Don’t Poke the Luna Chapter 206

Xena’s POV

"He's not here tonight," Jimmy explained. "He's been monitoring the cameras we set up at the tunnel entrances. Kid's a computer genius though. If anyone could hack into a phone company, it'd be him."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Set up in the basement with about six monitors," Bastian said. "He's been tracking everything since we sealed the tunnels. Paranoid as hell that they might try to dig them back out."

"Smart," Ryder nodded. "We should talk to him."

"The thing is," Keir spoke up, "even if we get into the phone company systems, how do we know which numbers belong to Alpha Wiley? They could be under any name."

I'd been thinking about that too. "We start with the territory address. Every phone company has to have a physical address for service. Even if the account names are fake, the location has to be real for them to run the lines."

"And if they're using cell phones exclusively?" Novak asked.

"Then we look for patterns. Heavy data usage in that area, multiple lines registered to the same fake addresses, billing information that doesn't add up." I was getting excited talking through this. "Plus, if Galen's as good as you say, he might be able to cross-reference with other utilities. Electric, water, internet providers."

"Galen could do it," a young warrior I hadn't met yet spoke up. "I'm Drake, by the way. And Galen's taught me some basic stuff. Phone companies aren't as secure as you'd think. They're more focused on keeping people from stealing service than protecting customer information."

"How long would something like that take?" Ryder asked.

Drake looked thoughtful. "Depends on how deep we want to go. Getting basic account information? Maybe a few hours. Getting detailed call logs, location data, cross-referencing with other services? Could take a day or two."

"We don't have a day or two," William said. "Not with everything that's happening."

"Then we start with what we can get quickly," I suggested. "Basic account info, recent call logs. See if we can identify any patterns or important numbers. Then we dig deeper from there."

"I like it," Ryder said, finishing his last slice of pizza. "It's proactive instead of reactive. We've been playing defense this whole time."

The warrior who looked oldest among them leaned forward. "If we find the location, we still have a considerable amount of explosives left over. We could move within hours. I have some that were mainly prepared for the tunnels but went unused." When he spoke, he looked directly at Ryder.

"Good," Ryder stood up, his Alpha authority filling the room. "Drake, go get Galen. Tell him to wrap up whatever he's doing with the cameras and get up here. We're changing strategies."

"Yes, Alpha," Drake jumped up immediately.

"I'll contact Penelope and Ama to start working with Galen on the hacking." Ryder said.

We spent the next several minutes discussing what it would mean to break into the phone company and how to do it. William stepped out of the room to call Ama.

"...this can be done remotely. We don't need to get into the lines to create problems," Ryder was saying.

"Is that true, Luna?" Novak asked. "We don't need to sneak into the phone company's business premises and place something on the wires?"

"What have you been watching, Ocean's Eleven or something?" I tried to joke. "No, we can accomplish everything without leaving here."

"Hopefully Galen can pull it off," Ryder said.

That reminded me. "William! Did you reach Ama?" I quickly contacted him through our mind link.

"On the phone with her, why?"

"Galen needs a separate IP address. So it can't be traced back to this group."

"Okay, I'll tell her," William said before cutting off the communication.

"Luna!" Bastian called out loudly.

"What? Sorry, I was just making sure William told Ama that Galen needs a different IP address to do this." I hadn't been listening to their conversation at all.

"No problem. I was asking about the information we get. We should receive phone numbers or a list of locations with service. How do we decide which place to attack?" Bastian asked a reasonable question.

"Whichever makes the most sense. If it were up to me, I'd observe first and see which attack would create the most impact."

"We should act now! Not wait!" A warrior from the back row stood up and started pacing. I could feel Ryder getting angry.

The fury radiating from him made the air feel thick and heavy.

"Okay," I said simply. "Explain your thinking?" When he turned to look at me, I kept my expression neutral.

"They didn't wait when they attacked your shop! They didn't wait when they kidnapped you! They took action. We look like cowards because we're doing nothing!" His face was flushed red.

I took a deep breath, fighting to suppress the rage boiling inside me. His words hit the most sensitive spot in my heart—that feeling of helplessness, the humiliation of being beaten down passively. But I knew anger would only cloud my judgment.

"Your name?" I asked calmly.

"Viggo." He put his hands on his hips, breathing deeply to try to calm himself down. He looked about twenty-eight or twenty-nine, maybe thirty. His dirty blonde hair kept bothering him, and he constantly swept it away from his eyes.

"Do you realize they probably spent nearly a year digging those tunnels? And my shop is a very public place. The shooting and everything... they've been planning this for years. Years! This isn't something they decided to do overnight. If that building was important, we would have made an impact already. Are you willing to risk your life, and risk your fellow warriors' lives, to go knock on his door?" I kept my voice steady and firm as I spoke.

Ryder leaned back on the couch, draping his arm across the back behind me. He crossed his ankle over his knee and just watched this interaction play out.

"I just can't sit here and do nothing!" Viggo sounded frustrated.

"Making impulsive decisions based on emotions won't get you the response or results you want. The best response is the optimal response. What do you think they're thinking right now? If I were them, I'd be surprised to see me walking through his front door. Sometimes, not taking aggressive action is about thinking through why they haven't attacked yet."

"We moved our pack to another pack's territory, and we're waiting for their attack," another warrior added, supporting my point.

"Exactly. They might be ready for a fight, and we'll give them a fight. Just not today. We'll attack when they least expect it, in the most painful way possible." I was completely sincere about what I was saying.

Everyone in the room could feel the killing intent in my words. I saw several warriors unconsciously straighten up, their eyes flashing with awe and anticipation.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Viggo finally sat down. He still looked frustrated, or maybe just emotional, but we didn't hear from him again.

"Everyone start thinking about what other approaches we might need. If this phone company hack doesn't give us everything we need, what else can we try?" Ryder looked around the room. "We're done playing Benedict's games. From now on, we make our own plans and we execute them our way."

A chorus of "Yes, Alpha" filled the kitchen, and I felt a surge of pride watching Ryder take command. This was the leader these men needed.

"One more thing," I said, standing up beside Ryder. "Whatever we find, we keep it between us for now. No one else needs to know what we're planning until we're ready to act on it."

The warriors nodded in understanding. They knew exactly who I was talking about.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Novak asked.

"We'll see what Galen can find tonight. Xena and I are going to Alpha Hank's pack tomorrow regardless, and we'll see what they've discovered. Depending on the situation, we'll handle things accordingly," Ryder said, leaning forward.