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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

“Blindside you? My office gets a call from a former high-level intelligence officer saying he wants to talk to me about Fred Klein’s investigation into the use of the Merge in Sarabat and I blindside you?”

He threw a hand out and heaved a lamp onto the floor. The sound of shattering porcelain caused a Secret Service man to burst in but then quickly retreat when the normally serene Castilla pointed at the door and shouted “Out!”

Klein waited until they were alone again before he spoke. “Can I assume that Whitfield found a way to track me when I tried to stop him from assassinating Jon and Randi?”

“Brilliant! But a little late. What the hell were you thinking, flying in there like that?”

“I understand that secrecy is a priority, Sam. But my people are not expendable. If that’s what you’re after, I suggest you start looking for my replacement.”

For a moment, the president looked like he was going to throw something else, but instead he just let out a long stream of expletives. When he was done, he seemed to have regained some of his familiar calm.

“The son of a bitch put spy planes in the air and still only IDed you by blind luck. That’s the other reason he was here. He took a huge risk sending those birds up and now it’s starting to bite him in the ass. He needs me to smooth things over.”

“If there had been time, Sam, I’d have contacted you about going in.”

Castilla gave a familiar wave of his hand, indicating that the storm was over. “And I’d have authorized it. You’re right. Your people aren’t expendable. But goddamn if my tit isn’t caught in a wringer now.”

“Are you sure you want to cover this thing up, Sam? Is it the right decision?”

He laughed bitterly. “I make a hundred decisions a day and there’s never been a single one that I was sure of. Look, Fred. Even with all our problems, America is a bright light in a dark world. I can’t express to you how important it is that we stay that way.”

“So that’s the final word.”

Castilla nodded. “This country has a closet where we permanently store our skeletons—some so ugly even you don’t know about them. And that’s where this is going. Understood?”

55

55

Hamgyong-Namdo Province
North Korea

A SECOND BLAST FROM THE TANK caused Smith to duck behind the dashboard, though he knew it wouldn’t do much good. Fortunately, the round went wide, passing through the doors they’d escaped from and taking out most of the front of the facility. Apparently, someone had decided they wanted it gone. Now.