“Miss Korvesky is now officially a part of the Group, she has been signed off on by the president. That leaves Master Chief Jenks, you, Colonel Farbeaux, and our young friend, Mr. Morales.”
“Easy for me,” Henri said as his face corkscrewed into a sour look as he tasted the coffee. “I’ll take a check just like you offered this young man and then I’ll take my leave.” He smiled and sat back down next to Anya, who sat with a bemused look on her face.
The pistol appeared in Henri’s face just as he lifted the Styrofoam cup to his lips. The look in the former Mossad agent’s face was telling him she had little patience for his offhanded joking. She cocked the nine millimeter.
“Okay, that’s a very good negotiating tactic,” Henri said as he sipped his coffee, but everyone saw that the Frenchman never blinked. This was not, after all, the first time he had had a gun shoved in his face.
“We do things a little differently here, Miss Korvesky,” Niles said as he watched Jack slowly place his thumb between the hammer and the firing pin of the Glock pistol. He easily removed it from a very disappointed Anya. He moved back to the bar after ejecting the clip and placed the weapon on the dusty top. He gave a sour look at his security men, who had supposedly assured them that Anya was not armed. Henri winked as he lowered his cup of coffee, but there was very little humor in the gesture.
“What can I say,” Henri said as he turned to face Collins and then back at Anya, “you have piqued my interest.”
“Henri, when this operation is completed one way or the other, you’re free to go on your merry way. Until then you belong to me. Complete your duties and the guarantee that the president gave you concerning amnesty for all crimes committed within our borders will be expunged as promised six months ago.”
“In other words, the same agreement I said yes to before the war — that one,” he said angrily as he was shocked to learn that Collins had another plan.
“The very same, Henri.”
“So, the colonel is in. I suppose it’s not necessary for you to fill out nondisclosure paperwork, Colonel?” Niles asked with the eyebrow over his new eye patch raised in interest.
“I believe you have absorbed too much of Colonel Collins’s fantastic personality, Mr. Director.”
“Yes, I imagine I have. Now, you, Master Chief.”
Jenks pulled the cigar out of his mouth. “Are we gonna do what Ginny said we were gonna do?”
Niles looked at the master chief. The man was decorated by the president for his actions during the war. Afterward he flew home angry when he learned of Everett’s death and had not spoken to anyone since. It was as if they were to blame for Everett’s actions in vanishing into that wormhole.
“We are, yes.” Niles was silent after the answer.
“Then I guess signing on to your ship of fools for life is the price I have to pay to the devil?”
“Yes,” Niles said.
Jenks looked at Virginia, who only stared back, waiting for his final answer.
“And engineering is all mine, unlimited budget?”
“To a degree, yes,” Compton said, still feeling uneasy at the offer Virginia had negotiated for Jenks. But they needed the master chief just as much as Morales.
“Then I’m in,” he said as he tossed his dead cigar away. Then Jenks went and retrieved it after a dirty look from Virginia. “As I said”—he looked at the angry nuclear physicist—“I’m in.” She smiled and dipped her head.
“That leaves Mr. Morales,” Compton said as he finally took in the brilliant computer whiz. The young man remained silent. After being told the short version of what this agency did, Morales had become introspective as he thought it out. He had heard rumors of a hidden government agency and had even been close to finding out more details just before his brother’s murder had stalled his private investigation of this mysterious agency.
The young man simply retrieved the envelope with the cashier’s check inside and slid it away from him, giving hope to Niles that he was accepting. He looked at Jason, Sarah, Mendenhall, Rodriguez, and Charlie, and then dipped his dark hair in deference to them. He spoke the first words Niles and Collins had ever heard him speak.
“Thank you for getting me out of the situation I was in.” He half smiled at the five people he had thanked. “But it was a situation I was willing to accept for what I had done. In other words no matter what my fate would have been, it was one that I had chosen.”
“Even though that fate was to be torn limb from limb by wild animals?” Jason said, not liking the way the brilliant computer wunderkind was speaking.
“Yes, even that. That man and men like him killed my brother and many, many more with names just as familiar to me and my family. I’m afraid I decline your offer. I have much more work to do at a place a little closer to home for me.”
“I see,” Niles said. Compton cleared his throat and then looked at Rodriguez. He nodded at the director. “Europa, are you online?” Niles asked.
Everyone in the dusty room saw the largest of the five monitors come to life. The printed response was now a familiar sign to those who had been working on Europa since the death of Pete Golding. It was also one of the main reasons why Morales was needed. Europa had not used her voice algorithm since the day she learned Golding would not be coming home. She had remained totally silent. She always fulfilled her duties, but would never respond in voice, only with written text. The Marilyn Monroe voice had not been heard in the computer sciences division since that day.
“Online Director Compton.”
“Visual?” Compton asked.
“Optics available.”
“Identify and authenticate manufacturing certificate.”
“XP 2760, Blue Ice systems, Code-named; Europa, Cray manufacturing certificate number—0005, last of series, platform was discontinued in 2001.”
Niles and the others watched the face of Morales and for the first time he showed that he was listening. Still, he sat silent.
“Europa, query,” Niles said.
“Query.”
“Progress on replacement search, computer sciences division director?”
All eyes went to the screen; even Morales looked up as if only curious.
The room was silent as Europa was dark. Only the flashing cursor showed she was still operational.
“Europa, answer query,” Niles persisted.
Silence and darkness on the screen. Compton looked over at Morales, who sat stoically in his wheelchair.
“Europa, number of qualified candidates?”
“Seventeen qualified candidates.”
“List the seventeen, please,” Niles asked, knowing what was coming.
Silence again. Compton exchanged looks with Virginia and Collins. They were as mystified as he. Still, Europa was dark, just the flashing cursor after Compton’s query.
“Europa, list qualified candidates as chosen by computer sciences, please.”
“Xavier Morales.”
All eyes went to the quiet man in the corner. His brows rose but that was the limit of his surprise.
“List the names of other candidates, please.”
Silence and darkness on the screen.
“Europa, separate query, file clearance, Compton, Niles, director, Department 5656. Criminal activity file, United States, query: name person or persons responsible for breaking security protocols for Europa Blue Ice system in the winter of 2012?”
“Xavier Morales, age 25 years 3 months, Los Angeles, California. Duration of criminal activity, seventeen seconds. Trace completed 1/23/2012. No charges filed this date.”