“I failed so abysmally with the last task you entrusted to me that I wanted to surprise you with something truly special.”
“I can’t wait to hear this.” Kantor scoffed.
Tensing, she squared her shoulders and glared into his eyes. “All of our demonstrations don’t mean a thing unless we regain control of the military. That is impossible as long as Malik Xett is still alive.”
“I’m not sure I agree, but go on.” Kantor crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her closely.
“We tried manipulating the law, but it didn’t work. Our only choice now is assassination.”
“Good luck with that,” Indrex muttered. “Malik has been on full alert since you tried to execute him. We can’t get near him.”
“Not in Riverside,” she agreed. “But in Ghost City or Goat Mountain he would be much easier to ambush. And that just happens to be the locations of the next two alliance outposts. Malik and his human mate are here in Ghost City even as we speak. If an opening doesn’t present itself here, the strike team will follow them to Goat Mountain.”
Kantor stroked his chin, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “And how are you going to explain his death? If you turn Malik into a martyr, he will be more dangerous dead than alive.”
“It’s a very tragic story,” she explained in a soft, yet dramatic tone. “Vengeful aliens kidnapped his newly bonded mate. They used her to draw him into the open and then the vengeful aliens killed them both.” Her semi-sarcastic tone fell away and she was all business again. “There will be nothing to indicate that the Opposition Force had anything to do with the senseless tragedy.”
“Vengeful aliens?” Kantor rolled his eyes. “For what are these nameless aliens seeking vengeance? Malik never leaves the planet.”
“Oh, that’s the worst part, what makes it so horribly sad,” she batted her eyes mockingly. “The true culprit was your despicable father. The aliens have no idea that the head of the military has recently changed, so they murdered two innocent people.”
Though he felt a certain loyalty toward his deceased father, Kantor was the first to admit that they clashed much more often than they agreed on anything. “It’s creative. I’ll give you that.”
“Where are you going to find alien mercenaries willing to risk their lives for us?” Indrex wanted to know.
“Mercenaries risk their lives with every undertaking. It’s the nature of their existence,” Kantor told him impatiently.
Indrex made a childish face. “Even so, the cost of something like that must be exorbitant.”
“It wasn’t cheap,” Zerna admitted. Hastos had promised not to use the same strike team that botched the workhouse mission, but she refused to change her plans completely. The kwaris was meant to be mutually beneficial. They each performed tasks that the others dare not consider on their own planet. She could have switched to Admiral Egerton, but she really didn’t want to involve him this early in the game.
“You delegated your last task to mercenaries and that didn’t turn out very well,” Indrex pointed out, starting to sound bored as he often did. It saddened her to see how much the mind-slave lenitas had dimmed his intellect. He managed to complete the tasks they assigned him, but he was in need of continual supervision.
“Let me worry about the mercenaries.” She’d been dreading this meeting ever since she left Cretz. Maintaining this deception was exhausting. She couldn’t wait to return to her lavish apartment in Riverside and scrub the grime of the past week off her entire body. “They’re highly motivated to please me now that they—”
“You hired the idiots that left their weapons behind in Drisky Square?” Kantor slapped his hands down on the tabletop and came up out of his chair. “I can’t believe—”
“Keep your voice down,” she urged, gaze darting toward the doorway leading to the main dining room. Employees had a habit of lurking. “I’m not quite as stupid as you continually imply. The commander of the previous unit is seeing to this mission himself. He has assured me that the objective will be completed without fail.”
A bit of the fight went out of Kantor, but he remained on his feet. “This better work. Those fucking outposts are making the workers harder and harder to control.”
Uncomfortable with Kantor glaring down at her, Zerna stood as well. “It will work. The United Council is systematically dismantling the judicial system I know and love. I need this more than anyone.”
“The only way to guarantee that a task is completed to your satisfaction