The Coldest War (Milkweed Triptych 02) by Ian Tregillis

Author:Ian Tregillis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-07-17T06:00:00+00:00

eight

28 May 1963

Croydon, London, England

Klaus knew he was veering into foolishness. Refusing to interact with his sister? Pretending she didn’t exist? They lived in the same space; rode in the same vehicles. It was pointless but, more frankly, childish. And so it would be while the British practically treated them as a single entity. He’d never be free of Gretel on his own.

Thus had the seed of an idea taken root while he sat in the foyer of the North Atlantic Cross-Cultural Foundation, waiting for Will and Marsh to finish their argument. It sprouted during the return drive across London. And by the time they returned to the safe house, it had borne fruit.

Everything hinged on Marsh’s plan to use Will as bait. If it failed, Klaus’s chance at a normal life would die on the vine. But if the plan succeeded with his help … Well, then it depended on whether or not Marsh was a man of his word.

Klaus tapped Marsh on the arm as everybody emerged from the Morris. “May I speak with you? Privately?”

He followed Marsh through the house to the garden, leaving Pethick to deal with Gretel. An empty planter stood where Marsh had identified the diseased maple. It had been transplanted, Klaus saw, into the south corner of the garden, in a niche where the walls met. He wondered if Marsh had done that.

Once they were outside, with the rear door firmly closed behind them, Marsh crossed his arms. “Well?”

“The plan you’ve hatched. You intend to trap the assassin by using a pixie.”

Marsh hesitated, just long enough to signify his surprise. He recovered, shrugging noncommittally. “Perhaps.”

He doesn’t trust me. Nor do I trust him entirely.

“They’re aware of that vulnerability,” said Klaus. “The Soviets. They used it against us when they occupied the Reichsbehörde. It’s how they captured us.” He pointed at the house, a vague gesture to imply “us” meant him and his sister.

“We know that. What are you saying?”

“When you captured my sister during the war, you took her battery, yes? Studied it? And from that you derived a design for the pixies.”

Marsh frowned. “Is that why she came here? Why she let herself be captured? To give us a battery?”

Klaus had never considered this, but it was plausible. He reappraised Marsh; the man seemed to have given much thought to the complexity of Gretel’s machinations. It bordered on an obsession.

“I don’t know. But…” Klaus trailed off, shaking his head.

“… It sounds like something she might do?”

“Yes. The purpose of her trip to England was never clear to the rest of us. It served no … strategic purpose.”

“Hmm.” Marsh held his frown, contemplating this. Then he said, “I derailed you. What point were you trying to make regarding the pixies?”

Klaus said, “I understand how the Soviet engineers think. They have anticipated such countermeasures. They have—” He paused, grasping for the right word. “—reinforced the battery and its circuitry.” He touched his scalp, where the wires emerged.

“Damn,” Marsh whispered. He ran a hand over his face.

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.