It bespoke wisdom and caution to Tam, but by the thumps and screams, the speaker received a beating anyway. Apparently it didn’t pay to offer the Great Bear honesty. The punishment continued for a while, then the discussion resumed.
“How long before the weapons are ready?” Grigor demanded.
“Two days,” the deep voice answered.
“Then that’s when we strike.”
Tam listened a little longer, but it was clear he wouldn’t learn anything more pertinent, as they showed signs of arguing strategy for hours. If he delayed here too long, he risked someone’s coming to relieve the dead sentry and sounding the alarm. Time to go. He had news to carry and work to do, before they surprised the Great Bear in the worst possible way.
* * *
ONCE Dred located her inner circle, she called an emergency meeting, but finding everyone took some time. Tam had disappeared, Ike was working on the Peacemaker unit, and Wills was obsessed with the maintenance bot. Only Jael and Einar were easy to locate, as they were talking in the hall—about what, she had no idea.
Not my concern, she told herself, though she hoped Jael wasn’t bragging. If he is, Einar will make him eat his fist.
Dred found Tam returning from outside their territory boundaries, so she tapped a foot, waiting for his report. She remembered what Ike had said, and, for the first time, she wondered if she’d given the spymaster too much autonomy. Those thoughts fled when she heard his report.
“Two days. We have to work fast.”
Tam nodded. “I’ll round up the others.”
“The meeting with the Speaker went better than I expected,” Tam admitted, once everyone was assembled in Dred’s quarters.
They weren’t quite words of praise, yet Dred still knew a moment of sheer satisfaction. Since Tam had found her shaking, covered in blood in Artan’s quarters, none of their conversations ever ended with his acknowledging she might know better than he did. Yet he didn’t chide her over the stand she’d taken with the Speaker.
A good thing, too. He might’ve invented the Dread Queen, but I am her now, and I won’t be manipulated, even by the man who made me.
The others seemed to be waiting for some conflict, but Tam only murmured, “I have some ideas on how to improve Silence’s scheme.”
Then he outlined them while Jael, Einar, and Ike listened.
She nodded in approval. “Genius. How soon can we be ready to move?”
“As soon as I get with Wills and check some schematics he downloaded from the maintenance bot.”
R-17 had proven unexpectedly useful. He had tidbits of information not readily available about the station, information about hidden resources, and byways that had been sealed off. But with sufficient effort, they might be able to reclaim said passages for exclusive use by Queensland. That would give her so much leverage.
“Yes, we don’t want to warn them that we’re coming.”
“You don’t have to do this personally,” Einar said. “I’m sure Tam and I could take some men, get the job done.”
Unsure if she could explain, Dred tried nonetheless. “No, I need to be there. It’s more meaningful, more insulting, if I lead the team. The Great Bear thinks women are weak, and—”
“I get it,” Jael said. “It’s a personal challenge and an articulation of your abilities.”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
Tam added, “We also need you present in order to claim full satisfaction of the compact with Silence. Death is all about the details.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” the big man said, visibly crestfallen.
His support against Tam earlier had meant a lot to her. She touched his arm and smiled. The small gesture lit him up like a laser beam; and when she turned, Jael’s mouth was a flat, white line. She thought she understood why.
“You’ll be on the squad,” she assured him.
“I’m so pleased, queenie.” He hadn’t called her that in such a tone for quite a while.
So he’s not worried about being left out. Though it seemed unlikely, maybe she’d pissed him off by touching Einar. She wouldn’t have guessed that Jael was the territorial type, but . . . Maybe he’s jealous? They hadn’t talked about what sex meant between them, if it was a one-time stress release, never to be repeated, or something more. But currently she had more pressing concerns, like keeping Queensland from being annihilated and her men decimated and enslaved.
So she made a peace offering as a stopgap measure, until they had time to talk. “I’ve put you on the roster for the garden, by the way. You have a shift later today.”
His gaze softened. “Thanks. I’d prefer that to patrolling if you can spare me.”
“Not a problem.” She turned to the other two men. “If possible, I’d like to set out first thing tomorrow. Is that possible?”
“Anything’s possible,” Tam answered. “Some things aren’t probable.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t do that.”
The spymaster permitted himself a faint smile. “Yes, I think I can have everything in order by then.”
I can’t wait.
Tam was right; it was a brilliant plan, conceived by an evil genius. Dred shivered to think of going up against Silence in earnest. Maybe it won’t come to that. A faint hope—the Handmaiden likely wouldn’t rest until she owned the whole prison, until Entropy had swallowed everything else. That was the nature of death. What Grigor did for conquest, Silence did in the name of reverence and glorification. In the end, the results were about the same.
The rest of the day passed in preparation for the mission. That night, Jael didn’t ask for a reprise, so Tam and Einar took their places in her quarters, as usual. In the morning, she was ready early and waiting at the checkpoint before any of the men arrived. They came one by one, and Dred took some satisfaction in that as Einar arrived last.
“You took too long with your hair, big man. You’re late to the party.”
“Worth waiting for, though.” Einar ran his fingers through said locks.
“Definitely,” she agreed.
The big man’s axe was slung over his shoulder. Given their objective, she hoped he wouldn’t need it. With Priest out of the way, travel was easier. Still, it was best to be safe, which was why she wore her chains. They moved with caution; Dred expected to see Grigor’s soldiers out in force, but Tam had mapped a good route, using remote corridors. That made the path circuitous, exactly what they needed. This plan depended on secrecy.