Whispers of the Diamond: A Romance of Memory and Desire

Chapter 32 - Terra

The moment we entered HQ, everyone trained their weapons on Alex. He stood there, perfectly calm, while I muttered under my breath and then glared at Jakob in annoyance.

"Lower your fucking weapons!" I growled angrily.

"You just walked a fucking Hunter in through the front door! Are you fucking insane?" Jakob spat back, furious. I heard the click of him releasing the safety. Instinctively I stepped into the path between Jakob and Alex.

"He's on our side" I snapped in response.

I could feel the tension in the air; every weapon trained on us was creating a powder keg of anxiety. Bringing Alex here was perhaps not the smartest thing I'd ever done. As he stepped forward and pulled out his gun, every weapon clicked into readiness. He calmly laid it on the floor, followed by two knives and another gun, before kneeling and interlacing his hands on his head.

"If you don't believe her, then let me speak to your leader," he said evenly.

"And why would I allow that?"

I had no time to respond before Alice swept into the room. Instantly, every weapon was lowered at her command, except for Jakob's. Not surprising, really—he was the kind of person who acted on instinct and impulse rather than logic or facts. Alice shot him a look, and he finally relented, the click of the safety breaking the silence before he stared at me.

"He's with us," I repeated firmly.

"Yes, he's with you, which isn't the same as being with us, now is it? I'm sure every part of you believes this, but he was theirs first." Alice's reply was calculated, but I knew I had no choice but to stand firm in my belief now.

Alice watched me for a few minutes before she motioned for Jakob to lower his weapon. He hesitated, but finally relented to her order. As stubborn as he could be, he knew better than to ignore her for too long. After all, he was a soldier first, and she was his commanding officer. He muttered in annoyance and stormed off into the outer areas of HQ.

Alice led us into the main room, and Alex glanced at the table, blueprints had been laid out with lines and markers, Alice and Jakob had been planning the attack on London North, Alex seemingly approved before moving the odd markers and adding extra detail on guards and security layouts, this would make out job easier if we knew where they were.

"You should have your tech expert analyse the security grid. If they're as good as you think, then it should be easy for them to get in and keep an eye on anything that might change—which it will the moment you go through the front door," he stated firmly.

"We'll take them before they know what hit 'em," Jakob snapped.

"There are three hundred troops in that building with a thousand more just minutes away. You'll be dead before you finish the job. The only way to do it is to hack in and put the building on lock-down the minute we're through the security checkpoint, then short the system. It'll take them hours to break in, by which time you should have control," Alex didn't so much as raise his voice, just delivered the facts as straight as possible.

Alice listened and adjusted the plans according to Alex's words, allowing him to add more thoughts. Her eyes never left the table as she absorbed every ounce of information. Alex also informed us that Abigail would ensure the external alert system would mysteriously be down upon our arrival, once the building went into lock-down.

It meant we would have a short window to take control, which would involve securing the control centre and then the server room. Once we had that, the TG would be inclined to negotiate. Alex had also brought another surprise—one he handed off to Rebbi.

"Oh my, is this what it seems to be?"

"The hard code for 5th Gen. Not everyone makes it out alive, but at least they can be brought back more effectively. You won't have the short-term safeguards, but the rest should be intact," he replied. "This is as even a playing field as you're ever going to get."

Alex had indeed kept his end of the bargain, as Jakob stared at the table, no doubt eyeing up any potential gaps Alex might have left out. I had to respect him for that. Alex had given us everything he had, but there are always unknowns in an operation like this—unexpected staff, additional security, guards on patrol—all of which could easily derail even a solid plan.

Going directly up against the TG would be risky, but if they listened to us, even for a moment, and offered something, we would consider it a small victory. If we could ease the burden on the lowlanders, even for a short time, this would be worth it. We didn't want to overthrow them, just make life fairer for everyone, and this would be my last operation.

I wanted a life, and more than that, I wanted my life with Alex. To have that, I'd need to transition out of the field—maybe become a director of operations or take on something less dangerous. If I could convince Alex to stay with us, we could be together. That was, of course, if I made it out alive. And if Alex wasn't arrested. If he were, there would be nothing but execution. Murder was one thing they could exploit for their own purposes, but treason? He would be executed, and it would be public. A Hunter going rogue couldn't be allowed to stand—they'd make a huge spectacle out of it. I shuddered at the thought. In the end, Alex would be executed by firing squad.

I sighed as I made my way back to the abandoned platform, once again seating myself on the edge to think. My mind was racing with a dozen questions. I always got nervous before a mission—things took time to unravel in my head. It was difficult to grasp that the man I loved would be at my side as we stormed the headquarters of the TG.