'So Genovsky was a good programmer. What else?'
'Not much. She was obviously good at handling people – that's how you get pushed into NASA's admin staff. I never found out why she left. I suppose she got a better offer.'
'So what makes you so scared? What makes you think she won't just forget about you?'
'If a Bulgarian with unfettered cash and an interest in quantum physics calls me, it's not going to be because they're striving for world peace. Remember Georgi Markov and the ricin-tipped umbrella? Bulgarian secret service.' Born glanced towards him, flicked a grin, then set his eyes back on the road. 'And when Laszlo said what he did back then . . . I'm seeing horse's heads, if you know what I mean. I walked away once, and then you brought it all back again and pulled me into this. I don't think these people leave you alone. Once your name comes up, that's it. Come on, come on.' He was trying to shift lanes. 'When the same woman then connects my name with a plot to break her cover, I'm not going to wait around for her to find me: better to get on the front foot, get in first. Laszlo told me that when you get in with Genovsky, there's no getting out. He said it's like an abusive marriage.' Born glanced across again. 'What would you do?'
Virgo shrugged. What could he say?
That thing, that missing link, was still bugging him, tugging at his attention. What was it?
They drove on in silence. With a few indecisive mutterings, Born took an exit: Everett/Hendersonville. The gloomy rise of heavy industry piled into the blue-grey of the darkening sky ahead.
CHAPTER 58
THOMAS WHEELAN ROLLED HIS car through the gates. He was OK now; on double dosage, but OK. This was it. The feeds were in place, the tapes ready to roll and there was a lockdown over this sector: he had done his bit. If Marinov had done his, if the software in the planes worked like it did in the test, this would all be over in a few hours. He parked facing away from the entrance. It still felt odd to be driving himself around, but taxis weren't an option at this stage: the thing was best contained. He needed a couple of secret service people to lead the security team and hang with him for protocol, but he had leverage on both of them. They'd do as they were told without question and without reporting back.
Marinov had chosen the codeword for the door. Copenhagen. Wheelan smirked as he muttered it to the guard. Marinov could be funny when you got past the murderous stare. Copenhagen. Birthplace of the quantum theory. That was for Gabe, he figured.
The two men were already waiting in the main hall. Two of the security detail were standing close to the machine, AK-47s slung casually over their shoulders. He hoped his men had chosen their team and their equipment well. When it came down to the wire, this had to look good, like an independent job carried out by well-equipped mercenaries. If there were any bullets fired, they had to be the right kind of bullets, from the right kind of gun. There would be an inquiry, and there would be analysis. And, if all went according to his meticulous plan, no one would even question his story.
Wheelan stepped forward. The woman ahead must be Alexandra Genovsky. She was hanging around the door, checking her watch. She looked nervous. Beautiful, but highly strung. High maintenance, probably. Maybe that was what drove Marinov to such a high price.
That and the high-tech set-up. Wheelan looked around. He couldn't help but be impressed: he had said that it should all look credible, like the operation was being run by professionals. But though he'd supplied the guards, he hadn't quite expected everything else to look so – well, so James Bond.
Not that it wasn't worth paying for a convincing display. Today's charade would change everything for the security services. Starting today, they would be on a path to win every war. Terror, cyber-crime – he smirked, that one was ironic – drugs: everything would cave under the power of what they would create now. In a sense, Joshua wouldn't have died in vain. It wouldn't be a waste if this succeeded. He had failed as a father, and as a husband. He was alone now. But he could still do some good.
He shook hands with his brother-in-law first.
'How are you, Gabe?'
The man looked a wreck. Wheelan hoped he could hold it together for as long as they needed him. 'Everything OK?'
MacIntyre nodded, but without conviction.
Marinov's handshake was strong and swift.
'Everything is ready,' he said. He shot a glance across the room. 'Everything is OK, yes, Alex?'
She nodded.
'Let's begin.'
CHAPTER 59
THEY HAD BEEN DRIVING for forty-five minutes when Born slowed the Lexus to a crawl. The headlights lit up a pair of twisted and broken iron gates, and a tall crane standing sentry over them. The car rolled silently through the gap between the gates, and headed down a muddy track pitted with shallow pools of rainwater. As the track wound through its twists and turns, the headlights streaked over jagged piles of rusted steel: cars, trucks and the occasional naked chassis. Ahead of them was a dark line of trees. It looked like a place things went to die.
'Classy neighbourhood,' Virgo murmured.
Born shook his head. 'This isn't it. We're going down the hill behind the trees.'
As they rolled towards the dense foliage, Born cut the engine and the lights. He let the car's momentum ebb away, then put the transmission into park.
'I'm not taking this in,' Virgo said, holding up the box.
Born hesitated. 'The entanglement generator? We should.'
Virgo shook his head. 'We'll come back for it if we need it.'
Born seemed unsure for a moment, then shrugged. 'OK. We'll put it in the boot.'
Born opened his door. 'Watch your step. It's nasty underfoot.'
Virgo climbed out of the car, his right foot splashing noisily in a shallow puddle. He made his way towards the sole light in view: the one in the Lexus's open boot. He placed the box carefully inside, and Born closed the boot. The dark was total now. For twenty seconds Virgo stood still, unable to see anything in the darkness. Slowly, shapes began to materialise. Another rusting crane towered perilously above him, its boom reaching out into the dark, a bridge to nowhere. At the trees, twenty paces ahead, he could just make out Born's crouching shadow. He was beckoning, urging him forward. Virgo could just about distinguish the darker blotches of the puddles in the mud, and stepped cautiously towards Born.
'It's down there,' Born whispered, pointing past a wire chain-link fence. The ground fell away beyond, and the orange glow of sodium lamps rose up from the dip. Virgo wrapped his jacket tighter around him and wiped the rain from his face.
'Come on,' Born hissed. He moved forward and Virgo followed, shivering. The fence was old and sagging between its posts. Born gripped some links near the ground and yanked them up. Crouching down, Virgo slipped easily underneath, then turned and held it up for Born to follow.
Below them, the bleak landscape of an industrial park stretched over the valley. There were several small buildings dotted around the expanse of concrete, but one vast hangar, the closest building to their vantage point on the slope, dominated the unit. The north-east corner of its roof was spiked with an array of antennae and satellite dishes. He could see no sign of life, but there were a dozen vehicles parked to one side of the main building. Beyond that, tall perimeter fencing ran across the far edge of the concrete. The access gate was out of sight, possibly hidden behind the furthest, smallest hangar.
Born reached out a hand to grab Virgo's sleeve, then started down the slope. They moved quickly, propelled by gravity, but the thick undergrowth gripped their feet. The damp seeped through Virgo's trouser legs as he reached the ground. Ahead of them, the blue corrugated-steel cladding of the largest hangar filled their view. Born moved to his right, skirting the building until he reached its south-west corner. He gripped the steel and leaned so that his eyes were just beyond the building's edge, his left leg rising as a counterbalance. After a couple of seconds, he pulled back.
'Our entrance is just round this corner,' he whispered, pushing his dripping hair behind his e
ars. It's a roller hatch. We're going to run to it, I'll pull it up, and you dive through. OK? Once we're in, I'm not sure which way to go – I never went further than that chamber. But I've got a pretty good idea where the action is. So stick close to me and don't make any noise. We don't exactly look like we're invited guests.'
Virgo wiped the rain from his hair and face. His feet felt cold and wet inside his boots, and his trousers clung to his legs. But he had been colder and wetter. 'OK,' he nodded. Born turned and peered round the corner again, then looked back.
'Now.'
They crouched and scuttled the thirty yards to the roller hatch. It was a metre off the ground and two metres square. Born lifted it with little effort, and Virgo climbed in.
He found himself sitting on a conveyor belt inside a large, white-panelled room. There were a few dozen packing boxes strewn across the floor, but otherwise it was empty. As Born followed him through, he moved along the belt, then stepped down onto the floor. He felt a rush of adrenaline flood through him, delivering a sense of dizzy elation.
They were in.
CHAPTER 60
KATIE WAS STRUGGLING TO stay awake. The memory of her mother, and of what she had done to Ramón – and, worse, Miguel – continued to play in her mind. But it wasn't enough to stop her from falling asleep. Should she just give in? Was there anything she could do now?
Nothing but sit and get through this. For her father's sake. How could she be in this position, where his life depended on her? It was all wrong. When she'd had her accident, he took care of her, he stroked her head as she lay there. She was his little girl. How could she save him?
And she didn't know enough to take both their lives in her hands. It was no use asking Vicente: it was obvious that he now knew nothing more than she did about what was going on. She wondered whether he had even been on a plane before. He'd been terrified by the take-off. He was quiet now, but he'd talked unceasingly about his family – not seeming to care whether or not she was listening – for the first hour of the flight. It was odd that he hadn't mentioned Ramón after that first question. She wasn't going to bring it up; she could hardly bear the thought of what she'd been driven to do. Her mind flashed to her friends, to Gemma, to the things they talked about. They'd sworn to tell each other everything, to keep no secret from each other. How could she ever tell Gemma what she'd done today?
Katie closed her eyes to keep the tears from forming. Miguel was singing inside her head. She had made him an orphan. She had killed a little boy's father and turned him into an orphan.
She couldn't think like that. She had no choice. At school, they would all talk occasionally about what they would do if some man tried to abduct them, or rape them. They were all agreed: you did everything you could to get away, everything you had to. Whatever it took. Miguel's father had kidnapped her, would have happily raped her. She couldn't hold herself to blame for anything.
She could get up and ask to speak to the pilot. The cabin crew wouldn't allow it whether they were in on this or not. And, for all his apparent docility, Vicente was still armed. Katie looked around the cabin, wondering if there was some kind of sky marshal on board. If so, he or she would be back in economy. She had no chance of spotting a marshal anyway: that was the point. In a few hours, she would be landing in Montreal. And, one way or another, it would all be over.
CHAPTER 61
VIRGO LOOKED AT HIS watch. Born was listening intently at the door. What was he waiting for – cocktail hour? Eventually, he squeezed carefully down on the handle, cautiously pulling it open, and poked his head into the corridor outside. With a nod, he summoned Virgo to follow him out of the packing room. For a moment, Born paused, assessing the layout left and right. He chose right.
He looked almost comical, jogging his bulk through the narrow corridors. They moved quickly, the thin ocean-blue carpet deadening the sound of their footfalls. At the first turn, Born halted with a raised palm, and peered round the corner. Virgo pulled up behind. The hand waved him on again – Virgo couldn't help smirking; Born really was hamming it up, military-style – and they turned the corner. This corridor's walls were painted a pale green, and they passed a number of closed white doors leading off from either side. Halfway down, another corridor led off to the left. Born paused at the junction, then took the turn.
He took them through several more turns, but the corridors were all empty. Virgo was disoriented, but he felt sure they were heading to the centre of the building. Suddenly, at a crossroads, Born pulled to a halt, causing Virgo to bundle into him. Born looked at his watch, then took the right turn into yet another long, narrow corridor. Its walls were painted in an industrial orange. There were three doors along its length, all on the right hand side.
How long were they going to keep this up?
Then: click.
He knew what was wrong.
Born hadn't reacted when Virgo had mentioned Katie back in the hotel room. He knew about her. He already knew.
And now Born was delivering Virgo – and Gierek's machine – to Genovsky. He was tying up her loose ends.
Everything in Virgo fell into silent concentration. There was no decision to make: he knew enough now. Now he had to sidestep the clumsy trap.
He flicked his left foot into Born's ankle. As Born stumbled, Virgo crashed the back of his fist into his right cheek, knocking him against the orange wall. Born was off his guard, and another blow to the head knocked him out. Virgo opened the nearest door. It was a small room with three chairs. And, more important, no people. Grabbing Born's ankles, struggling against the dead weight, Virgo dragged him into the room and shut the door.
His mind raced back over the path they'd taken through the building. It was a blur, but if he could head back towards the south-west, he would surely find that green corridor again. He crouched over Born's prostrate body, and rifled quickly through his pockets. The key to the Lexus was in the inside pocket of his jacket. With it, Virgo found a handgun.
He looked it over for a moment. He had never fired a gun. But then he had never knocked anyone out before yesterday, and now he'd done it twice: this was proving to be a prime moment for new experiences. He got up, put the Lexus key in his pocket and stuffed the gun into the back of his waistband. He pulled his jacket back down over the bulge and moved towards the door. Time to find Genovsky.
He reached for the door handle, but something grabbed at his ankle, and he wheeled round. Born had started to come round already. He was up on one elbow, his right eye darkening and caked blood on his chin.
'Give Katie a chance,' Born croaked.
Virgo hesitated, then pulled out the gun. He held it by the barrel, like a cosh, over Born's head. 'What do you know about Katie? Tell me what's going on,' he hissed.
'Genovsky told me to find out what I could about Gierek's machine and bring you in with it,' Born replied. His voice was still slightly slurred. 'She didn't kill you yet because she's worried about the entanglement generator: she thinks it will decode what's on the disks.'
All the stories about Gierek's box of tricks really had worked.
'So you're working for Genovsky now? At the house – she talked you into it?'
Born lifted himself upright. 'I told you. The quantum computer is my life's work – the only great thing I have ever done.' Born motioned out of the door. 'It's there, Nathaniel, down the hallway, ready and waiting. Would you walk away?' His voice was almost pleading.
That was the trouble with obsession. It clouded judgement. Born had already lost most of his life to the quantum computer, and now everything that remained of his integrity was falling over the edge.
'So you learned nothing from what happened with Becca?'
'The machine is all I have left now.'
'What about all that stuff about physics, finding the meaning of existence? The university exploiting you? Genovsky the criminal, the gangster –' Born raised his eyebrows in response. His eyes were still cloudy, like he had downed a drink too many. 'They're all gang
sters, Nathaniel. It's just that some of them operate within the law.'
Such calm treachery. Virgo brought the butt of the gun closer to Born's head.
'And what about the plane? Were you lying about Katie too?'
Born seemed unmoved by the display of aggression. 'No. She's on a plane headed for the US. Genovsky called and told me about it when I was coming over to you. She told me they'd be taking over Katie's plane, and that I should use that if I needed an extra reason to get you here with the entanglement generator.'
Virgo started to feel the approach of panic – his stomach was plummeting, and his breathing had become laboured and shallow. There was no time for panic now. He took a deep breath.
'So what's going on in here?' he said.
'They're using the quantum computer to listen in on encrypted communications between the Pentagon and the White House. I don't know what they're going to do to the plane, exactly. Divert it for a bit, I guess. Give themselves something to listen to.'
Then he saw a glimmer of hope. They couldn't arrange a hijack on Katie's plane just like that. Could they?
Born must know something else. Virgo grabbed Born's shirt.
'Tell me more, Born. How come you're on Genovsky's team now?'
'She needed a new Gierek. That's why she didn't kill me.' Born looked genuinely scared. 'She had a knife strapped to her ankle – she cut herself free as soon as she came around. I agreed to work for her if she didn't kill me.'
Bastard.
'I'll bet it wasn't a tough sell, was it?' Virgo hissed. 'Back in Oxford, you had a gleam in your eye even then. You took the disk from her car, didn't you? When we couldn't find it on her, you went out of your way to get it, then told me it wasn't there.'
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