Tallant rearranged some lettuce and tomato on her plate, to represent the target. “It’s just a matter of scaling, Wings. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, we war game it like this: assemble the assault force here and stage it forward in a normal lift to some kind of forward base in the mountains near the border.” She moved pieces of lettuce around to represent forces and units. “Then we release ANAD in sufficient quantity to move the assault force through an underground tunnel right up to the Red Hammer complex, this Paryang place you call it. Right away, it gives us two advantages: one, by assaulting from within the Earth, UNIFORCE is able to eliminate the Red Hammer base in such a way as to deny responsibility to the Chinese. Think of it…an assault from below ground. We can blame the destruction of the base on a dozen different things…a plague, a landslide, an earthquake, you name it. And the second advantage is even better. Coming at the target from this axis allows Quantum Corps to breach the base from a direction where their defenses are most likely to be minimal.” Tallant finished sculpting her lunch into a diorama of the assault plan. “It’s the element of surprise, Wings. They’ll never expect it.”
Winger nodded in grudging agreement. “Unless they’ve learned what happened to them at Kurabantu.” The atomgrabber suddenly sat up straight. “Hey, I just had an idea.”
“So what is it?”
“We’ve still got a few hours before Major Kraft’s briefing. Let’s go see ANAD and see what he thinks about this.”
The containment center was busy and crowded with technicians as Doc Frost finished up the final qualification tests on the new master assembler.
Frost indicated the polyhedral device mounted on a scaffold and quivering visibly on the imager screen. The control deck was a small raised platform crammed with consoles and monitors and attached like a front porch to the huge containment vessel. Frost, Dr. Mary Duncan and two Quantum Corps techs occupied the platform.
“I’m just about to sign off on the last test series, Johnny. We’ve tested every system to one hundred and ten percent capacity, with no anomalies. I’m compiling a report for Major Kraft now. Your new master is good to go. Want to transfer ANAD to your capsule now?”
“Sure, Doc,” Winger told him. “But before we do that, I wanted to ask ANAD a few questions. 1st Nano is planning and prepping for a new mission and it may be a stretch for ANAD’s capabilities.”
“What kind of mission, Johnny? Scuttlebutt around the lab here says General Linx himself is flying in to Table Top today. It wouldn’t have something to do with that, would it?”
Winger knew the Doc wasn’t fully cleared for current operations. “Doc, it’s kind of sensitive. Most of the crew here aren’t cleared for this level of information.”
Frost nodded with understanding. “Use the coupler then. No one will be able to eavesdrop on what you two say to each other.”
Winger shook his head and tried linking in, the way Doc had taught him from months before. He was momentarily dizzy, even disoriented, but it wasn’t bad, not nearly as much dizziness as before.
A great wall of water crashed over his head and he was swept off his feet, tumbling and tumbling until at last he grabbed onto something and strained every muscle to hold on.
***Detecting an open channel…is that you, Base? Synchronizing with open channel and transmitting on Q1…do you copy my signal***
“ANAD, it’s Johnny.” Winger nodded, smiling broadly at Doc Frost and Dana Tallant, though he knew they couldn’t hear a thing. “ANAD, how do you feel? Are you feeling okay? Are you ready to rejoin the platoon?”
***ANAD to Base…sizzling radicals couldn’t keep me from it…Doc says I can jump containment any time…you do still want me with you and the platoon?***
Winger sensed the plaintive note in ANAD’s comm stream. The little guy is worried we don’t need him anymore.
“ANAD, you’re a vital part of this unit, you know that. We couldn’t complete our missions without you.”
***ANAD wants to contribute...you know I have devoted my whole life to the Corps…I have the greatest respect for you and Doctor Frost and the rest***
It was becoming embarrassing, even though Winger knew only he could hear it. “It’s okay, ANAD….it’s okay. I’m not going to leave you behind. Look, we may have a new mission. I came to get your opinion about some tactics.” Winger smiled at Doc Frost’s pained look. He knew perfectly well that Frost would never agree that a nanoscale mechanism like ANAD had enough processor power to have anything like an “opinion.”
***What is the nature of the mission?***
Winger described the planned operation against the Paryang base in Tibet. He explained the tactical advantages of assaulting the base from below ground.
“You did this before, ANAD…at Kurabantu,” he added. “Or rather, an earlier version of you did it. I just wanted your opinion…this will be a much bigger job, a riskier mission. The distances are greater. We’d like to have a bigger tunnel.”
For a few moments, ANAD didn’t reply. Winger checked the status board: all systems were in the green.
***I have completed accessing all memory registers for comparable data, Base. I have analyzed the record of the recent mission you completed at Kurabantu. This was a simpler version of ANAD, with fewer capabilities. I have additional data on the problem. This data shows that to tunnel through solid phase structures is highly energy-intensive…and time consuming. Intra-molecular distances are small and van der Waals forces strong and overlapping. It will take great time and energy to do what you are asking, Base. Heat dissipation could be a problem***
“But it could be done, at least in principle?”
***I want the mission to succeed as much as you do, Base. But my effectors need to be configured and optimized for disassembly. Dealing with feldspar, quartz, olivine and other solid rock structures takes a lot of energy. Just streaming off the molecular debris from disassembly requires some planning…there is so little room for any excess molecules in solid phase maneuvers.***
Winger considered ANAD’s answer. “ANAD, I’m on my way to a staff meeting. We’re going to propose that the assault be executed this way. I just want to make sure you can do it. Maybe you should come with me—“
ANAD seemed to consider that for a few moments.
***You know that I have the highest regard for the objectives of the Symbiosis Project. Nobody wants the mission to succeed more than me. It’s just that--***
For awhile, Winger thought the coupler stream had been broken off. He was about to say something to Doc Frost when ANAD came through again.
***…it’s just that it’s hard to be a real part of the team when I’m always in containment***
Winger shook his head. So that’s what this is about. “ANAD, you know the rules.” He explained the situation to Frost, being careful to avoid admitting that he had often let the assembler out of containment for long periods. “You know I can’t release you except in certain situations: combat situations or controlled conditions. I know you and I have discussed this before, but now’s not the time.”
Doc Frost regarded Winger’s predicament with amusement. “Like a stubborn child, isn’t he? You’re quite right, Johnny. The rules of release and containment are there for everyone’s protection. The world is not quite ready for uncontained ANAD swarms. Not after Serengeti…or this Amazon threat. Maybe that day will come but it’s not here yet.”
“ANAD,” Winger said, “I’m taking you with me to the staff meeting. Config for capture—“ even as he ordered the assembler to make ready for transit, Johnny Winger was pulling off his jacket and shirt, exposing the capsule port on his left shoulder.
Juan, the containment tech, called out status. “ANAD reports ready in all respects, Captain.”
“Very well. Launch ANAD—“ Winger closed his eyes and concentrated on the arguments he would use at the meeting, to convince Major Kraft and General Linx that the only
way to assault Paryang was from below ground.
He felt the sting of ANAD’s entry like a barrage of fly bites and winced as his shoulder muscles contracted. There was a surge of heat and his face flushed red. For a moment, sweat beaded up on his forehead but the flashes passed. He smiled a crooked grin at Frost and Juan.
“Guess it’s been awhile since I carried an ANAD around with me.”
Frost chuckled as he examined the red welts on Johnny’s shoulder. “Are you feeling okay? Your face is flushed red.”
Winger reluctantly admitted to some dizziness. But he wasn’t about to pass out. “I’m all right Doc. I was woozy for a second…but it’s gone now. Honestly, I’ll be fine.”
“That was a rough transit—“ Frost was checking parameters on his console. “—propulsors set too high…may not have folded all his effectors. I’m not sure why that happened.”
Winger figured it was just ANAD’s way of making his point. “I’ve got an idea, Doc.”
“What is it?”
But Winger was already on his way out the door. “Later, Doc. I’ve got a meeting at the Sim Tank.”
General Wolfus Linx was the very embodiment of Prussian military bearing. At six foot seven, he easily dominated any briefing room. His sandy moustache and piercing blue eyes made him a natural caricature but it was rare to find any graffiti or cartoons depicting CINCQUANT on the Corps intranet, or for that matter anywhere. So solid was Linx’ reputation and so fierce his legendary Teutonic temper that self-made artists throughout the Corps had always found it wiser and safer to find other targets for their satire.
Linx was a marble statue in Quantum Corps’ otherwise ever-shifting command structure in Paris.
The briefing commenced promptly at 1500 hours. In addition to General Linx, the meeting was attended by Winger and Tallant, Q2 section commander Major Mwale, of Quantum Corps Intelligence, and several quantum engineers, including Deeno D’Nunzio and 2nd Nano’s Master Sergeant Steve Demetrios.
Major Kraft ran the briefing, with visuals help from SOFIE.
“The purpose of this meeting,” Kraft was saying, “is to go over all our plans for executing the orders received by Quantum Corps this afternoon to assault the Red Hammer base at Paryang. In particular, I would like to start with the consolidated threat analysis from Q2. Major Mwale—“
Mwale was a tall black officer of Zulu ancestry. His high forehead shone in the bright spotlights as he came to the podium. Behind him, map projections of the Earth’s surface shifted and flickered.
“Q2’s analysis boils down to this: signals intelligence shows that the Paryang region of Tibet—“ he paused to let SOFIE highlight the spot on the map and tile everyone’s display with window panes of supporting data, “—is the locus of all control links to Amazon Vector swarms around the planet. It’s effectively the center of all the forces now modifying and destroying the Earth’s atmosphere. The intel comes from work done by our sigint section, with help from Doctor Irwin Frost, of the Autonomous Systems Lab. They’ve done great work, teasing out signals and coordinates from very faint, almost undetectable quantum effects…actually decoherence wake effects.”
General Linx massaged his glorious moustache thoughtfully. “You have confidence levels on the data, Major?”
“On your screen, sir…I’ve had SOFIE run the whole analysis. Quantum effects, satellite imagery and remote visuals from our ornithopter drones…they all point to this location as the source of swarm control links.”
Kraft spoke up. “Sir, we have the latest casualty figures from World Health and BioShield…” He stabbed a button on his armrest control pad and SOFIE brought up the morbidity displays. “As you can see, the mortality rates for affected areas in the Pacific, the Antarctic, the Congo River basin, Amazonia are all on the rise. Trend lines are accelerating as some of the larger swarms coalesce and the zones of atmospheric disturbance expand.”
Linx winced at the dry figures. He knew there was one hell of a lot of suffering behind the statistics. “Same dynamics?”
“Yes, sir,” Mwale admitted. “BioShield reports massive respiratory effects…literally millions now are being affected. Medical and public health facilities are overwhelmed. BioShield is breaking down in all the affected areas.”
“It’s the same everywhere, General,” Kraft added. “Hypercapnia, excessive concentrations of CO2 and other toxic gases. Toxic levels of fluorine and chlorine…both deadly…are rising in the zones. Oxygen and nitrogen molecules are steadily being disassembled and replaced by these molecules. Constituent gas concentrations are shifting, rapidly…toward life-threatening levels.”
“Blast it!” Linx spluttered. “Can we do nothing at all about these swarms? What the hell are they up to? Who’s driving this menace? And why?”
“It’s Red Hammer, sir,” Mwale said. “We’re sure of that. As to why…presently, the data support no conclusions.”
“Casualty figures are now in the tens of millions, sir. It’s imperative that drastic action be taken.”
Linx nodded grimly. “UNSAC concurs.” He read the mission orders out loud to the assembled staff: Plan, prepare for and execute an assault…render the facility inoperable…minimize collateral damage…maintain deniability…capture key enemy personnel. “I’ve scanned your after-action reports on ANAD engagements with this menace. Not a very reassuring record, Major. Have we nothing to counter these bots with?”
Kraft, with a glance toward Winger, spoke. “General, we’ve engaged Amazon several times, with mixed results.” He pressed a few buttons on his control pad and SOFIE brought up 3-D imagery of the Red Hammer nanobot, at maximum resolution. “As you can see, the bugger’s studded with effectors. It’s big as a battleship and well armored. It’s able to maneuver surprisingly fast for its size and it can grow and swap effectors with great speed…Captain Winger here has reported it’s hard for ANAD to keep up.”
“It has one known weak spot, General,” Winger added, taking his cue from the Major. “Amidships, there’s some kind of cavity or cleft that opens through some phosphate clusters right through the outer membrane groups to Amazon’s innards. If you can get by the grabbers and carbenes and radicals around the site, you can do a lot of damage inside. But getting inside…that’s the trick.”
Linx was growing frustrated. “ANAD has recently been regenerated, has it not? You had to do a quantum collapse in your last engagement?”
“That’s correct, sir,” Kraft said. “At Via Verde. Then at Lake Vostok, in the Antarctic. We were being jammed…quantum interference with the swarm made it a bitch to control. The only way Winger could escape was to leave him behind. We lost that one completely. The regenerated master now has changes that should make it more effective at engaging Amazon.”
“Let’s hope so,” Linx said. “Now the biggest question is how to get at Paryang. It’s a safe bet the place is thick with Amazon-style defenses, it not worse.”
Dana Tallant spoke up. “General, Captain Winger and I have been studying that problem. We have a tactical plan we think might work.”
Linx nodded for her to proceed. With Kraft’s help, she hooked up to SOFIE to create a sim of her idea.
“At Kurabantu Island, sir, 1st Nano was faced with a similar problem: an underwater complex, where I was being held along with my CC2, Sergeant Collin, by Red Hammer. The complex was built into the side of an underwater escarpment and it was well defended from most approaches. Captain Winger here used ANAD to bore a small tunnel from outside the swarm zone and assault the compound from inside the mountain, from a direction the enemy never expected. A small rescue force was able to achieve complete tactical surprise.”
Linx was intrigued. “Go on.”
“Well, sir, both Captain Winger and myself believe the same tactic would be effective against the Paryang base. An assault from below ground, starting from a point well outside Chinese territory.”
Linx altered the map t
o show the area in greater detail. “I scanned your reports from the Kurabantu operation on the trip over from Paris. ANAD is capable of tunneling fast enough to create an assault route?”
“With some tweaking and adjusting,” Winger replied. “More than capable, sir. Dr. Frost has optimized his effectors and propulsors to make such operations work even better—“
***Hey, don’t forget my processor, Boss…it’s really souped up for disassembling things now***
Winger managed a weak grin, then realized only he could hear ANAD’s boast. “ANAD’s processor has been upgraded. The Doc here has been tinkering under the hood again.”
When Linx glanced in Frost’s direction, the Doctor spoke up.
“I’ve taken steps to streamline the logic in his central processor. After the Kurabantu mission, Captain Winger asked me to do something to speed up his molecular manipulation and sorting speeds…I’ve done that and tested it. ANAD now can break down solid phase structures at speeds orders of magnitude faster than before.”
“Sir, if I may—“ Tallant cut in. She laid out the tactical plan she and Winger had developed in the commissary. “An underground assault offers several advantages. We gain tactical surprise…I doubt they’ll be expecting an assault force to pop up right at their front door, from below ground. And, as with the Kurabantu complex, it’s more likely that Red Hammer defenses will be minimal to nonexistent along this axis. So far as we know, they have no real knowledge that ANAD can do this kind of tunneling.”
Linx studied the maps. SOFIE annotated the views with additional data, depicting surface conditions, cities, topographic relief, even layering the diagrams with underground rock strata.
“It’s a long distance to go underground, Captain. We’re looking at…what?...several hundred miles of tunnel, through hard shale rock, if I’m reading the diagrams right. Can ANAD create a tunnel of that length, sturdy enough for an assault force to transit in a reasonable time?”