Page 56 of Dark Chains: First Link
With the logistics handled, Kian was ready to steer the conversation to the item that was at the top of his agenda. He had deliberately left it for last, after listing all the things that the clan was willing to do for the group and the women and children they wished to rescue, before he presented his conditions.
"There's one more thing we need to discuss," he said. "As much as we are happy to help you, we need something in return for our assistance."
"Of course," Volkov said. "If it's within our power, we will do whatever we can to repay your kindness."
"I don't know if you are aware of what is buried beneath Navuh's mansion in a chamber that Losham is currently excavating."
"Are you talking about the chests?" Number One asked.
As Kian had expected, the soldiers were privy to Losham's thoughts, so they knew what Losham had been told.
"Yes. Five chests containing immortals in stasis. Getting them off the island and delivering them to us is a condition for the help we're offering."
"The excavation hasn't restarted yet," Number One said. "The basement needs structural reinforcement before it will be cleared for work."
"We are aware," Kian said.
"What do you want us to do with them once they are taken out?"
"The chests contain five of our people in stasis," Kian said. "They've been in that state for thousands of years, so the bodies are extremely fragile. We believe that the chests are designed to preserve them, so we don't want you to open them or try to remove the bodies from them. We need them delivered to us inside those chests so our medical team can resurrect them properly."
Since the soldiers had already extracted the information from Losham's head, this information was not news to them, and it made the request sound more authentic.
"Why do you need us for that?" Volkov asked. "You control Losham, and right now, he is in charge here. He can put those chests on a ship and send it wherever you tell him."
"I wish it were that easy. Regrettably, Losham's position is precarious. His brothers are watching, and they are curious to find out what their father has been hiding in his basement. They probably think it's some great treasure, and they want to get their hands on it. Extracting those chests will be just as complicated as extracting the women and children from the enclosure, if not more so."
"We will need to create a distraction," Number One said. "Something that will have everyone looking elsewhere."
"That's not going to be necessary," Onegus said. "We want you to thrall the extraction crews to report their exact progress to you and report an exaggerated time frame to Losham and the others. Some of the excavators are no doubt spies for the other brothers, so they will be under the impression that the crews are nowhere near reaching the chamber. It will give you the opportunity to remove the chests without anyone paying too much attention to what is leaving the mansion. You can thrall the few guards you will encounter on the way to ignore you as you carry them to a ship."
"This plan needs some work," Number One said. "We still might need to create a distraction."
"If you need help with planning it, we are here for you," Turner said. "Once you have an inkling of a plan, run it by us, and we will smooth out the rough edges for you."
"You are the strategist, right?" Volkov asked.
"That's me."
"The timing has to be coordinated," Number One said. "The chests need to be moved on the same night as the escape. We might need more time to plan. Extracting the women from the enclosure will be challenging."
"Can you delay the excavation?" Turner asked.
"Are you asking us to sabotage it?"
"If needed," Turner said. "If it were only you and the humans, the coordination wouldn't be a problem. You can be ready to leave as soon as the chests are out. But you are right that the extraction of the women and children you want to take with you might take longer to plan and execute."
"That's a lot of moving parts," Volkov added, and he sounded defeated.
Kian needed to give them some encouragement. "It's a complicated operation, but you have eight enhanced soldiers with thralling capability, and we have a strategist who's very good at coordinating such operations. According to Losham, once he's cleared to continue the excavation, he needs another two weeks to reach the hidden chamber. So that's the timeframe we need to work with."
"Losham might be overestimating it," Number One said. "Right now, the mansion is cordoned off, and the engineers are designing a support structure that will allow the excavators to continue their work. I'll talk with the engineers and get a more accurate assessment. They might be telling Losham what they think he wants to hear."
"Good idea," Kian confirmed.
"How large are the chests?" Volkov asked. "And how heavy? We need to know those details to plan accordingly."
"Five coffin-sized chests," Turner said. "We don't know how heavy they are, but we were told that it took two immortal warriors to carry each one out of the flooded harem."
