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is Hightower a bad thing? We might be able to negotiate with a former businessman.”
    Baj sighed, and from where I sat, it looked like he had to force himself to go on.
    “Warren is a genius. He was also a major player in the US involvement in the Middle East for a number of years. After that, he was recruited to lead Section 41, an extraordinarily secret intersection of DARPA and the NSA. Shortly after leaving that position, he started his own company, the one I worked for as a lead programmer.”
    “Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is starting to look bad for us,” Shawn said, cracking his knuckles in irritation.
    Bajali snorted. “Our business was computer modeling of airborne, weaponized particulates. We also did similar things for predicting the impact of terrorist attacks with a variety of scenarios, weapons, and locations. One particular branch of the company, my group, was also tasked with design, manufacture, and programming of nanomachine systems,” he said before he paused, breathed deeply, and began again. “I strongly suspect that Hightower has access to everything we ever created. He inferred as much and offered to let us live if I would continue my work for him.”
    I felt the color drain from my face. Shawn didn’t look much better. Things had taken a turn that we were absolutely unprepared to deal with.

Chapter 5
     
    Baj told us he saw the man walking down the street before he even got close enough to knock on the front door. Apparently Warren Hightower has a swagger that is hard to miss once you’ve seen it. Then again, any well-dressed stranger is worth noting if you happen to be looking out your window at just the right time.
    After getting his breathing under control, he called down to Jayashri and quickly detailed his plan to properly greet the Devil that was about to knock on the front door. She agreed, started the water boiling for tea, and adjusted her sari. For himself, Baj combed his hair, splashed some water on his face, and composed himself a tiny bit more.
    There was a knock on the door, and he heard his wife attend to greeting their guest.
    “Mister Hightower. Bajali has been expecting you for some time. Do come in,” she said with a delightful lilt in her voice. “May I serve you tea?”
    He heard them moving around the living room and how she gently suggested where their guest should sit. It was the chair with the clearest line of sight from the kitchen, and all Baj could think was that he had married an utterly irreplaceable woman.
    “Mrs. Sharma, I would very much enjoy tea. Thank you for your hospitality.”
    “My pleasure. Please, sit. This is a very comfortable chair for our guests who have a more Western sense of how a seat should be. Bajali will be with you shortly. I am sure you know how difficult it is to pull him away from a project.”
    Hightower laughed gently. Bajali was well known for how deeply he could sink into any project that caught his attention, and he remembered the ribbing he had received from everyone.
    “Yes, Bajali could ignore almost anything in favor of his work,” the guest said, “except for you. Now that I’ve met you, I can understand why.”
    “You are too kind,” she replied, “I will bring you tea. Do you take sugar and cream?”
    “Yes. Thank you again.”
    Jayashri floated off into the kitchen, leaving Hightower alone in the living room, relaxing in an astoundingly comfortable easy chair. Bajali called down to his wife in the kitchen, speaking in Hindi. Then he walked downstairs and crossed into the room.
    Hightower started to stand.
    “No, Mister Hightower, there’s no need to be so formal. Be at ease.” Bajali sat in the chair opposite him, separated by a roughly hewn wood coffee table.
    ‘Bajali, I can’t tell you how nice it is to be greeted with something other than an armed response,” he smiled that winning smile, made unfortunate only by how far his gums had receded, “and that dovetails so neatly into what I came to