'You won't really. You won't see him and you won't be close enough to touch him and he will disguise his voice. He will give you nothing of himself.'
'I can see why you worked for the company-why you practically ran it.'
'You know Thomas Edison, the American inventor? He said that people miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work. That is the biggest compo nent of success-work. But there is another component. When the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, the world was ready for a flying machine. When Edison invented the electric light, the world was ready to escape the soot. I am telling you the world is ready to master the body. I can see that you are a man with the vision to be part of that.'
'You know how to inflate a man's ego.'
'I can feel ambition in a man. I feel ambition in you. And you know that France will pay for Chaperone. Likewise, you know there are people who will make a killing when the market falls. You can take a big bite out of both apples. But now you need to ask the admiral to let me go to the United States.'
'You think I can just snap my fingers?'
'Ask him or we are through. I will go back to the dun geon.'
'Relax. I will ask him. He will say no, but I will ask just the same. Benoit? What made you dream up this whole idea?'
'Prison has a way of focusing your thoughts. Liberation is a powerful incentive.'
Baptiste nodded.
'I will have to tell the admiral about Cordyceps and, of course, France will have to appear to try to stop it.'
Baptiste opened his mouth to protest.
'Don't worry. The admiral can try all he wants, but he won't be playing with a full deck. I'll see to that.'
She stepped out of the shower and onto the tile floor. Moving the towel over her body was like a peep show. When she glanced down and saw his erection, she reached for it and pushed him back a bit; then she settled on him and she hunkered down very tight and began to move. In minutes the tightness of her and the softness of her aroused him near to orgasm. Her back became taut and he could feel the muscles like steel bands above her buttocks as she orchestrated the level of friction with her pubic bone. God, it was as if her body were a suction cup pulled tight to his. Her breathing became strong and he tasted the new sweat between her breasts. When her nipples were hard, and the size of thimbles, he took the right one in his mouth and used his tongue so that she shuddered and moved even harder down on him. The slickness of her made a giant quivering in his thighs and he could feel her perfect rhythm, now like a galloping horse hard onto the finish line, and then she moaned deep and long and he let himself come and he felt strong. So strong.
Baptiste ordered security not to let Benoit contact any one. He would do all the talking to the admiral that needed to be done. It was a dangerous career move, but the relief it provided him made it seem worth the risk. Preventing Ad miral Larive from initiating a meeting with her would be more difficult. As he was thinking through how he would ap proach the admiral, his phone rang. It was Figgy.
'Somebody just tried to kill Sam and got his girlfriend instead.'
'Why in the hell are we talking on an open line?'
'Because I don't give a shit, and besides, nobody is listening and it wouldn't matter to me if they were.'
'There is actually a Sam?'
'I said cut the shit,' Figgy barked.
'Who did it? Gaudet?'
'I was worried it might be you or your boss.'
'No way. Get it straight. We want Sam to lead us to Chaperone. If someone is trying to kill him, it's no doubt Gaudet and we don't have a clue to his whereabouts.'
'You're sure.'
'I'm certain. Keep your eye on the ball. There is a lot of money to be made.'
Baptiste hung up. Now was the time to meet Gaudet. He would need an alibi-a way of legitimizing the meeting if someone found out. He went to the admiral.
David Dun
Unacceptable Risk
The man was smoking one of his cigars and that normally meant he was in a good mood. It was rare of the admiral to have a cigar in his office. The room was large, with a desk at one end and a more informal conference area at the other, and the office permitted a great deal of pacing on the admiral's part.
'I have a tip that Gaudet wants to talk,' he began.
The chief puffed extra hard on his cigar and Baptiste could see a brightness in the eyes.
'How do you talk with Gaudet in the future?' the admiral questioned.
'I dial a cell phone number.'
'Do you have it all down in the file?'
'Oh yes.'
'What kind of a deal could the French government make with a man like Gaudet?'
'Offer to buy Chaperone,' Baptiste answered.
'Yes, except I thought he doesn't have it.'
'But he's a dog in the hunt with a lot of inside information.'
'We haven't found Raval?'
'Not yet.'
'And Sam?'
'Figgy says not yet.'
'Sam brought down Grace Technologies so I know his or ganization is effective. What are they doing, then? That's what I'm getting at.'
'Trying to catch Gaudet.'
'We all claim to be trying to stop Gaudet. Where is Sam now?' the admiral inquired.
'New York. Michael Bowden is there too, Figgy says.'
'We all need Bowden, that's sure. It alone is enough reason to go there. Now, how do you get Bowden on our side? Never mind. I don't need to know. You just need to do it. And get Chaperone. I have been told that France must win this race in the strongest possible terms. Do you understand me?'
'Yes, sir,' Baptiste said. 'There is one more thing.'
'Yes?'
'I don't want you to think I'm crazy, but I believe we should consider temporarily releasing Benoit Moreau to assist us.'
'You're right, I think you're crazy. Why?'
Baptiste explained Benoit's plan for getting the technology for France in exchange for a pardon-Bowden's knowl edge of the source of the molecule, Gaudet's knowledge of the vector technology, and Raval's knowledge of the Chaperone immune system process.
'You actually think she could do all that?'
'It doesn't hurt us to let her try. The only risk is that she will escape.'
'It'll be your risk, then. If you believe in her, I'll go with a temporary release on your say-so. Submit a memo arguing strongly for her temporary release in the best interest of the Republic and I will take it to the minister.'
Benoit Moreau walked out of the government lab that day. Pulling a good travel bag on wheels behind her, she caught a cab for Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
Grady and Michael left the car off campus on the street after having looked for fifteen minutes for a place to park. It had taken them a couple days to recoup from Anna's tragedy and for Grady to become functional. They had remained in New York until the third evening getting ready and making one last somber visit to Anna's bedside.
Dressed like students, they carried backpacks loaded with volumes of an old encyclopedia they'd borrowed from the bed-and-breakfast. Traversing the Eddy Dam footbridge, they wound up past a tennis building to Hoy Road, until they finally found their way to Tower Road and Corson Hall, a bi ological sciences building at Cornell University. Michael wore a stocking cap and Grady an old fur-lined leather cap from the Salvation Army. Unless one
