Free Chasing The Dawn (Luke Temple - Book 2) (Luke Temple Series) by James Flynn Page B

this is why it is quite a baffling and troubling discovery for the scientific community.”
    Luke did not care about the details, something else had pricked him. “Six years ago? I read an article only a few weeks ago claiming this was a new discovery.” Luke wished he had read the article in full.
    Brun gave a wry smile. “Surely someone in your line of work can appreciate that releasing information is often a far more strategic process than just shouting loudly and instantly.” Brun’s eyes began to lose focus, he caught Luke’s eye. “I’m sorry …”
    “Why the apology?”
    A door that had opened within the professor seemed to have now shut tight. “There is nothing more to say, Mr Reid.”
    “Who was the girl? The girl who came to visit you at the lab today, you dropped her off before coming here.”
    Brun was thrown, realising he had been followed. “Er ... her name is Chung Su, she is a physicist from North Korea.”
    Luke gave a look, and Brun read his mind. “She is a quite brilliant scientist, we do not all see the negative in a culture.”
    “What is she here for?”
    Brun hesitated and Luke could tell he was holding back; he pawed the Sig Sauer.
    Brun spoke quietly. “She is here for a scientific convention that is hosted every year by us and CERN, it is an invite-only event for the top scientists in their field from across the world, a celebration of sublime minds. For the past ten years it has been in conjunction with select charities … this year because of Vittorio’s discovery it was being held here … he was due to be the keynote speaker ... so now it has fallen to me.” Brun fell into deep thought.
    Luke’s mind worked fast, it reeled back to Davison’s phone call the previous night. In two evenings’ time we feel it would be best for you to start looking to the stars a bit more, charity is something that you will need to look at, we don’t have all the answers but we have the ticket on this one.
    “Where is the event taking place?” Luke asked sharply.
    Brun didn’t answer.
    “Where?” Luke bellowed.
    “The Observatory … there is a hall that is under the ground just near the Teramo Observatory, it is only known to a handful of top people.” Brun was barely audible.
    The location was a logical choice. Davison’s words echoed. We feel it would be best for you to start looking to the stars. Brun had said it was an invite-only event. We don’t have all the answers but we have the ticket on this one.
    Luke needed to draw this to a close, keep the encounter short .
    “Professor, you will see me again, but we have never met, understood?”
    Brun placed the now-empty bottle on the floor. He looked weary, his face was ashen and he once again removed his glasses and rubbed behind his ears.
    “Understood?”
    “Yes.” The professor kept his voice low.
    Brun had a personality that people were drawn to, a warmth in his words and his being. This was not lost on Luke, he could see how the ease of manner was engaging, and his advanced years appeared to render him soft and calm.
    “We will speak again Professor.” With that he was gone.
    Brun jumped as the door slammed shut. He rested back in the chair and stared up at the constellations. After a short while he opened the fridge and took out another lager, the tears rolling down his cheeks.

16.
    Tuesday 13 th November
    Each footstep echoed around the cavernous room. Structurally the hall was basic; the only abnormal feature was a large framework of silver industrial piping running across the ceiling, filtering in cool exterior air. The hall was three storeys below ground, located under the Osservatorio Astranomico di Collurania. It had originally been constructed as a spill-over for the Gran Sasso Laboratory functioning as a separate storage facility. As the funding streams increased more expansion occurred on the primary laboratory site and the hall became redundant and was left to abandon.
    The space was filled with decorated