“Intermittent, Skipper, but we can hold a signal.”
“Get BioShield on the line. I need a detachment over here right away to secure the place.”
ANAD 3rd Swarm re-gathered itself into something approximating a human form and floated nearby, wavering slightly in the dim light and heavy swarm-laden air. The face was a passable imitation of Colonel Jurgen Kraft.
Winger shook his head. “ANAD, some day, we’re going to have to have a little discussion about appropriate configs and social decorum. You can’t just change appearance like that on a whim. Humans don’t like their colleagues to look different every time they see them.”
***ANAD stores many configs…minimum energy bond angle routine determines config when outside parameters are at null value***
“I know, I know…but it looks weird. I mean, Colonel Kraft, for crying out loud…couldn’t you pick another config?”
***ANAD re-configging now…***
The assembler swarm mutated before their eyes into the recruiting poster face from Table Top’s canteen.
“Mr. Nanotrooper,” Tallant nodded. “Must be his default config.”
Winger got on the crewnet. “Detachment, listen up. When BioShield and the West Bengal constabulary arrive, we turn over the place to them. Make sure we get good samples of everything and record all your bands and signatures. This place is an intelligence gold mine and we’re going to need all of it to help out our Martian buddies…they need to know what they’re dealing with.”
Two hours later, BioShield’s Red Squad had secured the inner courtyard and chambers of the Shavindra temple compound. Sergeant Kano, the burly Kenyan squad leader walked slowly along the colonnaded grounds as Winger gave him a quick rundown of what had happened.
Kano whistled softly. “Mbeki gotanga…you were most fortunate, Major Winger. It is good that Quantum Corps was here. My squad has its hands full just keeping swarms and fabs under control in Howrath. “
“I know that, Sergeant. That’s why I’m leaving behind two of my Detachment to help out. They’re good code- and-stick programmers. Here they are—“ Winger motioned Sergeants Klimuk and Detrick over and introduced them. “Both are IC’s
—Interface and Operation Controllers. They can out-hack anybody. And they’ll give us some well-trained eyes and ears on the ground…just in case Red Hammer tries something. We want that quantum generator to stay atom fluff, just like it is now.”
Last minute arrangements and approvals were completed and Winger ordered Alpha Detachment to board the crewtracs, which had rumbled up from riverside to take the weary troopers back to the airport.
“Well, that’s about it, Sergeant. We’ll be shoving off now.”
Kano ripped off a smart salute. “Happy hunting, Major. Wherever your case leads you. There is talk of Quantum Corps being disbanded. Tell me this is not true.”
Winger’s face darkened. “It’s one of the demands Red Hammer is making. Pay a big ransom and shut down Quantum Corps or they drop one big rock on our heads. I’m hoping with this generator out of action, that’ll be a little harder now. But it’s still a race against time.”
Winger was the last to board the crewtrac. “Move out!” Winger ordered. The rest of the Detachment had already swung their gear aboard the two crewtracs. The huge snorting vehicles were dual-tracked, with articulating arms front and rear to manipulate or hoist heavy objects. Modified from geoplane chassis, each crewtrac had limited sub-surface burrowing capability. Powered up, each vehicle shimmered in the hazy morning sunlight as their ANAD shields formed a twinkling, flickering defensive barrier around the vehicles, like a huge, pulsating carapace of bots.
The crewtracs rumbled off, through the barrier ANAD screen that BioShield had already erected, which sparkled as they passed by, and then turned right, onto crowded Hanagar Street, heading east toward Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport. Johnny Winger stared pensively out the porthole at the hazy labyrinth of streets passing by. Columns of smoke from thousands of cooking fires added to the thick haze. Tin shacks and shantytowns and rice paddies interspersed with the crude huts of the traditional Bengali mawzas stretched to the horizon, like an infinite chessboard. But most of the haze wasn’t cooking fires.
Fabs and swarms… this place really is a nursery, he told himself. But a nursery for what?
They had to get back to Table Top and debrief Colonel Kraft and General Linx. With each passing hour, 2351 Wilks-Lucayo sped closer and closer to Earth. If Q2 was right and the asteroid was being bent by some kind of strange generators tugging on the underlying string structure of the Solar System, maybe putting Shavindra out of action would enable GreenMars to regain control of their renegade.
Trouble was, Winger knew, there was a companion device somewhere on Mars. As long as even one of these swarm-contraptions was operating, Red Hammer might still be able to make good on their threat.
Quantum Corps and Frontier Corps had to put that one out of commission too and soon.
And if politics intervened and UNIFORCE decided to shutdown the Corps to meet one of the cartel’s demands, Johnny Winger wasn’t sure they could make it in time.
CHAPTER 7
U.N. Quantum Corps, Western Command Base
Table Top Mountain, Idaho, U.S.A.
September 20, 2080
General Wolfus Linx—CINCQUANT—shook his head and twisted his fat white moustache angrily. The message from UNSAC had just come in from Paris less than an hour before. Colonel Jurgen Kraft stood stiffly before Linx’s desk, smoldering with rage barely contained.
“It’s politics, sir…that’s all it is. They can’t shut us down right in the middle of an investigation like this. Begging the general’s pardon, sir, but that’s nuts.”
Linx’s eyes narrowed to slits, squinting again at the offending message from Paris.
“Unfortunately, Colonel, the org chart says they can. My hands are tied here…you’d better get me some kind of plan on closing down Table Top, at least enough to satisfy Paris. They seem determined to give in to these scoundrels. I don’t like it any more than you do.”
“Sir,” Kraft said, “I must protest this decision. To shut down an active investigation of this magnitude is—“
“Kraft—“ Linx stood up to his full six foot eight inch height. With his full mane of white hair and moustache, and fierce blue eyes, he looked like Thor himself, fresh from Valhalla. “—UNSAC’s order says nothing about closing down the investigation.” Linx began pacing about his office: three paces and left turn, three paces and another left. “—just the base itself…in fact, Table Top, Balzano and Singapore. The investigation will proceed…from another location.”
Kraft chewed on that bit of sophistry for a moment. “General…perhaps you should come over to Containment. The Quantum Hammer detachment is concluding their mission debrief at 1130 hours this morning. Q2 and Dr. Frost will be there to round out the after-action reports.”
Linx suddenly stopped pacing, standing in front of a flat display of the Earth-Moon system, an active monitor showing real time positions of every satellite, station and ship in Earth-Moon space. The display was crammed with blinking lights, track vectors and floating data blocks.
“Colonel, you see this display? Know what this will all look like if that damned asteroid comes blasting through here like a runaway freight train?”
“I can only imagine, sir.”
CINCQUANT twisted his moustache pensively. “Like a big boulder dropped in a small pond. Havoc—“ he shook his head, seeing in his mind’s eye things best left unseen. “—sheer havoc. The end of man—“ Linx turned back to Kraft. “Let’s go see how our guys did at Kolkata.”
The after-action review was held inside Containment chamber C1, since 3rd Swarm ANAD’s participation was required. When Linx and Kraft arrived, the chamber was thick with nanotroopers from Alpha Detachment. Q2 had sent over a Major Drummond to handle the intel side of the
debriefing. Doc Frost hovered like a protective mother around the main containment controls while ANAD itself swarmed around the outside of the vault-like containment pod like faintly glowing cigarette smoke.
“At ease,” Linx said as the assembly came to abrupt attention. “Proceed as you were.” Linx leaned against the vault, eyeing the ANAD swarm over his head with something between disgust and curiosity.
Major Drummond had been speaking. “We were about to hear directly from ANAD on the details of the quantum generator at the temple. ANAD--?”
The assembler swarm brightened as it was addressed, then began to pulsate gently as it flowed around the edge of the containment chamber. Its synthetic voice came out like a tinny echo from inside a barrel.
***ANAD located operating files for this device in Kolkata…files were copied and deployed at temple site…ANAD able to decrypt some files and compute replication algorithm…ANAD able to interfere with generator replication and set pattern to infinite loop…generator failed when rep counter value set to infinity***
Linx mulled over what the swarm had just said, momentarily forgetting the novelty of ‘hearing’ something like an assembler swarm converse normally with human beings. “This generator we’ve all been after is itself a swarm?”
***Statement is correct…with knowledge of replication algorithm, quantum state generator can be disabled and forced into a set configuration…generator can be ‘frozen’ in one config and assaulted by more conventional tactics***
CINCQUANT glared up at the faintly glowing mist that was ANAD. My God, you can’t even look the damned thing in the face. Talking with a fog bank was still a little unnerving, especially in front of junior officers and civilians. Getting a reply from the same fog bank was even more unnerving. Still, the facts were plain. The assembler swarm had saved the mission.
“ANAD, I speak for UNSAC and the whole UNIFORCE command staff when I say if it hadn’t been for you…er, your efforts, Quantum Hammer’s mission might not have been accomplished. You’ve brought a new perspective, so to speak, to our tactical operations.” CINCQUANT cleared his throat, coughed and went on, aware that he seemed to be speaking to no one in particular. How the hell do you address a distributed swarm intelligence anyway? “I’m sure future missions will see the Corps utilize this capability more often, since it gives us certain tactical advantages.”
Again, ANAD glowed brightly. The swarm reconfigged like mist on a moonless night, gradually taking on the facial contours of a human being. It was the default config again…the recruiting poster nog. A few snickers tittered about the room.
***ANAD is most appreciative of these statements…ANAD parses CINCQUANT statements as approval of mission tactics, with probability values exceeding ninety-five per cent…now, ANAD must ask a question***
Linx’s eyes shot up. “A question? What kind of question?”
The swarm re-config was done. A giant ghostly outline of a face glared down at all of them like some kind of ancient god.
***ANAD swarms to maximize configuration flexibility…that is original programming design…containment restrictions prevent assembler formations from achieving certain configurations...ANAD seeks removal of all containment restrictions…to optimize config for all settings***
Doc Frost winced slightly as the words echoed out of the ‘mouth’ of the swarm-face.
“What he’s trying to say, General, is that ANAD feels confined by containment regulations.”
“Isn’t that the whole idea?” Colonel Kraft asked. “We can’t have loose uncontained swarms roaming around, can we? Look at Kolkata, Bangkok and places like that. It’s not safe. It poisons the environment. Humans and ANADs can’t co-exist with swarms loose. It’s just too dangerous.”
Linx was sympathetic and even agreed with Kraft. But the Symbiosis Project had high-level support in Paris. “We do have standard control and dispersal procedures in place, Colonel. ANAD swarms aren’t just flying around loose. As long as these regs are in effect, I see no problem with letting ANAD swarms out of containment. Our boys are still learning how to work with them in operations.”
Doc Frost added, “The natural configuration of an autonomous nanoscale assembler swarm is similar to what you see here. They’re collective entities, distributed intelligence, and we humans don‘t have a lot of experience with that. That’s the way they’re programmed.”
“Didn’t you do the original programming?” asked Kraft. “Why couldn’t you program ANAD to stay in containment and be happy with that?”
Frost ran a hand through thinning white hair. “Actually, I could have, Colonel. But remember this: the basic kernel of ANAD’s program comes from ancient viral genomes. To gain some of the capability that ANAD now has, I had to transfer stretches of this genome that I didn’t fully understand at the time. Today, we’ve extensively modified that genome and have a better idea of what we’re doing. But the swarming instinct is inherent in that genome. If I try to remove that, I’m not sure ANAD will be an effective partner in symbiosis with our nanotroopers. It’s a trade-off.”
“Maybe we should just ask ANAD,” Johnny Winger suggested.
The assembler swarm, still a ghostly outline of the recruiting poster face, assumed something vaguely resembling a look of annoyance, or what ANAD’s processor generated as ‘annoyance.’ The faint line of its lips tightened perceptibly and the eyes seemed to squint as if studying the humans gathered around it.
***ANAD is required to follow the Four Rules of its program…swarm and seek self…permit no harm to humans or other life…follow all human commands…and replicate…to assemble in swarms is First Rule…having maximum priority value over all other rules and commands…ANAD must abide by program…but containment regulations interfere with First Rule…error strings are generated which ANAD must resolve and analyze…permit ANAD to remain out of containment so that error logs are reduced…allows greater processor capacity for other functions***
“He’s like a small child, General,” Winger told them. “I’ve worked with ANAD closely for years…we all have. He wants to explore…there’s an imperative in his program to explore and seek out other entities like himself and to congregate. He’s not so different from us.”
“Major, that’s not why the Corps employs ANADs,” Kraft growled. “He has a mission and that mission is to assist you and all our troopers in completing their missions. Combat effectiveness, accomplishing the mission, that’s his only imperative. Everything else is window dressing, if you ask me.”
“Kraft is right,” Linx said. “That’s the whole purpose of the Symbiosis Project…to form a new hybrid man-machine warrior with extraordinary capabilities. That’s why you all have the implant. The truth is 3rd Nanospace Swarm is an experimental unit and only an experiment. There never was any intention of taking the idea and making it a combat organization.”
“But, General…3rd Swarm has already proven itself in operations…just last week in Kolkata. Major Tallant and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for 3rd Swarm ANAD. Begging the General’s pardon, sir, but I think we should consider standing up 3rd Swarm as a fully functional unit within the Corps.”
Several troopers, including Dana Tallant, seconded Winger’s thoughts. Linx listened to the arguments flow back and forth. Kraft argued that the assembler swarms needed to be kept under tight control. “They’re just weapons, just like your coilguns or HERF units…nothing more than that. Sure ANAD is highly programmed and capable. But what you’re asking is to put something that’s little more than a MOB net in charge of vital operations. It’s nuts.”
“Colonel,” Frost clucked, “ANAD is more than a MOB net. That’s like saying you and I are nothing more than a big bag of bacteria and loose cells. When eukaryotic cells first got together four billion years ago, maybe they were little more than bags of cells, without order, structure or emergent intelligence. But time and evolution have taken those bags of cells and made you and m
e. I’m pretty sure the same imperative, perhaps the same or similar evolutionary forces, can take a swarm of loose nanoscale molecular assemblers and make them into something you and I would surely recognize as intelligent.”
“No argument about that,” Kraft said. “But that’s not why we’re using ANADs here. General Linx, sir, we’re taking our eye off the goal here. The Project is to develop a man-machine hybrid warrior, not evolve a new life form that just may—“ he eyed the ethereal face of the swarm warily “—just may take over the whole planet and decide to get rid of us.”
Linx mulled over all the arguments. “Gentlemen, you’ve given me a lot to chew over. UNSAC’s directives and the Project charter are pretty clear and my orders are to execute those directives and fulfill that charter. We currently operate with ANAD swarms loose when they’re under strict control and dispersal regulations. That’s been Corps policy for several years now. But Kraft’s right: the whole purpose of the Project was to develop and evolve a new man-machine hybrid warrior.” Linx glared back at the faintly glowing swarm, struggling to maintain the semblance of a ‘face’ in the presence of the humans. “I’m going to issue an order that control and dispersal regulations be re-thought. We’ll give these ANAD bots a little more breathing room…see if we can take operations to a whole new level. Of course, this will have to be cleared with UNSAC and the Secretary-General. But I’m recommending Quantum Corps ANADs be permitted to operate fully and completely outside containment.”
Kraft was none too pleased at CINCQUANT’s order but he couldn’t directly oppose a superior officer. “This will mean some changes in tactics, General. Our sims and training will also be affected. Winger and 1st and 2nd Nano will have to get up to speed fast if we’re going to stop Red Hammer from dropping that big rock on us.”
Linx nodded. “I’m aware of that, Colonel. Developing and coordinating new tactics with full ANAD participation is now your top priority. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“General, sir—“ it was Drummond, the Q2 officer, standing on the other side of the ANAD swarm. “—our tactical priority should be that second quantum generator on Mars. Farside Observatory reports that to achieve the precision maneuvering of 2351-Wilks-Lucayo they’ve observed, at least two generators would be needed, spaced at least fifty to one hundred million miles apart. That provides enough traction to manipulate the Solar System’s string structure…or so Nakamura and the GreenMars people say. This fellow Nygren at Mariner City also concurs, sir.”