Fate's Gambit: A Half-Blood's Odyssey

Chapter X: Planning a Big Mission

The doorbell rings. It rings again. And again. And again. And again. All in rapid succession.

Cota, upset by the constant replaying of sound, refuses to get the door, leaving it up to me to see who's causing a ruckus. Whoever it is, they're lucky it's mid-noon, or else they'd have a taste of one mean kitty cat who hasn't had her coffee yet.

Surprise, surprise, it's Allura. I should've known. When I open the door, she just stares at me. Then, a mischievous grin spreads across her face and she rings the doorbell again, this time holding the button and creating a shrill diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing dong that shrieks through the house.

"Allura, I will strangle you if you do that again," I warned, trying to stifle laughter. I know she doesn't take me seriously, and I don't expect her to, it's just funny when she tests me like that.

"Nah, you wouldn't hurt widdle ol' me," Allura says in a babyish voice.

"Hello, friend! Hi, friend!" Theo squeaks from atop Allura's head.

"Hello, Theo," I hold my arm out so he can climb on. He runs up my arm and perches on my shoulder. "What brings you guys here?"

"I had the best idea ever and I ran all the way over here to tell you," Allura brings her tail around in front of her and takes a rolled-up piece of paper from it.

"Sounds good, come on in," I gesture for her to enter.

Once inside, we sit down on the sofa and she unfurls the paper on the coffee table. It's a map of the entire town of Ironhaven. Several paths leading from one of the entrances connect to a large red circle somewhere in the northeast of town. A few other areas nearby are circled as well, with paths also leading to the bigger red circle.

"I'll cut to the chase because I know you're curious," Allura starts. "I have a plan for the biggest heist Ironhaven has ever seen."

"Go on," I'm intrigued. This sounds like big money.

"This plan will proceed in four phases," Allura points to the entrance. "Phase one is figuring out which way we want to go to get to the first target: Jewels of Cleopatra. Phase two is breaking in, then escaping before anything happens."

"Jewels of Cleopatra? That's Ironhaven's most expensive jeweler. Anyone who steals from there would leave with a fortune."

"Exactly, but that's just our appetizer. Our main course will be what's down the street." Allura points at the big red circle on the map. "This right here is the home of the richest person in Sidor. His place is more heavily guarded than the jewelry store so we'll have to be very sneaky."

"Hey, what about those other circles?" I ask, noting the other circles around the area.

"Those are the police stations closest to our targets. The routes I've highlighted are the routes they'll take to get to us if an alarm is triggered." Allura turns the focus back to the rich man's home. "The homeowner and his family are on vacation until next week, so the security will be pretty tight. That brings us to phase three, where we sneak into the mansion. Any questions so far?"

"I noticed you said 'if an alarm is triggered,'" I try to think about it, but turn up nothing. "What is your plan to avoid triggering the alarm?"

"An excellent question, Fruitcake," Allura points at one of the police stations. "Before the heist, I'll send out my mice to chew through the wires and disrupt communication with dispatch and prevent any alerts from reach the stations." The focus returns to the mansion. "Speaking of which, I'll also have them chew through the power lines for the home, essentially shutting down cameras and un-electrifying the electric fence that surrounds the perimeter."