“That’s right. I signed those papers, too. But that’s nothing—I mean nothing—next to what’s in here. It’s a cover story under the cover story.” Steve pointed to a chair identical to the ones in Jerry’s TA office. “Have a seat. This will take a little while.”

Jerry parked his behind on the chair. Steve set a tape player with headphones already attached on the Formica work surface in front of him. Then he went over to a safe in the corner of the container. Its door soon swung open. He took out a sheaf of papers and a cassette tape, then closed the safe again.

“You have to sign these before you can hear the tape,” he said, handing Jerry the papers.

“What? Everything I signed back in my apartment wasn’t good enough?” Jerry said.

“That just had to do with the Russian sub,” Steve answered. “That was serious. This is serious.”

Jerry skimmed the new paperwork. The man from the RAND Corporation wasn’t kidding. A phrase jumped out at him: “Sanctions for violations of this confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement may include measures up to and including termination with extreme prejudice.” He pointed at it. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

Steve pointed at the typewritten sheet. “Oh. That.” His laugh held nothing like mirth. “Funny you should spot that. I asked John the same thing. It means that if you talk, they’ll kill you. And they’ll probably kill whoever you talk to, just to stay on the safe side.”

You’re joking. Jerry didn’t say it. Steve sounded, well, dead serious. Jerry did say, “What the hell have I got myself into?”

“You’ll find out, and be part of the team, as soon as you sign that,” Steve said. “You’d find out after we do what we do, of course—if it works. But you wouldn’t be involved in any way. And I think you’d regret that the rest of your life.”

“Fuck,” Jerry muttered. “I’ve come this far.…” He signed the agreement.

“Okay.” Steve handed him the cassette. “Now you can listen to this—with the headphones on. Always with the headphones on.”

Before sticking the tape into the player, Jerry read the label out loud: “‘Midlothian Pipe Band, Chicago concert, March 1966’?” He stared at Steve. “What the—”

“‘Midlothian’ is the code name for the operation inside Project Azorian, the sub-raising operation inside the seafloor-mining operation,” the older man said patiently. “And dates inside Midlothian are shifted back two years to avoid any congruence with the time period in which the K-129 was lost.”

“So it does still have something to do with the submarine,” Jerry said.