Chapter 8 – The Spy Within

 

Chapter 8 – The Spy Within

The chants of “OUT! OUT! OUT!” still echoed in the streets hours after the march ended. Dublin’s docklands lay quiet under the midday sun, their shadows filled with watchful eyes. The thousand marchers had dispersed peacefully, leaving no smashed windows, no fires, no violence – only a powerful message burned into the minds of every Garda drone and Horizon Network operative watching.

Inside their reclaimed warehouse HQ, Salty stood at a battered metal table, maps and data sheets spread out before him. Sarah sat beside him, typing rapidly on her cracked tablet, eyes scanning for shipments linked to The Snake.

“Peaceful was the right choice,” Sarah said softly. “No one can call us thugs or terrorists now.”

Salty nodded, though his jaw remained tight. “We showed strength without giving them reason to crush us. But peaceful alone won’t topple Devane.”

He glanced to the far side of the warehouse, where a tall woman stood sharpening a slim combat knife. Her long dark blonde hair was tied in a tight braid down her back. Her green eyes were sharp, calculating, and her lips twisted into a faint, amused smile as she listened to the room’s low chatter.

“Karen,” Salty called.

She turned, sliding the knife back into its boot sheath and walking towards him with silent, predatory grace. She wore tight tactical trousers and a fitted black vest over a dark green sports top, revealing toned arms inked with small runic tattoos.

“Boss,” she said simply, her voice low and calm.

Salty studied her for a moment. Karen had been his best asset since his port security days – ex-Garda undercover, dismissed after refusing to doctor evidence in a Horizon-backed prosecution. Since then, she had operated as Salty’s eyes and ears in Dublin’s darkest corners.

“I need you to do what you do best,” he said quietly. “Devane – The Snake – is just the middleman. Horizon is the cancer. But we need to cut off his routes first.”

Karen tilted her head, a dangerous gleam in her eye. “You want me in his camp?”

He nodded. “Belfast down to Dublin. Human cargo, black market shipments, AI bribes. Find out who signs his authorisations, who guards his warehouses, where he keeps his leverage. Anything we can use to bring him down.”

Sarah leaned forward. “It’s dangerous, Karen. You know what he does to traitors.”

Karen smirked. “I’ve been inside worse dens than his. Besides, he likes blonde women. I’ll just dye my hair platinum and bat my lashes.”

Salty didn’t smile. “No unnecessary risks. If you’re burned, extraction becomes near impossible. Use burner comms only. Meet Liam at the Tallaght microbrewery every 48 hours to check in. If you don’t, we assume you’re dead or captured.”

“Understood,” Karen said. She reached across the table, picking up a folded printout. It showed the known lieutenants of The Snake, mugshots captured from drone feeds. She tucked it into her vest pocket.

“I’ll leave tonight,” she said. “I have a route through the south docks that bypasses AI border scans. I’ll be inside his crew by tomorrow morning.”

She turned to leave, but Salty grabbed her forearm gently. “Karen.”

She looked back, eyebrow raised.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

She smirked, twisting free. “That’s your job, boss.”

They watched her walk away, silent and fearless, disappearing out the warehouse door into the dying light.

Sarah exhaled slowly. “Do you think she’ll make it out?”

Salty didn’t answer for a long moment. Finally, he spoke, voice like gravel and steel. “If anyone can bring down The Snake from the inside… it’s her.”

He turned back to the maps, eyes burning with purpose. Outside, the AI drones patrolled the darkening docks, unaware that tonight, the first threads of their master’s empire were about to unravel from within.