Page 69 of Dark Gambit: The Play

Leaning over, Kian took her hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. "I never dismiss anything you say, my love."

She gave him a smile. "That's sweet."

"It's not sweet. It's smart. You're always right."

Turner nodded. "Especially when she supports my opinion."

"I should call Marcel." Kian took a sip from his coffee. "But first, tell me what your guy in Karelia found."

Turner put his fork down. "They followed the map, used a raft to cross three of the rivers, but they got stuck on the fourth. The rapids are too strong to use a raft, and it's too wide to cross any other way. They need more equipment, and it's on the way, but it will take time to get to them."

"How do the Kra-ell deliver supplies to the compound?" Bridget asked.

"They could have built tunnels under the riverbeds," Turner said. "My guy's team looked for the entrances, but they must be very well camouflaged. They couldn't find them. Sofia mentioned tunnels, but for some reason, Toven dropped the subject. We need to question her again and use compulsion to get her to answer truthfully and fully. She must know where they are."

"Unless she was driven there," Bridget said. "They probably employ the same tactics that Navuh and we do. We have special vehicles to allow clan members to travel freely to and from the village, and Navuh uses windowless planes piloted by humans who are compelled to keep the island's location a secret."

Turner nodded. "We also need Sofia to draw the layout of the compound, the patrol schedules, how often the purebloods and hybrids leave the compound to hunt, and at what times of the day."

"What about the miniature drone?" Kian asked. "Did your guy manage to get one?"

"He ordered it, and it should get to him tomorrow."

"I'm still not a hundred percent sure that a drone is a good idea, even a small one."

"There is another option," Turner said. "If we manage to find the tunnels, which we should with Sofia's help, we can use a crawling bug instead of a flying one. They make less noise, require less energy, and get into tight spaces. We can send several spiders in at once and have them crawl all over. They might be able to get into the weapons storage, which a flying bug won't be able to do."

This should have occurred to Kian before, but he'd been too fixated on the miniature drone. "Great idea. Make it so."

Turner sighed. "It will take time. Normally, I prefer to go slow and collect as much information as I can before I even begin to plan a mission, and technically, we are not in a rush. The sense of urgency is due to Sofia's presence and to how long we can drag out the misinformation campaign. The moment Igor realizes that she's been captured, he's going to react, and we will be out of time. A faster way to get information on the compound is to capture a pureblood and compel it out of him, but that might show our hand prematurely."

"Can't we fake her death?" Syssi asked. "But it needs to be very convincing, or it would look suspicious and produce the same undesired result."

"We can use the misinformation for that as well," Bridget suggested. "She can start reporting that the stress is getting to her, and she's feeling faint. Then she'll say that she visited the clinic and was told that she might have a heart problem. The doctor recommended a bunch of tests, but she doesn't have insurance, and they will cost a fortune." Bridget chuckled. "American healthcare costs are legendary around the world. Everything here costs ten times as much as it costs in Europe, so they will believe it. A simple MRI exam would run several thousands of dollars."

"I like it," Kian said. "The answer she gets will show how much they care about her, if at all. If they authorize the expense, then they deem her valuable and not a disposable pawn. If not, she will be even more motivated to cooperate with us. In a week or two, we can send an email to her emergency contact informing them of her death from heart failure and ask them to pay for transporting the body to Finland. If they refuse, we will inform them that the body was cremated."

Syssi shivered. "That sounds so gruesome. Poor girl."

Kian put his hand on her shoulder. "She will not really die, love. We will just make it look like it as convincingly as we can."

"I know, but it's sad. She's all alone in the world, and those who care for her can't help her. I hope that she's a Dormant, that Marcel can activate her, and that they can live happily ever after."

"Speaking of Marcel. I need to call him." Kian pulled out his phone and looked at Turner. "Any other suggestions before we talk to him?"

Turner crossed his arms over his chest. "Marcel's questions to Bridget indicate that he wants to induce Sofia. Since the protocol is to get the Dormant's consent before attempting it, he probably wants to ask your permission to tell her about us."

"Yeah, I figured as much.”

"What are you going to tell him?" Syssi asked.

"I don't feel comfortable telling her anything, but that's just my knee-jerk response. She's supervised at all times, so she can't tell Igor anything, and she's not going back to him. She can also be compelled to keep quiet about us and thralled to forget if need be." He looked at Turner. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a great opportunity to find out whether hybrid Kra-ell mothers and human fathers can produce Dormant children who can be activated. The thing is that for us it's just curiosity, while for the Kra-ell, it could be a game changer, and not one we are interested in."

Kian pinned him with a hard stare. "You're not being helpful."

"I'm just thinking out loud. It's not in our best interest for the Kra-ell to find out that we can activate the Dormant children born to their female hybrids. On the other hand, the Kra-ell we know about, the ones who are holding Jade, only have one such possible Dormant, and Sofia is not going back, so how are they going to find out?"