Nick sent the CIA the lists they had asked for. First was the secret agents different countries had in America, and where they had infiltrated. It was a really long list; Nick was surprised by how big it was. But then, he didn't really get the whole thing with "assets," so maybe they weren't all spies. The list of American spies that had been found out was much shorter, but still considerable. He made sure to have Petra include the source materials the way they had asked.

"Thank you very much for these, Nick," the agent said. "Were they difficult to find?"

"Not really. I just put the search query into the ship's computer," he fibbed slightly.

"Well, if you're up for it, we also have a list of very bad people we'd like to find."

Nick frowned. "How are you defining 'bad', here?"

The man smiled. "Don't worry, we specifically chose the worst of the worst. We have no intention of offending the golden goose. They are all people whom the world would be better off without in the eyes of basically everybody. Feel free to look up what they've done, but I warn you, you might have nightmares afterward."

"All right. Some of the answers might be out of date, and not everything's on a computer, but I'll do my best."

"Even knowing where they were twenty-four hours ago would be a big help."

"Well, I was wondering what else I could do to help. I mean, you're right that what I think is good for America and what the CIA thinks is good for America aren't always going to be identical, but there's got to be a lot of overlap."

"Exactly. Glad you're a realist. We can work together for a good long time without any conflict. And make sure to let us know right away if we ask for something you're not comfortable giving."

"I certainly will. Thanks for being reasonable. Don't ask for help overthrowing any democracies and we should be fine. So, anyway...did you want me to take out any cyber...things? Like Russian tools for attacking American computers?"

"No!" the man said quickly. "Not yet. Don't do anything to tip our hand yet." The agent paused, clearly thinking. "I know you like movies. Did you ever see The Imitation Game?"

Nick shook his head. "No, I missed that one."

"It was pretty good, you should watch it sometime. One of the big ideas, though, is that when you do something like break a code, you really, really don't want to let the other side know you've broken their code. Because then they'll just change the codes. You follow me?"

"That makes sense, but..." Nick frowned, turning that over in his head for a moment. "Then, how do you use the information without tipping your hand? What good is the information if you don't use it?"

The man sighed. "The answer to that is...complicated. Trust me, we've thought a lot about it. So please, don't do anything drastic or obvious without talking to us first."

"So...can I take out all the online scammers?"

"No."

"What about the spammers?" Nick tried.

"No."

"What about the foreign bots on social media pretending to be Americans?"

"Tempting, but no. Don't do it. We've got to work this out in house very carefully. Leave it to the experts, Nick. Don't worry, we'll come up with a good plan."

"So long as the plan involves taking out lots of annoying bad guys online sooner or later."

"Eventually."

"All right. I should probably go, there's like a million things I need to take care of."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Do you want us to send someone up there to help you?" the agent offered.

"No thanks, I'm good for now. The people already here are keeping us plenty busy."

"All right, then. Thank you, Nick. Your country already owes you a great debt. And unlike most of us, you'll eventually get credit for your good deeds."

"I've always had big respect for you guys," Nick admitted. "Doing important work and never getting praised for it."

"Thank you, Nick. Most people never think about that."

Nick shrugged. "Well, it's true. Anyway, talk to you later, Mr. Nameless Agent."

"Talk to you later, Mr. Golden Goose."

Nick cut the connection. Ha, it would be funny if that was my actual Secret Agent Code Name, or whatever you call it.

He opened the files showing the names, descriptions and backgrounds of the 'very bad people' the CIA wanted found. Well, first let's see whether I can find them. If they've been hiding in different caves for a year, they're not going to be online anywhere.

< Petra, can you locate... these people? > Nick actually caught himself. He had been about to start reading the files to Petra one by one, but that was dumb. She could do all of it.

< I don't know, Nick. >

Nick thought a moment. < Well, try to find them all. Don't tell anyone but me, and if it takes a really long time you can give up. >

< How long is 'a really long time', Nick? > Petra asked.

Nick sighed. < Good question. Um...Let's start with this: try to find them, and let me know how far you have gotten in ten minutes. If you haven't found them all by then, we'll try an hour. I don't know how long it will take you. >

< All right, Nick. >

Nick waited, but there was no further reply. Here's hoping I didn't screw it up. Nick spent a while checking on the duty roster and seeing whether he had any shifts in ship maintenance for the New Hope. Apparently, Geh!aoa had removed him from the rotation for the moment. I guess she figures I'll be busy doing more important things. He checked to see how many people were trained up on ship handling, and there were actually a fair number of people at that point. I guess they really can spare me. Cool.

He left a message for Sana, but knew better than to interrupt her. She was going to be very busy for a while, especially with those two doctors from Earth jogging her elbow. He snacked on a slice of pizza, noting the warnings about his diet from his medical sensors and disregarding them.

Ten minutes later, Petra reported in.

< Hello, Nick. >

< Hi, Petra. What's up? >

< I have found six of the ten people on the list. >

< Good work, Petra! >

< Thank you, Nick. Shall I continue searching for the other four? >

< Yes, please. >

Very tentatively, Nick started looking into the crimes listed against the individuals. He sort of studied it at a remove, asking Petra a whole series of small questions. He wanted to be as sure as he could that none of these guys—and they were all guys, for whatever reason—were being framed, or their crimes exaggerated.

It took him a while. Petra was very helpful and very literal-minded, as always. Sometimes, the effect was that a revelation was dragged out painfully, but he still wanted the distance. He was taking the CIA's point about having nightmares. I'm too busy to have nightmares right now, and I don't particularly want to have them later, either.

Once he was sure, he had Petra contact the CIA and pass on the information. It was a different agent this time, a thin blonde woman in a business suit. "Hello, Mr. Tomsun. I'm your new case officer. You can call me Sarah." She had a pretty grim expression at the moment, but was obviously trying to be polite.

"Um, hi, Sarah. What happened to the other guy?"

"If you'd prefer to wait and work with him instead—"

"No, this is fine," Nick assured her. "I was just calling to give you the locations of some of the guys you wanted me to find."

"Oh, yes, please send us the files."

Nick mentally gave Petra the command. "They should be on their way to you now."

"Thank you. Mr. Tomsun. It's very much appreciated."

"Happy to help. Is...there something wrong?" Nick asked. The woman looked pretty stressed.

"I actually have a very important question for you."

"Um, okay...?"

"Mr. Tomsun, did you launch a cyber attack on the world's cryptocurrencies?"

Nick blinked. "Did I what?"

His new case officer repeated, "Did you launch a cyber attack on cryptocurrencies?"

Nick felt a bit of rising panic. "Not on purpose... Why? What happened?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the details."

"Did I break something? I don't even know how cryptocurrency works. I definitely didn't mess with it as far as I know."

"Possibly. Can you tell me exactly what you did when you uploaded all the computer data?"

"No, but I can try to find out."

"Mr. Tomsun, are you by any chance struggling with how to word commands or instructions to the ship computer up there?" Barely a second passed as Sarah read his expression, then nodded, immediately convinced by his utter lack of a poker face. "You are. We can arrange to have an expert help you to phrase things."

"Uh...I still need to be the go-between. But yeah, if you could send me carefully-worded questions you'd like answers to, I'll see what I can do. Right now, though, I should go try to find out what happened. Send me the questions when you can. Oh, and if I find the other four on your wanted list, I'll let you know." Nick ended the call.

< Petra? Do you know what cryptocurrency is? >

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