Page 35 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)

"It's far enough. My father is paranoid, but he's also arrogant.

He assumes no one would dare establish operations that close to him.

The sheer audacity of it makes it invisible.

" Kalugal's grin returned. "Plus, think of the tactical advantages and the opportunities it opens up.

From such a short distance, we can monitor his communications and track shipping to and from his island.

I love the idea of being so close and nipping at his heels. "

"If he discovers us, he will wipe us out before we're ready."

"He won't." Kalugal sounded confident. "I know my father, even though he never let me get close to him.

I watched and learned. He looks for threats from human governments, terror organizations that he's affiliated with but knows he cannot trust, and criminal organizations.

A training facility hidden in plain sight on an island among hundreds of other private islands would be beneath his notice. "

"What about satellite surveillance? "

"You'll love this part. The island's previous owners installed signal jammers and anti-satellite camouflage.

Don't ask me why. Perhaps they were doing more than mining for cobalt there.

Naturally, we will have to upgrade those systems and make the island look boring from above.

Just another failed mining operation slowly being reclaimed by the jungle. "

Kian returned to his desk, sipping his coffee while studying the photographs again. The island was isolated enough for security, developed enough to be immediately useful, and positioned perfectly for intelligence-gathering on Navuh's operations.

"What does Lokan think about this?"

Kalugal shrugged. "I haven't told him yet."

"Why not? He knows your father better than you do." Lokan had spent over a thousand years as one of Navuh's lieutenants, while Kalugal had only served for a few decades before making his escape.

"Lokan has been busy with the paranormals, and I didn't have a chance to talk to him yet, but I know he'll love it.

He's been trying to get me involved in this ever since we've been reunited, but until now, I couldn't conceive of a feasible plan.

But as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

We need an answer to the enhanced Doomers' problem, and this is it.

Lokan will think of this as poetic justice. "

"Or suicidal stupidity."

"The line between the two is often thin." Kalugal began gathering his things. "So, do I have approval to proceed? "

Kian knew he should take more time to consider, run it by the council, and get multiple opinions. But Kalugal was right about the urgency. Every day they delayed gave Navuh more time to strengthen his position and create more enhanced soldiers.

"I want to meet the engineers before you finalize the terms with them. Especially Torres. If she's that concerned about ethics, she deserves to know what she's really signing up for."

"I advise against it. That could complicate things."

"Or it could ensure loyalty. It's better that she knows the truth and chooses to help than finds out later and sabotages the project. We can always thrall her to forget we ever told her anything. Did you check if she can be thralled?"

People with strong minds were often immune to thralling and compulsion, and Torres was supposedly brilliant.

"Fair point. I'll arrange a meeting once I have Ross locked down. Probably within the week."

"I also want regular updates on your wheeling and dealing. I don't want to be in a situation where I have to accept your crooked machinations after the fact."

"You don't trust me?" Kalugal affected a wounded expression.

Kian chuckled. "Would you trust you?"

"Fair point." His expression turned sheepish. "I forgot to mention that the seller wants to close quickly. They're hemorrhaging money from the bankruptcy. I negotiated an expedited closing in exchange for the lower price."

"How expedited?"

"Two weeks."

"Kalugal!"

"I know, but it works in our favor. Less time for anyone to scrutinize the deal and less chance of another buyer appearing."

Kian wanted to argue, but again, Kalugal had a point. Speed was their ally in this.

"Fine. But I want Edna to review the contract."

"I've already forwarded a copy to her. If anyone can decipher the shell company structure, it's her." Kalugal opened the door. "One last thing. We need a code name for the island."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Project Titan is the overall operation. I was thinking the island should be called Haven."

"Haven? That's a bit on the nose, and it will get confusing with Safe Haven. You need to think of another name."

Kalugal pouted. "But Haven is such a good name. We're building a haven for our forces, a safe place to prepare for war."

"Again, we already have a Safe Haven. What about Safe Harbor? It conveys the same meaning and has a nautical connotation."

Kalugal nodded. "I like it. Safe Harbor, it is."

After Kalugal left, Kian stood at his desk, staring at the photographs of the island that Kalugal had left behind. In a few weeks, they'd own a piece of land in the Indian Ocean, a short sailing distance from their mortal enemy.

It was either brilliant or suicidal.