Page 102 of Dark Island: Rescue
Kian nodded. "The divers will need to traverse that distance twice, going to the island and coming back with Tula. That's hours of underwater swimming, even with propulsion devices. It's grueling, dangerous, and leaves a lot of room for things to go wrong."
"But the Guardians are trained for this, right?" Esag felt his concern deepening.
"They can do it. The question is how Tula will handle that. She will be equipped with scuba gear, but she has no experience with it, and she might panic."
"She won't," Wonder said. "Tula is brave, and she welcomes challenges. She'll be fine. She will be heartbroken over leaving the father of her child and her friends behind, but she'll not panic underwater or cause any trouble that might derail her rescue."
Kian regarded her for a long moment but didn't sayall the things that were surely on his mind and those of everyone present. That the little girl Wonder remembered was long gone, and the adult and pregnant Tula might be in a very different state of mind.
He then nodded and took out his phone, pulling up a map and showing it to Esag. "The submarine will dock at Safe Harbor. The extraction team will load equipment and make final preparations. It will then move into position off Navuh's island."
"When do we leave?" Esag asked.
"The submarine is currently in the Maldives, heading toward Safe Harbor now. It will take several days for it to get there, probably arriving sometime Thursday or Friday." Kian scrolled through something on his phone. "Just to be on the safe side, I instructed Okidu to re-watch all of those rock-climbing documentaries as he did before Carol's rescue, and once he's done with that, we will test his abilities in real terrain. Usually, the refresher wouldn't have been necessary, but since he fell into the water, shut down, and rebooted, some things might have been erased from his memory."
"Will you be at Safe Harbor during the extraction?" Esag asked.
Kian shook his head. "Too risky. If the Brotherhood somehow realizes what's happening and pursues the submarine back to Safe Harbor, we can't risk them finding me there. That would compromise the clan."
"So, who's running things over there?"
"Team Jade." Kian smiled. "Jade is the leader of the Kra-ell, and she's incredibly capable. She is in a league of her own. Phinas, who is her mate, is Kalugal's second-in-command and an excellent strategist. Jade's daughter Drova is a powerful compeller, which makes her a great asset."
"It seems like a solid plan." Annani cast Esag a reassuring look. "It is much easier to extract just Tula than to try to extract all four people."
"Still, everything could go wrong," Kian said. "Tula could panic at the last moment. The weather could turn bad. Navuh could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Security could spot something suspicious. The underwater portion could take too long, and the divers could run out of air." Kian turned to Esag. "Pack for a week and be ready to leave at a moment's notice."
"I'll let Julian know you're coming." Anandur stood up, signaling that the meeting was over.
After thanking Kian and saying his goodbyes, Esag left Annani's place feeling more settled than he had been on the way over.
He'd be on that submarine when the divers brought Tula. He'd be there to help if something went wrong, to provide whatever support he could offer.
It wasn't the active role he might have wanted, but it was better than staying in the village and going insane with worry.
35
ANNANI
After Kian and Esag left, Annani walked to her desk and pulled out a writing pad. "I need to write this all down," she told Wonder.
Usually, she did not bother recording things and trusted her memory to store all the necessary details, but this was too important to allow even one small detail to slip through. She was the one in direct contact with Areana, and she would have to transmit the information as accurately as possible to her sister.
Wonder walked over and leaned on the edge of the desk with her arms folded over her chest. "She is not going to call today either, is she?"
Annani shook her head. "Areana is too cautious and too superstitious to break away from an established routine. She will call me on Wednesday as usual."
"Are you sure you know her as well as you think you do? You weren't close when you were growing up, and a lot of time has passed since we were all together inAreana's house, listening to that soothsayer and her predictions. She foresaw Anandur in my future."
"I remember," Annani said. "In a distant land and time, you will find truelove with a gentle giant of a man."
Wonder smiled. "She was right about that.She didn't tell you your fortune, though. Said she was tired."
"I remember that too." Annani closed her eyes.
The soothsayer had visited her after Khiann's murder, and what she had shared with her had kept a spark of hope alive in Annani's heart to this day.
Do not despair, Princess Annani. Not all is lost. True love cannot die. Its fire cannot turn to ice. Your beloved's love floats in the ether, ready to be reborn. Khiann will find a way to come back to you in some form. Seven children will be born to you, all different, but his spirit will shine through their eyes warm and bright. And one day, many years from now, he will come to you, and you will know him at first sight. I saw it all with my blind eyes, my lady, and everything I see with my second sight comes to pass.
