Warlord Conquering (The Great Insurrection Book 3) by David Beers (best historical fiction books of all time txt) 📗

person was, which means they can't be crucial to the movement. Yet, when you were young, you let your friends fall by the wayside as you rushed to the pods. There's a difference you're not accounting for."

Servia opened her mouth to speak, though she didn't know what she was going to say. She didn't have an answer because she hadn't realized the difference until now. She had seen someone who needed her help and simply picked the person up.

Pro raised a hand to stop her from talking. "Look, I don't want an explanation. My point is, you've changed since then, even if you didn't want to. What that young man did was one of the most courageous things I've ever heard about. You may not think what he did helped the movement, but here you are, a leader in it. You would have died in that field otherwise."

Pro stood up and moved over to the wall, his back to her. The drathe watched as he walked, not taking his eyes off his master. "If you came here to ask me if I would sacrifice all of you to see my wife again, the answer is yes. I would. I would burn this whole universe to ash if it meant I could lay with her one more time." He turned, his face set. "Nothing will ever change that, Servia. I would go further than Appius, by a long, long way. What matters is, will that happen? Will I be faced with a choice of seeing her or giving you all up?" He shook his head. "No. I won't. The Ascendant might offer something like that, but he would never mean it. He wants to see me dead, and most likely my wife as well. There will be no truce. No quarter. Even now, he’s trying to make me do something stupid by showing her to me, but I didn't come into this room to think about how I might surrender. I came here to consider how we might still overcome."

He took a step forward.

"The only way I see my wife again is by killing him. Do you understand that?"

Servia's voice was a whisper. "I think I do."

"Good."

He looked like he might be about to say something else, but an AI's voice interrupted. "Someone would like to speak to you, sir."

"Put them through," Pro said.

Relm's voice came over the comm. "Broth, we've got a fucking problem."

Thoreaux's ear was bleeding from the assassin's blow. He didn't know if his eardrum had ruptured, but the side of his head hurt like hell. He hadn't mouthed off since she'd clouted him, but his fear was growing despite his silence.

They were now in the brig's elevator, and Thoreaux was cursing himself for repairing the thing. He should have let Pro beat the hell out of this bitch, because they were heading down to the Primuses.

The elevator stopped. The man and woman were both lying down, looking at the newcomers.

Thoreaux watched their eyes widen as they saw him with the Whip to his back and the bitch standing behind him.

She reached to the non-broken side of the elevator and opened both cells. "Let's hurry, darlings. I don't know how much time we have, but I don't think the modified one is going to be as friendly with his accommodations if we're caught."

Both Primuses got to their feet. The man, Ares, hopped across the space first. The woman—Thoreaux thought her name was Veena—waited until they were situated before bounding across.

Hel handed Ares the second Whip she'd forced Thoreaux to get. The crimson one. Ares took it, his eyes unreadable.

"Thank you."

"That's all you have to say, darling?" Hel asked. "Never mind. There may be time for a celebration later if we hurry."

The woman’s pockets were full of stimpacks and morphoids. She'd be keeping herself moving and the pain at bay for days with those.

The elevator started up, taking only seconds to reach the top level. Hel forced Thoreaux off first, then stepped off quickly. The Titan unfurled his Whip, letting the three strands drop almost to the ground. "Where are we going?" he asked.

Veena answered. "The one pod they can't catch up to. It's the only way." She turned her gaze on Thoreaux. "Do they know where it is?"

Thoreaux might have learned to keep from mouthing off after the blow to his head, but it hadn't scared him enough to tell them a godsdamn thing.

Hel slapped him across the face, drawing blood from his lips. "Answer."

Thoreaux spat the blood on the deck, then met the bitch's eyes. He kept silent.

"There will be time for torture later, dear," Hel said. She turned her attention to Veena. "It doesn't matter. It's the only chance. Let's go."

Alistair stood in the brig with Servia, Faitrin, and Relm. They had their weapons drawn, but no one to aim them at.

"Faitrin, are they still on the ship?" Alistair asked.

The pilot's eyes were grayed over as she harmonized with the AI. "I believe so. I'm trying to trace Thoreaux's movements. It was easy enough to follow him in the beginning, but they may have a pilot with them now. I can't tell. Someone is masking it."

Alistair turned his attention to Servia. "Can the AllMother help us?"

Faitrin interrupted. "No. They've got the blocks up again. That's another reason I think they have a pilot with them, someone who can control a lot of the ship."

"Can you shut them down?" Alistair's voice was tense—not quite a yell, but close.

"No. They're reprogramming the AI right now. With the Primus back, they're gaining control."

Alistair paused for a second, shoving his temper down. "This is the most important question I am going to ask you, Faitrin. I need a straight answer. Are they trying to take command of the ship again?"

The pilot was quiet for much longer than Alistair wanted. He kept his mouth closed, though, knowing she was doing everything she could to get the correct answer.

She finally responded, "No. They're not."

"There's only one place they're going, then."

Alistair took off toward the pod