The man smiled at him. “Ben, you old rascal. What are you doing landing in my yard at the crack of dawn…and in a jet pack of all things? Is this some kind of invasion?”

Ben climbed the stairs to the porch. The two men embraced and laughed. “Good to see you too, Paul.”

“Let me take a look at you.” The older man broke the embrace and stepped back. “Well, can’t say you never looked better. Not that I’d know, since you haven’t tapped me in…what? Five years?”

Ben nodded. “I know, I know. I’ve been negligent about keeping in touch. You could always tap me, you know.”

Paul waved his hand. “You’re a busy man, Ben. You don’t need old codgers like me pestering you.”

Ben put his arm around him. “You’re my mentor, Paul, not an old codger. And you always will be.”

The man looked out to the yard toward the jet pack. “I thought we stopped using those things years ago.”

“We did. Do you have any coffee?”

“I was about to pour some. I’ll get Melanie up to say hi.”

“No, let her sleep. I need to talk to you privately first.”

Paul brought two cups of coffee to the porch. “So what’s up, Ben?”

“Do you still have that boat you used to sail?”

“Of course. Take it out, oh, three times a month probably. When the weather’s good.”

“I need to borrow it.”

“You’ve learned to sail?”

Ben shook his head. “I’ll use the motor.”

“On that thing? Where are you going?”

“Mount Desert Island.”

“Mount Desert Island? Ben, that’s…that’s more than three hundred miles round trip. It would take you forever running the motor—plus several tanks of gas, which isn’t easy to find anymore.”

“I need the boat, Paul. It’s a matter of life and death.”

His mentor looked him in the eye. “Ben, agents don’t have to borrow boats from private citizens. What’s all this about?”

Ben sighed. “I’m not an agent anymore.”

Paul rose from his chair. “Come on.”

“Come on where?”

“I can get you a faster boat.”

Bryson Nichols’s face obscured the bright light shining into my eyes. I tried to raise my head off the operating table, but it was already in a restraint. He smiled at me.

“Hello, Professor Daniels. It’s so good to see you. I was afraid you might back out at the last minute. You’ve made a very wise decision, one I know you’ll be thrilled with—forever.

“Dr. Sutter has prepped you. I apologize I wasn’t here for the preliminaries. Another matter required my attention. Fortunately my staff is more than capable of performing these operations without me—more capable than with me present, perhaps.” He forced a laugh.