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'Where are you taking me?' Drew's voice was strained now, very tense.

'Downtown. We'll be talking to you again in a day or so, when you're more... relaxed.'

'Downtown San Diego?'

'Yes,' Graves said. And he suddenly realized that Drew wasn't afraid of jail at all. He didn't want to stay in the city. That was what he was afraid of.

'You can't do that!'

'Just watch it happen,' Graves said, lighting a cigarette.

'I've got to leave,' Drew said. He was now openly agitated. 'I have to leave. I have to leave.'

'Why?'

'It's my sister. She's sick, in Mexico. That's why I have the money, I need it '

'You don't have a sister,' Graves said. 'You have one brother two years older than you, who sells insurance in Portland, Oregon. Your father is still alive and lives in Michigan. Your mother died two years ago of a heart attack.'

Drew's body sagged.

'Put him down,' Graves said to the marshals. They dropped him back into the chair. 'Now listen to me,' Graves said. 'You aren't going anywhere without giving us some help.'

Drew stared at him. 'I want a cigarette.' Graves gave him one.

'What time is it now?' Drew asked dully.

'Ten thirty.' Graves lit the cigarette for him and watched as Drew sat back and inhaled.

'Listen,' Drew said, 'I have to catch that plane at noon.'

'Why is that?' Graves said.

'I don't know,' Drew said. 'I swear to God I don't know.'

'What do you know?'

'I know I have to get out of San Diego today, because... something is going to happen.'

'How do you know this?'

'John told me.'

'John Wright?'

'Yes.'

'What did he say?'

'He said that the binary would go off today. In San Diego.'

'And what is the binary?'

'I don't know.' He sucked on the cigarette.

'Mr Drew, you're going to have to do better '

'I swear to you, I don't know.'

Graves paused. He let Drew sweat, and let him smoke. Finally he said, 'How is the binary related to the information you tapped from the data banks?'

'I can't be sure. The information was in two areas. One was easy to get, the other was hard. First, John wanted supply routings. I spent a couple of days learning how to plug into the subroutines to release the information. I kept getting "no authorization" printouts, but finally I managed to plug in.'

'And extract what?'

'Supply routings for different things.'

'Things?'

'Well, John gave me the codes for what he wanted. Don't ask me where he got those codes. One of the codes was for a thing called "Binary 75 slash 76". I got a supply routing for that.'

'And you have no idea what the code represents?'

'None. Except that it's obviously Defence Department material, transported by rail.'

'How do you know that?'

'From the routings themselves. You can't be sure what's being transported, but you can tell the method - air, rail, other surface vehicle, truck convoy. You can tell the method.'

'What else can you tell?'

'You can tell the C and C ratings.'

'What's that?'

'Command and Control provides a rating for all material transportation. The ratings are in grades: grades one through seven. One is pretty safe, or pretty inexpensive. Like clothing, or spare auto parts - that sort of thing. Seven is very expensive or very dangerous.'

'What was Binary 75 slash 76?"

'It was grade seven.'

'What did you think Binary 75 slash 76 represented?'

Drew puffed on his cigarette. He did not answer for a long time. Finally he said, 'I thought it was radioactive materials.'

'Meaning?'

'I don't know. Components for a bomb, maybe. I don't know.'

Graves almost immediately rejected that explanation, although it fitted with the scintillation counter. 'What else could it be?'

'You asked me what I thought it was. I told you.'

'You think Wright planned to make an atomic bomb?'

'I think he planned to steal the components. Maybe he already has.'

'And do what with them?'

'I don't know. But it's going to happen today.'

Graves sat back. Drew put out his cigarette. Graves offered him another.

'What does a code like "binary" mean?'

'It could be just a random code,' Drew said.