usan reached for Commander Strathmore's hand as he helpedher up the ladder onto the Crypto floor. The image of PhilChartrukian lying broken on the generators was burned into hermind. The thought of Hale hiding in the bowels of Crypto had lefther dizzy. The truth was inescapable—Hale had pushedChartrukian.

Susan stumbled past the shadow of TRANSLTR back towardCrypto's main exit—the door she'd come through hoursearlier. Her frantic punching on the unlit keypad did nothing tomove the huge portal. She was trapped; Crypto was a prison. Thedome sat like a satellite, 109 yards away from the main NSAstructure, accessible only through the main portal. Since Cryptomade its own power, the switchboard probably didn't even knowthey were in trouble.

"The main power's out," Strathmore said, arrivingbehind her. "We're on aux."

The backup power supply in Crypto was designed so that TRANSLTRand its cooling systems took precedence over all other systems,including lights and doorways. That way an untimely power outagewould not interrupt TRANSLTR during an important run. It also meantTRANSLTR would never run without its freon cooling system; in anuncooled enclosure, the heat generated by three million processorswould rise to treacherous levels—perhaps even igniting thesilicon chips and resulting in a fiery meltdown. It was an image noone dared consider.

Susan fought to get her bearings. Her thoughts were consumed bythe single image of the Sys-Sec on the generators. She stabbed atthe keypad again. Still no response. "Abort the run!" shedemanded. Telling TRANSLTR to stop searching for the DigitalFortress pass-key would shut down its circuits and free up enoughbackup power to get the doors working again.

"Easy, Susan," Strathmore said, putting a steadyinghand on her shoulder.

The commander's reassuring touch lifted Susan from herdaze. She suddenly remembered why she had been going to get him.She wheeled, "Commander! Greg Hale is North Dakota!"

There was a seemingly endless beat of silence in the dark.Finally Strathmore replied. His voice sounded more confused thanshocked. "What are you talking about?"

"Hale…" Susan whispered. "He's NorthDakota."

There was more silence as Strathmore pondered Susan'swords. "The tracer?" He seemed confused. "Itfingered Hale?"

"The tracer isn't back yet. Hale aborted it!"

Susan went on to explain how Hale had stopped her tracer and howshe'd found E-mail from Tankado in Hale's account.Another long moment of silence followed. Strathmore shook his headin disbelief.

"There's no way Greg Hale is Tankado'sinsurance! It's absurd! Tankado would never trustHale."

"Commander," she said, "Hale sank us oncebefore—Skipjack. Tankado trusted him."

Strathmore could not seem to find words.

"Abort TRANSLTR," Susan begged him. "We'vegot North Dakota. Call building security. Let's get out ofhere."

Strathmore held up his hand requesting a moment to think.

Susan looked nervously in the direction of the trapdoor. Theopening was just out of sight behind TRANSLTR, but the reddish glowspilled out over the black tile like fire on ice. Come on, callSecurity, Commander! Abort TRANSLTR! Get us out of here!

Suddenly Strathmore sprang to action. "Follow me," hesaid. He strode toward the trapdoor.

"Commander! Hale is dangerous! He—"

But Strathmore disappeared into the dark. Susan hurried tofollow his silhouette. The commander circled around TRANSLTR andarrived over the opening in the floor. He peered into the swirling,steaming pit. Silently he looked around the darkened Crypto floor.Then he bent down and heaved the heavy trapdoor. It swung in a lowarc. When he let go, it slammed shut with a deadening thud. Cryptowas once again a silent, blackened cave. It appeared North Dakotawas trapped.

Strathmore knelt down. He turned the heavy butterfly lock. Itspun into place. The sublevels were sealed.

Neither he nor Susan heard the faint steps in the direction ofNode 3.