Page 155 of The Lazarus Protocol

“We go way back.” Ice set off, toward the grassy area ahead of them.

Noah walked beside Dr. Peraya. “Are you well?”

She had faint red marks on her neck and didn’t seem the same self-assured woman he’d met with prior to this.

“Things have been stressful with the shift in my role here.” She smiled politely as they followed Ice down the path. “I’m the division chief now, on an interim basis.”

“The FBI hasn’t found Kraus?”

She shook her head. “He simply…disappeared.”

“Has the Bureau checked Earthnet facilities, or any buildings occupied by Starwise Holdings?” He was only mostly joking.

“There’s no proof he was working with Earthnet. Those accusations have so far been unsubstantiated. And what would finding evidence prove now? He’s gone.”

That sounded definitive. Too bad she was right, Vesper had offered Adam and Steph zero proof of her belief that Kraus had been working with Earthnet. “No hope that he’ll be found?”

She cleared her throat. “I highly doubt he’s alive.”

They walked to the middle of a grassy area, with pathways that intersected. At the far end, there seemed to be a stream running through the property. He spotted arms breaking the water surface and realized a group of people were swimming.

The place seemed more like a university campus, or a company who focused on the lifestyles of their employees, than the CIA.

Ice turned to face them.

Noah figured they weren’t here to enjoy the grounds of this facility and stare at each other without speaking. “You requested to see both of us.”

Peraya nodded. “I’m sure you can appreciate there is a lot on my desk, much of it unfinished business left by my predecessor. It seemed he dropped the ball on many occasions in favor of pet projects, and we’ve discovered he was utilizing funding for his own ends.”

“Embezzling?” Noah said. If Kraus had been, they should look into everyone who’d been in attendance at that party Noah had crashed at his house.

“In a fashion,” she said.

“That’s why he didn’t want to pay us.” And while Kraus had somewhat kept up his end of the bargain providing information about Noah’s parents, it wasn’t as if the agreement had held.

Ice said nothing, but he listened intently.

“Something that will be rectified, I can assure you.” Peraya sighed. “I know it was your team who alerted us to the worm in our system. After a complete reboot, we’ve deleted our entire network and restored backups that were saved shortly prior to the infiltration. We lost some files, but not so many it will set us back.”

“But you were hacked.” Ice shifted his weight, crossing his arms.

“Our system was penetrated by an unknown entity, yes.”

“How can you be sure it’s gone?” Noah figured they’d taken care of it, but given Polaris wasn’t like anything Marina had dealt with, he wondered if he could garner some tips to pass to her.

Peraya frowned. “My people assure me there’s no possible way the worm remains.”

Noah wanted to argue, but he didn’t know what Marina did. She’d destroyed any of her devices that were infiltrated and burned the servers. According to her, that was the only way to ensure the program Polaris didn’t remain where she was unable to detect it. She was currently in the process of setting up a whole new server with better safeguards and redesigning their comms system to be undetectable.

“Which brings me to the origin.” Peraya lifted her pointy chin. “And our next move.”

“Before or after Division Zero goes after every Earthnet facility?”

“That all depends on whether you wish to keep the contract, one that I’ll have you sign. Just so we’re all on the same page.” She glanced between them. “We’re operating above board now. That means the CIA hands down assignments, and I receive regular reports on your progress.”

“And if we take jobs that have nothing to do with the CIA?” Ice asked.

“You either work for the CIA, or you don’t.”