Charles reached into his shirt and pul ed out a smal tablet. On it an image of a blond teenage boy glowed. The boy's face wore the familiar Uley expression: a flat mask, betraying nothing.

"This is Edu," Charles said. "He's fourteen."

The image slid, turning into a portrait of a teenage girl.

"Lada."

Another image, another child. "Karim."

"They are children from our building, refugees like us,"

Tonya said.

"They got into a fight at school," Charles said. "With some local kids. One of the local boys involved claimed that his dagger was stolen in the commotion. The dagger was found on the boy's desk the next day with a broken blade.

The dagger is a family heirloom. The school is will ing to overlook the fight, but the child's family is upset."

"The security forces took the dagger," Tonya added.

"For trace testing."

"The children were questioned," Charles said. "None of the three is admitting to theft and neither are they denying it. They aren't speaking to authorities."

It was a familiar tactic: when in trouble, say nothing. "I see."

"If traces of their DNA are found on the dagger, they will be charged with theft and destruction of property. The charge violates their probation. The children will be taken from their families and deported," Charles said.

"Did they steal the dagger?" Claire asked.

"Yes," Doreem said. "Edu took it to punish the other child. Edu is my grandson. Karim and Lada helped."

"I see."

"We've offered to make reparation to the boy's family,"

Charles said. "In exchange for dropping the inquest. They declined."

"We ask you to..." Tonya fell silent and glanced at Charles. They looked at their hands, uncomfortable.

"We need your help," he said. "The results of the testing must be negative."

"You want me to log into the bionet and alter the trace analysis?"

"Yes." Tonya exhaled.

Claire leaned back. The Security Forces Database would be under a layered protection protocol of at least level three or higher. Cutting into it would be a nightmare.

"You are asking me to break into a security instal ation.

It will be very well protected. There are defenses to be overcome. The precise manipulation of data will require time. It's a lot harder to alter data than to erase it."

"We've col ected credits," Charles said. "From the families. We will gladly pay -"

He saw the look on her face and clamped his mouth shut.

"We have insulted you," Doreem said. His sharp eyes stabbed at her. "We ask forgiveness."

"Apologies," Charles bowed his head.

They thought that because she had left the building, she wouldn't understand. They thought she only cared about money. She understood. Every refugee from the building had conspired to save the children. That's what a community did in times of trouble.

"Please continue," Charles asked.

"Think of the data as being guarded by a pack of dogs," Claire said. "The AI defenses. If the pack sees me, they will attack and bark all together, making a lot of noise.

This noise will bring men with guns, the actual psychers. To be able to do what you ask me to do, I will need help. I will need decoys that will draw the pack away from me."

"We have people," Charles said. "They are not combat-grade, but they can move through the bionet."

"They are utility repair people." Tonya said. "They used to check the bionet instal ations for the failing sectors."

Low-level psychers, with the mental talent too slight to be affected by the PPP. She'd encountered their type on the bionet before: they could move through it but they had never fought on it.

Claire sighed. "If we're discovered, every person involved will be deported. The children may survive. We will not. Melko will murder all of us."

"We understand," Charles said. "I'm one of those who will be going in with you. We can't do anything more than run, but we'l risk ourselves for the children. We will do everything we can to help you. If you choose to do this."

In her mind Claire was back in her mother's apartment, sitting by the bed, holding her mother's hand. The medic had given her less than twenty-four hours, and Intel igence permitted her this last visitation. She remembered everything in crystal clear detail. The dark spray of black marks on her mother's face. The smile on her mother's lips.

Her mother's hair, clean and braided away from her face.

Her mother's voice. "I'm content, sweetheart. I'm tired, and it's time to go. Don't cry. I didn't suffer. They say the passing will be peaceful."

Logging into bionet meant risking everything. Her job.

Her life. Other lives she took with her.

The debt had to be repaid. If she succeeded, she would give three children another chance at life. If she failed...

She had to succeed.

"When was the dagger taken for testing?"

"Last night," Charles answered.

"What time last night?"

"At the end of the school day," Tonya said.

"Take the credits you gathered and rent a large hotel room in the largest hotel you can find," she said. "If asked, tel them you are having a meeting to welcome new refugees in the community. If not asked, say nothing. Pick someone who can pass for a native and have them purchase a portable liquid interface hub, Grade Five or higher. We will need the bionet cognizance units as well. If asked why, say that you are planning a game party on the bionet. We will need a medic and we will need protection for our bodies while we're logged in. Don't involve anyone who can't be trusted to stay quiet. This needs to be done tonight, before the lab personnel return to work on Monday."

*** *** ***

Claire walked down the polished tile of Hotel Aldebaran's sixteenth floor hal way. Charles had chosen well - the three towers of Aldebaran catered to businessmen and families. People strol ed back and forth, parents with children heading toward the hotel's pools, tourists going out to explore the city. Nobody paid her any mind.

She approached the door marked 1672 and rapped her knuckles on the plasti-steel. It swung open and Charles let her inside. The suite's main room was wide and devoid of furniture. A three-foot tal hub sat in the middle of the room, an ornate metal pedestal in a shape of three nude women, each supporting the container of dark-grey liquid interface with her left hand and fondling herself with the right.

Claire raised her eyebrows.

"It was on sale," Charles said.

Doreem sat in the lone chair in the corner. He nodded to her. To the left of him stood a young man with a strong resemblance to Karim, one of the children in trouble.

"Kosta," Charles said. "He's Karim's brother and one of your team."

Kosta looked barely eighteen.

"This is Zinaida," Charles said, bowing slightly to an older woman with startling blue eyes. She nodded back.

"Nonna." A young nervous woman with pale brown hair.

"Saim." Charles pointed at a thin dark-skinned man in his early twenties.

"Mittali." A young woman with very dark hair and light olive skin.

"This is our medic." A blond man in his mid-thirties raised his hand from the portable medi-bot. "Tonya will be assisting him."

Tonya inclined her head.

"Thomas, Sergei, and Helen will watch over us while we're under."

The two men and a woman raised their hands.

They had brought everything she'd asked for. Claire took the bag off her shoulder, removed her sandals, and sat on the rug before the hub. "Join me."

The five members of her team sat in a circle around the hub.

"How many times have you connected?" she asked.

"Seventeen," Charles said.

"Twenty-two," Zinaida said.

"Eight," Saim said.

"Eight also," Mittali added.

"Four," Nonna said.

"Twice," Kosta said.

"Any connections in the hostile environment?"

No answer. She had expected as much.

"Bionet can be overwhelming," Claire said. "However, our minds do their best to cope by transforming it into a familiar environment. Our mind interprets things for us and you must listen to your instincts. If something gives you a bad feeling, it's likely a trap. If you see a monster, it's likely an AI defense or an enemy psycher. You will see strange things on the bionet. Creatures that grow blades. Plants that shoot lightning. You must remember to trust your instincts. If something feels dangerous, it is. Be afraid and be cautious, and you will survive."

"But how do we fight?" Kosta asked.

"You don't. I will take care of the fighting." Claire smiled gently. "Your mission is different. There are two types of threats on bionet: passive and active. Passive threats are the AI defenses. They remain dormant until an intruder appears. Active threats are psychers like us, humans who patrol the bionet. They are the greatest danger. You will know them because they may look very frightening or appear out of place. For example, if you perceive bionet as a grassy plain and you see a medium-size predator running at you, it's likely an AI defense. If you see a bovine the size of a house that's sprouting tentacles and tusks, it's likely an psycher."

Claire paused to make sure she had their attention. "If you see a psycher, do not engage. He will kil you. If you see one, and he gives chase, you must run away as fast as you can and disconnect as soon as you are able.

Remember, you can only disconnect within a short distance of the hub. Don't be afraid to lead a psycher to the hub. We will destroy it after the mission. Do you understand?"

Heads nodded.

"It's highly likely that you may see me as something terrifying as well. During the mission, I may change my shape in reaction to threats. Don't be alarmed."