It was decision time. Did he cut short his run against the Vilanni mainframe and lead his team in an intercept of the thump about to go down, or did he stay in the system to take advantage of his penetration and go after incriminating evidence that would put an end to all the thumps? If he pulled out, the system would be tougher to crack when he got back—but if he didn’t, people would be hurt, maybe killed. Then again, more would be hurt and killed if he didn’t get what he needed out of the Vilanni mainframe, and he might not get this good a chance again.