"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," he said, deciding that to feign denial would be ineffective.
The paper fell and David gasped involuntarily, for he looked into the eyes of the single most beautiful girl he had ever seen. In the back of his mind, he recalled Ken's description, 'she had golden eyes'. Other than that, the girl was different to the girl in the photograph. Yet for some strange reason, David knew he was in the presence of that same young woman.
The girl smiled, making her even more attractive.
"I have, haven't I?" she said, standing up, laying the paper on the table. “Congratulations on your recent promotion, by the way.”
“Thanks, I think.”
She was dressed in a yellow summer dress and high-heeled shoes, making her almost the same height as the stunned American. Her very presence, with golden hair and incredible eyes seemed to make the whole room warmer, or perhaps David was the only one affected.
"How's the General?"
"Which one?"
The girl smiled again, approaching him. She moved like a big cat, with amazing grace, but with hidden power. David had feared few people in his career, but he felt a twinge of fear in her presence. Unaware of the mental pressure used against him, he shuffled uneasily as she came to stand within a foot of him.
"I'm Amber," she said, holding out her hand. "Major Robbins, I think we need to talk. Care to take a walk in the park with me?"
Amber!
To say he was surprised was an understatement.
As he shook her hand and gazed into those hypnotic eyes, David did very well to simply nod.
Releasing her hand from his clutches, she linked her arm through his, smiling at him in his confusion.
“The name suits you,” he said, making her smile.
"Do you mind if I call you David, or have you another cover name you’d rather I used?"
Gathering his wits, he nodded. "Sure, David’s fine, or my friends call me Dave, but can we forget the rank, okay?"
"Consider it forgotten. I'm sorry about your divorce, by the way. I think she was rather foolish."
David frowned. "Just what don't you know about me?"
She laughed, which in itself was a delightful sound.
"Oh, Dave, I know everything, absolutely everything."
Mrs Chandler smiled as she observed the couple leaving the hotel. The American was such a nice man, it was the first time they'd seen him in the company of a girl, but she was simply lovely. They made a fine couple, as the American was very good-looking - tall, blond and clean cut. He looked rather like the actor Kirk Douglas.
It was nearly eleven in the morning on a lovely sunny summer’s day, so the small park was at its best.
The pair walked in silence for a while. Amber was allowing David to gather his thoughts, knowing that he was feeling threatened and defensive. She became aware of his reason for being here as soon as he arrived at the Embassy, but she was more excited about his latent powers. She knew the Americans had been on the Leonid case, so was maintaining a general open mind on the Embassy, so was aware also of the CIA's consternation. David's arrival was coincidental, but it was fortunate. The Brigadier wanted to link in with the US intelligence services thereby bypassing MI5 and 6. The fact that Wallace’s old friend General Goldman was involved had made her task easier.
Amber's brief was to forge such a link, without prejudicing the department's position or her gifts. To find she was his sole reason to come here made it that much more delicious.
David took his jacket off and slung it over his shoulder.
"Just who do you work for?" he asked, breaking the uneasy silence.
"I work for a Specialist Intelligence Department of British Intelligence. More than that I can't say yet."
David nodded, but his mind was in a whirl. He decided to go out on a limb.
"What do you know about Chameleon?"
"Everything you do," she said, enigmatically.
He smiled. "That's not much."
"I never said it was. But then, you're here to learn from us, not the other way around."
"Oh yeah; so why don't you tell me why I'm here?"
They reached a bench and she sat down, looking up him. She ached to be able to share what she had, to no longer be so alone. Here was someone who, unknowing it, had some degree of what she possessed. She decided to be more open with him and see where it led.
"That's easy. You're here because of me."
"You?"
David was surprised again. So, to cover his surprise he sat next to her. He was also disconcerted over her almost perpetual smile.
"Dave, you were sent here to find out whether we have been more successful at attaining special powers than you. And, if so, to glean what you can and take it back."
"So?"
"What do you know about Chrysalis?" she asked.
It was David's turn to smile. "I suspect you know exactly what I know. But I don't see what this has to do with you. If I remember, Chrysalis was a wartime project, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you're old enough to have been part of it."
"My parents were test subjects on the project. I was conceived while they were undertaking tests and as a result have inherited some interesting gifts."
"Just why are you telling me this? If my intelligence is correct, even MI5 doesn't know about you."
"My boss is as cautious about other British departments as are you. He is anxious to open a channel of communication with you, the military, not CIA, for matters of mutual benefit."
"Mutual benefit?"
She laughed again. "I think that relates to those areas that our respective masters believe are beneficial. And I'm talking about bosses and not politicians."
He glanced at her, once more surprised, as she appeared very young, yet she came over as sensible and mature in her outlook on life.
"Okay, just what interesting gifts?"
"I can't tell you that either, not just yet."
"Then why the hell are we sitting here?"
"I wanted to meet you, as I think we'll be working together for a while."
"Oh?"
"I know that the Russians have some gifted operatives like me in America. You need me to help you find them."
"Them?"
Amber smiled again. "Oh yes, more than one. But that's all I do know at this time."
"If you know about them, do they know about you?"
It was Amber's turn to be surprised.
"My, you are quick. No, they don't, at least not as far as I can tell."
"How do you know all this? Even I haven't been briefed about this."
She turned those eyes on him and looked him right in the eye.
"Dave, just trust me, I know. The problem is quite simply that if you got a whisper that we exist, then I suspect the Russians know we know something, but they don't know it's me and they don't know what I know. Taking Leonid was a risk, but what we have to work out, are the benefits worth that risk? We've plugged a breach, but we've exposed ourselves so now it is known that we exist. Our exact nature and powers are unknown, but subject to conjecture and supposition which have stirred all manner of hornet's nests."
David mulled over what the girl told him. He looked at his watch. He'd been in England for less than five hours, and he was already in a very different position to what he had anticipated.
"Why did you approach me? You know I had no suspicion you existed, neither did I know where to start looking."
"I judged that in looking you might have caused both us and your own people some problems. I simply acted proactively to bring you alongside."
He frowned again. "Alongside whom, Amber?"
"Me."
"Why?"
Amber was quiet for a moment. David took the time to watch her. She sat staring into the distance, and he marvelled at her near-perfect complexion.
"Because I'd rather have you as a friend than an enemy," she replied, eventually.
"But you don't know me."