As Bridget finished her presentation to the assembled committee, Eva clapped, soon to be followed by everyone else in the room.

It was powerful, touching without being melodramatic, depressing, but also optimistic. She’d managed the perfect balance between playing on people’s conscience while at the same time offering them a roadmap to a better future.

Would it be enough to lure back the retired Guardians, though? Kian wasn’t sure.

“Very well done, Bridget,” he said. “But I’m not as confident as you are about the Guardians’ response. There is a big difference between abandoning their comfortable lives and everything they worked for to defend their own, and doing so for strangers. For thousands of years we’ve refrained from intervening directly in human affairs, and for a good reason. Unless they learn to solve their problems for themselves, our help will only be a temporary fix and not a solution. It is much better for us to provide the tools, the progressive ideas and the technology to enable the progress than to go in and fight their battles for them. Even if all the Guardians come back, it is still an insignificant force for such a large scale operation.”

Bridget nodded. “I know you’re playing devil’s advocate, and I can’t refute your logic because it’s solid, but I believe our work will put the big wheels in motion, and eventually the governments will step in.”

“You’re an optimist,” Eva said. “Show me one politician who is willing to risk contamination by association. No one wants to touch the subject.”

Bridget collected her papers into a neat pile. “That’s because they don’t see a possible solution. Politicians will not undertake what they believe is a lost cause. They need easy wins to get elected and reelected.”

“True,” Turner said. “And I agree with Bridget that this might push the boulder just enough for it to start rolling.”

“The Guardians will come.” Bridget leveled her eyes at Kian. “There is a reason these men chose to become Guardians in the first place. It’s not an easy job, and although the pay is good, it’s not enough of a motivator for dedicating decades to training and risking their lives in defense of others. It’s a passion, a calling, and if there were battles for them to fight, they would’ve still served. No one wants to be idle and feel useless, especially highly trained people whose hard-earned skills are not getting put to good use. It’s almost humiliating. No wonder most of them retired.”

Bridget rose to her feet and started pacing. “Give these men a purpose, a worthwhile cause, and they will come eagerly. You’ll have the large force you want, and the Guardians will have their pride back—the satisfaction of being needed and necessary as they were in days past.”

Kian glanced at Anandur who’d been uncharacteristically silent throughout Bridget’s presentation and after. “What do you think, Anandur?”

The big guy shrugged. “I’m still here, ain't I? I didn’t leave to go searching for other things to do with my life. Being a Guardian is more than a job for me, it’s who I am. Same goes for Brundar and the others who stayed. That’s why I can’t speak for those who left. With that, I’m with you, Kian. I’m not sure what motivates the others, and how they are going to respond to the presentation.”

“I don’t have a crystal ball.” Bridget returned to her seat. “You know these guys better than I do, Anandur. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

Kian was thankful to Anandur for curbing some of Bridget’s enthusiasm. If the results ended up not being as spectacular as she was hoping, at least she’d be mentally prepared.

“I’m going to coordinate a convenient time for the big assembly with Sari and Annani. I’m shooting for two weeks from now. Is that enough time for you to have everything ready?”

Bridget nodded. “I want to add a few visuals, and I need to rehearse, but two weeks will do.”

“Let’s make it three weeks to be on the safe side.” Kian looked at Turner. “What about you? Are you satisfied with the presentation?”

“Bridget did a superb job.”

“I didn’t do it alone. You helped a lot.”

Kian lifted a hand. “You can compliment each other later.”

“Right.” Turner smoothed his hand over the back of his shaved head. “I started mapping the targets. I know the funding hasn’t been approved yet, but I wanted to get a head start. I have a partial list of over thirty brothels here in the US and several in the UK. If you like, I can add it to Bridget’s presentation. I think soldiers will prefer an actual tactical plan to generalities. It will also drive the point home how widespread this is, and that it is not a problem limited to third-world countries. It took my people only a few days to come up with these. Just imagine how many more there are right here under our noses.”

“Can I take a look?” Eva asked.

Turner pushed his laptop to her so she could see the map.

Kian pointed to the large screen behind his desk. “You can hook it up to that so everyone can see.”

Several clicks later the map appeared on the large screen.

Anandur shook his head. “Unbelievable. Are you sure those are all brothels? I didn’t know there were that many. And how do you know they are not legit? And I don’t mean as legal or illegal, just no forced or coerced prostitution.”

Turner leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “My instructions were to document all places employing underage girls. I don’t give a damn if the girls volunteered for that or not. They shouldn’t be there, and I want to get them out. But chances are that they are not there of their own free will.”

“He is right,” Eva said. “It’s one form of coercion or another. There isn’t enough awareness, and most are not familiar with the methods the scum use to lure girls into a trap. That’s why I started writing a fiction book describing the ordeal of one girl. If it gets enough publicity, it might help girls recognize the signs before it’s too late. Unfortunately, it’s going slow because I don’t have a lot of free time.”

Brandon, who until now hadn’t taken part in the conversation, perked up. “I would like to take a look at what you have written already. I can give you some pointers. Or, if it’s really bad, I can get you a ghostwriter.”

Glaring daggers at the media specialist, Eva huffed. “Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence.”

Brandon wasn’t intimidated. “I’m being practical. Why waste your time? If it’s good, I’ll tell you, and you’ll be motivated to push forward with it, and if it’s not, I’ll save you a lot of time by providing an assistant.”

“So now it’s an assistant.” Eva made air quotes around the word. “Not a ghostwriter.”

“Potayto, potahto. You can get as much or as little help as you want. Don’t take it personally.”

“What about the charity events?” Kian stepped in before Eva hurled something at Brandon’s smug puss, which in her case could have been anything from a knife to a bullet between the eyes.

“I’m working on it. I’ve lined up several stars who are willing to sing at the event. They will bring in the deep pockets.”

Kian lifted a brow. “For free?”

“I promised to list what they would normally charge for a performance as a charitable contribution. Naturally, the sums are grossly inflated, but it will look good for them as well as for us.”