"This way," he said, standing in the doorway. "The elevators can’t be trusted if the computer system has been compromised. We’ll take the stairs." As the small group began moving down the hall toward the stairway, Babel considered his options. Of the four people with him, Lanier appeared to be the only one who was armed. Babel had to assume they knew about his concealed body-blade, but it was still an effective weapon, provided they hadn’t found some way to disable it. But Lanier had a gun, and even the small pistol would have enough stopping power to put Babel down if he was shot. Nor did he know the layout of the building well enough to escape even if he did manage to get away from Lanier and his people. There apparently was security elsewhere in the building, from what Lanier told the technicians.