Chapter 26
KIAN
The report on the new generation of micro drones that William's lab was working on was so dense that it was giving Kian a headache.
The engineers had attached photographs and schematics, and the schematics were annotated in three different colors of digital ink because three different engineers had argued about the same alternatives and none of them had been willing to defer to the others.
Williams' genius squad members were incredible thinkers and innovators, but they didn't know how to communicate effectively with laypeople.
They were also not good at reaching a consensus and were relying on him to be the one to decide between the different options they were debating.
Normally, Kian had no problem making tough calls, but this time he just didn't understand enough to do so.
It had to do with the drones' military capabilities and what Kian was willing to compromise on, but he wasn't sure. His best option was to call William and ask him to explain.
The buzzing of his cell phone was, for once, a welcome respite.
The chief's smiling face was on the screen.
"Hello, Onegus. What can I help you with?"
"I have Number One on the line. He asks to speak with you."
That was odd. It wasn't time for their regular scheduled call, and even then, Number One usually submitted his report about the state of the excavation and any other relevant information to Onegus. He hadn't asked for Kian before.
"Patch him through and stay on the line."
"Of course," Onegus said.
A couple of clicks sounded, and then Onegus said, "K is on the line. Go ahead."
"Good morning," Number One said in his usual flat tone.
"Good evening," Kian said and waited.
"We have several things to report, and we'll start with the excavation.
We were on site this morning and sampled the surface thoughts of the supervisor and some of the crew.
Their progress is faster than what Losham estimated.
The supervisor believes that they will reach the chamber in six to seven days. "
"Six to seven days," Kian repeated.
He glanced at the calendar on his desk. If the excavation was nearing its end, the extraction team needed to be deployed in no more than five and remove the last layer themselves.
The team was already back at Safe Harbor, and they were ready, but perhaps they should tell Losham to slow things down to give the team some more wiggle room.
To start with, no more night shifts because they needed the basement to be clear for the operation.
"That's the supervisor's assessment," Number One said. "He might be overly optimistic. The crew members were more conservative with their estimates."
"How conservative?"
"One thought ten days, and the other nine."
That was far from decisive, but Kian couldn't tell Number One that he needed a more precise estimate. As far as the Eight were concerned, they were the ones who would extract the chests and load them onto a ship.
"The lack of certainty complicates things for you," he said instead. "You need to time your escape according to when the chests are excavated, and that requires finding a ship with a schedule that fits."
"We found a way that would allow more flexibility in that regard. The two don't have to be so tightly coordinated, and the removal of the chests from the island will be much easier than originally estimated."
Kian set his coffee mug down. "What's your plan?"
"Losham has approved the elimination of the other three senior brothers. Once that's done, no one on the island will have the standing or the will to ask what is being moved out of the basement. We will have an open corridor."
"How is he going to eliminate them?" Kian asked.
"A coordinated assault that will result in their simultaneous elimination without implicating Losham."
"That I want to hear."
Number One detailed the plan, and Kian had to agree that it was inventive and might even work, but it wasn't a slam dunk like the Eight believed.
The brothers might not take the bait during the council meeting despite the Eight gently nudging them in that direction.
A lot depended on Losham's acting skills.
He would need to feign a carefully calibrated frustration about his brothers' continued demands to have proof that their father still lived.
If he overacted his part, they would suspect him of planning something, and if he underacted, they might think that he wasn't serious about the suggestion.
But if he did it just right and they took the bait, it might actually work.
Kian loved the idea of one of the Eight waiting for the brothers at the edge of the cliff, wearing one of Navuh's fancy robes. The theatricality of it appealed to him even though he usually preferred to avoid drama.
His mother was going to love this.
Or maybe not.
It was hard to tell what Annani deemed acceptable and what not.
In this case, though, when Khiann's successful extraction could be aided by the elimination of Losham's so-called brothers, she was probably going to be all for it.
If not, he could tell her some of the details he'd learned about the three from Lokan.
Their deaths would make the world a few shades lighter.
They wouldn't be missed.
It was an elegant solution, accomplishing in one gesture what a long campaign of attrition would have struggled to accomplish. It removed the senior brothers, reinforced the fiction of Navuh's presence in the harem, and consolidated Losham's grip on the island in one strike.
"It's a solid plan," he said. "Losham is a smart guy."
The moment of silence that followed made him second-guess his assumption that it had been Losham's plan.
"Losham didn't come up with it, did he?"
"The simultaneous assassination idea was his. We came up with the plan to make it look as if Lord Navuh did it."
"I'm impressed. The Eight of you are even smarter than Losham."
That also made them incredibly dangerous.
"We are Eight," Number One said. "Eight minds working together as one gives us a clear advantage over most people."
Kian closed his eyes for a moment and thought about whether bringing these soldiers into the fold would be beneficial to the clan or detrimental. He had to be very careful with them.
"When is this going down?" he asked.
"Losham will call a council meeting for Friday. If everything goes as planned, the trap will be set for Saturday. But it might take place a day or two later. It depends on when the brothers decide to go."
"That's fast. It's usually not smart to rush things, unless it's absolutely necessary."
"We believe it is necessary because we are about to leave," Number One said.
"It's important for us to secure Losham's position first. Once we are gone, he won't be able to defend himself against his brothers.
Without us, he's not going to last more than a week, and the island will descend into chaos, which will endanger the women and children in the enclosure and everyone else on the island who isn't a fighter. They will become collateral damage."
Number One had delivered the factual assessment in his usual flat tone, as if he was describing the weather, but it was clear that he and the others cared about what would happen to the island inhabitants after they left.
It was a point in their favor, but Kian still didn't trust them enough to leave the chests' extraction to them.
Too much was at stake, and even though the enhanced soldiers didn't know who was inside one of those chests and how important he was to the clan, they knew that the immortals in the chests were valuable and that the clan wanted them. They could use that to extort the clan.
"You said that after the brothers are gone, no one would ask what was being moved out of the basement," Kian said. "Walk me through that."
"Losham would be the only authority on the island, and the spies in the excavation crews have no one to report to.
The junior brothers will be cowed, at least at the start, and Losham can order the chests to be loaded onto a ship, and no one will challenge the order.
They can be carried out of the basement openly and loaded on the first departing ship.
We could even do that ourselves if necessary. "
On the face of things, it was a much better operation than what Turner and Onegus had been working on for weeks.
It was cleaner and posed no risk to the Guardians or to the fragile bodies of the immortals in the chests.
It also surrendered control of the chests to the eight enhanced soldiers, and Kian couldn't allow that.
The Eight would continue to operate under the assumption that they were tasked with removing the chests and loading them onto a ship, while the Guardian team continued with the secret operation of infiltrating the island through Navuh's secret cove and his tunnel that led directly to the basement, where the chests were located.
"That simplifies things considerably," he said.
"You are right about this providing you with more flexibility.
You don't need to time the extraction precisely to when the chests are taken out of their chamber.
It also means that you can evacuate many more women and children from the breeding enclosure.
Losham will authorize their release, and there will be no one to contest it. "
There was a pause on Number One's end.
"This is not as simple as that because the army is still an obstacle," he said, "and releasing the women from the enclosure is highly irregular. Even the regular commanders will question that. Losham needs time to consolidate his power over the army."
They were right, but it didn't make it any easier to digest. "That's a shame. But at least you'll be able to take more than you thought you could."
There was another pause. "The situation in the enclosure is more complicated than we originally assumed."
"In what way?"