Scorpio had come to the EnGene labs as Herman Doerr, a rootless Vietnam veteran, fond of weapons and outdoor life. Employed as a guard, he moved into a rundown farmhouse just outside the city limits, far from any neighbors. Developing contacts, he became a frequent host for the weekend beer and poker parties of the plant security force. His target was Arny Carboni, chief of the computer staff and likely to have good access to research secrets. Arny proved difficult. He didn’t play poker. He didn’t drink beer. He displayed interest in little besides his computers. When Scorpio got to him, it was through another guard, whom he knew as Sam Holliday. Holliday was a mild-mannered young man with pale blue eyes and straw-colored hair. Playing amateurish poker, always astonished at his own bad luck, he commonly lost enough to keep himself welcome at the parties. Better with computers than he was with cards, he shared hacker lore with Carboni and struck up an apparent friendship.
