Page 72 of Never Enough

He helped her out of the plane seats where she had curled up for a nap and led her to the back of the plane where there was a bigger table that everyone was crammed around, except for Medusa and the copilot. There was a screen at the foot of the table where the survey map of the tunnels was projected. Since there was only one chair left, Nemo deposited her in it, then stood behind the chair and leaned on his arms on the headrest, his fingers unobtrusively combing through the curls at the nape of her neck.

Waters began to fill her in on what they had done so far. “Midas blew up the map and printed out individual pages, which we then matched up and taped together. He also forwarded a copy to Cerberus as things are going to go ‘boom’ at some point. While you and Nemo go in to look at the operation and see if you can find some more samples for us, he’ll be doing his thing, and we’ll be sweeping for people and evacuating.”

“Why are we blowing up the mine?” Haskell asked.

“Orders came from Loki. He said that if these stones are truly being mined there, they want to slow down the Kaders’ operations. Removing access to the stones will not only halt operations and allow their miners to go free but will also cut off some of their financial avenues.”

“But it won’t happen right away,” Haskell warned. “The stones obviously don’t come out of the mine in their final form.They have to be hewn from the rock encasing them, cut, shaped, and polished. They’ll likely have more than enough stones to keep them going for a while.”

“Correct, but an interruption could serve as a distraction. When people are distracted, they have a tendency to panic because their impulse is to rush to solve a problem with a metaphorical bandage rather than take their time to implement plans that focus on the bigger picture. If the Kaders have an interruption in production, even a small one, Loki thinks it might give us time to figure out how to shut them down on a larger scale. If we’re lucky, the thought of no additional supply coming in will lead them to believe they'll have to be more conservative with their funds, and that means they’ll have to slow down their operations. It’s not optimal, but for now, it’s the goal.”

Frowning, Haskell bit her lip as she considered the strategy. “What about the miners? Are you sure you’ll get everyone out in time? The window of opportunity isn’t very large. We’re going to need to get in and get out pretty quick.”

“One hundred percent sure? No,” Waters admitted. “There’s always risk. And you’re correct that the window is narrow, so it’s possible that innocents could get trapped.” Seeing the stricken look on her face, he told her, “No one wants that, Gem, but yes, it is a possibility. We’ll do everything we can to prevent that from happening or at least minimize the damage. You’ve been inside. What will we be facing?”

Haskell offered up the stark reality, “Six weeks ago, the mine ran twenty-four seven. Going off that, there’s no way to minimize the damage based on day or time. You’re going to need a distraction to ensure the guards don’t lead a shift into the mines, and you’re going to need a distraction inside the mine that allows the guards to flee to the surface to save their own lives but also allows you to drive the miners to the surface.That’s the more difficult one because there are only two working lifts, and each will hold about twenty to twenty-five people at a time.”

“How many miners are we looking at total?” Steel asked.

“Two hundred, maybe? Unfortunately, depending on what they’ve found and how well they’ve organized in the meantime? I wouldn’t even want to take a guess.”

He followed up with, “Any idea how fast the lifts move?”

“Not fast enough. Approximately one hundred miners per shift, that’s two runs. It probably takes five to seven minutes to travel from the surface to the main cavern. Your best bet will be to have the guards bring a portion of the shift to the surface, then strike before they take the first half of the next shift down.”

Steel looked at their team leader. “We’re going to need to be super focused,jefe.”

“Agreed,” Waters replied. “We’ll have to run a few different contingency plans. Start brainstorming things that can go wrong and how to combat them.”

Haskell looked at Midas. “Do you have the topographic map of the area surrounding the mine site? I’ll need to find several possible surface tunnels to approach the main cavern from.”

“Yes,” he replied. “I can zoom in or out to any width. What do you need?”

“Start with one kilometer in all directions, radiating outward in a circle. I need to look at what I can actually see versus the overview itself.”

Midas flashed the topographic map on the screen. “Just let me know when to zoom in or out.”

The group sat in silence, contemplating the map and her. It was unnerving. She knew she was tense. She wasn’t used to working in groups. They had to be concerned she wasn’t up tothe task. When she worked alone, the only person she had to consider was herself. Now, the intel she offered would affect not only these men but several hundred lives. It was unnerving.

They don’t trust you. Why should they? You’re young. You’re a woman. Just a thief. What could you possibly have to offer them? Quit putting on airs and stay where you belong.

Mentally, she shook off the voice. This was not the time to allow her da to worm his way into her head.

She blocked out their stares and the sound of them turning pages in their briefing folders. Instead, she allowed herself to feel the reassuring weight of Scheherazade sitting on her feet under the table, Nemo’s warm breath in her ear, and the touch of his opposite hand that was lightly kneading the back of her neck. The man and his dog knew her tension without having to ask and offered silent support.

Haskell cocked her head, squinting at the map on the screen. “Midas, zoom in one-half kilometer.”

He complied.

“Color, please,” she requested.

The map went from black and white to color.

“Can you overlay a grid over the map? Red lines. Twenty-four squares. Six rows of four, labeled by letter, left to right, skipping letters I and O.”

A few seconds later, the grid she requested was in place.

“Okay, without changing the scale of the grid overlay, zoom out ten percent.”

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