Last-Minute Council of War

[Jordanna]

At noon on the day the resistance members were to leave for West Virginia, they gathered at Our Lady of Refuge for one last study of what little information they had. There was still some hope that Proteus might have learned something more, although no one had heard from him yet.

Sid, Miriam, and Henry arrived in the church basement first, subdued and nervous.

"Ya sure you wanna go, Henry?" Sid asked the undertaker grimly as they sat down.

Henry scowled and nodded. "I am. If you want to try persuading anyone to stay, work on Miriam."

Miriam folded her arms and said nothing.

[skybright]

Father Rick descended the stairs a few moments later, with Daws following close behind him. They both looked uncharacteristically somber, and Father Rick nodded in subdued greeting to Sid, Miriam, and Henry.

"So." The priest said, settling himself onto a folding chair with a grim sigh. "Here we are."

[Jordanna]

"Yeah." Sid rubbed his hands across his knees with an uneasy shrug. "I got things settled at the Club fer a few days, an' the kids think I'm goin' on a kinda business trip. Foxy'll take care of everything. He ain't happy... but he stopped arguin'."

Henry spoke up. "Is anyone from the parish coming, or are we relying entirely on Major Vance for the manpower?"

[skybright]

Father Rick shrugged uneasily. "When the Boyo's got a point, he's got a point. Our folks are good people, but none of 'em have the background to take this one on -- except for a few," he chucked a thumb at his own chest, "Who're just too out of practice. It'll be mostly Vance's boys, this time."

"Vance's boys and us." Daws added, nodding at the other three.

[Jordanna]

"An' Proteus," Sid murmured. "I hope he didn't run inta trouble."

The voice of the shapeshifter himself spoke up from the top of the stairs. "Nothing worse than ruining a computer at Tiernan Enterprises--I think. Those things are beyond me."

[skybright]

Daws glanced in Proteus' direction with a wry smile. "At least you didn't get caught ruining it. That's something to be grateful for."

[Jordanna]

"Tell me about it. I took some risks--faked a guy with a higher rank in Tiernan's organization than I usually do." Proteus reached the bottom of the steps with a shrug. "But it paid off. I don't know how Tiernan did it, but he found out for sure who some of the guards at Mount Bliss are. Dorenfeld's one of 'em, alright, and I got a couple of other names too."

He sat down. "There are other details. I'll spill them when Vance shows up."

"He must be up ta his neck gettin' things ready," Sid observed.

[skybright]

"Can't blame him." Father Rick murmured. "This is going to take all the planning he can manage to put into it -- and then some."

[Jordanna]

It was nearly five minutes before Vance did arrive, accompanied as usual by Handy and Nate, as well as Roger Latimore.

"Sorry to be late," the Major said briskly. "But we're as ready as we're going to be. I've sent ahead as much of the people and supplies on my end as I could--now we're all that's missing."

He dropped into a chair with a look of weariness that was obviously unintended, and which he swiftly tried to cover before giving up with a shrug. "I'm sorry. I pretty much haven't slept for two nights now. I'll have to sleep on the drive south--I've got to recover as much energy as I can."

[skybright]

"No kidding." Daws replied with a poorly-disguised look of concern. "Last thing we need is our commanding officer dozing off on us."

[Jordanna]

"Don't worry. That's the last thing that'll ever happen." Vance rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "Do you know if Jai has turned up anything more about our target?"

[skybright]

Daws nodded and reached into her trenchcoat, withdrawing a sheaf of papers tightly rolled with a rubber band, which she held out to Vance. "It's sort of a mixed bag -- a few more detailed plans of the old mine shafts, supply schedules, things like that. I dunno how much of it might come in useful."

She shrugged. "He's pretty positive he's found the Mount Bliss database -- and he's working on cracking it. Whether he'll do so in time to be any use to us or not is anybody's guess."

[Jordanna]

"That's a better shot than I expected." Vance unrolled the cluster of papers and began to glance over them. "Once we get to our base of operations, we'll have to go over this stuff and see what we have to work with."

Proteus sat sideways on his chair, leaning his elbow on the back of it, and took a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "I've got a few more confirmed names of guards for you. Also some news about the security. The whole area is crawling with sensors that are supposed to pick up body heat, and they can spot a mouse anywhere within a few hundred yards of the complex."

He glanced around at the group. "If you have somebody who could fool those sensors, or cancel 'em out--preferably without anybody noticing--I think you'd better bring 'em along."

[skybright]

Father Rick frowned deeply. "We've had Timothy and Ana do a job on sensors before, but I don't much like the thought of sending them in on this -- especially Ana."

"If we send Ana Cordoba in, we blow any shot of that 'without anyone noticing' right out the window." Daws countered with a thoughtful frown. "Vance, what about Blizzard -- could he maybe lower the temperature enough to mask body heat?"

[Jordanna]

Vance frowned and folded his arms. "He's probably the best option. Even if your civilians were fit for the job, blowing up or jamming the sensors would be like knocking on the door. But if Blizzard could mask our traces..." He inclined his head. "I'll have to ask him about it, but I think it can be done."

"Okay. Then there's one more little problem I know of." Proteus leaned forward. "Mount Bliss is still laced through with veins of coal. The lab is practically buried in the middle of it--and that's another reason they picked the place."

His expression hardened. "They've got enough charges planted in the coal deposits to self-destruct the complex and everything around it."

[skybright]

Daws scowled. "And if they get the chance, that's exactly what they'll do."

Padre leaned forward. "Which means either you've got to get in and out before they get that chance -- or you've got to take care of whoever or whatever would set those detonators off."

[Jordanna]

"And that's one more question I can't answer," Proteus muttered in frustration. "I'd bet Tiernan's people could find out if they cared to--but his plan is to wipe out everyone in the place before they can even move. He could do it, too. That's why he's not all that interested in the working details of the lab."

[skybright]

"Which means he's even less use to us than usual." Daws ran a hand through her hair. "If Jai could get that database cracked I'm sure he could shut down any computerized controls for the detonators -- but we can't depend on him doing it in time."

[Jordanna]

"And that's assuming the control is computerized," Vance pointed out. "I'd bet on them having at least a manual backup."

Proteus gazed down pensively at his hands. "If I knew what to look for... I could take it out of commission. If I had the time--or if Cole can find out anything about the self-destruct from whoever you question--"

"It's not likely anyone ranked low enough for guard duty would know that information," Vance replied morosely.

[skybright]

"And we aren't gonna have access to anyone who ranks high enough, either." Daws sighed. "Not while we've got Cole around, anyway. I guess the best we can do is try for the get-out-before-it-blows approach -- not that I like it much."