Yamanu
They came down into the basement in a flood, the ten dormant women, two children, and four civilians, herded down the ramp by eight bloodied enhanced soldiers.
"We are done here," Anandur said in his ear. "We are coming back."
"Well, yeah. We left no one standing. But if you are asking about our side, no. We are all good."
The enhanced Eight had been hit hard, and though the wounds had already closed, the evidence of the battle was all over their uniforms, which were drenched in blood.
The women were white-faced and shaking, covered in blood, some of it from the soldiers who'd shielded them and some from the injuries they had sustained themselves.
The older Russian scientist was in bad shape. Doctor Petrov's face was gray, his side dark and wet, and his younger counterpart, Dimitri Volkov, had his arm around him, holding him upright while a woman held her hand over the wound.
That was probably Anita, Petrov's friend, whom Number One had told them about. She had been a nurse before being trafficked to the island, which was fortunate for Petrov because she knew what she was doing.
Julian rushed toward them, got the scientist down against a stack of shoring timber, and peeled Anita's hand away to look.
"Through and through, low on the flank," the physician said.
"It didn't hit any major organs, but I need to stop the bleeding before he can be moved.
" He pulled a couple of pressure dressings from his medical kit and slapped them over the entry and exit wounds, binding them tight. "That will hold until the cove."
Anandur and the rearguard came down the ramp.
"Checkpoint's cleared and the road behind us is dead for now," Anandur reported. "There were more of them than we expected, and we bought a few minutes by taking them down, but soon every guard in the resort sector is going to descend on the checkpoint and follow the scent from there."
"We'll be gone by then." Yamanu turned and waved toward Navuh's staircase and the secret entrance to the tunnel. "Keep moving, people. Help the wounded."
"The equipment!" Petrov raised his voice despite his injury. "We need it."
"We've got it," Anandur said.
His team was carrying it from the truck and heading straight for the staircase.
"Norman and Duncan, you are with me," Yamanu said. "Let's finish setting up the explosives. The rest of you get in the tunnel and keep going."
They had already planned to set up explosives to hide the fact that the chests were gone.
The goal was to bury the excavation site and collapse the chamber where the chests had been, so that when the Brotherhood forces got to the basement, they would find a cave-in and not an empty chamber.
It would be days, perhaps weeks, before anyone realized that anything had been taken out of there.
Now they added the collapse of Navuh's staircase and the secret tunnel entrance.
Once everyone was through, they would detonate the explosives and seal the entrance to prevent pursuit.
Once it was done, Yamanu activated the comms. "The explosives are set, and we are about to go in."
Once the charges went off, there would be no doubt that the island had been infiltrated, and the backup measures would have to be implemented.
"The EMP is airborne," Onegus said. "The missiles for the cross-island tunnel are ranged and ready. The missiles go as soon as you detonate the basement, but we hold off the EMP until you confirm that everyone is in the cove and ready to get into the water."
"Understood. I'll confirm when we're out of here and again when we reach the cove."
"Copy. Standing by."
Yamanu did a final sweep of the basement before following Duncan and Norman into the tunnel. Once they were on the other side, he pulled the panel shut behind them even though there was no point in it now that they were going to blow the whole thing up.
The Jeep was gone, used to transport the injured scientist, the mothers with small children, and as much lab equipment as they could load into it.
"Two hundred feet should do it," Duncan said.
Yamanu nodded and kept walking. He stopped a little farther than the Guardian had suggested. "Go ahead."
"With pleasure." Duncan pulled the detonator out of his pocket. "Cover your ears, gentlemen. One, two, and boom!"
The dual explosions were deafening even with his palms clamped over his ears, but the tunnel was sealed behind them, and the excavation site was once again buried under a heap of rubble.
Hopefully, the mansion was still standing.
They'd planted the explosives carefully, but the structure was so weakened from the previous collapses that there was no telling if it could sustain any more hits before giving up.
They caught up to the rest of the group in minutes, which meant that it was moving much too slowly for Yamanu's liking. The women were barely shuffling, even the uninjured ones, probably too physically exhausted and emotionally drained to hurry.
"Get the women on your backs," Yamanu ordered. "We don't have time for this."
There were a few weak murmurs of protest, but soon every woman was riding on an immortal or Kra-ell's back, and the warriors broke into a steady jog down the tunnel.
When the missiles hit their targets, the entire island shook, but the women didn't scream. They only clung tighter to the warriors' backs.
They had been warned ahead of time, so it didn't come as a shock.
They were making good time despite the extra load, with some of the males carrying women on their backs and others carrying boxes in their arms. It took them less than an hour to reach the cove.
The place wasn't meant to hold that many people and equipment, and once the warriors lowered the women and boxes to the broad shelf above the waterline, there was barely any room to move.
Thankfully, the two newly excavated chests had already been taken to the submarine, joining the three they had transported during the night, so the cove held only people and the gear to get them off the island. The Guardians had returned with the casings and all the extra dive gear they could get.
Yamanu turned to Carney, their so-called diving expert, which only meant that he'd had a little more experience than the rest of them.
"These women have never been in water deeper than a washbasin, we have three wounded, two children, and eight enhanced who've never even seen diving equipment, let alone used it. How are we going to do this?"
Carney grimaced. "We don't have enough gear or bodies to pair one to one. I brought up every set from the sub, and it isn't enough. Not with the Eight added to the count. We'll have to share equipment."
Yamanu motioned for Number One to come closer. "Listen to what Carney is saying and translate it into your language so the others understand."
Number One nodded.
"We buddy each civilian to a Guardian," Carney said.
"The Guardian wears the gear, and the civilian breathes off his spare regulator, sharing his air, and holding on while he runs the scooter.
That halves the gear we need." Carney gestured along the shelf, where the rebreathers and the scooters were lined up.
"I'm excluding the Kra-ell because they can barely manage themselves under the water. "
"What about the wounded?" Number One asked.
"Same arrangement. Julian will add a dry layer over the dressings."
"The children?" Number One asked.
"They go in the casings." Carney nodded toward two of the waterproof cases, which lay open on the shelf, lined with blankets that had been brought up from the sub.
"We rig them with air off a tank, and a Guardian rides with each child, keeping them thralled and asleep so they don't wake up and panic.
The other casings will be filled with lab equipment and towed by the Odus. "
"That leaves you Eight." Yamanu looked at Number One. "You've never dived, and we have no spare divers to lead you, because every available Guardian and Odu is buddied to a civilian or a child."
"That's the part I can't pretty up." Carney grimaced. "The only thing I can do is give you a crash course in diving. You'll need to stay close to us and follow our lead."
"That's not going to be a problem," Number One said. "Eight merged minds process things much faster than eight individuals."
It was far from perfect, but it was a workable solution, which was all that mattered.
"Let's do it," Yamanu said. "Once everyone is in the water, the EMP goes off."