2012.05.26 "This is a terrible idea."

"This is a terrible idea."

I nod my assent. It is, indeed, a terrible idea.

"Right. So, we call it off then."

His reasoning makes sense, but he's not following all the ramifications to their ugly ends. "No. We do it."

I can sense the Orbodun glowering at me. Maybe not glowering exactly - but that hard scowl-y thing he does sometimes. "You're kidding."

"Not kidding. I think we can manipulate things to be more to our liking by proceeding."

"But it's clearly a set-up. The hit itself looks appealing enough, but the proposed exit strategy is idiotic."

Not idiotic, just a terrible lie. The number of opportunities for partial detection as we left the compound would virtually ensure that we were pursued. "I think they crafted that plan carefully to be exactly like that."

"Why? To get us killed?"

"No. They think we'll make it out - probably." I hyperlink to the designated target's bigger, badder brother. "We're bait."

A slow intake of breath emphasizes the thought that the Orbodun puts into his next statement. "Shit."

"While we were researching the target - and our client - I followed the tales of honourless villainy to find that our potential employer has a very deep grudge against the supposed target's big brother."

The Orbodun grunts. "I was distracted by how happy I'd be to kill the target he proposed. Why not send us against the one he has the grudge with?"

"Probably because he wants to do it himself, but can't go in himself."

"Got it - so he needs us to lure him out. But I still don't see a reason to volunteer to be bait."

I get my smug on. "Well, now, I didn't exactly say we'd do that either."

NOW the Orbodun really is glaring at me. He's not a fan of my smugness. And he stays quiet, not wanting to encourage it, and knowing that I won't be able to resist explaining myself anyway.

So I sigh. "What will happen if we go back and try to call this operation off?"

His muzzle takes on a sour aspect. "Probably try to kill us."

"Right. And since they're probably half-expecting us to come back to call it off, they're probably also going to be ready to try. So I propose we do what nobody will expect us to."

"Put on frilly dresses and break into song?"

I do a double-take. "Uh, no."

"Darn."

I do another double-take. It's possible that I've been putting my ursine partner through too much stress lately. "We kill everybody."

"Everybody?"

"Everybody who needs killing. We go ahead and kill the target as planned. But instead of exfiltration, we then move to kill the big brother as well." The Orbodun's eyes go round. "I think since the first part is supposed to be done by you, I can do the heavy lifting for the second part." He looks a little relieved at that. "The big guy has a personal hopper that I'm pretty sure I can coerce into giving us a ride out. Probably the organizational in-fighting will hamper any resistance to our leaving."

"Not to mention, their will to face us will be pretty scarce." I can see that the Orbodun is warming up to my plan a bit. "But won't our client have a problem with this version of the plan?"

"Oh, definitely. But I don't think we should inform him until later. When we don't emerge as planned, he'll assume we're dead - and we'll be waiting for him back at the bar."

The Orbodun shrugs. "He's not going to like it any better then."

"True, but he won't be prepared for it. So when he refuses to pay us - or, even better, tries to kill us - we get to add him to our checklist of douchebags who need killing."

The Orbodun smiles. "We kill everybody. I like it."

"But do you like it more than a musical number?"

"You say that like I don't get to sing along."

Yeah, I've put him through too much stress lately.