She leaned back and pondered the problem for a moment. “If we bring the system back online soon, am I correct in saying that it’ll just look like you’re finished with the diagnostic? That our mole would have no reason to be suspicious and would feel free to try again?”

“Yes. If we just go back online without a major security update, then, frankly, we can’t keep them out.”

“Can I make changes to Ward’s file before we go back online?”

“Absolutely,” he said, clearly following her thought process. If tracing this person electronically was impossible, there was another option. She could introduce subtle errors into the CIA’s information on Ward. Then, if those errors were acted upon, they might lead to the person who had so skillfully penetrated their defenses.

“Can you send me the files in question?”

He pulled a thumb drive from his pocket, having anticipated the request. “I can’t send them because they’re air-gapped. So, I put them on here.” After placing the storage device on her desk, he immediately started retreating toward the door. “I’m really, really sorry about this, Dr. Kennedy. Don’t worry, though. I’ll figure out a way to fix it. When you’re ready, just tell me, okay?”

She conjured up her warmest smile. Dumond didn’t do well under pressure and she needed him operating at one hundred percent. “I have complete confidence in you, Marcus. If anyone else had been at the helm, I doubt we would have ever known about this. So, thank you.”

His expression melted into something between a smile and a wince as he continued backing toward the door. “When you’re done making the changes, save them to that thumb drive and let me know. I’ll come get it and upload the files to the server. Sooner is better than later, though. The longer the system stays down—”

“You’ll have it by tonight.”

He turned to finish his escape but was forced to pause when she spoke again.

“Does anyone else know about this, Marcus?”

“No one.”

“Let’s keep it that way.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After she’d finished skimming the CIA’s file on Nicholas Ward, Irene Kennedy took off her reading glasses and leaned back in her chair. She’d learned a few details she hadn’t known before but nothing that changed her opinion of the man.

There was no superlative that didn’t trivialize what he’d managed to accomplish in a single lifetime. The wealth was what everyone saw but it made up only a small part of who he really was. His motivations at this point appeared to be entirely altruistic. Clearly, he couldn’t be bought. He had no definable political or religious ideology. His only goal seemed to be to use the resources he’d accumulated to lift humanity out of the mire.