Apollo (Luna Lodge #5)(4)

"Talk with the tech today about these chips," Titus said. Apollo nodded. "But I want them in and out. The less they know about us, the better."

Apollo frowned. That didn't sound like his leader at all, at least the way he had been behaving. Actually, it sounded more like himself, not that he was going to complain.

"Why?" he asked.

Everyone looked between the two of them, likely uncertain if another fight would break out.

Honestly, Apollo wasn't pissed. He just wanted to make sure he knew the big picture. It'd help him do his job better.

Major Carter broke the silence.

"I think we'd better tell them," the older man sighed.

Titus nodded and leaned back in his chair, a tight expression on his face.

"As many of you know," the major started and looked around the table. "Some of the Luna Lodge hybrids have been going on missions to find the Horatius Group, paid for by the government. This isn't just about helping you all out. The Horatius Group, after all, appears to be involved in supplying dangerous materials and technologies to terrorist groups and rogue nations. Stopping them is an issue of international security."

For some reason, Major Carter looked older to Apollo, like the past few weeks had aged him more than ever.

"We had assumed that the informants being used were from a trusted source, and up until this point, we'd had no reason to doubt this," he said. Major Carter glanced over at Rem and then continued. "It is now clear that at least some of the informants are involved with the Horatius Group." 

"How do you know this?" Apollo asked. He couldn't even muster the anger something like this should have caused. Just one more case of them getting fucked over by the government that was supposed to be protecting them.

"I had some people I know do some digging," Major Carter said. "It didn't go far, but a few lines traced back to Woods."

Apollo's fists tightened under the table, and he ground his teeth. Knowing that the corrupt congressman was behind a part of this made his stomach turn, mainly because they all knew of his ties to the Horatius Group. Woods had been more than willing to show his loyalty to Romulus, the leader of the Glycons, a mutated group of hybrids.

"Well, don't we have money now thanks to Rem?" Rachel piped up. "You can just stop taking on missions."

Titus shook his head. "It's not that simple. If they know that we know, it could put us in even more danger. It would be best if we could use this and make it work for us." He stood and leaned over on the table. His dark stare pierced through the group. "They know all about our behaviors, and we need to know how that's happening. They have been able to stay ahead of us at every turn. If we can figure out why, we might be able to do the same to them."

Apollo thought about it for a moment. His leader's plan made sense. There was risk involved, but as was pointed out, there was risk either way. They needed to get some sort of advantage over the Horatius Group.

"Just another reason we need that security up pronto," Sol said and looked down the table at Apollo.

He gave a curt nod. It wasn't like he was going to mess around with this. They were all on the same page. A rare satisfaction filled him.

"Are we sure about this … " he asked and looked down at the paper in front of him. "Hart guy?"

"No," Titus said. "That's why I need you to watch him closely. We can't afford to have any more slip-ups."

"Maybe we should just have Marius do it," Apollo said and looked at the hybrid across from him. "You're good with this stuff."

Marius shook his head. "I'm good with numbers and charts. This is going to require rewiring and programming." He held up his hands. "Not my thing."

Apollo sighed. There didn't seem to be much choice.

"I'll say this, there's not much out there about this guy. No real school records, and he claims to be self-taught, but all his past clients check out," Titus said. "This guy, at least, seems like the real deal."

Apollo nodded but didn't trust what he was being told. Doctor Fisher had checked out, and look where that had gotten them.

"Once you're certain we can trust him," Rachel cut in. "Bring him to my office. We might be able to find out what these chips are doing if someone can read the programing."

His muscles tensed at the thought of the chip. Having something like that inside his body was bad enough, but not knowing what it was doing, well, it was enough to drive him crazy.

"One last thing before we go," Titus said, cutting into the worry that ate at Apollo. He turned to look at his leader. "Jenna and Rem have been doing research on possible links to our history, but with so few to help, they haven't made much headway."