Chang made a halfhearted effort to shift and raised his chin an inch, but he remained a picture of insolence. His father reached to tug at the shoulder of his jacket, and Chang wrenched away. Mr. Wong glowered at him.

"He doesn't want to work here," David said. "He's young, immature, simply not ready. I don't doubt his credentials or his potential, but let him work out the kinks on someone else's money."

"Now, let's not be hasty, David," Moon said. "The boy's just been through a bit of a trauma. He was scared, but he went through with it, and he's clearly still a little shaken."

David cocked his head as if willing to consider the excuse. "Oh?"

"Yes," Mr. Wong said. "He upset. He frightened of needle. Didn't want injection. Scream. Cry. Try to get away, but we hold him down. He thank me someday. Maybe tomorrow."

"And he needed an injection for what?"

"Biochip!" Mr. Wong announced proudly. "One of first to get it! See?"

He reached for the boy's cap, but Chang stood again and turned his back on his father. David fought to maintain composure. Now what? How had he let this happen?

"When?" he blurted. "How?"

"This morning," Walter said. "I was hoping they'd be ready for him. Took a photo along and everything. But they weren't, not really. We were going to just wait till later, but they could see I had gone to a lot of trouble, so when the first unit was plugged in and ready to go, they tested it and then made him the first recipient here. Not sure the picture's much good though. The boy wasn't any happier there than here."

David said, "Well, that's… ah… that's-" "Something, huh?" Walter said. "I think the boy is glad to have it over with, and if he's honest he'll admit it didn't hurt a bit."

"I proud! Son will be soon, you'll see. But he ready for work now. No age problem. No school problem. This is place for him."

"Global Community maybe," David said, his voice hollow. How was he going to explain this to Ming? "But not my department."

"Don't be ridiculous, David. We just explained his attitude. You and I both know there's no better place for him."

"Then you take him. I don't want him. I don't have the energy to try to win him over while training him."

"I'm of a mind to take him, David. He's going to make somebody look like a genius. It had might as well be me."

David stood and spread his arms, palms up. "Good to see you all again."

Chang started to rise, but his father stopped him with a hand. The man looked to Walter. "David, sit down," Moon said. "Let us give you a few minutes with Chang, let him win you over."

"There aren't enough flowers or boxes of candy in the United Asian States."

"Find out what's troubling him. If it's just the trauma of the procedure, he deserves another look. What do you say?"

"I suppose you'll go running to the potentate if I don't agree."

Moon stood and motioned David to do the same. He reached for him across the desk and pulled David's ear to his mouth. "This is no way for us to conduct ourselves in front of outsiders, particularly a patriotic GC supporter like Mr. Wong. You're blamed right I'll take this straight back to the top. Now you know Carp-His Excellency wants this boy on staff, so get with the program." He let go of David and turned to Mr. Wong. "Let's give them a few minutes to get acquainted."

Mr. Wong bent to his son as he left. "You make proud, and I mean it." But Chang looked away.

As soon as the door was shut, Chang stood and moved to the center chair facing David. He resumed his defiant posture. David sat and rested an elbow on the desk, chin in hand, staring at Chang, who did not meet his gaze. "Are the blinds open behind me?" the kid muttered, still looking away.

"Yes."

"Close them."

"That would send a wrong signal, Chang. If they're watching, I want them to see me not liking you too much, which is exactly what I feel right now."

"Are they still out there?"

"Yes."

"Then either shut the blinds or tell me when they're gone."

"They're leaving."

"OK, then wait till they're out of sight so you can close the blinds without sending them the wrong signal but I still don't have to worry about anyone else coming by and looking in. Or your secretary."

"Assistant."

"Whatever. Tiffany, right?"

"Observant."

"I don't miss anything, like the fact that she's not a believer."

"I'm trying to figure out a way to work on that."

It was maddening that Chang still sat slumped, looking down. "You can't let her in on where you stand for fear she'll turn you in."

"Of course."

"Could you shut the blinds, please?"

"Not till you tell me what in the world you think you're up to."

"I'll wait," Chang said.

David rose and closed the blinds. "What was I supposed to do, son? I didn't know-"

As David returned to his side of the desk, Chang straightened up. "Don't call me son. I hate that." He whipped off his hat. "Look at me! Look what they did to me!"

David leaned over the desk to study Chang's mark of loyalty. It was the first he had seen other than in a drawing. "That is strange," he said.

"That's news to me?"

"No, I mean, obviously it looks different to me and will to any fellow believers. We can see both marks. The seal of God is still there, Chang." David could barely take his eyes off the small, black tattoo that read 30 and was followed by a half-inch pink scar that would fade to a darker line in a few days. "I still haven't figured the significance of the prefixes," David added.

"You serious?"

"Always."

"Don't tell me you don't even know why Carpathia is so obsessed with 216."

"Of course," David said. "That was rather transparent. Easy."

"Same basic logic as these. Ten different regions or sub-potentateships, as Carpathia likes to call them. We know them as kingdoms. Ten different prefixes, all related to Carpathia. I mean, the fact that one of them is 216 should have been your first clue."

"Don't tell me, Chang. I'll get it."

"Should have had it by now."

"You can lighten up on me. I don't know how I could have prevented this. Your little charade didn't help. Your sister is going to kill me. And, assuming you want out of here as badly as Ming wants you out and as badly as the other four believers want out, how did that help?"

"Can you believe my father and Moon thought I pitched a fit because I was afraid of needles?"

"I'm glad you didn't just scream out that you're a believer."

"Well, what am I now, Hassid?"

"You don't like to be called son-don't call me Hassid."

"Sorry. What's your pleasure?"

"Mr. Hassid or Director Hassid while we're in here. Once we're gone, Mr. or Brother will work."

"You sound like an old guy."

"That's because you're a young guy. As for what you are, with both marks you surely have to be in a special category."

"But all that stuff Dr. Ben-Judah writes about, choosing between the seal of God and the mark of the beast. I chose, and I got both. Now what?"

David sat shaking his head. Chang cocked his head and pursed his lips. "It isn't that I really don't know, Mr. Hassid. I just keep testing you. Are you not as bright as they think you are, or are you just short on sleep? Can't figure the prefixes, can't figure-"

"First, I'm not as bright as they think I am, but I might surprise you."

"I'm not trying to be disrespectful, sir. I'm really not. But you have already surprised me by how long it takes you to make things make sense."

"I've also been under unusual pressure for months, and worse the last couple of weeks."

"Yeah. I'm sorry about your, ah, were you engaged? Was she your fiancee?"

"Secretly, yes. Thanks."

"That would put anybody off track for a while. That's understandable."

"So, you're mad you got the mark, but you've already made some sense of it?"