‘I know … it had to be this way, I know,’ Cassy said distractedly.

It must have sounded as odd to the older woman as it did to me, for she gave Cassy a searching look, then she said, ‘I will see if I can get the bird here sooner. Say I have some tests to run. It might not be too difficult this week, with all the fuss around the completed Sentinel program being uplinked to the Balance of Terror arsenal for the first time. All the top government people from the five powers will be here for it, not to mention the spinners and the press. There will be so much additional security that we won’t be able to take a step near the thing without being interrogated, but the rest of our projects ought to be under less scrutiny than usual. Of course they will watch strangers like hawks, but you and I do not fall into that category.’

Cassy looked taken aback. ‘I hadn’t realised they were going to link Sentinel to the Balance of Terror weapons. I thought it was just a ceremony about the completion of the project.’

‘Oh, don’t look so worried,’ Doktaruth laughed. ‘The uplink will only be partial because a complete link would lock us humans out of the loop. But after a barrage of tests – and assuming they are successful – the development phase will be at an end and the program will be installed in a permanent terminal in a remote high-security facility. Then a full uplink to the BOT computers will be established. But speaking of security, I think you have been here long enough. I don’t want Lei to come sauntering in and see you.’ She glanced down at the small bracelet on her wrist. ‘I will walk you back to the cafeteria and grab a sandwich. I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I can use my pass to get you out.’

As they walked down the passage together, Cassy asked, ‘Do you think it is the right thing to do, putting all of those weapons in the hands of a computer program?’

‘I think, given the number of so-called accidents that are said to be the result of human error, that we can’t afford not to put those weapons in better hands. Sentinel is the most sophisticated and intelligently responsive computer program ever devised. It goes way beyond the information-gathering and learning capacity of the Ines program that revolutionised technology all over the world in the last century. It is said to be the first computer program with the capacity for true intellectual development.’

‘And you think that will stop the powers being aggressive to one another?’ Cassy asked.

The other woman frowned. ‘If the threat of destruction inherent in the Balance of Terror arsenal is not enough to stop us then maybe we will deserve Sentinel’s response.’

‘What about plants and animals and insects? Will they deserve it?’