Page 60 of Dark Horizon New Dawn

As Kian pulled out his phone, Negal thought of ways to poke holes in the strategy, but when he couldn't, he had to grudgingly admit that Turner was indeed as brilliant as everyone said he was.

"Hi, Andrew," Kian said as his call was answered. "I need you to check what information the US government has on the Modana cartel. Specifically, I need information about their compound in Puerto Vallarta, if you can find it."

"I'm on it," the guy on the other side said. "Is that where they are holding Frankie and Mia's friend?"

Kian was forever amazed by how fast rumors traveled within the clan.

"It looks like they are being taken there via Modana's yacht." Kian explained in a few words what Roni had found out and what Turner's plan was. "We are most interested in finding out the number of helicopters on the property."

"Give me half an hour or so," the guy said.

"I can give you that, but no more. Our teams are heading out in an hour."

"I might need longer than that."

Kian looked at Turner. "Can we wait?"

Turner shrugged. "It is what it is, and it will take as long as it has to take. We can make changes to the plan while the teams are deployed, improvising as needed."

"Call me whenever you have something," Kian told Andrew.

"I will." The call ended.

"I'm going," Negal said.

"I'm joining as well," Toven said. "You need a strong compeller for this plan to work."

Kian shook his head. "Kalugal will do. With all due respect, you don't have any military training, and this is a military operation."

Toven glared at him. "You didn't mind me going into Kra-ell territory and risking both Mia and myself."

"That was different. You were not part of the assault team. This operation is a commando attack, and you will be a liability instead of an asset."

Toven looked like he was going to strike Kian dead with his eyes, but fortunately for Kian, he didn't have that ability. "The last time Kalugal was part of an active operation was eighty years ago. He's no better equipped to be part of this mission than I am."

"Let's flip a coin." Kalugal pushed his hand into his pocket. "My pockets are empty. Does anyone have a quarter?"

Toven crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not going to flip a coin over this. I'm going, and that's the end of this discussion."

Kian let out an exasperated breath. "One of you needs to stay on the ship to defend it in case of an attack. Decide between you who will do what."

Negal pushed to his feet. "I'll talk to Aru and Dagor. Hopefully, both will agree to come."

Onegus got up as well. "I will assemble the team. We will meet in forty-five minutes on the promenade deck. Those who intend to join the mission, get dressed to be ready for deployment." He turned to Toven. "I prefer for you to stay on board and defend the ship. Kalugal is more than capable of taking care of a bunch of humans. There is a remote possibility that Modana is hosting Doomers or that one of the thugs is immune, which is why we are taking precautions and assembling a force. If not for that, Kalugal could achieve our objectives all by himself with a megaphone in hand. But since we are leaving the ship with just one-third of the Guardians, we need the stronger compeller to stay here, and that's you."

After a long moment, Toven nodded. "Very well. You are the chief, and if you want me to stay on board, I will bow to your authority."

"Thank you." The chief dipped his head.

Negal was glad that Onegus hadn't objected to his and his two friends' participation in the mission, but he wasn't surprised that neither the chief nor Kian wanted Toven to be in the line of fire. He was a royal, and even here on Earth, where there were supposedly no different classes of gods, Toven was deemed more valuable than three commoner gods.

Not that the royal seemed happy about it. Toven would have preferred to participate, and Negal appreciated that.

Once outside, he typed a long message to his teammates, explaining what was going on and asking whether they were willing to join.

Hopefully, they would respond to the text despite the early hour. If not, he would go to their cabins and ring the bell until someone answered the door.

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