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Back The Utopia Experiment Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. Title Page
  2. Welcome
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. 64
  68. 65
  69. 66
  70. 67
  71. 68
  72. 69
  73. 70
  74. 71
  75. 72
  76. 73
  77. 74
  78. 75
  79. 76
  80. Epilogue
  81. About the Authors
  82. The Covert-One Novels
  83. Newsletters
  84. Copyright

Randi turned to him. “Which?”

“He’s not trying to portray himself as someone he’s not.”

Klein slid two pieces of paper across his desk, one meant for each of them. Smith took his and leaned over it, trying to stay ahead of the drops splattering across the text as he read. It was an immediate transfer to the Amundsen-Scott research station to relieve the current doctor. He had to rack his brain for a few moments to come up with the location of the facility.

“What’s yours say?” he asked Randi.

“I’m being reassigned—effective immediately—as an advisor to a rebel group in Yemen.”

“Sounds cushy.”

“Really? What’s yours?”

“South Pole.”

“Antarctica,” Randi said, a hint of admiration crossing her face. “Well, we’ve learned two things about your new friend: He has a hell of a lot of juice and a certain amount of style.”

“A little too much of both for my taste,” Klein said.

“Can we assume you’ll do your magic and make these transfers go away?” Smith said.

Klein looked uncharacteristically doubtful.

“Fred?”

“I’m working on it but it’s not a simple matter.”

“You’re saying that I might be moving into my bunk in Antarctica in a couple of days?”

“Could be worse,” Randi said. “You could be barricaded in an apartment with a bunch of lonely Yemeni freedom fighters.”

Klein frowned. “I haven’t been able to determine how these transfers were done and on whose authority. What I’m finding is the same kind of maze that I leave when I get you your indefinite leaves of absence.” He paused for a moment. “Look, I don’t want you to worry about this. I’m going to get it done but, as always, I have to do it in a way that doesn’t expose Covert-One or the president.”

“And in the meantime?”

“In the meantime, I need you to figure out what we’re into here. We have a slight advantage in that whoever this man is, he thinks he understands the limitations of your resources as an army scientist and CIA operative. Based on what we’ve seen so far, though, he isn’t going to be fooled for long.”

35

35

East of Chiang Mai
Thailand

NOW THAT WE’VE HAD A CHANCE to get together and analyze numbers for first quarter,” Chris Mandrake, Dresner Industries’ acting CEO, started, “I’m happy to say that we’ve had to increase our sales estimates for a third time.”

Dresner was sitting motionless, concentrating on the live feed from the meeting as it was transmitted directly to his mind. The app, submitted by a group of students from MIT, calculated size of known objects like chairs and coffee cups, then scaled the image using that information. The room Dresner was in had completely dissolved, replaced with a crowded boardroom half a world away.