Chapter 478
Jake let her go and turned his attention back to the Commander. In his peripheral vision, he saw that the other Spartans were still standing exactly where they had been a second earlier.
The whole burst of near-violence had happened so fast and so unexpectedly that no one had time to process what was going on, let alone react. To their credit, though, they recovered quickly enough, and a moment later, most of the humans had their weapons trained on him.
He had already reverted the chainsaw to a normal human-like arm, but the Spartans kept aiming at him.
“Tell them to lower their guns before somebody gets hurt,” Jake said to the Commander.
“Everything’s under control, people,” the Commander said in a tone that suggested he didn’t believe that himself.
Reluctantly, his people lowered their weapons, but they kept them gripped in their hands. All eyes were now drilling into Jake with great suspicion. Everyone looked ready to spring into action at the slightest provocation.
Jake quickly glanced at Silvia. She was still a bit shaken, but from the look in her eyes, it was clear she had mostly regained her composure by that point. Jake returned his attention to the Commander.
“So, you were about to tell me everything,” he said.
The Commander didn’t reply, staring at him grimly.
“I hope you didn’t change your mind all of a sudden,” Jake said. “It’d be a big mistake, mind you.”
The Commander gave a brief shake of his head. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just ask, and I’ll answer.”
“Alright,” Jake said. “Let’s start with this. What I said before about you planning to have Catalina killed so I’d have a reason to go after D, was I right? Or maybe I got it all wrong, and there was another reason you dispatched Silvia’s team to that location?”
The Commander didn’t immediately reply, as if he wanted to give the matter some thought before providing an answer. However, he must have come to the conclusion that there was no way he could come up with a plausible lie, so he said, “No, you didn’t get it wrong. You… you pretty much figured it all out.”
Catalina and Silvia both looked appalled.
“So you wanted D to kill me, huh?” Catalina asked, disgust clear in her voice. “I was nothing more than a pawn in your game?”
The Commander was silent for a moment, as he wasn’t sure what to say. Then he uttered a single word. “Sorry.”
Catalina was resentful. “Sorry? That’s all you’ve got to say? Hate to break it to you, but sorry won’t cut it.”
The Commander spread his arms. “Look, I have nothing against you personally. It’s just that D is a huge threat to our entire group. I know you hate me now. But what I tried to do had to be done. D is a threat to our survival, and Jake is the only one who can stop him.”
“D doesn’t care about your group,” Jake said. “His human side and his monster side are constantly fighting for control. Whichever one wins takes over his body. Wiping your group out isn’t in his best interest, because that’s the easiest way for him to lose what little humanity he has left. And I already know he wants to hold on to that humanity. He’s fought hard not to become a completely mindless monster. If he really wanted to deal with all of you, he would’ve done it a long time ago. Finding your base wouldn’t have been much of a challenge for him either. Most likely, he already knows where it is.”
“Believe me, I know Owen,” the Commander said. “It was his human name before he turned into a monster, by the way. He hates us very much. He wants us all gone. He might have been putting off coming after us, but sooner or later, he’ll come. We all know that. And when he comes, there will be nothing we can do to stop him from slaying us all.” He looked at Catalina. “That’s why I did what I did. Sometimes you have to make a hard choice for the greater good. I’m sure you’re reasonable enough to understand that.”
Catalina scoffed. “Then I guess I’m not reasonable, because I don’t.”
“You would’ve done the same if you were in my shoes.”
“No,” Catalina said. “I wouldn’t have sacrificed some of my people to save the rest. I would’ve found another way.”
“And what if there wasn’t any other way?” the Commander pressed.
“That’s bullshit,” Catalina shot back. “It’s not like you were cornered. You were ready to sacrifice me, Silvia, and several others over the mere possibility that D might come after you one day, which might not even happen, as Jake just pointed out.”
The Commander opened his mouth, clearly intending to keep arguing, but Jake cut him off before he could speak.
“You told us earlier that Owen was losing more and more of his humanity as he evolved,” Jake said, “and that at some point he became aggressive toward you.”
The Commander frowned. For a second, he looked as though he was trying to remember whether he had actually said that. Then he nodded. “That’s right. So?”
“But now you’re saying Owen hates you,” Jake said. “So you lied to us, didn’t you? This isn’t just about him losing his humanity. You’re afraid he’ll come after you because he hates you. So what did you do? What did you do to make him hate you?”
The Commander didn’t answer right away. He had been caught in a lie, and from the look on his face, he was already searching for another one. Jake had no intention of letting that happen. This time, one way or another, he was going to get the truth out of him.
But before any of them could say anything, however, Silvia spoke up.
“Sir, does that mean you were really going to sacrifice my group?” she asked. “You were going to send us to our deaths just so Jake would have a reason to go after Owen?”
The Commander sighed. “Not you too, Silvia. Unlike Catalina, you should be able to understand why this was necessary. If my plan had worked, Owen would’ve been eliminated. He might already have been gone by now. Yes, your small group would’ve been lost, but the rest of the Spartans would no longer have to live under the threat of being wiped out by him someday. It’s a small price to pay, don’t you think? You’re a soldier. You should understand that sometimes a few have to be sacrificed to save the many.”
Her expression made it clear she didn’t agree.
“Hanna. Eric. Fatima. Ali. Charles,” she said.
The Commander blinked.
“What was that?” he asked.
“The people in my group,” Silvia said. “The people who would be dead now if your plan had worked. If it weren’t for Jake, they’d already be gone.”
The Commander said nothing, but the look on his face made his disappointment in Silvia obvious. Jake stepped toward him, and the Commander’s eyes snapped immediately to him.
“During our first meeting,” Jake began, “you told us that your people met Owen somewhere in the streets after the Ravage took over your entire city. You told us you met him every now and then and that he was friendly at first. But you claimed that he started to lose his humanity as he evolved and that at some point he turned against you for no reason. You said he became so aggressive that it became impossible for you to communicate with him and that you stopped meeting him altogether.”
Jake paused, looking at the Commander. The leader of the Spartans remained silent, though.
Jake continued, “But now we know that was all a lie. That’s not how you met D. And if he hates you as much as you claim, then there’s a reason for it. So start talking, and this time, tell the truth. Tell me how you really met Owen, why he hates you, what your tech lab was for, and what happened down there. And while you’re at it, explain how you have technology that lets you see through his eyes, and whether he even knows about it.”
Jake took another small step closer.
“And don’t even think about lying to me again. If you do, I’ll know. And you won’t like what happens next.”
For a moment, the Commander said nothing. He only stared back at him.
“You can start talking now,” Jake said.
And the Commander started talking.