“Maybe.”
Nine and I stand on the commander’s perch overlooking the various stations down below. From here, we can watch Adam and Rex pilot the ship and talk between them without being overheard. Six and Marina are down below with the two Mogs, looking over the controls and talking with Adam.
“You don’t think they’re capable of change?” I ask Nine. “Adam changed.”
“Yeah, but I always thought that was because he banged Number One or something.”
I give him a tired look.
“What?” he replies.
I shake my head. “Anyway, Rex is only one Mog. Even if he wanted to betray us, what do you think he could really do?”
What I leave unspoken is that I’ve just killed an entire ship’s worth of Mogadorians. One left alive isn’t going to stop what I’ve got planned. As for my question about Mogadorians learning to change, I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that myself. It’s easier if I imagine them as vicious enemies that would never listen to reason, that are incapable of knowing justice or mercy. But the more I get to know Adam and now Rex, the more I see of Mogadorians like that one who died thinking his “god” Setrákus Ra had abandoned him, the more I wonder if they haven’t just been completely brainwashed as a people. Given time, could they change? I’m not going to stop fighting and ask the invaders if they’d like to be rehabilitated. It’s too late for that. But I wonder what will happen once I cut off the head of their twisted society—once I kill Setrákus Ra.
I intend to find out soon.
“He doesn’t have any bad intentions.”
Nine visibly jumps, and my shoulders tighten as Ella creeps up behind us. She smiles a bit, and for a moment I wonder if she’s having some fun with how spooky she’s been lately. Her eyes spark with Loric energy as she scans the two of us.
“Goddamn, Ella,” Nine says, catching his breath. “Did you read his mind or something?”
“Yes,” she responds. “He has harbored doubts about the morality of his people ever since he first encountered Adam. He’s been too frightened to act on them until you gave him an opportunity, John.”
“Well, that’d make me sleep easier if I planned to sleep anywhere on this gross-ass ship,” Nine says, already losing interest. “Maybe we should just have Adam talk all nice to the rest of the Mogs, huh? Go all social worker on ’em.”
Ignoring Nine, I turn to Ella. “The Loralite stone near the falls that you turned off. Can you reactivate it?”
“Yes,” she replies.
“Then let’s go.”
“Okay, bye,” Nine says, frowning as we exit.
I lead Ella through the empty halls of the warship. The traces of my battle with the ship’s crew are everywhere: burns, debris, damaged panels. The two of us don’t say anything until we’re almost at the docking bay. Ella finally breaks the silence.
“You’re mad at me.”
I run a hand through my hair, find it sticky and matted with sweat. “I . . . no. Yes. I don’t know.”
“You wish I had warned Sarah. Or warned you.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now, does it?” I slow my walk down and turn towards her. “In your visions—”
“I told you; I’m not looking at the future anymore.”
“When you were, then. Did you see me like this? Did you see what I’d become?”
“What have you become, John?” Ella asks, tilting her head.
I bite the inside of my cheek before answering. I remember the looks I was getting from Six and Adam during our attack on the warship.
“Something my friends are afraid of.”
Tentatively, Ella reaches out and brushes her fingertips against mine. “They aren’t afraid of you, John. They’re afraid for you.”
I shake my head. Whatever that means. I’ve already wasted too much time here. There’s still so much to be done.
Of course, even though I’m doing my best not to show it, I’m feeling tired in a way that I’ve never felt before. It’s beyond exhaustion. It’s like my every atom is splitting apart, like I’ve exploded, except my body doesn’t know it yet. Pushing so much power through me, using so many different Legacies, it takes a toll. I was running on adrenaline by the end of the battle.
But I’m still standing. That means I’m still fighting.
We enter the docking bay. Lexa stands next to her ship, the Loric vessel sticking out like a sore thumb among all these Mogadorian Skimmers.