room. “Dream of hell,” the man muttered. “Because you’re going back there soon. We’re going to send every one of you sons and daughters of demons back to hell. We’re going to take back our world.”
He stood there in silence a full minute. “We’re going to start building the scaffold tomorrow—right out there.”
He walked to the window where Duncan crouched below, looked out. “Right out where you can see it every damn day and know what’s coming for you. We’re going to wipe the abomination of you off the face of the earth, one noose at a time.”
He went out, locked the door.
When they finished the mission, flashed back to the cabin, Duncan pulled a beer out of the cold box, poured wine for Mallick.
“I’ll draw it up. If they don’t get reinforcements before we go, we can take them with fifty troops, max.”
“I agree. We close off their access to their weapons. They’re poorly organized as yet, and not yet fortified.”
“They think they’re off the radar—that’s the term, right? They don’t figure we know about them, think they have plenty of time to set up. They’re taking a break, more or less, after the trip out there.”
He took a long drink. “Twenty-six prisoners, drugged, most injured. I couldn’t tell how seriously. At least one of the PWs in charge is a true believer.”
Calm as a lake, Mallick sipped wine. “You’re angry, and anger clouds judgment.”
“They had pixies in fucking jars on the floor. One of the kids in the cells couldn’t have been more than three or four years old. Damn right I’m angry. You and I could’ve ended it tonight.”
He threw up a hand before Mallick could respond. “I get why we didn’t. Get why we couldn’t. It’s a freaking brilliant plan, and it could net us Arlington. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard to walk away from what we saw there.”
His thoughts as rough as the scruff on his face, Duncan dropped down in a chair. “They’re going to start building the scaffold tomorrow. They might use it before we hit.”
“Think strategically,” Mallick advised.
“I will. There’s no law saying I can’t bitch about it first. I know we can’t save everybody. I learned that early on.”
But it ate at him, always.
Mallick sat, sipped his wine. “Let me know when you’ve finished bitching so we can begin the work needed to save who we can.”
Duncan studied the sorcerer, the white-streaked beard, the dark eyes, the unflappable dignity. “You’re a hard-ass, Mallick. I’ve got to admire that. They’ve got fifty-two troops by my count.”
“Your count’s incorrect. They have fifty-four.”
Duncan might have argued, but he knew Mallick missed nothing. Ever. “Okay, fifty-four. Most of them carry sidearms or long guns. Every one I saw had a knife. I didn’t see any swords.”
“They have three stored in the building they use to house weapons.”
Duncan’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”
“I looked. While you checked the prisoners, I went inside. I have count of their stored weapons.”
“You said no going inside the buildings.”
“I said you weren’t to go inside,” Mallick corrected—unflappably. “I had an opportunity, and took it. And we now know they have three swords, ten more of the long guns, twelve more of the handguns, and ammunition. Not enough ammunition for all the weapons.”
Duncan pushed resentment aside for later. “They’re low on ammo. Good to know.”
“It’s possible they have weapons and ammunition for them in other locations.”
“I would,” Duncan agreed. “I’d have at least one more weapon than the one I carry where I sleep, so there’s that. I might keep one or two in some of the vehicles. But the point is, they’re not particularly well armed and, like you said, not all that well organized as yet.”
“And how would you take the base?”
“Depends. We’re coordinating with the other two attacks. She’ll hit Arlington after dark, but it could still be light in Utah. That matters.”
“She’ll have factored that into her timing. Assume we strike at night.”
Yeah, she’d factor it, Duncan had to agree. Fallon was another who rarely missed a thing. “Okay. We take out the crap sentry—or sentries if they post more. Quick, quiet, so archers or elves with blades. Move in from the west and east, cover the prison, slave quarters, and armory first. Secure the prisoners—get them out. Secure the weapons and vehicles. Neutralize any enemy forces necessary to achieve that.”
“Do you wish the enemy dead, or the prisoners freed?”
“Trick question?”
At Mallick’s arched brows, his silence, Duncan huffed out a breath. “Okay, all right.