“He’s not my boyf—”

“I have a plan,” Jordan said to Suzanne, then turned to me. “Wait, I’m not your—”

“What’s the plan, then?” Suzanne demanded.

“Put it this way,” Tico said. “It’s an idea in search of a plan.”

“And the idea is …?” I asked.

“Supercomputer supernova,” Jordan said.

I looked at Jordan, then Tico. “What’s actually in the bag?”

“Explosives,” Jordan said.

“What?” I shouted at him. “Where did you—why are you carrying around explosives? Did you not notice what happened to the Carters?”

“These are all stable,” he said. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do.”

“Great,” I said.

“Look, blowing up stuff isn’t plan A,” Jordan said. “Plan A is we get in to see Ishango, get a feel for where she’s coming from, maybe even reason with her.”

“Who’s she?” Suzanne asked.

“Are you kidding?” I said. “Did you not hear the part about how she wants to reprogram you so you’re under her command? You think you can appeal to some sense of computerly compassion after she’s killed all these innocent people? You’d be insane to go anywhere near her.”

“Hence plan B,” Jordan said.

“Oh, lordy.”

“Look, if Ishango wanted to kill me, she would have by now. She’d have blown up your house while we were sleeping or commanded all her underlings to come after me. They probably even have a tracking device in me.”

“You think?” I asked.

“Well, I just thought of it, but if I were putting all sorts of implants into the new Six Million Dollar Man, a tracking device would be among them.”

“Maybe you’re bugged, too, so they can listen to everything you say,” Suzanne said.

We all went silent for a moment.

“I guess that wouldn’t surprise me, either,” Jordan said softly.

“So they may be listening to us making these plans?” Tico asked, shifting the explosives bag to his other shoulder.

“I don’t actually think so,” Jordan said, “but you never know.”

“Where do you think the mic would be?” I asked. “Not in his head—too loud, too much potential for distortion.”

Suzanne crouched down in front of Jordan’s crotch. “Hey, assholes!” she yelled.

“Honey!” Tico called.

“It wouldn’t be there, either,” I said. “They wouldn’t want to amplify his bodily functions that much. My guess is they’d put it somewhere near those surgically repaired ribs.”

Jordan ran his palms over his nipples. “The right one is a bit harder than the left.”

“Mmmph mmmph!” Troy called from the back of the pickup and made the universal pointing-at-your-wristwatch gesture, even though he, like everyone else I knew, didn’t wear a wristwatch.

“Right,” I said. “We’re taking our chances no matter what. Let’s get going. Where to?”

“The cliffs,” Jordan said. “They oversee the plant.”

“I assume you know how to assemble a bomb?” I asked.

“Now that you mention it, I bet I do.”

“Then let’s go blow up a supercomputer.”

CHAPTER 44

Maggie

FIRST, THOUGH, WE collectively realized we were wrecked—it had been a long, traumatic day. Plus, only one of us could see in the dark, and by my calculations, we’d have a three-mile hike from the trailhead to the cliffs of Mount Hope.