"We are at the mansion, securing the site as you instructed. What would you like us to do?"
Losham felt the pattern tightening another notch; the collapse at the mansion and the disappearance from the enclosure were dissimilar events, but they were linked by their timing.
"The missing dormant women are just a pretext. I believe someone wants me reacting, mobilizing, and scattering my force across the sectors, so that while I chase a bunch of supposedly missing women through warehouses, the real blow falls."
"You think it's a coup," Number One said.
"A coup, or its prelude." Losham was gratified by how quickly the Eight grasped things. "I told the sector commander not to broadcast the women's disappearance yet, but if it is confirmed that they are indeed missing, I will have no choice but to issue an island-wide lockdown and start a search. I can't just ignore this because I think it was manufactured. That gives us a few hours to investigate and find out what's really going on. What I want most is to know who is behind this, and whether immortals were involved in snatching those women for whatever reason, be it to undermine me or to start their private breeding program. Find out what you can and report before you act."
"Understood," Number One said. "Eyes, not blades."
"For now."
34
YAMANU
The dig was progressing better than Yamanu had originally anticipated. The four enhanced soldiers had returned to assist, leaving the other half of their team to guard the escapees in the ship's cargo hold, and things had been moving much faster since their arrival.
Then Number One's phone rang, and Yamanu had a bad feeling that things had just taken a turn for the worse.
Number One stepped away from the line, and the other three followed as if accepting the call required all of their attention.
"Lord Losham," Number One said.
Yamanu set down the broken slab he'd been about to pass along the chain and drifted closer.
"I've just ended a call with the sector commander in charge of the breeding enclosure," Losham said. "Some of the women and children have been reported missing by the Sacred Mothers."
That shouldn't have happened so soon. The Eight had said that they'd thralled the residents of the enclosure to ignore themissing women and children. It should have held for at least a day, but it had failed after only a few hours.
"An escape from the enclosure is not likely," Number One said.
Losham continued to say that he'd ordered a curfew and a recount but didn't mention a lockdown. The guy didn't want to react before he was sure there was a real reason for alarm, which meant the ship could still sail if it slipped away before the recount was done.
"The missing dormant women are just a pretext," Losham was saying.
So, he thought it was a coup. Yamanu had to concede that it made sense for him to think that even though it wasn't true, and Number One was playing his part, confirming Losham's suspicions.
"I will have no choice but to issue an island-wide lockdown and start a search," Losham said.
Their window of opportunity to salvage the situation was limited. The recount would confirm the missing women, the lockdown would come, and the harbor activity would be suspended.
When the call ended, Number One lowered the phone, and he and the other three stood motionless with the same impassive expressions plastered on their faces that Yamanu had learned to identify as their internal communication.
Losham had just handed them the run of the island to investigate the very thing they were responsible for, and they were no doubt debating how to best utilize the few hours' grace they'd been afforded.
"It should have held much longer than this," Number One said. "It shouldn't have frayed in just a few hours."
"The Sacred Mothers were already suspicious," one of the other three said. "Something must have triggered that, and they were more watchful than usual. The thrall we used didn't take into account pre-existing suspicions."
"It's irrelevant now," Number One said. "The recount will confirm that the women are gone, and Losham will lock down the island and the harbor, regardless of him thinking it may be a coup. We have until then."
Yamanu activated his earpiece. "We have a situation."
As Onegus acknowledged that everyone in the war room was ready, Yamanu summarized Losham's phone call to them.
"The enclosure thrall failed early, and someone raised the alarm. Losham ordered a curfew and a discreet recount, and he's holding off on a full lockdown until the count confirms. He's handed the Eight the authority to investigate because he suspects that this might be a prelude to a coup. We have only a few hours before the recount is completed, after which he will lock down the island and seal off the harbor."
