Raven

Chapter 12 - Conference

I wonder if I'll get away with wearing pyjamas to the meeting this morning.

That was my first coherent thought of the day, and I lay in bed snickering at the thought of it for a few minutes. Then I did a quick check of the time, and sat bolt upright when I noticed it was about five minutes until I needed to be in the meeting room.

I put my clothes on and picked up my training gear, then tied my quill pouch securely to my belt as usual. It was a comforting thing to have it there now, and I patted the dark fabric as if it were a beloved pet. I let loose a weary sigh at the tear in the collar of my jacket- the tear of which sat directly over the cut on my neck. I decided then to find a needle and some thread to sew the tear back together. But that would have to wait for later, since I had something important to attend to. In one minute.

I ran full pelt down the hall, my feet landing heavier than I'd hoped, and stopped outside the room for a second to catch my breath and fix my disheveled hair. Then I opened the door and walked in, to find Wills and Joel looking over the map from last night's meeting and talking quietly.

"Buongiorno," I greeted them, stifling a yawn.

"Morning," the two responded in unison. I looked them both over quickly to check that I wasn't out of place; Wills was wearing his uniform, all brushed and cleaned and ready to take on the world. Joel, on the other hand, looked like he had also just rolled out of bed and didn't even change out of his pyjamas. Damn. I could have gotten away with it. I thought, trying not to laugh at his uncharacteristically ruffled hair.

"Since we're all here now, we may as well get started. Did anyone have any ideas over the course of last night?" I hadn't, but decided to put my hand up and speak anyway.

"Just one, which I'm adding to as I go so bear with me, per favore." I thought for a moment on how to sound like I actually had thought this through.

"If we can get in through the vents, we can get anywhere in that building; it was part of my training to know this place like the back of my hand. There are two ways in. We could send one group through each vent, keeping contact through a couple of wireless earpieces that I can connect to a private wavelength. One would be able to steal equipment and tech, and the other would have access to a literal library of information. Then we can get out and free."

"Nice idea, but we'd need at least a thousand dollars to properly fund that plan. That sort of communication equipment isn't easy to come by around here, especially on such short notice." Wills shook his head, and I deflated a little.

"Okay, but ... it's not as if we don't have the resources to use when doing this sort of mission, right?" I was genuinely confused, and looked at the two boys for answers. A thousand dollars wasn't that much money, especially in my family. They swapped a glance.

"Stella," Joel explained patiently, "Ella and I aren't from a rich family. Off the top of my head, I don't think Harley and Kira are either. Wills is, but his money is difficult to access."

"The Schmarr family is quite infamous around here," Wills added with a half-smile. The surname rang a bell, but from where I had no idea. I was shocked into silence for a solid minute at the revelation, however. Then my usual mental tirade began anew, where I internally chastised myself for not being smart enough to ask before speaking.

"Sorry, I should have thought of that before asking." I didn't meet either of their eyes, and wrapped my arms around myself.

"No, that's okay. From what I've been told, you lived a sheltered life until now. The way you look at things is actually pretty unique, Estella." Wills nodded at me as he spoke, a calculating look in his blue eyes. I dropped my gaze bashfully.

"Thanks. Okay, so new plan?"

"Yep. Joel, your turn."

"Alright so. In our two teams, we'll split just before the front gate. My team will run decoy, while Stella's will duck in once most of the guards are out of the way. What, you think Ella and Harley won't make a distraction for us?" Joel snickered loudly at Wills' dubious look.

"If she has enough of it, we can get Kira to smoke out the place with some of her poison, or at least her sleeping powder. She'll be in the central vents, with a small fan or something that can be used to waft the airborne stuff out and around. Not that it doesn't get everywhere regardless, but you get what I mean. Stella, you'll scout around and take out any cameras while Wills covers her. From there, you'll be able to move into the main of the factory from that hall, regroup with my team, and we can take out whomever is in that lab and get the swords and blueprints. Any questions?"

"More of a statement. Please don't kill my sister if she's in there." I piped up, raising my hand to about shoulder height. Joel nodded.

"No problem. Just give me a description before we go, and I'll tell the rest of the team to just knock her out if we come across her." I closed my eyes, and exhaled a breath of relief. Thank God.

"Your sister really means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Wills was looking at me critically again, and I frowned at him in return.

"Of course."

"So what about your father?" Wills asked flatly.

"Don't kill him. Cliché as it sounds, I still need information about something important to me." I shook my head, attempting to clear the afterimage of my mentor's corpse from my mind. It worked, if only a little. "You can beat the stuffing out of him though. He has it coming."

"That he does." muttered Wills, and glowered at the table. He didn't seem to notice my curious glance, and instead turned back to Joel. "Good plan. I'll fine-tune the details and call a meeting before we go on Friday. I'll probably use a couple of elements from Estella's plan, and add a few of my own."

"Oh, that reminds me for some reason. Does anyone on our team use swords?" I remembered something, a weapon prototype that Papà had been working on after the quills had been completed.

"I do, yes." Wills looked bemused. I pointed at him.

"Papà is working on a new prototype that he's called a game-changer for his cause. You think we should steal it?"

"You know, I think that's a wonderful idea. I'll think more about it for sure."

I nodded after a moment, delving back into thought. The earlier muttered statement from our leader was a little worrying all of a sudden, but I hid my concern as Wills spoke again.

"That's about all, you guys can head off now." Wills turned back to the map, dismissing us.