Fielding was simply incapable of destroying real scientific progress. Anyway, once we had the crystal, we got back all the computer code Fielding had corrupted. But the real bonus was original work that Fielding had done himself. He couldn't resist trying to solve our remaining problems, even while he sabotaged our progress to date. Fielding's new work put Trinity within reach. Without that crystal, the prototype wouldn't be functioning at all.'
'But if it's partly working now, why can't the govern¬ment just use other scientists to take over and complete it?'
'They could, if they knew about it. But they don't. Everything Godin has done since the project's suspension has been unauthorized and illegal.'
'So move the prototype back to this building.'
'Peter won't allow that. He wouldn't survive the move now.'
'You said he'll be dead soon.'
'Not soon enough.' Skow's anxiety showed in his eyes. 'If we had produced an operational Trinity com¬puter, no one in the American or British governments would have worried about the cost of delivering it- financial or human. But in the wake of failure, hard questions will be asked.'
'What are you saying?
'Failure requires a scapegoat.'
'I've had nothing to do with building that computer.'
'No, but Fielding's death might be blamed for its fail¬ure. And who killed Fielding?'
Now she saw where Skow was headed. 'You're start¬ing to piss me off.'
The NSA man turned up his palms. 'I'm only paint¬ing a possible scenario. You're an easy fit for the role. Known to be overzealous-'
'Do you want to leave this room alive?'
Skow smiled. 'I'm only showing you your personal stake in this. Now, Tennant and Weiss are still running around loose. And Lu Li Fielding is still missing.'
'Those are three problems I can solve.'
'All evidence to the contrary.'
She gave him a look that would shatter glass.
'Take it easy,' Skow said. 'I don't want Tennant dead now anyway. It's stupid to keep piling up bodies. It makes things exponentially harder on us.'
She sensed that they had arrived at the point of this meeting. 'Okay. If I'm not the scapegoat, who is?'
'Peter Godin.'
'What?'
Skow blew a perfect blue smoke ring between them. 'Think about it. After Peter dies, everything can be explained by a mere exaggeration of the truth. He's been dying of a brain tumor all along. None of us knew it. Peter was a great man, but the tumor affected his mind. He became obsessed with saving his own life. He saw the Trinity computer as the only possible means of doing that. When Fielding and Tennant sus¬pended the project, Godin panicked and ordered their deaths.'
Geli leaned back and let the plan sink in. The logic was perfect. It was the Big Lie, which turned everything black to white.
'If we go this way,' Skow continued, 'Tennant can't hurt us no matter what he says. This is a much more ele¬gant solution than murder.'
'There's one problem,' Geli said. 'If we leave Tennant alive, he'll tell the world that I was the one try¬ing to kill him.'
'Will he?' Skow smiled and shook his head. 'Who went to Tennant's house to kill him? Whom did Tennant and Weiss see?'
'Ritter.'
'Exactly. And Ritter Bock was an employee of Godin Supercomputing before you came on board. Correct?'
Skow seemed to have thought of everything. 'Yes.'
'Does anyone know you gave Ritter the order to kill Tennant?'
'I never gave such an order.'
Skow grinned. 'Of course you didn't. I couldn't imagine such a thing. Peter gave the order directly to Ritter, his own private Doberman. Dr. Tennant got lucky and killed Ritter in self-defense. You're as pure as the driven snow, Geli. All you've been doing is following Godin's orders.'
'And you?'
'By the time I realized that Fielding didn't die of nat¬ural causes, Ritter was already dead and Tennant was on the run. I've been trying to get to the truth ever since.'
Geli kept trying to punch a hole in the story. 'And the reason we cremated Fielding's body so quickly?'
'Once we realized he'd been murdered, we suspected a highly infectious biological agent. Nara's advice was to burn the body and all blood samples immediately. That was the only way to maintain the safety of this building.'
'Will Nara verify this story?'
'He'll do anything to save his reputation.'
Geli got up and began to pace the control center. Skow turned his chair and followed her with his eyes.
'What if Godin succeeds?' she asked. 'What if he delivers Trinity before he dies, and it's everything he promised?'
'Ravi says it won't happen. Peter's fading too fast.'
The irony of the situation depressed her. 'You know, I like Peter Godin. I respect him. You, on the other hand, I don't like at all. I didn't respect you either, until you came up with this. This could work.'
'It's going to work. The only missing piece is you.'
She saw no option but to cooperate. 'Tell me where the other Trinity facility is, and you have a deal.'
The confidence left Skow's face. 'I'm not at liberty to do that.'
'Why not?'
'You'll understand in a minute. I'm going to give you the name of the person who handles security at the other site. You can ask him your questions.'
Geli stopped and stared at him. 'What kind of game is this?'
'That's the way he told me to handle it, and he's not the kind of person I like to make an enemy of.'
'Who the hell is he?'
Skow shook his head. 'I'll give you his number.'
'I'm not calling anybody until I know who I'm call¬ing.'
Skow drew on his cigarette, looking at her with some¬thing like pity. 'General Horst Bauer.'
Geli's face felt hot. Every bit of pride she'd felt at her Trinity job drained out of her in a sickening rush. 'My father is in charge of the other Trinity site?'
'Yes.'
'You son of a bitch. Why are he and I both involved in this?'
Despite obvious reluctance to speak, Skow seemed to sense that she wouldn't cooperate further until he had answered.
'It's simple,' he said. 'Every aspect of Trinity has been stage-managed by Godin from the beginning. Because of your father's military intelligence back¬ground, he always had influence on what types of com¬puters the army used at certain facilities. The Pentagon, various bases, and now Fort Huachuca.'
Fort Huachuca, Arizona, was the center of U.S. Military Intelligence, and her father was its commanding officer.
'General Bauer helped secure contracts for Godin Supercomputing from the army,' Skow said. 'His influ¬ence helped Peter beat out Cray, NEC, all the rest.'
'You mean he took money.'
'Wads of it. He's got a numbered Cayman account padded by Godin, same as me. The NSA doesn't pay near enough to finance my lifestyle.'
'That hypocritical son of a bitch. I thought at least where his country was concerned, he'd-never mind. I should have known better.'
'Your father didn't damage the country by pushing Godin supercomputers. They were as good as anything out
