Jessie pulled her Corvette into the parking lot at UDub and she and Kyle got out. As they walked toward the science building which had the Latnok offices in the basement, Jessi reached over and took Kyle's hand. Kyle gave her hand an affectionate squeeze in return. They held hands as they walked.

Even though Jessi and I had still not gone on our first date yet, we were sharing more signs of affection. While we had hugged each other, comforted each other and even kissed each other, it had always been a reaction to some event, something that had overcome my hesitation. I had hesitated at first from my feelings for Amanda and later from my desire to obey Nicole's request that we not pursue a romantic relationship. Jessi was obviously happy with the new arrangement and it felt good to me as well. But I still called Amanda every day and I knew she was coming home at Christmas. Amanda had told me that I wasn't supposed to be waiting for her, so I was not cheating on her, but it felt like I was. My feelings were becoming very confused.

They walked down the stairs hand in hand, then Jessi reluctantly let go as Kyle went to talk to a student he had promised help and Jessi went to her workstation to start up her computer. She had just started searching for information when Brian Taylor appeared at her workstation.

Brian said, "I've been waiting for you and Kyle to get here. When you reach a good place to take a break, I'd like us to go for a walk and get some coffee."

"Is there a problem?" Jessi asked, frowning.

"I just have some thoughts I'd like to discuss with you," Brian assured her. "It might be more comfortable talking outside than sitting in my office. I like to get out of the office and get some fresh air in the afternoon, anyway."

"I was just getting started, "Jessi shrugged. "I can stop now, if Kyle is available."

Kyle noticed them talking and came to join the conversation, still protective of Jessi. He was easily persuaded to go out. As they left the building Brian explained, "I don't really want to talk about your Latnok plans or anything we want to keep private in that office."

"Do you think the office is bugged?" Kyle asked, surprised.

"I'm just cautious," Brian shrugged. "I spent a lot of time working with Tom Foss, he teaches you to be paranoid. And it really is nice to get out in the afternoon. It's a nice day."

They got coffee and found a table outside. Brian said, "I came back because Grace Kingsley convinced me that Jessi was in danger. Apparently you stirred up some trouble at the last Latnok board meeting. What actually happened?"

Kyle explained, "When we got the financial data for the meeting we analyzed it and then did some searching of public records. We became concerned with the degree to which Latnok is involved in military research. We also think that we found signs of investments in autonomous weapons systems, biological warfare, and involvement with mercenaries and insurgencies."

Jessi added, "We want to encourage Latnok to follow Adam and Sarah's original goals. We don't think that's what they would want.

"I was there when they were planning Latnok," Brian told them. "And I can assure you that that type of thing was not what Adam had in mind. Unfortunately there was soon too much money and power involved and some of the members became more interested in that. He lost control of a number of areas, most importantly, the Zzyzx project." He paused a moment, then continued, "He subsequently became discouraged and withdrawn. There were many on the board who still wanted him to lead them, to recapture the spirit that inspired them all in the beginning, but he retreated to work on projects by himself."

"We don't want to retreat, we want to fight back," Jessi said with determination.

"I'm not trying to stop you from doing that," Brian assured her. "Latnok had a lot of promise. It still does good work. It could do much more. I think that many of the board members would encourage you as well." He sighed, and continued, "So, you found out things you didn't like. What did you do with this information?"

Kyle said, "I mentioned it during the board meeting. We had some discussion on the advisability of being involved in military research. After that, Ben Crossgate asked us to document our findings for discussion at the next meeting."

"And as a result, Grace brought me here and told me that the two of you were digging into Latnok finances, and that there were people who had things to hide who thought you might find them," Brian nodded and gestured with an open hand. "Obviously you've touched a nerve. You must have found something serious."

"We've found some more details," Kyle said. "We're not ready to send them to Ben Crossgate, yet."

"You need to slow down, Kyle," Brian warned him. "What you are doing is dangerous. These are powerful people who can be quite ruthless. If Grace is telling the truth, Jessi is at risk, maybe both of you."

"We can't let them intimidate us into stopping," Jessi insisted.

Brian said, "You can't simply dump this information onto the table at the board meeting and expect everything to go well. The board members of Latnok are all very smart people, but they aren't in Adam's league and the two of you are well beyond him. They cannot make the connections you can. You need to build your case clearly and completely and then present it. Until then it would be better to give the impression that you haven't found anything concrete. Don't make them feel any more threatened than they already do."

Kyle nodded, "That would make them more likely to become violent. We can do that."

"The other thing you should do," Brian advised, "is to make contact with individual members of the board. It's important to get to know them and have them get to know you. This isn't just a battle of technical facts, it's also political and that means having people you know that you can count on. There is no substitute for personal contact. I can give you some guidance to the board members, but I'm not certain that my judgments are all correct. Someone shot Adam."

Kyle thought for a moment, "At the reception before the Latnok meeting, Ryan Milland and Allana Sellars both said they would like to meet with us. They seemed friendly. Robert Lukeson didn't seem very friendly. We didn't like him."

"I think Lukeson is probably one of the ones in Grace's circle," Brian agreed. "Ryan and Allana have always struck me as trying to remain true to Adam's vision. It would probably be a good idea to meet with each of them and get to know them. You can make your own judgments. Be careful what you say, though, I'm not sure who can really be trusted."

"Allana said 'Be very careful, trust no one'," Jessi said.

"That's good advice," Brian agreed.

"We are also looking into Madacorp for Mike Kasperson," Kyle said. "He asked us to look over all their activities to make sure that there are no other projects that the board is unaware of."

"That was a very good idea," Brian nodded raising his eyebrows. "I was never really sure of Mike but when things got bad at Madacorp and I called him, he stepped in to fix things immediately. He seemed surprised and quite upset. I don't think he knew what was going on. I'm not sure though."

"We think he was telling us the truth," Kyle said. "So far it looks like Madacorp has been cleaned up, but we are not finished with our studies. Once we are done with that, we plan to get the information ready for Ben Crossgate."

Brian thought a moment, "I used to play chess. A common chess strategy is to try to seize control of the center of the board immediately. While that is a powerful opening, it exposes your pieces to attack. I generally liked an approach that didn't immediately challenge the center. I often played the 'King's Indian attack' with white.

Kyle quoted, "A chess opening system for white, most notably used by Bobby Fisher. It involves a king side fianchetto and castling. It provides a strong defense and prepares lines of attack on the center for an active midgame."

Brian smiled, "That's what I'm suggesting. Don't charge into the center of the board. Build up you allies, prepare your lines of attack. Wait until you can move with overwhelming force."

Kyle smiled, considering the analogy, "The King's Indian attack."

"Exactly," Brian smiled. "Get to know Ryan and Allana. Don't let anyone know what you've found until you are ready to strike. Take your time. When you act, act decisively."

Take your time. This was exactly what Grace wanted to do when she brought Brian in. She wanted to slow us down, maybe stop us. But Brian's ideas seemed wise. He had been dealing with these people on Adam's behalf. Adam had said that Brian had been acting in his own interest for years. Adam didn't trust him, could we? I decided that I would listen to him and consider his advice but trust my own judgment.