“But you are not, Brian — that is the important thing. You survived thanks to yourself — and the skill of Dr. Snaresbrook. You are alive and that’s what counts.”

Brian looked down at his clenched fists, opened them and stretched his fingers, worked hard to control his emotions. It was still some moments before he could speak.

“You’re right, of course.” He sighed heavily, felt suddenly chill, dropped back into the chair. “Join me in a drink — but something stronger than water this time. I’m thinking of giving up the booze — but not just right now. There’s a bottle of Irish whiskey somewhere in this cabinet, put aside after the party. Found it? Neat if you don’t mind, maybe just a few drops of water. There, that’s the good man.” It burned going down — but it helped. By the time Ben’s telephone rang again Brian was feeling more human. He jumped at the sound, wrung his fingers together unknowingly as Ben answered it.

“Right. Yes. That’s positive. Okay, I’ll tell him.” He put the phone away. “We were right about the guards. All of them were there. McCrory too, he was in charge of the lab. And something I was not expecting at all. They have identified Toth’s body—”

“The head of security!”

“The very same. The man who probably organized the entire theft. It must have been him, since he was the only one in a position to do so. These people are so ruthless that it is unbelievable. It has been cross and double cross. With Toth dead it undoubtedly means that we will never see Toth’s brother alive as well. He’s not in the mass grave because he had to return the copter that night. But he’s dead, we can be sure of that. What I find most disturbing is the man who is not in that grave. A man I knew well, who I have been grieving for, who up until now we all assumed to be one of the victims gunned down that night. Didn’t we find his blood on the floor, sure sign of assassination?”

“Ben — what on earth are you talking about.”

“Sorry. I’m talking about J. J. Beckworth, the Chairman of Megalobe Industries.”

“But he was certainly killed with the others. He could be buried somewhere else.”

Ben shook his head in a sharp angry no. “Not possible. Everything was planned so carefully, down to the last detail, almost the split second. The grave was open when that truck arrived and the bodies were dumped into it. If Beckworth isn’t in there with the others — he is still alive. He was a great executive, a really careful planner. So it looks much as though he was the one who set up this robbery, arranged the murders. We may never know who fired the bullet into you, Brian. But I am positive of one thing. We can be very sure who arranged it.”

Next morning Brian was just about to leave for the lab when Ben telephoned him.

“All that excitement in Texas has really stirred things up — both here and in Washington. It’s powwow time. I know that you will be happy to hear that the conference starts in a few minutes. You and I at this end, Kyle Rohart too since he will be representing Megalobe. In Foggy Bottom Dave Manias will flesh out the report on the operation yesterday — and he has the pleasure of having General Schorcht at the table with him. I’m downstairs and all the security transport is ready.”

“Hold on — I’ll be right there.”

“How are Shelly and her father?” Ben asked as they climbed into the troop carrier.

“Stable, that’s what she said. He’s still in the hospital and holding his own. But the big news is that she called me from the airport. They actually gave her permission to leave here, to go to Los Angeles.”

“That could only be General Schorcht’s doing. If he’s easing up on security then there is a possibility that you…”

“Say probability, Ben, it sounds so much better! I feel like I’m being let out of jail. Do you realize that other than that flying trip we had to Mexico, I have been locked away ever since I rejoined the living?”

“No, I didn’t know that. You forgot to tell me.”

“Idiot!” It was a stupid joke but they both laughed. It was the relief of tension, Brian realized. His prison term would soon be over.

Rohart shook hands with them both. “Looks like things are coming to a head at last. I’ll be happy when this entire thing is over with — not as happy as you, I realize, Brian. Running Megalobe is enough work for me. And I want to break some good news. The lawyers are drawing up an agreement for both of us to sign. A lot of ifs in it but the intent is clear. If Megalobe buys DigitTech, which seems very much in the cards now, and if there is a profit on sales of Bug-Off, and if the government watchdog commission approves the whole deal, then after all expenses and lawyers’ fees — you get to split the profit with us as per the new contract.”

“You were right about the ifs. Your lawyers caved in on this one pretty fast.”

“I talked to the board about it — then we instructed the lawyers to cave in. The unanimous opinion was that you’ve gone through enough, Brian, and we didn’t see the need to jerk you around anymore over a matter like this.”

“I appreciate—”

“Least we could do. Oh, oh — there goes the view. Looks like we’re starting.”

The picture window was gone and the Washington conference room had appeared in its place. Dave Manias was just sitting down next to the General. Who was radiating his normal dour grimness.

“No need for introductions,” Manias said, “I think we all know each other. I’m going to give you a report from the FBI end, then Ben can put us in the picture on the overall investigation. Under that concrete slab in Austin we found the bodies of the security guards, the head of security, Arpad Toth, Dr. McCrory, as well as the four guard dogs. The body of the Chairman, Mr. Beckworth, has not been found.”

“That is a big slab — it extends under the entire laboratory,” Ben said.

“Was a big slab. Every bit of it has been removed — as has the sand, right down to the bare earth. This is the original compacted sand and rock and was not disturbed. Therefore Mr. Beckworth is removed from the presumed-dead category and is now top of our most-wanted list.”

“What about my files — records and notes?” Brian asked.

“They are in the data banks of the DigitTech computer — it took a while to break the security code to access them. We can’t tell how complete they are, but the dates match up. There are more files, dated after the theft, that we presume are those of Dr. Bociort. Since they are written in Rumanian it tends to reinforce that suspicion.”

“What is the status of the DigitTech employees?” Ben asked.

“We have cross-checked their evidence and they all appear to be in the clear. None of them were hired before April of this year. By that time Dr. Bociort had produced a prototype control unit which they put into production.”

“Do you think that the so-called control unit is my AI?” Brian asked. “Probably stripped of a number of unneeded features, then programmed only for the insect destruction function.”

“I have no way of telling that, Mr. Delaney — you would certainly know more about mat than anyone here. But we are operating on that assumption. In any case you will have to discuss that possibility with Ben. We are wrapping up the criminal side of this investigation. Copies of all the stolen information and files are being returned to you there at Megalobe for identification and disposal. We are treating the murders as unsolved and will keep the file open on them. We are also continuing the search for Mr. Beckworth and Dr. Bociort. Any questions?”

There was some cross-chat about details and records which Brian ignored. He would match the original files up with his notes, but it seemed obvious what they were. He was intrigued to find out what old Dr. Bociort had done with his AI. The drill instructor voice cut through his thoughts: General Schorcht was speaking for the first time.