“No, he doesn’t work that way. He’s just surveillance based. Eyes on the ground, so to speak. His programming won’t match what you’re talking about, so that would be something for Nova. I mean, I could try to make him do that eventually, but we really don’t have time for me to do that right now.”
“Fine. As of this moment, it’s Nova’s primary objective at all times. Build another fucking AI if you need to when we get back, but she never goes off this. If she can do other things at the same time, great, but this is nonnegotiable.
“Everyone will have their comms in their ears twenty-four seven when we leave for Argentina. You can mute yourselves, but make sure you’re listening for pips on your watches if we need you to turn them back on. Never, and I mean never, take them out of your ears for any reason. Mold a set for Daleyza, and get her a watch as well. I want to be able to reach anyone at any time. When you’re not monitoring, transfer controls to Cerberus, and he’ll cover for you for eight hours each day. Coordinate who’s on the hub when.”
“Got it.”
She leaned over to whisper to Ildefanso. “Mold?”
“They’re designed to fit deep into your ear canal. You can still hear with them in, but this way, they can’t dislodge. They even work underwater.”
God continued. “Nemo—I need you and Gem prepped for all possible ingress and egress tactics on wherever Waters is. Have Midas get you the exact location and whatever you need. Drone footage, building plans, photographs, you name it.”
“Just texted her. She’s already on it.”
“TB—double-check and triple-check our weapons and ammunition. We’re going in heavy. If there’s something we need, let Cerberus know. His contacts can shore us up when we hit the ground in Argentina.”
“Burn-it-to-the-ground mode. Got it.”
“Do we have eyes and ears on Tripoli and his friends?”
Midas nodded. “We lost contact about the same time as we didwhen Waters’ tracker shell game started. Tripoli is back online now, and I sent them toward the Darién Gap.”
“Good choice. Cherry—I need you to go into the pool of traditional team members of Tribe and select three teams to impersonate Tribe and Mythos. Pull them off whatever they’re working on and get them to São Paolo tomorrow night. They’ll be briefed when they arrive. We’re going to play our own little shell game with these fucks.”
“What’s a traditional team?” Daleyza asked.
“They’re the guys who take basic security gigs—bodyguards, stuff like that—that make the company look legitimate. The building we work in attracts attention, so these guys are our cover.”
God continued. “I sent Kubrick and the girls to the Maldives this morning to get them out of sight. Who do we have on them?”
“Titan and Edge from Mythos,” TB answered.
“She’s good for now, then. Don’t need her spiraling until the last minute. When we go in, though, they’ll need to lock them down until we’re out of there. Have we got the contingencies in place for her cover story?”
“Yes. And I’ll prepare them for the shitstorm they’re going to create when you lock her down.”
“Appreciate that. It’s gonna cost me big time when she gets home.”
“Bring home Waters, she won’t give a shit-gibbon about anything else.”
“A shit-gibbon? Really? That’s a new one.”
“When she gets mad, she gets creative.”
God shook himself. “If I didn’t think the cartel would shoot her in ten seconds flat, I’d send her in there with her mouth as her only weapon. She’d scare the fuck out of all of them,” he muttered. “All right, everyone, get some rest. We’ve got just under two hours before we land, and another hour until we’re back at Tribe.”
“Unless Medusa’s driving,” TB threw out. “Then it’ll be thirty minutes.”
A click came over the airplane’s communications system from thecockpit. “I heard that, Tuberculosis. One of these days, you’re going to appreciate my driving skills.”
“Fuck a duck.”
There was laughter around the table, and it was a soft break to the tension that had developed over the team leader’s predicament. One by one, the other men got up from the table, leaving her and Ildefanso with his boss.
“What about me?” Ildefanso asked.
“What about you?”
