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"I thought many things of you, Colonel McGuire. I thought you ambitious, smart, brave, but I didn't take you for a humanitarian whose heart would bleed for a bunch of aliens." Cold blue eyes assessed me once more. "Don't waste my time. By now, the entire FOB knows about your miraculous reappearance, so what's it gonna be? A hero's welcome or the firing squad?"
"I want to speak to the board," I reiterated.
"Not gonna happen until I figure out where you stand."
I wasn't foolish enough to think he would simply take my word for it and allow me to speak to the board after. No, he would keep me on a tight leash for weeks, maybe months, before he would allow me to be alone with any of my colleagues who weren't in his pocket. In the meantime, he would test my loyalties in ways I was sure I wouldn't like or want to be part of.
"The soldiers have a right to know what they're really fighting and risking their lives for." I tried one more time to appeal to the soldier in Svelvick, hoping against hope that he would remember what it was like.
"They will hardly be dying." Svelvick shook his head.
"Tommy did, and Sue and Stephen—" I tried to remind him of my dead squad members.
"Collateral damage that is more your fault for poking the bear than us doing what had to be done to get rid of a potential troublemaker," Svelvick unbelievably argued, giving me a glimpse at how he managed to sleep at night and making it clear to me that no matter what I said, he wouldn't change his mind. He simply couldn't. Because if he listened to me, sleeping at night would be the least of his worries. His conscience—if he still had one—would torture him for the rest of his days.
I was under no illusion that this was his first foul mission. The Terran Confederation had groomed and elevated him, brought him into their fold one betrayal at a time until there was no turning back. I would never be able to convince him to do the right thing because it would bring his entire house of cards down so hard, he wouldn't be able to live with himself any longer.
"You righteous bitch," he shook his head and reached for the radio laying on top of his desk to call in the guards I was sure waited outside.
This needed to be done quickly. I wouldn't stand a chance against two guards with their guns pulled and Svelvick. To pick up the radio, he had to turn his head from me, and I grabbed one of his many trophies proudly displayed throughout the room and threw it at his head like a missile.
He went down like a felled tree.
My training told me to slit his throat while he was out, but I wasn't that cold-hearted. He had once been a mentor to me, and even if it hadn't been for that, I couldn't kill somebody who was laying defenseless and unconscious in front of me.
In one of his drawers, I found zip ties, which, from what I gathered, had been improved over the years by adding metallic strings inside that couldn't be simply cut through, and used them to tie his arms and legs, wrapping the ties around him as if I were securing a rolled up carpet.
Next came a gag, formed from one sleeve and fastened with his other sleeve, both of which I cut off with a knife I liberated from its sheath on his calf.
I relieved him of his gun and holster, fastening them around my thigh, and stood, pondering my next move. My desire to give the soldiers a choice was still the same, and I had ample time to come up with different scenarios on how to do so during my journey. One had been to break into the command communication office and take over the radio, warning and enlightening my fellow soldiers, but Svelvick had everything I needed right here in his office. Aware that I was locking myself in with no way out, I barricaded the door, which wasn't that hard, given that it was made from impenetrable steel like the others, turning this room into an escape area. Nobody from outside would get in, but I wouldn't be able to get out either once the soldiers lurked on the other side.
One step at a time, I advised myself and turned to Svelvick's tablet that would enable me to speak to the entire base and even any soul who might be outside on patrol.
"Dryckit,"Icursedand grabbed a handful of moist dirt off the ground to smear over my face. Then I shrugged out of the most cumbersome furs, like my cape.
"What are you doing?" Thorodoth asked, alarmed.
"I won't stand by and watch her get herself killed," I fumed.
"The plan is to wait here for her signal," Thorodoth argued.
"What if she can't send a signal?" I retorted angrily, moving into Thorodoth's face. "What if they've already arrested her?"
"Then we will have to find another way."
That nearly snapped the precarious hold I had on my self-control, but I managed to only fist my hands into his shirt instead of pounding his head in. "Is that what you would do if it was Rae in there?"
Thorodoth paled and waved his warriors off, all of whom had stepped closer to us. He pushed my hands off him and straightened his shirt.
"Nyck," he finally pressed out, but his eyes turned cold again, and I realized that Chrissy didn't mean anything to him and neither did I. He had no stake in rescuing her or helping me, his only objective was to save his species.
I did, however, have one argument I knew would hit home like an arrow. "If something happens to her, we'll never know what her secret weapon is, or how to disarm the humans."
Thorodoth's eyes narrowed. "You didn't make her tell you?"
I snorted derisively. "Have you met the human kallinies? There is no making them do anything."
Thorodoth threw his arms in the air. "That was reckless!"
