shook his head as he spoke up. "No, he didn't run into anyone. Something happened and his mission ended before we would have liked it to. But by moving those blocks you make so little of, he did prove that it is possible to come out of the virtual world and into the real at a remote distance."
"Where is this guy?" Dalton asked.
"That's classified information," Raisor said.
"This is a classified briefing," Colonel Metter noted.
"That first trial with Psychic Warrior," Raisor said, "occurred a month ago. Since that time we have been refining the procedure." He gestured toward his partner. "Dr. Hammond has-"
"What happened to your man a month ago?" Colonel Metter's voice was flat, but it caused Raisor to pause.
"We had a problem with our equipment," Dr. Hammond said. "The problem occurred in the real world on our end. A mistake was made, a mistake which I take responsibility for and which will not occur again because I have corrected the problem."
There was silence as everyone in the room stared at her, waiting.
"Our man died. He drowned in the embryonic solution you saw on the slide."
Chapter Four
"No one knows, but more importantly, no one really cares," the man in the long black leather coat said irritably. "You soldiers are fools caught in the past. Don't you realize the State has changed?"
The other man wore an olive drab greatcoat, the three stars on the shoulder boards indicating he was a colonel in the army, the small insignia on his collar the symbol of the once dreaded GRU: the military's KGB. The two men were meeting in a remote park on the edge of Kiev. The snow had been dusted off the concrete table where they were seated. A black Mercedes, smoke coiling out of the exhaust pipe, was idling on the nearby road, a hundred meters away. The car rode low, due to the armor plating built into it. The windows were tinted, hiding the interior.
Three men, also in long black leather coats with fur-lined collars, waited outside the car, their right hands suspiciously inside the front of their coats. The park had been chosen because it was very broad and open. Anyone approaching could be seen a mile away. It had originally been built for the power elite under Communism, those who summered in the villas along the river nearby. Given the fall of Communism and the bitter winter temperatures on this day, they had the park to themselves.
Colonel Seogky didn't trust the man across from him, but he didn't really trust anyone, so that mattered little. His focus was on the metal briefcase the man had next to him on the bench.
The other man, Leonid Barsk, followed that gaze and knew the colonel would not be any trouble. "All is ready? You have the papers?"
Seogky rubbed his rough leather gloves together. "Yes. I've told you that."
"The CD-ROM?"
"You did not give me much time," the colonel said.
"Do you have it?"
"I have it," Seogky said. "But it will cost you more."
Barsk tapped a finger against his upper lip, showing off the expensive Italian-made gloves he wore, a further contrast between the wealth of the Russian Mafia and the poverty of the Russian Army. "We will not have any unforeseen problems, will we?"
"I have done what you wanted me to," Seogky protested. "What happens beyond that is not my responsibility."
Barsk waved a finger. "Ah, that is where you are wrong, my colonel." He ran his hand over the metal case. "When I give you this and you give me what you say you have, you become responsible. Even for those things that happen that you know nothing about."
Seogky twisted on the cold bench, anxious to be going. His vehicle was parked over two miles away. It would be a miserable walk through the snow and ice. Barsk had told him to park that far away, citing security reasons, but then why was Barsk's car here? Seogky knew the reality of the situation was that Barsk had made him walk in and would make him walk back out as a sign of power. Seogky's feeling of cold was replaced with a warm glow of
"Where is this guy?" Dalton asked.
"That's classified information," Raisor said.
"This is a classified briefing," Colonel Metter noted.
"That first trial with Psychic Warrior," Raisor said, "occurred a month ago. Since that time we have been refining the procedure." He gestured toward his partner. "Dr. Hammond has-"
"What happened to your man a month ago?" Colonel Metter's voice was flat, but it caused Raisor to pause.
"We had a problem with our equipment," Dr. Hammond said. "The problem occurred in the real world on our end. A mistake was made, a mistake which I take responsibility for and which will not occur again because I have corrected the problem."
There was silence as everyone in the room stared at her, waiting.
"Our man died. He drowned in the embryonic solution you saw on the slide."
Chapter Four
"No one knows, but more importantly, no one really cares," the man in the long black leather coat said irritably. "You soldiers are fools caught in the past. Don't you realize the State has changed?"
The other man wore an olive drab greatcoat, the three stars on the shoulder boards indicating he was a colonel in the army, the small insignia on his collar the symbol of the once dreaded GRU: the military's KGB. The two men were meeting in a remote park on the edge of Kiev. The snow had been dusted off the concrete table where they were seated. A black Mercedes, smoke coiling out of the exhaust pipe, was idling on the nearby road, a hundred meters away. The car rode low, due to the armor plating built into it. The windows were tinted, hiding the interior.
Three men, also in long black leather coats with fur-lined collars, waited outside the car, their right hands suspiciously inside the front of their coats. The park had been chosen because it was very broad and open. Anyone approaching could be seen a mile away. It had originally been built for the power elite under Communism, those who summered in the villas along the river nearby. Given the fall of Communism and the bitter winter temperatures on this day, they had the park to themselves.
Colonel Seogky didn't trust the man across from him, but he didn't really trust anyone, so that mattered little. His focus was on the metal briefcase the man had next to him on the bench.
The other man, Leonid Barsk, followed that gaze and knew the colonel would not be any trouble. "All is ready? You have the papers?"
Seogky rubbed his rough leather gloves together. "Yes. I've told you that."
"The CD-ROM?"
"You did not give me much time," the colonel said.
"Do you have it?"
"I have it," Seogky said. "But it will cost you more."
Barsk tapped a finger against his upper lip, showing off the expensive Italian-made gloves he wore, a further contrast between the wealth of the Russian Mafia and the poverty of the Russian Army. "We will not have any unforeseen problems, will we?"
"I have done what you wanted me to," Seogky protested. "What happens beyond that is not my responsibility."
Barsk waved a finger. "Ah, that is where you are wrong, my colonel." He ran his hand over the metal case. "When I give you this and you give me what you say you have, you become responsible. Even for those things that happen that you know nothing about."
Seogky twisted on the cold bench, anxious to be going. His vehicle was parked over two miles away. It would be a miserable walk through the snow and ice. Barsk had told him to park that far away, citing security reasons, but then why was Barsk's car here? Seogky knew the reality of the situation was that Barsk had made him walk in and would make him walk back out as a sign of power. Seogky's feeling of cold was replaced with a warm glow of
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