"I'm not asking your opinion." Losham kept his voice flat, matter-of-fact. "If something is wrong in there, every additional second we waste debating protocols could be critical."
He saw several people nod in agreement. Good. Establish momentum, get them moving, keep them from having time to think too carefully about the implications of what they were doing.
"You two." Losham pointed at the guards. "Find a heavy beam or a piece of pipe, whatever you can improvise. Something we can use to break through a reinforced door."
They obeyed immediately, looking grateful to have clear orders to follow.
"Hakum, I need you to quietly notify the senior commanders that there's a situation and they should report to the mainconference room. Don't tell them any details. Just say Lord Navuh has requested their presence for an emergency briefing."
"But Lord Navuh hasn't?—"
"I know what Lord Navuh has and hasn't done." Losham's voice carried an edge now. "When we get that door open, we're going to need to move fast to control whatever narrative emerges. That means having the senior leadership in one place where they can be properly informed and given coordinated instructions." He needed them in one place where he could keep an eye on them. "Unless you'd prefer to let rumors spread unchecked through the entire compound?"
Hakum blanched. "I'll notify them immediately."
"Good. The rest of you—" Losham addressed the remaining staff. "Return to your stations and continue your duties. You don't want the lord to find you out here loitering."
They scattered like startled birds, frightened to be found idling when they were supposed to be working.
Within minutes, the two guards returned carrying a thick wooden beam from the construction work. Heavy enough to do damage, sturdy enough not to shatter on impact.
"Perfect," Losham said. "On my count. Aim for the area around the lock. Three strikes should do it."
The guards positioned themselves, hefting the beam between them.
Losham stepped back, joining Rami at his spot next to the wall.
"One," Losham said. "Two. Three."
The beam crashed into the door with a sound like thunder. The wood around the lock splintered but held.
"Again."
Another impact. More splintering. The door frame cracked.
"Once more."
The third strike did it. The lock mechanism tore free from the splintered wood, the deadbolt still engaged but no longer attached to anything. The door swung inward, revealing?—
Losham's breath caught.
Not Navuh. Not a crime scene. Not anything he'd expected.
Eight enhanced soldiers stood in the office, arranged around the space like pieces on a chessboard. Eight enhanced immortals who shouldn't have been there, who by all reports should have been confined in the laboratory's detention cells.
They were all looking at him with expressionless eyes in perfect, unsettling synchronization.
"Commander Losham," they said in unison, their voices overlapping in a way that made Losham's skin crawl. "We've been expecting you."
The enhanced soldiers had escaped. They'd gotten into Navuh's office without anyone noticing, which meant that they had used compulsion. That explained the absence of the guards at the front door. They must have sent them away. They had locked themselves in.
But why? What did they want?
Were they responsible for Navuh's disappearance?
Where was he?
What had they done to him?
