Page 110 of Dark Rover's Gift

38

KIAN

The war room in the underground structure beneath the village was once again in use.

Maps and surveillance photos were tacked up in neat rows on the wall, and grainy drone footage of terrorists entering and leaving their rented houses was displayed on a large screen, each occupying a quarter of the available landscape.

Due to the scope of the threat Kian had assembled an extensive team, and they were all seated around the conference table, waiting for Onegus to give them updates about the information that had been collected so far.

In the meantime, Turner was jotting down notes on his ever-present yellow pad, Aru and Dagor were sipping coffee, William and Roni were conferring over an open laptop, and Andrew was looking at the intel pinups lining the wall. All the head Guardians were in attendance as well, their grim faces mirroring Kian's own. In addition, Max and Magnus had been invited to take part in the meeting.

The two were on their way to becoming head Guardians themselves, and Onegus had decided that they should be there.

"Let's do this." Onegus stood and pointed at the screen that was showing real-time footage. "Thanks to the overhead drones and Dagor's tiny spy transmitting from the inside, the intelligence gathering was relatively easy, and we have a lot of information on the enemy. Fortunately, Rashid's been moving between all four cells, and the spy drone attached to him enabled us to have operational internal pictures of all four locations."

On screen, the interior of an upscale mansion appeared; it was clear as if someone had filmed it for a documentary. Men moved about, a name tag hovering over each one's head, added by the software on Dagor's laptop. When clicked, a pull-down menu appeared with all the information gathered about the person, and the profiles were updated in real time.

Onegus continued. "The Doomers are running the entire operation. The human terrorists, including our friend Rashid, are essentially puppets."

"Thralled?" Andrew asked from his position near the maps.

"It seems more fundamental than that," Onegus said. "This is sustained, systematic brainwashing, which means that we cannot override it with our own thralling. We've listened and watched enough exchanges to realize that the Doomers are using a combination of thralling, ideological reinforcement, and fear."

"That's what Navuh has always done," Kian said. "What surprises me is that the technique was taught to the rank and file. Doesn't it make them realize that they are being manipulated in the same way?"

"People are dumb," Anandur said. "Doomers and humans alike are very easily manipulated, and Navuh is an expert at it. They all believe in his so-called cause and are willing not only to kill for it but also to die for it."

"The humans are almost irrelevant," Turner offered. "Every major decision, every tactical choice, comes from the Doomers. The assets, which is how they refer to the Revolutionary Guards, are true believers who don't even realize they're being controlled. Our focus should be on them. Neutralize the Doomers and the rest will fall like dominoes."

"Let's see the explosives cache," Kian said.

Onegus switched the display. The image that appeared evoked several juicy curses. The walls of a basement room were lined with enough explosives to level several city blocks.

"Combined, there is enough there to kill over a hundred thousand people," Onegus said. "And that's a conservative estimate. The concert is just the opening act. While everyone is still reeling from that, their next target is a shopping center during peak hours, then the airport, and lastly the port. The idea is to break the spirit of the nation and show them that nowhere is safe, and that terror can strike anywhere, anytime. They are hoping to paralyze the population with fear and deliver a major economic blow. That's why they chose Los Angeles. It's the second-largest metropolitan economy in the United States, following New York, but since it's more spread out, it's easier to hide in. Moreover, they have already struck New York. They want to outdo Bin Laden."

Bhathian nodded. "They want maximum psychological impact. Hit when people feel safest, then hit again while they're terrified and vulnerable."

"Precisely," Onegus agreed. "The concert is in eleven days. The next attack after that is scheduled to follow within forty-eight hours while the city is still reeling from the first strike."

"The Brotherhood's signature move," Anandur murmured. "Create chaos, then step into the power vacuum."

Kian walked over to the wall of maps, studying the red pins. Four cells, four locations spread across the sprawling city. They would need to hit them all simultaneously. Any delay and the others would scatter to the winds.

"Any thoughts?" The question was for everyone, but collectively, all eyes turned to Turner.

"Four strike teams," Turner lifted his eyes after a quick glance at his notes. "Striking simultaneously with perfect coordination is a must. There is no margin for error." After a short pause to collect his thoughts or to let others interject, Turner continued in his dispassionate tone, "We must deploy overwhelming force to prevent anyone slipping by us, or, worse, getting to the explosives before us."

"I've been working on team compositions," Onegus said, pulling up another display. "It would have made things significantly easier if we had four compellers, neutralizing the humans and immortals at once, but we only have one in the force, unless we can get Toven and Kalugal's help. Otherwise, we should use Drova with the team taking out the concert cell. That's the most immediate threat."

Kian shook his head. "I don't want her participating in this. We used her in the pedophile ring bust because there were children involved, and we couldn't risk the Doomers using them as shields. That's not the case here. We've been dealing withDoomers for centuries without the benefit of compulsion, we can keep doing that like we've always done."

Onegus nodded. "I also wish we had four Yamanus, but since we have only one, we need cover stories for the other three teams."

"Not necessarily," Turner said. "What's the driving time between all these locations?"

Onegus's calculating gaze indicated he understood what Turner was suggesting. "Two hours should do it. Yamanu can drive from place to place, putting entire city blocks into a deep sleep, including the human minions working for the Doomers. That will make our job easier."

Kian looked at Yamanu. "Do you see a problem with that? Will you be able to repeat the feat four consecutive times?"

---