"Ludlum, Robert - Covert One 3 - The Paris Option" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ludlum Robert)

"You can't light that here," Smith told him. "DNA can be contaminated by airborne particles."


Klein sighed. "Just one more reason to go outdoors."


Fred Kleinand Covert-Onetrusted no one and nothing, took nothing for granted. Even a laboratory that officially did not exist could be bugged, which, Smith knew, was the real reason Klein wanted to leave. He followed the intelligence master out into the hall and locked his door. Side by side, they made their way downstairs, past dark labs and offices that showed only occasional light. The building was silent except for the breathy hum of the giant ventilation system.


Outside, the dawn sunlight slanted low against the fir trees, illuminating them on the east with shimmering light while on the west they remained tarry black, in shadows. High above the campus to the west towered the Rocky Mountains, their rough peaks glowing. The valleys that creased the slopes were purple with night's lingering darkness. The aromatic scent of pine filled the air.


Klein walked a dozen steps from the building and stopped to fire up his pipe. He puffed and tamped until clouds of smoke half-hid his face. He waved some of the smoke away.


"Let's walk." As they headed toward the road, Klein said, "Talk to me about your work here. How's it going? Are you close to creating a molecular computer?"


"I wish. The research is going well, but it's slow. Complex."


Governments around the world wanted to be the first to have a working DNA computer, because it would be able to break any code or encryption in a matter of seconds. A terrifying prospect, especially where defense was concerned. All of America's missiles, secret systems at NSA, the NRO's spy satellites, the entire ability of the navy to operate, all defense plansanything and everything that relied on electronics would be at the mercy of the first molecular computer. Even the largest silicon supercomputer would not be able to stop it.


"How soon before the planet sees an operational one?" Klein wanted to know.


"Several years," Smith said without hesitation, "maybe more."


"Who's the closest?"


"Practical and operational? No one I've heard of."


Klein smoked, tamped down his burning tobacco again. "If I said someone had already done it, who'd you guess?"


Precursor prototypes had been built, coming closer to practicality each year, but an actual, complete success? That was at least five years away. UnlessTakeda? Chambord?


Then Smith knew. Since Klein was here, the clue was the Pasteur. "Emile Chambord. Are you saying Chambord is years ahead of the rest of us? Even ahead of Takeda in Tokyo?"


"Chambord probably died in the explosion." Klein puffed on his pipe, his expression worried. "His lab was completely destroyed. Nothing left but shattered bricks, singed wood, and broken glass. They've checked his home, his daughter. Looked everywhere. His car was in the Pasteur parking lot, but they can't find him. There's talk."


"Talk? There's always talk."