Compartmentalization at its highest. “Clever,” he murmured. “One person has to know everyone, however.”
“The instigator behind the entire idea.” Putting aside the cloth, Zaira wrapped her arms lightly around his neck. “That’s definitely not the man we captured, though once we put together all the clues from his memories, it’s likely to point us in the direction of some other players.”
“Does the Consortium want political power?”
“Not according to the shooter, but I’m getting faint hints of something else from the memories of the CEO we’ve captured—I haven’t had time to mine all the data in his mind yet.” She telepathed him the pieces she’d picked up so far.
Aden immediately saw what she hadn’t, her brain not wired for politics. “The leaders of this group want to be the shadow powers behind the throne.” It fit the cunning and slyness of their actions to date. “They want to manipulate puppets of their choosing while staying safe in their anonymous skins.” Ironic, given how they’d fostered rumors saying he was nothing but a stalking horse for the real leader of the squad.
He went to vocalize that, but his lips barely parted before a curtain of drowsiness had him fighting to raise his lashes.
Zaira pressed her lips to his temple. “Sleep. We have things under control.” Another kiss. “Vasic has promised to provide me with rope to tie you down, so don’t tempt me.”
That fire.
Aden curled his soul against it and fell asleep.
PSYNET BEACON: BREAKING NEWS
Nikita Duncan has released a statement on behalf of the Ruling Coalition quashing rumors of Aden Kai’s death. Text as follows:
An attempt was made on his life, but he is an Arrow. A simple bullet has never stopped an Arrow. Those who persist in believing otherwise will have to admit to believing in ghosts when Aden reappears.
Anyone else who wishes to try to assassinate Aden Kai should take note of the fact that the assassin is alive only because the Arrows did not find him worth executing. He is also recovering from multiple broken bones and other injuries delivered by a woman half his size.
Underestimate the squad at your own risk.
As always, the Arrow Squad itself has not responded to calls for comment.
PSYNET BEACON: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I do not agree with the new direction taken by the strongest among us, do not agree with the fall of Silence, but I agree very much with the strength shown by the Arrows. Today’s display by the female Arrow should silence any rumors of the squad going “soft” because of their choice to align themselves with the empaths.
Protecting the empaths doesn’t make the Arrows weaker. It makes them even more ruthless. As Kaleb Krychek’s bond with Sahara Kyriakus makes him the same. This is something I’ve come to understand in the past weeks, and it conflicts with my belief that emotions—and in particular, the empaths—are the enemy of our peace. That makes it no less true.
As long as the Arrows exist, no one can doubt our strength.
Ida Mill, on behalf of Silent Voices
Chapter 79
THE ARCHITECT OF the Consortium, the brain that had seen the direction of the world and laid a plan B in place just in case, looked at the images flowing across the comm screen and knew the group had failed in its first major action.
Abducting and controlling the water-based changelings had been easy because of the creatures’ habit of roaming far distances alone or in pairs. The Consortium had also made certain not to target the strong—they had needed malleable puppets, not those who might break free of the drugs and other methods of control.
They still had a number in reserve, so that had been a success at least.
However, the water changelings had been but a single small stone on the Consortium’s path to unrivaled power. They had created myriad small networks, situated pawns they could move about as they wished, held their hand until the fall of Silence sent a shock wave across the world.
A year of hard work while the architect of it all played both sides of the line, building the Consortium on one side while maintaining an “ordinary” life on the other. Unlike the others in the Consortium, the architect hadn’t decided which side to support until the final instant. As it was, plan B was now plan A.
From the first recruit, the architect had researched and targeted pragmatic and cold-blooded businesspeople across the racial spectrum. Everyone in the group had learned from watching the rise and fall of Pure Psy. There was no room for fanaticism in business or in power. Only the strongest and the smartest survived. Ego had to be left at the door, all of them meeting on a level playing field.
The architect didn’t actually believe the founding partners were all equal, but that ideology served the purpose of the Consortium at this time.
Each had supported the business interests of the other partners. Of course, the architect acted as the intermediary who made certain nothing revealed the identity of any one party to another, all the while ensuring money flowed in the right direction. Where possible, the Consortium had created problems for those who were financial or business threats, or had nudged bad feelings to grow between normally friendly competitors.
But money, while enough to satisfy those on the lower rungs of the Consortium, wasn’t enough for the upper. Their aim was to build a new world order, one in which the most ruthless and intelligent of all three races would wield power behind the scenes, working as one, while below them, the triumvirate remained splintered.
Stability might be good for the world, but it wasn’t good for their interests.
Kaleb Krychek and the Arrows were two of the most solid beams holding that shaky stability in place and giving it time to become stronger. Krychek was a difficult target and one the Consortium had set aside in favor of focusing on the squad. To have excised the Arrows from the equation, whether through an assassination or by making the squad appear weak, had been their first major goal.