‘You know, not all Brits are obsessed with tea,’ she mock-chided. ‘Just like we don’t all talk like Dick Van Dyke and have bad teeth.’
Tony was caught off guard. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean…’
She let him off the hook. ‘But I like tea.’
‘Great. We’ll pick up in twenty minutes, then.’
They left the briefing room. Bianca followed Tony, but Adam went to the Bullpen. Bianca glanced back as he entered. Was he going to talk to one of the analysts, or…
‘I’ll catch up,’ she told Tony as they passed one of the bathrooms. He nodded and continued on his way. She went into the ladies’ room, waited until she was sure he would be out of sight, then returned to the door of the Bullpen.
Her card opened it. She went inside. No sign of Adam. The nearest person she knew by name was Holly Jo. ‘Hi. I’m looking for Adam — did he just come in here?’
‘Yes, he went into the Cube.’ The Specialist wagged a manicured finger towards the door.
‘Okay, thanks.’ Bianca crossed the chamber, Holly Jo watching her with curiosity.
She stopped outside the Cube’s entrance, considered what she was about to say, then knocked. After a few seconds she got a reply, and entered.
This time Adam was on the couch. He sat upright. ‘Bianca, hi. What can I do for you?’
His greeting was so similar in tone and cadence to that of a few hours earlier that it could have been a recording. ‘Oh, nothing — just a social call,’ she said. ‘I thought that since we’ll be working together, it might be helpful if we got to know each other better.’
He didn’t recoil in horror at the prospect, but neither did he display any enthusiasm. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Just a bit more about you, really. I mean you you, not agent you.’
That finally brought a glimmer of emotion to his face, though it wasn’t one she had expected. He seemed mildly bewildered by the very idea. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, sure. What are you like when you’re not being someone else? I’d like to know.’
‘Well, I’m…’ He hesitated. ‘I can’t—’
The door flew open, Kiddrick rushing in. He had the manic aggression of someone who expected to discover their spouse in flagrante. ‘What’s going on?’
‘What do you mean, what’s going on?’ said Bianca, surprised.
‘I mean, what are you doing in here with Adam?’
‘I’m… talking to him? Like I have been for the past three hours.’
‘He comes in here for privacy and quiet,’ Kiddrick snapped. ‘Not for chit-chat! When he’s in here, it’s because he wants to get away from the stresses of his work. You should respect that, and stay out of here.’
‘Are you his dad or something?’ said Bianca, riled by his attitude.
His eyes bulged even wider than usual. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said, are you his dad? Are we in your house? Because you seem to be setting ground rules for everyone.’
He drew himself to his full height. ‘Now look here! I created the Persona Project, and when I tell you to do something—’
‘Is there a problem?’ said Tony, entering.
Kiddrick spun to face him. ‘She’s talking to Adam!’
He nodded calmly. ‘Okay. And you’re angry about that because…?’
‘Because she shouldn’t be! The Cube is supposed to be a refuge, a sanctum — you of all people should—’
Another person appeared. ‘This room doesn’t sound much like a sanctum to me,’ said Morgan. ‘What’s going on?’
Kiddrick spoke first, jabbing a finger at Bianca. ‘She—’
‘Dr Childs,’ Morgan interjected. ‘What’s all this about?’
‘I just wanted to ask Adam something,’ she replied, taking brief pleasure in Kiddrick’s fury at being cut off. ‘The next thing that happened was that Dr Kiddrick burst in here like the Tasmanian Devil.’
Kiddrick glared at her, then turned to Morgan. ‘You know why I—’
He was interrupted again. ‘All right,’ said Morgan. ‘Dr Kiddrick, calm down — we can discuss this in my office. Dr Childs, I know that you’re new both to STS and the entire working ethos of an intelligence agency, but you have to realise that this is not a social club.’
‘It wasn’t as if I was asking him out on a date,’ she protested.
‘I’m sure you weren’t. But please, in future, if Adam is in here, then respect his privacy. Okay, Dr Kiddrick?’
Still seething, Kiddrick stomped past him back out into the Bullpen. Morgan gestured for Bianca and Tony to follow. They did, Bianca looking back at Adam. His gaze met hers, still seeming perturbed by her interest.
Outside, the commotion had drawn an audience. ‘All right, show’s over,’ said Morgan as he closed the door. Heads reluctantly turned back to monitors. ‘And where are you going?’
Tony was guiding Bianca to an exit. ‘Getting back to what we were doing, Martin. Adam and I were taking a break from briefing Dr Childs. She’s British, she can’t function for long without tea.’
Morgan made an amused sound. ‘All right. But don’t take too long about it.’
They headed for the break room. Bianca shook her head. ‘Talk about overreacting.’
‘I’m sorry, I should have warned you,’ said Tony. ‘Kiddrick doesn’t like Adam… well, he calls it “fraternising” with anyone.’
‘Roger mentioned it,’ she said, remembering her earlier conversation. ‘So where exactly do I stand with Kiddrick? Is he my boss?’
A small laugh. ‘He likes to think he’s everyone’s boss. But no, he’s not. He and Roger both report directly to Martin, but they’re equal in… not rank, exactly, but position. They’re outside the operational chain of command, though.’
‘So if I’m standing in for Roger, does that mean I’ve got equal status to Kiddrick?’
‘As far as I’m concerned, yes.’
‘Good! I’ll remember that the next time he goes off on one at me.’
Tony laughed again. ‘That should be fun to watch. Okay, let’s get your tea.’
The long day over, Bianca returned to her car. The Fusion was not all the agency had provided; although her own phone was compatible with the US network, she had still been given another, Tony explaining that it had ‘NSA-grade security’. However, that was of less interest to her than having the American government pay for her international calls.
So, she first rang her parents to assure them she was perfectly fine and her sudden decampment to the other side of the Atlantic was nothing to worry about; then James Harding to say much the same for business rather than personal reassurance. The good news there was that the deal had gone through, the investors finally signing earlier that day. Harper’s threat had remained unused. Her absence would not even be an immediate issue — as Albion had said, everything was now in the hands of lawyers and bankers.
‘But,’ said James, ‘you will be back here when everything gets moving again, won’t you? You are rather important to Thymirase’s development, after all.’
There was definite concern behind his understatement. Bianca couldn’t do much to alleviate it. ‘Believe me, I’ll be back the second Roger is on his feet. When that’ll be, though… I don’t know. A few weeks. Maybe.’
‘Hopefully not much longer. Are you seriously telling me there’s literally not a single person in the whole of the States who could take over for him?’
‘Apparently not,’ she replied, deciding he wouldn’t like the truth even if she could tell him.
‘Oh. Great. Still, whatever it is you’re up to is obviously important, considering I had MI6 talk to me yesterday and somebody from the US embassy today. So make sure you claim for everything you can think of on your expenses, all right?’