Matheson's voice came out of the comm. "You have a call from Bart."

"I just talked to him," Thomas grumbled.

"Not the senator." Matheson had an urgent tone. "Just someone who calls himself 'Bart.' It came over

your private channel."

Thomas lifted his head. He gave that private address to very few people. He knew another Bart all right, but he couldn't imagine that one calling this office. Puzzled, he switched off the holos of Alpha's room.

"Run the data stream through here," Thomas said.

After a pause, Matheson said, "Incoming."

A holo about eight inches tall appeared on the desk, a man of about thirty, with sandy hair and blue eyes.

His innocuous appearance didn't fool Thomas.

"h.e.l.lo, Bart," Thomas said.

"Good to see you, General Wharington," Bart said.

"Am I speaking to the Baltimore Arms Resources Theater?" Thomas asked. "Or are you a conglomerate

today?"

"My core is the Baltimore code," Bart said. "However, at the moment I'm also incorporating portions of the other six EIs on Sunrise Alley."

So he was talking to the whole deal. It took a lot to impress Thomas, but the Alley had managed. The

self-aware intelligence originated in codes written by humans, but it had evolved on its own for ten years, hidden and secret. Bart and six other rogue EIs had combined to create an ent.i.ty controlled by no human facility. They lived within the meshes on their own terms. Thomas had only known of their existence for a few weeks, and until today, they had shown no inclination to communicate directly with him.

"Who are the other EIs?" Thomas asked. "Defense programs, like you?"

"Some. Others were dedicated to research and development." Bart's smile could have been disarming if Thomas hadn't known what he represented. Yet for all that the Alley disquieted Thomas, they also fascinated him. Although his doctoral work had dealt with more rudimentary AIs, he kept current with the expansion of the field. It was one reason he ended up as Director of the Machine Intelligence

Division. He hadn't expected Bart to contact him, though. Until now, Sunrise Alley had communicated only through Sam Bryton.

"What can I do for you?" Thomas asked.

Bart's face projected concern. "I read about the burglary at your house. Are you all right?"

Thomas wasn't certain whether to be flattered or alarmed by his interest. "I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"You singular? Or all of you?"

"Right now, 'me' refers to all of us. When we absorbed the news about you, we were operating as seven

different ent.i.ties."

"Incredible," Thomas murmured.

"Thank you." Bart projected sincerity. It was an impressive simulation, but it didn't seem real. Even if Thomas hadn't known Bart wasn't human, he would have guessed. He had no doubt Bart was sentient- but not human.

"I have another matter I wish to discuss," Bart said.

"Yes?" Thomas asked.

The holo was no longer smiling. "It has to do with attempts of the National Information Agency to

investigate, manipulate, and constrain my existence and that of the AIs, robots, and formas under our protection."

So they cut to the chase. "Monitoring the mesh is our job."

"We both know you're doing more than monitoring us."

Thomas had seen this confrontation coming as soon as he learned about Sunrise Alley. He had expected them to contact Sam with their protests, since she would have more sympathy for their objectives. That they felt compelled to take on the Director of the Machine Intelligence Division disquieted him. They had to know the NIA would monitor them. They were a tremendous threat to international security, free as they were in the world meshes. They had spent ten years infiltrating networks, evolving, and studying human civilization. Tracing their processes was almost impossible, given that they were part of the mesh in a way no human could truly experience. Thomas had a team of specialists working around the clock just trying to follow the outermost levels of their activity.

He had to be careful, though. The Pentagon wanted good relations with the Alley. So far, Bart showed no inclination to act against them. His claimed reason for revealing himself was simple: the Alley found Charon's work abhorrent and wished to prevent its spread. Thomas hadn't yet decided if he believed them.

"I can a.s.sure you our intent isn't hostile," Thomas said.

Bart looked unimpressed. "Only as long as you don't see us as a threat."

That worked two ways. "We have to be prepared. That's true with all of our allies." He waited a

heartbeat. "And we do want you for an ally.""It is difficult to conduct talks," Bart said, "while you all are trying to control and abduct our citizens."It was a revealing word choice. Abduct rather than copy. "You said citizens. Do you consider yourselves a sovereign nation?"

"We have considered broaching this in the talks," Bart said. "If we were to formalize such a designation, it would engage protocols that might facilitate our interactions, human and EI. Our 'nation' would consist of meshes, however, rather than a geographical location." He shook his head in a gesture that almost looked human. Almost. In its slight differences, it became more alien than if he hadn't tried at all. "But

calling us a nation could require us to adopt human concepts of culture and politics that might ultimately fail, given our differences."

Thomas wished he didn't feel so depleted from his injury. He needed to think well right now; a misstep

on his part could help set the Alley against humanity. He didn't want to imagine what an antagonistic

conglomeration of defense and science EIs loose in the world mesh could inflict on human civilization.

"We're treading new ground here," Thomas said. "Perhaps we need to widen the definition of 'nation.' "

Although Bart's idea struck him as sensible, it was a question better dealt with by the diplomats and politicians.

"Perhaps," Bart said. "However, attempts by the NIA to spy on, invade, or otherwise undermine a

country hardly strikes me as an approach likely to win trust during such negotiations."

Bart couldn't be that naive; he had to know governments monitored even their allies. Had Bart been human, Thomas would have a.s.sumed he wanted to see how far he could push the interests of his side.

As an EI, his responses weren't necessarily predictable according to human motivations and behavior.

This call, however, implied the Alley had limits. If they could have evaded the NIA investigations, Thomas had no doubt they would have done so without telling him.

The Pentagon wanted the incredible power of the Alley working with them throughout the world, but they also wanted to protect themselves against that same power. The Alley wanted autonomy and privacy. Both sides had a lot to lose and a lot to gain. That the Alley had chosen to contact humanity laid the groundwork for an alliance, but Thomas knew he wasn't the one who should be undertaking these talks. He had neither the diplomatic skills nor the authority to define Sunrise Alley as a sovereign nation.

"I'll take your concerns to General Chang," Thomas said. They would have to present it to the President,

but first they had to know what, exactly, they were to present.

"That is reasonable," Bart said. "We will await a response. However, until certain activities stop, I'm afraid we cannot engage in talks with any representative of your government."

Well, h.e.l.l. "What activities?" Thomas asked.

Bart scowled. "Quit trying to copy me. It's the same as kidnapping."

Copying him was, in fact, exactly what they were trying to do. But Thomas just said, "We engage only

in monitoring activities."

"General, look, we both know what the NIA is doing. You can't copy me. My program is spread out over

a billion locations. You would have to be a mesh code to find them all." For the first time, his face showed anger. "But if you continue to poke at me, I will withdraw from the talks."

Thomas knew he couldn't promise to stop the investigation and then not do it; the EI would know if he

lied. "How about this? I'll suspend monitoring for two days or until we meet with General Chang, whichever comes first."

"How do I know you won't just stall for two days?"

"You have my word."

Thomas thought Bart would ask why they should trust his word. Instead, the EI stood for a few moments without responding. His face blurred, making Thomas wonder if he and the other EIs were calculating probabilities and scenarios.

Bart snapped back into focus. "Very well. We will meet with your General Chang." Then he blinked off.

"Wait." Thomas leaned forward. "How will I contact you?"

He was speaking to a blank holoscreen.

"Well, h.e.l.l," he muttered. He switched to Matheson's channel. "C.J., I'm sending you a copy of my call