Zachary felt a light pressure on his arm. It was Whitney. As she leaned in to whisper, Zachary smelled the fetching perfume she wore as well as her personal pheromones, and the scents conjured up a brief but welcome image of her long, toned body stretched out on a bed.

“They’re all set,” Whitney whispered. “We’re landing in forty-five minutes.”

Zachary nodded and stood up and stretched his arms, shoulders, and legs. His clothes—black T-shirt and blue jeans—fit tightly over a muscular body. Zachary was health conscious, particularly after Jonathan’s sudden illness and demise and his parents’ dementia. Even when he was busy, which he always was, he found time to work out and eat healthfully.

Berman freely admitted he’d become something of a hypochondriac, and he regularly took advantage of the fact that Nano employed a number of doctors. What consumed Zachary was the fear that he would suffer the same Alzheimer’s dementia he witnessed in both his parents as they descended relentlessly into total helplessness. Hoping to reassure himself, he had himself tested for the apolipoprotein E4 gene associated with an increased risk of the disease. To his horror, the test had the opposite effect. He’d learned that he was homozygous for the gene, a factor that increased his risk, as did the fact that both his parents had had it. For Zach, his interest in medical nanotechnology became a personal obsession.

“Time for our little speech,” said Zachary, and he followed Whitney toward the rear of the plane. Seated in leather armchairs similar to his were three Chinese men attired in carefully tailored Western-style suits. In a jump seat in the very rear of the plane was a large and serious-looking Caucasian man whose bulky jacket concealed a variety of airplane-safe weapons: a Taser, knives, and a rubber truncheon. He had never had cause to use any of these on a trip such as this because the main cargo was very secure. Four figures in shapeless brown jumpsuits slumped in the facing banquettes. The plane’s manufacturers may have designed the seats and table for a card game or a meal on a long flight, but Zachary had found the arrangement perfect for his purposes. The four, three men and a woman, were shackled together and chained to the table. They were unconscious, having been tranquilized when they had reached altitude.

Berman and Jones stood side by side. Zachary spoke and Whitney translated into her perfect Mandarin for their Chinese guests. Her fluency in the language was one of the reasons she was paid more than a million dollars a year.

“We will be landing at our destination shortly,” Berman said. “Please follow our representative into the vehicle that will meet the plane. We will proceed directly to the research plant, where you will be staying in very comfortable accommodations. Our luggage will follow us to the facility.” Berman motioned to the four passengers with his head, including them as part of the plane’s designated cargo.

“We are entering a very exciting phase of our partnership. As we advance together toward our common goal we must focus on the end objective that we have all identified, toward which we have been working so hard.” Berman paused and waited for Jones to finish. He finished in Mandarin.