The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,136

out.’

‘Look, I completely understand why you want to do it,’ said Tony, with more sympathy, ‘but this isn’t the way to go about it.’

‘It’s the only choice I had! He’ll be in Cuba by the end of the day.’

‘Where he’ll be interrogated. They’ll find out what he knows.’

‘And how long will that take? A week? A month? A year? Tony, I can find out everything he knows in five minutes! And not just about me – he knows who leaked the Secretary of State’s route in Islamabad. Qasid gave it to al-Rais – and a mole gave it to Qasid. I can get the name of that mole right now.’

Tony seemed conflicted. ‘If there’s a mole, I can’t deny that we need to know who he is sooner rather than later. But this isn’t the way to go about it.’

‘There isn’t any other way,’ Adam insisted. ‘And I’m willing to take the consequences for it.’

‘But it’s not just about you.’ Tony looked at Bianca. ‘If you drag her into this too . . .’

‘He didn’t drag me,’ said Bianca firmly. ‘I want to help him.’

He sighed and shook his head. ‘I wish you hadn’t said that. I don’t think you realise how serious this is.’

‘No, I do realise,’ she replied. ‘And I’m still willing to help him, because – because he’s had part of his self taken from him. To me, that’s one of the most horrible things that can happen to somebody. I’ve spent my whole career trying to save people from that. This might be the only way to help Adam remember who he really is. Please, Tony. If anyone can really understand what’s happened to him, it’s you.’

A long silence. ‘If you do this,’ Tony finally said, ‘or rather, if I let you do this, we could all end up in jail.’

‘If you weren’t going to let us,’ Adam pointed out, ‘you would have arrested us by now.’

‘I still might. But are you absolutely certain Qasid knows the identity of the mole in Pakistan?’

Adam nodded. ‘Al-Rais was.’

Another pause. ‘Okay,’ Tony said, ‘if there’s actual, actionable intelligence you can get from this, that’s the angle I’ll use to justify it.’

‘You’re letting us do it?’ Bianca asked.

‘As head of field ops, I’ve got the authority to make snap decisions critical to a mission’s outcome.’

‘But the mission’s over,’ said Adam.

‘Yeah, I know. I’ll have a hell of a job spinning it! But if it changes the outcome from “near disaster” to “partial success”, maybe we’ll get away with it. It’s results that count.’

‘And what if we don’t find the mole?’ said Bianca.

‘Well, then we’re all screwed! But if you don’t get any useful intel, I’ll do what I can to make it look like none of this ever took place. If Martin or anyone higher up hears so much as a whisper, though, there’s no way I’ll be able to cover it up.’

‘I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,’ said Adam, with a faint smile.

Tony looked at his watch. ‘Okay. You’ve got ten minutes, and then you’re out of here, no matter what. Just don’t forget to give him the Mnemexal after you’re done, okay?’ He stabbed a finger at Qasid, who was starting to recover. ‘I’ll get back on the system and confirm that I authorised you to come in here so it doesn’t get kicked up a level for a security check.’ He looked up at the camera, signalling to the guard. The lock clacked. ‘Ten minutes, no more.’

‘That’s all we’ll need,’ said Adam. ‘Thanks.’ Tony nodded, then opened the door. ‘One thing – what changed your mind?’

Tony looked back at him. ‘“Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge,” said Khalil Gibran. And in this business, we need all the knowledge we can get.’

Bianca was impressed that he could quote the Lebanese poet. ‘That’s very philosophical. Especially for this early in the morning.’

‘I’m full of surprises. Now do what you need to do.’ He left, closing the door behind him.

‘We’d better get on with it, then,’ said Adam.

‘I just hope we’re not making a horrible mistake,’ Bianca replied.

‘Me too. Do it.’

Bianca injected both men, then activated the transfer process, watching the PERSONA’s screen carefully for any signs that the unplanned procedure had gone wrong. There were none. Minutes passed before the flood of electrical impulses began to slow. She made the last checks. The computer told her that everything was normal. She gave Qasid a dose of Mnemexal, then knelt beside her companion. His eyes