That quote increases the level of tension in me to feel more interest in the story, when told Warden thinks the whole human species may at issue depending on the outcome of his contest with Holt. Yet the way Warden is described makes me think he may be equal to the challenges of this particular contest. Reading that quote, I also get the strong feeling Warden's practiced and meditated on this plan to topple Holt for months--or, even years.The UMCP director had no reason to stay where he was. He was a busy man. He should already have gone on to other duties. Still he valued the silence and the near solitude. Alone with Min Donner, he remained in the privacy of his CO room, watching Trumpet--and a piece of his own fate-- pass out of his control.
He believed the whole human species was at issue. Otherwise he would not have been able to do what he did.
He was a strong man, with a thick chest and powerful arms. The lines of his face and jaw seemed hard enough to have been cut from metal. And the patch glued over the prosthesis of his left eye, like the crookedness of his nose, only made him look stronger. But sometimes he needed more than strength to stand the strain of his oblique intentions. He needed to remind himself of the consequences if he failed.
If he failed, Holt Fasner would win.
Warden Dios had done too much to help create the Dragon's power: he couldn't turn his back on his responsibility now that he finally understood the danger of what he and Holt together had made.
Min asks Warden if he thinks the mission given to Angus and Milos to blow up Billingate is really going to work. Warden doesn't answer directly (something I don't think would be reassuring to me if I was one of his directors) but states that he will face punishment from Holt "the Dragon" Fasner if the mission doesn't succeed (which as a director of his I would find even LESS reassuring!)
Then Min wants to know why Warden arranged the mission this way. Warden talks as though he had no choice. Min reminds him that he could have sent her and/or a team handpicked by her, and she adds that she could also have arranged to rescue Morn before Billingate gets obliterated.
Min's argument has some logical basis: her team would be more trustworthy than Milos, and Morn doesn't deserve to be abandoned on Billngate, being a loyal police officer who has already suffered a great deal. Min implores Warden to let her lead or choose a rescue team.