The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,27
of earshot. ‘What’s going on? What’s happened to Roger?’
‘You do know him, then?’ said the man.
‘Yes, he was my professor when I was doing my doctorate. And my friend, too. Is he okay?’
‘I’m afraid he’s in hospital.’
‘What happened to him?’
He lowered his voice. ‘He was shot.’
‘Shot!’ Bianca cried. ‘Oh my God!’
‘He’s in a stable condition, but he’s had to undergo surgery, and is very weak. He’s asked to see you.’
‘How did he get shot?’ Bianca demanded, before coming up with another, more immediate question: ‘Who are you?’
The man took out his own ID card. ‘My name’s Tony Carpenter. I work for the Central Intelligence Agency.’
‘The CIA?’ Now she was completely lost. ‘What’s Roger got to do with the CIA?’
‘He was helping us with an operation. The reason we asked our British partners,’ he nodded at Sergeant, ‘to find you is that Roger thinks you can help us too.’
‘How? What kind of operation?’
‘I can’t discuss that here, I’m afraid. But it’s a matter of national security. We have a jet waiting; we can talk about it on the flight.’
‘On the flight? Wait a minute,’ said Bianca, now feeling as if the ground had opened up under her feet and sent her tumbling down the rabbit hole. ‘I can’t just jet off to the States at the drop of a hat. I’m in the middle of something; I need to be here to answer questions for our investors . . .’
‘We’ll take care of everything with Mr Harding,’ said Sergeant impatiently.
‘And,’ added Tony, ‘I’m very confident that the venture group is going to buy into Luminica to secure the Thymirase research and patents, even without you here. Just a feeling.’
‘How do you know about . . . oh. Right. CIA. MI6.’ She gave the pair a disapproving frown. ‘I’m pretty sure there are laws against that.’
Sergeant looked to be struggling not to roll her eyes. ‘Dr Childs, we can’t force you to go, but we – that is, Her Majesty’s Government – think it’s very important that you do. As Mr Carpenter said, it’s a national security issue. Lives could depend on it.’
‘I don’t understand how, though,’ Bianca protested. ‘Roger’s in pharmaceutical research; he’s a neurochemist, like me. He helps develop medicines. How does that affect national security?’
‘The best person to explain that is Roger himself,’ said Tony. ‘He specifically asked to see you, and said you’re the only person capable of duplicating his work.’
‘Me?’ That came as a surprise; he was a friend, yes, but she’d had no idea he rated her so highly.
And what was his work? What could he be working on that was so important to the CIA and MI6? She had to admit, she was now curious . . .
‘How long will this take?’ she asked. ‘I mean, after I’ve seen Roger – you just mentioned duplicating his work. Do you want me to carry on with it?’
‘Right now?’ said Tony. ‘I can’t give you an answer. It depends what Roger has to say. But we can have you back in England tomorrow, if that’s what you want.’
She looked back towards the function room. ‘It’s just . . . the timing . . .’
‘As I said, we’ll talk to Mr Harding,’ Sergeant told her. ‘I’m sure he’ll be understanding.’ She sounded vaguely threatening.
‘Okay, so if I say yes, what happens?’
‘We’ll stop by your home so you can pick up your passport and clothes, your toothbrush, anything else you need,’ said Tony. ‘Then we’ll drive to the airport and the plane will take us to DC.’
‘Just like that? No queuing, no having my shoes scanned for bombs and my nail clippers confiscated?’
‘It’s a US government jet, and it’s been sent here specifically to fly you to the States.’
‘Huh. Well, I guess I’ve got to go, then. It’d be an awful waste of jet fuel if I didn’t.’
‘The US taxpayers appreciate it,’ Tony said, with a light edge of sarcasm.
‘I was more concerned about the polar bears, but . . .’ She was still in two minds, but foremost in both was the thought of her former teacher and mentor. Whatever had happened to him was clearly serious, and he had specifically requested to see her. Without Albion’s tutelage she wouldn’t be where she was today. She owed him a lot; certainly enough to visit him in hospital. That the American government thought the meeting important enough to put a private jet at her disposal added an almost irresistible layer of intrigue.