Sam was talking. “…can’t trust anyone with that power. Millions of people. Whoever has the back door could have absolute control over them. They could do anything – read minds, change votes, create informants or sleeper agents. Anything.”

He looked at her. It was so obvious. He’d been so completely stupid. Counterterrorism? No. If that was all, they could have left it to ERD, left it to the wider Homeland Security apparatus that ERD was part of. Why was CIA involved? It had to be something higher stakes.

Something like Sam was describing.

Nakamura stared into Sam’s eyes. An image of his grandfather flashed before his eyes, the boy in his mother’s arms, in black and white, behind that barbed with fence, while his father went out and fought for the country that imprisoned him.

Loyalty.

Where did his loyalties lie? Where?

Chapter 68: Escape

68

ESCAPE

Friday November 2nd

Kade woke before dawn. Friday. He felt rested and at peace with his decision. But other subjects loomed in his mind. Where was Rangan? Was Feng still alive? Was there any way to stop the bombing just forty hours in the future?

Shiva summoned him for breakfast on the roof.

“Have you reconsidered?” Shiva asked.

Kade looked at Shiva. He understood this man now. He could have become this man.

“I can’t give you the back door.”

Shiva grunted in reply.

“There’s something I need to ask you,” Kade said. He described the assassination plans. “You can stop it. Send an anonymous warning.”

Shiva frowned, shook his head.

“These men are monsters, Kade. They’re enemies of the future.”

Kade nodded. “I agree. They should be brought to justice. But not like this.”

“There’s blood on their hands,” Shiva said. “They deserve to die.”

“Not like this,” Kade repeated.

Shiva waved that away. “They’re the enemy, Kade. They’ve tried to kill you. They’ve imprisoned your friends. They’ve persecuted scientists doing valuable research. They hunt down children who have Nexus in their brains. They have plans for genocide.”

“There’ll be hundreds of other deaths,” Kade said. “Innocents.”

Shiva scoffed. “Innocents? No one who gives money to these monsters is innocent. No one who helps get them elected is innocent.”

Kade exhaled, tried to keep his cool. He had to reach Shiva. “This isn’t going to benefit you,” Kade said. He put his hands together, his palms meeting as if in prayer, leaned towards Shiva, his voice straining. “Shiva, this is going to turn Chandler and Shepherd into martyrs. Events like this are the reason the ERD exists, the reason that Copenhagen exists. If you let this happen, we’ll end up with a hundred more politicians like Chandler, with a new Chandler Act that’s ten times worse than the current one, with more crackdowns on Nexus and every transhuman technology.” He stared into Shiva’s eyes. “This isn’t going to advance your goals.”

Shiva stared back at him.