My Ninja Girl 4 by Gideon Caldwell (latest novels to read .TXT) 📕

“That can be arranged. The meeting starts at eleven in the morning, and is to be followed by a luncheon at twelve, with more talks into the afternoon. Rather than launching right into it, our plan is to make our move just before the High Council’s lunch. According to Ahmey, some of the members of the Council are much older and will feel some pressure if they haven’t eaten, which we will use to our advantage.”

This part of the conversation they’d had last night had reminded Micah of his grandmother, and she got cranky when she hadn’t eaten. There was always a chance that it could backfire, that they would be even more determined to fight back by being deprived of their meal, but the group had agreed on the strategy and Micah went along with it. After all, he was the least experienced in these kinds of affairs.

First coup attempt and you don’t even get a say in the matter, Micah thought. Before any other snarky thoughts could come to him, Julia cleared her throat and finally unclasped her hands. She stood, both arms going behind her back.

“Then it is settled,” Julia said. “Get me confirmation from Ahmey, and we will be there in force tomorrow.”

“That’s it?” Micah asked, almost instinctively. He expected this to go on for hours, and was looking forward to eventually eating one of the pastries once he felt hungry again.

“It’s not a stretch for me to simply move all of our available resources into action. But I need to get started on that now, and I’ve been given authority, based on this conversation, to do so. As soon as you get me confirmation, we will get started. We really could use the ability to coordinate with your AI.”

“I will reach out to her,” Bobi said, his voice appearing in Micah’s helmet. “Let her know.”

“Our AI will reach out to you once confirmation is delivered,” Liza told her.

“Good.”

“I would like to avoid as much collateral damage as possible. The optics of this are going to be very important. The less people that are injured, the better our overall cause will be received,” said Julia. “And remember, we are doing this during the lockdown, which will be something both debated and championed across the country in the coming days. It is risky.”

“The odds of a biological attack in retaliation are certainly something to consider,” Liza replied. “And new groups within the Society of Monks may emerge, a terrorist organization filled with former members disgruntled with the way things are changing, and the power they will eventually be losing. All things to consider. But Ahmey has already told us that her first act as leader of the organization will be to destroy the biological weapons. So hopefully that’ll mitigate a chance for a fatal retaliation.”

“Hopefully,” Julie agreed. “In that case, we will be in touch.” She glanced at the pastries one more time and then looked back up to the three of them. “Feel free to take something if you’d like.”

Yuri stood. “Thank you for your time.”

Soon, the three of them were outside, being led by Bobi’s reticle away from the block of restaurants. As if they’d been there all along, Bunni and Soraya appeared out of the blue, Liza quickly catching the two of them up on what happened even though she’d also been broadcasting her voice in their helmets.

“I can’t help but get this feeling that that was too easy,” Soraya said, suspicious as always. “Since when do negotiations go that well?”

“Since both parties have a shared goal in mind, and feel that it has reached a level of crucialness to avoid unnecessary debate,” Yuri said. “Let’s just hope it all works. We’re going to be on the inside when this is happening; we won’t be able to monitor what happens outside of the meeting room.”

“I don’t like that part either,” the kitsune told her.

The five of them fanned out, Liza and Bunni heading in one direction, Soraya, Micah, and Yuri heading a different way so they would be less suspicious as they weaved through the floating district. Seeing a group of four or five monks and nuns together in one of the lower districts was common, but not so much on Uyanga, and it was best that they kept their numbers pared down.

They reached the shrine and regrouped. They entered through the front to find Ahmey seated with an older nun, both of their helmets off, candles lit all around them.

“All, I would like you to meet Saru,” Ahmey said, gesturing politely toward the older nun. The woman stood and greeted them with a curt bow.

“So, you are the Royal Star Ninjas,” said the older woman, her lips pursed.

“They are. I’m just …” A normal guy? Micah thought. He really couldn’t classify himself as that anymore, but he never ended up finishing what he was saying as Liza took over the conversation, introducing Micah and herself.

“It is a great risk, you know,” the older nun told them. “What you are planning could very well backfire. Generally, these things take months of work to orchestrate, and even then they can be unsuccessful. You’ve shown up two days ago.”

“Time is of the essence,” Yuri told her.

“I don’t disagree with you there, especially with what the Society of Monks has done recently.” Saru grimaced. “And your discussion with the Hermetics? Ahmey was telling me that you were just with them.”

“All is set,” Liza said. “But there has been a change in one of the conditions.”

“Oh?” Ahmey asked.

“They want three seats at the table, not just one.”

“Absurd,” Saru hissed. “They should be thankful we are letting mere peasants… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t refer to them, to civilians, that way. I just don’t feel they are negotiating in good faith coming back at us with a number like