This time his words were too low to fully understand but she was pretty sure they had something to do with kicking his colleague’s ass when he got back to the States.

Randi put a hand on his back and led him deeper into the trees, winding along until they reached an area that had been covered with a camouflage canopy.

“Where are we anyway?”

“The woods,” Randi replied.

“Not American, though. Too long a flight.”

“It’s not important.”

“That’s because you know where you are. And you weren’t kidnapped.”

She shrugged. Hard to argue the logic.

They came over a rise and Wilson stopped short. Just ahead was a silver cylinder about twenty yards long and a little less than two in diameter. It had been in multiple pieces when it arrived, making it a hell of a lot easier to smuggle into the mountains of middle-of-nowhere, Japan, but the five kids swarming around it almost had it back together.

“Hey!” Wilson said. “Those are my grad students!”

“I thought you might appreciate the help.”

He spun toward her, obviously infuriated, and she countered with what she hoped was a disarming smile. It would have to do. Her normal methods of persuasion were completely off limits with civilian academics.

“Help with what?” he said, his voice straining with anger.

Randi pointed north. “Tunneling through that mountain.”

His face went blank. “You can’t be serious.”

“Don’t I look serious?”

“It’s a goddamn prototype! It’s never even gotten dirty.”

“Yeah, but your last version got dirty and worked pretty well from what I hear. It’s my understanding that this model’s even better.”

Wilson’s invention was a next-generation tunneling machine. On the surface, it didn’t seem much different from the ones currently in use, but the similarities ended pretty quickly when you looked deeper. Traditionally designed machines ejected enormous amounts of dirt that had to be hauled away, and braces had to be placed at intervals to keep the shaft from collapsing. And then there were the massive power cables necessary to keep them running.

Wilson’s system did away with all those complexities. It had a nuclear core that powered the diggers. The excess reactor heat was used to fuse the earth lining the tunnel into a substance stronger than concrete. The unit he was ultimately working toward would be larger than a locomotive, but this much smaller prototype was perfect for the very stupid idea she and her team had settled on.

“There’s no way to power it,” Wilson protested. “You wouldn’t believe the red tape I have to deal with to get nuclear fuel from the government.”

“I had it gassed up before it was shipped.”

“Bullshit.”

Again, Randi shrugged. “When I ask for something, I get it, Max. You should keep that in mind.”