"You might be right. I guess Dave will have to do some recon work first and figure out what is controlled from where."
Petrov nodded. "Whatever he does to disconnect the cameras, he will then have to go to Losham's house, thrall whatever security is there, go to the bedroom, and thrall Losham himself?—"
"He doesn't need to thrall Losham," Mattie said. "He just needs the phone. Losham will be asleep."
Petrov cast her a condescending look. "Losham is a two-thousand-year-old immortal. He probably sleeps with one eye open and a weapon under his pillow."
"Dave needs to thrall him to sleep more deeply," Dimitri said. "The Eight can do that easily."
Petrov conceded the point with a grunt.
"So, Dave handles the surveillance, handles the guards, handles Losham if necessary, gets the phone, and calls the clan." Mattie ticked the steps off on the fingers of her good hand. "That's the plan?"
"Not quite," Dimitri said. "Dave shouldn't make the call. Not alone anyway."
Mattie looked at him. "Why not?"
"Because whoever answers is going to hear someone claiming to be a soldier in Navuh's army who wants to negotiate a partnership. Why would they take him seriously? They'll assume Losham has been compromised, and that it's a trap."
"So, who makes the call?"
"We do. Petrov and I."
Mattie's brow furrowed. "Why would two Russian scientists be more believable than Dave?"
"Because we're not the enemy, and we can prove who we are, provided they have someone with any scientific knowledge on their team. We can vouch for Dave and describe the escape and rescue plan. Dave is a Brotherhood weapon. Petrov and I areprisoners. We were brought from Russia and forced to work on the island on the enhancement project." That wasn't entirely true, he and Petrov had come willingly, but they hadn't signed up for a lifetime of servitude to an immortal warlord. "They can verify who we are, and if they have Navuh, they know about the enhancement program and about us."
"Also," Petrov added, "a Russian accent on the phone is less alarming than someone sounding like a member of the Brotherhood."
Mattie turned to Dimitri. "So, what is Dave going to do? Get the phone number and write it down so you can call the clan later?"
He chuckled. "Using what phone? None of the phones we can get our hands on can make calls outside the island. Besides, whoever is conducting the talks on the clan's side will recognize Losham's number, so there is a better chance they will answer it."
Mattie pursed her lips. "But if you and Petrov need to be there, that means leaving the lab at night, walking to Losham's house, and standing around outside while Dave does his thing inside. That's much more risky than Dave going alone."
"We can examine the particulars with the Eight when they come tomorrow for their shots."
Mattie studied him with an expression that he recognized. She was making up her mind about something, and he had a good idea what it was.
"I'm coming too."
"Absolutely not."
"Dimitri—"
"Your hand is in a splint. You can't run if something goes wrong, and you can't defend yourself if we're discovered."
"I can't defend myself anyway. None of us can. If we're discovered by immortal warriors, the fact that I have a broken hand is the least of our problems." She held his gaze with the stubborn determination that he had learned to recognize as immovable. "I'm not going to sit in the lab and worry until you come back."
"We'll discuss it later," Dimitri said, which was what he always said when he knew he was going to lose an argument and wanted to delay the inevitable.
Petrov snorted. Mattie gave him a look.
"What?" she said.
"Nothing. I just enjoy watching Dimitri losing a fight." He reached into his desk drawer, produced a bottle of vodka, and poured a generous serving into his empty coffee mug. "Let's summarize. The plan is to have Dave neutralize the surveillance feed from Losham's bedroom, infiltrate Losham's house, incapacitate the guards, retrieve his phone, and deliver it to us so we can call a secret organization of immortals we've never met and convince them to help us evacuate two thousand women and children from a fortress island controlled by ten thousand warriors."
"That's the plan," Dimitri said.
