40. Kian
40
KIAN
" T he choppers will land about two miles from the southwestern corner of the base. There is a hill there that will provide cover." Onegus flicked on the screen behind Kian and pointed at a grainy picture of the compound. "This looks like an adequate flat area. It's expansive enough for both choppers to safely land and take off simultaneously, even with the expected winds. We don't anticipate any challenges at the landing zone, but if you have to hold off an attempt to take down the choppers, plan B is to fly to the compound, drop off the team, and continue here." He motioned to a spot that was a few miles away. "The extraction window is tight. You'll have about an hour before reinforcements can arrive from the nearest outpost. Possibly less if the Iranian chain of command is functioning."
"Understood," Jade said. “Do we cut their electricity? Destroy their communication ability?”
Onegus shook his head. “We don’t have info on the layout, and you’ll have no time to deal with that. It’s a shock and awe type of operation.”
Yamanu and Max nodded.
Onegus tapped the map. "After you find Kyra, immediately button up the scene and retreat to the choppers. If, for some reason, you can't make it back to the helicopters, commandeer whatever vehicles you can and head out into the mountains toward the alternate pickup zone. And if that is not feasible, find a spot you can defend." He pointed at several possible locations. "We will extract you from here, but let's hope that's not going to happen."
Max let out a short laugh. "The moment they see Jade's warriors bounding around with their fangs exposed, they will run for the hills, but you can’t allow anyone who saw you in action to escape, and once you are done, you need to destroy all evidence of your attack."
Kian raised his finger to focus everyone's attention on him. "I want to remind everyone that if the opportunity presents itself to grab a Doomer for later interrogation, try to get a senior one. The foot soldiers are rarely well informed."
"Let's talk timeline," Onegus said. "Departure is five o'clock tomorrow morning. Okidu will take you to the airstrip. Flight time is about eighteen hours, including a refueling stop."
Jade pursed her lips. "It gives me a little more time to train my people so they can at least identify safety switches, reload mags in a pinch, and fire short bursts."
"Do I get to carry a gun?" Jasmine asked.
The chief arched a brow. "Do you know how to use one?"
She shook her head. “I do, but only a handgun. My father took me to this hunting cabin when I was little, but he didn’t let me touch his rifle. Also, I don’t know if I will be any good under fire. Shooting at a range is very different than actually aiming at people.”
Onegus glanced at Ell-rom. "Max and your mate will protect you."
Ell-rom winced. "Supposedly, I know how to use a sword and a dagger, but since I don't remember that, I'm not going to risk it, and I certainly don’t know what to do with a gun."
Kian cast him an amused smile. "I suggest that you get a crash course and Jasmine a refresher. You have a few hours, and it's not as difficult as it sounds. But if you prefer not to carry, you don't have to. You are a weapon yourself."
Ell-rom nodded. "I keep forgetting that."
The poor guy wanted nothing more than to forget what he could do, but his ability might be needed to protect the lives of his team members.
"Let's continue," Onegus said.
As they ran through the final details, an uneasy sense of finality settled over Kian, and he laid his hand flat on the table, glancing around at his people. "This mission is personal. Syssi's visions have pointed us toward Kyra, and we hope to find her in that compound. Let's offer a prayer to the Fates and the Mother of All Life for a successful retrieval of Jasmine's mother and everyone returning unharmed."
After a short moment of silence, Onegus rose to his feet. "I think we've covered everything. Let's head out."
After everyone left, Kian turned to look outside, but night had fallen and the automatic shutters had come down, so he didn't know whether it was raining.
He walked over to his desk, pulled out the bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer, and poured himself a shot.
His mother had set a broad mission for her children to advance humanity and protect it from the twisted manipulations of Navuh and the other followers of Mortdh, but they were nowhere near achieving their goals. Perhaps rescuing Kyra would have ripple effects that none of them could imagine that would somehow bring the clan closer to eradicating evil from the world.
It was an absurd thought that one woman could be the key to salvation, but with so many of Syssi's visions centering on this one person, that person had to be of vital importance.
But how?
Maybe Kyra would help them find Khiann, and he was the key to eradicating evil?
From his mother's stories, he seemed like a good guy, but he hadn't been a formidable god like Ahn or a genius like Ekin, so that wasn't likely.
It was still up to Kian and his clan to eradicate evil, and it felt like a Sisyphean effort.
All the lives the clan had saved from trafficking networks and twisted Doomer-run operations were small victories that chipped away at evil. But each time they cut off one head of the Hydra, another slithered forward.
Toven's words drifted into his head. We need to cut off the entire serpent, not just a piece.
But how to do that? Navuh's structure of darkness was anchored in centuries of cunning, infiltration, and cruelty, and every time Kian thought their archenemy was defeated or even just slowed down, he discovered that Navuh had managed to outsmart him once more.
Evil thrived in too many corners of the world, and the clan stepping in to rescue one woman was a drop in the ocean.
Yet that one life might matter immeasurably.