Phaethon was growing fast. The company was collecting genomic data and performing analysis, looking for insights that would help drug companies and healthcare providers make better decisions. They were taking a Big Data approach to medicine, and using a proprietary application that analyzed the genomic data. Their datacenter was struggling to keep up with the mountains of data the company was bringing in.

The company’s root problem, however, was communication. The business side of the organization was constantly at war with the scientists, who were at war with programmers. The scientists didn’t move fast enough for the business group, the programmers didn’t move fast enough for the scientists, and the programmers were always complaining that they needed more computing capacity to run the simulations—simulations the business group refused to move to the grid, for security purposes.

And that created the opportunity Avery needed to move up in the organization. Her background in due diligence, in analyzing hundreds of startup companies’ science and business, had given her unique insight into problems like the ones Phaethon was facing. And with her communication skills, she quickly became the IT group’s liaison with the scientists and business side. It didn’t matter that half the programmers could code circles around her; they were a nightmare in meetings. When at last she was promoted, it was not because of the skills she had acquired in college, but rather because of what she’d learned in her time at Rubicon: how to read people, analyze a situation, and help everyone find a solution.

And as she had hoped, her new role increasingly brought her into contact with Desmond Hughes.

“We got closer,” Avery said over the helicopter’s comm.

She paused. Desmond sensed that she was holding back. He wondered if Peyton was aware of it too.

“A month ago,” Avery said, “you discovered that I was taking data off-site, leaving it at dead drops. You thought it was corporate espionage. You confronted me, and I took a chance. I told you the truth about the Rubicon program and what we believed the Citium were doing.”

She glanced back at him. “It was news to you, Des. You had seen only pieces of the conspiracy. Two days later, you called me and told me that you had done your own investigation. You said it was true—the Citium was planning something unthinkable.”

“The pandemic,” Desmond said.

“I think so,” Avery replied. “You told me that the Citium had begun with good intentions, that at their core, they had been a noble organization, focused on unraveling the greatest mystery of all time, one at the heart of our existence. In recent years, however, they had lost their way. Hard-liners had taken over, changed the agenda. They believed the human race was in danger. The experiments and steps they were willing to take had become more radical. You wanted to stop it.