Chapter 36
Deep in the heart of the PsyNet, in a hidden vault, three of its brightest stars blazed up in discussion. Tatiana had alerted her temporary allies. She must have been up either very late or very early to get the news first.
"It's worse than I expected. We have to act soon, before she does any more damage," Ming said, his mental voice pristine, no hint of concern although he found the situation highly unsettling. A mere thought of Alja Dardo brought back very unpleasant memories. And she'd been a child back then.
"Yes, it seems she's starting to feed the rebellion through Kaleb. The other races' media are already reacting," Shoshanna agreed. "How do we proceed?"
"We need to counteract the media hype first. Do you still have control over the NewsNet stations?" Ming addressed Shoshanna. She and her deceased husband had been in charge of the Council's PR and media empire. And over the past hundred years the Council's propaganda machine had erased all independent companies. So control over NewsNet and its subsidiaries meant control over all Psy media.
"The international broadcast and the servers with our webpages are all in Europe. I only lost a few local stations in Nikita's and Anthony's territory. So even if they try to interfere, I still have comprehensive access."
"I doubt that they do. As far as I was able to uncover they're still unaware of the situation with Kaleb and too occupied securing their territory." Ming was after all the only one alive who had witnessed what Alja Dardo could do.
"Then they're not our concern for now. What's the next step in your plan?" Shoshanna asked. It wasn't easy for her to cooperate with another who had significant power, but Ming was the Ex-Council's master strategist, which was the sole reason she would follow his lead on this.
"That depends on Tatiana. You still refuse to let us have a look at the new tracker-viruses?" Ming didn't like to be kept in the dark about a crucial part of his own plan, but it wouldn't work without Tatiana and Shoshanna.
"I will play my part, but won't share any more than necessary." She would only reveal very vague information about the devices she built to bring down their common enemy. "I need some more time. We lost our element of surprise when I tested the first set. I have to make them faster so we can place them further away from Kaleb's scan radius and they still get through."
"Then I suggest in the meantime each of us does what we do best. Tatiana finishes the trackers. Shoshanna takes the media. And I put some more pressure on our quarry. She will make a mistake sooner or later. And when she does, we'll be ready to strike."