Whatever It Takes by Andy McNab

Author:Andy McNab
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bantam Press
Published: 2019-10-16T14:00:00+00:00

32

The Brit had joined Egbers and they’d set up the holoport equipment again. When Parmesh had said we’d be talking to each other a lot, I hadn’t expected to be doing it like this. I was just too old-school.

Parmesh wanted updates from me. So, as before, I sat on a chair facing the end of the bed. At exactly the allotted time, as I put on my goggles, Parmesh appeared, just about to sit down in front of me. He had a different sweater on, blue this time, but there was no high-five attempt. His smile, however, was as big as always.

‘They have not got the glitch sorted out yet, James, but soon. Soon.’ His tone switched from happy to very happy. ‘We have got good news, I hear?’

‘Yep. They’re all onboard – well, they’re onboard with what I’ve told them. But how it’s going to pan out once they know what they’re really coming down here for … well, not exactly what they’re doing, but enough to get them doing it … I don’t know what the reaction will be.’

Egbers and the Brit were both with me this time and had taken their places on the settee.

Parmesh’s mind was on other things.

‘Do you trust them, James? Do you trust them with your life?’

I wasn’t sure where this was going. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he did know what the two Templars got up to. Was this the moment they swapped roles and he was the one who issued threats? Had I got the dynamics wrong between these three?

‘Yep.’

Parmesh put his forearms on his thighs as he leant in, listening intently. His eyes didn’t blink as they stared into mine, and he nodded along with every bit of sentence I spoke.

‘All their families suffered during the crisis. We all have that bond, trying to help each other out during that time, so, yeah, I do, I trust them.’

Then the thought pushed into my head: I wondered if that would be reciprocated when they found out I’d brought them down here on a lie.

Parmesh’s expression was still intense. ‘That is good, James. That is really good – and deep. I know you will have no problem at all convincing them if you have hope in the future and believe, deep down, that what you are doing is right. It is not about the money – it is about making a better world. I have faith in you, James. You will come through for us, no doubt about it.’

His arms waved in the air, like an evangelical preacher’s. But he couldn’t have been praying to a god because he didn’t have one. They didn’t even have a pope yet. That was what this was all about. It was what at least two men had already been killed for.

‘I will try, Parmesh – I really will try.’

I had to bite my lip to stop myself asking what would become of them if they refused. I had to ensure I picked my battles, and so far, making a copy of whatever was in that ledger was my only battle winner.

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