The Einstein Pursuit

51

Twenty minutes had passed since the meeting on the terrace had ended. Sahlberg and Rita had gone to the outdoor patio at the far end of the lawn to catch up on old times, and Gambaro had retired to his room for a much-needed nap. Meanwhile, Payne and Jones were starving. Grossman and Fell led them into the kitchen and told them to help themselves, which was a huge mistake considering Payne’s enormous appetite.

‘So,’ Payne asked as he raided the refrigerator, ‘did you guys draw the short straws?’

‘I’m not sure I follow,’ Fell replied.

‘I imagine the membership roll of the Einstein Group is a lot longer than you two and the elder statesmen. Why were you chosen to babysit us?’

‘You’re correct about our numbers,’ Grossman answered. ‘Historically, we’ve tried to keep our membership to a hundred members or so.’

‘One hundred?’ Jones asked. ‘That seems awfully small, given the tasks you’ve undertaken.’

‘We didn’t set the number,’ Grossman explained. ‘It is merely a product of our evolution. In the past, the group has allowed more members, but the resulting conflict of personalities and ideals proved unmanageable. And since revoking membership is simply untenable, it created issues for quite some time.’

‘Why can’t you kick someone out?’ Jones asked.

Fell answered. ‘The knowledge gained by entering our ranks is as powerful as it is broad. The risk of that knowledge being misused — be it without our consent or against us — outweighs the advantage of dismissing a member. A difficult personality is preferred over a disgruntled, perhaps vengeful, individual.’

‘If dying is the only way out, the vetting process must be intense. I can’t imagine what kinds of hurdles you have to clear before you’re invited in.’

‘It is a complicated progression of approval, I assure you.’

‘So,’ Payne wondered, ‘when this is all over, what happens to us? Neither of us are scientists or mathematicians, and neither of us have cured any diseases.’

‘Not true,’ Jones insisted. ‘I once got a rash at a whorehouse. I was so embarrassed I stole some penicillin from a medic and treated that shit myself.’

Payne rolled his eyes. ‘As you can tell, we’re just a couple of soldiers whose lives have taken some interesting turns along the way.’

Fell smiled at the comment. ‘The same could be said for me. I served in the Royal Marine Corps of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces before I found my true calling.’

Jones sized him up. ‘Imagine that — he’s a bootneck.’

Fell laughed. ‘It’s been quite some time since I’ve heard that term. And I have to admit, I’m kind of glad. It’s not the most flattering name.’

Jones pointed at Grossman. ‘What about you? Did you serve?’

Grossman shook his head. ‘Not a soldier. Just a Jew.’

Fell laughed at his colleague’s dry humor. ‘Ben’s comment is more revealing than you think. It actually answers your original question.’

‘Which question is that?’ Payne wondered.

‘You wanted to know why the two of us are on babysitting duty. The truth is, we volunteered for the job.’

‘Really. Why?’

Fell explained. ‘If you turned us down, I was fully prepared to press upon your sense of duty as a former soldier. And if that failed, Ben was going to guilt you into it.’

Grossman nodded. ‘That’s what my people do best.’

The patio at the far end of the property offered striking views of the rocky coast below and the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. Though it had been years since Rita could see the sunset, she still enjoyed feeling the warmth of the setting sun on her face. She had come to this spot often enough to know when the shifting winds were signaling the last streaks of light across the sky. The breeze no longer swept against her face. Now it gently pushed her toward the cliff.

It would be dark soon.

The two things that protected her from falling into the sea were a small stone ledge and the man sitting next to her on the bench. It was a seat that was normally reserved for Gambaro, who often joined Rita for this nightly ritual. Tonight, Sahlberg had taken his place.

They had met at a symposium in New York City not long after he had arrived in the country. He had traveled from Pittsburgh to attend; she was studying in New Jersey at the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the few lucky enough to be mentored by Albert Einstein himself. There was an instant romantic spark between the two of them, but they pushed those feelings aside in order to pursue a long-term intellectual relationship.

It was one of the best decisions they had ever made.

Eventually, it was Rita who had pressed for Sahlberg’s admission into the Einstein Group. Though there were no ranks, Rita was held in the highest regard among her peers. Not only was she a vocal member of the group, she was one of the few who had personally worked with Einstein before his death. It was a distinction that carried a lot of weight.

Years had passed since they had chatted in person, but their chemistry was still obvious. As they huddled together, the warmth of their bodies countering the chilly summer breeze, a feeling of ease drifted over them. Sahlberg looked skyward as the stars began to twinkle. He lolled his head back as far as it could go to observe the sky above.

Instead, he saw a face staring down at him.

A face he knew.

A face he’d hoped he would never see again.

Omar Masseri clamped a gloved hand across Sahlberg’s mouth, stifling his yell before it even began. With his other hand, he plunged a syringe deep into Sahlberg’s jugular vein. The shot of Propofol rendered Sahlberg unconscious in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately for Masseri, he had only brought a single dose of anesthetic.

As Sahlberg’s grip relaxed in her hand and his body began to slump away from her, Rita knew something was wrong. She reached out for his shoulder; instead she felt the powerful arm of someone lowering Sahlberg to the ground. She drew a breath to scream, but Masseri was faster. He thrust his fingers under her chin, choking off her airway.

She couldn’t breathe, much less call for help.

‘I’m sorry about this,’ he whispered.

He dug his grip into her carotid artery, inducing brain ischemia: as the blood vessels in her brain dilated, the sudden shift in blood pressure caused her to lose consciousness. He gently laid her on the warm cement of the patio before rigging his escape by tying the rappeling lines to the concrete bench. Confident that it would support the combined weight of their descent, he pulled Sahlberg into a kneeling position, then wrapped the tandem rig around Sahlberg’s waist and shoulders, securing the safety straps between his legs. The final step was to lower his own body over his target’s by means of a backwards bend — a move that only a yoga instructor could appreciate — allowing him to link their harnesses.

As Masseri rolled to the side and then pulled himself to his feet, Sahlberg dangled from his back like a toddler. After securing the harness to the line, Masseri stepped over the ledge and dropped into the darkness below.