Gordian cradled the receiver and sat looking out his window in sober contemplation. Rainwater splashed against the glass, washing down its surface in long rippling streams. From his angle, he could see nothing of the street below, no pedestrians scurrying through puddles for someplace dry, no cars crawling along with their windshield wipers on. Mount Hamilton too seemed beyond the reach of his vision, rendered a gray, featureless blur by the heavy curtains of moisture blowing across the sky.

It was, he thought, as if the world was made of rain.

Only rain.

As Gordian had been assured, Cody's next call was to Pete Nimec. He was not in his office, and the recorded greeting on his voice mail said he would be away overnight and checking his incoming messages regularly. His cell phone number was given for emergencies.

Cody quickly terminated the connection and dialed it.

"So you want me to be your, what, eyes and ears around the world," Ricci said. He crouched and put a log into the woodstove opposite the comfortable leather sofa where his visitors were seated. "That about it, Pete?"

"Not quite, if I may interject a point or two," Megan said, glancing at Nimec.

He gave her a shrug. They were in Ricci's spacious living room, a mid-1980's rear addition to a Colonial home built a century earlier, with natural wood plank walls and glass sliding doors that gave onto the water-front deck where they'd been talking until a few minutes ago.

"The person we select will be responsible for implementing and coordinating security functions at UpLink's various international and domestic sites," she said. "He or she will be second in authority only to Pete. But I want to stress that we're primarily here so you and I can get acquainted, and to gauge your interest in us."

"And yours in me," Ricci said, facing her.

They exchanged looks.

"Yes," she said. "It's a unique and demanding job. We naturally want to see if you've got what it takes to meet its challenges."

Ricci considered that a second, then nodded.

"Fair enough," he said. "You still assembling your candidate list?"

"The only other person whose qualifications we're presently weighing is a current member of our Brazilian team named Roland Thibodeau. And to be frank, his interest in the position hasn't yet been determined. I plan on speaking to Rollie sometime within the next couple of days."

Ricci turned to Nimec. "How come you wouldn't tell me anything about the reason for this visit over the phone?" he said.

"If I'd tried, I would have heard a click in the receiver before the words were finished leaving my mouth. Figured it would be best to come and talk. See how you felt about it face-to-face."