“Don’t you dare to suggest what I will and won’t do. I want the entire file on my family. And the fact that all this time, you had one of the abducted here—a child, no less—underground, and neglected to mention it … that was a huge mistake on you and your director’s part.”

“He isn’t my director. My director left eight months ago, after dedicating his entire life to this work, only to be suddenly replaced by someone unfamiliar—”

“I’m not interested in your office politics.”

“You should be. Director Wolve is not who you think—”

“I don’t care who the hell he is, as long as I am provided what I need. Do we understand each other?”

“I understand that for longer than you’ve been alive, we’ve been trying to protect the population of this planet from a threat that no one could fathom. So if you’re insulted that you don’t know everything yet—that’s your problem. I have no interest in coddling you. People are dying, Senator.”

He pulled out his phone, holding up the array of news alerts covering his screen. “It’s increasing by the hour. Hurricanes forming off the coast of Brazil and across the Atlantic, just off Sierra Leone. Miles and miles of grassfires in Lesotho in Southern Africa. In Nadym—Northern Russia—a fourth of the population is sick and dying. On the borders of every major population. And many more will keep dying until the SSA worldwide can contain every single one of the abducted, and they are nearly impossible to find. So when the one behind this door was discovered, we had—and have—no intention of letting him go.”

Kate held her position. “I think you’re aware that if it weren’t for my involvement, which is why you came to me in the first place, that you wouldn’t have the swell of funding you’re now receiving, nor the increased military moving in on New Orleans, California, and North Dakota. So when I say I need to know everything, what I mean to say is the president needs to know. Are we clear now?”

“You know the risk you take even going in there?”

“I do.”

“I’m not sure of that.” He put his hands on his hips. “He can convince you to strangle your own throat. It’s why we don’t dare to keep anyone down here longer than it takes to bring him meals.”

“I’ve read his file.”

“But, as you’ve deduced, the files you’ve received don’t contain all the mountains of information we’ve collected. You’ve just read the summary.”