"Yeah, I figured something along those lines. You see, ten years is a hell of a long time to keep something hushed up. If the mole informed Kendric about the cryogenic prototype, then he would have had time to organise the memox crystal spoiler. The dates certainly fit."

"But you don't think so?"

"Not sure."

"Why?"

"If Kendric knew about the giga-conductor, why did he authorise your buyout of the di Girolamo house?"

"I told you, I blackmailed him."

"A couple of billion Eurofrancs each year, that's what your grandfather said the giga-conductor royalty licence brings in, is that right?"

"Yah, in fact it's a conservative estimate."

"So answer me this: with an eight per cent stake in Event Horizon, which you could never legally make him give up, why should Kendric worry about his family house being dragged through the mud? In fact, you would've looked pretty bloody silly if he hadn't knuckled under; exposing one of your own financial backers as a shark, then still having to cut them in on a share of your giga-conductor profits."

The nodes turned the problem into neat packages of equations for her. Greg and the hall slipped away as she pushed them through a logic matrix. They began to develop a life of their own, the channels unable to confine them, twisting out of alignment. The instability began to absorb more and more of the nodes' processing power. She scrambled to maintain cohesion, loosening the parameters, adding additional channels. But her mind originated nothing ingenious enough to halt the imminent collapse. She observed helplessly as the channels wound in on themselves, constricting in ever-tighter curves, sealing the data packages in closed loops.

The bioware-generated edifice crumpled beyond salvation. Her imagination invested the scene with sound. From a vast distance she could hear a cathedral of glass slowly toppling over.

"Kendric couldn't have known about the giga-conductor," she said finally.

"You reckon?"

"Yah. No. Not really. It's a paradox, you see, he must've known, yet he couldn't have."

"That's the way I see it." He seemed ridiculously cheerful. "Know what we're going to do about it, Julia?"

"What?"

"Put Kendric at the top of the suspect list, then forget about him. Concentrate on tracking down the source of the leaks. When I've done that I'll see where they lead. Then we might begin to understand the game he's playing."

She wasn't certain any more. Problems should be logical, solutions readily available. The pride she'd possessed in her own ability was dented: the nodes had always been a bulwark in her defence against other people, elevating her soul. No matter appearances and social awkwardness, she knew she was superior. Now this. Unable to provide her with an answer for the first time. And it was an answer which was utterly critical.