The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,93

had gone too far. Kiddrick looked to be on the verge of exploding with fury, but Morgan swiftly rose to his feet and slammed both palms flat on the desk. ‘All right, enough!’ he barked. ‘Both of you. Dr Childs, for now, keep any interactions with Adam to nothing more than what you need to do your job. Understood?’

Face tight, she stood, refusing to allow herself to be physically intimidated by Kiddrick. ‘I understand what you’ve said, yes. But I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.’

‘You don’t need to know,’ Kiddrick growled. ‘And just because you’re temporarily standing in for Roger, that doesn’t give you—’

Someone knocked on the door. Before Morgan had a chance to respond, it opened and Tony leaned through. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ he said urgently, ‘but we’ve got something.’

25

Crossing the Line

‘

You know,’ said Bianca, yawning, ‘I think I’ve spent more time on planes in the past week than the entire ten years before that.’

‘Too bad you don’t get frequent flyer miles on US government jets,’ Tony replied as he sat beside her. He gave her a bottle of water. ‘Here.’

‘Thanks.’ She cracked open the cap and gratefully glugged down several mouthfuls. The dry air in the cabin of the Bombardier Global 6000, a large long-range business jet in an anonymous white and blue livery, had left her dehydrated and groggy during the long flight across the continental United States and Canada, and now over the frozen wilds of Alaska. ‘How’s everything going?’

‘We’re on schedule – we’ll be landing in Provideniya in about an hour. Don’t forget to turn your watch forward – we’ll have crossed the International Date Line.’

‘The Russians bought the cover story?’

‘So far. To them, we’re a team of climatologists. We’re supposedly waiting for another group to arrive later in the day, which will explain why we don’t get out of the plane after we land. We’ve got full authorisation from Moscow to be there.’

‘And how did we get that at such short notice?’

‘Better that you don’t know. But if they check the plane, all they’ll find – at least, unless they start unbolting panels – is exactly what they’d expect: winter gear, tents, skis. We’ve even got some weather balloons.’

‘Cool. I can use the helium to sound like a duck.’ They both smiled. ‘So what about Zykov? And al-Rais?’

Tony’s face became harder. ‘Zykov’s due to land two hours after we do. Al-Rais . . . we don’t know yet. But we do know from the communications intercepts that he’ll meet Zykov in person before they buy the RTG from Colonel Sevnik. We’ve got satellite surveillance on the airport to watch for his plane.’

Bianca looked up the cabin to where the rest of the team were sitting. She couldn’t help but feel that she had been somewhat ostracised by the mission specialists, and among Baxter’s squad of seven men were Fallon and Spence, so she had deliberately chosen an isolated seat to stay out of everyone’s way. As for the team’s key member . . . ‘So, when am I going to be allowed to talk to Adam?’

That came out with more of an edge than she’d intended, but Tony took it in his stride. ‘Nobody’s stopping you now. I’m certainly not going to.’

‘Really? I thought there was some sort of executive order forbidding it.’

‘We’re on a mission, so communication between team members is vital. That’s my take, anyway. Besides, I’m not Kiddrick.’

‘Well, no. You’re a lot nicer to look at, for a start.’

‘Careful!’ he said, holding up his hands in mock warning. ‘That might be considered fraternising! But it’s nice of you to say so.’

‘Well, you know.’ She grinned sheepishly. ‘I can talk to him, then?’

‘Sure. Although it’d probably be wise to keep it work-related for now. And not just because of Kiddrick – we are about to go into a mission, after all. We don’t need any distractions.’

‘I’ll keep things official. Ish.’ Bianca headed up the cabin.

She passed Baxter and his men, ignoring Spence’s glower. Holly Jo at least gave her a nod, though Kyle still appeared to be snubbing her. Adam was in the front row of seats. ‘Okay if I sit here?’ she asked.

He looked up at her. ‘Sure.’

She sat beside him. ‘So. Apparently there are certain topics we should avoid.’

‘Yeah. Kiddrick’s list started at A and went right through to Z.’

‘He didn’t include numbers? That gives us some wiggle room.’

He smiled slightly. ‘Did you read the file on the persona I’ll be using?’

‘Yes. Dr Eugene Browning of the International Atomic