"Well, maybe he's rigging it from the harem. That's a possibility. Do you want to march in there and demand answers from him?"
That was a bold move, and Losham's heart pounded as he waited for Kolhood's answer.
A long moment passed, or maybe it just seemed long, and then finally there was a sigh on the other side of the line. "I hate to say this, but Father has an odd sense of humor."
Losham felt faint with relief. "Yes. It has a sadistic twist to it. But that's not news to any of us."
"No. It's not. Where are you going to move your office to?"
"Probably the hotel."
"Not your house?"
"No. I don't like to work from home. Home is for resting and relaxation."
"I hear you. I stay at the barracks to be close to my troops, but when I want to relax, I go home."
It was a subtle reminder that the army answered to Kolhood, which made him the most powerful of the brothers.
"Yes, I guess it's prudent. Although I wouldn't want to live in the underground barracks."
"You've always liked your creature comforts. What are you going to do about the basement and the supposed treasures buried down there?"
"I have no idea what Father kept there, and what we are going to find, but right now, the basement is ruined. I'm having the engineers examine the structure to see if we can resume digging."
"How long before you have a report?" Kolhood asked.
"A week. Possibly two. The engineers need access to the area, which requires preliminary stabilization work."
"That's a long time."
"It takes what it takes. We've lost workers in this collapse. I don't want to lose any more."
"They were humans. Inconsequential."
"They were part of our workforce, and therefore their loss was definitely consequential. Every human we lose means that a new human needs to be brought in to replace him. That costs time and money."
"We should let them breed more."
Losham rolled his eyes. "You know as well as I do how important it is to maintain population balance on the island. The system our father designed has been working for thousands of years. I see no reason to change it."
The silence that followed was satisfying, but Losham took no pleasure in winning the verbal chess game with Kolhood. He was buying time, not solving the problem, but then the problem wasn't solvable.
What other disasters had their father planned to bring ruin to the Brotherhood?
By capturing him, the clan might have achieved what they had never dreamt they could. The end of the Brotherhood. The end of Mortdh's legacy. Without the Brotherhood, Annani and her clan could implement all the progress they wanted, but they would never bring everlasting peace to humanity, for the simple reason that humans were not peaceful creatures.
Except, Losham wasn't going to let the Brotherhood die. Now that he knew what Navuh's game plan was, he would counteract it. He needed to gather his brothers together and explain his suspicions about their father's betrayal.
They would not let him destroy what they had all worked so hard to build. They would not let him pit them against each other until rivers of blood soaked the island's streets.
They would come together, and they would continue what Navuh had started, despite him, not because of him.
28
DIMITRI
At two o'clock the intercom buzzed, and as Petrov released the door lock, the lab door opened and the Eight filed in.
