"So tell me something."
Nick Fury leaned back behind his desk, wearing the expression of a man whose patience was rapidly evaporating.
"Did you really have to leave right now?"
Technically, Evenson could have handled the passport and visa paperwork himself.
Ordinary travelers did it every day.
Unfortunately, he was no longer an ordinary traveler.
As one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s highest-level consultants, he couldn’t simply leave the country without authorization.
He had expected Fury to sign a document, make a phone call, and be done with it.
Instead...
The director had insisted he appear in person.
Evenson had spent the entire drive grumbling to himself.
If you’re too cheap to pay overnight shipping, at least send it cash-on-delivery.
My truck doesn’t burn gasoline, but somebody still has to pay for the tires.
As it turned out...
There really were things that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.
"The second phase of the project is about to begin."
Fury’s tone became serious.
"Your role starts soon."
"So I’d rather you weren’t halfway across the Atlantic."
Evenson blinked.
He had agreed to advise S.H.I.E.L.D. during its research into the Tesseract.
But...
"Already?"
He frowned.
"A month ago you told me the project had progressed as far as giving itself a terrible name."
"And now you’re telling me it’s ready to begin?"
One month.
That was all.
Had S.H.I.E.L.D. somehow built an entire Tesseract research facility in thirty days?
What kind of construction crews did they employ?
Fury’s eyebrow twitched.
"Before we continue..."
"I’d like to point out that the ’terrible name’ you’re insulting..."
"...was my idea."
He folded his hands.
"So the next time you decide to criticize it..."
"...remember who signs your annual bonus."
Normally, Nick Fury ignored harmless jokes.
Once?
Fine.
Twice?
He could tolerate it.
After the tenth time...
Even he had limits.
Evenson immediately raised both hands.
"Purely a joke."
"I promise."
Fury snorted.
"The research site already existed."
"It was originally built by the U.S. government as an underground particle accelerator."
"We’re borrowing it."
"A few modifications are all we need."
That made considerably more sense.
Why build an entirely new facility if one already existed?
"The government was willing to hand over a place like that?"
Evenson sounded genuinely surprised.
The project had to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Fury shrugged.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. spent a long time as a U.S. government agency."
"That’s why our original name was so painfully long."
"Even after becoming an international organization..."
"...we’ve maintained a close relationship."
He didn’t elaborate further.
He didn’t need to.
S.H.I.E.L.D. still extended America plenty of favors.
America, in turn, returned them.
"This is only a temporary loan."
Fury spread his hands.
"I’m not blowing the facility up."
"I’ll give it back when we’re finished."
"So why wouldn’t they lend it to us?"
Evenson nodded.
"All right."
"You have a laboratory."
"What about the researchers?"
"When I arrive, I’ll just be there as a safety measure."
"The scientists are the ones who actually have to produce results."
Fury smiled.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Science Division isn’t lacking for talent."
"I’ve assembled several excellent scientists. Their expertise is..."
"Their expertise isn’t the important part."
Evenson interrupted him.
"The Tesseract is a completely new field."
"No one has meaningful experience."
"The knowledge gap won’t be nearly as large as you think."
He hesitated.
"There is something I need to ask."
"Strictly speaking..."
"I probably shouldn’t."
"But at this point, I have to."
Fury’s expression sharpened.
"You once told me..."
"...that HYDRA had an infiltrator inside S.H.I.E.L.D."
"So let me ask directly."
"Did you find them?"
Silence.
Fury finally sighed.
"We’ve had..."
"...a lot on our plates."
"Tony Stark."
"The Hulk."
"Umbrella."
"And especially Thor."
"Every one of those situations demanded manpower."
"Other investigations inevitably slowed down."
"So..."
Evenson smiled without humor.
"...that’s a no."
He leaned forward.
"Knowing you..."
"I don’t believe internal security ever became a lower priority."
"If you still haven’t found the infiltrator after all this time..."
"...there has to be a reason."
He began thinking aloud.
"Did HYDRA pull their operative out after realizing they’d been exposed?"
"No."
"This is exactly when they’d need intelligence the most."
"And HYDRA has never been sentimental about sacrificing personnel."
He dismissed the theory immediately.
"Is the infiltrator simply that good?"
"Possible."
"But nobody maintains a perfect disguise forever."
He shook his head.
"No."
"There’s only one explanation."
"They have protection."
"Either multiple HYDRA agents are covering for each other..."
"...or someone high up inside S.H.I.E.L.D. is shielding them."
He paused.
"Honestly..."
"It could be both."
Every possibility Evenson listed had already crossed Fury’s mind.
None of them were comforting.
A network of hidden HYDRA operatives inside S.H.I.E.L.D. was horrifying enough.
The possibility that senior leadership itself had been compromised...
...was even worse.
If both were true...
The implications were almost unbearable.
"I’ll leave the investigation to you."
Evenson spread his hands.
"You know internal security better than I do."
That much was true.
A warlock certainly possessed methods to uncover secrets.
Unfortunately, those methods tended to involve ripping through a person’s soul.
Effective during interrogation.
Terrible for screening hundreds of innocent suspects.
"But there’s one thing I insist on."
His tone left no room for argument.
"Choose your Tesseract research team very carefully."
"And if one scientist..."
"...learns far too quickly..."
"...or displays suspicious familiarity with the Cube..."
"...investigate their background immediately."
The Tesseract had once been HYDRA’s greatest treasure.
Why wouldn’t they try to reclaim it now?
They might already have someone waiting inside the research team.
Someone hoping to continue the experiments abandoned sixty years earlier...
Or something even worse.
Fury rubbed his forehead.
A dull headache settled behind his eye.
The second phase couldn’t begin yet.
Not until every researcher, especially those leading the project, underwent far more rigorous scrutiny.
"One more thing."
Having already resigned himself to delaying the project, Fury looked back up.
"The Asgardian woman wants to see you."
Evenson blinked.
"She does?"
"You should meet with her before you leave."
Before you leave?
Evenson resisted the urge to correct the phrasing.
I’m not dying. I’m taking a vacation.
Fury leaned back with an exasperated sigh.
"She trusts you."
"More than she probably should."
He shook his head.
"Poor girl."
"I wonder what she’ll do..."
"...when she finally realizes why she was really left on Earth."
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