Some people always want to fight. Some are always looking for a reason not to. And Liz was right: For the Circle to cause World War III, they had to take away any cause for diplomacy and caution.
“It has to be personal,” Liz said, finally looking at all of us. It was almost like she’d forgotten we were even there. “Someone has to strike first.”
“And by strike you mean…” Zach prompted.
“An assassination. The Circle is going to assassinate the king of Caspia.”
“Caspia doesn’t have a king anymore,” Macey reminded her, but Liz just shook her head.
“King Najeeb may be living in exile, but he’s still incredibly popular in his home country. If he were to die, then the Caspian government would have a full-fledged revolt on their hands. And the Iranians are banking on a very stable Caspia. That is their largest remaining trade route. If Najeeb dies, then the Iranians will have to move in to stabilize the region.”
“And break the Treaty of Caspia…” I filled in.
“Exactly,” Liz said with a nod.
World War I ignited after the killing of an Austrian duke. World War II began with German troops crossing a border. Sometimes big things start in small ways. And it was easy to imagine what the assassination of a king might lead to.
“We have to stop them.”
“We can’t move Bex.”
“We should move Bex to a hospital.”
I wasn’t sure who said what, to tell you the truth. The words were a blur. Were they coming from outside or inside my mind? I could no longer tell. The only things I heard for sure were my mother’s words coming to me over and over again.
You’re doing the right thing.
“Cammie.” Liz’s voice broke through the fog. “Cammie, what are we going to do? They’re going to assassinate the king!”
“No they aren’t.” I turned to see Bex leaning against the door frame, weak as a kitten. But there was a spark in her eyes again. She was utterly and completely Bexish as she said, “They aren’t, because we’re going to stop them.”
Chapter Thirty
PROS AND CONS OF DRIVING CROSS-COUNTRY TO STOP A POSSIBLE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT:
PRO: Big elaborate road trips are supposed to be a teenage rite of passage.
CON: Somehow I don’t think normal teenage road trips involve buying a van from a dealership called Toothless Joe’s Quality Used Vehicles (even though everyone we saw did, in fact, have teeth).
PRO: It is a whole lot easier to continually bounce your Internet access off of various satellites if you are constantly moving into the range of different satellites.
CON: It’s pretty hard to remain alluring and attractive to your boyfriend if you spend all your time sleeping and eating and working at sixty miles an hour.
PRO: Knowing you’re doing the thing you’ve been training to do since you were twelve years old.
CON: Knowing in your gut that you might not be ready to actually do it.
I’m not going to say it was the strangest covert task force ever assembled, but it wasn’t exactly ordinary either.
“We should go in from the north,” Zach said, leaning forward and addressing Macey, who drove.
I looked through the windows at the towering buildings of the Manhattan skyline. The streets were already packed with people carrying picket signs and Caspian flags.
“What do we know, Lizzie?” Bex asked. She held on to the back of the front seat, supporting herself more than she usually would, but she didn’t wince or show any kind of pain or fear. She was being brave. I would have settled for her being careful.
“His Royal Highness will be addressing the rally at noon exactly. He will make brief remarks from a stage on the street in front of the UN. There’s a little square there for protests and rallies. The NYPD should have the whole area blocked off.”
“Is he going inside?” Zach asked.