Was it likely?
Losham didn't know. This seemed beyond even Navuh's twisted mind. The more reasonable explanation was that the explosions had weakened the structure, and it was unstable despite the engineer's claim that it was secure.
The third possibility was that one of his brothers had smuggled an explosive into the basement after it had been swept. But therewas no way to confirm that theory without a detailed forensic analysis of the failed column, and even then, the difference between deliberate sabotage and natural degradation might be indistinguishable.
Losham turned to look at Hakum and Rami. "You heard him. A support column failed and created a cascade collapse. Two probable casualties, fifteen injured, and the site buried once again. We are back to square one, or rather square minus one."
Hakum shook his head. "That's horrible. What are we going to do?"
"Right now, nothing." Losham waved a hand. "You can return to your office."
"What about the staircase? How are we going to get home?"
"I'm sure Yereth will arrange for a ladder."
"Yes, my lord." Hakum dipped his head. "That's the most reasonable solution."
The guy wasn't too smart, but that suited Losham just right. He didn't trust anyone other than Rami and preferred a dumb secretary to a nosy one.
After Hakum left, Rami closed the office door and locked it. "Natural failure or sabotage?"
"That's what I want to find out. Please commence an investigation. I want to know whether that column failed on its own or whether someone encouraged it. Pull the security footage for the basement level from the last forty-eight hours. Interview the surviving workers. And find out if any of my brothers' people have been near the excavation site."
"That encompasses almost the entire Brotherhood," Rami said.
"I know, and I suspect everyone, but mostly Kolhood. He has the resources and the expertise to arrange a structural failure that looks accidental."
"If I find evidence of sabotage, what then?"
Rami had a point. There wasn't much Losham could do about that. His best option was to pretend that the failure was accidental and move on.
"Bring it to me, and I'll decide what to do with it. Do not share your findings with anyone else. Not Hakum, and definitely not my brothers."
"Yes, my lord."
After Rami left, Losham looked at the coffee stain from the broken cup that was spreading across the marble floor, and the hairline crack that had appeared in the ceiling above the window. The damage was cosmetic, but it was evidence of the force of the collapse below. If the shockwave had been strong enough to crack plaster on the upper floor, the destruction in the basement must be catastrophic.
What a spectacular mess.
What was he going to tell the compeller and his handlers?
The compulsion sat in his chest like a fist, tightening every time his thoughts drifted toward the delay. The clan's compeller had been explicit about excavating carefully and extracting the chests intact. The compulsion left no room for pauses, no accommodation for setbacks. It was a blunt instrument, designed to ensure compliance regardless of circumstances, and it chafed like a collar made of thorns.
Losham was familiar with chafing. He had worn his father's collar for two millennia, and he had learned that even the strongest compulsion had limits. Not in its hold, Navuh's compulsion was absolute when applied directly, but in its specificity. Compulsion could dictate what you did, but it couldn't dictate how or when. The margins were narrow, but they existed, and Losham had spent a lifetime learning to operate within them.
The clan's compeller was strong and precise, but no one could cover every variable. The compulsion was to excavate carefully and report. It did not specify a timeline. It did not address contingencies like structural collapses or political crises among the brothers. Those gaps were small, but he could operate within them.
26
DIMITRI
The lunch delivery guy set the trays on the same table he always did, the one right across from where Mattie usually sat, but instead of leaving right away he leaned his hip against the table, folded his arms over his chest, and gave her the kind of look that men gave pretty women they wanted to flirt with.
He hadn't even noticed that Dimitri was wearing a mask because his attention was entirely on Mattie. The young man had been giving her looks for days, but for some reason, he felt suddenly emboldened enough to actually do something about it.
Hopefully, Mattie knew how to let him down gently.
Men didn't take rejection well, and even though the guy was human and therefore powerless on this island, he could do a lot of damage just by spreading malicious gossip.
