Free Einstein Must Die! (Fate of Nations Book 1) by Chris Kohout Page A

to dive into his reservations just yet. He paused, looking around the tavern. So much fun others were having , he thought.
    The colonel was a crack poker player, which meant he read men well. He knew pushing the issue would only delay things.
    “I made colonel down in Mexico City,” he offered.
    Tesla’s brows rose, and his sympathy for the man climbed. “By all accounts, that was a horrible situation.”
    “Was a goddamned mess. We ended up saving South America from the Crowns, but it cost us bad. ‘Course, we wanted the buffer state, so it wasn’t totally altruistic.” He shrugged. “Nothing ever is, in war.” His eyes went glassy, and Tesla knew he was revisiting Mexico City.
    The colonel blinked. “Anyway, I lost a lot of boys there. And now we’ve got Crown forces landing on our mainland. So, I’m with you. If Beowulf takes men out of war, it’s worth anything.”
    “I understand. The technical challenge is mountainous, of course. I have no idea how it could be done.”
    The colonel waved dismissively. “Sure, but if it could?”
    “Then I suppose we come to the real issue that bothers me, though it took some time to surface.”
    “Which is what, exactly?”
    A waitress appeared beside him, all smiles, in a low-cut green velvet dress. “Bring you anything?” she asked.
    Tesla frowned and waved her off. “No, no, please. Thank you.” She slipped away in the crowd.
    Tesla set down his glass. He leaned forward to keep his voice low, despite the noisy atmosphere.
    “Say I can do it. Say I figure a way to put a man’s mind into a machine. What would that mean? Am I playing God? Would he even be a man any longer? And what would it do to him? He would have no body, at least in the traditional sense. His body would become a machine. No man has ever experienced such a thing. What if it drove him insane?”
    “Oh, I’ve given much thought to the very same questions.”
    “You have? Why? What’s your role in all this, anyway?”
    “Me? My role is easy. I just have to die. You have to resurrect me.”
    “What?” Tesla’s spine went straight as an iron rod.
    “I’m the logical choice. I have the military strategy up here,” he said, tapping his temple. “And I have the cancer.” He tapped his chest.
    “You mean you’re…”
    “Going to die. Yes, I am. Fairly soon now.”
    “My God. I had no idea.”
    “Course not. But now you see why I’m asking the same questions you are. I’m the one going into the machine. If you can do it, of course.”
    Tesla held his head in his hands, staring at the table. “I don’t know if I can.”
    “None of us know what we can do, until we do it.”
    Tesla looked up. “I don’t know what to say to you.”
    “Buy me another round then.”
    Tesla waved the waitress over, and they got another set of whiskeys.
    The colonel took a sip. “Doctor told me no drinking or smoking. I got weeks to live, and he tells me that. That’s what I call a complete lack of situational awareness.”
    Tesla chuckled at the gallows humor.
    “Good man,” said the Colonel. “You’ll be OK.”
    Tesla grew silent, then asked, “What about Savannah? I assume she knows?”
    The colonel nodded. “She does. And her little girl, Madelaine, too.”
    “Oh, I didn’t know she was married.”
    “She was. We don’t talk about him.”
    Tesla heard the warning tones in his voice and didn’t pursue the question.  
    He rubbed his cheek, feeling the stubble of a long day. “I didn’t realize this project was so personal for your family.”
    “You play the hand you’re dealt, right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not thrilled with the idea of crossing over into… whatever it is. Or even worse, not crossing over completely.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “There’s not exactly a field manual for this kind of thing. What if some of me comes over, but not all? What if it’s not truly me anymore? Gives me the creeps.”
    “I hadn’t thought of that yet. You’re right, that would be a