The Einstein Code by Tom West Page A

institute.’
    ‘And this Glena Buckingham character and her friends at Eurenergy must have done the same, then?’ Kate shifted in her seat.
    ‘OK, so let’s get this straight,’ Lou said. ‘The Chinese have bought an atoll in the Pacific with spare change and everyone is up in arms about it because a) they
overlooked it, and b) it’s sitting on vast resources. You guys at MI6, and presumably the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon, the Kremlin etc. etc. have all been listening in to comms between Dalton
Island and Beijing and you happened to pick up our transmission about the Lockheed Electra and what we found on it.’
    ‘That’s about it.’ Fleming looked from Lou to Kate and then Derham. The captain had a stern look on his face but seemed happy just to listen.
    ‘And Ms Buckingham was also spying on the Chinese, I take it?’ Kate said.
    ‘That’s what we are assuming.’
    ‘So why is she after us and what we have?’
    ‘Well, that’s the funny thing,’ Fleming said, a wry smile playing on his lips. ‘We had no idea either. Then some bright spark in my department who had been scouring
through the archive of articles about Buckingham came across an interview she gave to
Cosmopolitan
, of all things, about five years ago in which she happened to mention her lifelong
fascination with Amelia Earhart.’
    Lou couldn’t help laughing.
    ‘It gets better. We believe that there is far more to your discovery than the solution to an interesting historical conundrum. But as far as we know Buckingham was simply using her people
to get something she wanted personally.’
    ‘Why is it that MI6 and our guys are so keen to get hold of what Kate and Lou found?’ Derham said.
    Fleming didn’t reply for a moment but looked down at his hands. Sighing, he looked up. ‘The fact is, we are not absolutely sure what value there is in the object that Lou and Kate
brought up. But the reason I’m here in America is because MI6 and the CIA have been working together to try to build upon a theory one of our people came up with. From hints in letters and
using a set of newly declassified MOD documents dating back to the 1930s, he has presented a strong argument to investigate rumours that Amelia Earhart was not only an American spy, but was also
involved in one of the most audacious military projects of the era.
    ‘Two years ago, a small team was formed in London with the remit to get to the bottom of our operative’s claim. But then, back in March, we lost the scent completely. It was an
amazing bit of good fortune, not to mention impeccable timing, that we overheard the comms from your boat.’
    ‘What exactly is this project you’re talking about?’ Kate asked.
    ‘And perhaps you’d better start at the beginning,’ Lou suggested.
    ‘Yes, I’m sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself. Have any of you heard of the Philadelphia Experiment?’
    ‘I’ve heard of it. Some crazy conspiracy theory, isn’t it?’ Derham replied.
    ‘I know a little bit about it,’ Lou volunteered. ‘I was quite interested in that sort of far-out stuff when I was at college.’
    Kate gave him an odd look.
    ‘It was a long time ago.’
    ‘Not that long!’
    ‘Five words, Kate.
The Crackerjack Girls’ Own Book
.’
    She laughed.
    ‘Anyway,’ Lou went on. ‘I read a few books about that sort of thing – the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs etc. The Philadelphia Experiment was something that was supposed to have
taken place in the late thirties or early forties? Wasn’t Einstein involved? I remember something about some sort of weird test to try to teleport a ship. Went horribly wrong.’
    ‘Yes, well, there are many different versions of the story, most of them contradict each other and have become ridiculously exaggerated.’ Fleming paused for a moment to drink some
coffee. ‘The truth is far less esoteric than the conspiracy nuts would like, but for all that, no less astonishing. Einstein was indeed involved. The experiment was conducted