"I told you, his visit was no social call. He came to kill me, and then he planned to die."

Matt shrugs. "Believe what you want. The fact you're alive proves my point. He said good-bye to me, but it didn't sound final. I think he planned to see me again. At least once more. I know that he wanted to say good-bye to Umara before he died."

"Did he get to see her?"

"I don't think so."

"You must miss her a great deal."

"I miss both of them." He pauses. "Being with Teri has helped."

"You got angry at me at the trials and the Olympics because you knew I gave her vampire blood."

"Of course. My father warned me that you were reckless, but I had no idea. Your blood was too strong for her. It caused her to push herself too hard. It also thrust her into the limelight, when I was trying to maintain a low profile. Why did you do it?"

"She wanted to win. It meant so much to her."

"You didn't use her to flush the Telar out of hiding?"

"I would never have used Teri that way."

Matt nods. He appears to believe me. He's only a thousand years old. He's a youngster compared to me. He hasn't developed my cynicism.

I'm reluctant to ask my next question.

"How did Teri react to seeing what I'd done to Numbria?"

"I convinced her that you hadn't done anything to her. That you must have been attacked with the other woman and beaten up. Only not as badly."

"That's pretty weak. She believed it?"

"I made her believe it. You know what I mean."

"I do." He used psychic powers on her. "I'm sorry I put you in that situation."

"It wasn't your fault. Seymour told me how you were attacked by the Array."

"How long have you known about it?"

"My father became aware of the IIC not long before he went to see you. His knowledge of them was sketchy, but I know he saw them as dangerous. One of the last things he said to me, when we were talking about the IIC was, 'The Hydra returns.'"

"But Krishna said the Hydra was connected to the Telar."

"I'm quoting Yaksha word for word."

"That's the most interesting thing you've said all night."

"I'm glad I'm not a boring spy."

"I'm not convinced you're a spy."

"You're not convinced I'm a hero, either."

"Trust takes time. You turned my world upside down when you walked into that torture room tonight."

"Who were you expecting?"

"Godzilla. Kalika. I don't know."

"You really thought it might be your daughter?"

My throat feels tight. "I was just running through a mental list of who could be so powerful."

"You miss Kalika. Her loss caused you to seek out Teri."

"Now you sound like Paula."

"The seer? I would like to meet that woman, and her son."

"They're well hidden. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Paula has moved since my last visit. She wasn't overjoyed to see me."

"Did she give you guidance?"

"Nothing I wanted to hear."

"What's the kid like?"

"I don't know. He refused to see me."

Matt is surprised. "Why?"

"I guess I'm unworthy. But he saw Seymour."

"I figured it was John who told you to go to Arosa."

"I was chasing down a lead. But I thought there was a chance I'd end up confronting the Telar."

"That really worked out well."

"The hell with you! If you had just told me who you were, you could have saved me a lot of misery."

"You would never have gotten the book if you hadn't gone to Arosa."

"Yeah. But now the Telar have a copy. I can't imagine that's what your father wanted."

"It's possible they already had a copy. That they were playing you. Hoping you would give them some insight into what my father meant with certain passages."

I shake my head, trying to clear my mind. My skull continues to ache from the Pulse. Yet I feel close to a major breakthrough. It's not like I can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together, but at least I know which ones belong on the board. I try bouncing a few ideas off Matt.

"Do you think the Hydra and the Array are related?" I ask.

"I don't know. The Telar sure as hell don't have their own Array. And they seem helpless against what the IIC is able to throw at them."

"You heard what Brutran did to Haru's special ops?"

"Yeah. There are a few Telar who still speak to me. I heard most of them died. And the ones who lived went insane."

"Haru told me they turned into zombies."

Matt shook his head. "That's horrible."

"Let me suggest an idea you might not have considered. Krishna told Yaksha the Telar had forgotten much of what they once knew. Is it possible they had an Array in the past, but in the present they've lost the knowledge of how to construct one?"

"How could you forget something that important?"

"That's what I thought at first. But you know better than I do how old the Telar are. Like any group, they must have had their ups and downs. Do we even know for sure that any of the original Telar are still alive? What did your mother tell you?"

"She said the original Telar were all dead."

"Did they die of old age?"

"From upheavals, internal fighting, external wars. My mother is the oldest Telar alive."

"Haru is absolutely convinced she's dead?"

"He was. He'll change his mind now that he's seen me."

It takes me a moment to absorb what he's saying.

"I'm sorry, you really did risk everything to rescue me," I say.

"It wasn't your fault."

"You said it yourself, I was reckless. Rescuing me put your mother in danger again."

"You did what you had to do. I did the same."

There's pain in his voice that can't be faked.

I drop my last doubt. He's not a spy for the Telar.

"Can you find her? Talk to her?" I ask.

"There's a way. But I'm not ready to go down that road yet."

We fly another fifteen minutes in silence. Clouds pour off a nearby mountain range and the moon is blocked from the sky. The dark deepens, and it seems to comfort Matt. He continues to race from one valley to the next, seldom riding high in the sky.

I continue to study the helicopter's elaborate weapon system. Matt was wise to write me a program. The guns, cannon, and missiles all work together as an integrated whole. The system is more complex than just aiming and firing. I have to admire the men and women who train for years to master such controls.

We're halfway to Zurich, and the airport, when an alarm sounds.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Check your C-Scan. You'll see two jets closing in from the south."

"Are they Telar?"

"Pretty sure."

"They could be part of the Swiss Air Force."

"The alarm sounded because they've scanned us and are attempting to get a radar lock. They're about to fire on us. They're Telar."

"How much time do we have?"

"A minute. Maybe less." He pauses. "I didn't see them coming. They must have launched from a hidden airfield."

"Can we fire first?"

"They're behind us but closing fast. We'll come into range first. It's always easier to attack from behind."

"Maybe we should reverse course."

"No."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Trust me. I have my reasons."

"Will they try to hit us with heat-seeking Sidewinders?"

"That will be their first choice."

"You know what to do?"

"I hope so," Matt says.

His reason for not turning around and attacking is a small town up ahead. Our Apache is fast, but it's no match for a jet when it comes to pure speed. The helicopter's biggest advantage is it can stop and hover. I know what Matt's thinking. The jets that are chasing us will lock their heat-seeking missiles onto our hot engines. He's hoping to find an alternative heat source somewhere in the town that will confuse the weapons.

We both see the bonfire at the same time. It's at the center of town, at a junction of two large streets. I urge Matt to hurry toward it, but he heads for the trees on the mountain behind the town.

"Why?" I cry.

"I need them to commit to their attack plan before they see how we're going to respond."

A much louder alarm sounds. On my C-Scan I see . . .

"They've launched two missiles!" he shouts.