were the manned space programs being canceled, any item considered nonessential to national defense was on the block.
“Fuckers would probably try and sell the moon to the Chinese if they thought they had a chance,” said Leffort.
Theoretical programs were high on the hit list. At a meeting three months earlier, Leffort had tried to convince NASA that what he and Raji were working on was far more than mere theory. It would work. When the meeting was over, Leffort didn’t need a crystal ball or a cipher to tell him that he’d failed. Their research grant, with its five remaining years, was about to be shifted to other higher priorities. The smell of pink slips was in the air. It was then that he and Fareed started moving ahead with the plan.
“We agreed we would go during the Paris conference,” said Leffort.
“We did, but I figured by now we’d know whether they were going to pull the grant. We still don’t know. Maybe they’ve decided to leave it alone. If so, there’s nothing special about being in Paris. And there’s no reason to run.”
“Yeah, there is. We’re outside the country. And that’s where all the data is, parked on a server in Paris, remember? Besides, after the conference it may be much harder to slip away. If they pull the plug and can us, you can bet they’re gonna be watching us, at least for a while,” said Leffort. “Anybody with a high security clearance who’s out of work is going to be seen as a potential risk in terms of classified information. You try to leave the country, you’re liable to find yourself on a no-fly list.”
“You think they’re gonna be watching us?”
“Yep.”
“Why, if nobody else knows what we’ve done? I mean, nobody else knows, right?”
“I don’t know,” said Leffort. “You tell me.”
“What are you saying?” Raji glared at him. “You accusing me? You think I told somebody?”
“I don’t know. You seem awfully nervous lately. I thought we were both committed. Now you want to slow down, take your time. What am I supposed to think?”
“Hey, I don’t need this.” Raji reached for the door handle, ready to get out and hoof it to his own car.
“Hey, relax. Calm down.” Leffort put a hand on Fareed’s arm. “Don’t get mad. I didn’t mean anything. You know me, I shoot from the hip. I’m just tired, strung out. And like you, I’m getting a little nervous.”
“That’s no reason to accuse me,” said Fareed.
“I know. It’s just that we’re both under a lot of stress right now. And the longer we have to hang here under the gun, the worse it’s gonna get. That’s why the sooner we can leave, the better,” said Leffort.
“I never gave you any reason not to trust me,” said Raji.
“I know that.”
“For all I know, maybe you told somebody.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know,” said Raji. “But you don’t trust me, why should I trust you?” He was back to the door handle again, only this time Leffort could tell Raji wasn’t serious. He was fondling the handle either for more sympathy or for leverage.
“Who said I didn’t trust you? I never said I didn’t trust you. I’m just wondering why you’re having all these second thoughts. Especially now, when we’re almost home. Hey, buddy, listen. Look at me.”
Raji was still turned, looking out the passenger window, leaning in his seat toward the door.
“Come here.” Leffort leaned across the seat and grabbed Raji to give him a hug, something he’d never done before. “We’ve been together too long to let something like this come between us.” He needed Fareed, at least until he got his hands on the final guidance programs. After that, fuck him.
He got Raji turned toward him, put his arms around him, then squeezed and patted him in a male bonding moment.
The move made Fareed very uncomfortable. Two guys sitting in a car hugging-Raji kept his hands to himself, out in the open where anybody looking in could see them. “Hey, come on. Cut it out. OK. I forgive you.”
Raji tried to pull away, but Leffort wasn’t having any part of it. He was busy smoothing Fareed all the way down to the small of his back, feeling around for any small cord, bumps, or little boxes that the feds might have taped to his body if Fareed was wearing an electronic wire.
“I know it’s been tough on both of us. We need to learn to trust each other,” said Leffort. “After all, we’re in this together. We just need to calm down and relax. Everything’s gonna be fine.” Leffort sat up, dragging his hands up and down both sides of Raji’s torso inside of his outstretched arms as if he were trying to warm him up.
“That’s enough.” Raji finally pushed Leffort’s hands away. “You worry me. You’re getting strange.”
“You have to learn to be tolerant,” said Leffort. “We’re all different. Don’t be so uptight. Thing to remember is that in a month you and I are gonna be up to our eyeballs in money. We’ll be sitting on a beach somewhere counting it all and wondering why we worried about any of this. So where’s the guidance programs?” Having finished with the frisk, Leffort was back to the important stuff. “Why don’t you give ’em to me so we can get ’em on their way.”
“I think I know why I’m worried,” said Raji.
“Why is that?”
“It’s all this ‘we’ shit. We have never loaded anything onto the computer. Come to think of it, I don’t even know where the computer is, the one you’ve been using to send all the data to Paris. And the server you keep telling me about. I don’t have the slightest idea where it is, or whether it’s leased or owned or what.”
“It’s leased, I told you that. We’ll download everything out of it when we get there. It’s gonna take one hell of a big SATA drive to hold it all. You think you can get ahold of one? I’ll leave that to you. There, you see?”
“In the meantime, I still don’t know where anything is,” said Raji.
“So what are you saying? That you don’t trust me? That I’m trying to cheat you?”
“No, it’s just that you have control over everything and I have none.”
What Leffort wasn’t telling him was that he, Leffort, had made the decision to bail out at NASA more than a year earlier. He had been sending stolen program data to the overseas buyers for more than two years, and taking money for it. He knew from the responses he was getting and the technical questions they asked that the people on the other end were well staffed with technicians and scientists who knew what they were doing. And they were much further along than anyone could have guessed. Whoever was backing them had deep pockets. The buyers were already geared up, having built a test site with a massive antenna array. They were getting ready to do a dry run, tracking objects and doing computer simulations. All the things that Leffort had encouraged NASA to do, but they refused. If Raji knew how far along they were, his cold feet would have turned to blocks of ice. He would back out, and Leffort would be unable to deliver the rest of the program. Leffort was in far too deep for that. Unknown to Raji, Leffort had already piled up a significant stash of cash, salted away in a numbered account down in the Cayman Islands. If he could get his hands on the software programs for the final targeting sequence, Raji’s work would be done. Leffort wouldn’t need him any longer. He would still have to take Raji to Paris, though, if only to keep him quiet until Leffort could disappear or figure out what to do with him.
“If you don’t trust me, just say so,” said Leffort.
“It’s not that.” Raji always shied away from a frontal confrontation. It was cultural as much as anything else. “It’s just that if we’re going to be partners, at least until the money is divided, then I need to know everything you know. So why don’t you tell me once more how the deal works, how we get our money and when?”
“We’ve been over all that. It’s still the same. Nothing’s changed.”
“Help me out. Refresh my memory.”
Leffort wasn’t nearly as upbeat now. He was wondering if he was still going to get the final guidance programs. “Payment is on delivery to a numbered Swiss account. I told you that.”
“Do we have a name for the bank and a number for the account?” Raji took out a pen and a small notepad from his pocket.
“What, you expect me to memorize the account number? I have it at home. I’ll get it for you, next time we meet.”
“What else?” said Raji.
“We won’t know where the data is to be delivered until we get to Paris.”
“And you say you don’t know who these people are?” asked Raji.
“Not the end buyers, no. But as I told you before, we’re dealing with a middleman who has an international
