Pushing Brilliance (Kyle Achilles, #1)

by Tim Tigner

they’d met, his old friend had punched him in the face. That was thirty years ago, but the memory remained fresh, and Grigori’s nose still skewed to the right. Back then, he and President Vladimir Korovin wore KGB lieutenant stars. Now both were clothed in the finest Italian suits. But his former roommate also sported the confidence

palms to stop sweating. They didn’t listen. Then the big double doors rose before him and it was too late to do anything but take a deep breath, and hope for the best. The presidential guards each took a single step to the side, then opened their doors with

unfamiliar question: “Ever see a crocodile catch a rabbit?” Grigori whirled about to meet the Russian President’s gaze. “What?” Korovin waved the stack of photos. His eyes were the same cornflower blue Grigori remembered,

on sport, so our guides cheated. They put rabbits on the riverbank, on the wide strip of dried mud between the water and the tall grass. Kind of like teeing up golf balls. Spaced them out so the critters couldn’t see each other and gave each its own pile of alfalfa while we watched

special from the hill country, where they’d survived a thousand generations amidst foxes and coyotes. When you put them on the riverbank, however, they’re completely clueless. It’s not their turf, so they stay where they’re dropped, noses quivering, ears scanning, eating

capture was quite a sight. “Thing about a crocodile is, it’s a log one moment and a set of snapping jaws the next, with nothing but a furious blur in between. One second the rabbit is chewing

Grigori resisted the urge to swallow. “When it comes to eating,” Korovin continued, “crocs are like storybook monsters. They swallow their food whole. Unlike their legless cousins, however, they want it dead first. So once they’ve trapped dinner in their maw, they drag it underwater to drown it. This means

when Nicolas had us shoot the crocs. After they clamped down around the rabbits, but before they dragged ‘em under. That became the goal, to get the rabbit back alive.” Grigori

Korovin continued as if Grigori hadn’t spoken. “The trick was putting a bullet directly into the croc’s tiny brain, preferably the medulla oblongata, right there where the spine meets the skull. Otherwise the

the rabbit was toast. “It was good sport, and an experience worth replicating. But we don’t have crocodiles anywhere near Moscow, so I’ve been

been

hills.

looked at him expectantly.

Comprehension

hap...

forward

chair.

rive...

alf...

if

r...

where

matter

ar...

y...

have

mind.

pictured

oligarch on a golden throne. Then he spoke with all the gravitas of a wedding vow. “I ...

PRESIDENT KOROVIN REPEATED Grigori’s assertion aloud. “You brought me a plan.” He

fight. Would the emperor’s thumb point up, or down? Korovin was

table abutting his desk, and Grigori’s heart resumed

same highly polished hardwood as Korovin’s

Korovin took the opposing chair and pulled a chess clock from his drawer. Setting it

through government ranks, he was familiar with the sport. Chess clocks

stopping his timer and setting his opponent’s

Tvnun

elbows on the table, leaned forward, and made his opening move. “While my business is

Buni

of Russia’s major research centers all know

they

them.

Grigori slapped his button, pausing his timer and setting the president’s clock in motion. It was a risky move. If Korovin wasn’t intrigued, Grigori wouldn’t get to finish his pitch. But Grigori

Euh

mouth contracted back a couple millimeters. A crocodile smile. He slapped the clock. “Go on.”

Ton

and drink into the fuel and building blocks our bodies require. It’s an exceptionally complex process that varies greatly from individual to individual, and within individuals

Wdc

from the locker room to the boardroom to the battlefield. The doctors in Kazan focused

factors that improved clarity of thought–” Korovin interrupted, “Are

at first, I know, but think about your own experience. Don’t you think better after coffee than after vodka? After salad

the mental horsepower you enjoy at any given moment. What my doctors did was figure out what the body needs to optimize

Korovin said, eager to engage in a battle of wits. “Rather than following in the footsteps of others by attempting to modify one of the many

figured out how to widen the narrow end of the funnel.” “So, bottom