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complain. Got us another grandson on the way, Maggie this time, her first.’
    ‘Congratulations, that’s terrific. How many’s that now? Six?’
    ‘Seven,’ Tomkin corrected. He had four children, three of whom were married with kids of their own, one who had just finally got engaged. He’d been married himself for nearly forty years – something of a success story for a career military man – and he was enormously proud of his family. ‘It’s gonna make Christmas expensive, that’s for sure,’ he joked.
    ‘That’s true, my man. I’ve got six of my own, I know just how it is.’ There was a chuckle on the other end of the line, then a pause. Tomkin realized that the small talk was over, and Jeffries was about to get down to business. ‘So how’s Spectrum Nine advancing?’
    Tomkin cracked his neck from one side to the other and straightened in his chair, pain running through each vertebra of his spine. ‘Tests are going well,’ he answered. ‘The system should be ready soon.’
    ‘Is anybody else aware of the project?’ Jeffries asked nervously.
    ‘No,’ Tomkin answered immediately. ‘That would be impossible. Funding for the project has been buried so deep that even
I
don’t know the full details any more.’
    ‘But the human element?’ Jeffries persisted. ‘Could anyone talk?’
    ‘Nobody that’s connected to the programme will talk. They’re all patriots, vetted beyond all normal classification. Besides which, Colonel Anderson is there to keep an eye on things.’
    Tomkin could hear Jeffries grunt on the other end of the line, and wasn’t surprised by the reaction. Colonel Anderson had a reputation.
    Tomkin decided not to trouble Jeffries with the recent business about Karl Janklow, even though the latest news from Anderson was not exactly what he’d been hoping for. Janklow was dead – that was the good news – but there was now a new troublemaker, as yet unidentified. Tomkin had recently ordered a full-scale identity search for the woman based on the pictures Anderson had sent over, but the situation was still unresolved. It was a major concern, but it was too early to brief Jeffries on the matter. It was an operational concern, not a strategic one, after all.
    ‘Glad to hear it,’ Jeffries replied finally.
    There was another pause, and Tomkin could sense that Jeffries was about to address the real reason for the call. ‘But,’ he ventured gingerly, ‘might there be any possible ramifications from recent incidents?’
    It was Tomkin’s turn to pause as he considered the matter. He had given it a great deal of thought already, and still couldn’t be entirely sure. Anything was possible, after all. But he would not be telling Jeffries that. ‘None, John, you can be sure of that,’ he answered confidently. ‘There is absolutely nothing, and I mean
nothing
, that could lead anyone to us. Believe me.’
    ‘I believe you,’ Jeffries said quickly. ‘I just want to be sure, that’s all. If we go to the President with a finished project, something that works, something that’s guaranteed, that’s one thing. He’ll listen to us, maybe even use it like we want. If he finds out some other way, though, somebody lets something slip, somebody discovers what we’ve been up to, then that’s it – we’re talking jail, plain and simple.’
    ‘I know that, John,’ Tomkin said soothingly. ‘I do. But trust me. He won’t find out until it’s ready. Nobody will.’
And
, Tomkin thought silently,
he won’t even find out until it’s already been used in anger, maybe not even then, maybe not ever
. Because General Tomkin knew what John Jeffries didn’t: there was no way in hell that the President would ever authorize the use of Spectrum Nine. You’d have to be crazy to even consider it.
    Tomkin smiled to himself. What the President didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, Tomkin was sure. It never had before.

6
    J ACK M URRAY RECLINED and stretched out, balancing precariously on the