Carving helped. So did going over other timelines, such as the timeline of everything that happened between Nivele and Lună that had gotten them there.
But there was a hole in that timeline too. A pretty big one.
“Need to know why,” Karen said.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Explain.”
Karen shrugged. “We said it before. Nivele suddenly changed their SOP and went from harassing attacks to frontal assault. Why? What happened or changed? Will they do it again? Why didn't they do it sooner?”
For a moment, there was silence around the table.
“You're right,” Natalia said. “We need to know. Until we do, I can't risk bringing Lună clan back into the open — because there's nothing to stop them from attacking us immediately when I do.”
“One more question on the pile,” Leyla said, “It almost makes me wish we'd been able to take one of the attackers alive.”
“What the hell would we have done with a prisoner to drag around?” Marcus said with a snort.
But Karen saw where Leyla was coming from. “Gotten answers, maybe. Maybe we should see if we can find a Nivele we can grab?”
“I've heard worse ideas,” Victor said. “But here and now isn't the place or time.”
Marcus grunted. “If we connect with Lună, they might have a safe spot to take a prisoner and try to get answers, but it's absolutely not something we can try now. Even if we want to.”
“I think,” Natalia said thoughtfully. “I think it's a good idea. We'd need to get someone of a high enough rank to actually know what's going on. But it would be nice to have real answers.”
Marcus sighed, but nodded. “If that's what you want, we'll see if we can find a way to do it.”
“Good.”
The meeting slowly broke up after that, the team spreading out through the apartment to try to get comfortable and get some rest. Natalia stayed at the table, moving her chair around to sit next to Karen. “What are you making?”
