"Good to meet you, Number One," the one with the calm presence said. "We weren't expecting to make your acquaintance at this time, but here we are. I'm Yamanu, and my second-in-command is Anandur."
"We weren't expecting you either," Number One said. "We came to investigate on Losham's behalf. We were under the impression that we were supposed to deliver the chests."
The flicker that passed through Yamanu and Anandur's eyes was telling. They were well aware of the deception, and they weren't comfortable with it.
"Plans changed," Yamanu said. "We didn't want to chance anything going wrong with the chests."
"You didn't trust us," Number One said, and there was no heat in the statement of fact because the collective had already processed it and agreed that they would have done the same. "You were not prepared to place five chests of incalculable valuein the hands of eight soldiers you know very little about, and what you do know is not good. We understand. We would have done the same if faced with a similar decision."
Anandur smiled, or rather grinned. "Glad you understand. No hard feelings, eh?"
"No hard feelings," Number One repeated. "We are not offended by competence. We are here to help. Just tell us what you need."
The collective already knew that the clan's team had managed to retrieve only three of the chests before the collapse forced them to abandon the other two. They'd gathered the information by skimming the surface thoughts of the two commanders and some of the others.
"Much appreciated," Yamanu said after a moment's hesitation. "You can keep the guards off us."
They could do much better than keep them off. They could, and they would make them forget that there was anything worth investigating in the basement. They could and would compel every responder to report a structural collapse.
But they chose not to articulate all that. "We can do that, and we can also help you dig."
Anandur frowned. "How do you know that we need to dig?"
"Because you are still here. If you had extracted all the chests, you would be gone by now."
The redhead nodded. "Good reasoning. We managed to get three out, so there are two more we need to dig out." He turned to look at the new pile of debris. "We will probably need to dig through the night and part of the day tomorrow, and then we need to wait for nighttime to get the chests out."
"Through the cove?" Number One asked even though the collective knew that for a fact.
Anandur nodded, and the collective appreciated that he hadn't tried to lie.
"We have a submarine waiting, and we have special waterproof casings to transport the chests to the vessel, but it needs to be done under the cover of night."
Number One assessed the pile of debris, and the collective estimated how long it would take to clear it.
"Four of us will run interference up top, and four will help you down here. We are enhanced, which means that we are stronger than regular immortals, so the clearing will get done faster, but I doubt we will manage to extract the two other chests before sunrise. You are correct in your estimate that you will have to wait for tomorrow night to transport the two remaining chests to the submarine."
"We could use the help," Yamanu said. "Especially since we are down nine men. One of ours got badly injured, and two had to carry him to the cove. The other six carried the three chests."
"Glad to be of assistance," Number One said. "I just need to call Losham first."
"Go ahead."
He walked a few feet away, took out the phone, and dialed Losham. The other seven held their positions while the line connected, the collective composing what Number One was about to say before the first ring sounded.
"What's going on?" Losham asked in lieu of a greeting.
"It was a structural collapse of the ceiling. The supports gave way, and another big chunk of the ceiling came down together with dirt from the backyard. Whoever designed this structure must have miscalculated the load of the earth and vegetation above and the insidious deterioration caused by water."
"Are you sure that it wasn't sabotage?" Losham asked.
"There is no sign of anything other than gravity causing the collapse."
The exhalation came down the line, ragged with relief. "You are certain?"
"We are. Right now, it's unsafe for the crews to continue working down here. We will clean up as much as we can and try to put up some supports. We will report to you in the morning."
There was a long silence on the other side of the line. "You are going to clean it up and secure the excavation?"
