The Curve of The Earth by Simon Morden

mind.” She opened her bag again and pulled out a rectangular box with a slot in the top. She held it out for Petrovitch, who posted the card inside. “We’ll clean things up for you.”
    The top of the box had a button and two lights. Neither was currently illuminated, but when she pressed the button with her thumb, the red light came on. There was a crack of electricity, and the green light glowed.
    “There,” she said brightly. “All done.”
    Petrovitch retrieved the card. It looked unaltered, but the microcircuitry that would keep Homeland Security informed of his whereabouts was so much molten slag.
    He idly stuck it in his back pocket. “That particular charade over, Auden?”
    “So it seems. Have a good journey, and Agent Newcomen? I appreciate that your duty is a difficult one, but we always try to carry ourselves with dignity and fortitude. I’ll be sending a report to your superiors informing them of your exemplary conduct so far.”
    Even Newcomen had the sense to be diplomatic. “Uh, thank you, sir. I’m sure AD Buchannan will appreciate that.”
    “You’re a credit to the Bureau, and to America. Dr Petrovitch will find you a valuable guide when he’s in unfamiliar territory.”
    “
Yobany stos
, enough of the corn, Auden. We both know that Newcomen’s a fall guy and I’ll probably ditch him at the first opportunity, so there’s no point in your
govno
. You’ve done your job. Take your goons and go.”
    Auden accepted defeat and peeled off. As before, several nondescript travellers suddenly aborted their flight plans and flanked him as he strode away.
    “And just like that, I’m abandoned.” Newcomen looked at his shoes.
    “He’s still got people here, watching what we do. There’s even a couple of agents booked on the flight over, three rows back from us. Remember, if you ever think you’re not under surveillance, you still are. You can be overheard at any time. I let it slide this morning, because you needed to know the score. But from now on, on the plane, in a cab, on the street, in an office, over the phone, on a computer – unless I explicitly say so – you have to assume they can read your thoughts.
Vrubatsa
?”
    “You keep saying that. What does it mean?”
    Petrovitch felt like he was explaining something to a child. “Do you understand?”
    “Yes. I understand.”
    “Really?”
    “I get it.”
    “Good. Now go and get your stupid case checked in and meet me back here.” Petrovitch watched him go, the luggage trundling after him. “
Chyort
, so many things can go wrong.”
    Tabletop tugged at her ponytail. “Are you going to be okay?”
    “I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump, and you ask me that?” People passed around them, ignoring them, not even seeing them.
    “Of course I do. We’re here to catch you. But there’s nothing wrong in being afraid.”
    “They can smell fear. Auden knows we’ve no real idea what’s going on, and he’s told Washington that.” He screwed his fingers into fists and jammed them in his pockets. “It’s
pizdets
.”
    “The data miners are hard at work. We’ll have something soon.” Tabletop nodded over at Newcomen. “And he may well surprise you.”
    “The only surprise I’m going to get from him is guessing how long he can hold it together. How the
huy
did he ever end up working for the Feds? He’s scared of his own shadow. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity my arse.”
    “He graduated from Quantico with decent marks.”
    “All that proves is that he’s fit and not stupid.” Petrovitch snorted. “I could pass.”
    “You’d fail the lie detector test five different ways,” Tabletop countered. “And the psychological profiling. And you’re not an American citizen.”
    “I could fake all those.” He ground his teeth. “Why now? Why Lucy?”
    “It’ll be all right.” She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I gave you a hard time earlier, but I know she had to go off and do her own