Project Namahana by John Teschner

Author:John Teschner [Teschner, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

* * *

There was a bottle of spring water on the counter. Lindstrom found a glass and filled it from the tap. The fridge was stocked with food. Grass-fed steak, vegetarian lasagna, premixed salads, Greek yogurt.

He remembered Kim glancing into the space beyond his shoulder, Hansen appearing a moment later. He turned, slowly, leaned against the granite counter as if lost in thought. Where would the cameras be? He tried to look without looking, then stopped himself. He hadn’t turned on any lights, fortunately. So they probably couldn’t see his eyes. Did he know that? What did he know? He knew nothing. It was unbelievable, a stunning oversight, that he had never, not once, considered that basic competency in the most fundamental skills of survival—concealment, self-defense—would ever be remotely salient to his life. He’d thought he was a samurai because he’d learned to bargain with men in suits. The urge to leave the house was nearly overwhelming.

He remembered his last conversation with Miyake. Who they going come for next?

He stared into the fridge. He needed to eat. Finally, he took out the lasagna, read the label, preheated the oven to 425. Then he walked into the living room. Turned on the TV. Muted it. Could they trace his credit cards? Unlikely. Should he call his wife? God no. Who had he met that day? People he didn’t know: Chen, Harkness, Marshall, Cabral.

Marshall and Cabral. A fixer and a contractor.

He slid the lasagna into the oven. The information was there, crowding his mind. Facts butting up against one another, jostling for his attention. It would be easier if he could write them down, lay them out and see the pattern. But he couldn’t take the risk. The only privacy he felt certain of at this moment was the solitude of his own mind.

He tried to view the situation as skeptically as possible. It was almost unimaginable: something like that being discussed in the boardrooms where he’d spent hundreds of hours. But of course it could be imagined. They’d do it the same way they handed down a fifteen percent budget cut: mandatory objectives with no directives. There would be a “situation” that required a response with “extreme urgency.” How many times had he heard some variation of those words? And who had he told himself they were, the security contractors, paid on retainer, who sat in on the most sensitive meetings and never had anything to report?

But not on American soil, to American citizens.

As if that was how they saw Miyake or the field hands.

And if they’d already taken it this far.

He thought of Barrett, telling him to book a one-way ticket.

The timer buzzed. He took out the lasagna and left it to cool. Walking into the bedroom, he tried to plan. What would he need? What could he take? Not much. More practical shoes. He unpacked the bag and put away his things, doing an inventory as he went. This made him feel calmer. It was amazing, really, how little you actually needed, when it came down to it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.