relationship—like a first date.
“What I’m asking is, what do know about the Device?” I said.
“Powerful. Dangerous. Many good people have died trying to find it,” she replied.
I stopped under the shade of an olive tree. I could already tell that it was going to be a hot, dusty day. It was also becoming clear that the Dragons and the CIA weren’t the only ones who wanted the Device. The Turks wanted it too. I judged that my best option was to come clean—or at least as clean as I could.
“Look, I’m not going to lie to you. Of course we’re looking for the Device. Isn’t everybody?”
“So you have a special relationship with the Green Dragons, yes?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Spies. Always evading. Please. Answer the question.”
I didn’t answer. That was one question I didn’t see the upside in responding to. Not at that point.
“Fine. We play it your way,” Meryem said. “Listen. I don’t care who you work for. I don’t care why you do it. Later, yes, these things will be important. But for now, we have a problem we can help each other solve. For now, we work together. Are we agreed?”
“Depends,” I said. “You’ve seen my hand. Now show me yours.”
Meryem stared at me dumbly. Then she raised her hand so I could look at it
“No, it’s an expression,” I said. “It means —”
She smiled impishly.
“Are you screwing with me?” I said.
She took her hand away.
“Yes. I am screwing with you,” she said.
I have to say, I didn’t trust Meryem and I didn’t know whether I ever would. But I was beginning to like her. I liked her when she touched me. I liked the feel of her skin.
“Listen carefully,” she said. “My people are looking for the Tesla Device. The CIA is looking for the Tesla Device. The Green Dragon group is looking for the Tesla Device. It is a very popular device.”
“You’re telling me.”
“We believe the Device has been hidden in our country ever since it disappeared in 1955. Because we too have an interest in it, we have gathered information. Information that, in combination with the journal you found, will guarantee us success.”
“So you say.”
“You do not sound convinced.”
“Because I’m not. Suppose we find this thing? What then? Who gets it in the end?”
“In the end is not now, Mr. Raptor. But because you ask, there is more than one way, how do you say, to skin a cat? Perhaps MIT will be happy with only the design schematics. Perhaps we will share the Device. Collaborate. How do I know?”
“Fine. Say we put the endgame aside. Convince me then,” I said. “You want to partner up? Show me what you’ve got.”
Meryem turned away.
“The information I have been given says that the Tesla Device consists of two parts. A pair of remote triggers used to fire the Device and a spherical focusing array from which the charge is expelled. Both components are necessary for the Device to function. Our job is to find these things.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s your information? Do you really think I didn’t already know that?”
I thought back to a sketch in the journal that showed what looked like two brick-shaped mechanisms connected by a long cable to the sphere. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that the mechanisms represented the triggers wired into the focusing array. The thing was, Turkey was a large country and, in terms of actually finding the Device, I had very little more to go on. It would be a big task, some might say an impossible one, to locate the components before anyone else. Regardless of the challenges, I was dealing with a weapon of mass destruction. Failure could mean a massive loss of life.
I watched Meryem kick at the ground below the olive tree. There was a terra-cotta-colored rock there, but as she kicked it with her sneaker, a little more of the rock was revealed, followed by a little more. Soon I saw that it wasn’t a rock at all, but a baked clay tube, like
“What I’m asking is, what do know about the Device?” I said.
“Powerful. Dangerous. Many good people have died trying to find it,” she replied.
I stopped under the shade of an olive tree. I could already tell that it was going to be a hot, dusty day. It was also becoming clear that the Dragons and the CIA weren’t the only ones who wanted the Device. The Turks wanted it too. I judged that my best option was to come clean—or at least as clean as I could.
“Look, I’m not going to lie to you. Of course we’re looking for the Device. Isn’t everybody?”
“So you have a special relationship with the Green Dragons, yes?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Spies. Always evading. Please. Answer the question.”
I didn’t answer. That was one question I didn’t see the upside in responding to. Not at that point.
“Fine. We play it your way,” Meryem said. “Listen. I don’t care who you work for. I don’t care why you do it. Later, yes, these things will be important. But for now, we have a problem we can help each other solve. For now, we work together. Are we agreed?”
“Depends,” I said. “You’ve seen my hand. Now show me yours.”
Meryem stared at me dumbly. Then she raised her hand so I could look at it
“No, it’s an expression,” I said. “It means —”
She smiled impishly.
“Are you screwing with me?” I said.
She took her hand away.
“Yes. I am screwing with you,” she said.
I have to say, I didn’t trust Meryem and I didn’t know whether I ever would. But I was beginning to like her. I liked her when she touched me. I liked the feel of her skin.
“Listen carefully,” she said. “My people are looking for the Tesla Device. The CIA is looking for the Tesla Device. The Green Dragon group is looking for the Tesla Device. It is a very popular device.”
“You’re telling me.”
“We believe the Device has been hidden in our country ever since it disappeared in 1955. Because we too have an interest in it, we have gathered information. Information that, in combination with the journal you found, will guarantee us success.”
“So you say.”
“You do not sound convinced.”
“Because I’m not. Suppose we find this thing? What then? Who gets it in the end?”
“In the end is not now, Mr. Raptor. But because you ask, there is more than one way, how do you say, to skin a cat? Perhaps MIT will be happy with only the design schematics. Perhaps we will share the Device. Collaborate. How do I know?”
“Fine. Say we put the endgame aside. Convince me then,” I said. “You want to partner up? Show me what you’ve got.”
Meryem turned away.
“The information I have been given says that the Tesla Device consists of two parts. A pair of remote triggers used to fire the Device and a spherical focusing array from which the charge is expelled. Both components are necessary for the Device to function. Our job is to find these things.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s your information? Do you really think I didn’t already know that?”
I thought back to a sketch in the journal that showed what looked like two brick-shaped mechanisms connected by a long cable to the sphere. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that the mechanisms represented the triggers wired into the focusing array. The thing was, Turkey was a large country and, in terms of actually finding the Device, I had very little more to go on. It would be a big task, some might say an impossible one, to locate the components before anyone else. Regardless of the challenges, I was dealing with a weapon of mass destruction. Failure could mean a massive loss of life.
I watched Meryem kick at the ground below the olive tree. There was a terra-cotta-colored rock there, but as she kicked it with her sneaker, a little more of the rock was revealed, followed by a little more. Soon I saw that it wasn’t a rock at all, but a baked clay tube, like
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