Snippet #1344841

"So it's a two man team," Golding's proposition sounded like it was already set in stone.

Well, at least Stalla won't be alone if anysing goes wrong, Pierre thought. He had tried to get Stella out of the mission altogether, but in retrospect, it was clea that the would have been impossible.

"Our infiltrating agent shall be the lovely miss Pennington. Her exquisitely knowledgeable informant shall be sir Montaigne." Scratching about with a piece of chalk that was also inexplicably there, Solomon sketched up a Guild with two or so circles inside and an extra one beyond it. "Miss Pennington should be able to get closest to Francois. She can study his movements and track the progress of our southern counterpart." The two circles were now identified as the elder Montaigne brother and Stella. "Meanwhile, she will relay her knowledge to Peter and maintain a line of communication as to refer to him for advice and aid." Solomon then drew a dotted line from Stella to Pierre, lowering his piece of chalk triumphantly.

"A sound plan, Mr. Golding," Lord Pennington announced with a grunt, raising one pompous hand to scratch at his chin. "but what of their communication? Are they expected to maintain a dialogue by post?" The lord leveled his eyes with Solomon, mistaken to think that even he could outsmart the Guild master. "That issue will be taken up by our mechanical specialist, sir Koshovska." Solomon let his gaze fall onto Beval, a trusting and careful one that imparted a world of responsibility. "Isn't that right, Beval?"

"Yes sir," The young bear's voice, for once, almost faltered.

Pierre was silent. He agreed with Pennington; it was a good plan. However, he couldn't help but feel a bit of remorse at leaving Beval behind. If there was only some way of him tagging-

"The lie is too small," she said. "A Westmarckian refugee wants to join a Guild. It's far too innocuous. Someone good with this kind of thing would be suspicious right away. But not... not if I slip in after his brother and someone he fought with. He'll be far too busy keeping tabs on the two of you to even think anything of me, especially if I act like I don't know either of you. Besides, if we have to fight our way out, I'd say three people are better than one. Beval could communicate directly to Solomon. If any of us are found out, it would be easy enough to say we worked alone, too."

"Sounds good to me," Pierre spoke up. This was probably the only window of opportunity that would let all three of them go to Southgate, and he wouldn't let it just fly by. "Now, if zat is all, Monsieur Golding, ze three of us should probably go pack."