Infiltrator

PCP? He shook his

head and turned the page, finding that the one death listed was the result of a helicopter pilot taking a high dive out of his craft, an apparent suicide. Dieter stopped and contemplated that.

It was one of those truly inexplicable, senseless things. Subsequent investigation indicated that the man showed none of the usual signs of a potential suicide, the helicopter had crashed more than fourteen miles away from the site of the so-called suicide.

The incident plucked his instincts like harp strings. Taken with the known cop killer's sudden humanitarian instincts, it was one too many strange events.

Unless Sarah Connor and this Kyle Reese were telling the truth all along. But that was insane. Speaking of which…

He snatched up the copy of Connor's medical records and began trying to make sense of the jargon that described her condition. He winced at the amount of anti-schizophrenia drugs she'd been given. No wonder Tarissa Dyson described her as out of control!

He noted that Miles Dyson's brother, Jordan, was an FBI agent who had contributed a number of leads to the investigation. Perhaps he should call him.

Maybe the chief project manager's brother would know why Cyberdyne?

True, Connor had attacked other computer companies, but there'd never been a shoot-out like this one. Though to be fair there's never been a shoot-out like this one anytime, anywhere, ever.

Dieter checked the time; Dyson should still be at work. Unless he was in the

field. It was worth a try.

With usual FBI efficiency he soon found himself speaking to a secretary assigned to Dyson's office. He identified himself as a former Sector agent and asked to speak to him.

There was an infinitesimal pause, then she said, 'I'm sorry, Mr. von Rossbach, but former Special Agent Dyson is no longer with the FBI.'

'That was rather sudden, wasn't it?' Dieter asked.

'I don't know,' she said, then went silent, patiently waiting for his next question.

Dieter racked his brain and pulled out the name of another agent he knew who worked in counterterrorism.

'Well, then, is Special Agent Paulson there?'

'Yes, sir, I'll connect you.'

A few clicks later the phone was picked up. 'Paulson,' a distracted voice said.

'Patricia,' von Rossbach said, 'how are you?'

'Dieter?' She gave a surprised laugh. 'I thought you'd retired.'

'I have, but I'm thinking of writing a book. Not something I've investigated—the Sarah Connor thing.'

'That's a weird one,' Paulson commented.

He heard the click of keys and knew she was only giving him half her attention.

'So I was trying to get in touch with Jordan Dyson to see if I could get some insight. But your secretary tells me he's left the FBI. When did that happen?'

'Today actually,' she said. The keyboard sounds stopped. 'He went into the supervisor's office this morning and the next thing I knew he was cleaning out his desk.'

'Why?' Dieter asked. 'He's a good agent from what I hear. Was he fired?'

'No, no, nothing like that,' Patricia said. 'He was a good agent. But… under the circumstances the sup thought he should go immediately.'

'What circumstances?' von Rossbach prodded.

'He's going to work for Cyberdyne. Which, if you've been investigating this case, must ring a bell.'

'Yes, it does,' he said slowly. 'That's a surprise.'

'And no mistake. But from what he said, he should do very well there. The bennies are every bit as good as ours, sometimes better, and the pay definitely is.

Had I but known they were looking,' she said wistfully.

'You'd have told them to look elsewhere,' Dieter said. 'You know you'll never leave the Bureau.'

'Yeah,' she agreed. 'I'll die in harness or be put out to pasture.'

'I'm not even going to comment on that analogy,' Dieter said, putting a grin into his voice. 'Listen, do you think you'll be talking to him again?'

'May-be,' she answered.

'Then would you mind giving him my number? In case he's willing to talk to me.'

She was silent for a moment, then said, 'Sure, why not?'

'Thanks,' he said. 'Good talking to you, Pat.'

He hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, thinking. This case… had something missing. The whole shape of it cried out for that missing piece that would make it all come together. He began reviewing the information he had.

Cyberdyne was starting up a facility on military property. A buried facility. And they'd been given something that Connor had stolen during her raid. Now Miles Dyson's brother was going to work for them. Why?

Perhaps because he believed that sooner or later word would get to Sarah Connor, assuming she was still alive, and that she might react by going after Cyberdyne again.

Dieter nodded. Not an unreasonable assumption, he thought, and went back to the beginnings of the file.

Now, Sarah Connor, a perfectly ordinary young woman. A waitress and part-time college student of no particular ambition, no known political affiliations.

Just a middle-class girl starting out in life. She's attacked and almost killed by a man intent on murdering women with her name.

Dieter picked up the first set of reports and flipped pages. 'Ahhh,' he said aloud.

The company where she and Kyle Reese had taken refuge, where Reese was killed and where Connor claimed to have killed the 'Terminator,' was a test-bed facility for industrial robotics—for a little start-up outfit called… Cyberdyne.

He sat back, lowering the report to his lap. Well, there's the connection with Cyberdyne, he thought. Not to mention that at first Cyberdyne had pressed for prosecution of the young woman for trespassing, destruction of property, vandalism, you name it, to the full extent of the law.

Then, within a day or so, cooler, more compassionate heads apparently prevailed and the charges against her were dropped.

Still, lying in your hospital bed with that kind of a lawsuit hanging over your head, even for just a day, was bound to make an indelible impression. Maybe she'd eventually come to place the blame for the catastrophe that had overtaken her on them. He'd seen people make stranger connections, and certainly the experience she'd been through was enough to unsettle anyone's mind.

And she'd been almost helpless when this thing started.

She sure isn't helpless now, Dieter thought. She was still high on the international 'most wanted' list. Not that she was known for certain to have actually killed anyone, but she was a very efficient bomber.

Still, despite the Cyberdyne connection, it wasn't the first company she'd

attacked. She'd hit a number of companies around the U.S., all of them specializing in artificial-intelligence research. Most hadn't been able to start up again.

Then she escapes from the institution and makes a beeline for Cyberdyne. Why?

What was different? Dieter thought for a moment. The cop-killer! he thought.

This time he was with her, fighting for her, not trying to kill her. He rubbed a big hand over his face and frowned. So?