“She denied it, of course,” Mako says with an exaggerated eye roll. “But I’m a human lie detector. I detect lies. And until she owns up to what she did, there will be no peace.”
“For you or for her?”
“For us,” Evlynne mutters.
The ridiculous conversation comes to an abrupt end when loud static crackles out of the ceiling speakers. A second later, a PA system blares to life.
“Attention, all base personnel.”
A tense silence ensues as everyone waits for the announcement.
“Please stand by for a broadcast from General Travis Redden.”
Chapter 6
A wave of anger swells through the mess hall. Chairs scrape the floor and clothing rustles as people shift so they can see the far wall, which suddenly glows from the light of a holoscreen.
My shoulders go rigid. I don’t even want to know what Cross’s brother, the newly minted General, has to say. Whatever it is, it’s bound to provoke rage, retaliation, or both.
With a low hum and a white-green flicker, Travis’s image appears on the holoscreen. He’s standing alone on the steps of the Capitol. I’m startled for a moment, because his resemblance to Cross is so damn jarring. They share the same classically handsome features, the chiseled jaw, the bottomless blue eyes. But where Cross accelerates my pulse, Travis makes it stutter with trepidation.
The last time I saw Travis, he wore civilian attire. Intelligence officers rarely don Command gear even though they technically serve in Silver Block.
Today the new General Redden sports the navy-blue uniform his father used to wear. The same general’s star pinned to his left breast, like the one that used to grace his father’s.
His gaze is cold and unwavering as he fixes it on the camera.
“I’d like to begin this broadcast with a somber message. By now,I’m sure you’ve heard the news. My father, General Merrick Redden, a man of unwavering honor and integrity, the leader who has stood at the helm of our Continental ship for the past twenty-five years, a quarter of a century during which our society prospered—”
Someone snorts.
“Did it, though?” Henley quips, and I grin despite the tension gripping me.
“—was tragically targeted last week by members of the Aberrant Uprising. During this attack, the enemy revealed a power previously unknown to us: the ability to corrupt minds. To destroy them, as if our minds are nothing more than a series of wires to be tugged and pulled at their will. That night revealed a danger unlike anything we’ve faced before. The Aberrant destroyed my father’s mind, and they now seek to destroy the rest of us. These people, these unnatural beings…they must be neutralized, swiftly and decisively.”
I feel the heat of everyone’s fury rippling through the room in palpable waves. And I can’t help but put myself in the shoes of a Prime citizen watching this broadcast, being told about the threat of having my brain fried. Any terror they’re experiencing right now would be wholly justifiable. Cross’s brother is intentionally trying to create division, and I suspect it’s going to work. So many Primes already hate us, fear us. This broadcast will only stir up more hatred.
Meanwhile, Travis’s own brother is a Mod. One of these “unnatural beings” he so despises. Would Travis kill Cross if he knew the truth?
My stomach clenches at the thought. Fuck. I hate this hopeless, helpless feeling that’s stuck in my chest. Cross keeps assuring me he’s not in danger, but how can he not be? His entire world is one dangerous misstep away from crashing down on him.
But he’s right—would he really be any safer if he were here with me? They threw Xavier in a cell the first chance they got. I don’t even want to consider what they might do to Cross.
“My message to the Aberrant,” Travis continues, “to you, the silverbloods hiding in the fringes, planning your little attacks on the Company and its citizens—your actions will not go unpunished. If war is what you want, then war is what you’ll get.”
“Bring it,” Evlynne says, mocking the screen.
“And to all the Primes on the Continent, this is the time for neither hesitation nor inaction. War doesn’t allow for indecision. War requires a choice. So I want you to ask yourself this: What side will you choose to fight on? Do you want to be on the right side of history, or would you rather look back and wish you’d followed the moral path? Not only are the Aberrant dangerous, but they lack all traces of morality. They are the enemy.” His expression grows cold. “And make no mistake, any Prime citizen caught aiding that enemy will face the same consequence as the enemy himself: detainment at one of our camps, or execution by firing squad.”
He’s clever, I’ll give him that. The impassioned speech, the clear battle lines. Sowing fear, because fear is how you control the masses. Making them question whether they’re on the right side of this war, because nobody wants to feel like the villain of their own story.
Like my parents.
Shame burns my throat as I realize that every single person in this room would view my parents as the villains. Marina Serrano and Jake Hess sided with people who abhor us. They worked with the Company to murder an entire Mod village.
But I’mnotthem. The reminder has me tightening my jaw in fortitude. Now that I’m an official member of the Uprising, I plan to do everything in my power to defeat people like Travis Redden, not work with them.
“The Aberrant will not go unpunished for what they did to my father, to our leader. I promise you, as the newly appointed General of the Continent, that I am committed to eradicating the Aberrant scourge on our society. I commit to crushing the Aberrant Uprising, one silverblood at a time if I must. And it is your duty, as a Prime and as a citizen, to help us achieve this.”
