He laughed.“You were in the army.”
“Yeah, but that was outta necessity, wonnit?My da and brothers, they joined a movement that got ’em kilt, and they weren’t even doin’ anything.Lookit Faegan, that cunt.Lookit that barmy, soddin’ Aussie.Fuckin’ psychos.You know what you and Trevor have in common?And others, yeah, but the two of ye especially—yer not megalomaniacal twats.Yer truly in it for the common good first, for takin’ care of you and yers, not for profit or power.That’s so damned rare now.Ye don’t care if people like ye, and ye only want the cunts to fear ye.People trust ye, and ye don’t abuse that trust.Ye don’t force people to join up, and ye don’t hold it against them when they say nah, as long as they live and let live in their leavin’.”
Peyton rubbed the back of his neck and desperately wished he were safely home, in bed, and it was Gillian rubbing it for him.“I learned that lesson from Dad, who watched—and helped—Duncan successfully grow our pack and keep it prosperous.They left behind the violent ways of taking everything by force when they left the old country.And they learned that people are more loyal when they’re happy and trusting of their leader, and fairly compensated.All they care about is that the pack can take care of them when and if they need it.So that’s how I’ve run it—like a business.”
She snorted.“Yer no toxic capitalist areshole.”
“Well, okay, how about saying I run it like a humanitarian nonprofit, if you prefer that analogy.Yes, we grow and make money.Except, ultimately, that money isn’t profit for profit’s sake, but to benefit the entire pack.Everything we make is put back into the pack and its people.Yes, we have a bank balance.We’d be idiots not to.But we adjust that as times change, and we would spend it down in a heartbeat to protect our people.”
She pointed a finger at him.“Exactly right.And I still say you an’ Trevor are rare in that respect.And if I didn’t trust Trevor, I never woulda agreed to this in the first place.”She scowled.“Although the way Faegan slipped through my paws, I’m honestly shocked Trevor still has trust in me.”
“You’re harder on yourself than anyone else is,” he assured her.
They studied the layout she’d chalked on the floor.There were two levels: the upper floor was where everything took place, but the lower level was the utilities plant area, where the generator, water and sewage pumps, cooling equipment for their computer servers, and other machinery were located.
“I still want a final drone flight over the site the night before we put boots in there,” she added.“No offense, but I don’t trust people.The intel might be solid, but it also might change.We need multiple contingencies.”
“Agreed.You tell me what you want, and I’ll arrange it.”
“I’d say I need a bloody stiff drink, but I’ll hold off on that until this is over with.”
“Once we’re all home safe, I’ll buy you a case of whatever you want,” Peyton said.
“Just hope ye get the chance to make good on that.”
Anyone they rescued from the lab would be loaded onto a chartered cargo plane parked at a small strip five minutes away and flown to Wales, with a refueling stop in Norway.A smaller passenger plane would fly out the remaining team members who stayed behind to dismantle the warehouse operation and wait to make sure everyone else safely left the region.Jake would be part of that team, since he fluently spoke Russian and Finnish.Another team member who spoke Russian would fly out with the rescued hostages, in case they rescued people who only spoke Russian.
Because, apparently, that was a likely probability.Especially some of the children, who’d been born in the lab, according to the personnel they’d compromised.
The plan was for the Primes to basically put anyone they found into a sleeping state, although they had plenty of ketamine on hand in case there were Primes or others who were too dangerous to approach.They didn’t know the mental states of any of the people.
One team would lay explosives, starting on the lower floor and working their way up, while the other two teams evacuated hostages and liberated computers and any other records.
After they were clear, the lab would blow from the inside.Then two drones would each drop a large bunker-buster bomb on it.
Peyton wasn’t sure how the bear clan from Poland got their hands on that ordinance, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, either.
As long as it did the job, that was all that mattered.
Aisling
It was a struggle for Aisling to keep her mind focused on her work and not think about Tamsin waiting for her in Florida.The night before Aisling flew out, they left the baby with Carl and Mateo, and the two of them went to a hotel near the airport so they could have as much time together as possible before she had to leave.
Aisling just prayed it wasn’t the last time she ever saw her sweet mate.
Once Aisling had everyone on-site and started going through the plan, any final adjustments would be made based on skillsets and local conditions.There were many moving parts, and she fully expected to make changes on the fly once the actual operation got underway.
At least Peyton had given her carte blanche, deferring to her at every judgment call and telling everyone in no uncertain terms that she was leading this operation.
That meant she wasn’t fighting against stupid bloody male egos.Peyton had lived up to his word from the moment she met him, and while she still felt uncomfortable with Primes, Peyton had earned her trust.
Ten others arrived that day, in addition to her and Peyton, and they all bunked on air mattresses in the warehouse.The next morning, Peyton approached Aisling as she was making a pot of coffee in an ancient percolator someone had procured.
“Before everyone starts arriving today and we get really busy, I want to tell you I’m sorry about this,” he said.
“About what?”
“This.”Peyton waved his hand, indicating the warehouse and piles of equipment being hauled in that morning by new arrivals.“I really thought we could avoid this eventuality.”
