Mandelbaum tossed her tablet onto the desk and sat back. “Unfortunately, the nanite balls and the station were easy to find, because the number of paths Pritchard could take was constrained by the requirements of orbital mechanics. He himself has no goal other than to stay hidden. He could be anywhere.”

* * *

Moore and Mandelbaum both jumped as the intercom crackled to life. “Ma’am, the Getting Ahead is pulling up to our position.”

“Thank you, Captain Harding. Please have Signals contact the Getting Ahead. Route the connection to the Ready Room.”

“Aye.”

In less than a minute, Captain Jennings’s voice played from the speaker. “Good day, Commodore.”

“Captain. Are Kemp and Narang available?”

“We’re all here, Commodore,” said Kemp.

“Good. Can you explain now what we’re attempting?”

“We’re trying for Plan C.” There was a pause. “The computer had to decide whether to Upload us or just convert the solar system into a remote post of sorts. That would be fatal to all life on Earth, of course. We are trying for a third alternative—a compromise that leaves Earth habitable.”

“Did Pritchard mention such an alternative?”

“He hinted at it,” said Narang. “He can’t just talk straight out about ways to finesse the computer—it’s listening all the time, of course. But the colloquial nature of human communication, and especially English, which is a truly chaotic language, makes it possible to say a lot without actually saying it. Just ask Shakespeare. Or any half-decent poet.”

“So he was trying to tell you…” Moore leaned forward, his interest piqued.

“That we might be able to steer a middle ground, between writing us off and assimilating us. I think he’s also been doing things in the least efficient way he can get away with, to give us more time. But he’s walking a tightrope as well. His knowledge is handy for dealing with the solar system, but if the computer decides he’s a liability, he could just be switched off.”

“This is essentially what you were talking about during the interview. It sounded like a long shot then, and it sounds like it now,” Mandelbaum said.

“But the only shot we have, at the moment. And maybe not as much of a stretch as we thought. We have additional information on Ivan’s end-game.”

"And that is?”

“It’s too complicated to go into in detail right now,” Kemp replied, “but the short answer is that we believe we can present a scenario whereby the computer will have no choice but to negotiate.”

“I will provisionally accept that for the moment.” Mandelbaum grabbed her tablet. “What’s the next step?”

“We have to find Ivan. We can’t do anything until we can talk to him.”