Chapter 22
Ming had arranged an appointment with Tatiana as soon as possible and waited for her in her Sydney office. Although they did not belong to opposing factions of the split Council she was not pleased to see him. She tried to keep out of the war games the others had initiated as far as she could, having her own plans to gain more power. "What was so important that you came here in person?" she asked at entering the room.
"I need to talk to you about a sensible Council matter."
"I wasn't aware such matters still exist." The Council was no longer operating as a unit after all.
"There is an individual that may turn out problematic for all of us – us meaning the Councilors who hold on to the Protocol." Adherence to Silence was the one thing that united Ming, Tatiana, Shoshanna and the deceased Henry.
"Sienna Lauren is your mess. Leave me out of it."
"I am not talking about Sienna, although she might become a problem again. I'm talking about a far bigger threat."
Tatiana's mind worked through the possible meanings of his words. She found she didn't have any other idea whom he was talking about. "If it has impact on all of us, you can only be talking of another Councilor."
"No but the person I am talking about may soon gain the considerable resources of a Councilor."
That finally got her interest. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me what's going on."
And Ming spoke of a girl who should have died decades ago.
"That is impossible! Someone with her powers cannot exist." But Tatiana knew well that they had no way of knowing what heritage the Forgotten passed on.
"Yet she does and she probably has Kaleb under her influence."
Then he showed her what he was able to extract from Marino Ghetty's mind before the man had used the last resort strategy of the Arrows and blown his own brain to pieces.
"She could take over the Net with her powers and Kaleb's resources." Even fully Silent a hint of shock invaded Tatiana's voice.
"Now you understand whatever our individual goals are, we have to work together on this one. There is no chance for any of us to hold on to our power without Silence."
"I assume you have already spoken to Shoshanna about this."
"She agreed to my plans."
"Alright, an alliance until this is done. After that…" She didn't need to finish the sentence. He knew they'd be fair game to each other the moment their common goal was reached. "What about Kaleb?" After her failed attempt to take down the other Councilors Tatiana had waited to let the dust settle but she had not given up on the idea that the Net could one day be hers alone. And Kaleb was her fiercest adversary.
"He is a problem now. But if things are as I suspect them to be he will no longer be a problem once she's gone. He might even align with our goal of keeping Silence after that. We only have to get to her."
Not the answer Tatiana had hoped for. But they'd see. Maybe there was a way to kill two birds with one stone and get rid of Kaleb too. "What's your idea?"
"Basically it's centered on the interesting things you can do to shields."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She had made a point to hide her most lethal ability. To this day there were only rumors and myths about her shield-breaking skills.
"I know you're testing my shields now and then," Ming answered coolly. He had no intention to play along with her attempt of feigned ignorance. "We all have our ways to monitor the others. That's not the point now. What we need now is someone who can disrupt cardinal shielding."