"Maybe there is a library," Mattie said. "And we just don't know about it. Humans are treated like livestock here, so naturally they don't get to read books."
"I doubt the warriors read anything." Petrov lifted a piece of carrot and looked at it as if it was there to offend him. "None of the Eight ever mentioned reading anything. They got to watch some films to improve their English, which I have to admit is flawless. These immortals have a real talent for languages." He turned to Dimitri. "I wonder if that's improved for you as well. Try to learn the language they use. I've never heard anything that even sounds like it."
Dimitri chuckled. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll do it in all the free time I have between working on constantly improving Dave's formula, developing a new one to enhance humans, and coming up with an escape plan for us and over two thousand women and children. Not to mention the repellent for Mattie that I've neglected because of everything else, and a compound to help with her scars."
Petrov shrugged. "It was just a suggestion. You don't have to get all pissy with me."
"I'm not pissy." Dimitri ran his fingers through his hair. "We just have a tendency to get off topic. The collapse is a major item. It means a big delay."
Mattie chewed her lower lip. "Does that help us or hurt us?"
"It could be both." Dimitri set his fork down. "More time to plan is good. But it also means the clan will probably put whatever they are planning on ice."
"Why?" Mattie asked.
"Because the clan's objective is to retrieve those bodies in stasis. Until those chests are found and extracted, the clan has no reason to do anything else on this island. They are not even aware of us, and when we contact them, they will not suddenly change their priorities and make us their primary concern."
Mattie's face fell. "So, the delay actually hurts us. The longer it takes to find the chests, the longer we wait for the clan to be willing to engage, if at all."
"Precisely. But that also gives us more time to get the clan invested in us before the extraction happens. Once they have what they want, their incentive to help us or the women and children from the enclosure decreases dramatically."
"Unless we make ourselves part of the project," Petrov said.
Dimitri turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Petrov stabbed a piece of potato with his fork and pointed it at Dimitri. "The excavation is stalled. The crews are human, mostly, and they're working with hand tools because heavy equipment risks more collapses. They need smart people down there, people who can solve problems, assess structural risks, figure out how to clear debris faster but without bringing the ceiling down again. We can help."
"We're not structural engineers."
"We're scientists. We understand physics, material properties, load distribution. We understand how to analyze a problemsystematically and find solutions that a foreman with a sledgehammer can't." He ate the potato. "I'm not saying we're experts. I'm saying we're smarter than everyone they have working on this."
Petrov's inflated ego aside, there was a kernel of truth to what he had said. Sometimes outsiders could see solutions that those who were submerged in a problem couldn't see because they couldn't lift their heads above the sludge.
Still, Petrov's idea wasn't practical for other reasons. "No one is going to let us into the mansion. We're lab staff and have no authorization to be anywhere near the excavation site. Besides, as I have pointed out before, we don't have any spare time."
"Dave could arrange access," Mattie said.
"The mansion is the Brotherhood's base of operations. The security is tight, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere."
Mattie frowned. "I'm sure that there are surveillance cameras at the Dormant enclosure. How come Dave just walked in and no one made a fuss about it?"
That was a good question. "They probably went to the monitoring office and had everyone there thralled."
She lifted a brow. "After they returned from their visit? Because it sounded as if Dave's decision to visit the enclosure was spontaneous."
Dimitri shrugged. "Probably. Those watching it in real time saw the guards open the gate for him and let him in, after he had visited many military installations. Even if they thought it was odd, it wasn't something they would have felt requiredimmediate reporting. Besides, it could be that there aren't any cameras inside the enclosure. What will these women do? Try to escape only to stop at the shore? It's an island. There is nowhere to go."
"Yeah." Mattie sighed. "You are probably right. Anyway, what I was trying to say was that Dave could get anywhere he wanted, including Losham's bedroom."
Dimitri grimaced. "I have absolutely no desire to visit Losham's bedroom. I'm very glad that Dave will be handling that part on his own."
"We haven't told Dave about the phone idea yet," Mattie pointed out. "He might shoot it down."
"He won't," Dimitri said with more confidence than he felt. "Losham's phone is the only viable channel of communication. Dave knows that as well as we do. He may have reservations about the execution, but not about the concept itself."
Petrov grunted. "The concept of stealing a phone from a sleeping immortal warlord, calling a secret organization of enemy immortals, and negotiating a mass evacuation. Yes. Very sound concept."
Mattie glared at him. "When you put it that way, everything sounds impossible."
