The Gamma Option Read Online Free PDF Page B

sometime?”
    “It’s top secret, sir. No visitors allowed.”
    “You’ve got connections, kid.”
    “Could we, si—, Blaine? Could we really?”
    “Just name the time.”
    “I’d like that. I really would.” His face turned quizzical again. “But what exactly did you do while you were in London?”
    “When we get to the city, I’ll show you.”
    They came to Parliament Square in the middle of the day. Blaine had never intended to give the boy such a detailed glimpse into his history, much less such an infamous occurrence. But, damn it, he was caught up in it all, the boy’s adulation and interest serving to open up areas of discussion he had kept closed for years. And didn’t Matt have a right to know, if anyone did?
    “What’s so important about Churchill’s statue?” he wondered as they drew up close to it.
    “Bet you didn’t know they had to rebuild a section.”
    “I didn’t. Is it important?”
    “Not really. Except for the reason.”
    “Reason?”
    They moved closer.
    “Notice the slight discoloration in the great coat right after it breaks beneath his stomach?”
    “I guess so. Why?”
    “They repaired it after I shot off a rather important anatomical area.”
    The boy’s eyes bulged, then glared at him disbelievingly. “You’re making it up.”
    “You don’t really believe that.”
    “Okay, why did you do it then?”
    Blaine eased his arm tenderly around the boy’s shoulder. “Another story for another day, kid.”
    They spent hours at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Not surprisingly, Matt was most fascinated by the military exhibits. Blaine found himself enjoying the time just as much. After all, besides rejection his greatest fear in starting this relationship twelve years late was that he would have nothing in common with the boy. Well, he couldn’t have asked for much more than this and dared to wonder whether such interests could be hereditary.
    They climbed to the whispering pews of St. Paul’s Cathedral and lunched at a traditional London pub in the business district called Smithfield’s. From there they took the underground to Pall Mall where Matt spent ten minutes expounding to McCracken, and a half-dozen others who had gathered, on the rigorous combat training endured by the red-clad, black-capped horsemen who ceremonially patrol the gates.
    “Do you think I should join the army?” Matt asked as they strolled away.
    “That depends on a lot of things you’re too young to consider now.”
    “Not really,” Matthew responded maturely. “Seventh formers at Reading can sign up either with the RAF or the infantry on Friday afternoons to cover their community service. That’s not very far off at all.”
    “No, it isn’t.”
    “So, should I sign up or not?”
    Blaine tried to show how happy he was at being consulted. “It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. If it’s important to you, absolutely.”
    “Was it important to you?”
    “To enlist, you mean? Well, there was this thing called the draft and my number was about to come up anyway and college was a bore, so I joined. That way I got my choice of service.”
    “And you chose Green Beret …”
    Blaine hedged. “Well, actually it was chosen for me a few months into training.”
    “You didn’t tell me that.”
    “Got to save some stuff for later.”
    “And what about what you did in the Phoenix Project?”
    “Also later.”
    Matt hesitated. “You haven’t told me much about what you’re doing now.” And before McCracken could answer, the boy did it for him, a smile flashing through the words. “I know—later.”
    It was well past dark by the time Blaine got the boy back to Reading School and watched him disappear through a door.
    “Thought it was you,” John Neville said as he approached McCracken with Bodie and Doyle restrained on leashes. They fought to greet McCracken as well. “I’ve just been out walking my dogs.”
    “Sorry I’m so late.”
    “I didn’t give you a curfew. It