He wasn't a military commander like them, and they considered him a pencil pusher. A smart one, yes, one who had Navuh's ear, but they'd never considered him a threat.
It was foolish of them because he could run circles around them with his scheming and planning, but the brutes didn't put much stock in brains, not even after the shift their father had announced a few years back. The new soldiers bred for the army were being fathered by smart humans, instead of the brutish ones that had been recruited for that purpose before.
But his brothers weren't the only problem he was facing. The phone call from Lokan's so-called friend kept circling back to his mind, troubling him just as much as, if not more than, dealing with his other brothers. Who was that compeller? He was powerful. Obviously he belonged to Annani's clan, and obviously Lokan had joined them, voluntarily or involuntarily.
And how did they know about the booby traps that only Navuh was supposed to know about? Or the glass enclosure?
Did the clan have Navuh?
How could they have possibly gotten him?
The island was supposedly impenetrable, but the clan had always been technologically advanced. Perhaps they had built an aircraft that was undetectable by the island's radar and had an invisibility cloak, so no one had seen it land.
Suddenly, Hakum's alien invasion theory didn't sound so absurd.
Why would Lokan join the clan, though?
What could Annani's people possibly offer him that would make him betray his father and brothers?
Losham needed answers; he needed to talk to Lokan and find out if the clan had their father. The compeller had said they would be in touch, and Lokan had promised that they would talk. Losham needed to find a way to turn the conversation to his advantage and extract information even while under the influence of that insidious mental pressure. He had done it with Navuh; he could do that with the stranger who was using his compulsion over the phone.
Only now he had to push those thoughts aside and pretend that phone call had never happened. He needed to concentrate on what he was going to tell his brothers when they arrived, to explain the explosions and why they had gotten that damn email from their father.
Despite the cleaning crews' best efforts, the room still bore the faint smell of dust and plaster from the structural damage, and cracks ran along one wall like jagged veins, a testament to what had happened in the basement below.
Kolhood was the first to arrive, with Hocken and Hazok walking in seconds behind him.
They dipped their heads in greeting, cast suspicious looks at the eight enhanced soldiers lined up against the wall, and took their seats around the table.
Hazok positioned himself at the far end, as if maintaining distance gave him some tactical advantage.
Losham had instructed Dave to hide the fact that all eight bodies shared a single consciousness by displaying some individuality in their movements and expressions.
Dave's solution had been simpler.
He remained completely silent, assuming the role of eight guards. No speaking, no interaction, just an overwhelming physical presence that made it clear that any violence would be met with swift and decisive force.
So far, it was working. His brothers kept casting wary glances at the Eight, understanding instinctively that they shouldn't dare try anything with Dave around.
The brothers' own bodyguards had stayed outside the mansion as was customary for such meetings, leaving all their weapons with the sentry up front.
Thankfully, the brothers had obeyed tradition, and Losham hadn't needed to dispatch Dave to compel their obedience.
Dave's compulsion worked differently than their father's.
Navuh had always spoken his commands, his voice resonating with power that bent wills like reeds in a strong wind. Dave didn't need to speak at all. His compulsion seeped into minds like fog, carried on the same mental waves as thralling. It reshaped thoughts and perceptions without the victim ever realizing they'd been influenced.
It was an extremely useful tool and a dangerous one.
If Navuh had really still been on the island and realized what Dave could do, he would have executed them without giving it a second thought. This hybrid between compulsion and thralling was much more effective than either of them alone, and therefore superior to Navuh's ability, even if much weaker in scope and breadth.
His father's advantage was the scope of his compulsion ability. His voice commands could control the entire island if carried through the loudspeakers or the island radio station. The purpose of the five-a-day devotions was not to inflate Navuh's ego, which had been inflated enough, but to constantly reinforce his hold on every mind on the island.
"What's going on, Losham?" Kolhood asked. "The real story. Not the gas leak nonsense you've been feeding the staff."
Losham smiled. "The gas leak was real. A crew was working in the basement, repairing damage from the rebellion, and they accidentally ignited gas storage tanks. It was an unfortunate accident."
"An unfortunate accident." Hocken's voice dripped with skepticism. "Four workers dead, a section of the basement collapsed, and Father sends out a universal alert declaring betrayal. I think it was something much more serious than that."
