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his incarceration, which could have tainted what he told us about his network.”
    “I appreciate your concern for the integrity of the incarceration. Why are you ‘fairly certain’ there will not be further attacks?”
    “Bajjah admitted to planning the biological attack alone. He said the east coast outbreak was a trial run. The plan was to hit Europe in force if the attacks here proved successful. Since they were a failure, he said the bio-attack plan was likely scrapped.”
    “He may be the head of his own network,” the Dean said, “but he is not the only member of the network. Others may have risen to take his place. They may be carrying on his work as we speak. Where is his money coming from?”
    “He told me his funding comes from ‘the network.’ I pushed him for information about what ‘the network’ might be, which was when he gave me the names of the people in the network.”
    “And did you push him for details? Funding sources? Financial connections? Accounts? Holdings?”
    “I did, but Roger’s sensors showed I was pushing him too hard. Bajjah’s vitals began to spike and I didn’t want to push him into another stroke or heart event.”
    “Yes, I read about the stroke,” the Dean said. “You are usually more careful with your subjects. I trust you have already taken measures to ensure it will not happen again.”
    Roger replied, “Already taken care of.” He had never called the Dean ‘sir.’
    “Given the prisoner’s delicate medical condition, I take it that pressing him for further details would be unwise.”
    “Roger and I agree we’ve probably pushed him as far as he can go,” Hicks admitted. “Neither of us believe he could stand up to further enhanced tactics.”
    “Pity, though I admit that finding the Jabbar connection to his network fascinating. What details has he provided about the elusive Jabbar?”
    “He didn’t admit the connection, sir. He didn’t have to. OMNI confirmed a direct correlation between the names he gave us and the Jabbar profile, particularly on the man he called Shaban, who lives in London. The same man he said handled the money for the network.”
    “And, once again, you are certain the prisoner was being truthful.”
    Hicks signaled Roger to answer, which he did. “My people were monitoring the prisoner the entire time without his knowledge. His biometric responses indicated he was being truthful.”
    The Dean didn’t sound impressed. “People beat lie detectors all the time, Roger.”
    “My sensors are better than lie detectors, and they can’t be fooled. Bajjah told us the truth.”
    “Impertinent confidence has always been one of your most admirable qualities. Let us hope for all our sakes you are correct.”
    Roger gave the laptop the finger.
    The Dean went on. “James, I noticed you had promised to kill the prisoner if his information proved valid.”
    He knew it would come up. “Yes I did, sir.”
    “And now you have determined the information he provided is true and that he is too weak to interrogate further. Do you intend to keep your promise to kill him?”
    “I do, sir.”
    “Tell me why. And please keep in mind his death will violate our arrangement with the Mossad. We had promised to hand Bajjah over to them after we were finished interrogating him in exchange for their silence. They will disapprove of his execution and Agent Saddon will likely take it as a personal betrayal.”
    Hicks already knew that, but he couldn’t worry about Tali now. “We’ve already broken Bajjah down as far as we can. His body is clearly beginning to weaken, as evidenced by the stroke he suffered during an interrogation session last night. Since he’s too weak for us to work on, I’m concerned he may either shut down or begin giving us false information in retaliation for refusing to kill him. To put it bluntly, sir, keeping him alive simply no longer makes any sense.”
    “Matters of life and death should be put bluntly, James, but too