unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
‘You get any more like this?’ Franklin held up the card and Ellery’s head swivelled round to see it.
‘One a month since May, reg’lar as clockwork.’
‘Was the Professor bothered by them?’
‘Not especially.’
‘But he did see them?’
‘Sure, they were addressed to him.’
‘Did you mention them to Chief Pierce over at Goddard?’
Ellery snorted. ‘Why would I do that? Chief Pierce has his own fair share of nut-jobs to deal with I’m damn sure he don’t need any of mine.’
Franklin handed the remaining files to Shepherd leaving himself with December. ‘Did you get another one this month?’
‘No. Matter of fact we did not.’
Franklin popped the fastener. ‘Don’t tell me, you got a letter instead, one that was typed but similar in tone.’
Ellery paused. ‘How did you know that?’
Franklin didn’t answer. He had already found the twin of the A5 manila envelope that had been sent to Kinderman. It was in its own plastic folder next to the letter it had contained. Franklin held it out so Shepherd could read it. It was identical to the first one except for one small detail.
‘Least he didn’t call this one a Sodomite,’ Franklin said so only Shepherd could hear. ‘You follow this up?’ he asked Ellery.
‘Of course. We take threats seriously here, no matter how strange, vague or misguided they may appear. I sent the original up to Langley, that one there is just a copy. I sent one of the postcards too.’
‘They find anything?’
‘Who knows? These things don’t rank too high on the “hurry up” scale. Anything more important comes along – which is just about everything – stuff like this gets bumped to the bottom of the pile. Here we are, gentlemen.’
Shepherd looked up as the Explorer eased off the main road and approached the front of a mirrored building that reflected the sky making it seem like it was hardly there. Beyond it in the distance the launch towers rose above various research facility buildings that sprawled across the campus. One of them had a small crowd of people outside it wearing white, clean-room suits and was surrounded by parked emergency vehicles, their lights turning slowly.
‘Is that where the helium leak happened?’ Franklin asked.
‘Yup, that’s the cryo lab – biggest vacuum testing facility in the world. They got a test room there where they can suck every molecule of air right out of it and freeze it down to space temperatures. We use it to test all the expensive hardware before it gets launched, make sure it won’t break up in space.’
Something tightened in the pit of Shepherd’s empty stomach. ‘What are you testing in there now?’
‘Mirrors.’
‘What for?’
‘Same thing we’ve been testing all year – James Webb.’
Franklin jerked forward in his seat. ‘Driver, you need to take us over there right now.’
‘Now wait a second.’ Ellery swivelled round. ‘This is my facility. You can’t just come here and start ordering people …’
‘Yes I can,’ Franklin cut him off. ‘That’s exactly what I can do. Start driving, son.’
The driver obeyed, throwing the wheel hard over and sending the Explorer into a sharp U-turn. Ellery opened and closed his mouth like a landed fish but said nothing. Ahead of them the cryo lab swung back into view, leaking thick clouds of helium vapour like the whole place was ready to blow.
‘When did the leak happen?’
‘The alarm went off ’bout a half hour ago.’
‘And had you spoken to Professor Douglas by then?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Had you told him we were coming?’
‘No. I’d spoken to him but I didn’t say what it was about.’
‘What did you say exactly?’
‘I said some people had been asking for him, but I didn’t say who.’
‘And when was this?’
‘Just as soon as I got off the phone to you.’
Franklin shook his head. ‘Driver, you need to get us over there as fast as you can.’ The Explorer lurched, pushing everyone back in their seats as the driver floored the accelerator.
‘What the hell is this about anyway?’ Ellery growled, trying to claw back a bit of authority.
‘Those mirrors you’ve been testing, are they expensive by any chance, difficult to replace if they got broken?’
‘They cost about fifteen million dollars apiece. They’re precision-engineered and coated in gold. We got six of them in the chamber at the moment.’
‘Really? Well there’s a very real chance that right now, while everyone else is standing around outside, Professor Douglas is inside using his car keys to scratch his name on them.’
The speeding Explorer crunched to a stop just short of the building, sending the crowd of bunny-suited lab techs scattering. Franklin was out of the door before it had even stopped. Shepherd had clipped his safety belt on out of habit and was now cursing as he fumbled to release it. He opened the door and ran round the car, the freezing air like razors in his lungs.
Franklin stood to the side of the main entrance, listening. Shepherd noticed he was holding his gun. He undid the buttons on his coat and reached for his own, falling in line behind Franklin and standing slightly away from the wall like he’d been taught. Franklin turned and beckoned Ellery over.
It all felt so familiar to Shepherd from his recent intensive training that he had to remind himself this was not a simulation and the bullets in his gun would not fire paint. Also, the man they were looking for with drawn guns was his old professor, a man he respected more than pretty much any of the long procession of people who had lined up to cram knowledge into his head. Professor Douglas, with his sharp, kind eyes and his boy-scout enthusiasm. Professor Douglas who was a vegetarian because he couldn’t bear the thought of a living thing having to die on his behalf. Professor Douglas – suspected terrorist, wanted by the FBI.
Ellery joined them in a rustle of goose-down parka, his eyes darting around. Nervous. ‘Tell me about the building,’ Franklin said, keeping his eyes on the door. ‘Where are the exits?’
‘There’s this one and a fire exit out back.’
‘You need to get someone round there to cover it. What about inside? Tell me about the layout?’
‘The layout is kind of tricky.’
‘Then you’ll have to come with me. I don’t want to get lost in there. Shepherd, you cover the rear exit.’
‘We’re going inside?’ Ellery looked like he was going to pass out.
‘I can guide us,’ Shepherd said. ‘I worked in this building for a while. There’s a door leading away from the lobby to a changing room. From there you pass through a scrubbing station and an airlock to get to the central chamber. The coolants are fed into it from storage silos on the far side of the building. They come in through deep underground pipes to aid the insulation. If there’s a leak then it will probably be in the main chamber.’ He looked at Ellery for confirmation.