Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘Yes, thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m very grateful.’ A non-committal sound from Blumberg, then politenesses were exchanged and she and Seretse left the office. ‘Thank you, too,’ she told the diplomat.

‘Considering how many lives you saved here at the UN, it was the least I could do,’ he replied as they returned to the reception area. ‘Now, you will just need to sign this agreement.’

‘It won’t involve giving up my firstborn, will it?’

Seretse looked amused. ‘I believe that clause is hidden in the very small print.’

They both turned as someone called Seretse’s name. ‘Your secretary said I might find you here,’ said a new arrival, waving a dismissive hand at the protesting Lola as he passed her desk to meet the Gambian.

‘Fenrir,’ said Seretse, surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’

The tall, broad-shouldered blond man was around sixty, though with the almost ageless features of someone who had taken care to live cleanly. Nina pegged his accent as Scandinavian but couldn’t pin it down precisely. He wore a well-tailored suit bearing a striped pattern that stood out as positively loud against the flat greys and blues favoured by those working at the United Nations. ‘I need to talk to you about issues arising from the Iranian nuclear deal,’ he said. His pale eyes glanced briefly at Nina, then snapped back in a double-take. ‘Are you Dr Nina Wilde?’

‘I am, yes,’ she said.

‘Then I feel extremely privileged to meet you.’ The man smiled. ‘If not for you, I would be dead. I was at the United Nations during the attempted attack on the General Assembly. Thank you.’

‘This is Dr Fenrir Mikkelsson,’ said Seretse. ‘He is one of the directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and also the senior UN negotiator for the recent nuclear weapons treaty.’

‘Then I should be the one feeling privileged,’ Nina told Mikkelsson, shaking his hand. ‘Getting countries like North Korea to agree on limitations was a pretty impressive achievement.’

‘It will not last for ever,’ he said. ‘Such things never do. But for now, the world feels a little safer, no?’

‘I’ve got a three-year-old daughter, so I’ll take a little over nothing at all.’

‘I agree. I have a daughter myself, although she is much older.’ He gave her an appraising look. ‘If I may ask, are you returning to the IHA?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m here on business.’

‘An archaeological matter? Another remarkable discovery, perhaps?’

‘Just a personal project. A lot less important than whatever you need to talk to Oswald about, I’m sure! Don’t let me keep you.’

‘Then I hope your project goes well.’ He turned back to Seretse. ‘Shall we discuss it in your office?’

‘Of course,’ Seretse replied. ‘Although you did not need to come running down here to find me. I would have returned shortly.’

‘It is not a problem. And exercise is always good. Good morning, Dr Wilde.’ The two diplomats departed.

‘Okay, weird,’ said Lola. ‘Wonder why he didn’t just have Mr Seretse paged?’

‘Must have been pretty urgent,’ Nina said. ‘Anyway, have you got a form for me?’

‘Yeah, Dr Blumberg told me to print it off for you. What’s it for? Are you getting involved in archaeology again?’

‘I was never un involved,’ she said as Lola took several sheets of paper from her printer. ‘Oh, jeez. Don’t tell me it’s all of that?’

‘Afraid so. Most of it’s just boilerplate, though.’

Nina skimmed through the legalese. ‘No “take my firstborn” clause, so… done,’ she said, signing it.

Lola took back the pages. ‘I’ll email you a confirmation and login details as soon as I can. Oh!’ She leaned closer eagerly. ‘Tell me about your movie! Is it good?’

‘If you like Grant Thorn movies, you’ll probably love it,’ was the best the redhead could come up with. ‘Anyway, sorry, but I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.’

‘Don’t leave it so long this time!’ Lola called after her.

True to Lola’s word, by the time Nina returned home and checked her phone, an email from the IHA was waiting. She resisted the temptation to log in at once, instead joining her husband and daughter. ‘How was the zoo?’ she asked Macy.

‘It was awesome!’ the little girl trilled. ‘We saw some bears, and a red panda, and three different kinds of penguins!’

‘Yeah, we had a nice time. Especially as we stayed longer than we’d planned,’ said Eddie pointedly. ‘What about you? You get what you wanted from the IHA?’

‘Yes.’

His gaze twitched towards her laptop. ‘I suppose you’ll be starting work right away, then?’

‘No,’ she assured him. ‘It can wait.’

‘Good. ’Cause Macy wants to draw you all the animals she saw today. Don’t you, love?’

Macy had already produced a box of crayons. ‘You should have come, Mommy! We saw a snow leopard! It was very beautiful.’

Nina got some paper and sat with her family. ‘I wish I’d seen it. But you can draw it for me, that’s just as good.’

Macy started to scribble, her parents offering encouragement as her interpretation of the animal took on form. But before long, Nina couldn’t help but glance towards the laptop — only to catch Eddie’s silently accusing stare. With more than a twinge of shame, she looked back at her daughter’s drawing.

‘Night-night, Mommy,’ said Macy, kissing Nina.

‘Night, honey,’ Nina replied. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, okay?’

‘Okay, Mommy. But I wish you’d come to the zoo with us.’

‘I had something else to do, hon. I’m sorry. I’ll come next time.’ She and her husband went to the door. Eddie blew Macy a kiss, then quietly shut the door behind them. ‘Did she really miss me?’

‘When I told her we were going without you, yeah,’ he replied. ‘Once she saw the animals, though, she was so excited she hardly even remembered I was there. But you should have come.’

‘That sounded a bit accusatory,’ she noted as they entered the lounge.

He shrugged. ‘Just saying.’

‘Because, you know, she’s three years old now. She’s already very independent, and it’s a good time for her to start doing things without both of us there.’

Eddie dropped on to the couch. ‘Or a good time for one of us to start doing things without her ?’

She eyed him. ‘That was definitely accusatory.’

‘What can I say? Yeah, it was nice to get out last night and do summat different, but that’s not the same as you going back to work for the IHA. That place never brought us anything but trouble.’

‘I’m not going back to the IHA,’ she said, sitting facing him across the coffee table. ‘I want to follow up on my mom’s research, that’s all. Being able to check the IHA’s database just makes it a hell of a lot easier. Besides, that,’ she indicated her mother’s notes, ‘isn’t work. It’s personal, it’s my family’s history. How could I not look into it?’

‘Yeah, I suppose,’ he said, with reluctance. ‘Well… go on then.’

‘Go on then, what?’

He jerked a thumb at the desk. ‘Go and do what you want to do. I can tell you’re absolutely desperate to get started.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘If I don’t let you, you’ll probably explode, and then I’ll have to clean up the mess.’

She scurried past him towards the desk, pausing to kiss the top of his shaved head. ‘Have I mentioned lately that you’re the best husband ever?’

‘I’ll remind you of that next time I want something,’ Eddie told her, smirking.