“Hate speech?” Abby looked floored. “What did I say that was hateful?”

“Your statements concerning non-Christian religions.”

“But I was only saying what was true—what the Bible says. I thought there was freedom of speech in this country. And freedom of religion. That’s what my parents always taught me.”

The first agent shook his head. “Under the Tolerance Act of 2036, what you said is illegal.”

For the first time, Sabin heard anger in Abby’s voice. “So are you here to arrest me? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No, Ms. Caldwell. The attorney general would prefer not to prosecute. But your violation was in a very public forum. He can’t postpone taking the matter to a federal grand jury.”

“And then what would happen?”

“You’d be indicted, and once that occurs, you wouldn’t be able to leave the country before standing trial or working out a plea bargain with the court.”

Abby narrowed her eyes and when she spoke, her words were clipped. “Are you saying I could actually be thrown into prison for what I said?” She turned again to Sabin. “Can they do that here?”

Sabin nodded.

The first man responded. “You run that risk, Ms. Caldwell. It depends on whether a jury finds that your language was an incitement.”

Sabin spoke. “And so for Abby to avoid being prosecuted—”

“You’d have to leave the country. That’s what the attorney general would prefer. That way the matter wouldn’t have to be handled at all.”

“And how soon would I have to leave?”

“Within two weeks.”

The tap came from NTI. Kate put it on her visiscreen. The emotionless face of a woman in a lab coat appeared.

“Dr. Sampson, my name is Danielle Short. I wanted to contact you regarding the sample you sent us.”

“Did you find anything in the nanites that might indicate their source?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“There are no identifiers at all? How is that possible?”

Short shook her head. “No, I’m trying to tell you. We couldn’t run an analysis.”

“You couldn’t? Why not?”

“We had a mishap in the lab. It was minor. Unfortunately, your sample was contaminated and couldn’t be recovered. Do you have any more of the material to be analyzed?”

It took a moment for the statement to sink in.

“Yes, of course.” Kate couldn’t hide her annoyance. “But this sets me back at least a week.”

The woman shrugged. “I do apologize. We’ll try to expedite the analysis when we receive the second sample.”