She meant he would be killed.
Arden raised her hand. When Kimber acknowledged her, she asked, “Why are you assuming the Ghost is a ‘he’?”
Kimber squinted, her mouth thinning. “We don’t. The only clues we have to the Ghost’s identity are grainy surveillance pictures lifted from the govie database.” She turned back to the halo, booting up the surveillance pictures. They showed a figure covered from head to toe, any distinguishing features data-blocked by his nanotech mask.
“Based on the height, we’re assuming the Ghost is male,” Kimber said. “But you’re correct, it could easily be a tall female. What is known is that this person always uses a red mask with horns and he, or she, doesn’t speak. We do know that the Ghost doesn’t sell what he steals. Instead, he gives it to local charities. We’ve decided to start our focus there.”
Niall retook the podium. “Kimber will be running the Ghost detail, so if you’re assigned to that duty, please see her. The rest of you, keep a lookout and report anything suspicious.”
There was a general consensus of agreement in the group.
Niall’s stance straightened. “Now on to the finer points of the evening. We need to move forward with our plans for Project Blackout.”
The reaction was immediate. Voices spoke over one another, and several people half rose from their seats. Niall was losing control of the meeting, and he looked oddly happy about it. His hands gripped the podium as he smirked while watching the chaos.
He clearly wanted this uncertainty. Somehow it would help him put into motion whatever messed-up plan he’d set. Arden understood him enough to realize that. This was the way he’d run the gang ever since he’d taken over, pushing them into risky things. They weren’t the only gang out there, yet his ideas ensured they made a name for themselves.
But the fact was, letting the gang run amok was dangerous. It made Lasair a target and crumbled the gang from the inside. She wasn’t the only one who’d begun to question Niall’s authority.
Arden stood, hating that she had to publicly confront Niall, but she knew that if she didn’t, someone else would. If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to direct the outcome. Maybe he could see reason before it was too late, because he was numbering his days with this move. She battled her conflicted feelings even as Colin sent her a glare.
The situation with Niall, as he systematically destroyed their gang, put into perspective how right Colin had been. Days were fleeting and precious. If she didn’t break from the gang soon, she’d be dead along with everyone else when this nonsense Niall cooked up played itself out. It didn’t stop her being constantly sucked back into the gang’s problems. How could she watch her brother mess up his life along with everyone else’s and do nothing to stop it?
She raised her voice to be heard over the yelling. “I have something to say.”
Colin groaned.
Niall meanwhile wrested the attention of the room back to him, pointedly ignoring Arden. “I have received intel indicating the best time to hit the joint refinery and processing plants will be within the next month. They have a transport due to ship out. If we hit before it leaves, the losses will have the greatest impact.”
She spoke over him even though he clearly wanted her to sit down and shut up. “What’s going to happen to this city if VitD is destroyed? Everyone will die.”
Niall glared. “Lasair won’t. We’ve stockpiled enough. We’ll be the only ones with a surplus. It will be enough to give us time to make a play for the city.”
“The govies won’t let you do that. Once the drugs are gone, they’ll take emergency action.” Besides, when did the gang have aspirations to take over the city? Since never. That road could only lead to disaster.
Niall ignored the rest of the room now, speaking directly to Arden. “We’re not fighting the govies. They’ll be as lazy as they’ve always been and back whoever has the power.”
Unlikely. But keeping on this track wasn’t the way to convince him, or anyone else. The gang could be swayed to his thinking.
“What will happen to everyone else once the drug trade stops?” she asked. “What about the children? They’re innocent and shouldn’t be condemned to death.”
Niall shrugged. “If they don’t like it here, there’s always the Wilds.”
Arden pressed on, not wanting to think about the large swaths of undeveloped planet in between the cities where the soil was fertile but nothing grew without the help of artificial sun lights. Or the animals that were either poisonous or liked to eat humans. Even if the danger from being eaten wasn’t enough to put off someone from crossing it, most of the Wilds territory was too dark, the static cloud too thick to see anything. To go there would be a death sentence. It was the reason people didn’t leave this city. There was no way to get to another of the planet’s cities without a transport ship. “Our stockpile will eventually run out. What would happen to us then?”
Voices got louder as others started to question Niall’s plan. Arden couldn’t help but catch Colin’s pained look.
Niall’s voice rose over the room’s chatter. “VitD will eventually be delivered through another supplier from another city. These things self-regulate.”
Shipping it in, after they found another city with a surplus, would take time. There wasn’t a lot of travel between the cities or a guarantee that another pharma could make excess VitD to supply them.
“And if it doesn’t get here in time?” Arden asked.
“At least it would take out one or more of the Solizen families.”
People were going to needlessly suffer and die, for what? Greed? If she let this injustice continue, could she really live with herself?
“That’s a big gamble,” she said. “Especially with innocent lives.”
“It’s for the greater good,” Niall said.
Arden’s mouth hung open. Really? When had human life become so easy for Niall to extinguish? And yet, the tide of the room had shifted, the group actively nodding at Niall’s statement. Her breath felt tight in her chest. “What if the Solizen fight back? Even if the govies don’t join the fight, we can’t hold out against all the families if they band together.”
Niall’s expression turned feral. “Why would they? We’ve already destroyed one family. Their Tower sits in ruins. None of the other families came to their rescue, so there’s no reason to think they’ll stand behind one another now. Their weakness is in their inability to work together.” He addressed the whole room then, pausing for dramatic effect. “We are united. Anything that comes against us will be crushed.”
The room cheered.
Niall paused for the praise, then added more loudly, “If we ever want to have freedom, we need to level the playing field. There can no longer be castes among us. We all deserve to feel the sun on our skin. It shouldn’t be reserved for the wealthy.”
Arden couldn’t argue with that.