Page 41 of Dark Island: Rescue

When Annani pulled out her phone from the hidden pocket in her gown, Wonder glanced at the big screen television hanging over the mantel. "You know that you can initiate a video call. We can have Kian and whoever is with him on that big screen over there."

"I know, but what I do not know is whether Kian is in the middle of something, and whether he is withpeople he is comfortable seeing me or not. I never initiate a video call."

Wonder nodded. "That's smart."

Annani selected Kian's contact and pressed the call button. The fact that he did not answer right away confirmed what she had just told Wonder. If he were alone, he would have picked up immediately.

She could just imagine him excusing himself from whatever meeting he was attending and searching for a private spot to answer the call.

"Hello, Mother. Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine. Are you free to talk, or am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing that cannot wait." There was rustling, footsteps on gravel. "I was in a meeting with Kalugal and the others. I stepped out of the room in case what you wanted to talk about required privacy."

Annani glanced at Wonder, who could hear everything even though Annani had not switched the speaker on yet. "I'm here with Wonder. Do you mind if I activate the speaker function? This concerns her."

"Please, go ahead."

"Hi, Kian," Wonder said.

"Hello." He sounded impatient.

"We will keep it short," Annani said. "Esag had a vision about Tula. You remember Tula, right?"

"Of course. Wonder's younger sister and Areana's co-conspirator."

Wonder chuckled. "I'm not sure Tula would appreciate being called a co-conspirator, but I guess itfits."

"What did Esag see in the vision that prompted a call from you two?"

"He saw her pregnant and frightened," Annani said.

"When was that?"

"Yesterday, but I did not want to bother you before confirming with Areana. Wonder insists that we should let you know so you can start thinking about possible extraction plans."

There was a moment of silence on the other side. "What makes you think she wants to be extracted? Carol offered for her to join her, but she refused, saying that she needed to stay with Areana."

"She's pregnant," Wonder repeated as if that should be enough for Kian to deduce the implications.

Annani realized that Kian might need some more information that both Wonder and she had, but he did not. "Tula did everything in her power not to get pregnant because she did not want her son to be taken away or her daughter to be doomed to mortality. There is no doubt in my mind that if she is indeed pregnant, she wants off the island. The question is whether what Esag saw was the present or the future."

There was another moment of silence. "The father would be Tony," Kian said, his voice shifting into what Annani recognized as his tactical mode. "Kaia's friend, the bioinformatician who was lured to the island under false pretenses."

"One and the same," Annani confirmed. "He has been Tula's exclusive paramour since shortly after arriving at the harem."

"We have to help her," Wonder said.

"If she is indeed pregnant and wants to be rescued, we will see what we can do, but it won't be easy."

"You extracted Carol successfully," Wonder said. "We can do the same for Tula."

"Carol was one person with months of preparation. This would be a minimum of two people. Tula will insist on Tony coming with her."

"So, we'll need a different plan," Wonder said.

Kian sighed, and Annani could picture him running his hand through his hair. "Let's get confirmation first and then discuss options."