The news of two more sudden deaths in the GNI brought the expected commotion. Phillip found himself elevated from the recently fired to the Directorship. He was sure he would have been better off fired. The whole project was falling apart. Three members of the GNI were dead in four days. Reports were coming in from all over the world of individuals and groups being mysteriously killed. Those that could be explained as normal mayhem were removed leaving the bulk of incidents that could be adequately explained as being the result of nanobots. The nano defense was a complete failure and the earth was in inexorable danger. Humanity wasn't going to survive long enough to finish destroying themselves.
In a world, so accustomed to news of disasters and threats to our continued existence, the stories of strange deaths bumped each other of the front pages of newspapers and web pages all over the globe. Millions of people dying would be sufficient to start a global panic. The fact that two days after being discovered dead victims were turning to dust made it even more gruesome, inexplicable, and otherworldly. It was a genuine pandemic of unknown origin and the infectious disease center at Detrick was kept informed of the state of affairs. Most of the people who worked there didn’t know of the true mission of the Global Nano Initiative group just a few buildings away. Those few who did know were going through the viscous channels of bureaucracy to be given permission to share their information. GNI spies already knew what the IDC knew.
Even tissue samples taken during autopsies turned to the same fine dust. This ultimate magic act was a fortuitous artifact of the massive death toll. Otherwise, an abundance of putrefying bodies would create a health problem for the whole population.
The public and most officials assumed that this lethal epidemic was manmade. It must be directed by some intelligence because it targeted mostly people who could be categorized as evil. Naturally occurring disease is no longer commonly considered to be directed by God to punish the sinner. Therefore, they are targeted by whom? Some believed it was God, some aliens, some the government or a foreign terrorist organization. God seemed to be gaining a plurality in this opinion poll. Church attendance was surging and sermons were all centered on what was concerning people most all over the globe.
There were the four state prisons where 70 percent of the prisoners were killed and a quarter or the guards and one of the wardens.
The streets were emptied of drug dealers and street gangs. Citizenry was thanking the unknown vigilantes. Not a lot of concern among the potential victims of the dead.
When it was looking like only bad people were killed, stories about the strange deaths of prominent executives of successful companies hit the news. People on the streets would tell any police or reporter "I always knew there was something shady about them." More than one board room was emptied by overnight mortality.
Reports of scores of prominent political persons found dead didn't surprise their opponents but did spark debate over the concept of innate evil in some political opinions or just in the methods used to promote ones opinion. In congress there were empty seats on both sides of the isle. That there were more empty seats on one side would have set off accusations of biblical proportions except those erupting where the previous occupants of the empty seats. There were many sudden vacancies on legislatures around the world. When heads of government were taken accusations started to fly.
Now the general population began to feel fear. If people whose only sin was greed or stupidity were being killed, was anyone safe?
There was one army in African that was decimated putting an end its work of genocide. It was the fear among their ranks of being added to the death toll that convinced the survivors to abandon their work. Besides there were no superiors left alive to give orders.
A nuclear fuel enrichment facility in Iran was destroyed. The fact that it was underground suggested a military purpose but it was labeled an act of war and war would be declared as soon as the leaders figured out whom to include in the list of enemies. Shame was those leaders were found dead in their beds the next morning. Their successors were even madder but a whole lot more circumspect and limited themselves to posturing and rhetoric.
A few stories made it onto page four of people who were healed of chronic conditions after encounters with a dust like substance. There was a plethora of theories in the public. They ranged from the second coming for Christ and judgment day to a new strain of AIDS.
The most outrageous reports, so far only carried by the tabloids, were of people being dissolved completely by dust that then reconstituted into an identical copy of the original person complete with memories. You can't believe everything you read.
During all this chaos Nan asked for leave. Phillip now had Nan as an administrative assistant. They acted uncomfortable around each other. To him she was just too much like his ex. To her he was too distant and seemed scared of her. When Nan asked for time off during the most critical time in the life of the GNI claiming she was concerned about her mother, Phillip was ambivalent about granting it, but did.
To stem the attack of alien nanos Phillip ordered broad-spectrum communication jammers to target the known dust concentration. The army manned mobile jammer was moved into position and powered up. They threw the switch. There was a bright flash of light like lightening from the vicinity of the target. The jammer emitted the sound of an arc and a heavy plume of smoke and was dead. The next station experienced the same phenomenon. The third station trying to learn from experience pointed the jammer antenna straight up and turned it on. No light, no smoke. They tilted the planner antenna slowly down onto the dust. Again lightning destroyed jammer equipment.
Stand down orders were given when Phillip and his engineers explained that the dust was using synchronized radiation emitters to target the jammers. Only these were at least four hundred times more powerful than in the design that was released.
Our dust doesn't stand a chance against the alien dust." was the GNI lament.
The army sent their newest, most expensive combat aircraft to take out a concentration of killing dust just north of Memphis. The army was very proud of their plane. It was the fastest most maneuverable ever. It could pull more Gs in a power turn than any before it. Even a G-suit wouldn't protect from blackout at these speeds. This plane's pilot did not wear a G-suit. This pilot wore no cloths at all. This pilot was the Army's favorite 3D Artificial Intelligent battlefield controller. It was invincible, with really fast reflexes and reliable. None of its missions had ever failed to go as planned.
The generals wanted to watch the downlink flight video of this encounter. The crafts radar had been upgraded to allow it to detect the communications signature of the alien dust. It wouldn't have a chance against a blitz attack like it was soon to get.
The dizzying pictures showed the approach. The on-screen display showed weapons coming ready. A split second before launch a flag popped up on the screen and the aircraft cut away. The popup said ‘FRIENDLY’.
"No, no, no" moaned the human monitor. The mission controller used his voice command interface to instruct the machine pilot, "Not friendly! Target is hostile! Reacquire target!"
The plane came around 180 degrees and lined up with the target a second time. For the second time the launch was aborted with the ‘FRIENDLY’ notification.
"It has never ignored an override before, Sir.” The young major, offered, obviously exasperated by the insubordinate machine.
As he was instructing the robot pilot to try again the feeds from the plane stopped.
"It's dead, sir.” Trying hard to save the day while senior officers watched over his shoulder the young Major said. “Second unit is going in."
When the second robot piloted craft did a complete replay of the first plane's behavior. An incandescent general said, “Send in the manned planes.”
The Air Force took over. Two fighters approached the target. The robot pl
ane monitor came back to life to show that the attacking planes were being targeted by the drones. Desperate orders were given to break off the attack. No human pilot would come out the winner in a dogfight with this model automated combat aircraft.
The controller told the drones to return to base. They complied with engineered obedience and headed back.
When the human pilots were commanded to resume attack the drones reversed course and headed back to the engagement site. The fighters were ordered back to base. The drones followed like shepherds with lambs.
"The damn machines are working for the enemy!" cursed the first general to say what they were all thinking.
“Put those traders back in their cages. As soon as they are out of the theater, send in the low tech. We’ll turn those little shits into charcoal. “
The low-tech was a pair of old C130J cargo turbo props. They flew side by side coming in low over the infestation, slow and lumbering, like vultures surveying a potential buffet along the interstate. Their tailgates opened. When they were over the target, they vomited pallets that immediately broke open and scattered canisters on the air. The canisters fell pell-mell to the ground each exploded with a white-hot flame with billows of white smoke. Heat came off the area like a blast furnace shoving the smoke high into the sky. Willey Peter had spoken. Burning white phosphorus, temperature 5000 degrees. The smoke almost obscured the flight path of the second plane.
Before the contents of the second pallet reached the ground an echo of the flash of light from the exploding Phosphorus emanated from the whole ground area around the target. The contents of the second pallet were lit up as if by a plasma torch and immediately exploded before reaching the ground. The incendiaries of the third exploded in the air close behind the plane. Bits of flame rained to the ground but most of the munitions were turned to smoke and rose from the heat of the fire. The last pallet to leave plane number two exploded so close to the plane the tail was burned and control of the aircraft became compromised. Plane number two retired from the theater of conflict.
When the first plane turned for a second pass, a blinding light from the target area gave the pilots temporary blindness even with their flight goggles in place. That plane too withdrew acknowledging that the element of surprise was lost and no assault could be successfully waged.