PROJECT ASTERIA

F I V E

"Good morning," Carina's eyes snapped open to see Andrei lounging in the corner of her room, as if he'd been watching her sleep. She sat up immediately, immediately hit by a spell of dizziness.

"What in the actual-"

He cut her off with a finger to his lips. "Listen," she said. "I know you are confused."

She raised an eyebrow. No shit.

He was holding a frequency jammer, which meant she knew this was legitimate, and that he wasn't actually a traitor. "I have been in the Seven for a little over a year now," he said. "And I have a lot of intel."

"You're the director of the CIA," she said, slowly. "How do any of them trust you?"

He pressed his lips together. "I have saved all of their lives on several occasions, as well as this entire operation," he said. "And I have ensured their success through you."

She nodded. "And so if you're here, why do you need me?"

"It's a taste of their own medicine," he said. "You do realize that most of the supreme court justices have been appointed by them, right? The deaths of three in the past two years were no incidents—they were assassinations. They have put their agents into the highest ranks of the United States government."

He balled his fists. "I have no intention of letting Delgado or Anvari into the seventh position. You are going to be the second one of us in it, understand?"

"I don't understand why we can't just-"

"What, kill them?" He laughed bitterly. "With an organization with this kind of reach, killing them would only bring the Seven to their knees. It would be our job to recruit new people to fill their spots. Killing them would put immediate suspicion on the CIA, and their agents would spend the rest of their lives after us. You have to dismantle them from the inside out. You know that."

"I do," she said.

He changed the subject. "Any new leads?"

She nodded. "Nothing on Armon. I've scoured all of our sources, and still couldn't find anything on him or the other kids. Leo hasn't found anything either."

"I know," he said. "I couldn't either. That's why I brought you here. This is where the real stuff happens."

He paused.

"I need you to get close with his father," he said. "Cyrus, that is."

Her mouth hit the ground. "Like, friends?"

"As close as you can," he said.

"If you couldn't even get him to talk about his children," she said. "How are you going to expect me to do it?"

Andrei shook his head. "I'm a man, equal to him. He is a misogynistic sexist," he said. "He will not look at you as an equal. He will assume you're someone he can run his mouth to, and that you won't say anything because you'll submit to him. I mean, he doesn't even look at Rin like an equal, and she's far above him."

"Rin?"

He nodded. "Iwasaki Rin."

"The female?" she said. "I've never heard of her."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Rin Electronics," he said. "They manufacture semiconductors and microchips, among other things. She is a huge stakeholder in the global and Asian economy, and her brother serves in the Cabinet of the Japanese government. Her father is believed to be a former Yakuza member, who started their business in the first place, and is a Japanese ambassador to China."

Then he added, "she's the real leader of the Seven."

Carina swallowed. She should have expected. The real leaders weren't the flashy ones that everyone knew and feared, like Igor. Those were the puppets put in place to distract from the puppet masters. The real leaders were the quiet ones that people never looked at much—they were the ones pulling the strings behind everything.

"And she trusts you?" Carina asked Andrei. "And me?"

"Me, yes," he said. "You, not fully. It is difficult to completely earn her trust."

"And here you are," she raised an eyebrow. "Breaking that trust."

He shrugged. "I have a mission to do. And so do you. You understand what you have to do, correct? Use your charm and your wit, use your looks, whatever. Get Anvari. Pry the information out of him, without him catching on."

She nodded, and he turned to leave.

"Wait," she said. His head swung back. "Why are we focused on finding this singular boy? Why is he important?"

He pursed his lips. "He's the only real lead we have on Operation ASTERIA. If we rescue him, he might tell us something. All I know is that they're going to make an army of superhuman children—to sell to buyers of course, and make money, but mainly for the purpose of a genocide."

"A genocide?" Her eyes widened. "Of who?"

He gave her a pointed look. "The entire world."

Her mouth fell open. "The United Nations secretary general is allowing this?"

"He's a politician, like all the others. He even works with PLF, what do you think?" he shook his head in disgust. "He ordered the bombings of Palestine, and he's very active in the human trafficking industry. Politicians are sick."

With that, he left. And where his hand had been on the chair was a silver drive.