‘Sure. Is anything wrong?’
I looked around at the shattered unit and traumatised personnel.
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I need you to do something for me.’
He smiled. ‘Consider it done.’
He was as good as his word, re-appearing just before knocking-off time. As far as I could see, no one had even missed him. I caught his eye. He wandered casually past, muttered, ‘Under the fourth step again,’ and then went off to see his people. I felt as if the weight of the world had lifted.
I found Ian Guthrie. ‘Have you got a minute?’
‘Of course, Director.’
I scowled at him. We went outside and stood on the steps, ostensibly getting some fresh air, while I explained what I wanted.
‘Dr Bairstow has reburied the sonnets under the fourth step for us to “discover” again.’ I did the hooked fingers thing. ‘So we’ll need an independent authority as a witness. I’ll get the SPOHB people round.’
The Society for the Preservation of Historical Buildings people were old enemies. Over the years, St Mary’s has had a long and exciting relationship with the ancient building in which it was housed. The Clock Tower had inadvertently participated in an experiment based on the guns at the charge of the Light Brigade and was never quite the same again, and various fires, explosions, collisions, and catastrophes had taken their toll on the fabric. On one memorable occasion, swans had occupied the library for two days. SPOHB inspectors arrived nearly every month. Sometimes, they got a bit tight-lipped.
‘I’m going to hold a small competition. Each department can design and build a flying machine. It is important that at least one machine will not fly. There will be a small accident, resulting in damage to the steps. The subsequent inspection will reveal the sonnets. SPOHB will verify the discovery. St Mary’s sells them on for a fortune. Any questions?’
He goggled a bit.
Before he could recover, I said, ‘There’s one other thing. I need some of your people for a small building project.’
I explained again.
He groaned.
‘Can you do it?’
‘Probably.’
‘This needs to be done with flair and panache.’
‘I haven’t got to know all my team yet. Who are they?’
‘I made you,’ I said darkly. ‘I can break you.’
He snorted.
And back to Leon. I had no idea being the boss was such hard work.
I entered his room warily, expecting God knows what, and he was awake and sitting up.
‘Hey,’ he said, as I walked in.
‘Hello, you,’ I said. ‘Any chance of any –?’ and Katie appeared with a mug of tea. I really liked being Director.
He smiled at me, still heavy-eyed with drugs. ‘You always come for me, don’t you?’ And fell asleep again.
I went to see Pinkie and she definitely seemed better. I fished out the data cube she had asked for, handed it over, and asked no questions. As usual, that tactic paid off.
She balanced it on the palm of her hand and looked up at me.
‘This is what I thought they had come for. It seems I worried for nothing. If they knew what this was, they wouldn’t have wasted their time trying for our pods.’
She fell silent again.
I still said nothing. I knew she’d been making enquiries about me. About all three of us. She was making up her mind … The silence went on so long that I guessed we hadn’t made the cut and got up to go.
‘Max, I’ve had an idea. I’m sure I can get it to work and if I do, believe me, it will change everything. For everyone. I haven’t written much down, but there are some preliminary – thoughts – on this cube. I was terrified they’d stumble across it while looking for the location of the remote site. Please tell me they’re all dead.’
‘Most of them, yes. One or two got away, including Ronan, but he has other things on his mind at the moment. Who else knows about this? What about your Director?’
‘No. Nor any of the other senior staff. To be honest, it sounds so crazy on the face of it, that I’m reluctant to mention it to anyone until I’ve got a better handle on things.’
‘Well, no one will hear about it from me.’ I was intrigued, but knew better than to ask. This was future stuff and nothing to do with me. ‘So, when may we expect the honour of your company?’
‘Maybe the day after tomorrow,’ she said.
‘Excellent. You just lie there and heal and I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.’
I announced the deadline at the next morning’s meeting.