Chapter 3 Kian
KIAN
Kian stood in the doorway of Allegra's room, watching Okidu perform his latest magic trick—making a coin disappear and reappear behind her ear.
"Again! Okidu magic trick, again!" Allegra demanded.
"Perhaps one more time, Mistress Allegra," Okidu said with the infinite patience that only a biomechanical marvel like him could summon. "After that, I must go and see if Mistress Syssi needs my help packing."
The butler might be becoming more sentient by the day, and he was a wonderful babysitter, but he still didn't fully grasp how different toddlers were from adults. His logical explanation would not stop Allegra from demanding that he perform the trick over and over again.
It was fortunate that Syssi didn't really need Okidu's help packing, as she had done most of the work the previous day.
The logistics were more complicated this time. Their planned vacation was five days long and to a place without supermarkets or mail order deliveries. That meant thinking ahead about every little item they might need and bringing everything with them.
Kian still wasn't sure he was doing the right thing by taking Syssi and Allegra to Safe Harbor, but Syssi was excited about seeing the island, and Allegra was excited about spending more time with Daddy.
His daughter would one day become the clan leader, and although she was still a toddler, she might benefit from being exposed to some of the things happening behind the scenes that were not too complicated to understand.
The island would become the clan's training facility, their forward operating base for Project Titan—a place where humans would learn to operate exoskeletons that would level the playing field against Navuh's army of regular and enhanced immortals.
The potential was phenomenal, but first, they needed proof of concept.
If the experiment succeeded, scaling it with human warriors would allow them to amass an army equal or superior to Navuh's, and that would be a game changer in the millennia-old war between the clan and the Brotherhood over the future of the human race.
Safe Harbor was about three hundred miles from Navuh's island, which was too close for comfort in his opinion. Still, the obvious advantage was that it might be close enough for gathering intelligence on the Brotherhood's stronghold.
"Kian?" Syssi called from their bedroom. "Can you check if we have more energy bars in the pantry? I'm worried that I didn't pack enough."
He left Okidu to his magic show and headed to their room, where Syssi was surrounded by suitcases that had been closed only a short while ago and were now all open again.
He shook his head. "There is food on the island, and we won't go hungry. Do you really need to take a whole suitcase of energy bars?"
She glared at him. "I'm not taking an entire suitcase. Just two boxes."
"Then why is everything open again?"
"I don't know where I put Allegra's teddy bear. If we arrive there and it's not in the suitcases, we will have one hell of a tantrum on our hands."
He sat on the bed, eyeing the open luggage that was overflowing with clothing, toys, and the Fates knew what else. "It's only five days, Syssi. We are not moving there permanently."
She sighed and leaned back. "Jacki said that they have laundry facilities on the island, but there is no washing machine in the house we will be staying in.
I'd rather pack too much than too little and be without.
I'm also worried about the food situation.
I'm willing to bet nobody there knows how to make proper vegan food. We should take Okidu with us."
"I already told him that he can use the time to scrub the keep's underground clean. It's gotten a little neglected lately. Besides, many of the construction crews are from India, and they eat mostly vegetarian diets. I'm sure the kitchen staff can cater to them and therefore to me."
Syssi didn't look convinced. "Vegetarian is not the same as vegan, and you hate cheese. I packed one box of bars just in case, but that's not enough. I'll get the other box from the pantry."
"I'll get it." He rose to his feet.
When he returned, he found Syssi frowning at one of the open suitcases. "What's the matter? Are you having second thoughts?"
She turned to look at him and smiled. "Not about the trip. I'm excited to see the island. But I was thinking about the lame name you and Kalugal chose for it without consulting Jacki or me."
"Lame?" He handed her the box of bars. "What's wrong with Safe Harbor?"
She wrinkled her nose. "It's so uninspired. We have Safe Haven, now we have Safe Harbor. What's next? Safe House? Safe Zone? We should be more creative than that."
"I will do whatever makes you happy." He sat on the bed again. "But I think it's a good name. Easy to remember and it conveys exactly what it is. Plus, the parallel structure works—Safe Haven and Safe Harbor. There's a certain elegance to it."
"There's a certain laziness to it," Syssi countered. "But fine. I suppose it's too late to change it now anyway. Everyone's already calling it Safe Harbor."
A knock at the door interrupted their debate. Kian opened it to find Anandur on the other side, with Brundar right behind him.
"Okidu said you are still packing." Anandur eyed the mess. "Need help closing suitcases? I can sit on them if you'd like."
Syssi laughed. "Please don't sit on any of my fine luggage. You'll squash it."
Anandur huffed in mock indignation. "Are you calling me heavy?"
"I'm calling you massive," Syssi teased. "Enormous. Kian will close the suitcases for me. And just so you know, most of this is not my stuff. Allegra's wardrobe took two full suitcases."
Syssi might have exaggerated, but not by much. Their daughter was a tiny fashionista with very decisive opinions on what she wanted to wear.
"Daddy!" Allegra's voice carried from down the hall, followed by the patter of small feet running at full speed. She burst into the room, her blond curls bouncing, her face alight with excitement. "We are going on an airplane! A big one! With big wings!"
Kian swept her into his arms, marveling at how much she'd grown in just the past few months. "That's right, princess. We're going to visit the clan's new island."
"Are we going to see mermaids?"
"Not likely." Kian kissed the top of her head. "But there are monsters."
"Kian!" Syssi admonished.
"She likes monsters." He leaned away to look at his daughter's little face. "Don't you, munchkin?"
"Big ones." She lifted her arms in the air and twisted her fingers to look like claws. "Ex scowls."
She couldn't pronounce 'exoskeletons,' but she knew what they were. Kian had shown her recordings of the Guardians training with their exoskeletons so she wouldn't get scared when she saw a scaled-down version of them on the island.
"Go tell Okidu we're ready." He set her down.
She ran off, nearly colliding with Anandur.
"Whoa there, speed demon." Anandur caught her with ease. "You're getting faster every day. Soon, you'll be outrunning me."
"Let me go." She wiggled out of his hold. "I need to get Okidu."
Kian closed the luggage and handed Anandur two pieces and Brundar the other two. "Shall we?"
"Yes. It's time." Syssi handed him the two carry-ons, while she took Allegra's little pink one, with a cartoon character printed on the front whose name Kian couldn't remember.
They all climbed into the large golf cart the brothers had arrived in, and after the luggage was loaded, Anandur jumped behind the wheel and drove to the pavilion.
When they emerged at the underground parking, three additional Guardians were waiting beside the bus. Brodie, Callum, and Alfie.
"Morning, boss," Alfie said.
"Good morning," Kian replied as he climbed into the vehicle. "Everyone packed and ready? I'm sure none of you have brought as many pieces of luggage as we did."
Kalugal, Jacki, and Darius were already on the bus, along with five of Kalugal's men as well as Phinas, Jade, and Drova.
"You'd be surprised," Kalugal said. "Traveling with children is challenging."
"Morning, boss." Drova saluted Kian from where she was sitting all the way in the back with her mother and Phinas.
Kian regarded the small force escorting his family to Safe Harbor and wondered whether it would suffice. Ten immortal fighters plus two powerful compellers should be more than enough security for a peaceful trip to their own island, but not when said island was in Navuh's backyard, so to speak.