“And the hacker delivered Barnes’s files,” Breece went on. “We have Barnes’s contacts in every PLF cell in the US, and every affiliate worldwide. We have the identities of all of his moles inside the PLF. We have lists of thousands of other people they’ve been monitoring, many of whom would make good recruits for us. And more. Huge anonymous cash reserves – dollars, crypto currencies, you name it - hundreds of millions at least. Stashes of weapons and specialized equipment. ERD security procedures and passwords. Bypass codes to disable surveillance equipment.”

He paused, then took two data fobs out of his pocket and laid them on the table.

“These are for you. All the data I have, you have. It’s too important. Encrypt it.”

He pushed the data fobs at the two of them, met both their eyes, saw the understanding there. Life expectancy was too low in this business. Trust was too rare.

He swallowed, then went on.

“OK, so the question is, what next? And I have a proposal. A proposal from this same hacker, actually…”

“So…” Breece finished, taking a slice of pie, “that’s the idea. In short: We help bring about a bottoms-up transhuman revolution. Personally, I love it.”

Kate was chewing her lip again, her bowl of stew only half finished, no pie in front of her. “We’ve done a lot,” she said. “The men who killed your parents are dead. The author of the Chandler Act is dead. The ERD is disgraced. Stockton’s disgraced. The country’s ready for change. We could overplay our hand if we’re not careful.” She paused.

“Let’s wait. See if the Supreme Court hands this to Kim. Then see if he really does any of what he says. In the meantime, use the money and the intel to make ourselves and the other cells more secure. Build fresh identities. Recruit, regroup, take a low profile.”

The Nigerian shook his head. “I’ve studied your nation’s Supreme Court. It does not rule on the basis of your constitution or your laws. It rules on the basis of politics. Six of the judges side politically with the President. They will rule for him.”

“You don’t know that,” Kate said. “Sometimes they rule the right way. Especially when popular opinion is so aligned in one direction.”

The Nigerian shook his head, having none of it.

Breece held up his hands. “How about a compromise then? We move forward with tests of the revolution plan, but not full scale. If the Supreme Court rules for Stockton, then the kid gloves come off.” He looked back and forth between Kate and the Nigerian, trying to gauge them. “Agreed?”

The Nigerian took his time, then nodded. “Agreed.”

Kate shook her head. “How do we know we can even trust this hacker? Why should we be collaborating with someone we know so little about?”