Read Online Balance (The Neumarian Chronicles) by Ciara Knight - Free Book Online

to control the Triune, and would act through the traitor, and I knew in my bones time was short. We had to leave, and immediately, if we wanted to stay free and alive.
    Tired of the debate and waiting for Fallon to take action, I leaned forward, my entwined fingers resting on the table. “I suggest the council members create cells. Cell leaders report back to their recruiter. That way no one knows anyone other than who recruited them. Each cell leader will seek five Neumarians and discover their gifts and those five will seek out five more, and so on. The individual cell leaders will know the five they talked to, plus the person who contacted them. This way, if an individual cell leader is captured, we’ll only lose the leader and the five under him. All communication will be done by dead drop. If someone is exposed, there should be a notification system to scatter that doesn’t involve meeting one another. I suggest discussing this with those who handle espionage and have them set up the system. Be sure to include a triggering code or alert to activate them.”
    Goldwin tapped her lips with her pointer finger. “It just might work.”
    Ridgecroft stood up and slapped Fallon on the back. “Tell the general his daughter definitely has the strategic mind of her father.”
    Fallon’s lips quirked up on the side and he nodded. “Yes, she does.”
    This time, I couldn’t stop the ear-to-ear grin and had to lower my head to avoid the entire room from seeing my pleasure.
    “About the weapons.” Penton shifted in his seat. “I’ve been working on something.”
    “More than what you just utilized?” McCormick motioned at the window on the far side of the room.
    “Yes, it’s a weapon of peace. It won’t harm anyone, yet it’ll give us a strategic advantage.”
    “Son, this is war,” the large bellied man said. “Weapons are destructive by nature. While your device out there saved thousands, it also killed hundreds when their ships crashed.”
    “ I must agree. Weapons meant to cause harm. Ye won’t be changing that no time soon,” Dread said.
    “This one’s different. It doesn’t cause ships to come down, it causes people to.”
    Frowning, Fallon glared at him. “What do you mean?”
    Penton swallowed hard. I suspected he knew neither Fallon nor Father wanted him discussing his inventions, especially tho se they didn’t know about yet, but it was too late now, and hearing Penton’s exhale, he knew it, too.
    “I’ve been working on this for ages. Until recently, I couldn’t distribute it to a sufficiently large population for it to matter.” He glanced at Fallon and me. “Remember the darts that we used to rescue the council?”
    Fallon nodded.
    “It’s the same type of substance. It’ll take people down instantly.”
    “That doesn’t sound effective. Right now, we need more of the devices you used yesterday,” McCormick said.
    “I’ll make a few more of them if parts are available.”
    “We’ll make the parts available,” Ridgecroft promised.
    “I beg you to reconsider the darts. They’ll be able to help in a gr ound assault. It’ll prevent more casualties. You can take down the entire infantry without firing a shot or losing a life long enough to disarm them.”
    McCormick shook his head. “Pen ton, I appreciate your effort, and I have no doubt you think it’ll work, and it just might. But I’m not sending my men and women into battle with no more than a dart gun.”
    “That’s why I’d never mentioned it before, but now I have a way to distribute it to the masses. At least, i n theory. The mist bombs. I can utilize that technology to implement my sleeping agent into the air. We can go in for an assault, or rescue mission with no casualties.” Penton’s voice rose with his excitement of saving lives. “Some of those people only defend the queen because they’re scared, or the queen has forced them to. Now we can save them as well as our own.”
    “It’s worth a try,” I said