"You know, I find myself wondering if I might be a dormant too."
"That's not such a far-fetched idea. You might be."
"Maybe I should ask one of Dave's bodies to bite me." Petrov's lips curved in a sardonic smile. "See if it works. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I don't know. Dave didn't tell me what happens if a human is bitten but given that Tarik's friends expected me to live after his bite, they didn't expect the quantity of venom he managed to pump into me to be lethal for humans."
"That's a valid point." Petrov lifted his glass, emptied it in one go, and grimaced at the burn of it going down his throat. "Another point, one that I've been wondering about ever since being introduced to this bizarre population, is where are the female immortals? Does the gene only transfer through males?"
"I don't know," Dimitri admitted. "I didn't want to ask Dave too many questions because we are not supposed to ask about things that are not directly related to our research. But given that we haven't seen any immortal females on the island, it makes sense that the genes transfer only to males."
Petrov refilled his glass. "No wonder these immortals are so aggressive and hateful. They can't have a life partner, a wife to build a home with, and children to raise. Their entire purpose is about killing."
A coldness settled in Dimitri's gut at Petrov's description of what immortality meant in practical terms.
That was his future.
Mattie would not last forever, and he would be left alone like these males, aimless, purposeless…
Would he become a mindless killing machine like them?
Petrov was quiet for a moment, staring into the vodka in his glass. "So, what are you going to tell Dave?"
Dimitri had been struggling with the same question. "I don't know."
Petrov sighed and set down the glass. "They're going to come back tomorrow for their shots, and they're going to demand answers. You need to have something plausible ready."
Dave had accused him of no longer being human, so they probably suspected the truth. They had asked Petrov about the possibility of Dimitri using the drugs on himself to gauge if Petrov knew what had happened to his assistant.
"They suspect that I'm no longer human, but I could lie and claim that everything they saw me do was achieved by experimenting with a modified enhancement formula designed for humans, including the rapid healing."
He doubted Dave would believe that explanation.
"What happens when they want to test it on other humans?" Petrov asked. "Losham would love for you to produce a miracle formula so he can create an army of enhanced human soldiers." He shook his head. "You don't have anything like that, and you can't manufacture the formula overnight. You also can't use the formula we use for Dave on humans. I wouldn't even dare test a much weaker formulation."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"I don't know." Petrov ran a hand through his thinning hair. "I'm just pointing out the problems with your proposed solution. There might not be a good answer here, Dimitri. There might only be bad answers and worse answers."
Petrov was right.
Every option Dimitri could think of led to disaster. Lie about the formula and get caught when he couldn't produce it. Tell the truth about his transition and get conscripted into the immortal army. Try to flee and get hunted down.
"There's another thing that's bothering me," Petrov said after a moment.
Dimitri chuckled. "Only one?"
Petrov ignored the sarcasm. "The four who attacked you and Mattie were the same four who were there the night Tarik bit you in the bar. They pulled Tarik off you before he could finish the job because they were afraid of the repercussions. They knew that Navuh would be furious if one of his scientists was senselessly killed over a woman."
"So?"
"So, what has changed?" Petrov leaned forward. "What made them decide to attack you in broad daylight, with plenty of witnesses? They were afraid of consequences in the bar. Why weren't they afraid of consequences in the harbor?"
Dimitri frowned. It hadn't occurred to him before because he'd been too consumed by the crisis to step back and analyze the situation logically, but Petrov was right. It didn't make sense.
"Maybe they thought Navuh was gone," he said. "Maybe they heard rumors about his absence and decided they could get away with it."
"Maybe. But the rumors about Navuh's absence were present when they pulled Tarik off you in the bar. There was no reason for them to suddenly decide that you were fair game."
