Shortly thereafter, Wilson had jammed the data card into a handheld and connected his BrainPal to the computer.

“Why would he swallow a data card?” Lee asked, as she watched Wilson.

“He wanted to keep the data out of enemy hands,” Wilson said. He was simultaneously going through the file hierarchy on the data card.

“That’s why he destroyed the computer and communications equipment,” Lee said.

“I’d have more answers for you if you let me actually concentrate on what I’m doing,” Wilson said. Lee shut up, slightly annoyed. Wilson ignored this, closed his eyes and focused on his data.

Several minutes later, Wilson opened his eyes and looked at Ivanovich with something that approached wonder.

Lee noticed. “What?” she said. “What is it?”

Wilson looked up at Lee blankly, and then back to Ivanovich, and then at the body of Martina Ivanovich.

“Wilson,” Lee said.

“I think we better take back these bodies,” Wilson said.

“Why?” Lee asked, looking at the corpses.

“I’m not sure I can tell you,” Wilson said. “I don’t think you have the clearance.”

Lee looked back at Wilson, annoyed.

“It’s not about you,” Wilson assured her. “I’m pretty confident I don’t have the clearance either.”

Lee, not precisely satisfied, looked back at the Ivanoviches. “So you want us to haul these up to the Tub.”

“You don’t have to bring all of them,” Wilson said.

“Come again?” Lee said.

“You don’t have to bring their entire bodies,” Wilson said. “Their heads will do just fine.”

*   *   *

“You feel it, too, don’t you,” Abumwe said to Schmidt, during a break in negotiations. The two were in the conference room hallway, drinking the tea Schmidt had gotten them.

“Feel what, ma’am?” Schmidt said.

Abumwe sighed. “Schmidt, if you don’t want me to keep believing that you are entirely useless to me, then you have to actually be useful to me,” she said.

Schmidt nodded. “All right,” he said. “There’s something not right about Sub-Ambassador Ting.”

“That’s right,” Abumwe said. “Now tell me what that something not right is.”

“I don’t know,” Schmidt said. He saw Abumwe get a look on her face and held up his hand peremptorily. This surprised Abumwe into silence. “Sorry,” Schmidt said, hastily. “I say I don’t know because I’m not sure what the cause of it is. But I know what the result is. She’s being too easy on us in the negotiations. We’re getting too many of the things we want from her. We’re getting something close to a rubber stamp.”

“Yes,” Abumwe said. “I’d like to know why.”

“Maybe she’s just a bad negotiator,” Schmidt said.