"We start with identification," Dimitri said, reciting the outline from memory. "Who we are, how we got here. Russian scientists brought to the island to work on the enhancement program. We give our credentials so they can be verified. Then we establish more credibility by describing the program in terms that only an insider would know. Then we introduce Dave and explain what the collective consciousness is and how the Eight are different from anything that Navuh envisioned for the program. Then we present our offer and ask for help. We can provide intelligence on the island, and by we I mean Dave because he knows much more than we do, especially after working with Losham. We can provide information on the enhancement project. Then we describe the breeding program and the plight of the dormant women, and we beg for help."
"What if they don't answer our call?"
"Then Dave takes the phone from Losham before the scheduled call, and we wait for it."
"And if?—"
"Mattie." He turned from the window. "We've been through this. There are a hundred ways this can fail, and we've accounted for as many of them as we can. The rest is up to luck or God or whatever higher power you believe in."
"I'm not a believer."
"Neither am I, but we are going to try, and if we fail, we will at least know that we did our best."
"Okay," she said. "I shouldn't let myself go down the rabbit hole of what ifs."
They were all doing that, but only Mattie voiced her concerns. He and Petrov were pretending to be the pillars of strength they were not, for her sake. It was a very typical male response when in the presence of females. It was hardwired into their DNA.
Zero one hundred passed, and there was still no sign of Dave.
They had the phone that Dave had left Mattie for emergencies, but calling them mid-mission was not an option. The catastrophic scenarios resumed, cascading through Dimitri's mind and twisting his stomach.
Zero one ten. Nothing.
Zero one thirty. His tongue found the ridge of the emerging fang on the left side and pressed against it. The hard point of it had broken through the gum tissue that morning, and the sensation was still strange. A sharp, bony protrusion where smooth gum had been, growing at a rate that his rational mind had difficulty accepting, despite the evidence in his mouth.
"He's late," Petrov stated the obvious.
"I'm aware."
"How late is acceptable before we start worrying?"
"We started worrying an hour ago," Mattie said. "The question is how late is acceptable before we start panicking."
"In Russia, we don't panic. We accept the inevitable with grim resignation."
"That doesn't sound very comforting."
"It is. Accepting the inevitable is better than agonizing about the alternative."
One-forty. Dimitri's fingers were white-knuckled on the curtain fabric, and he forced himself to release it. His enhanced vision could pick up details in the darkness that would have been invisible to his human eyes, and every shadow on the street had become a potential threat, a hidden warrior, an ambush waiting to spring.
He was being irrational, he knew that, but the knowledge didn't help.
Then, at zero one forty-seven, a figure emerged from behind the oleander bushes that lined the building across the street.
Dimitri's heart lurched. He recognized the build, the gait, the economical movement of an enhanced soldier operating in stealth mode. It was one of the Eight, probably Number One given the height, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.
"Dave is here," he said before rushing out of the room and heading down the stairs.
The moonlight coming through the glass façade of the lab was enough for him to navigate between workstations and equipment, and he reached the door and disengaged the lock just as Number One arrived.
He slipped inside without a word, and Dimitri closed the door behind him.
"Where are the others?" Dimitri whispered.
"Coming. Don't lock the door. We spread out to avoid detection."
Over the next several minutes, the remaining seven filed in through the door at staggered intervals, each one materializing out of the darkness like a ghost and slipping inside silently. When all eight were in the lab, Dimitri locked the door.
