Page 37 of The Last Strike

“V for Vendetta. I can probably take control of the new station for a few minutes, at least,” Samuel responded, sounding distracted. “I’m looking at it now. Just give me a second.”

Asher looked to Abi with a grin.I love this guy,he mouthed.

Abi chuckled silently.

“It can be done,” Samuel said. “How long do you want control?”

“How long can you give me?” Asher asked, sitting beside Abi.

Abi realized both she and Asher were looking at the ceiling as they awaited Samuel’s response. The speakers were in the ceiling and it had become a habit.

“It depends on how quick they are on the other end, but if I install a bug I can probably give you a few minutes,” Samuel said. “We could try the same thing again at another time and maybe buy you another few minutes.”

“A few minutes is great,” Asher said, sounding more energized than he had for days.

“Not everyone will see it, though,” Abi said. “Can we drop flyers or somehow get them to the villages? The majority of the poor won’t have televisions.”

Asher nodded, thoughtful.

“We could jam the radars for some of Adani airspace,” James said, eliciting a slight groan from Samuel. “Again, we won’t have long, but if we sent multiple planes in close to each border, we should have enough time to dump loads of flyers. The villagers will spread them, right?” James asked, looking at Abi.

She nodded. “News travels fast around the villages, and people trust one another. If you make it convincing enough, they’ll believe it and share it. Give it a few days and the damage will be done.” She looked to Asher. “What information are you going to release?”

“I’m not going to release anything. Theodora will,” Asher said, a wicked grin forming on his lips. “Now is the time for her to prove her allegiance to me.”

Abi’s eyes darted between Asher and James. They looked as happy as pigs in mud.

James nodded slowly, calculated. “I like it,” he said. “But let’s wait until tomorrow. I’ll need to increase her security again once we do this, because Khalil will attack. I’ll have the teams back from the border in the morning. We’ll film it straight away and Samuel can hack the network for the evening news so we are active right as the news starts.”

“Oh, can I now?” Samuel chipped in. “I may not be able to time it that perfectly. I’m not a magician, James.”

Abi grinned at the playful tone of his voice.

James chuckled. “Close enough, Samuel. Close enough.”

Asher folded his hands on the table. “I’ll talk to Theodora and tell her to put her thinking cap on.”

Asher

Theodora looked down at her fingers clasped in her lap.

“What exactly do you want me to say?” she asked, inhaling deeply. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet Asher’s.

“I want you to say something incriminating. I want you to think about what would be most harmful to your father’s reputation—what he would fear his people knowing—and that’s what I want you to say,” Asher said calmly. He might’ve felt bad about putting her in this position, but she was the one who had said she wanted to destroy him.

“If I do this, he is going to retaliate viciously,” she said quickly, her voice troubled.

Asher sighed. “He’s going to do that anyway. This is your chance to take his power away. He may retaliate viciously, as you say, but it will be his last retaliation. I want the Adani people in the streets protesting his power; I want them demanding a change,” Asher said, as he imagined the scene he’d just described. Without the confidence of his people, Khalil would falter.

“You’ll have to take down Nicholas too,” Theodora said with hard eyes. “He’s a carbon copy of my father.”

“There’s a plan for him,” Asher said simply.

Theodora sighed heavily as she wiped her palms on her knees. When she raised them, running her fingers through her hair, Asher saw that she was shaking.

“Okay,” she said, sounding like she couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth. “Okay,” she said again slowly.

Their eyes met and Asher felt like they were searching each other’s minds, looking for secrets behind their words. The eyes were a veil to the mind, and sometimes, when someone’s guard was down, you could see right through that veil.

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