A Rumor of Peace

CHAPTER 23

SUMMARY :  Talk continues, plans for the first of the new raids.

"To disturb me when I'm in the middle of working," he growled darkly, midnight eyes snapping with irritation once again.  "THIS just appeared on my work bench as I was cutting up the last of the ingredients to go into the potion I was making."  He held up the paper in his hand.  "From one of our friends.  He says Riddle has a trafficker coming in from Piscia, as well as three shipments of drugs.  One from Libra, one from Leo, and the last one from Cancer."

"We got one too.  We have shipments going out to Scorpia, Taura, and the final one to Leo.  We also have two shipments from traffickers listed.  One from Cancer, the other from Taura."

Now we'll just have to figure out where and when," Harry said as he moved to take the crumbled note from Severus, straightened it out and read it.  "Hopefully that won't be as hard as there are only a few places left that he can land them, as well as leave from."  He looked up.  "Was the potion ruined?"

"No, it just has to simmer for the next twelve centars."

"What is it that you're brewing, Sev?"

A grin.  "I'll let you know if it works, Grey.  Harry, what are you thinking about so hard," he asked.

"How too stop all of this.  Ardyn?  I think we're going to need," his head tilted slightly, a thoughtful look on his face, doing some swift calculations in his head.  They had forty Counter-Intelligence Officers, but...  "what do you think, Rory?  About fifteen more from his garrison?"

"Hum?  OH!  Yes, that would be good."

A very slight pause, noticed by all of them that were paying attention to him, which was all of Counter-Intelligence.  Boomer's dark brown eyes narrowed on Ardyn, while Zac suddenly frowned as he looked over at him, both of them thinking that there was something...off with their friend, but what that something was...

"Of course.  What do you plan to do first?"

"Well, until we get the landing and the take off points there's little we can do there.  There's an illegal gambling hall that just popped up a few sectons ado near the end of Waterplace Hill, and there's a new pleasure house on Aqualeen Avenue near the canal, and a new drug den a few buildings from that  We are all going to have to bee extra careful as Riddle has given his people shoot to kill orders."

"Sounds like tour...friends, may have taken a few too many risks of their own to gather this much information in one go."

"Hum...they probably feel just like we do, Damien.  This needs to end, and end now.  For that to happen, more risks are going to have to be taken.  We're going to have to bring this to a head.  Fast."

"Roark?" came the sudden quiet question from Ardyn, drawing several eyes to him.  

Roark turned from studying the map he and Harry had fastened to one of their walls.  "Yes, Ardyn?" 

"Do you have any idea who our friends close to Riddle are?"

'Even if I did, I certainly wouldn't be telling you,' he thought.  "None.  Only Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, Raphael, and Schyler know who they are, and none of them are talking.  Kale knew, but he said nothing to Logan, Fili or Kili.  I think we will find out who they are only when THEY decide to let us know who they are, and not before."

"When would you like to get started, Rory?"  Dylan asked him with a grin.

"Are you guys ready to get your feet wet?"

"Absolutely," they all answered, which got smiles from the Peverell Potter brothers.

"Let's get this started," Aiden tols them as he turned, moving up beside him to study the map Roark had been looking at, noticing the pins in some places.  "Is this all the spots he had either dropped from or sent from?"