“Thanks for Omsk.”
“Now do you trust me?”
When Joshua hesitated, the old man coughed up a chuckle. “Lay your cards on the table, Van Heisman. Our plan still a go?”
“Yes. Like we agreed after breakfast.”
“Good. What else?”
“Extraction failed. Onred was probably tipped off. He’s in hiding. Anya said your techs compromised the bird’s communications system. Any intel to pass along?”
“Word is, Onred’s transmitting on Alpha at nine hundred hours.” In two hours. “They’re scrambling frequencies almost faster than we can keep up. Almost.” He gave a dry chuckle.
“We need to find Onred.”
“Position yourself as bait. Anya, too. If he wants you bad enough, he’ll come get you.”
“Our deaths would serve you well.” Humor edged Joshua’s dry tone.
“Who’s in command if I can’t talk to you?”
“Birn, Ray, or Michael. Give us one of Tarim’s secure channels, and I’ll pass those codes to them.”
Richert rattled off frequencies and codes so fast Anya wondered how Joshua caught them all. However, his calm, “Got it,” reassured her.
“Is this a secure phone?” Richert demanded abruptly.
“Yes.”
“We’ll analyze Onred’s video and pass on our findings to you.” He cleared his throat. “How’s your military holding up?”
A crafty prodding for delicate information.
Anya glanced over her shoulder and met Joshua’s calm, amused gaze. Evenly, he replied, “We’re ready to fight.”
“Richert out.” The line went to static.
Anya smiled. “Can’t blame him for trying.”
“Convinces me we can’t trust him.” Joshua switched channels and texted a message—to his commanders, she guessed.
Anya faced forward again. She wasn’t sure what to think about her cunning uncle. Joshua was probably right. However, a small part of her actually liked the crotchety old rogue. The discovery surprised her. That same, illogical piece wanted to trust him. After all, he was family. But after pursuing over twenty years of bloody war against her territory, Richert had proven time and again his one true desire; he wanted Donetsk. All of it. Logically, his agenda would never change.
* * * * *
Birn, Joshua’s first-in-command, met them in the eastern city of Zyra’s deserted shuttle bay. The military commander was a tall, bulky man with grizzled black hair and a barrel chest. He wore Donetsk’s blue and cream with pride. Two fingers of his left hand were missing, and these were noticeable when he clapped Joshua on the shoulder.
“Glad to see you in one piece.”
Joshua’s gaze slid to Anya. “Thanks to Anya.”
Silver eyes sent her a piercing glance, and then returned to Joshua. Birn’s failure to greet her was an insult. Did he think her a coward for fleeing her marriage to Onred? Did he blame her for Astana’s destruction? How many others felt the same way?
Guilt settled more heavily upon her shoulders. Although she wanted to cling to Joshua’s comforting belief that Onred would have bombed Astana regardless of her marriage plans, in her heart, she agreed with Birn. She was to blame for the thermal strike on Astana. And she didn’t see how it could ever be proven differently. Somehow, she had to make things right, at least as much as she could. Less than a week ago, she’d been unwilling to give her life for peace; that was no longer the case. Now she would do anything to secure Donetsk Territory. And if she had to die to gain her people’s freedom—it was a sacrifice she was ready and willing to make.
Birn led the way down the hall, still speaking to Joshua. Anya followed beside Michael.
“Richert has pledged to help us,” Joshua said. “We’ll attack at dusk.”
“Good. We’ll need it. Last night, Onred bombed three military hangars. At last report, half of our air corps are out of commission.”
The two men swerved into a conference room. A handful of decorated military men waited at the oval table.
Ray, Joshua’s second-in-command, rose to greet them. He was a tall, bespectacled, fair-haired man, with a gentle demeanor. His intelligence and analytical skill, however, were quietly formidable assets. Few dared argue with him in matters of facts, logic, or science. No one ever beat him in chess.
His long, cool fingers curled around Anya’s, and squeezed. She saw no condemnation in his eyes, which comforted her; just sharp, analytical curiosity. “You saved Joshua’s life.”
“Yes,” she admitted. It was a small accolade, compared to the trouble she had caused.
“You’d never piloted a ship before.”
“Sometimes I can be impulsive. And headstrong.”
His thin lips curved. “An element of chaos can prove quite useful. Please join us.”
Great. Now she was the element of chaos. Although Ray had made it sound like a positive quality, she was certain Birn and the others would disagree, if their glacial expressions were any indication. And she didn’t blame them. Anya pulled out a chair and sat between Joshua and Michael.
Joshua reported the major events of the last twenty-four hours, and detailed his and Richert’s plan to attack Onred’s forces at dusk. “I’ve got frequencies and codes so we can coordinate with Richert’s men. I’ve texted them to your phones.”
Ray punched a button on a small, flat computer and a map glowed to life on the conference wall. Upon closer inspection, Anya discovered it was a gigantic, three meter by three meter built-in television monitor. Astana’s cities and territory were delineated in blue, Richert’s in red, and Onred’s in orange.
“Do we focus our attack on their capitol, Bogd?” asked Falcon, one of the older commanders.
“They’re licking their wounds. We should finish them off,” Birn agreed.
“No.” This was from Joshua. “They’re vulnerable. They’ll be like a mother bear with her cubs. We’ll need help.”
“Agreed,” Ray said. “By my calculations, they’ll increase defensive measures by fifty percent.”
It was agreed to send three heavy warships to attack Bogd, and enlist more help from Richert. The meeting continued on, and the finer details of airbird and army squadrons assigned to strike each of Onred’s cities were decided. Joshua would contact Richert to finalize details of the plan, and to integrate Tarim Territory’s massive air defense network with Donetsk’s diminished air corps to attack Altai Territory. To Anya’s mind, this was all well and good. However, by the time the meeting wound down, no one had spoken of finding her family.
A few men rose, muttering about meeting with troops and giving final instructions. Falcon headed for the door.
“Wait!” Anya exclaimed in frustration. Ten pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction. Birn looked irritated; many of the others, impatient. Joshua’s warmer gaze gave her the encouragement to speak. “What about Onred? This war won’t end until that snake is dead.” Anya could barely believe that now she was the one talking about murder.
Calmly, Ray asked, “Do you want to join the assassination team?”
“Yes!”
“No,” cut in Joshua.
Turning to him, she said in a low voice, “If my brothers and sisters are alive, they’re probably with Onred. I want to be on the rescue team, at the very least. Don’t you?”
Curtly, Ray interrupted. “Onred’s transmitting. On screen.”
The map on the wall dissolved into Onred’s grotesquely distorted, gigantic face. He smiled. Each of his glinting teeth looked as large as a skull.
“Citizens of Donetsk, again I come, offering peace. I have called for the surrender of your leaders, but they have refused. Their selfish disregard for your lives does not surprise me. When I win the battle for your territory, you will be grateful to gain a wise ruler. One who puts the needs of his people ahead of his own self interests.”
Anya rolled her eyes. For the first time, she wondered if Onred might be a touch insane.
Onred attempted a s
mile. It looked like a grimace. “In the gentlest way possible, again I urge Joshua and Anya to concede defeat. If not for the benefit of the Donetski people, then perhaps for the lives of the Dubrovnyk children.”
Onred’s face dissolved into a scene so awful that Anya cried out and fell to her knees in horror. Elise, David, and Marli were in chairs, faces battered, gags filling their widely stretched mouths, wrists bound behind them, and ankles strapped to the chairs. Tears ran down Marli’s terrified face. Anya’s horrified gaze traveled right, to the worst image of all. Damon cowered on his knees on the floor. Yegor, Onred’s first-in-command, gripped him by the hair. As she watched, he jerked Damon forward and sliced an old fashioned machete toward his tender neck.
“No!” Anya screamed out.
Onred’s chuckle sounded demonic. “Surrender. Or the boy dies. Right now.”
Anya gasped. In that moment, her only course of action became clear. She thrust her hand into Joshua’s jacket pocket and snatched out Michael’s phone. Two finger taps, and she accessed Alpha channel.
“I surrender!” she choked out. “I’ll meet you anywhere you want. But if you hurt any of them, the deal is off.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Utter silence fell in the conference chamber after Anya’s pronouncement.
“You little fool,” Birn snarled, and lunged for the phone.
Anya scrambled to her feet and backed away, seeking refuge—a safe place to be. Her family! She could think of nothing else.
She bumped into Michael’s solid chest and spun away, backing away from the cluster of staring men. Disbelief immobilized Joshua’s features, but she didn’t care. With shaking hands, she lifted the phone to her lips. “Did you hear me, Onred? I surrender. Let him go. Now.”
She gazed at the screen. Fear mixed with hope. Yet when Yegor released Damon’s hair and her brother hunched forward, unharmed, a tiny cry of relief left her lips.
Onred’s enormous face occupied the screen again. “We’ll free that one in the wilderness as a sign of good faith.” The screen split to reveal Yegor dragging Damon from the room.
“He’ll die,” Anya gasped. “Give him snow wear.”
“You bring snow wear,” Onred smiled. “We’ll release him at these coordinates.” Numbers flashed across the bottom of the screen, and in her peripheral vision Joshua and Ray swiftly took note. “You have thirty minutes. If you try to welsh on our deal, Marli will lose her head.” The screen turned black.
Anya trembled so hard her teeth chattered. She crossed her arms, unbearably cold. She wanted to cry, but would not. Could not. Now she had a roomful of angry men she must convince to approve of her plan.
Michael eyed her. “You lost it, little one.”
Joshua’s silence spoke volumes. A muscle flickered in his jaw.
“I’m going,” she said into the silence. “Who’ll help me?”
“I will.” Birn’s caustic statement surprised her.
“Why?”
“You started this mess. You’ll end it. My bird will take you to the coordinates.”
“Birn,” Joshua said in a low, controlled voice. “It’s my call. Not yours.”
“How about we vote?” Birn retorted.
Joshua’s tawny gaze narrowed.
Birn skated insubordination. The big man looked away from Donetsk’s baron, his cheeks coloring a little.
“Anya’s surrender will end nothing,” Ray interposed calmly. “Onred has given us an opportunity, gentlemen. The Dubrovnyk children are within thirty minutes of those coordinates. I’ve already plotted them in. It narrows their captivity to two cities. Satellite One is watching both. Within minutes, we’ll know where they are.”
“Onred may be hiding somewhere else. He may not go to the meeting place.”
“I’ll wear a transponder,” Anya said, grasping at Ray’s thin straw of support. “You can track me to Onred after I surrender.”
“I don’t like this.” Joshua said through clenched teeth. “It’s a trap.”
“Of course it’s a trap.” Anya choked on a laugh. “He’s going to capture me. That’s what he wants.”
“No. He wants your entire family dead. What will stop him from killing both you and Damon, the minute you arrive?”
“But…”
Ruthlessly, Joshua finished, “Then he’ll kill Marli, Elise, and David.”
“But he…can’t,” she whispered. And yet, of course Joshua spoke the truth. She put hands to her burning eyes. “What can we do? I can’t let them die! I can’t!”
“I know.” Joshua said gently, and to her surprise, he moved to stand before her. “We’ll come up with a plan. Trust me.”
“I do trust you. But…”
When she burst into tears, Joshua pulled her into his arms and tucked her up securely against his strong, solid body. His warm lips pressed into her hair. “We’ll save them. I promise you, Anya.”
She clung to him and struggled to stop crying. She needed a level head. Her siblings needed her to think rationally. She pressed her cheek into Joshua shoulder and, just for a moment, let him be strong for her. Gradually, his strength and confidence of purpose seeped into her. When she looked up, his level, tawny gaze held hers, and hope upheld her spirits. Her rock. Her lion she could always count upon. “I trust you, Joshua,” she whispered again. “Tell me what to do to save my family, and I’ll do it.”
The faintest smile touched his lips, and for an insane moment, Anya thought he just might kiss her. “Good,” he murmured.
Michael cleared his throat.
With a guilty start, Anya remembered the others in the room.
Birn scowled at them both. Even Ray’s brows had climbed halfway up his high forehead. Hastily, Anya stepped away from her protector. This was the last thing they needed; for Birn and Ray to wrest power from Joshua because of suspected indiscretions with her.
“I’m sorry.” Quickly, she wiped her cheeks. “I usually don’t fall apart like that. I’m ready to listen to ideas that any of you…” she appealed to all of them, “would like to suggest.”
Birn’s heavy frown remained, but he said nothing. The men resettled at the table.
“I’ve got a plan,” Michael said. “Now, listen.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Anya sat hunched forward in Falcon’s swift warship, hands between her knees. Nerves tightened her muscles. “God help us,” she muttered.
Michael’s risky plan involved a technological prototype never tested outside of ZCA. He had installed the shield in his airbird two weeks ago, hoping for a chance to test it in the real world.
Now’s his big chance, Anya thought grimly. She plucked at her seatbelt’s shoulder harness. It felt confining. If only she could pace off her nervous energy. If only Birn had come up with a better plan to finish the coming confrontation.
If only Joshua were here. He had a way of calming her that no one else possessed. Currently, he followed the warship in a standard issue airbird. Both Birn and Ray had vehemently opposed Joshua accompanying the mission. But Joshua had made up his mind; and, as Anya well knew, nothing would sway him from his course. Onred couldn’t learn of Joshua’s presence, however. If the territory baron managed to kill them both, this war would end now.
“We’re here.” Falcon tapped buttons above his head and sent her a glance. “Ready?”
Two artillery men flanked Falcon at the helm. Two more covered the rear of the aircraft. They were the best sharp shooters available at short notice.
Anya closed her eyes, trying to calm the knot of fear gnawing in her chest. This mission would be a disaster. She felt it in her gut. Michael’s original idea had been good, but the rest of it…no. The horrific endgame plan was Birn’s idea. But Joshua had agreed to it. Their alarming orders were to blow up Onred’s men and ships once Damon was free. If Yegor was there, as Joshua believed he would be, the second level of assassination would be complete.
And, as a result of their treacherous, double-crossing plan, Onred would
murder her siblings. Anya had no doubt about that.
However, her passionate arguments against the plan had been ignored. According to Birn and the other commanders, the Dubrovnyk children were already as good as dead. Onred fully intended to kill them, so Donetsk might as well take out as many Altai men as possible, while they had the chance. Joshua agreed with the last two points, but not the first. He had given orders for an extraction team to fly to Gorno tonight, under cover of the raids, to rescue her siblings.
But they’ll be dead by then, Anya thought. Once Falcon killed Onred’s men, Onred would murder her siblings right away—and probably on the Alpha channel, for all the world to see. Why would he wait until dusk? Unless he wanted to torture her family still further.
No, Birn’s plan would end in certain death for her brothers and sisters—unless she made a move sure to upset every balance of power. This, she planned to do. Joshua would be furious with her yet again.
Tough. He had signed off on the ruthless plan. His decision angered her, even though she knew he believed he was doing the right thing. Well, she disagreed. Someone had to stand up for her family. And maybe her “element of chaos” would prove useful, as Ray had suggested.
Her first goal, however, was to see Damon safely to Michael’s airbird. After that, her life would be the only one at stake.
“I’m ready,” she told Falcon, and released the confining seatbelt.
“Remember to cut right. Stick close to Michael’s bird.”
She nodded, and glanced out the window to the scene awaiting her. The cluster of military birds hovered in a small valley. The Altai Mountains—Onred’s territory—soared up all around them. Three aircraft faced them, backed by a black warship. Three men stood before them, and one slight figure knelt on the ground. Damon. He wore a T-shirt and shorts, but that was it.
Onred was a monster. Anya spit an angry word between her teeth.
“Be quick,” Falcon advised. “Or the boy will lose his feet.”
Frostbite. Hypothermia. How long had Damon knelt in the snow? Anger chased off the last of her nerves.
Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance)) Page 17
