
She had prepared herself for both outcomes. The hive mind refusing and accepting her offer. What the Clayor actually said was the one thing she hadn't expected.
It didn't question her unexpected change of loyalty or anything like that. Apparently fear for her life seemed like a good enough reason to betray Ilotra.
Instead it looked, for the first time ever, hesitant.
"That... might prove to be difficult," it said.
Confusion looked odd on a creature like the Clayor champion. It was taller and more heavily built than its smaller brethren, clearly a warrior. Being unsure twisted its face in weird ways, like he was unused to second-guessing himself.
"I understand that it would be difficult—" Aria began.
"Not difficult. Almost impossible," said the champion. "We have to consider this. We will have to wait for a more opportune moment."
"Why?" Aria asked, desperate to tease more information out of the Clayor. "What's going on now?"
The Clayor's eyes narrowed.
"As we predicted," it said. "The Brions are on a warpath. Three sectors around the generator and its controls are shut down while they search every inch of Ilotra for us. We need to be sure their defenses can be broken. We must consult our friend."
Aria listened, wide-eyed.
"You said they couldn't find you," she said, thinking out loud.
For another first, the champion looked concerned.
"They are scanning the fortress constantly for our genetic sample. Yours as well. We hide now, but it's only a matter of time before they figure us out. Their general is relentless. We—"
The Clayor stopped, realizing it had said too much. With a grunt, it turned and left Aria alone again.
She stood, speechless, more confused than ever before. Was it her? Had the hive mind really been right about her and Ryden?
Aria thought of the general's vicious grin when he spoke of the people on Ilotra, showing his obvious lack of sympathy for them. She wanted nothing to do with a man who dealt out life and death based on his whims. Right?
Right. Only why did it make her heart thud in her chest then, to know he was out there looking for her?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ryden
They hadn't found her.
Three days had passed and there was no sign of Aria or the Clayor champions Ryden knew were on Ilotra. He knew that for a fact, because the detectors had picked them up a couple of times.
The Conqueror wasn't simply a flagship, it was a technological wonder packed with everything the Brions had ever developed. All of the fifteen armies had a smaller flotilla following the flagship too, but the huge warships that led them were a miracle, nothing less. There was almost nothing they couldn't do; they alone were the lion's share of the firepower Brions had.
One thing the Conqueror could do was search out specific genetic codes. Every species in existence, including the ones Brions had wiped off the face of the galaxy, was there in their database. Since the moment he'd found out about the Clayors already being in the fortress, Ryden had had the ship run the scanners over Ilotra non-stop.
The results surprised the council, who were not happy with him using the otherwise forbidden device. In times of peace, it was considered an intrusion into private matters, especially on a moon where thousands of mixed-race people lived.
Someone's genetic heritage was personal by the decree of the Union, but Ryden wasn't going to let them jeopardize their safety over it. And the results further confirmed his suspicions. The general hoped he was wrong, and that the Clayors had developed some sort of a cloaking device. Unknown technology would have been considerably better news than the Host being on Ilotra.
Without proof, Ryden chose not to raise the alarm. The hive mind was always watching, with hundreds of eyes and more. If he sounded it, he risked a massacre.
At first, scan after scan, the results showed none of the enemies.
The council jumped at the opportunity to doubt him, but Ryden saw signs of worry on their faces. There was something terribly amiss on Ilotra, and they needed to find out what it was as much as he did.
Then he added Aria to the scan. Her specific genetic marker, not just "a Terran." Like all the others, she'd given her sample when she came to Ilotra. And again, the scan turned up nothing.
The council questioned whether it was possible the ambassador had been taken away from the fortress, but Ryden ruled that out. By his command, the noose around Ilotra was airtight. No vessel could have passed by unnoticed.
That left two ugly possibilities. Either Aria was dead—and he refused to believe that—or he was right about the Host.
.
Ryden ordered his men to double their efforts. Now that he had an idea of how it was all possible, things were finally becoming clear. He needed to see it with his own eyes, but so far the enemies eluded him, lurking as if under a shadow.
One moment, there were none, and then suddenly the Clayors appeared on the scanner, and tracking them was no harder than it should have been in the first place.
The first time, Ryden had immediately ordered a pursuit, but the Clayors were fast enough to vanish again before any of Ryden's men reached them. After that he'd set up teams all over Ilotra that had to be ready to close in on their target at a second's notice. He knew it was ultimately futile, because the Clayors had a whole moon to use as a cover, but doing nothing wasn't an option. Sooner or later, the enemy had to come out of hiding and he would be ready.
The next time his warriors managed to corner and kill three Champions. From there on, it had been hit and miss for both sides, depending on how far away Ryden and his warriors were. They learned and adapted, but he hated playing the hive mind's game.
Th
e general knew exactly what it wanted. The Clayors were tempting him to use excessive force, to blast them out not one by one, but one sector at a time. That was possible. If he put charges everywhere on the civilian-populated moon and showed no remorse, he could get them. The Clayors were fast, but they didn't teleport.
It was not an option, but in the meantime it left him looking weak. That was a danger in itself, but Ryden cared nothing for the opinions of the council. They'd hated him before he first set his foot on Ilotra and they would continue to do so long after he was gone. Their hatred of him was not enough of a motivator to abandon his honor.
The solution was simple, but it infuriated everyone on the moon. Now that he guessed the real danger hiding on Ilotra, Ryden put the fortress under martial law.
The council was livid, but he had no time for their complaints. He had an army to help establish the new order. He would hear their protests later, when lives no longer depended on him having to deal with them.
Every sector of Ilotra was now under the rule of one of his officers and the command center was under strict guard.
Reports told him the Clayor armies were closing in despite the opposing forces. There were simply too many. The Brion generals barred their way everywhere they met the enemy, but they couldn't be in several places at once. There were bound to be holes in the net separating the Clayors from Ilotra and the Clayors were exceedingly good at finding them. Benefit of being a hive mind.
The situation was irritating, but Ryden had expected nothing less and took the hand he was dealt with unshakeable calm. The enemy was coming, but it was also already present. Any mistake had the potential to have deadly consequences. Aria was still missing. And all Ryden knew was what he'd known from the start.
The only way to survive was to win. No matter what the council and the galaxy seemed to collectively think, Ryden had the Union's survival in mind instead of his own.
***
On the fourth day, another report of runners came to him.