Page 14 of Dark Island: Rescue
"Excellent." Petrov returned to his chair, slumping back into it. "I'll also need a proper laboratory. What Zhao left behind is adequate but not ideal. I need better equipment."
"Make a list," Navuh said. "Losham will procure whatever you need."
"What about Dmitri? I can't do this without him."
Navuh looked at Losham. "How quickly can you extract him from the Russian labor camp?"
Losham's lips curved in a slight smile. "With the right incentives, I can have him here within days, and if I ask Gorchenco for another favor, we could probably have him on a plane to the Maldives by tomorrow."
"Then ask Gorchenco." Navuh turned his attention back to Petrov. "You mentioned you've experienced this expanded consciousness yourself through mathematics?"
Petrov's expression darkened. "A warning, Lord Navuh. Some doors, once opened, can never be fully closed. I saw the mathematical proof for consciousness as a fundamental force of the universe. Once you see that proof, you can't un-see it. Every thought becomes suspect—is it yours, or is it bleeding through from another probability stream? Every decision—did you make it, or were you always going to make it across all possible timelines?"
His insanity was obvious, but perhaps it could be managed.
"And yet you are still functioning," Navuh said.
"Vodka helps." Petrov raised his bottle in a salute. "Alcohol disrupts quantum coherence in microtubules. It keeps me grounded in this specific reality instead of drifting across probabilistic states. Without it..." He shuddered. "Without it, I can feel them all. Every version of myself that could have been, should have been, might yet be. It's magnificent and terrifying at the same time."
"Are the enhanced soldiers experiencing something similar?"
"Worse. They're experiencing it collectively. Imagine not just sensing your own alternate selves, but those of other minds simultaneously. The weight of all thosepossibilities would crush a normal consciousness. That's why they retreat into their shared space. It's the only way to maintain any sense of self."
Navuh stood, indicating the meeting was coming to an end. "Prepare the list of equipment and materials you need."
Petrov hauled himself to his feet, swaying slightly. "One more thing. I need access to the enhanced soldiers you have in isolation. I need to observe them."
"They are extremely dangerous and difficult to contain. You are never to approach them unless they are chained or they will kill you."
Petrov shook his head. "If I am to work with them, I need to be close to them. Is there any way you can build a holding facility for them in the lab?"
Navuh hadn't planned on that, but it made sense. "It will be done."
"Thank you." Petrov headed for the door, then paused. "You know, Lord Navuh, you're either going to change the nature of warfare forever or create something that destroys everything you've built. Either way, it will be fascinating to watch."
When Petrov walked out, Losham lingered behind. "My lord, are you certain about this? The man is obviously insane. What he said only sounded profound, but it was gibberish."
"All brilliance carries the seed of madness," Navuh said. "His instability is precisely what makes him valuable. A sane man would never attempt what we need done. Besides, the assistant might be the sane one who actually makes sense."
Losham bowed. "I'll begin arrangements for extracting Volkov immediately."
After Losham departed, Navuh walked to the window, contemplating what he'd set in motion. Petrov was brilliant, possibly more so than Zhao, but brilliance that came wrapped in madness was like handling unstable explosives—useful for demolition, but prone to unexpected detonation.
The enhanced soldiers in their isolation cells were proof of what happened when human consciousness was pushed beyond its natural boundaries. They'd gained power but lost their individual selves.
Petrov claimed he could control that process, create soldiers who could access that power without losing themselves to it. If he succeeded, Navuh would have an army unlike anything the world had ever seen. Soldiers who could think as one, fight as one, yet retain enough individuality to follow orders and make tactical decisions. And if he failed, well, failures could always be buried.
The island had plenty of room for graves.
6
AREANA
Areana settled deeper into the plush cushions of her couch, a cup of jasmine tea balanced in her hands. The television flickered with some action movie. The explosions and car chases would have normally provided mindless entertainment, but her thoughts kept drifting to Wednesday's approaching call with Annani.
The movie's protagonist was currently dangling from a helicopter, which reminded Areana of Carol's escape. That had been real drama, real danger, executed with daring and skill that still amazed her. The clan's operative had infiltrated the island posing as the girlfriend of a powerful arms dealer who had been coerced into helping the clan. They'd staged a fight, he'd left the island without paying his bill, and had suggested to Navuh that his disgruntled girlfriend would pay for it with her services. Since Carol faked having to wear an insulin pump, she couldn't serve in the brothel and had been sent to serve in the harem instead, which was how it hadbeen planned. Areana shuddered to think about all the ways that ruse could have gone wrong. Carol could have been sent to work in the hotel as a maid, or whatever other job they could have found for her. Unless the arms dealer had requested that she be put in the harem specifically, but Areana couldn't imagine why Navuh would have agreed to that. When the time came for extraction, she and Tula had helped Carol stage an elaborate suicide because of her supposed heartbreak over the arms dealer's abandonment.
Everyone had believed that the tragic servant had thrown herself off the cliff in despair. In reality, she'd clung to the back of the clan's shrouder, and he had lowered the two of them using the rope Okidu had attached to the rock face beforehand. When they reached the bottom of the cliff, they donned scuba gear and used underwater scooters to get to a waiting submarine faster.
