“Not bad for the first run,” said Psy–4, clicking off his stopwatch. “Four-fifty-seven.” “But?” asked Killaine. “But . . . I want it down to a solid three minutes from the time we come through the doors.” “Three minutes?” exclaimed Radiant. “That doesn’t leave a lot of time for any variables.” “That’s because I’m not allotting any time for variables. Radiant and I will be the first ones to reach the target area. If Stoner’s calculations are correct, the Catherine Wheel program will have already been running for at least two minutes—we’re sending it through Roy to Preston’s system disguised as a virus warning. Roy will receive it just as the final comparison stage of the D and D is beginning. That means if we’re all in place within three minutes, Preston’s system will just be starting to get confused by the CW program when we enter the mainframe area. It’ll continue to run for another sixty seconds before it freezes. “That’s when we disconnect Roy and make the transfer.
