Page 10 of Tears of Tungsten
“I’ve received some alarming reports. The engineers tell me they have no estimate on when the Charybdis will awaken again. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Father. She’s gone dormant. It’s impossible to determine how long she’ll stay this way.” And he knew that very well. Had he really summoned me here just to rehash information we were all well aware of?
“Then it behooves me to take steps at once. We have to make sure the chimeras are fed—the hard way.”
My blood froze in my veins as I finally understood what he was getting at. “Father, you can’t be serious. That’s much too dangerous.”
“It’s more dangerous to wait and do nothing. Other than the Sphinx and the Cerberus, your unit is on the brink of falling apart. If that happens, we’ll have no real defense against the apsids. Our star fleets are powerful, but not good enough.”
“And we wouldn’t be having this problem if three-quarters of the people in the tournament hadn’t attacked us,” I shouted at him. “Or did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
“Yes, that was… unfortunate. But to be fair, Brendan, none of the other competitors expected you to receive such damage. Your chimeras are much too powerful, so much so that just one of you could have fought them off with ease had you been in top form.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he wasn’t wrong. Typhon had been almost unresponsive that day, and because of that, he’d lost several heads. Scylla had been in a similar situation. That should’ve never happened in a tournament battle with human warriors. But I wasn’t ready to agree with him, not yet.
“If the Charybdis was damaged, it’s because of your stubborn insistence to make things unnecessarily difficult for me. You hate Selene so much you organized a tournament just to remove her. And now you’re complaining about the results.”
My father shot to his feet, finally losing his temper as well. “Don’t be ridiculous, boy. I don’t need to throw a contest to get rid of one Terran whore. If I wanted her dead, she would be dead.”
I hissed in fury, the insult making me want to throttle him on the spot. “Don’t talk about her like that. She’s not a whore.”
My father glared at me, completely unaware of how close he was to causing a disaster. “Are you even listening to me, Brendan? She doesn’t matter. Your chimeras do. And if you don’t step up and do what’s necessary, they will die.”
His answer chased away my anger and forced me to process what he was really saying. My head started to spin. I was more aware than ever of Typhon’s presence lurking at the back of my mind.
He’d never complained about possible damage stemming from a poor diet, but come to think of it, he had been a little more volatile and prone to anger lately. I hadn’t realized this might be the reason.
Had I missed something that was right in front of my nose? Had I been so distracted by my quest that I’d failed my friend?
“It’s not your fault, Brendan,”Typhon said.“This sort of thing happens, and we’re always prepared for it. We have a limited life expectancy. We know that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,”I snapped at him.“There has to be something we can do.”
“Not really. Your father thinks he can bring back the past, but the suggestion he’s about to make won’t help us. It’s a temporary solution, at best.”
Oblivious to the exchange between me and Typhon, my father continued to speak. “Brendan, you’re a good man. I know you want to protect our people, and that’s a worthy goal. But sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”
“Right,” I replied, feeling numb. “And who will have to pay the price this time around?”
“We haven’t decided yet. I’m still discussing it with The Grand Judiciary. It’ll be a tough choice. The Terrans might be generally worthless, but no one is fond of the idea of genocide. I’ll let you know when we make a decision. In the meantime, you need to be prepared for what it’ll mean for you and your unit.”
I nodded and forced myself to stay calm. As much as I hated my father, I had to prioritize. I’d have to tell at least some of my fellow Chimera Warriors about this.
I couldn’t share the information with Selene. She already had enough on her plate without worrying about this. I could pick up the slack for her if it was necessary. “I understand.”
“Excellent. It would be a bad idea to spread the word about what we’re doing throughout the school, so when the time comes, we’ll pretend you’re taking some additional lessons from me.”
Once again, I agreed. That would work well with my plan to hide this disaster from Selene.
“Good,” my father finished. “I’m glad you’ve seen sense.”
I’d never been irrational. It was just my father who failed to understand my logic. He still did, but for the moment, I had to play along and follow orders, for the sake of my family.
I knew better than to believe him on his word, so I’d have to look into this personally. I still thought the incident at the tournament was very suspicious, no matter what he might have claimed. But I had a little time. The Grand Judiciary hadn’t made any decision, so I’d take advantage of that to put together a plan of my own.
As expected, my father wasn’t done ruining my day. “Oh, and Brendan… Whatever you said to Lady Welton, do apologize to her. The poor girl is terrified. I understand your lack of inclination to socialize with women, but they’re necessary to perpetuate the dynasty.”
I mentally counted to ten and sought refuge in the induced waves of serenity I could feel coming from Typhon. “I already have a woman, Father. I don’t need anyone else. When the time comes for me to have children, I can discuss it with Selene. Considering the exceptions and drastic steps we’re taking, I can’t imagine lifting the reproduction ban on one Terran is such a big deal.”
