x
Wessex raised his hand.
"I know what you're going to say," said Jessica. "How do we spread the evidence. Right? If you can get me into the Nexus, I'll broadcast Goliath's incriminating dialogue of Pine Rim throughout the intercontinental Eden network. Make Azarean epistemology catch fire. Everyone digs deeper into Goliath's business, social media buries the government, and everyone will take sides. Azareans fall into the limelight, not on their own terms."
"And what is your plan for neutralizing their defenses?" a voice interrogated. That husky voice.
Jessica veered inquisitively and saw Beelz stepping onto the platform, Boros nearby. They made the hairs on her skin rise. Beelz took her time inspecting the bright diagram, casually crossing her hands between her elbows.
"We lack a detailed blueprint for what's inside that tower," the redhead said. "More importantly, we don't know what top-level security looks like."
Boros snapped his fingers in agreement.
"Beelz and the Boros are right," said Monarch. "This is Goliath: A cutting-edge supergiant with the world in a vice grip. We don't know the horrors they've been cooking up in that place, despite our best efforts to find out."
"Can't be worse than what you'd find at a Spearhead black site," said Jessica.
"Variables," Beelz hissed. "Asgard will be there, bet chur computational ass on that. Other forms of lethal security? Likely, whether it's automated, cyber defense or brute force. I posit all of the above."
"Goliath's data is a start point for an order of operating," Jessica exclaimed. " And I have a very strong idea of what they're cooking up: prototype mind control, energy weapons, studies of the human genome. Anything they've developed will get worse if we let them stay where they are. That's a promise."
Monarch frowned. "None of those things you mentioned were on the chip you gave us."
Jessica flashed a BB-8 chip. "No, they weren't."
"You are clever," Beelz cooed. She tapped the tip of her index finger on her chin, deliberating. "The girl is right about one thing." Boros snapped his fingers three times. "Human experiments would stain the upper floors of that towering phallus. Day-in and day-out, airships land to drop off and haul mysterious cargo." Beelz's green eyes suddenly blazed over the room with somber intensity. "I vote we infiltrate Goliath, so long as I come along."
Jessica flinched.
"I second that," said Amon. In his stiff stance, he mirrored Beelz's resolve. "But I'm going to need to hold down the fort if you want a minute-by-minute analysis of the situation."
Wessex cleared his throat. "I understand the need to act, but I can't be bloody mad in suggesting we update our preliminary intel? Which takes time. Otherwise, the op could deteriorate into a dog's dinner. Our A-team is still in the field. Odds improve if we wait."
"Assuming Goliath doesn't Sub Terra-proof their base," said Valerie. "Ahora, right now, has to be the best time. Wouldn't it be weird if, right after a terrorist attack, there was another fight in the city? Wouldn't people lose faith in Asgard, at least? Plus, like homegirl implied, I doubt they're expecting us."
"There's another variable," Jessica muttered under her breath. "How would we steer people clear of Goliath..."
Raptor chimed in. "Sacrifice might be something we have to accept. There's virtually no way around it."
"I don't have to accept anything."
"Then you'll crack like you did in the forest," he said matter-of-factly.
Jessica blinked as Raptor met his superiors.
"Success rate improves if we act now," the lieutenant continued. "Waiting, sitting here on our butts, gives Asgard more time to find us. They'll scour the countryside after they've mopped up the forest. That's my two cents, which is why I volunteer."
"There's a lot to lose," Monarch said, cross-examining everyone. "If we enact Lynx's plan, we'd need nothing less than our best. There are a lot of wheels to grease, a lot of alleys to squeeze through. Cyberwarfare and weapons specialists are essential."
"You've got Beelz and me."
"Phisto, Levi, Sun, and Castro would be invaluable," said Wessex. "A few days and they'd be back and ready as rain."
Who do these mysterious names belong to? Shaking her head, Jessica insisted, "Time is not on our side, Commander Wessex."
"I would like some backup, too, Wessex," rejoined Beelz, "but I would also like to see Goliath burn by midnight."
Monarch cleared his throat, surveying the faces of his subordinates across the hall. "Lynx is right. We could stick to the original plan and risk our assets over an unpredictable period of attrition, or we can risk them now, today, but save more lives tomorrow."
Commander Wessex caressed his unseemly beard. Despite his indifference on display, he inhaled normally. "First, we need a clean method of infiltrating the city."
"We narrow it down," said Jessica. "Down to the areas that require zero notoriety. We hack each tethered system and feed camera loops after undermining their redundancies, which could take time."
"We can help with that," said Amon.
"Cool. We can also break surveillance and disguise the breach as an after-effect of the last one. If we can find a conduit that's connected to the right security port..."
Jessica's fingers danced on the interface of her alluring brace and retrieved surveillance photos of New Sumer. "Using nothing but snapshots, I can determine and define local patrol schemes." Self-assured, she maintained eye contact with the crowd as she retrieved her tablet from her backpack. "Through a complete review of city cameras, we can undermine surveillance. Goliath's own hardware is the key. " Then she looked down.
"I..."
Streams of thought crashed against one another. Her tablet illuminated the face behind Pine Rim's destruction. He had a grim, convexing nose, stubble, and blue eyes without the face paint. Unconsciously, Jess's fingernails clawed at the screen until her belated focus returned to the rebel audience. They were a mystified crowd.
"One sec," she said, reaching into her pocket. She retrieved Dexter's device, the touchscreen with a single blip. There was little doubt in her mind, when she first laid eyes on it, that this tiny tracker contained Malvis' location. Wherever he was, Asgard would follow. Shivering and hoping no one noticed her swift foray into sorrow, she quietly exhaled, "I'll enter the city first."
Monarch scowled. "How do you mean?"
"The first step is getting people inside, right? Playing with some extra stealth? I'll get it done."
"We're talking a one-way ticket. We can only sneak in a few operatives, here and there, if we hope to stay on the enemy's blindside."
"Blindside?" You would have been a good friend, Jess. "No!" Jessica snapped back. "I can think of another way."
"By all means," said Monarch, waving her to the crowd.
"Jess..." Shannon rose up the platform, concern wrinkling her face. "What do you hope to gain by going back into the city?" she asked. "We were lucky to get out the first time."
"No, we weren't. We had help," Jessica said. She inhaled through her nose and closed her eyes. A deep breath, then a smirk crossed her pale features. She turned to Beelz and little Boros, deriving a use for the best minds before shooting another glance at Amon.
"I need your help."
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