“But how many died? And how long before that bastard desecrates the others?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
I wouldn’t lie to her, but also didn’t want to truthfully answer in light of the pain it would cause. Knowing my sire, as soon as he finalized the last steps with the current mutations, he would order his bioengineers to immediately apply treatment to the remaining Mimics whose population now counted less than four hundred individuals. I had promised to do everything in my power to save her people. Now, it no longer seemed possible.
“Where are they?” she asked.
“Those still unchanged are already on Zekuro. The others will travel there with Khutu.”
I didn’t need to give her further details to understand what that meant. Silzi’s attractive face crumpled into a mask of pure sorrow as a choked sob rose from her throat. I pulled her into my embrace and let her shed her tears on my shoulder. Sparing her meaningless words, I held the petite Mimic tightly, gently caressing her hair for comfort while flapping my wings in an extremely fast but barely visible motion which created a soothing hum.
Silzi eventually pulled herself together and took a step back, freeing herself of my embrace. With the back of her hand, she wiped the tears from her face and straightened her shoulders with newfound resolve.
“I’m going to Zekuro to find them,” she said with determination.
“Silzi…” I cautioned.
“I have to save them, Bane,” she said with an almost angry voice.
I cupped her face in my hands, my thumbs caressing her high cheekbones in an appeasing gesture. “You know what will happen if he catches you,” I said in a pleading tone. “You can’t just go alone. I promised I would do everything in my power to help you. Let me finish this mission, and then we can go after your family.”
Silzi wrapped her hands around my wrists but didn’t pull away from my touch.
“You have a good heart, Bane, and I know you mean every word. But it might be too late by then. You know how quickly Khutu acts once he’s set his mind on something. If he finds me, then I will welcome whatever death comes my way,” Silzi said defiantly. “I have done horrible things under his command in a vain effort to save my people. Not a day goes by without it gnawing at my conscience. But we are the last of our kind. If he destroys them, there will be no point in me going on. Are you not doing everything you must to save your people, no matter the cost to yourself?”
“You are my people, too, Silzi,” I argued gently, although it was clear she wouldn’t be swayed. In her shoes, neither would I.
She gave me a trembling smile and tugged on my wrist to pull my hands away from her face.
“Then save your mothers and brothers and then, if at all possible, come for us. Hopefully, I’ll have gathered enough information to help us get them out. They will not find me because they are not searching for a Mimic. They will only see what I want them to see.”
Squeezing my hands in a last goodbye, Silzi turned around and walked away. I watched her receding back with an aching chest. I felt like a helpless parent, watching his child head into a hostile world that would seek to destroy her at every opportunity, with no power to dissuade her.
As we were closing in on the breeding ships’ small fleet, the sense of impending doom that had plagued me ever since leaving Khutu’s vessel grew another notch. I hated the level of uncertainty and the number of unknowns surrounding this mission. Too many lives depended on the events that would take place in the next few hours. But worse still, this escort didn’t make much sense. Based on their point of origin and our rendezvous coordinates, they’d already completed a little over a third of the journey. If the General had felt confident enough to let them travel that long with their current escort, why not have simply ordered us to head straight to Zekuro?
And what a joke that escort was.
After a quick glance around the bridge to make sure all my brothers had extruded their small mandibles—and checked that my own were out—I turned to Viper, our navigator.
“Hail them,” I ordered.
My stomach dropped when the insectoid face of Jorox appeared on screen, all my senses going into full alert. Jorox was not only one of the weakest Soldiers of the Kryptid army, he was also one of the most incompetent.
“Why the fuck would the General put one such as him in charge of escorting his brides and sons?” Dread asked me telepathically, standing a few feet away from me.
“To bait us into attacking since it would be an easy victory against that idiot,” I replied, now more convinced than ever that this was a setup.
“Soldier,” I said in a clipped tone to the Kryptid on screen, “what the fuck kind of pathetic escort is this?”
Jorox bristled, his large mandibles snapping frantically before he responded in the clicking Kryptid language.
“What is wrong with our escort?” he asked. “We have fifteen powerful vessels, and we’re flying within Kryptid space knowing you were coming. What’s the problem?”
“Your ships are all scattered, too far to assist each other in case the need arises,” I snapped back, grateful for his incompetence which would further justify me taking over command of the mission. “The liveships, especially my father’s brides, should be flying in stealth mode.” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t choked on calling that monster ‘my father.’ “You don’t even have anyone scouting ahead, and your weakest vessels are guarding the rear. Do you know what the General will do to you if any harm comes to his brides and offspring?”
The hatred and contempt in the Kryptid’s face immediately faded away at the thought of what pain the General would inflict upon him if such a thing came to pass. The Soldiers hated my brothers and me but knew better than to move against us. They only partially feared that our sire would retaliate. After all, he was a strong proponent of the survival of the fittest. He wouldn’t want a son that could be easily defeated in single combat. But they were terrified of our battle form, with good reason.
“I am taking over the lead of this mission,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Prepare the Brides Ship to receive my father’s younger sons. Considering the poor job you’ve done so far, I will leave a couple of my mature brothers aboard to make sure both the brides and the children are traveling under optimal conditions.”
“But—”
“Silence! I haven’t finished,” I snarled. Only confident dominance would cow him into obedience. If I even remotely gave off the impression that I doubted my right to command him, he would balk, and things would escalate. “Once my brothers have finished unloading the children, they will take a proper escort position in pairs around the Brides Ship. Each of your vessels will take position between one of those pairs.”
“But what of the other breeding ships?” Jorox challenged.
“Interrupt me again,” I said in an icy tone, “and I’ll come onboard your ship to rip those crooked mandibles of yours right out of your ugly face with my bare hands.”
“Now THAT I’d love to see. You should do it either way,” Dread mind-spoke to me teasingly.
“Given the opportunity, I sure as damn will,” I retorted, keeping an evil smirk from showing on my face.