Chapter 37 Annani
ANNANI
"Thank you for spending the morning with me, Alena." Annani patted her daughter's knee. "It would have been so much more stressful without you."
Kian had asked if she wanted to join the meeting in his office regarding Khiann's extraction from the island, but she had opted to let the professionals brainstorm the mission without worrying about protocol. Anyway, Kian was not going to do anything without her approval.
Alena smiled. "I'm always available for you. Besides, as sweet as E.T. is, I need a break from time to time, and Orion needs practice caring for the baby by himself. Although knowing my mate, he put E.T. into the stroller as soon as I left and headed to his sister's place."
Annani was about to say that Geraldine adored E.T. and would be overjoyed to entertain him and her brother when her phone rang.
She put her teacup down and fished for it between the folds of her gown, appearing calm but feeling anything but.
"Is it Kian?" Alena asked.
"Yes." Annani accepted the call. "Hello, my son. Is the meeting over?"
"It ended an hour ago, but I had a few phone calls to make before calling you," Kian said. "I apologize for that and for not coming to speak with you in person, but there is much to be done."
"I understand." She leaned against the cushions of her sitting room sofa. "If there is urgency, I assume that there is a plan?"
"We had a productive meeting. Between Turner, William, Roni, Onegus, and me, we've put together a framework for extracting Khiann without having to agree to Navuh's terms."
Annani had been hoping for that, and she let out a relieved breath. "That is wonderful news. I dreaded having to decide one way or the other."
"It's an extremely complicated and difficult plan, with many moving parts, and I don't have all the details yet, but I can tell you the basic outline.
" Kian paused, and she heard him take a breath.
"First, we're going to have Toven compel Losham to halt any operations on the glass enclosure.
Mia will be on standby to enhance his power if needed.
I called Lokan to make sure that he still had Losham's phone number, and he does, but he no longer has the Brotherhood's phone, so William will rig one for him.
We want Losham to recognize the call as coming from Lokan so he will answer it. "
"He might not accept a call from Lokan. He knows that Lokan deserted the Brotherhood."
"I spoke to Lokan about it, and he's pretty sure that Losham would answer from pure curiosity to hear what Lokan is up to and to gloat about being in charge of the island."
Annani hoped so, but she did not know Losham, so she could not predict what he would do. Lokan, on the other hand, knew his adopted brother quite well.
"Let us pray that Lokan is right about that. If Losham stops trying to breach the enclosure, we do not have to rush the extraction."
"Precisely. The goal is to buy us time and make sure that neither Losham nor anyone else on the island accidentally triggers the booby-traps while we prepare the rest of the operation."
"What is the next step?"
There was a pause. "We still need Navuh to give us the technical specifications of the enclosure, but we don't need the disarmament codes. Those will not be necessary."
Frowning, Annani glanced at Alena, who looked just as confused as she was.
"I do not understand. Why do we need the technical specifications and not the codes, and how are we going to get them from Navuh without promising him freedom? He will not give us any of that voluntarily."
"He won't, that's why we're going to drug him to lower his defenses like we did with Igor, and then you will enter his mind and extract the information we need."
The words hung in the air, heavy with implication.
"If I were certain of my ability to do so, I would not have struggled with the decision of whether to accept Navuh's terms. The problem is that I do not think I can compel him, not even with Mia's enhancement."
"Why not?"
"Think about it, Kian. Navuh fooled Mortdh, which means that he was immune to the god's compulsion. Mortdh was nearly as powerful as my father, and I am not even close. If your plan rests on my ability to get the information from him, it is not a good plan."
"So, we will find another way to breach the enclosure.
Turner is arranging for an electromagnetic pulse device.
A high-yield, low-altitude detonation over the island that will devastate their technological infrastructure without harming anyone physically.
It will knock out their power grid, their surveillance systems, their communications, everything digital.
The island will be set back decades, and hopefully also disable the triggers for the booby-traps. "
So, that was why they no longer needed the disarmament codes. But the traps might be mechanical in nature, and if they triggered them…
"That seems risky."
"It is, but that's the only option available to us.
After the island's systems go down, a large team of Guardians will enter through the underwater cove where Navuh's escape submarine is.
There's a tunnel that connects the cove to both his harem residence and his mansion.
By accessing that cove, the team can reach the basement in his mansion without anyone on the surface being any the wiser.
They will bring with them all the equipment necessary to breach the enclosure, including a big battery to power their tools. "
There were so many possible obstacles in this plan, but on the face of things, it seemed doable.
"How long until Turner can arrange for this device?"
"He said that he can get it in forty-eight hours or less."
"We will also need the large submarine again."
"Correct. Turner has already contacted Captain Rodriguez.
The team will infiltrate through the underwater cove, navigate the tunnel to the mansion, disable the booby-traps using the information you extract from Navuh, if you manage to do so, breach the enclosure, and transport the bodies to a waiting ship.
If you can't manipulate Navuh's mind, we will find another way to breach the enclosure.
William is going to join the team, and I have a high level of confidence in his ability to troubleshoot whatever needs to be done. "
"William knows how to dive?" Annani arched a brow.
"No, but neither did the harem ladies, and they still made it to the submarine with the help of trained divers."
So many risks. So many things that could go wrong.
"I will attempt to enter Navuh's mind." Annani pulled a cashmere throw over her lap. "When do you need me to do this?"
"After we've confirmed that Losham has received and obeyed the compulsion."
She nodded. "How is the team going to transport Khiann and the others? Their bodies will be extremely fragile after so long in stasis. They will not survive being taken out of the chests that hold them, let alone getting transported under water."
"That's why we are not going to remove them from the chests, provided that they are still encased in them. We'll take them with the chests and envelop them in waterproof material for the underwater journey back to the ship. That's another technical detail that William is working on figuring out."
A technical detail.
It was jarring to hear Kian refer to the survival of her truelove mate like that, but he was just being practical. He had no reason to be sentimental about a male he had never met and to whom he was not related.
Not physically anyway.
Annani believed that all of her children had been born with a piece of Khiann's spirit in them.
"Thank you, my son. You have given me hope."
"Don't thank me yet." He let out a breath. "Thank me when Khiann is safely recovered and Navuh remains in our custody."
"I am thanking you for the tremendous effort you are putting into this regardless of the outcome. I love you, Kian."
"I love you too, Mother."
The call ended, and as Annani looked at Alena's hopeful expression, she smiled. "So, what do you think?"
"I think that we both need some calming tea." Alena rose to her feet. "I got anxious just listening to the plan."
"Indeed." Annani nodded.
So much could go wrong. She was most likely to fail in her attempt to extract information from Navuh, not because she was a weak compeller, but because he was most likely immune.
Otherwise, he would not have survived in Mortdh's court.
He must have pretended to be affected by his father's compulsion to gain the god's confidence.
Then there was the electromagnetic pulse that she did not know much about.
What kind of damage would it do? Would it hurt the civilians who had been kidnapped and lured to the island?
Kian had said that it would not harm people, and that it only affected electronics, but what if it was done while people were operating heavy equipment?
There would be loss of life. There always was.
The EMP might also trigger the booby-traps instead of disabling them.
The team might be discovered.
The bodies in stasis might be too fragile to transport.
Any one of those failures could mean losing Khiann forever.
But there was also hope. Real, tangible hope, backed by a plan and resources and capable people willing to risk their lives to make it work.
Annani closed her eyes, reaching for the words that had sustained her through five millennia of grief.
Do not despair, Princess Annani.
Not all is lost.
True love cannot die.
Its fire cannot turn to ice.
Your beloved's love floats in the ether, ready to be reborn.
Khiann will find a way to come back to you in some form.
Seven children will be born to you, all different, but his spirit will shine through their eyes, warm and bright.
And one day, many years from now, he will come to you, and you will know him at first sight.
I saw it all with my blind eyes, my lady, and everything I see with my second sight comes to pass.
The prophecy. Given to her by a blind seer in the darkest hour of her grief, when she had been certain that all was lost.
She had five children. The prophecy spoke of seven.
Two more were yet to come. Two more children who would not only carry Khiann's spirit in their eyes but also, Fates willing, his genes.
If the prophecy was true, then Khiann could not die because he needed to father her two remaining children.
The booby-traps would not destroy him. The transport would not damage him. Whatever obstacles lay between her and her truelove, the Fates would find a way to overcome them.
Because the prophecy demanded it.
Because true love could not die.