The next morning on walking into her lab, Lidda immediately noticed items on her desk had been disturbed. She suspected her computer had been tampered with as well. After inserting a peripheral to check the key stroke record on her system, she confirmed someone had tried unsuccessfully to unlock her computer. The time and date stamp indicated 7:48 AM. It was 8:05 now. Lidda avoided touching her console to preserve any fingerprints.

Next, she checked for the counterfeit board which she had placed in a glass domed display inside a locked cabinet. No subterfuge there. The lock was broken, and the glass shattered. It was gone. The Professor should have had a key for all her locks. Of course, he might want it to look like a break in.

Lidda immediately called security and reported the theft. In response, a piercing alarm sounded throughout the building and heavy doors began sliding into place for the required lockdown. She called Professor Gliedan's office, but didn't get an answer. Lidda wasn't surprised. He had probably concocted an alibi and left the complex. They could get fingerprints, but since he had full access to the lab, a positive print wouldn't be incriminating. She sat down and let security do their job.

The officers immediately started dusting for prints and collecting evidence but had not yet interviewed anyone. She overheard them mention that a special police scanner was being brought in to inspect everyone before they would be allowed to leave the area in to prevent the mother board from being smuggled out. She had not considered the possibility of special equipment and was concerned that if she tried to pass through a police scanner, the chip in her head would be detected. She was relieved to see Servo Conner coming her direction. Perhaps he could help her to find a way to slip past their security.

"Over here Conner." Lidda called out.

"Miss Lidda. Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I need to speak with the detective in charge. Do you think you could arrange that?"

"I'll do my best. What shall I say?"

"Tell tell him I have some information for his ears only and we need a little privacy," Lidda said hoping Conner could pull off a little diplomacy.

"Don't worry Miss Lidda. I'll take care of things." Conner assured her. "I will tell him you are the chief programmer in this highly classified project. You work directly under Professor Gliedan and they must speak with you immediately."

Conner worked his way through the throng of security officers and found the one in charge. Much to her relief the request was granted. The detective glanced her way, nodded at Conner and headed her way.

"Miss Kandell? Detective Baylock here. "I understand it was your lab which was broken into?"

"That's correct," Lidda replied. "The program I've been working on with Professor Gliedan is highly classified."

"Meaning the lab is restricted to authorized personnel only?" Baylock asked.

"Yes. My robotic assistant, Conner, whom you just met, along with Halston Matthews in engineering are the only ones allowed in the lab other than Professor Gliedan."

"What about the cleaning crew?"

"Conner takes care of all the housekeeping chores," Lidda replied. "I tried to reach the professor just now, but he didn't answer. Due to the sensitive nature of our research, I want to discuss the details with you alone."

"This way," Baylock said and led her away from the crime scene.

Thankfully, the police scanners had not yet arrived. Lidda hoped since she wrote the program, they would hardly think she would have a need to steal it. She gave the detective a full account of what she found that morning including the peripheral device she had used. "I discovered someone tried to tamper with my computer. I don't know what damage might have been done in the process, but I have the time stamp right here."

After obtaining her statement the detective marked the peripheral with the time stamp as evidence. She was released to return to her suite and asked to remain available for questioning. Widhbo noticed her agitation the second she entered.

"Sorry you had to go through this, Lidda."

She started to tell him everything but felt him make a sweep of her short term memory extracting the morning events.

"That's hard to get used to Widhbo." Lidda was getting fed up with the constant invasion of her privacy.

"Sorry, much more efficient."

"I'm sure."

"That was good thinking on your part, avoiding the scanner," Widhbo said. "It would have found the chip in your head."

"I was getting a little scared until Conner helped me out. What about the program, is it secure?" Lidda had been too busy getting away to let the full impact of what happened hit her. Had the break-in occurred one day earlier they could have lost the entire program. It was a close call.

"We have the mother board, and it is safe. Hal will find a way to get it past the scanners. But we have bigger problems that that."

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Gliedan's dead."

"What?" Lidda broke out in a cold sweat. "You're certain?

"Yes, I found out while monitoring the security system. The police are swarming the building right now."

"No! How did he die?"

"Not sure, but he was found in his office soon after you reported the break in," Widhbo replied. "Preliminary reports suggest possible poisoning."

Stunned by Gliedan's death, Lidda realized the implications of what had happened. Someone was willing to kill for the Kandell Project. The would-be thief knew the real program was missing and would be coming back to find it; if not now, then as soon as the police had finished with the crime scene. She and Hal would be in the crosshairs of the killer.

Widhbo shared another piece of information.

"A visitor came to see Gliedan this morning, twice. Most unusual. He was here well before business hours around 5 AM and then returned around 7:40. He probably discovered the chip was defective and came back hoping to steal the program from your computer."

"He would take revenge on Gliedan for trying to cheat him," Lidda said.

"Except based on a body temperature, the time of death looks to be closer to 6 AM. Gliedan was poisoned on the front end of the deal," Widhbo said.

"So, whoever did this had already poisoned Gliedan. It couldn't have been Gliedan who tampered with my computer if he was dead by 6 AM and the time stamp showed 7:48 AM."

"Yes. Gliedan appears to have donned a costume to stage a break in, recording himself breaking the locks and smashing the glass. He inserted a frozen loop in the security system monitoring the hallways to cover his own actions coming and going from his apartment. He must have planned to revert to live monitoring later this morning, but things didn't work out as planned. When security arrived, they found Gliedan’s body in his office and the frozen loop still playing. I found the fake crime video hidden in Gliedan's personal data files.

Lidda nodded. She could see Gliedan doing that. He would have pulled it off if not for the double-cross from his client. "The thief returned to search for the real program just before 8 AM, couldn't unlock my computer, ran out of time and had to leave. It makes sense."

"Depending on what Gliedan revealed, the killer also may know who wrote the program. We are done here," Widhbo said. "I just informed Reddge and he is pulling you out."

Lidda felt relieved until she remembered Detective Baylock was bound to have some more questions for her. "Well, it doesn't sound like I will be going anywhere soon with the police locking things down. This isn't just a theft anymore, Widhbo. I won't be allowed to leave."

"We have a rendezvous planned later tonight around 10 o'clock on the roof. Reddge is sending a stealth hover craft."

"Won't it look suspicious if I pack my things?"

"Of course, no packing in case the police search the apartment."

"Is Hal coming with us?" Lidda asked. Things were happening far too fast.

"He will have to get out another way. It isn't safe to move around right now, you don't want to be seen together. Hal can't risk being scanned either and his apartment is in another building."

To her surprise, no officers came to her apartment to search or question her. Lidda wondered if Conner had anything to do with it. She spent a miserable day worrying and had little appetite for dinner. She desperately wished she could have seen Hal, but knew it was better if he stayed out of sight. Hal's chip could set off the police scanners the same as hers. Lidda wondered how she could escape notice leaving her apartment since she still had the tracking chip in her left arm.

The time finally arrived for Widhbo and her to go. She had been too busy with her work to visit the roof top garden area before and was sorry her first visit would be her last. It was a beautiful soft night with a thick fog reflecting the city lights. She loved the fragrance of rich soil and growing things.

"What if someone wants to know what I'm doing up here?"

"Just tell them you are getting some fresh air. It's been a rough day." Widhbo replied.

"Wait, why didn't the hall scanners go off when you left the apartment?" Lidda asked.

"There's been so many cops in this building carrying weapons and scanning equipment they had to turn the sensitivity down or the alarms would never stop. Ironic, isn't it? Now I can slip around security."

She felt more than heard an approaching aircraft. Through the fog emerged a dark shape, slowly coming into focus beyond the roof. Yes, Reddge was coming for her. She was relieved, then ecstatic. The hovercraft seemed far away, but as it grew closer, and she could make out more details, she could see it was about to land.

It was a small craft, not more than half her size and couldn't hold a person. "Widhbo, it's too small! I can't fit in that thing! It's no bigger than a standard drone." A wave of nausea swept over her as she realized she had been betrayed once again.

"Sorry Lidda, this is the best we could do."

There was a harsh sweeping sensation in her head, far more intense than anything she had ever experienced with Widhbo before.

"What are you doing? Stop it! Widhbo, please!"

Widhbo ignored her protests. Lidda felt her mind being swept along as if in a current, then the sound of a thousand doors slamming one after another from all the dark recesses of her brain leaving her drained of thought. She was barely able to stand and about to lose consciousness when she saw a small port open on the side of the craft. Widhbo flew past her to enter the dark chamber. The port closed and her vision dimmed to a small circle. Her last image was that of the hover craft speeding off into the night sky before total blackness enveloped her. She felt her body collapse to the roof in a limp heap.