Sitting on the iron chair in the interrogation room, Clemens' hands were tied behind his back. He looked helplessly at the ceiling, trying to make his aching back feel better.
This was the third day he had been taken to the Groom Lake military base. Apart from fainting for a period of time, Clemens had been interrogated continuously for 36 hours without rest.
Hearing the iron gate creak open, Clemens looked up, trying to make out the face of the person who had entered through his blurry vision.
Major Cole sat down on the other side of the interrogation table, looked at the disheveled Clemens, lit a cigarette and asked, "I've read the confession report—you repeatedly emphasized that you did not inform on anyone or colluded with the enemy, and that you deduced the approximate location of the heart entirely based on the limited data and information you had."
Upon hearing Major Cole's voice, Clemens asked in a hoarse voice, "My daughter, and my assistant, they..."
Major Cole exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "They're fine."
Clemens breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You've used lie detectors and truth serum. I'm telling the truth; I really have nothing to do with those Russians."
Major Cole took out a folder he was carrying, opened it, and threw all the materials inside onto the table.
All the materials were about Clemens, including his resume, biography, papers... even phone records and bank statements.
Major Cole laid out the materials in front of Clemens and asked, "How did you and your wife, Victoria Nikonov, meet?"
Clemens was taken aback, not understanding why the other person would suddenly ask this question. He replied truthfully, "At a charity dinner at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine many years ago."
Major Cole nodded and then asked, "How did she die?"
Clemens lowered his head, his voice heavy with sorrow: "Five years ago, a car accident."
Major Cole's lips twitched slightly as he repeated the word in a low voice: "Car accident..."
Clemens keenly sensed the oddity in the other person's tone: "What are you trying to say?"
Major Cole stubbed out his half-finished cigarette in the ashtray and said, "Sometimes, the less you know, the happier you are."
Clemens jumped to his feet, dragged the iron chair to the ground, and charged at Major Cole: "Do you know something? You must know something about my wife's death!"
The major stretched out his leg and easily tripped Clemens to the ground.
The former knelt down, looked into the latter's eyes, and said in a low voice, "If I were you, I wouldn't want to delve into the past... You should thank your wife; she protected you and your daughter."
Clemens' eyes widened, and he roared, "Tell me the truth! I have the right to know the truth!"
Major Cole stood up and said to the soldier beside him, "Give him a sedative."
In his struggle and resistance, Clemens felt a chill on his neck. A few seconds later, his eyes slowly closed, and he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up again, twelve hours had passed.
Struggling to open his eyes, Clemens realized that the restraints on his hands had been removed, and he had been moved to a single dormitory room without knowing when.
Major Cole sat in a chair with his feet propped up on the table, intently watching the television set hanging in the corner, which was showing a local rugby match.
Before Clemens could speak, the major said, "If you want to protect your daughter and your assistant, then I advise you not to investigate anything that happened in the past."
Clemens remained silent for a long time before finally giving up asking questions.
Without turning his head, the major said, "There's hot food on the table. You can eat while we talk."
Clemens glanced at the food box on the table and said, "I would like to see my daughter and my assistant."
"They will meet with you, provided I get a definite answer from you."
Clemens said in a deep voice, "I have told you everything I know..."
Major Cole shook his head and said, "The answers I want to know are not those... I remember that the night you first arrived, after seeing the map in the control room, you said that the singularity coordinates we calculated had errors?"
Clemens paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, that's exactly it."
Major Cole asked, "If I give you the equipment and the data you need, can you calculate the accurate coordinates?"
Clemens: "I can do it... wait, you mean, let me calculate the coordinates by myself?"
Major Cole, with his legs crossed, said, "Yes, just you, with maybe your beautiful assistant."
Clemens was puzzled: "Why not have all the researchers recalculate? If I do it alone, it will take a lot of time."
Major Cole's tone carried a hint of deeper meaning: "Professor Scott, this is related to politics."
"politics?"
Recalling the stubborn General Hamilton, Clements suddenly understood what the other man was thinking: "Is it that the general refuses to retest? And you want to take this opportunity..."
Major Cole interrupted him: "All you need to do is tell me if you're willing to take this job?"
Clemens hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and asked, "Do I have a choice?"
Major Cole: "If you want to go back to the interrogation room, you can refuse."
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