confirmed in my discussions with some of the rocket team." Even now, as he spoke to the general, Bradley thought it odd that
the mention of Gladys Kinder as Wilson"s mistress should make him
feel slightly resentful and, perhaps, even jealous. It was too ridiculous
for words, but he couldn"t deny the feeling; and when he recalled her
sly smile in the hotel"s gloomy bar, her droll mockery of his obvious
confusion in her presence, he was irresistibly seduced by her image and
wanted to see her again.
Crazy. Just crazy...
"What was this woman"s name?" the general asked, picking up his pen and staring with what Bradley, in the guilty panic of his thoughts,
imagined was accusing intensity.
"Kinder," Bradley replied, feeling a helpless stab of desire and its
bed partner, guilt. "Gladys Kinder."
"Kinder," the general murmured, writing the name down. "Gladys
Kinder," he emphasized, as if deliberately tormenting Bradley.
"Mmmm..." he murmured, studying the name thoughtfully before
putting his pen back down, looking up again, and saying "So, what
about him?"
"Pardon?"
"The physicist that the Kinder woman told you about."
"Ah, yes..." Bradley gathered his thoughts together. "Miss Kinder
told me that when the physicist left for good after the rocket launching
of December 31, 1930, G.o.ddard confessed to her that his mysterious,
temporary a.s.sistant was a, quote, genius, who"d helped him develop
many of his more notable innovations, including liquid-fuelled, selfcooled motors, gyroscopes for guidance and control, lightweight fuel
pumps, and reflector vanes to help stabilize and steer the rockets. The
guy"s name was John Wilson."
"Interesting," General Taylor said, writing that name down also,
then popping some gum into his mouth and starting to chew, "but I
can"t see what relevance all this has to Adolf Hitler"s Germany." "Well, I can"t be too sure of this," Bradley replied, "but I do have
my worries there."
"Don"t tease me, Mike."
"Well, for a start this John Wilson"s a complete mystery. No one at
Roswell knew where he came from, Wilson wasn"t about to tell them,