Prologue Read Online Free PDF Page A

pride myself on my ability to fulfill my assignments.”
“Of course. And I pride myself that my agents do so, or else they don’t stay in the Northeast District too long. There are always monitoring posts open in eastern Nevada , you know.”
Natasha waited for him to continue.
Igor stood up and sat on the corner of his desk. “You’ll have a good time in Boston ,” he continued, softening his tone. “I was posted there once myself, and it’s a challenging place to be, you know. That’s why we chose the best person we could put in the field.”
“Thank you.”
He waved. “Hey, let’s get out of this overgrown cubicle and go over a few things in the conference room. Tea?”
“Thank you.”
Igor buzzed for two cups of tea to be brought to the conference room. He opened a connecting door and ushered her in. After tea and pleasantries he switched off the lights, and she turned to face the screen.
“ Boston ,” Igor said from behind her. He touched the laptop and the Boston skyline appeared on the projection screen. “Hell of a pretty place, but also the most dangerous place on earth for a Central Agency operative. We’ve lost more promising agents there than anywhere else in the world. Some are killed by hooligans, some defect, some have to be prevented from defecting.”
He turned to look at her. She avoided his eyes and studied the screen.
Click. “The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Astrophysics. Outside of work the faculty here can’t mention the titles of their papers without losing listeners. Only the best of the best work here. And one of them is…”
Click. “Professor Paul deVere.” Natasha scrutinized the face. About the age her father would have been, she guessed, early fifties. A nice face. Lacking that hard, protective shell Soviet males acquire by their late teens.
“One of the most brilliant minds in MIT. Family man, lives a quiet life in Concord , faithful to his bitch of a wife, dotes on his teenage daughter.”
Click. “The Astrophysics research lab at MIT. Tallest high-rise in Cambridge . Secured building. DeVere is one of five professors with complete security clearance.”
Click. “Six months ago deVere began staying later at the lab. He didn’t have any new research projects or classes, which is to say, there was no obvious reason for his doing so. He had been reading up on time travel intensely during that time as well.”
“Time travel?”
“Hawking, Sone, David. Seems absurd, of course, but we’re not sure where it will all lead.”
“That isn’t his area of expertise, though,” Natasha said.
“I see you read those stupefying briefing books,” Igor said. “Yes, but coupled with his new hours in the lab, we are, naturally, curious.”
“Naturally.”
“Cameras can only show so much. And even people in the Northeast District know better than to discuss anything sensitive over a phone or Gorenect-mail. We need an operative in the lab. That is where you come in.”
Click. “Your background in physics is suitable for this assignment, which is why you get to sample the joys of freedom,” Igor said, his voice dripping sarcasm, “while you find out what deVere is up to.”
“He’s working alone?”
Igor nodded. “At this time we don’t have reason to think there’s anyone else involved. Another department member is Lewis Ginter”–click–“a veteran of the Balkan Wars of ’04, Special Operations and a known anti-Soviet, as you might guess. From what we can tell, he’s deVere’s only real friend in the department. They appear to be drinking buddies, they meet in sports bars after work and when deVere absolutely has to get away from his wife he’ll go to sporting events with Ginter. They seem to have some sort of attraction for the Boston Baseball Club although Ginter, being from New York City , appears to be a fan of the New York Metropolitans baseball team. And for a Negro, Ginter’s unusually bright. It’s my personal belief he’s