Chapter 31 Kian
KIAN
"Drova is on the first flight out," Onegus said as he accepted a cup of coffee from Shai and thanked him with a nod. "She should land by early afternoon tomorrow. It's tight, but she might make it to the cocktail party."
Kian leaned back and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
It was a small thing in the grand scheme of the clusterfuck they were dealing with, but at least someone's wishes were coming true.
Arezoo and Ruvon were going to be happy, Arezoo because her best friend would be at her party, and Ruvon because Arezoo would be happy.
It was an indisputable fact that men's happiness depended on that of their mates. That was why good men went out of their way to achieve that.
He checked his watch.
It was ten-thirty, which meant it was eleven-thirty at night on the island. Half an hour before Losham's midnight, which was when they usually placed the call.
"How is your mother holding up?" Onegus asked.
"She's managing." Kian let out a breath.
Tonight, she would be surrounded by family during their usual Friday night dinner, which would be good for her.
He was even thinking about suggesting that she stay the night.
It wasn't good for her to be alone in her house with only her Odus for company.
The guest bedroom at his house was always ready, and Syssi would welcome his mother with her usual warmth.
He'd bring it up at dinner. Casually, so Annani wouldn't feel like he was trying to manage her.
"We should make the call," Lokan said from his corner. He'd been quiet since arriving, his expression more brooding than usual during these calls.
Kian nodded. "Go ahead, Toven."
Toven reached for the device, placed the call, and put the phone on the stand with the speaker activated. The room settled into the tense silence that preceded those calls.
It rang three times before Losham answered.
"Yes."
He sounded marginally better than yesterday. Still strained, still carrying the clipped cadence of a man managing more crises than he could handle, but the edge of hysteria had receded, which was an improvement.
"Hello, Losham," Toven said. "Please tell us how the effort to uncover the chests is going."
"Always so polite." Losham sounded like he was puffing on a cigar, and Kian had the sudden urge to go to the roof of the office building and smoke one himself.
Fates knew he needed that even though it was not even lunchtime yet.
It had been a stressful week.
"The structural engineers completed their assessment," Losham said.
"The remaining support columns in the basement are compromised, which is not surprising given the forces involved in the collapse.
The chief engineer insists on constructing a temporary support system before any debris removal can resume.
He demands steel beams and reinforced bracing, and he will not clear the site until these are in place. "
"How long will it take to put it up?" Kian asked.
"Two days. Possibly three. I'm diverting construction crews from other projects to build the supports.
The upside is that proper structural support will silence my brothers' objections to the danger posed by continued debris removal.
Kolhood has been using the collapse as ammunition against me.
Once the engineers sign off on the support system, his argument loses its teeth.
Everything will proceed safely and professionally, and there will be no grounds for him to demand that I stop. "
"That's actually good thinking," Lokan said.
"Thank you, brother. I'm delighted that you approve." The sarcasm was razor-thin but unmistakable. "It would be even better if I knew whether to expect more surprises from our father. Have you asked Navuh about secondary booby traps?"
The question was directed at the room, but it landed in Kian's lap since it was his decision whether to confirm Losham's suspicions that they had Navuh.
Losham had asked the same thing yesterday, and Kian had deflected, but he couldn't keep deflecting forever without either confirming or denying that they had Navuh, and each nonanswer was itself an answer.
"We're not in a position to discuss that," Kian said.
"Which tells me everything I need to know." Losham's voice was dry. "You have him, and either he won't tell you, or you haven't asked."
Kian said nothing.
"I'll take that as confirmation. For what it's worth, I doubt he would tell you the truth even if you tried to torture it out of him.
If there are more traps, he'll let us find them the hard way because as long as we are preoccupied with that and fighting each other, he can still dream of one day resuming his role as the head of the Brotherhood. "
The assessment was brutal and accurate.
Kian hadn't asked Navuh about additional traps, and he wasn't going to. There was no point. Navuh would either lie outright or tell them a version of the truth designed to manipulate them.
He wasn't willing to put his mother through another conversation with the bastard. The last attempt at compulsion had failed and left her shaken. She didn't need more emotional turmoil.
"Anything else pertaining to the debris removal that might be of interest to us?" Toven asked.
"No."
"Anything else on the island that we should be aware of?"
"Except for my brothers circling like vultures around my head while I'm trying to keep twenty balls up in the air?"
"Yes, other than that."
"No."
Toven looked at Kian to see if there was anything he wanted to add. Kian shook his head.
"Then this concludes our call for today," Toven said. "We will contact you tomorrow at the same time, and you will answer our call."
"Speaking of the timing, I would appreciate it if you moved it thirty minutes earlier. I'd rather be in bed by midnight."
Toven glanced at Kian, who shrugged. Half an hour made no difference on their end.
"Eleven-thirty," Toven confirmed.
"How generous of you." The line went dead.
After a moment of silence, Onegus let out a breath. "Yesterday, he was falling apart. Today, he's negotiating and doing much better. The man is resilient."
Losham was about Kian's age, even a little older, so he had seen as much as Kian had, maybe more, and he'd survived despite never being a fighter in the true sense of the word.
In today's world, that wasn't a problem, but to survive back when every man needed to fight just to stay alive and keep his family from being killed or worse required skill and resilience.
They should not underestimate Losham.
"Two days for the supports," he said. "Then however long the debris removal takes with the new crews. Thinking that they will be done in two weeks is overly optimistic. We're looking at a month at least."
"Could be worse," Onegus offered.
"Could be better," Kian said.