The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,43
about Adam just to spite The Man. There’s something . . . well, wrong. Not with him, but about him, if that makes any sense. Nobody’s that unreadable – nobody who’s still able to function, anyway. But Adam’s so blank I’d consider it a form of catatonic stupor if it wasn’t for the rather obvious fact that he’s fully active and lucid.’
Albion’s demeanour suggested that he knew considerably more about the subject, but was not going to share it with her. ‘And you think you can help him?’
‘If I can.’
‘You haven’t changed much since you were my student,’ he said. ‘Too tenacious for your own good.’
‘You can’t achieve anything if you don’t stick at it.’
‘Just make sure you don’t get completely stuck. Anyway!’ He changed position again. ‘Time to polish up another of your student skills, and do some acting. I still need you to help keep my job!’
After another couple of hours at the hospital, Bianca returned to STS, driving the Ford Fusion that had been provided for her. The sedan was larger than her own car, and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road in Washington’s traffic did not make the trip a comfortable experience. But the satnav, once she puzzled it out, at least meant that she didn’t get lost.
Tony was waiting for her in the fifth-floor lobby. ‘Hi there.’
‘Hi,’ she replied. ‘You look like you were expecting me.’
‘I had the security system beep me when you used your ID to get into the elevator.’ She had been issued with the card shortly before leaving the previous evening. ‘Thought I’d welcome you, it being your first proper day on the job.’
‘I can’t exactly say I’m thrilled to be here,’ she said, before softening a little. ‘Nothing personal.’
‘No offence taken. How’s the car?’
‘It’s nice. A bit too big with just me in it, though. Feels like I’m wasting petrol. Or gas, I suppose I should say.’
‘STS is picking up the tab, so don’t worry about it. And the hotel?’
‘It’s fine. It’s . . . a hotel.’ She shrugged.
‘We’ll set you up with an apartment soon. You don’t want to be living out of a suitcase the whole time you’re here.’
‘However long that is.’
‘So how is Roger, since that depends on him?’
‘Well, he’s started making divorce plans, so that’s hopefully a sign of improvement.’
Tony laughed. ‘Sounds like he’s getting back to his old self.’ They walked down a hallway.
‘How long have you known him?’ she asked.
‘More than two years. Since I came on to the Persona Project.’
‘Two years? I thought Adam only joined ten months ago.’
‘There was a lot of work needed to set things up. Let’s face it, what we do here sounds like science fiction – it’s complicated. And sometimes things didn’t go as planned.’
‘But everything’s working fine now?’
‘Yeah. Well, until Roger got shot.’ They reached a set of security doors. Tony was about to use his card to open them, before smiling. ‘After you.’
Bianca put her own card in the slot, getting a green light. ‘That’s a relief. I’d hate to get a red light when I was running for the loo.’
They went through. ‘You’ve got access to pretty much the whole floor,’ he said. ‘Everywhere except data storage and the weapons and equipment room.’
‘What, you’ve got your own Q Branch full of guns and spy gadgets?’
‘So we can mobilise quickly if we need to. It’s easier to have most everything we might need on site, rather than rounding it up from a dozen different places.’
‘What about the rest of the building? You said yesterday that STS has everything above the company downstairs. Is Persona only on this floor?’
‘Yeah. The floor below us is STS bureaucracy; it handles paperwork for operations here and at other STS facilities. The floor above’s like this one, with another Bullpen – projects can be assigned there if need be. There’s nothing active upstairs at the moment, though. Or if there is,’ he added drily, ‘it’s so secret nobody’s told me about it. Then there’s a machine floor above that with air-con, water tanks, that sort of thing. The building’s actually designed to be self-sufficient, by the way – if there’s a biological or chemical attack, it can be sealed up with its own air and water supplies for a few days. There are generators down in the basement.’
‘I hope I don’t get a demonstration of that while I’m here!’
‘Me too. But it’s best to be prepared.’ They arrived at the Bullpen’s entrance. Tony used his card to enter.