Raz Shellet spoke from Israel, “No, Shahim, that plan relies too much on chance. Your reputation amongst the rebels grows ever stronger. At this rate, you may even be able to take over the insurgency completely at some future date, at which point you would be able to command the suppression of Pakistan’s nuclear capability yourself. Remember, Shahim, we do not need to get control over their weapons, only to stop them from being used in the coming war.”

She stopped talking and the room waited once more, giving their low bandwidth colleague time to respond. Even Lana was silent this time, waiting for the room to turn, happy that it looked like she was going to get her way.

But impatience eventually got the better of her, “Have we decided then? Shahim will stay in the States.” She looked around the room, bullying them into responding. But they ignored her as best they could and waited for Shahim’s response. It was his assignment they were discussing and they would let him have the last say before they voted.

When Shahim’s reply eventually came, they were lucky that they could not see the true emotion behind it. Shahim had lost his taste for helping the insurgents fight their war. He would comply with the decision of the Council as was his duty but he was wearing down. This was not what he had signed up for, and not what he had been trained for. He was a general, a hero, and a fierce patriot, and this job deserved none of those titles.

Reluctantly he replied, “Very well, I will continue to fight the insurgents’ fight for them, but I have been told to select my targets from a list given to me by the grand clerics. I would appreciate the Council’s input on which of these I should destroy first?”

Though they could not see his expression, Lana thought he sounded broken, malleable. Good, she disliked being spoken back to by the host of commoners and low-ranking nobles that made up the Council. Back on Mobilius none of them would have dared to speak back to her. So hearing Shahim’s lack of fight was fine by her, it was just one less among them to resist her will.