Chapter 22 Dimitri #2
"The guards aren't the real problem." Petrov pushed his empty tray aside and crossed his arms over his barrel chest. "The surveillance cameras are.
Dave can thrall every guard in the house and around it, but if the security cameras are recording, they would be seen by the guys in the control room doing something they are not supposed to, and very possibly reinforcements would be sent to stop them. "
Mattie frowned. "Can't Dave thrall the guards in the surveillance room too? Make them turn off the cameras?"
Petrov raised an eyebrow. "That would be noticed. A gap in the surveillance footage would be investigated."
"Not all the cameras need to be turned off," Dimitri said.
Both of them turned to look at him.
The idea was forming as he spoke. "Dave doesn't need to shut down the entire system.
He needs the surveillance room guards to disconnect the feeds from Losham's bedroom.
One of the Eight can just enter through the window instead of going through the whole house.
Just that feed, and just for a limited window.
An hour. The rest of the house surveillance stays active.
The guards monitoring the feeds are thralled to believe that this particular camera malfunctioned.
It's much less suspicious than the entire system in Losham's house going dark for an hour. "
Petrov's eyes narrowed. "It's not that easy. I think Dave will have a much easier time disabling the surveillance of the entire house than fishing for one camera. Also, Losham's house might have its own surveillance, instead of being controlled from the central monitoring office."
"You might be right. I guess Dave will have to do some recon work first and figure out what is controlled from where."
Petrov nodded. "Whatever he does to disconnect the cameras, he will then have to go to Losham's house, thrall whatever security is there, go to the bedroom, and thrall Losham himself—"
"He doesn't need to thrall Losham," Mattie said. "He just needs the phone. Losham will be asleep."
Petrov cast her a condescending look. "Losham is a two-thousand-year-old immortal. He probably sleeps with one eye open and a weapon under his pillow."
"Dave needs to thrall him to sleep more deeply," Dimitri said. "The Eight can do that easily."
Petrov conceded the point with a grunt.
"So, Dave handles the surveillance, handles the guards, handles Losham if necessary, gets the phone, and calls the clan." Mattie ticked the steps off on the fingers of her good hand. "That's the plan?"
"Not quite," Dimitri said. "Dave shouldn't make the call. Not alone anyway."
Mattie looked at him. "Why not?"
"Because whoever answers is going to hear someone claiming to be a soldier in Navuh's army who wants to negotiate a partnership. Why would they take him seriously? They'll assume Losham has been compromised, and that it's a trap."
"So, who makes the call?"
"We do. Petrov and I."
Mattie's brow furrowed. "Why would two Russian scientists be more believable than Dave?"
"Because we're not the enemy, and we can prove who we are, provided they have someone with any scientific knowledge on their team.
We can vouch for Dave and describe the escape and rescue plan.
Dave is a Brotherhood weapon. Petrov and I are prisoners.
We were brought from Russia and forced to work on the island on the enhancement project.
" That wasn't entirely true, he and Petrov had come willingly, but they hadn't signed up for a lifetime of servitude to an immortal warlord.
"They can verify who we are, and if they have Navuh, they know about the enhancement program and about us. "
"Also," Petrov added, "a Russian accent on the phone is less alarming than someone sounding like a member of the Brotherhood."
Mattie turned to Dimitri. "So, what is Dave going to do? Get the phone number and write it down so you can call the clan later?"
He chuckled. "Using what phone? None of the phones we can get our hands on can make calls outside the island. Besides, whoever is conducting the talks on the clan's side will recognize Losham's number, so there is a better chance they will answer it."
Mattie pursed her lips. "But if you and Petrov need to be there, that means leaving the lab at night, walking to Losham's house, and standing around outside while Dave does his thing inside. That's much more risky than Dave going alone."
"We can examine the particulars with the Eight when they come tomorrow for their shots."
Mattie studied him with an expression that he recognized. She was making up her mind about something, and he had a good idea what it was.
"I'm coming too."
"Absolutely not."
"Dimitri—"
"Your hand is in a splint. You can't run if something goes wrong, and you can't defend yourself if we're discovered."
"I can't defend myself anyway. None of us can.
If we're discovered by immortal warriors, the fact that I have a broken hand is the least of our problems." She held his gaze with the stubborn determination that he had learned to recognize as immovable.
"I'm not going to sit in the lab and worry until you come back. "
"We'll discuss it later," Dimitri said, which was what he always said when he knew he was going to lose an argument and wanted to delay the inevitable.
Petrov snorted. Mattie gave him a look.
"What?" she said.
"Nothing. I just enjoy watching Dimitri losing a fight.
" He reached into his desk drawer, produced a bottle of vodka, and poured a generous serving into his empty coffee mug.
"Let's summarize. The plan is to have Dave neutralize the surveillance feed from Losham's bedroom, infiltrate Losham's house, incapacitate the guards, retrieve his phone, and deliver it to us so we can call a secret organization of immortals we've never met and convince them to help us evacuate two thousand women and children from a fortress island controlled by ten thousand warriors. "
"That's the plan," Dimitri said.
Petrov took a long drink from his mug. "And they say Russians are pessimists."
"You are pessimists," Mattie said.
"No, we are realists who have been proven right so many times that the universe has given up trying to surprise us.
" He took another drink. "I don't think those other immortals can help us even if they want to, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Besides, we need their help even if they only agree to save Dave and us. "
Mattie chewed her lower lip again. "There's another problem we haven't addressed."
"Just one?" Petrov muttered.
"Whoever answers the phone might be the clan's compeller, and he might try to compel whoever is on our end of the line. Dave said that he was strong enough to bind Losham through a phone call. What happens if he tries to compel you?"
"To what end?" Dimitri asked. "We are powerless. That's why we are reaching out to them."
"The enhancement formula," Petrov said. "That's valuable. Or they can try to make us sabotage it."
That was a valid concern, but what choice did they have?
"It's a risk, but since we are volunteering the information they want, they have no reason to force it out of us.
In fact, it's an advantage. They can verify very easily that we are telling the truth.
" Petrov drained the last of his drink and set the mug down.
"It all sounds like a bad movie, so their ability to compel the truth from us is a plus. "
"Or a good one," Mattie said.
Petrov glanced at her. "What?"
"A good movie. It sounds like a good movie. The kind where everything seems impossible, and the heroes are outnumbered and outgunned, and then they find a way because they have to."
"This isn't a movie, devochka."
"Still, it's a good story."
Dimitri agreed.
Communication was, at its core, storytelling, and the story they had to tell was compelling precisely because it was wild. Unprecedented events required unprecedented narratives, and the clan had already demonstrated a willingness to operate in the unprecedented.
They had captured Navuh, and they were planning an extraction of five bodies in stasis from a fortress island that was guarded by more than ten thousand immortal warriors.
"Dave still needs to agree to the plan," Dimitri said. "And we need to work out the timing."
"We'll discuss it with Dave tomorrow," Petrov said.
When Dimitri started gathering the empty trays, his eyes met Mattie's, and the look she gave him was filled with meaning.
Tonight, she mouthed, and the word pulsed between them like a shared heartbeat.
"Good night, Petrov," Dimitri said.
"Good night, children. Try not to break anything while I'm gone."
"Where are you going?" Mattie asked.
"The bar." Petrov winked. "I'll say hello to your friend there."
Dimitri doubted that was where Petrov was going, but he didn't voice his suspicion. If Petrov wanted to pretend that he was going to the bar instead of admitting that he was going to the brothel, it was his prerogative.