Only yards from TRANSLTR's hull, Phil Chartrukian stoodover a patch of white lettering on the Crypto floor.

CRYPTO SUBLEVELS

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

He knew he was definitely not authorized personnel. Heshot a quick glance up at Strathmore's office. The curtainswere still pulled. Chartrukian had seen Susan Fletcher go into thebathrooms, so he knew she wasn't a problem. The only otherquestion was Hale. He glanced toward Node 3, wondering if thecryptographer were watching.

"Fuck it," he grumbled.

Below his feet the outline of a recessed trapdoor was barelyvisible in the floor. Chartrukian palmed the key he'd justtaken from the Sys-Sec lab.

He knelt down, inserted the key in the floor, and turned. Thebolt beneath clicked. Then he unscrewed the large externalbutterfly latch and freed the door. Checking once again over hisshoulder, he squatted down and pulled. The panel was small, onlythree feet by three feet, but it was heavy. When it finally opened,the Sys-Sec stumbled back.

A blast of hot air hit him in the face. It carried with it thesharp bite of freon gas. Billows of steam swirled out of theopening, illuminated by the red utility lighting below. The distanthum of the generators became a rumble. Chartrukian stood up andpeered into the opening. It looked more like the gateway to hellthan a service entrance for a computer. A narrow ladder led to aplatform under the floor. Beyond that, there were stairs, but allhe could see was swirling red mist.

Greg Hale stood behind the one-way glass of Node 3. He watchedas Phil Chartrukian eased himself down the ladder toward thesublevels. From where Hale was standing, the Sys-Sec's headappeared to have been severed from his body and left out on theCrypto floor. Then, slowly, it sank into the swirling mist.

"Gutsy move," Hale muttered. He knew where Chartrukianwas headed. An emergency manual abort of TRANSLTR was a logicalaction if he thought the computer had a virus. Unfortunately, itwas also a sure way to have Crypto crawling with Sys-Secs in aboutten minutes. Emergency actions raised alert flags at the mainswitchboard. A Sys-Sec investigation of Crypto was something Halecould not afford. Hale left Node 3 and headed for the trapdoor.Chartrukian had to be stopped.