Page 12 of Dark Chains: First Link
Number One set aside the thoughts of Sullha, of Yaaf, and of silence, and returned his attention to the phone and the twoanxious humans and the newly transitioned one, who were entrusting their lives to Dave and a clan of immortals they knew next to nothing about.
6
DIMITRI
The phone rang, but Dimitri didn't lunge for it even though he wanted to. Perhaps it was because he was so relieved to hear it ring that he felt weak in the knees, or maybe he just wanted to project calm so Mattie's heart would stop racing.
Instead, he reached for the device almost nonchalantly, pressed the speakerphone button, and set it back on the nightstand where everyone could hear it.
"This is Doctor Volkov speaking."
"Doctor Volkov, this is Onegus. I have the boss on the other line."
The boss. Onegus hadn't said leader, commander, or director. He'd said boss, a word so noncommittal that it revealed nothing about the man's actual position, which was probably the point.
"May I know who I'm speaking with?" Dimitri asked.
"That's irrelevant at this stage." The second voice was very different from Onegus's cultured and slightly amused tone. Itwas gruffer and sharper. Much less pleasant, as if he was short on time and considered having to be on the call a nuisance.
"Should I refer to you as boss man, then?" Dimitri asked. "Or is some other title preferable?"
He had no idea what had possessed him to say that to the male who held his future in his hands. He was negotiating for his life and the lives of everyone in this room, and such blatant impudence was not helping their cause.
Petrov's eyebrows shot all the way up to his receding hairline, and the look he gave Dimitri could have frozen boiling water.
There was a pause. "You can call me K for now." The voice on the other end was still gruff but didn't sound offended. "Let's not waste time on nonsense. Describe in as few words as possible what you want."
A no-nonsense kind of guy. Dimitri could work with that.
"My colleagues and I want off this island. Doctor Konstantin Petrov, Matilda Johnson, eight enhanced soldiers, and myself."
He paused to let that register and decided not to mention just yet the grand scheme of rescuing everyone in the breeding enclosure. If he got a positive response for the original crew, he would continue with the larger plan.
"The soldiers have the ability to thrall other immortals," he continued before K could interrupt. "That means we could potentially board one of the supply ships that depart the island. But we need a safe destination and support on the other side. The soldiers are dependent on a specific drug protocol to stay stable. Doctor Petrov and I can produce that for them, but we need a proper lab and resources to do it."
That was clean, concise, and honest. No embellishments, no emotional appeals, just the facts of what they needed and why.
"What's in it for us?" K asked.
The question was blunt, and Dimitri appreciated the directness. It saved time they didn't have.
"Several things. First, the enhancement program. Doctor Petrov and I built on Doctor Zhao's original research to develop the current protocol. If we leave the island and destroy all the documentation relevant to the program, the Brotherhood loses the only scientists capable of producing the enhancement drugs, as well as the last remaining enhanced soldiers. That's a death blow to their enhanced army plans, which means a significant strategic loss for your enemy."
"Are you going to offer the same services to us?"
Dimitri frowned. "We need to maintain the protocol for the eight soldiers, or they will most likely lose their minds. If there is anything we can do for you, we would naturally offer our services."
"Even if I want to create a similar program to enhance our people?"
It was a trick question, designed to assess his motives. K wasn't asking because he wanted Dimitri to sell him on the idea. He was testing whether Dimitri would try to, and what that would reveal about his character and his motivations.
"No," Dimitri said. "In fact, I would strongly advise against it."
"Why?"
"Because the enhancement protocol is unstable and dangerous. Many of the volunteers became psychologically violent and had to be eliminated." He took a breath. "The full explanation of why I'd advise against it would take longer than we have tonight, but the short version is that the success rate is too low and the changes are irreversible."
He cast a quick glance at Number One, the spokesperson for the Eight, but the soldier's expression remained impassive, revealing nothing about Dave's emotional response, if there was any. If the Eight were troubled by what Dimitri had said, their faces didn't show it.
