And now I am going to do just that?

His heart flipped in his chest. ‘What you did, what happened in Chicago in ’44, was very dangerous. But all that you have done s-since that, Mr Waldstein, has been the right thing. I believe your campaign to prevent further experimentation is all, literally all, that s-s-stands between mankind and …’ Joseph spread his hands as he fumbled to finish. What word to use? What word?

‘The end?’ Waldstein offered.

Joseph nodded. ‘Yes, that is it … yes … the end.’

Waldstein was perfectly still, his rheumy eyes giving away absolutely nothing, a tableau of silence that seemed to be lasting forever. Joseph was beginning to wonder whether he’d completely blown it by mentioning the Chicago incident when Waldstein finally stirred.

‘Joseph …’ he began, ‘I have a — what shall I call it? — a project that I am working on. And I would like you to be a part of it.’

‘A project?’

Waldstein nodded. ‘Something that requires absolute secrecy. A project that is of immense importance.’

Joseph’s jaw dropped open. ‘Work with you? I … I would be honoured … to …’ His mouth was flapping uselessly.

‘Don’t be so quick to accept, Joseph. This is a one-way ticket. Absolute secrecy. You would never be able to talk about this project to anyone, ever. You will be working with me in complete isolation.’

Waldstein’s intense gaze was on him, watching him closely, searching his face for the slightest hint of doubt. ‘Joseph, once you’re in on this — if I decide I can completely trust you — you must understand that there’ll be no walking away from this.’

Joseph wasn’t entirely sure what ‘no walking away’ actually meant. An implied threat of some sort? Waldstein was a billionaire, a powerful man. Not someone to cross.

Not that it mattered. Betraying confidentialities, stealing secrets for a commercial rival, was of absolutely no interest at all to Joseph. His passion was his science. A hunger for knowledge.