52: Disruption
As John worked his tech, Theseus began gathering the materials he needed, unclipping one of the green-marked grenades and some matching earplugs from his bandolier. As the boys began their preparations with Faye, Katrina turned to the others, huddled in the dark recess, looking like cumbersome baggage dragged along for the ride. Joel looked especially aghast, slouched behind everyone else with a sour pout on his face. Whereas his hands had rarely strayed from his guitar-weapon-thing at the start of the investigation, now they were lodged securely in his pockets. Kaori wore a similar frown to her boyfriend, even though she had done something useful and helped save them from the leansídhe. Lyra, meanwhile, was breathing heavily and had developed sleepless bags under her eyes. As aggressive and unfriendly as she was, the group wouldn’t have made it this far without her and Katrina wanted to give the former vagrant an appreciative hug – somehow, though, she figured Lyra wasn’t the hugging type.
Phoenie and Andromeda, on the other hand, looked lively. They were surrounded by revelations and, more importantly, gossip.
“Those boys are really getting into this, don’t you think?” said Andromeda.
“I’m not letting them tell me magic doesn’t exist after all this,” replied Phoenie.
“And the way John’s looking at that Faye, I’ve not seen him like that since he gave up on Deneb. He’s certainly got a weakness for hyper-intelligent girls with monotone delivery…”
Katrina snapped a group shot, stunning Joel and Kaori with the flash, then turned back to the faerie and her two unexpected conspirators. John had finished with his scans and Theseus was now studying the results on his cell.
“Gotta say, Johno, you’ve got a lot of faith in me,”
“Of course we can’t account for the actions of the shaman,” he replied, “But hopefully Faye can clue us in to their thoughts and possible strategies,”
“I shall keep a determined watch on their thoughts and advise you as required,”
“Good to know you’ve got my back…or their minds…or whatever the hell you’ve got,”
Katrina was in no way knowledgeable about fighting or battle strategy, but even she was suspicious as to how easy everything was turning out to be. Between Lyra’s vagrant witchcraft and the boys’ unending technological combinations, it felt as if nothing could beat them.
“You should not overestimate your opponents,” said Faye, as if she were replying to Katrina’s own worries, “Neither, however, should you underestimate them. At present we have the element of surprise, as the communications network and group efficiency of our adversaries is limited and they lack means to detect our presence,”
“Basically: we’re crazy prepared, they ain’t,” said Theseus as John strapped some belts around him.
“I do have my reservations,” said Faye, “My knowledge of these shaman is somewhat limited. I know they are not a powerful group and have worked underground to avoid the attention of Godhand, and that their victims are weak of will and easily led astray. In many ways this is as much an amateur operation as your own,”
“Cheers,” said Lyra with the slight hint of a sneer.
With a final click, John and Theseus finished their preparations, just in time to stop a potential debate between the Raven witch and the tactless faerie. Theseus was now strapped into the same grappling harness that had saved John previously.
“Gonna get the drop on them,” he said with an action-hero wink.
“You’ll be seen!” protested Phoenie; “It’s like daytime in here with that light! And… And it’s just dangerous!”
“You think Johno ain’t added up all the maths, Lady? Trust us, it’ll be fine,”
“Assuming our timing isn’t off, anyway,” said John, “As for being seen…”
“Unlikely,” said Faye, “I have already calculated the possible outcomes,”
