Page 113 of Winterveil

Part Three

The Dream

Interstitial

SUBMITTED: EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN IVER, CORNELIUS, AND AGENT 126 (“DECKARD”) [CLEARANCE REQ.]

FROM: CORNELIUS IVER ([email protected])

TO: DECKARD ([email protected])

APRIL 8, 2037

12:16 P.M.

I’ve found the girl—Giselle Buckley, 17, Belle, WV (file attached). I will have her at Valeran by the end of the week. Her proximity is just a happy coincidence, as is the psychological and demographic profile, at least from what I’ve been able to glean through my own limited means. Some additional background would be beneficial and highly appreciated.

My Nadiya is as ready as she has always been. She’s a good girl and an excellent soldier, obedient in every way. Ms. Buckley, I expect, will inspire yet more cooperation from her. Their psychological profiles are as much of a match as we could have hoped.

The Joyce-Young boy’s arrival is also imminent. Valeran has already been provided a number of personal files (attached). He may require both carrot and stick. Perhaps your team can provide another agent with a matching psychological profile, if you are able to spare the resources.

Klaudia requires no additional preparation, though if she resists, we have ways to ensure her obedience as well.

FROM: DECKARD ([email protected])

TO: CORNELIUS IVER ([email protected])

APRIL 9, 2037

8:54 A.M.

Apologies for the slight delay. On my end we still have some things to arrange.

Preliminary background on Ms. Buckley is attached—we were able to get our hands on a pageant questionnaire, pediatrician records, and several high school papers. More to come soon.

I have searched the depths of our employee database and could not find a sufficient match for Mr. Joyce-Young’s psychological profile. However, I believe that given our new resources (and thanks to Adam for his help in this matter), we may be able to create one.

Pleased to hear that Klaudia and Nadiya are prepared. It would be to our benefit to introduce Nadiya to Ms. Buckley immediately. Should all go to plan, the next phase of OPERATION: EVENFALL can begin within a matter of weeks.

Thirty-Six

Spring 2037

Camp Peary, Virginia

Julian surfaced from the darkness with a wave of nausea that threatened to immediately pull him under again. He managed to push himself up onto his elbows, mattress dimpling under the weight of his body, and then lean over the bed to retch.

He was in an unfamiliar room with four white, windowless walls. The fluorescent lights seemed to burn his still-blurry vision. Julian reached around clumsily until he found a bedside table, and his glasses. With another tremor of nausea, he slipped them on.

The room came further into focus. Save for the bed and the table, it was completely empty. There was a metal door on the far wall.

As his senses returned to him, he felt a prickle of pain. Julian looked down. The silver cuff on his wrist was gone, but it had left a ring of burned skin, raised and red.

Memories began to take shape slowly. The tunnels. The pulsing blue light, the cube. The capsule sliding between his teeth, its acid taste on his tongue. Klaudia’s eyes, burning but cold, determined and silently furious as she bit down on her own tablet. And then it had all been lost to blackness.

Klaudia. Julian struggled into a sitting position. Nadiya. Giselle. Crispin . . .

His head spun as he remembered the moments that had brought them all there: Klaudia solving puzzle after puzzle, Nadiya shooting down the supply bag, Giselle getting them through the doors. Deckard’s men charging them, his back hitting the impenetrable door, fear rising to choke him. And then . . . they had simply vanished. As if dissolved into air.