Chapter 257: The Beginning of the End
I would like to say that the female in front of me did something, had some sort of reaction to my words, but with the face-covering she was wearing, I had absolutely no idea. But I refused to squirm.
"You seem to know what we want," said the Hive queen. I tried to study what her command bridge looked like, or even to see anything other than her on the screen, but everything was blurry. Only the figure in the white dress was clear.
Her voice, though, more than her looks, was starting to get to me. Every time she opened her mouth, I could only hear the buzzing of hundreds of bees... or mosquitos. It was honestly making me want to break out the Raid or something.
"I think everyone wants a home," I replied coldly with a shrug of my shoulders. Once again, fake it till you make it. "And I think yours was ripped away from you."
"We are managing just fine," came the translated words.
The conversation was really starting to get to me, and I didn’t know if it was because of her lack of reaction to anything or because of her voice, but I was starting to get a bit frustrated.
I had pictured this conversation in my head a hundred times, but not once had it ever gone like this.
"Then I guess you won’t help me take out the Alliance, reclaim your worlds, and give your people the home that they deserve. Did you know that the tapahtyn have completely taken over your planets?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "They seem to have absolutely thrived after you left."
"We didn’t leave," came the voice, sounding angry. I refused to flinch. "We were forced out."
"And yet, I offer you a way to get back. And you don’t want it," I shrugged. I honestly had thought that she would have jumped at the offer to take out the Alliance, but I guess that they didn’t have their reputation by working well with others.
"No one wants to work with us," she scoffed. I watched her turn away from the screen and walk over to a pristine white chair. Sitting down, she flattened out her skirts around her and then looked up.
"I do."
"Why?"
"On my planet, we have the expression ’the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ I want the Alliance gone. I thought we could be friends."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," she repeated. "The Alliance is the enemy of many."
I nodded my head. Every ruling body had both supporters and those who went against them. It didn’t surprise me that there were many different species that hated the Alliance as much as I did—especially those on the outside looking in.
"Did you know that the head of the Alliance is no longer the head of the Alliance?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "But to me, it didn’t matter who the head is. I am not interested in only cutting off the head of the snake; that is a recipe for disaster. I will kill everyone involved in controlling the Alliance."
"Even your own species?" asked the Hive queen, tilting her head to the side. This was the first physical response of any kind that I had seen from her. However, her statement made me pause.
"My own species?" I repeated.
She hummed, sending another wave of shivers down my spine. "Pippa Flynn."
I froze at the name. I would fully admit that a part of me didn’t want to believe her, that a human could really do that to another human, but there were thousands of years of history letting me know otherwise.
"She has taken over the Alliance?" I asked, wanting a definitive answer, something more than just my suspicions.
There was no response from the queen. The silence stretched on for a few minutes. "She can hide better than most Hives."
"Ah, but once she is out in the open, she is vulnerable," I said with a smile on my face. The women who were tortured and killed would have their revenge. I would make sure of it.
"She has an AI controlled ship. There is nothing we can do," countered the queen.
"She isn’t the only one. What can I do to get you on my side?" I asked, point blank. Trying to negotiate with this female was wearing on me. I wanted it over and done with.
"How do I know that you won’t betray us?" replied the queen, not bothering to answer my question.
"How do I know that you won’t betray us?" I shot back with a shrug. "There is no certainty in this universe, but one way or another, Pippa Flynn and the Alliance are going down."
"Then I will be watching," buzzed the queen as the screen in front of me turned black.
Everyone on my command deck was quiet as we processed what just happened.
I took a deep breath and cracked my head from side to side. Standing up, I walked out of the bridge and to my quarters.
Opening the hatch, I didn’t care if the guys were following me or not. I had a million things on my mind, and they were last on the list. I came to a stop in front of my closet and didn’t move.
Rough fingers glided over my back to the zipper, keeping my dress on. They gently lowered it, and the dress melted into a pile of fabric around my feet. Stepping out of it, my heels still on, I walked into the closet and found a tank top and an oversized sweater.
Pulling them over top of my head, first the tank top, then the sweater. I reached into one of the drawers and grabbed a pair of black leggings. I sat down and took off my shoes before I got into my leggings. Feeling a bit more comfortable, I went into my nest of furs and sat down.
This was the beginning of the end. And no matter which way it went, I would have to plan my next move carefully.
