Kindling the Spark

Plans

18: Plans

Seneca POV

I glance down at my arm. The purple ink with my timetable from this morning covers it. Meetings, eating time, weapon training and research. I'm lucky I came from outside the District and have contacts. Otherwise I would be with all the other soldiers- either training all day or doing boring office jobs.

But seeing as I have a lot of Capitol contacts, President Coin- the leader of this place- put me into strategy and all of her war meetings. Ha. If only she knew that I was a spy. I can't believe how easy it was to infiltrate this place. Snow was right about everything; they believe that I joined them for revenge, that I would never serve the Capitol, that I knew about them through my contacts.

"Seneca here has contacts among the game-makers," President Coin says to the others. "And he has completed training on arena technology. As Plutarch is under too much surveillance to help us, he is our best hope to get the mockingjay out of the arena. We've placed Beetee in to break the force field. Do you know if he can do it on his own?"

"Beetee helped to design that force field," I reply. "And by using the electricity from the lightning, he could break it alone by interrupting the current. But it will be dangerous. He could be electrocuted, it's likely that he will be. It could also cause a large explosion, which would make it difficult for our hovercrafts to find them."

"Do you have anyone you could contact to help them? Turn off the electricity from the outside maybe," another District Thirteen war commander asks me.

"Among the game-makers, yes. There's one called Amari Santiago that has rebellion sympathies. But turning off the force field requires more than one gamemaker. I know some people in the electric companies that supply it- a power cut could be arranged- but not in all of them. There are back-up generators as well. It's too complicated."

"Fine. Is there anything you can do to help them inside?"

"Amari is in charge of arena design. She can burn away the trees once you decide on where they will escape from, giving you a clear landing place and rescue of Katniss. I can also keep the mutts away for that time. Possibly even other tributes. But they'll need to take out the trackers themselves."

"What about Gale and the mentors? They are as important to us as Katniss and the Quell tributes."

"The mentor room is guarded. Victors have never been trusted. There are also the victors loyal to the Capitol to consider as they make their escape. Guns are forbidden in the Capitol unless you have a license, but I know someone who can supply them without it seeming too suspicious. There's a storage room next to the mentor room- no CCTV cameras and the only person who goes in there is the cleaner. I can have the cleaner smuggle in the guns from my dealer."

"Do you know of this man is loyal? We can't have our plans falling into the hands of President Snow or our cause will be severely harmed. We need at least one of them, preferably both for this rebellion to gain the support it needs."

"The weapons dealer is loyal, I know that he dislikes the Capitol. The cleaner is poor, and I still have a lot of money in an account which can easily be transferred to his. He'll do as we say, he has three children and a wife he has to feed."

"Good."

Coin starts talking to her air force commanders about arrangements for Katniss and Gale to be brought back to Thirteen. She doesn't know that the phone that Snow gave me is recording all of this. I'll need to send it as soon as possible. Snow has at least kept his word. My family are safe and living comfortably.

She plans to send a small hovercraft with a decent amount of firepower to collect the Quell tributes. She's only expecting around five of them to still be alive when she comes. The priority is to get Katniss out, and if possible Finnick and Beetee. Any others will be a bonus, but she doesn't care about them. Wouldn't want to be a rebel foot soldier is victors who've been with them for years are so easily discarded.