Metafire

"Was that the case with the previous bombs?" Angela had to ask.

"Yes." Sporkin answered.

"Then you also could have blown up the cities, since you designed the controllers."

"Yes. But I didn't."

"This is getting tiring," said Michael. "The point I made earlier is correct. All that matters now is that the current bomb is under control. I suggest a simple algorithm that requires three keys to effect. This way it takes three of us to blow up the bomb. And we have another key so that any one of us can keep the bomb from exploding itself. Sporkin, is this possible?"

"No. That would require recoding at a level that the bomb controller does not permit. You could do what you ask, but it would not protect against someone else having a key that could cause the explosion."

"Then, I suggest that we do not worry about any of this." Michael said conclusively.

Angela was now growing very concerned. Frank and Jane were also concerned. They had the problem that the group still did not know about the agreements they had with the FBI. And, the group still did not know about the intention to send Jane back, or about the arrival of the FBI tug due the next day.