“Incredible,” said Hansen. “But if you were going to sabotage the synthesizer anyway, why give Drake false information?”

“Redundancy. What if the computer virus failed to work for some reason? Or if Max insisted we download the sequence to another computer and go online from there, rather from the Seq-Magic Ultra itself? Fuller called it a ‘belt and suspenders’ strategy.”

Hansen laughed. “I believe you were saying that no species holds a candle to ours when it comes to deception. Or am I misremembering?”

“That’s what I said, all right. And you haven’t even heard the last of it. Because Fuller decided to attempt a very deep game. It wasn’t enough for us to win. Not enough for us to stop the Hive from defanging us and drive it from its Wrap host. He wanted the Hive to think it had won.”

Another look of wonder came over Hansen’s face. “And that’s what happened, isn’t it? Fifty-eight thousand light years from here, the Hive is now removing us from the list of credible future threats.”

“Exactly. Although things didn’t exactly go the way Fuller had envisioned. We expected Drake to trust the information I gave him, and not suspect me. I would plant a homing device on him. Fuller would let Drake release the sabotaged virus, which now wouldn’t even be able to cause a cold. The Hive would think it had won, and then a few days later, Fuller would move in and take Drake out. It didn’t work out as planned, but we still got there.”

“So now we’re off the Hive radar?”

“Yes. The Wraps believe the effort involved in these scouting expeditions, in controlling another mind from this kind of distance, is immense. They don’t think the Hive will waste the effort checking up on us for a long, long time—if ever. And once the Wraps build a faster-than-light transmission facility, they’ll report back to the Seventeen, making sure they’re on the lookout for possible infiltration. Their science isn’t as advanced as the Hive’s, but it’s plenty advanced. They’ll find ways to do a better job of blocking the hive-mind from infiltrating their citizenry, and they’ll raise their guard. And after this they’ll never lower it again.”

Hansen nodded. “Brilliantly done, Erin.”

“It was all Fuller,” said Erin modestly.

“Really?” said Hansen. “Because it seems to me that Fuller was chasing a van to San Francisco while you were saving the day. And my life. Again.”

“Well, technically, the first time I saved you was a fake, so we really can’t count that.”

Hansen laughed. “You’re right. I guess you only saved my life once.” He paused. “Good thing. Because I’ll never be able to thank you enough as it is.” His voice was soft and heartfelt, and his body language conveyed not only immense gratitude, but admiration as well.

“You’re very welcome,” whispered Erin, almost shyly.

Hansen took a deep breath. “So where exactly are we right now? For some reason, I’m thinking Palm Springs.”

“Good guess. That’s where we are. And we’ve both been invited to join Fuller’s team. Interested?”

Hansen raised his eyebrows. “Maybe,” he said, a playful smile coming over his face. “The work won’t be boring, will it?”

“I’m gonna say … no. I think it might be interesting even. And I can promise you affectionate coworkers. Who won’t mind if it takes you a few months to grow back your hair.”

“Good to know.”

“And our starting pay would be three hundred thousand a year. And because they aren’t allowed to hire felons, I’m told we’ll both be receiving presidential pardons for any and all crimes we’ve committed to this date.”

Fuller had told her about the pardon the night before, and she had spent considerable time while waiting for Kyle to recover pondering recent events in her life. She still felt guilty about performing illegal experiments and causing the deaths of three inmates. And no pardon would make this guilt go away.

But if she dedicated herself to helping the Wraps bring humanity safely through its adolescence, and helping the Seventeen better understand the psychopathic entity known as the Hive, this would go a long way toward assuaging that guilt.

In addition to the pardon, Fuller had promised to return her to good standing with the University of Arizona and the entire Southwest. They would post her picture once again and explain a terrible mistake had been made. And she would be allowed to complete her Ph.D. if the president of the United States himself had to intervene with Dean Borland.

She couldn’t wait to see Lisa Renner again. And she already planned to speak with Steve Fuller about adding a Ph.D. historian to the team, at about the exact time Lisa would be earning her degree. Fuller was pushing to disclose publically the existence of the Seventeen. If this were ever to happen, it would be great if someone went through the hundreds of thousands of years of the history of galactic civilization available on the Wraps’ computer and put the highlights in book form. Perhaps penning a gripping, informative, thousand-pager. Erin had no idea if she could convince Fuller that this would be a good idea, or if Lisa would ever be interested. But she was nothing if not stubborn, and she was determined to give it her best.

Her thinking on the subject of human psychopathy remained … complex. She would now be trying to perfect a device that could identify psychopaths, for the groups’ use only. But she had been in a position to see this condition cured forever and she had stopped this from happening. Yes, she could now see that this condition was a necessary evil—in the truest sense of the word—so that a watered-down version of these genes could help spur mankind to greatness. But the cost in human misery would be enormous.

She had thought of her parents and little Anna. Would they applaud her actions, or be appalled? It was impossible to know.

But what if their suffering and premature deaths were not for nothing? She would trade the world to have them back for even a day, to erase what had happened. But if not for this tragedy, she wouldn’t have chosen the field she had, and thus wouldn’t have been in a position to help stop the Hive. Drake would have used another researcher, and maybe he would have succeeded.

If her family had to die in this horrible fashion, maybe she could at least take some solace in knowing that their deaths might have played a role in altering the future history of the entire galaxy in a decisive way. She didn’t believe in the adage that things happened for a reason, that a certain event might serve a higher purpose, especially not an event as senseless and heinous as this had been. But could she absolutely rule it out? Maybe not.

Or maybe opening even a sliver of her mind to this idea was just another way of trying to make herself feel better for turning her back on the cure. For betraying the memory of her family.

As with all things having to do with psychopathy and the death of her family, she knew that there were no easy answers. These were issues that would always haunt her, and that would always remain … complicated.

But there was one more possibility that had occurred to her. She now understood why the set of genes that led to distilled evil when they were concentrated in a single individual needed to remain a part of the human genome. But was there a way to keep these genes in the germ lines of psychopaths—ensure they remained in circulation to give humanity its edge—but counteract their effect? Not on those who received them in moderation, but only on those who received them all. It was a task that was absolutely impossible for current human science and medicine. But the Seventeen were thousands of years more advanced in the art of genetic engineering than humankind. Yes, it was an exceedingly complex task that might forever be beyond even their capabilities. But maybe not. And Erin was determined not to rest until she found a way to make this a top priority, first for the Wraps on Earth, and then for the Seventeen. Even if such a miracle couldn’t be accomplished for generations, no effort could ever be more worthwhile.