Carmody grunted. “True,” he said. “Duchess wants me to put together a team.”

“Did you tell her you’re already doing it?”

“I’ll tell her when I’m ready. Right now I want to keep this off the grid.” He pulled a folded sheet of notepaper out of his breast pocket and opened it. “I made a list.”

“Handwritten,” she said.

He saw the glint in her eyes. “What’s so amusing?”

“Your concept of modern information security.”

Carmody shrugged. “A pad and pencil can’t be hacked,” he said. “Want to hear what I’ve figured out?”

“Yes.”

“Schultz and Dixon are here in New York training recruits. Which means they can leave with us.”

“The band stays together.”

“Cranking out the hits,” Carmody said. “I’ve got Wheeler and Long in this too.”

“Aren’t they in Romania? We can’t launch from Janus Base.”

“I know,” he said. “But Janus is close enough to where I want to deploy. I’ll work out the logistics.”

She nodded. “Who else?”

“A couple of kids who were with us in Transylvania. One’s Begai. He’s a sapper. A demolitions man. The other’s named Sparrow. Wheeler tells me he can hit a fly on the side of a barn at a thousand yards. That makes six.”

“They’re Colonel Howard’s men.”

“I got them reassigned to me a couple of months ago,” Carmody said. “But I haven’t ruled out using his guys. One of them especially.”

“Julio Fernandez.”

“No one knows AI better.”

“I agree. But he and Howard are close.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Then, that’s nine. Counting you and me.”

“Right,” Carmody said. “Fernandez might want a man of his own. So ten. Plus, we need a pilot. Eleven. But none of it happens without more intel. And I’d like it fast.”

“I’m not a magician, Michael.”

“Contrary to popular opinion.”

She looked at him. “I’ve been trying to access Sentient. It’s the largest intelligence gathering tool on the planet. Designed for omnivorous data collection and analysis. On the Dark Web they call it the key to everything—hackers are racing to find a way into the network. But it isn’t a single system. It has an incredibly complex architecture. One level builds on the next. Like a tower. I’ve found unique web beacons.”

“Put the CIA and Geospacials in bed together and out comes their secret baby.”

Kali nodded. “They’re constantly monitoring it. Patching vulnerabilities. And I think they’ve had help.”

“From?”

“When I know, I’ll tell you. We have to tread lightly.”

Carmody reached for another pogaca, took a bite. “OK,” he said. “I’ll shut up and eat.”

“One thing. I have another for the team. A twelfth.”

He looked at her with mild surprise. “Who?”

“Natasha Mori.”

“The instructor you picked up in Maine?”

“Yes.”

“Why her?”