Page 90 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
Navuh was contemplating taking the enhancement drugs himself.
The temptation was almost overwhelming. To feel that power coursing through his veins, to transcend even his current magnificent state, would be glorious. The only thing holding him back from doing that was his fear for Areana.
The drugs enhanced natural tendencies, like aggression and dominance, which Navuh had in abundance and already struggled to control within himself around Areana. She brought out the best in him, but the best of him was still dangerous. He couldn't risk the drugs amplifying hispossessive nature, his need for control, and his capacity for violence. Not if that meant he might hurt her.
He needed to discuss it with Zhao. Perhaps he could start on the lowest dosage and see how it affected him. He was in no rush to become a super immortal, and he could take a more gradual approach than the rapid improvement the doctor was achieving with the enhanced soldiers.
Returning to his desk, Navuh pressed the buzzer for his chief of security.
"My lord?" Hakum answered.
He was one of Navuh's younger adopted sons and was proving to be good at his job. Usually, that meant transfer to a different position because Navuh didn't like any of his so-called sons getting too comfortable in their jobs. Still, he enjoyed Hakum's quiet and respectful demeanor.
"Have Dr. Zhao brought to me. I want to talk to him right away."
"Yes, sir."
Navuh turned to his computer screen and pulled up the latest reports from the enhancement program. Ninety-seven subjects remained on the island, and many more were spread across several countries.
His private army within an army.
Perhaps he should make them his honor guard. But first, they needed to prove themselves. They were too volatile, too unpredictable, and too difficult to control. Until theglitches were fixed, he was going to keep them at arm's length.
When twenty minutes passed and there was still no sign of Zhao, Navuh's patience ran out. The lab wasn't far enough to justify the tardiness.
The scientist might be a drunk and a coward, but he wasn't stupid enough to ignore a direct summons or drag his feet about it.
Navuh pressed the intercom button. "Hakum, where is Zhao?"
"The guards are having difficulty reaching him, sir. He is sealed in his laboratory and isn't answering the intercom. They assume that he is in the bathroom and are waiting for him to come out."
It was ridiculous that the scientist was hiding in the lab like a scared rabbit and sleeping on a cot when he had been given the presidential suite in the hotel. But the human was terrified of his own creations and only felt safe barricading himself behind steel and concrete.
"He's probably passed out drunk," Navuh said. "The human's liver must be more resilient than his spine."
When he pulled up the laboratory's surveillance feed on his monitor, the cameras showed him exactly what he'd expected. Zhao was sprawled on his cot, fully clothed, an empty vodka bottle on the floor beside him. The scientist's face was slack in what appeared to be deep, alcohol-induced sleep.
"What a waste. Even a brilliant human is still just a human. Pathetic." Navuh switched to a different program to override the laboratory locks.
His fingers flying across the keyboard, he entered his master override codes. Every lock on the island answered to him, every security measure bent to his will. The laboratory door's status changed from sealed to open on his screen.
"I opened the door from here. Tell them to get in, get Zhao, and dunk his head in a sink full of water to sober him up. Then bring him over here."
"Yes, sir," Hakum said. "I'll relay your instructions."
Navuh returned to the camera surveillance feed and watched two guards enter the laboratory. They walked over to Zhao's cot, and one of them reached down to shake Zhao.
The guard was blocking Navuh's view of the scientist, but the way the guard's shoulders stiffened and his hand jerked indicated that not all was well with Zhao.
"He's dead," the guard said. "He's not breathing, and I don't hear a heartbeat."
The words hung in the air like a challenge to reality. "What's going on?" Navuh said through the surveillance equipment in the lab.
The guard turned to look at the camera. "He's cold, my lord. He must have been dead for hours."
"Foul play?" Navuh asked, although it wasn't likely since Zhao had locked himself in the lab.
"There are no visible wounds, and no blood. It looks like he just died." The guard swallowed. "It happens to humans when they are under stress. They are like mice. Their little hearts can't take it."
