Chapter 11 Esag
ESAG
"Prepare the medical bay," Yamanu's voice crackled through the device in Esag's ear, making his stomach drop.
Was Tula hurt?
"Areana and Navuh are incoming with Anandur and Arran," Yamanu continued, sounding only slightly distorted but still clear enough to understand the words, just not what they conveyed.
Why were Areana and Navuh incoming? And where was Tula?
"Navuh is severely injured," Yamanu answered Esag's unvoiced question.
"He dove after Areana, thinking that she had fallen, and he crashed on the rocks below.
Tula and I are going back to evacuate eight additional people from the harem.
I need four of you to get nine scuba gear packs and get moving.
I will have everyone waiting for you at the bottom of the cliff by the time you get here. "
Esag's mind was spinning, caught between understanding and anxiety. He'd seen through Tula's eyes and felt her guilt about leaving the others behind. The other ladies were like sisters to her, their bonds forged not by emerging from the same womb but by the crucible of shared captivity.
He understood why she couldn't leave them.
But understanding didn't stop the anxiety clawing at his chest. Every second she stayed on that island increased the danger. What if someone discovered Navuh was gone?
"I'll be damned," Callan said. "Yamanu's lucky socks have proven their worth again."
Esag frowned at the Guardian. "What do you mean?"
The guy gave him a look that implied it should have been obvious.
"We've captured Navuh and gotten Areana off the island, but what's more extraordinary is that because of Kian's paranoia and his insistence on doubling and quadrupling our numbers, we have all the scuba equipment we need to extract the additional eight.
Four of us will take the equipment of the remaining nine suits and bring it to the cliff for the other harem escapees to use. "
"What about me?" Drova asked. "Can I come?"
Callan shook his head. "Yours is the ninth wetsuit. We need it for the additional people we are getting out of the harem."
She pursed her lips and stood with her arms on her hips. "You can use the Zodiac to transport some of the ladies. With Navuh gone, I'm the only one who can do what he can, and I can command the Doomers to stand down. I told you all that I can help and that you should take me along."
She directed the last comment to anyone within earshot, including the captain and his crew. They would all need to be thralled when the mission was over because there was no way they hadn't wondered about the strange-looking girl who thought she could replace the tyrant and command his army.
"We heard you the first five times." Brodie rolled his eyes. "We know how valuable you are."
"No one listens to me because I'm young." Drova was undeterred. "But they should look past my age to what I can actually do. I'm stronger than any Guardian, faster too, and I'm…very persuasive even with very obstinate people. How many can do that?"
She had a very good point. Compelling immortals was usually something only gods could do, but Drova's father had been genetically engineered to have the ability, and she'd gotten it from him.
"She's right," Esag said. "The girl is an asset."
Drova beamed at him, and for a moment, she looked exactly her age—a teenager desperate for validation and recognition.
Callan let out a breath. "Fine. You can come. Suit up. Finlay, Harrison, and Brodie, you are with me. The rest of you help assemble the equipment. I'm going to ask the captain if he has any diving equipment we can borrow. I don't want to use the Zodiac if I can avoid it."
"Esag." Julian walked up to him. "Do you have any medical training? I might need an assistant to take care of Navuh. With the amount of damage he must have sustained, I'll need help."
"Nothing formal, but I can hold things and follow instructions."
Julian's expression suggested that wasn't quite what he'd hoped for.
The captain, who'd been listening, cleared his throat. "Yevgeny has combat medic training. He can assist."
A pale man with thinning blond hair stepped forward, but he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "It's been a long time, but I still remember the basics. I can assist."
"Good," Julian said. "We need to prep the medical bay."
As the two headed toward the clinic, Esag followed for the simple reason of having nothing else to do, or maybe out of some morbid curiosity.
As an immortal, he had never required medical care, and he wanted to see what a facility like that looked like, especially on a submarine where every square inch mattered.
It was larger than he'd expected, given the constraints of space.
"We need to get IV lines ready," Julian said. "And multiple bags of saline."
"What about blood?" Yevgeny asked. "He's probably lost a lot of it, and there is undoubtedly massive internal bleeding."
Julian nodded. "I will need donations from my men. I can't use what you have."
The physician looked into the man's eyes, probably thralling him to forget about the subject of blood.
Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to have a human assisting him in repairing an immortal. The things he was going to see wouldn't be easily thralled away, and he might remember being part of a very strange resuscitation operation.
"On second thought," Julian said. "Your services will not be needed, Yevgeny. One of my other men can assist." He tapped his earpiece. "Aiden. I need you in the medical bay."
When Yevgeny left, Julian shook his head.
"The shock of hearing about Navuh's fall must have addled my brain.
He can't be here and see me breaking bones that have fused incorrectly so soon after breaking.
" Julian turned to look at what Esag assumed was a portable X-ray machine.
"Thank the Fates, Captain Ramirez keeps his sub properly equipped. "
The comms system crackled again. "Backup team, prepare for deployment."
Once Aiden arrived, Esag felt it was okay for him to leave. With his initial fear of being underwater receding, he found himself fascinated by the submarine, especially the way divers got in and out of it when it was submerged.
He watched through the small porthole as the Guardian sealed the inner hatch of the lockout chamber.
"Flooding now," the Guardian announced, and Esag watched as the water rushed in, covering the five figures inside. They looked calm, professional, like this was just another day at the office. Even Drova looked like a badass. Then again, she had probably been born that way.
The outer hatch opened with a mechanical groan that resonated through the submarine's hull. One by one, the backup team slipped out into the dark water, dragging behind them equipment meant for the eight additional evacuees and Tula.
Waiting was the worst part.
Esag had never been good at it, and five thousand years hadn't improved his patience. Pacing, he tried not to think of all the things that could go wrong.
Twenty minutes passed. Thirty. Forty-five.
"How long should it take?" he asked one of the remaining Guardians.
"The backup team should be reaching the cliff in twenty to twenty-five minutes. They will let us know when they are in position."
An hour and forty-two minutes after the backup team had left, the comms system came alive.
"This is Anandur. We are in line of sight. Tell the captain to surface for medical loading."
Ramirez was already moving. "All hands, prepare for emergency surface. Medical team to the forward hatch."
The submarine's ballast tanks hissed as compressed air forced out water. Esag felt his stomach lurch as they rose, his ears popping from the pressure change. Julian and Aiden were already at the forward hatch with a stretcher and medical supplies.
They broke the surface with surprising gentleness, the submarine barely rocking in the calm seas. The forward hatch opened, and humid night air flooded in, carrying the smell of salt and blood.
"Zodiac coming in!" Anandur called from outside.
Several crew members worked together to haul the small rubber boat through the hatch—no easy feat given the tight space. Water sloshed everywhere as they maneuvered it inside, and Esag could see Navuh's broken form lying across the bottom.
Behind them, Anandur helped Areana down through the hatch.
She was wearing a wetsuit, probably the one that Tula had been supposed to wear.
Her wet hair clung to her face, and even in the dim lighting, Esag could see her tormented expression, her panicked eyes.
The goddess was in agony, but not the physical type.
"Get that stretcher over here," Julian ordered as he climbed into the Zodiac to assess Navuh. "Careful. We don't know the extent of spinal damage."
Aiden brought the stretcher to the edge of the boat.
Julian ran his hands along Navuh's spine, checking alignment. "Okay. We need to keep him as straight as possible. Anandur, support his head and neck. Arran, take his hips. Aiden and I will manage his torso."
As they got Navuh inside, Esag was shocked despite expecting the massive damage. Navuh's face was swollen beyond recognition, and everything seemed not only broken but shattered. His chest was rising and falling in irregular gasps, and his skin had a grayish pallor.
Beside him, Areana was struggling with the wetsuit's zipper. Her hands were shaking too badly to manage it.
"Let me," Esag offered.
She nodded mechanically.
He carefully unzipped the suit, then immediately averted his eyes as he saw what she was wearing beneath the wetsuit.
The thin fabric of the wet knickers and camisole she'd had on clung to her body, leaving nothing to the imagination.
The seawater had made the white fabric nearly transparent, and Esag felt heat rise to his face as he focused intently on a spot behind her.
"Here!" Archie rushed over with a towel, wrapping it quickly around Areana's shoulders before adding a blanket on top. She pulled both tightly around herself, huddling inside the layers.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.
Any physical damage she might have sustained had already healed, but the exhaustion and emotional trauma were written clearly on her face.
"My lady, you should get out of those wet clothes," Esag said, keeping his eyes respectfully on her face now that she was covered. "I can lend you what I brought with me. It's not befitting your station, but at least it is dry."
"I have no station." She managed a small smile. "Thank you for your kind offer, Esag, but I'm not leaving Navuh's side even to change out of these clothes. They will dry out eventually."
He was stunned.
The goddess recognized him after all this time. He hadn't even been aware that she'd known him. Perhaps Annani had told Areana about him, and she'd figured that the other redhead on board must be him.
"Let's go," Julian said. "The faster we get him to medical, the better."