Page 68 of Dark Gambit Reliance

"I need to let the men know so they get ready," Onegus said. "We will need to load supplies for field accommodations, which means that I need to raid our emergency storage."

"Go," Kian said. "Tell Kalugal to get his men ready and keep me updated."

"I will." The chief ended the call on his side.

"There are two problems with Jade's plan," Turner said. "She can't kill Valstar, and the attack needs to be at night."

"Why can't she kill Valstar?" Toven asked. "Because of Sofia?"

Kian knew that wasn't the reason because Turner wouldn't concern himself with that. "We need him alive."

"Correct," Turner said. "If Igor calls, which I'm sure he does every so often when he's away, he will expect Valstar to answer. If the communication is down for more than a few hours, or if his second is not available to answer him, he will know that something is up, and he won't show up. Jade needs to incapacitate Valstar, but not kill him. After we take control of the compound, you need to compel him to sing the tune we want him to sing, and he will await Igor's call with our special earpiece glued to his ears and someone standing over him with an ax."

Toven groaned. "Jade is not going to like it."

"She's going to like Igor escaping even less," Turner said. "She can kill Valstar later, along with Igor. When you meet her again tomorrow, make sure she understands."

"What about the timing?" Toven said. "Does it need to happen at night because we can't get everyone in position in time?"

"Although giving ourselves a few more hours to get ready is a definite plus, that's not the reason. At night, the office building will be vacant, the humans will be asleep, and so will most of the purebloods and hybrids, except for those on guard and patrol duty. It will make the task easier."

"The problem is Igor," Toven said. "He's supposed to return Monday, but Jade says that he might come back earlier. That's why she wanted to do it Sunday at two in the afternoon. Also, after we take over, I will need to compel everyone in the compound before we restore communications, and we are talking about over three hundred people. That might take all night."

"Only about two hundred and fifty are adults, and about a third of them are human. After you free them from Igor's compulsion, we can delegate the task of compelling the humans, the hybrids, and the children to say what we need them to say to our four other compellers. They can do that remotely from here. You will only have to compel the adult purebloods."

"You can't seriously suggest that we use Parker," Kian said.

"He'll be less intimidating to the children."

He had a point. "I'll have to get Vivian and Magnus's permission, but since most of the children probably don't speak English, I doubt Parker would be able to compel them."

"That could be an issue," Turner said.

"What time at night should we schedule the attack for?" Toven asked.

"Two o'clock Monday morning, " Turner said. "The humans will be out of the way in their quarters, and most of the hybrids and purebloods will be asleep as well. Another advantage of doing it then is that Igor probably won't call his second in the middle of the night. It simplifies the entire operation."

Kian had to agree. "Anything else that you wish to add?" he asked.

"For now, that's it. You can continue without me, and if I think of anything else, I'll let you know." Turner terminated the call on his side.

Left only with Toven, Kian let out a breath. "What's your impression of Jade? Can we forge an alliance with her?"

"She's tough and abrasive, but she's honorable and cares for her people. Unlike Igor, she's precisely the type that would go down with the ship, which makes her a much better option as the leader of that community. She also knows our history."

Kian's breath caught. "What did she tell you?"

"Jade hates the gods passionately. It took her a while to trust me, and she did only after she spoke to Emmett. She says that the gods twist the truth and rewrite history as it suits them to make themselves look good. She didn't elaborate on whether they do that for interior consumption of their own population or to impress others. She also claims that the gods designed humans to be susceptible to thralling and compulsion so they could be easily controlled."

Kian had suspected that for a long time.

"Does that surprise you?"

"Frankly, it does. I guess the misinformation Jade mentioned was successfully employed by my father and uncle and the rest of the original gods. They convinced us that they were the good guys, spreading civilization, establishing just laws, and bringing prosperity to humans."

"You're too smart to have bought the lies."

Toven chuckled. "Those were not lies. The gods were actually striving to do that. The lie was that they had always been like that. But you are right. I was suspicious. I had an older brother who had been one of the original gods, and he taunted me, hinting about my naïveté left and right. I thought it was his way of tormenting me. Mortdh resented me for being our father's favorite son."

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