NaNoWriMo: Chapter 7 Excerpt

"Please sit down Ms. Cruz." It was the first time Eva had heard Dmitri speak and her eyes may have grown to the size of saucers. Obediently she sat, though she couldn't fathom why she was listening to this stranger. Even the Ambassador seemed stunned by this turn of events for a second. "Very good. My name is Dmitri Garlov by the way, I'm not sure the Ambassador made the introductions earlier." Ambassador Jones looked mortified at her own oversight; that or she was embarrassed to have it pointed out. "Now first, I must say I think Mr. Hunt made the right choice when he asked you to keep things in order while he was gone. It's clear he trusts you very much and the others pick up on that.

Eva nodded meekly. She wanted to correct his misconceptions or say something, anything at all, but nothing came out even as her mouth hung open.

"I think you can appreciate the gravity of the situation here Ms. Cruz. We all can of course. In an hour or two panic will begin to set in, particularly if the assault resumes and we can't have that."

"Of course not." Eva said with a gulp. His words were strung together in such a way that a painting was forming in her mind even as he spoke.

Dmitri waited patiently, leaning against the desk with his hands casually clasped in front. He watched, without interruption or word as the emotions danced across Eva's face. He knew exactly what he was doing as he planted the first seeds in her mind. Once the seed took hold, all the horrible possibilities sprang forth until she was visibly shaking in her seat. "Now then, in order to avoid panic, we, and by we I mean you, will need to give them a plan – something to keep them busy."

"Me?" Eva's voice was a shrill squeak by now, a very unusual circumstance for her that mortified her to no end.

"Mmhmm, you." Dmitri looked past her to the ambassador and shook his head. Catching sight of the exchange, Eva looked over at Eloise and was shocked to see her snap her mouth closed.

Eva took a steadying breath and then looked back at Dmitri. She felt her normal sense of calm returning to her body and grabbed hold of it before it flitted away again, letting it grow steadily. "Look, for one, Mr. Hunt will be back and any plans will be through him." She refused to acknowledge their sad little head shakes at that proclamation, James Hunt would be back. In the back of her mind she had been repeating that mantra for hours now to the point that it was hard to believe anything else. "And we don't need a plan – we're perfectly safe here and can be sustained for months if need be."

"The aliens will be back and will continue attacking until the mountain crumbles just as everything else has crumbled. They will take over the world and all of humanity will be lost Ms. Cruz. Make no doubt about that." Dmitri's words slammed against her like a ton of bricks.

"H-how do you know?" she whispered. A tiny thought was sparking in her mind but she couldn't grasp it until just now. "Who are you?"

"I know because it is my job to know and I already told you. My name is Dmit..."

She jumped from her chair, effectively cutting him off mid-sentence. "It's your job to know? You're the lackey of some two bit ambassador," she turned to the ambassador, whose mouth was hanging open in shock and indignation, "No offense ma'am" Eva said with a sheepish look. Before Eloise could say anything, her attention was back on Dmitri though. "Explain yourself."

"It's Top Secret I'm afraid." he said with a casual shrug.

"Well then it's a good thing I work for a Top Secret government project and therefore have top secret clearance," she smirked and settled into the chair once more, folding her arms over her chest.