by Beth Reason
Chapter 14
A loud thumping woke Tenet from a beautiful dream. He was playing with Violet in the river on the outskirts of Ogden. It was a warm summer day and as she splashed him and giggled, Scarab sat on a rock and swirled her feet in the cool water. It was so real he could almost feel the sun on his face and hear the rustle of the wind through the Sister trees.
The thumping broke through the dream. He almost moaned in the sadness of leaving the perfect scene behind as he cracked an eye open. Scarab wasn't in bed, and he quickly scanned the room. She was standing with her back to the wall next to the door, her weapon drawn. By the look of her crazy, bed-ruffled hair, she had been woken by the loud pounding as well and was acting on instincts.
"Scarab," Tenet said firmly, trying to snap her out of her panicked reaction.
Scarab blinked, sleep still clouding her eyes and brain. Tenet's voice drew her attention and when he motioned for her hand as he got his pants on, she looked down. "Oh," she said when she saw the gun.
"Mr. Lorne!" a deep voice called through the door.
"Coming!" he yelled back. He took the gun from Scarab's hand and gave her a gentle push towards the little table. He watched her shuffle away and take a seat at the table, then yawn and rub at her eyes. She was not a morning person, even if it was evening, and he knew she'd do well to get some caffeine in her system. "There are some tea leaves in my satchel if you need a boost," he said, nodding to his bag in the corner as he buttoned his shirt.
Scarab yawned again and shook her head. "They might have coffee." The person pounded on the door again and Scarab waved her hand. "Better get it."
Tenet finished tucking in his shirt and pulled the door open.
"Sir, sorry for the intrusion," said the soldier before Tenet could greet him. "But Major Krupkie is calling for you and the Mrs."
Tenet nodded. "Thanks. Can you give us a minute to finish getting dressed?"
The soldier nodded. "I'll stand post until you're ready."
"Coffee," Scarab said, rising to get herself dressed.
Tenet turned back to the soldier. "Any chance of coffee?"
The soldier nodded. "I'll contact mess and make sure it's waiting for you."
Tenet thanked him and closed the door. "Now that's what I call service. I could get used to being waited on hand and foot."
Scarab gave him a dry look, then got herself dressed while Tenet used the bathroom, then she went to freshen up while Tenet gathered their boots, coats, and gear. He placed Scarab's gun back in its holster and laid it out with her coat. There was no way he would ever let her go anywhere unarmed again. If Krupkie had a problem with that, he was fully prepared to tell her what she could do with herself.
When they were ready, they followed the soldier through the base. It was late in the afternoon, with hardly any sunlight left. They had arrived early that morning and slept the entire day away. Tenet felt a growing apprehension about the lost time, and a quick look at Scarab said she felt the same. Still, Krupkie had sent for them when they were needed. If there had been anything they could have done earlier, Tenet had no doubt they would have been woken.
Major Krupkie had an entire meal set up for them in her office. As soon as they entered, she told them to sit and eat. Scarab ignored the food and went straight for the large carafe of coffee, while Tenet grabbed a plate and began piling it high. He nudged Scarab. "Sausage," he said, knowing it was one of his wife's favorites. He fixed a plate for her, even though she waved him off, and they took a seat in front of the Major's desk. After just a couple sips of coffee, Scarab began eating and Major Krupkie realized just what a team the two had become. Tenet knew his wife well enough to know what she'd want before she asked, and that was a rare bond between couples. The man had learned how to truly get into the former hunter's heart and it made Krupkie glad for her decision to allow them sanctuary all those years ago.
It also made her sorry for what she was about to tell them. She knew she'd have a fight on her hands. She took a deep, bracing breath, and started to fill them in on the meetings she'd had. "As you know, I've been in meetings all day with various heads of state, including President Henders himself." The couple looked unmoved, and Krupkie envied their lives deep in the mountains that kept them away from politics. "Please," she said sarcastically. "Hold in your awe and wonder until I'm through."
Tenet glanced up and saw a wry smile on the Major's face. "Uh, sorry. That's great. The president himself, huh?"
"Yes." She sniffed and tented her hands on the desk in front of her. "There have been... developments."
Scarab put her fork down and sat up. "Violet?"
"No. My people on the ground down there assure me she is well."
Tenet gave Scarab's hand a quick squeeze, his heart racing just as quickly as hers. "It's okay."
"What's the development then?" Scarab asked.
"We've received word of a proposition. Though it hasn't been officially presented, I have it on good authority that your father is prepared to call off this war if we meet his terms."
Tenet swallowed hard, a sinking feeling taking all of his appetite away. "I bet I can guess his terms."
Major Krupkie nodded. "Yes. You."
"No." Scarab's response was cold and firm, the very tone daring Major Krupkie to continue.
The Major stared at Scarab and took her anger well. She'd faced enemies across the battlefield, she could handle one angry woman. And yet, something in her, some little voice warned that she may have met her match. She did not want to have the hunter as her enemy. "We are on the same side, Mrs. Lorne," she assured her.
"Like hell we are!"
"Scarab," Tenet said softly, placing his hand on her arm. "Let's hear her out."
"Hear her out?" she repeated incredulously.
"Yes, hear me out," Major Krupkie echoed. "It seems as if they will offer a complete pledge of peace if we turn over Mr. Lorne."
Scarab's eyes snapped back to Krupkie's. "I have not spent the last six years of my life protecting this man to simply turn him over to the very people who want him dead."
"We don't believe they want him dead," Krupkie said carefully.
Scarab scoffed. "Yeah. Okay. And who said that, hm? The slimy weasel who took out a kill bounty on him?"
Major Krupkie shrugged. "You're right. You're absolutely right. We can't trust him. He's broken every single agreement we've had in the past and there is nothing to indicate that he'll hold up his end of the bargain."
Scarab took a deep breath, relieved that Krupkie wasn't really going to go along with such a stupid idea. "Good. Then we're on the same page."
Major Krupkie wished in that moment that they were. She really did. When Henders had insisted on his course of action and told her his standard "make it happen", she wanted to be anywhere else but at the head of the pack. And yet, she could see the value in Henders' plan. She could see the end of a very long struggle for all of the Borderlands. And although she wished with all her being there was any other way, she'd be damned if she could see one. Bradwin had inadvertently wrapped up his own demise with a nice, neat little bow if they went forward, and it was an opportunity she could not pass up. None of them could, not even the Lornes. She simply had to convince them.
"We are on the same page, aren't we?" Scarab asked in a dangerous tone of voice when Krupkie didn't answer immediately.
Major Krupkie held up her hand. "Hear me out. Let me say my peace without jumping in."
Scarab looked at Tenet and he could see the fear in her eyes. He would have been a liar if he didn't admit it matched his own. He held Scarab's hand and nodded for Major Krupkie to continue.
Major Krupkie opened her mouth, then closed it again, considering the best way to lead into the story. Of course they were skeptical. Truth be told, she had her own concerns and misgivings. However, the opportunity could not be missed. She decided a little background was necessary. "We've had men on your father for the last three years."
Tenet fro
wned. "On him?"
"Yes. Some of our best people infiltrated your father's inner circles." The hunter was still burning with anger, and yet Krupkie could see a quick twinkle in her eye. "Spies, if you will, though honestly they do not like being called that."
"Intelligence agents," said Tenet. "That's what my father called them."
"We officially call them nothing." She waved a hand. "I'm getting off course. Initially they were placed as workers in the fields, to see if we could get a better idea of the trafficking pattern. I wish I could say that six years later has seen our drug problem get better, but that would be a lie. My people were sent down there with the information you provided to see the progression of coca, first, from seed to our door step."
Tenet was interested. Most of the questions Fratz asked him during his yearly interrogations had to do with locations of grow fields, any unexplained activities in the supposed wild areas, that type of thing. "Did you find out who's growing?"
Krupkie shrugged. "Yes. No." She made a motion with her hand to dismiss the question. "It's such a careful operation that we quickly learned finding the growing fields and the lesser players was not going to take care of our problem. Our main objective was cutting the head off the snake, if you will. It became very clear only after a short while of close observation that your father is directly responsible."
Tenet's look was grim, but accepting. "I feel like an ass that I'm still at all surprised."
"Don't," Krupkie continued. "He's good at hiding his operations. I don't suppose it's all that hard when he's surrounded by people who don't even bother to question. Once we decided the head was the way to go, we got several people hired on to your family's personal staff." At Tenet's impressed look, Major Krupkie couldn't help the sudden burst of pride. It had been difficult and, in the end, the infiltration plan was her idea. She still remembered her less than humble reaction when the first communique came in from the one who had been hired as the wife's personal maid.
"It would seem that your family has no idea what's going on in their very own home. I do not believe a single one of them aside from your father knows just what pays for their fancy perfumes and pretty jewelry."
Tenet let out a bitter laugh. "Don't be fooled."
Krupkie was surprised, and the look on Scarab's face said she wasn't the only one. "That's a jaded opinion I didn't expect from you, Mr. Lorne."
Tenet shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I've spent the last chunk of my life learning how to be a husband and a father." His voice caught on the last word and he quickly cleared his throat to hold back the emotions. "And I've done my best to be a good one. It's brought some things to the forefront of memory and given certain aspects of my life in a different perspective." Scarab gave his hand a firm squeeze, and he let out a wry little laugh. "Almost six years of telling me to grow up, and I finally do and now you're worried about me?"
Scarab's frown deepened. Yes, she was worried. It felt like the Tenet she knew was changing into someone else right in front of her and there didn't seem to be a damn thing she could do about it.
"As valuable as your insight has been to us, you need to remember that your information is six years old," Major Krupkie said, getting back on track. "My men and women have seen nothing, nothing at all to indicate that your mother or your sister and her family have any knowledge about the seedy deals."
"My sister's family?"
"Yes. She has a husband and two children."
Tenet smiled. "Nada as a mother?"
Krupkie flashed a quick smile his way. "That's right. It's hard to remember you don't know these things. Yes, a boy and a girl. Twins. I don't remember their names, but I think they are just a bit younger than Violet."
Tenet laughed. "Oh I can't imagine her the mother of twins! They must run her ragged!" He turned to Scarab. "I'm an uncle. And you, my dear, are an aunt." As soon as he said the words reality came back to him. For one quick second, his only thought was of the Nada of his childhood, his friend, his cohort against their parents. For one all too brief moment, he wanted to race to Nada and pick her up and swing her around and tease her for being an old mother and... And then the thought hit him that she was probably the one handling Violet. It was as if ice water was dumped on his head. He sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face.
Scarab watched the play of emotions on Tenet's face and felt sorry for her husband. Of course he was excited about the news. She would give anything to have her own sister back, to know that even if she could never see her, she was out there somewhere, a wife and mother herself. She also knew the very second it hit him, that his sister may be involved with Violet, that she may have had something to do with it in spite of what Krupkie was saying. "Get to the point already," Scarab snapped at the older woman.
"My point was not to bring up painful memories," Krupkie said softly. "I'm simply telling you these things to assure you that we do, indeed, have a very good idea who and what we're dealing with. My people have been inside the house for years. They've been with your mother in her dressing rooms, her clinics, her parties and galas. They've been in the nursery caring for your niece and nephew, running errands for your sister, listening to her husband's litany of complaints."
"Must be Merle," he said to Scarab. "At least when I left he was the one that had paid the most. Good guy, but no spine at all."
"Yes, that sounds right," confirmed Krupkie. "Now, the reason I'm telling you all this is that I want you to feel as confident about the situation as we do. We're not rushing into anything blindly here. Your father has forced an issue that's been building for a long time now. Fine. He forced it. He does not believe we're ready, but if we play our cards right, it'll be our side that truly has the advantage of surprise."
Scarab sat forward in her seat, her entire body tense. Krupkie had been laying the groundwork, and now she was about to spell out her plan.
"We have successfully hidden our presence. It's an easy thing when you don't put mechanical trackers in all your citizens," Krupkie added wryly. "It's also ridiculously easy to send intel back and forth. We use their very own mail bots and simply send a letter to an outpost. They're so reliant on their damn technologies..." Krupkie was about to get on yet another rant. God, she was tired. She could not keep herself on track. She shook her head impatiently and poured yet another cup of coffee from the carafe on the desk, even though her hands were already slightly jittery. "They don't know about my people on the inside. Of that, I'm sure. And because of this, there are many things they don't know that we do.
"For example, we know that your father's end game is an all out war, no matter what he's saying in some damn communique. We believe it is only a farce, a tidbit for the press down there. We've had enough years to study that Enlightened Humanism he calls a religion." Krupkie, an old school Christian herself, scoffed at the very notion that the self-centric, fake religion was any more than another governmental control measure. "There is no way the people would support a widespread killing, even of heathens like us, without one damn good reason."
The coffee had made her even more agitated and Krupkie rose and paced to the window. "Your father's a brilliant man, do you know that?"
"Yes, so he always said," Tenet said sarcastically.
Krupkie snorted. "Well, it's true. He knows a couple of things. First, your nation is running out of food. You cannot produce enough."
"It's not my nation," Tenet reminded her in an annoyed tone. "And yes, I know. It's been a problem for many years. They trade with the Third Worlds."
Major Krupkie spun around and simply blinked at him for a moment. "Mr. Lorne, do you not understand why they are called the Third Worlds? They can barely feed themselves. How in the hell can they support Southland and New Canada?" She shook her head. "They can't, and that's why your grandfather began trading up here, taking our foods in return for stuff we didn't need and I wish we hadn't wanted. And then we formed, truly formed. Now we're a united government, a legitimate nation. Did you know the Thi
rd Worlds have agreed to add Borderlands to their maps? It's quite a step up!
"But, it puts a wrench in your father's works. We're smack dab in the middle of his nation, a nation filled with people who somehow have no clue we exist. With the Third Worlds accepting our status as a legitimate nation of the world, your father's got no choice but to accept us as well."
Scarab nodded slowly. "The fly in the ointment."
"Exactly," said Krupkie, leaning against her desk and folding her arms across her chest. "All of a sudden, a nation forms. Boom. And then the people turn to look at their Exalted Leader and ask just how it was the Third Worlds knew we were here and he did not? He's got few options. He could play dumb and lose the support of the nation, or he could admit it and lose their respect."
"Or he could start a war against the barbarians who took his son," said Tenet flatly.
Krupkie threw her hands in the air. "Bingo. He has spent quite awhile now designing this war. Nothing we could see at the time, of course. But once he crossed the border and blew us off so publicly, once he thumbed his nose in so grand a gesture, things began to fall into place and make sense. There was a reason he built more bots in the southern outposts. It wasn't to cross the Equatorial Desert, it was a ruse to divert our attention. He wasn't taking advantage of the newly opened ports on the southern border, but building troops for a northward assault."
"Why was he building in the south if he's attacking north?" Tenet asked, his rusty military gears slowly beginning to turn. "He would have gone utterly unseen if he built in New Canada. Everything's far more lax up there."
Scarab jumped in. "Because bots can't winter. He'd have to pay a fortune to have an off grid electrical system to keep them from shorting out."
"Precisely," said Krupkie. "It would have been a far better strategy, perhaps, but the logistics made it next to impossible. And lucky for us on that, too. Our northern border with New Canada is pathetic. Which, I might add, your father would know if he didn't consistently underestimate us." Krupkie turned back to her chair and sat down again. "He's put himself in a pickle, and one he believes he's once again cleverly planned his way out of. He needs a war, he needs us to pick it, and he needs a heartbreaking story to sell it to his people to gain their support."
"And this is where I come in," Tenet said heavily.
"And Violet," Krupkie agreed with a nod. "I'll freely admit we did not see that one coming."
Scarab snorted. "Great spies you have, then. And you expect me to put his life..."
"Hang on," Krupkie said quickly. "I'm offering you full disclosure so you can see I've got no cards up my sleeve. I didn't have to tell you this and admit our oversights. I could easily have convinced you it was all part of the plan, to allow your daughter to be abducted and carry our Henders' wishes. I gave you the benefit of the truth to show that you can trust me. No, I did not know the meeting was a ruse, or that Violet would be abducted. However, I will bet my life on it we now know what he'll do from here."
"No. You're betting his life on it," Scarab said hotly, jabbing her thumb in Tenet's direction.
"Mrs. Lorne," Major Krupkie said quietly and firmly. "Do you think for one moment if this plan does not work I am not on the chopping block? I have absolutely no doubt that if a single hair on his head is harmed, you will keep yourself alive long enough to do me in, no matter how bad off you are."
Tenet looked between the two women, his apprehension growing second by long, silent second. What the hell was Krupkie doing? This was not the way to sell her case to his wife!
"Well," said Scarab eventually. "Since he's not going to be your puppet, that's a moot point, isn't it?"
Major Krupkie spoke only to Scarab and Tenet once again felt control of his life being placed in someone else's hands. "We need a three part assault. We send Tenet in..."
"No."
"...with one of our men dressed as one of their soldiers. It's a method we've already tested before with a bounty, and no one questioned the soldier so long as he wore the proper uniform."
Scarab scoffed. "With a common bounty! Don't you think they'll be a little more careful with this one?"
"This one is sitting right here, you know," Tenet grumbled.
"Look, Bradwin wants Tenet. He's asking for us to hand him over to stop the war, and Henders believes that's the way we should roll, at least to give the appearance of full cooperation. Bradwin wants Tenet to fuel his war one of two ways. Either he's going to kill him and show the dead body that we heathens delivered, or he'll parade him around because he thinks the public will rally harder behind a living person." Krupkie ran a hand through her hair and took a breath. "Henders wants to hand Tenet over and let him take his chances. I convinced him the smarter move is to make certain the public sees a living, healthy person."
"And how are you going to do that?" Tenet asked.
"We get you in, not where your father wants, but where we want. We use the element of surprise and make sure you're seen in a very public venue right off the bat. We find out where they're introducing Violet and make certain you're there in front of everyone. That's surprise number one."
Scarab scoffed. "You're kidding right? Just send him in. Let him waltz right into the lion's den. Great plan, Major. We'll pass."
"He wouldn't be by himself," Krupkie insisted. "As I've said, he'll have a team and we'll make sure that at least one of my men has the proper paperwork and credentials to stay by his side every step of the way."
Scarab hated that she could see the value in the plan. "I will not be separated from him again," she said firmly. "Send me in. I'll be the man."
"No," Krupkie and Tenet said at the same time.
"They want you dead and there's nothing the public could or would do to stop that," Krupkie explained. "However, their Golden Boy will be safe."
Scarab crossed her arms over her chest. "If you think I'm going to sit up here and wait..."
"I didn't say that. I said we have a three part plan. You heard part one." Krupkie waited until the fire cooled a little in Scarab's eyes and she motioned for Krupkie to continue. "Part two is you. We send you down with one of our extraction teams once we have solid intel and can make a plan of escape. I believe it's highly likely that any planned advance on our border will happen very soon after the migration. They'll introduce Violet, and have to reintroduce Tenet. They'll be busy scrambling to spin a story that will whip up the righteous indignation of the public, then migrate, thus increasing the chaos to keep their attentions off the attack, to cover up the killing your people..."
"They are not my people!" Tenet yelled. He looked at their stunned faces and jumped up, suddenly needing to move. "So Scarab would be part of the extraction team?"
Scarab felt a clutch of fear in her chest. "Tenet, no. You're not going without me."
"Yes," said Krupkie over Scarab's argument. "Her skills make her the most critical member of the team. She knows all the sectors inside and out. She knows every hiding spot, every potential danger zone."
"I haven't hunted in years," Scarab said through clenched teeth.
"It's not something you lose," said Tenet with heated passion. "I keep telling you this over and over and you never listen." He spun around and crouched in front of her chair. "For once will you just listen to someone else? Please. I can't be the one to go in there with guns blazing. That's never been me, and no matter how badly I want Violet back, I don't think I can pull it off. What I can do is go in there and find our baby and wait for you to bail us out. I can keep her calm and reassured and safe, and you can come in and save us."
Scarab felt that helpless bubble inside once again as she looked at Tenet's eyes. He was all for the plan already, and he was asking for her to be as well. Didn't he understand yet? He put her up on a pedestal, and she always knew one day she'd fall off. She let their daughter get taken. She didn't stop it. She let herself get soft and weak, and she tumbled off the pedestal with a crushing blow. Why couldn't he understand that?
Krupki
e watched the two and knew the plan would go forward. She also knew that the hunter hated the fact that there was no other option. She decided to finish explaining the plan, then let Tenet talk his wife into it. "The third stage is a forward assault. We'll use our advancement as a distraction, time it to happen just hours before the migration when Mrs. Lorne and her team are in position. It'll give you all the best chance at making your escape, and give us the best chance at shutting that bastard up once and for all."
Scarab and Tenet hadn't taken their eyes off each other while Krupkie finished. "I can do this," Tenet said quietly.
Scarab let out a little gasp. "I never thought you couldn't," she said, truly surprised by the track Tenet's mind was taking. "It's not you I doubt," she admitted quietly.
Her confidence in him made his chest swell and he took her hand and kissed it. "And if there's anyone in the world who knows how to get my sorry ass out of a jam, it's you."
Scarab swallowed hard, searching inside herself for the old conceit, that cold, calculating bravado that kept her alive through eight years of hunting in the off seasons. It wasn't there. Instead, there were voices of doubt and self-loathing that pointed out every one of her failures through the years.
Major Krupkie felt for the woman. She could see her tortured look and knew she was beating herself up inside. Hell, Krupkie couldn't blame her. She herself had her rounds of bitter self doubt and hard personal questions she didn't like to answer. She needed something, Krupkie decided. She needed a reminder, some fuel to the fire. Though she hadn't planned on showing them surveillance photographs, she believed it just might be the kick in the pants the hunter needed to get her back to hunting. She opened her desk drawer and removed a few photographs. Without saying anything, she fanned them out on the desk in front of her.
Tenet caught the movement in his peripheral vision and turned to look. The Major was spreading out some photographs and giving him a pointed look. He stood and bent over the desk, staring at the black and white pictures of three children in what looked to be some sort of school. He frowned and glanced up at the Major. She leaned forward and tapped her finger on one of the children. "Look closer, Mr. Lorne," she said quietly.
Tenet picked up the photo and his breath hitched in his chest. "Violet," he said in a harsh whisper. He hadn't even recognized his own child. Her hair was cut and coiffed in the standard shell pattern of the upper caste. Her eyebrows were gone, her face incredibly pale, and the starched and frilly cotton clothing looked positively ridiculous on her. But her eyes, those were still completely Violet. She stared straight into the camera and Violet's jaw was set, and in spite of all they had done to her, the look of her mother was unmistakable. With a clenched fist he handed the photo over to Scarab and looked at the others.
Scarab took the picture and stared at her daughter. At first the girl was so foreign that she could not feel the connection they'd always shared. Violet was in a fancy gown with her fancy hair with two other fancy children in a rich life. For a fleeting second, Scarab remembered Jace's words. They could give Violet everything she wanted. And then, then she stared at her daughter's eyes, eyes so very much like her own, and all her insecurities started to vanish. This was her daughter, her child. This was the girl who liked to make mud pies to splatter in the puddles, not some puffy princess who wanted to parade around in fancy gowns. This was the child that would climb a tree and hang upside down like a possum, not sit at a ball and watch suitors prance and preen in front of her. This was the child that took down a full-grown ewe with no more than a training bow, not some boring robot who wanted to spend the rest of her life being told what to do. This was her daughter. Violet was hers, not theirs, and she would get her back.
Major Krupkie knew the second the hunter was back. She knew the moment the facts of the situation pushed aside the younger woman's personal angst. There was a shift in the very atmosphere of the room and Krupkie knew a cold wind would blow for the Bradwins for sure. She wondered which would be more devastating to the Exalted Leader: his epic loss in a battle he was certain he would win, or the face-to-face meeting with the hunter. She'd lay her bets on Scarab.
Scarab looked up at Krupkie. She folded the photo and placed in inside her breast pocket, knowing that she very well may need it to fuel her determination in the coming days. She wouldn't have Tenet with her. That created an odd emptiness that she quickly filled with the overflow of rage. But, she would not let him be alone. "I want my man with him," she said firmly.
Krupkie shook her head. "We've already chosen someone. He's highly trained and very familiar with the ways and customs of..."
"I will not say yes if you don't give me this one boon."
"If the Major thinks..." Tenet began, then faltered when he saw the determined look in his wife's face. He knew that look. That was the look he never, ever ignored. "Wren?" he said, completely changing his stance. When Scarab nodded, he shook his head and sat back down in his seat. "He'll never pass."
"We can teach him."
Krupkie sighed. "There's no time. The communique is supposed to officially arrive in just two days. Bradwin's moving to the corn sector, where everything will go down. That means we've got a very narrow margin to prepare and deploy. We've got the benefit of the harvests that are starting to come in. There are an increased number of air ships carting the foods to the various store houses and vendors, and we can easily catch one of those. Still, that's a solid day of travel." Krupkie shook her head. "I'm sorry, but there simply is no way we have time to train someone else."
"Then it's off," Scarab said. She stood and drained her coffee, then turned to walk out. "Thanks for the coffee, good luck with your war. Come on, Tenet."
She's bluffing, Krupkie thought to herself. Yet, Tenet rose and followed. "Where do you think you're going?" Krupkie demanded, sitting forward in her chair.
"To get my daughter my way."
Krupkie snorted. "You'll never even get through my border."
Scarab shrugged. "I guess we'll see about that."
"I'll have you arrested right now."
Scarab's mouth spread into a humorless, creepy smile while her hand moved to her weapon. "Try me."
Tenet stepped back. It was that movement that gave Krupkie pause. The man was convinced that things were about to get very messy, and he was stepping out of the line of fire. Were she younger, Krupkie knew she might have a chance at drawing her own weapon. But, just a chance. She sighed. What the hell was she doing? "I don't want to fight you. Stand down."
"I don't want to fight you, either," Scarab said, her hand still on the butt of her gun. "But I will. I will kill you right where you sit if you order my arrest. I will make it to the barracks and gather my men and we will leave your base and we will get through your border and we will get my daughter back."
Krupkie sat back in her seat and rubbed her tired eyes. "And in doing so you will damn us all. You know that, don't you? This is our only real shot."
"Then send my man in with Tenet."
Krupkie looked at the hunter and slowly shook her head. "Do you know that in the past week I have been bent over by more people than at any other time in my life?" She gave a sad, tired little laugh. "I am too old to be doing this shit." She waved her hand toward the door. "Fine. Go. Get your man. If he can pass our tests, I'll send him in."
"There is no 'if'."
"Don't push it, missy," Krupkie said with an icy glare.
Tenet pulled on Scarab's arm. "Come on," he said quickly, knowing that if she opened her mouth again they might just be back to square one.
Scarab looked at Krupkie and considered arguing further, then thought better of it. They'd test Wren, would they? Fine. She would just make damn sure he would pass. There was no way she would send Tenet in without someone she trusted, and Wren was as close as anyone got to gaining that trust. At the very least, she knew that if Tenet's life was in danger, Wren would give his to save her husband. Short of being there herself, it was the very best security she could
offer. She gave Krupkie one last knowing look, then let Tenet guide her outside.
Major Krupkie felt her body deflate with relief. God, it was a long day. She reached for her coffee, then thought better of it and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of her desk drawer. She felt like she had just gone through battle and deserved a little nip. She took a biting swig and swallowed slowly, letting it burn. She let out a long, slow breath, then decided she'd earned just a bit more and took one more quick sip before capping the bottle and returning it to the hiding place behind a stack of files. The Lornes agreed, no matter how difficult it had been to get their approval. They'd use their own man, if he could be readied, but other than that, the plan would go forward as she intended. Step one was complete.
Major Krupkie slowly gathered up the photos from the desk to put them away. She looked at the children and shuddered, as she had the first time she saw the photos. They didn't look like people. They looked like little ghosts, specters that wore clothing and pretended to be human. Violet was the only one of the three that had life. The other two had eyes as dead as the chairs they sat on, and it made Tenet's personality all the more intriguing. She could not picture Tenet as one of these lifeless children. He had to have been like Violet, part of him always hovering in the background just waiting to break free. Dolls, Major Krupkie thought. They all looked like little dolls.
The Major scoffed at herself and shoved the photos back into her desk. She did not have time to sit and daydream. The first stage of the plan was in action and it was time to begin planning the careful details of the next step. She rolled her neck to work out the cricks of the day, poured another coffee, and got back to work.