Anandur #2
Anandur had studied the schematic of the basement's layout, so he knew the place was sprawling and extended beyond the mansion's footprint under most of the backyard, but there had been nothing in those schematics about the height of the ceiling.
The basement was a cathedral.
The ceiling was lost in the dark, the floor was a chaos of debris and shoring timbers and excavation equipment.
Toward the back, where the chamber with the chests supposedly lay, the collapse zone rose in a great slope of broken concrete and shattered rock and bent rebar.
The crews had been digging into it for weeks, carving a passage through the rubble.
Against the side wall next to them were discarded household luxuries, the gilded ghosts of Navuh's vanity. Furniture under dust sheets, crates that were probably full of paintings and other ornaments that had lost their appeal and been replaced by more contemporary pieces.
"Would you look at that," Brody murmured beside him. "Why on earth would he get rid of all of that? There is probably a fortune just in the furniture."
"According to the harem ladies, Navuh hired an interior decorator who convinced him to get rid of all the old-world stuff and replace it with modern art and furniture. Everything up there is now in white and black with splashes of red."
"Doesn't sound cozy," Brody said.
Anandur snorted. "Cozy and Navuh don't go together in one sentence."
Yamanu signaled for them to proceed to the collapse zone, and the work began.
The Odus climbed up into the carved-out passage of broken ground and began to assess, running their hands over the shoring timbers, testing the rubble, and communicating with each other without speaking in that eerie way of theirs.
"The information Lord Losham provided was correct," Okidu said. "The chamber seems very near. The crews would have reached it within a day. We can reach it tonight."
"Is it safe?" Yamanu asked.
There was a pause as the Odus conferred silently, looking at each other without speaking or moving.
"We cannot be certain, master," Okidu said. "The previous collapses compromised the structure. It was reinforced in key locations, and the crews have shored up the passage, but it is more of a patch than a fix. We recommend additional supports before we begin digging."
"Then let's add supports," Yamanu said.
It was easier said than done, and they didn't have time to spare, but they did their best with the materials on hand. The problem was that none of that work could be done in silence, and the racket they were making by hammering would be heard by anyone patrolling the area.
The big gaping hole in the ceiling that showed a patch of sky was located in the mansion's backyard, and the mansion was abandoned, so there was no risk of the inhabitants hearing anything, but it still allowed sound to escape the basement and into the open where it could be picked up by immortals in the vicinity.
Anandur leaned toward Drova. "Be ready to intercept. It's not a question of whether someone will come to investigate but when."
Nodding, she reached into one of the many pockets of her cargo pants and pulled out a voice-magnifying device. "Just in case an army descends on us."
He glanced at the ramp leading into the mansion where Bowen and another Guardian were stationed.
There were only two entry points into the basement, three if he counted the hole in the ceiling.
One was the ramp, and the other was where they'd entered through.
There used to be another tunnel leading to the mansion from the outside, but Navuh had collapsed it on top of invading rebels.
Anandur shuddered at the thought of them slowly suffocating down there before their bodies had entered stasis.
Pavel stayed close to Drova, which meant that they had one less Kra-ell to help with the digging, but since the Odus were doing most of the work, Pavel could be spared.
It was much more important to shield their compeller than to have more muscle for the excavation.
Miraculously, no one came to investigate throughout the hammering and the screwing, and once the additional supports were in place, the digging began in earnest, and in a much quieter fashion.
It was hard, filthy, and careful work. They were passing broken concrete and rubble hand to hand down a chain of bodies, hauling the heavy fractured slabs out of the passage and stacking them clear of it.
Dust got into everything, including Anandur's eyes and throat, but he wasn't complaining. It was a small price to pay to finally retrieve Annani's truelove mate.
They broke through to the chamber a little after the second hour, the last of the fill coming away to reveal a dark space beyond, and a ragged cheer went up before Yamanu killed it with a look while reporting to Onegus that they had dug their way through.
The chamber was shallow, and just big enough to contain five chests laid side by side.
They didn't look like much, just five long crates of dark, scarred wood.
They were long enough to contain even a tall man lying down, and they didn't look older than a century.
Navuh must have transferred the five immortals in stasis from different containers, or perhaps there was a double container with the crates being just the outer protection.
In fact, Anandur was willing to bet that was the case, but they had explicit orders not to open the crates until they arrived at the clan's clinic in the village.
Anandur couldn't wait to find out what Navuh had used to preserve the bodies in stasis. He had a feeling it was something none of them expected the technologically challenged Brotherhood to come up with.
"There they are," Yamanu said. "Finally. Let's get them out."
They went to work on the first chest.