Panspermia Deorum

  *

  Alexei Bondarenko’s knowledge of Siberia was sketchy at best, so he wasn’t too surprised when Kaputin told him that the entire complex was underground. Silos, assembly lines, research, and IT systems were all hidden from prying eyes. To all extent and purpose, the plant didn’t really exist. Deliveries were by air and personnel parking of vehicles above ground was forbidden. Apparently, this was not taken seriously at first and there had been a few employees fired because they flouted the directive.

  He began to understand why Kolorov had appointed an enforcer like Kaputin to keep everything on track without attracting unwanted attention. The helicopter dropped them off and disappeared without switching off the rotors. Kaputin surveyed the landscape for several minutes before using his mobile to enact the opening of a gigantic set of horizontal doors, which were intricately camouflaged as part of the tundra. The two of them descended a set of wide steps and Bondarenko marvelled at the relative quiet of the first level as the doors moved back into place, extinguishing all light. He was asked by Kaputin to stand still until he was informed of the all clear to proceed. It was still very dark when the watery illumination came on and carved out a track for them to follow.

  “Stay behind me at all times,” said Kaputin, “you must not stray outside the illuminated area. We will soon be inside the main level and your vision will normalise.”

  In fact the lighting was very bright as they approached Kaputin’s office. Bondarenko suffered mind-shock for a second time. There were almost as many robots scurrying around the floor as there were humans. He began to wonder whether it had been a wise decision to come here, and why Kaputin had not prepared him for any of this. He hadn’t long to wait for an answer to that question.

  “You may be feeling uneasy about this facility right now, but that will pass. Mr Kolorov wanted as much of the work here to be done by machines which could be recycled once the task was finished. This gave him less people to worry about if things went wrong. Apart from this level, with myself and the relevant experts, the plant is operated by non-sentient devices. It has been a long journey to get to where we are but it has paid off in terms of security and the time needed to actually assemble the missiles. In reality, it took more time to build the robots than it did to get the nuclear fleet carcases ready. We have started to phase out the human contribution now and that will continue until they are all gone. At least that is Mr Kolorov’s wish. You have not told me exactly why you wanted to come here with me.”

  Bondarenko hadn’t wanted to disclose Kolorov’s demise, rather leaving Kaputin to believe his real boss would recover consciousness.

  “Yes, Kolorov and I go back a long way, I assume you know that?”

  “Certainly, he talked about you a lot. He wished you were here with him when he authorised this project to begin.”

  “Right, well, we discussed many aspects of this place with Mr Delacroix and Ivan when the ownership changed. One such discussion was in relation to the interface between the propulsion system and the warheads. The main concern was that the two companies employed different techniques. VB Aerospace already had a second fleet to engage the asteroid, and a third ‘do or die’ back up. However, in the event that the Soyuz one, and their primary one both fail, all protocols in the three fleets should be as uniform as possible, simply because we cannot afford any panic if we ever need to launch the third fleet. Operating new or different systems in such a last chance scenario is ill-advised. We therefore have to make alterations with this in mind. It does make sense, as all of the launches will be authorised from Guiana, and two of the fleets are there, so we need to alter the Soyuz setup.”

  “I see, but you are aware that this will take quite some time. Re-configuring the robots alone will be a tedious exercise.”

  “No, you misunderstand me, Kaputin. I am an interface expert. I need to meet your team of human IT people and we can bypass the robots.”

  “Ah. Well, most of them have already left our employment. I think we have only thirteen left. I will check this for you, and ask those who remain to come to my office.”

  Bondarenko’s heart skipped a beat but he nodded affirmation. “Thank you. That would be a good start. Can you ask them to come now?”

  “Of course. I will see to it right away.”

  Chapter 36

  A report thicker than a slab of butter lay provocatively on Eugene’s desk. Everything else was placed in parallel with at least one edge of the rectangular leather inset, denoting a requirement for order. This tome was out of sync with the rest, forcing the eye to accommodate its peculiarity.

  Eugene casually straightened it, intending to read it at some time in the next few days, but the sub-title caused him to hover. ‘The Sculptor’s Guide to the Infinitesimal’ was more astrological than he would have liked for such an extremely serious research subject.

  Flicking through the introduction raised no further concerns, then there was the list of claims. His eyes widened as he realised the young researcher had not only confirmed his initial findings of using the Zika virus to infiltrate the human immune system with alarming ease, he’d actually taken the next step. One which Eugene had not authorised. The reconfigured viral structure had been injected into a lab rat prior to conceiving its litter. Eugene skipped ahead to the appended photographs and was completely overwhelmed with a cocktail of elation and horror. The baby rats all had rudimentary wings and highly-serrated tails. He threw the report back on to the desk and asked his PA to get the young man to his office.

  “Immediately, like within a minute.”

  The young man arrived sporting a broad smile.

  “Sit,” said Eugene, “I’m intrigued by these pictures. How long did it take you to verify your findings since we last spoke about the Zika virus?”

  “I have to be honest…”

  “Yes, I would certainly advise you to begin telling the truth. I need to be able to trust my staff. This report was already written before you told me about your ‘discovery’, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why the deception?”

  “I suppose I couldn’t handle another rejection of such an important opportunity. If your father fails to shunt the asteroid to a safe path, we’re all doomed. My work becomes irrelevant. If he succeeds, the ethics brigade will resurface and we both know what that means. If the third scenario develops, a partial impact which brings nuclear winter for decades, we need to be ready with a new medical approach. Isn’t that why you set up this research centre?”

  “Indeed it is, but you can’t simply take unilateral decisions like this. Unleashing viruses into the human genome could in itself become a disaster. We must self-regulate in the current vacuum. We have to discuss safeguards and have them in place before stepping into the unknown. Unless you accept you are part of a team, and act accordingly, I must ask you to leave. I need to see details of every experiment you’ve conducted, both in this establishment and your previous employment. That’s where we are. As seductive as your work is, it needs restraint as well as direction. Once I’ve seen all of the work you’ve done with this concept, I’d like to see every specimen you’ve created, here and wherever else. I’m on your side for now, so don’t screw up. I won’t let you out of my sight until I have an understanding of the entire concept. We’ll be accompanied by our security people whenever necessary. Are we good to begin?”

  “Fair enough. At least you don’t see me as the bad guy. My former employer simply accused me of playing God, and kicked me out, after having approved the first steps of the project.”

  “I can imagine much of the record of your work still resides with your former employer, it must have been developed over many months, if not years.”

  “It was, but they erased all reference to the project when I was fired, but not before I made copies. We can look through it from the start.”

  “Fine, I’ll follow you to the lab.”

  *

  Julien picked up his phone and pressed th
e receive option when he saw the name. Bondarenko’s news wasn’t precisely what he wanted to hear but it could have been worse.

  “This place is like a wardrobe with a few clothes hanging inside, protected by mothballs scattered around the interior. To cut a long story short, I need to bring the remaining IT people over to Guiana. We need to fabricate the new missile interface over there. There simply are not enough of them to get the job done quickly. Please warn your team that they will have to work with these Russian technicians, I will bring more detailed schematics with me. Julien, I am sure if we had not made this visit the plant would have been put in sleep mode until the expected signal to activate came from Kolorov. In a few weeks, Kaputin would have prepared for the remaining workforce to shrink to the absolute minimum required to launch. He revealed to me that when that event occurred, his instruction was clear. The underground complex was to be bulldozed back to pasture. When I am ready to leave you will receive another call.”

  Julien could appreciate how Bondarenko had become an indispensable asset in this infinitely layered puzzle, and he was at least relieved that he could now switch his attention to ongoing calculations and cosmic images.

  The Chilean images were accompanied by a statement, and this was unusual. There was clear visual evidence that the asteroid was pulling away from the now detached cometary fragment at an increasing rate. In a few weeks there would be data which would enable a more precise calculation of this separation rate, and when the fragment would reach Earth if the asteroid itself was deflected. A secondary set of calculations to predict the likelihood of its ability to survive atmospheric burnout would need more data regarding its composition. The appended statement raised a different issue. The Chilean probe showed irrefutable evidence that the fault lines in the asteroid itself were now the main concern. The tail was getting brighter and the cracks were now widening and lengthening. In the estimation of the Chilean cosmologists, they would soon be relaying images of four or five objects, depending on whether the second cometary fragment survived the break up. Julien called his experts together to discuss the significance of this information. One element was clear, the probe could not track all objects if any of them set off on a new course. There was also a possibility that some of them could be propelled to a trajectory which was not a collision threat.

  *

  When Eugene had read through the full body of work, culminating in the pictures of a new sub-species of rat, he asked to see the specimens.

  “I keep them in my quarters. I didn’t want anyone to see them. Nobody else suspects they are anything but normal lab rats, the same as those which are kept in the lab.”

  “Then let’s go to your quarters.”

  What he saw was difficult for Eugene to take in. Despite the wings being more like a second set of ears, and totally incapable of conferring the ability to fly, he accepted that this was an enormous leap toward his holy grail. It had occurred within a single generation. He was now being confronted by reality, whereas he had pretty much accepted that the best he could have hoped for was a legacy for any future survivors of any asteroid impact to inherit. He’d hoped that the cataclysm would never come to pass, and his work could be a valid stepping stone to more robust physiology, albeit with the ethics implications debated and agreed as to how the science should progress. What this young man had done was a phenomenal leap in understanding of genetic manipulation. But there was always the dark side if it fell into the wrong hands. It put him in an awkward spot. The pretence of looking ahead to that convenient point where he could use the constraint of time to ignore ethical issues, was no longer comfortable. The enabling crossroads had arrived well ahead of plan.

  From Russia with Love

  Bondarenko had to get special dispensation from the pilot of the Jetliner to make an emergency call.

  “Julien, I have terrible news. I am on my way back to Guiana with the remnants of the IT team, but that now appears to be a waste of time.”

  “Why is it a waste of time all of a sudden?”

  “I can hardly bring myself to say this but we were watching the Russian news bulletin on board the flight and the main item of breaking news showed the Siberian fleet being launched skyward. It cannot be happening, but it is.”

  “Sorry, just back up a little, Alexei. What is Kaputin’s explanation?”

  “He stayed behind to begin preparations for the receipt and installation of the new system we were going to send to Siberia. I am unable to contact him. The bastard must have approved the launch, there is no other credible explanation.”

  “But we were both convinced that he didn’t have the codes.”

  “Maybe, but he either lied or knew someone who did. Look, there was no management structure left in Siberia, so if he had to obtain these codes from another person, my money would be on one of the guys travelling back with me. In any case, you need to get your tracking equipment on to the fleet. I am astonished that this has not been reported already in Guiana. The pictures I have seen clearly illustrated the entire fleet leaving the silos all the way to orbit. I have not been able to find out who shot this footage. I stand by my gut feeling that Kaputin does not have even the rudimentary knowhow to launch these missiles on his own. He has to have a collaborator to guide him on the input of the codes. I have to go, the pilot wants me to get off the line.”

  “Ok, Alexei. See what you can extract from your tech guys on the flight. I’ll inform all observatories about this, maybe some have already seen what you’ve just described to me.”

  *

  Sophie’s previous encounter with the planning authority ended up being pivoted with either compromise or rejection. She had been characterised by the officials as a shape-shifter, regularly morphing from a cute puppy to a baying Rottweiler. She took the precaution of taking Reuben with her, tasking him with any early warning he felt was appropriate, by kicking her under the table. It proved to be a welcome corroboration of her acquisition of the new sequencing of her thought process. She listened, as well as asking to be listened to. Her opening remarks were set in the context of the object of the aftercare unit, but crucially they were liberally sprinkled with soliciting the planning advice on the design of the exterior. It turned out that Reuben was nothing more than a spectator. There were no raised voices, the concept was approved without fuss or undue analysis. Such a good cause, the recipient of which was the local municipality, not only helped that body feel better about itself, but acted as a catalyst to short circuit the process of approving the detailed proposal. Sophie left the meeting with the reassurance that the planners wanted to see this detail as a matter of urgency. Her new personality had not yet acclimatised to the existence of a vested interest gene in many public servants, but the outcome had at least reinforced her pleasure in this personal journey, this particular stage providing her very first unknowing hook into pragmatism.

  Chapter 37

  The meeting agenda had to be broadened to take account of Bondarenko’s message. Julien knew many of the team were suffering extreme fatigue, and he’d already decided they must head off serious burnout within their ranks.

  “I’d like to declare that I have some good news, but as you know, the asteroid will always have us dancing to its rhythm, as long as we haven’t dispatched our countermeasures. In that light I have to report that we have one less of those measures to worry about. Let me get to that first, because it may well have a bearing on the primary subject of the latest Chilean implications. I was informed that the newly acquired fleet of Soyuz missiles has been launched. It took me some time to get reliable, independent confirmation of that, because there was apparently quite some concern expressed by the remnants of international government sources, as to their purpose. A blanket of silence was felt necessary until there could be clarification of this. A nuclear strike against the West was not ruled out because not many people knew the fleet was already launch-capable. In fact I only knew this myself a couple of days ago. Once the missiles were seen to be heading out
to space, the anal-tightening muscles relaxed and I got the answer I’d requested. Now, you need to know that I was not involved in the decision process to launch this fleet. Alexei Bondarenko is on his way back here, his plan was to re-fit the entire interface system for the Soyuz missiles, to have seamless launch and guidance compatibility with our own.

  “So, turning to the images from Chile, and the appended prediction, we have another unknown. Until Bondarenko gets here with the Soyuz IT people, we are in essence in limbo. I can therefore reveal to you that Bondarenko’s mission to change the interface was triggered because Ivan Kolorov was the only person we know of in whom the launch and control codes were invested. As some of you may now know, he recently passed away, but without being able to disclose them to us or where we could find them. Until Bondarenko gets here, I’m suggesting we take a short break from the treadmill of calculating response algorithms for every eventuality. In the light of what I’ve just told you, two crucial variables have been taken out of our hands. Knowing Ivan Kolorov as I did, his death probably set this train in motion. But how news of his demise leaked out to the wider world, I cannot say. However, in the absence of an alternative explanation, I’m prepared to believe there is a chance the Soyuz missiles may still be on intercept course with the asteroid. We, sadly have no control over that. The logical consequence of this would appear to be a pause in our endeavours until the outcome is known. My concentration is focussed on the journey time of the missiles. The plan I had in mind for this fleet was to strike this side of the asteroid belt. However, this early launch means that the missiles will arrive at that point in 40 days, according to our own propulsion expert, potentially detonating long before the asteroid reaches those coordinates. In that regard, I do take our propulsion expert’s judgement seriously, but at present that is in the realms of theory. There is no record of this new propulsion system having been tested. So, at best, the Chilean prediction is imprecise and the damned thing could fragment before or after the Soyuz missiles detonate. I’d therefore like you all to take a short break and come back refreshed and ready to re-engage with whatever develops. Let’s not become paranoid over stuff we simply can’t control. Enjoy your time off. Thank you.”