"The sub takes us to within two nautical miles of the cove," Yamanu said. "The rest of the way is underwater using scooters. We surface inside the cove in two stages. First, the tech crew will come up and put the surveillance cameras on a loop of showing nothing. Then the rest of us come up. There's a stone shelf above the waterline, big enough to stage on. We leave the dive gear and the casings for the chests cached on the shelf, and we go up the tunnel on foot. It's a long walk to the mansion that will take us about two hours if we push it. On the way back, we might be able to use Navuh's jeep, which is parked on that end of the tunnel, but since it can only accommodate one chest at a time, it won't really save us time. We will need to carry the chests back to the cove."
They had all heard the details before, but a few Guardians still grumbled about not bringing a few more Kra-ell to carry the chests.
Drova smiled. At least they acknowledged the Kra-ell's physical superiority.
"This is the basement," Yamanu said, changing to another screen that showcased a virtual space that looked eerily realistic. "This is where the chests are." He pointed to the collapse zone. "The excavation crews have been digging for weeks, and our intel says they're very close, a day or two by their estimate, which is why we are moving in now. We want to get there before they reach the chests, but we don't want to dig for days either. We go in, we shore up where we have to, we dig the last of it ourselves, and we bring the chests to the cove. We seal them in the casings, and we run them out to the sub."
Drova studied the collapse zone on the screen.
"It's come down twice," she said. "What's to stop it from coming down a third time while we are digging?"
Yamanu looked at her. "Nothing. That's the truth. The first collapse was caused by Navuh's booby traps that Losham had triggered. The cause of the second collapse is unclear. It could have been more booby traps or just structural weakening, and that's what we will be digging through. That's why we are bringing the Odus and the Kra-ell. I believe the Fates will smile on us and we will not trigger another collapse. And to make sure of that, I'm wearing my lucky socks." He lifted his foot to expose the yellow sock he was wearing inside his boots.
"Well," Anandur snorted. "We have nothing to worry about then. We are protected by the mighty lucky socks."
"Don't mock them." Yamanu wagged his finger at him. "It's bad luck."
Anandur lifted his hands in mock surrender. "I wouldn't dare."
Yamanu glared at him for a moment longer before turning back to his audience. "Lucky socks notwithstanding, we havecontingencies. The first one is the backup team waiting in the submarine, ready to deploy if we encounter serious trouble like the ceiling coming down on us, or we run into a force we can't handle quietly. We also have a backup to the backup plan and another backup to that."
"That's a lot of backups," Pavel said.
Yamanu nodded. "There's the EMP, and there are missiles for the tunnel that connects the barracks to the resort side. The EMP gets deployed from a drone at a safe distance, high over the central ridge, and it takes out the island's electronics, disabling power, comms, surveillance, and even some of the vehicles. The missiles collapse the cross-island tunnel so the military force that's located on the other side can't reach the resort side quickly. Those are last-ditch measures. If we have to use them, it means this stopped being a quiet operation and became a loud one, and that's something we want to avoid."
"So, let's not be loud," Anandur said. "Let's be quiet and boring. In, chests, out, home for breakfast."
"Are you always thinking about food?" Drova asked.
"Not always, but most of the time." He rubbed his washboard abs. "I don't know how I don't get fat."
A ripple of laughter went around the room, and it alleviated the tension in the air, the way his jokes usually seemed to do.
His style of leadership was so different from her mother's, from any of the Kra-ell's. Her people didn't joke around.
"Pavel," Yamanu addressed him directly. "You are in charge of protecting Drova. She's our most important strategic asset."
"Yes, sir." Pavel saluted.
"Drova." The commander turned to her. "Your amplifying device. I hope you brought backup this time."
She felt her ears tingle in embarrassment. Had he really needed to remind everyone of her blunder during Arezoo's rescue mission? She'd dropped her amplifier, losing her ability to project her voice and reach enemy soldiers throughout the compound.
"I have four of them. One in each pocket of my cargo pants."
"Good." He turned to the rest of the room. "Questions?"
There were none.
Yamanu nodded once. "Kit up. We board in thirty."
The room dissolved into motion, Guardians rising and gathering gear, the sounds of a team moving out.
Drova didn't get up right away.
Neither did Pavel.
They sat on the bench in the rapidly emptying room, their thighs still pressed together, neither of them having moved through the entire briefing, and now that the noise had risen around them, it was somehow easier to stay where they were than to stand and break the contact and pretend it had never happened.
