The general looked again to Fulbright.

Fulbright obliged. "Dr. Philips discovered the back door in Sobol's video games some months ago. One that allowed users to enter secret maps and be exposed to the Daemon's recruitment efforts."

The general nodded impatiently. "So the Daemon recruited people to compromise these corporate networks on its behalf?"

"Yes. We believe it coordinated the activities of thousands of people who had no individual knowledge of each other."

"The Daemon Task Force was supposed to detect and infiltrate these terror cells."

Philips regarded the general with deliberate patience. "Our monitoring resulted in several dozen arrests, but the Daemon network is massively parallel-no one person or event is critical to its survival. It has no ringleaders and no central point of failure. And no central repository of logic. None of the Daemon's agents knows anything more than a few seconds in advance, so informants have been useless. It also seems highly adept at detecting monitoring."

"Forget arrests. What about infiltration?"

"We've been working with the interagency Task Force, but progress has been slow. My people are not undercover operatives-they know far too many national secrets to be put at risk of capture-and the operatives who've been brought forward from Langley and Quantico are not expert enough in the lingo and culture of computer gaming-or cryptography and IP network architecture for that matter. A third of them are evangelicals with little or no experience in online gaming. Developing their skills will take time. We're painfully short of suitable recruits."

The general pounded his hand on a chair back in frustration. "Goddamnit, this thing is running circles around us." He looked to Philips again. "How does recruiting kids through video games translate into taking over corporate networks?"

Philips was looking at the big screen. "Because it didn't recruit kids. Have a look at the demographics of video game sales. The biggest market segment is young men aged eighteen to twenty-eight."

Fulbright nodded. "IT workers."

"Maybe." She turned to them both. "It could be any mid-to low-level employee. Not necessarily an IT staffer. Their efforts would be augmented by a massively parallel cyber organism that coordinates the efforts of thousands of other people-and it can pay."

The general tried to wrap his head around it. "But why would employees want to destroy their own company? It doesn't make sense."

"There are always disgruntled or greedy people. The Daemon most likely deals them in."

The general had murder in his eyes. "These terrorists need to be found and shot."

"Careful. The Daemon has already destroyed two dozen companies that disobeyed its instructions. Among the currently infected are several multibillion-dollar corporations, representing a cross section of strategic industries-energy, finance, high-tech, biotech, media, manufacturing, food, transportation. The targets were obviously selected to maximize economic and social disruption in the event of their collapse."

The general was starting to see the big picture. "This is no different from a strategic bombing campaign. This Daemon could gut the global economy. What are our options?"

She sighed. "Before we knew the extent of the infection, we attempted to penetrate a couple of compromised networks. But our intrusion attempts were detected and the target networks-and thus, the companies themselves-were destroyed by the Daemon in retribution.

"Wiretaps and surveillance of individual employees by the FBI resulted in similar retribution. Apparently, the Daemon does not hesitate to destroy the companies it has taken hostage. Further infiltration attempts have been put on hold until new strategies can be developed."

"Doctor, I repeat: what are our options?"

Philips paused. "Right now we have only one: inform the public. Tell them what's happening."

"That's crazy talk. The stock market would crash."

Fulbright pointed them to a side conference room and spoke softly. "Please, let's continue this discussion behind closed doors. Everyone here may be cleared top-secret, but they all have retirement funds."

They entered a small conference room, and the deputy director closed the door behind them.

The general glared at Philips. "Doctor, what would informing the public accomplish other than to destroy the 401(k)s of millions of taxpayers?"

"Right now Sobol has you exactly where he wants you. His Daemon can prey upon millions of unsuspecting people because we haven't warned anyone. At some point the Daemon is going to show itself-and we'll lose all credibility with the public. Look, announce its existence before you're forced to, and we'll have billions of allies to help us destroy it."

Fulbright shook his head. "It's not that simple, Doctor. A news headline announcing that the Daemon exists might trigger a Daemon event-possibly the deletion of all data in these compromised networks. It could cause financial Armageddon. It could cripple the world economy and lead to widespread conflict-even thermonuclear war. We can't risk that possibility."

Philips didn't blink. "That's an extreme conclusion."

"Extreme conclusions are what I'm paid to come to."

"Do you ever plan on telling the public?"

"We'll inform them after we've developed a countermeasure."

"But that might be never."

He didn't say anything.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"If you don't intend to announce the existence of the Daemon, then I hope you're planning to intervene on behalf of Peter Sebeck."

The general looked to her. "The cop on death row?"

"His appeals are moving through the federal courts unusually fast. He's scheduled to die by lethal injection."

Fulbright didn't respond immediately. "I'll take that under advisement, Doctor."

"You could fake his execution-"

"This might seem harsh, but Peter Sebeck must suffer the full penalty demanded by law-and the sooner the better. Faking his execution would risk tipping our hand to the Daemon."

"Sir, please-"

"Philips, you yourself said that the Daemon has operatives in thousands of organizations. It could also have operatives in the penal system or law enforcement. So we must take the safe course. Sebeck is a casualty of this war, Doctor. You must put him out of your mind and concentrate on saving the lives and property of millions more Americans."

Philips stared at him for a moment. "But surely we-"

"There is no 'but,' Doctor. Please focus on your work."

She was about to speak again when the general leaned in.

"Any word from Jon Ross?"

Philips was still distracted but collected herself. "Not recently."

The general nodded. " There's a hacker we need in custody ASAP. All these hackers should be rounded up and shot."

She eyed the general. " I'm a hacker, General, and if it weren't for people like Jon Ross, we'd be in far worse shape than we are now."

Fulbright kept his eyes on her. "Find him. We need him on the Joint Task Force. Tell him we'll offer amnesty and U.S. citizenship, if you think it will matter. Just get him here. In the meantime, I need you and your people focused and working to find a way to stop this thing. Is that clear?"

She did not respond with enthusiasm. "Yes, sir."

Fulbright didn't relent. "Are we clear on this?"

"Sir, I-»

"You are a perceptive woman, Natalie. You, of all people, should be able to do the math on this. If we risk the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people to save the life of a single man, we'll be guilty of a heinous crime. Do you see the truth of this?"

She nodded after a moment.

"Now perhaps you can gain some appreciation for the cruel calculus I'm forced to use every day." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Your heart is in the right place. There's nothing wrong with that. But keep a sense of perspective. Ask yourself how many children you'd be willing to sacrifice so that Detective Sebeck can live."