Reborn (Alpha's Claim 3)

“I am so glad to see you, Corday. What news have you brought?”

“Fifteen of our men died last night trying to procure a shipment of food.” He wasn’t talking about the soldiers she had gathered around her. He was talking about the original supporters of the resistance who were still in the dark about what was going on here. “Shepherd’s men defended their cache. Every case of fresh produce made it into the Citadel.”

“They didn’t die for nothing, dear Corday.” Leslie put a hand to his cheek; she offered an expression of deep sadness. “They served as a distraction so my team might acquire a great deal of fertilizer left forgotten on the farm levels. Our first mission was successful. Those men and women’s sacrifice will be remembered.”

No one had discussed this with him. How could she knowingly have let him lead his men to their death? “A team left here on your orders?”

Smiling, Leslie nodded. “Yes, a small squad, hand-selected by me. I trust them implicitly; last night each one of them proved they were worthy of that faith. Soon, we will have everything we need to craft military-grade explosives.”

There was one major impediment to Lady Kantor’s grand scheme, one Corday could not be quiet about. “We still do not know the location of the virus.”

“Your men have scoured the city with nothing to show for it for almost a year. Shepherd must keep it in the Citadel. We burn that building to ash, set off enough explosives to incinerate everything inside, the virus will be destroyed. Wasting time searching, as my uncle did, got us nowhere.” She took his hand, squeezing his fingers as she led him to sit so she might serve him a drink. “The true rebellion is about action.”

Watching her pour coffee from a china pot into a decorative cup, Corday wondered if she knew how ridiculous such an act of congenial etiquette was when they were talking of inciting a massacre.

If the plan was successful, several city structures would collapse, burn, bury people alive. Tens of thousands could die. But, if Shepherd’s regime fell, millions more would live.

Corday didn’t want the coffee, he didn’t want to sit in a lavish bloodstained room. He wanted his people to be free. “Claire is in the Citadel. You gave me your word that no attack would commence until she was rescued.”

Nodding, Leslie considered, offering an alternative. “The classified data cubes housed here have blueprints of the Citadel, the underground, even the Undercroft. Take them, study them, chose the most likely locations she might be held. On the day of the attack, I’ll send teams ahead of the blast. It will be a coordinated effort.”

Spinning the golden ring on his finger, twisting it around and around, Corday turned his furious attention to facts. Should the plan succeed, when Claire learned what Corday had agreed to be a part of, she would never forgive him. But if it worked... she would be free. The survivors in the city would be free.

Whispering, aware what she offered was a monstrosity, the beauty urged, “Asking our men to divert their attention from freeing their families to rescue a woman many here see as a traitor would undermine our mission. This is the best I can offer you. Sacrifices must be made, Corday. I think even your Claire would understand that.”

Taking her seat behind the desk, Lady Kantor became nothing but business. “Now, I will be honest with you. You may find things on this data cube you’d rather not know. Don’t dig too deep. Keep to the maps.”Claire lay fast asleep when Jules’ voice sounded beyond Shepherd’s door. The Alpha had worn her out as he was wont to do. Knowing she was unconscious when he was called away was a small relief in the storming sea of Shepherd’s growing agitation at the interruption.

Jules had not tried to contact him via COMscreen. There was only one reason the Beta would have dared approach and physically knock on the door: Svana.

Slipping silently from the room to see Jules waiting in the hall, Shepherd scowled. His second-in-command stood with many soldiers, ordering them to take up guard outside Shepherd’s door as if war threatened from above.

There was also something very disturbing about the set of Jules mouth when he spoke. “Svana is on the premises. She waits to parlay with you.”

The Beta’s word choice was utterly unamusing. As if Claire might hear through the reinforced steel vault she was locked inside, Shepherd spoke lowly in their shared language. “She has been off the grid, out of range of your trackers for weeks. Describe her approach, was it elusive? Apparent?”

“I have yet to decipher her point of origin, but I can tell you, she was first spotted in the GW94 tunnel walking from east quadrant. She wanted to be seen.”