his head to
his head to bring the large red button back under his gaze. This time, his lips did twist in a slight sneer.
"How impressive. A big red button which can destroy eight thousand people. The button in Oscar Saint-Just's command center was a small white one. When I pushed it—yes, he allowed me that privilege, in light of my volunteering to go in—I destroyed perhaps a million and a half people in Nouveau Paris along with McQueen and her traitors. There was never an exact body count, of course. With numbers that high, it hardly seemed to matter."
He brought the gaze back to Kubler. The slight sneer was gone, but the dark eyes looked like bottomless pits.
"Ask me if I lost a moment's sleep over it."
Kubler swallowed.
"The answer is: no. Not so much as a second's sleep. Everyone dies sooner or later. All that matters is whether they die for a purpose or not. So I say again. Take the girl out of here so we can begin our negotiations, or match your zealotry against mine. Those are your only options. Obey me, or push the button."
There was silence, for a moment.
"Decide now, Masadan.
"How impressive. A big red button which can destroy eight thousand people. The button in Oscar Saint-Just's command center was a small white one. When I pushed it—yes, he allowed me that privilege, in light of my volunteering to go in—I destroyed perhaps a million and a half people in Nouveau Paris along with McQueen and her traitors. There was never an exact body count, of course. With numbers that high, it hardly seemed to matter."
He brought the gaze back to Kubler. The slight sneer was gone, but the dark eyes looked like bottomless pits.
"Ask me if I lost a moment's sleep over it."
Kubler swallowed.
"The answer is: no. Not so much as a second's sleep. Everyone dies sooner or later. All that matters is whether they die for a purpose or not. So I say again. Take the girl out of here so we can begin our negotiations, or match your zealotry against mine. Those are your only options. Obey me, or push the button."
There was silence, for a moment.
"Decide now, Masadan.