He’d been musing out loud when the door to the ICU suite opened. The nurse-corporal came in, followed by a stern-looking doctor. His name plate read Houck.
“Now, see here, Lieutenant, I don’t know what you’re doing but this is a hospital and you’re under my care…get rid of that thing immediately. You’re here to get well, not play with a cloud of bugs. And you’re supposed to be inside that bioweb until I say otherwise.”
ANAD quickly dispersed and Winger made arrangements for the last bots and the master to transit into his shoulder capsule. The faint mist disappeared just as Dr. Houck stabbed a button on the side of the bed. With a slight buzz, the bot barrier that was the bioweb flashed slightly, flared out and assumed its operating position, enveloping the bed in a completely sealed enclosure that would protect its occupant from unwanted intruders.
“Whatever you say, Doc. But I am feeling better, thank you, sir.”
Houck fussed over all the lines, tubes and monitors. “Not likely, Lieutenant. You’ll feel better when I tell you you’re feeling better, and not before.”
Chapter 2
“Disentangled”
U.N. Quantum Corps Western Command
Table Top Mountain, Idaho, USA
January 20, 2049
0700 hours
The briefing started the next day promptly at 0700 hours, in Lofton’s office. SOFIE, the AI that ran the simulations and scenarios around Table Top had projected a 3-D graphic of the Paryang monastery complex and added details gleaned from intelligence over recent days. The compound hung in mid-air like a disembodied ghost, rotating slightly to allow all sides of the facility to be examined.
Tallant was there, Frost and Duncan too. Major Jurgen Kraft scowled at Lofton, who loved showing off what his intel weenies had come up with. Johnny Winger examined the graphic from close range.
Lofton was in his element. “The key seems to be Engebbe,” he was saying. “We’ve been monitoring the dig site for some time now, TinyEye, satellites, sources on the ground, just to follow the daily routine and see if Red Hammer has any operatives in the area.”
Kraft said, “Can’t we just shut the place down…I’m sure we can get an order from UNSAC to that effect.”
Lofton looked back at Kraft like he was humoring a six-year old. “Major…it’s an active dig site. World Heritage and all that. And don’t forget—UNSAC’s probably in league with the cartel anyway. No…it’s better to let the bone doctors dig away and monitor them. That’s how intelligence works…you don’t tip your hand until you have to.”
Kraft decided on another tack. “This Paryang place…we think there’s a…what did you call that gadget, Dr. Frost--?”
Frost said, “An entangler. A quantum entangler…that’s likely what these spheres are.”
“—right. Entangler. We know from Dr. Frost that there’s one at Paryang. We’ve got one in containment here at Table Top. How many more are there?”
Lofton shrugged. “Unknown, Major. But Frost here thinks they’re some kind of comm device…like a transmitter/receiver. Or a portal, to this offworld intelligence…if you believe in that sort of thing.”
Winger said, “Sir, I think we have to believe it…at least in the possibility of it.”
Kraft had a pained look. “So it’s a radio. Radios can be jammed. Or spoofed. Can’t we figure out a way of jamming this gizmo? Block it or distort it somehow.”
“I have been thinking of that very prospect,” Frost told them. “It’s a crazy idea, but then the rules of quantum mechanics are pretty crazy too.”
“What have you got in mind, Dr. Frost?”
Now, Frost began warming to the task. “Just this…quantum mechanics says objects can be in more than one place at a time, as long as there is no physical interaction with the environment. That’s called entanglement. When we were ‘entangled’ at Engebbe, I had Johnny here drive ANAD directly into engagement with the big swarm we encountered…the one called Configuration Zero…thinking that would collapse the entanglement. And it worked.”
Kraft mulled over the idea uneasily. “So what exactly are you proposing, Doctor?”
Frost said, “I’m proposing a disentangler. A device that forces decoherence by physically engaging and interacting with entangled objects and systems. What I envision is a sort of large-scale ANAD containment capsule, that discharges ANAD-class bots into the environment to engage—literally to grapple with—any such entangled system. If I’m right, this technique will keep the cartel from using the spheres they possess to travel to other places and times and help block or at least make access to those archives more difficult. And that’s what we want.”
Lofton agreed. “How long until you can have a workable unit, Dr. Frost? We need to do anything we can to block, jam or distort comms between this archive and Red Hammer, maybe even spoof the cartel into thinking they’re in contact even when they’re not. I’d like to work that angle as well.”
Now Kraft brought up an idea. “What about Engebbe? Don’t forget that. If Red Hammer’s re-writing the code of life to achieve whatever this Prime Key is, should we try to stop that? Can we stop that?”
Lofton never thought he’d hear the day when Kraft was angling for a new mission. “Better check with UNIFORCE on that, Kraft. Quantum Corps has a mandate to deal with any and all threats at nanoscale. I’m not sure that mandate extends to saving evolutionary history.”
“But he’s probably right,” Frost said. “If this Configuration Zero is changing the genetic code of life itself three billion years ago, or has already changed the code, we’ve got problems. Big problems. I don’t know how we go about solving that one.”
Lofton commanded SOFIE to alter the displays to zero in on the dig site at Engebbe. The projected globe rotated, then zoomed in to the plains of northeast Kenya…the Serengeti plain. It was a live satellite feed; small dots moved about on the display and when the zoom was complete, vast herds of wildebeest and Thomson’s gazelle could be seen from above, churning up dust clouds across the plain.
Lofton went on. “I’ve got intel from ground sources at the site that tell me Red Hammer’s in the area. What exactly they’re up to, my sources don’t say.”
“Looking for any advantage over Quantum Corps,” Kraft decided. “We need to shutdown Engebbe. And we should put one of Doc Frost’s disentanglers there as well.”
The discussion went on for awhile. Eventually, an op plan was methodically worked out. Details were kicked around, hashed out, argued and debated. The op plan would involve two parts: (a) a Detachment Bravo, commanded by Lieutenant Dana Tallant, would be sent to Engebbe to scout for Red Hammer operatives and to reconnoiter what the cartel’s ultimate goal was in being there; and (b) an attempted infiltration by Detachment Alpha ANAD units, commanded by Lieutenant Johnny Winger, would be attempted into the Paryang complex. It’s mission: emplace a disentangler at the monastery to mess up the cartel’s archival access…forcing entangled objects and links out of entanglement by physically interacting with them…decohering them into existence.
“It’s a damn strange way to wage a war,” Kraft decided. “It was strange enough standing up 1st Nano and fighting enemies with swarms of flea-sized bots. Now this—entangled links and being in multiple places at the same time. It makes my head hurt.”
“Get used to it,” Lofton told them. “The battlefield’s not just inside atoms and molecules any more. Now it’s other times and places as well. The enemy’s clever and he’s got help. Our job is to make sure he can’t do anything with that help.”
Kraft was still skeptical. “Does anybody here really believe this crap about aliens and offworld intelligence?”
Frost was sober, remembering what they had seen three billion years ago in the swamp that had once been Engebbe. “Major, Johnny and I witnessed something in that swamp. It was a swarm, to be sure, a collection of bots, I believe. But it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
What worries me is ANAD.”
“Doc, you designed ANAD. Who knows more about ANAD than you?”
Frost said, “Yes, that’s true. But part of ANAD, a critical part, came from the code we saw being written into the moss in that swamp. It solved some programming problems. But it has capabilities I’m not sure I fully understand. Configuration Zero came from somewhere…probably not this world. ANAD may well have aspects of his program and his operation we can’t even imagine.”
Now Kraft was beginning to look pained. His Black Forest moustache twitched and a large vein was throbbing on his forehead. “Doc, what are you saying…that we can’t trust ANAD? My whole operation here…the very idea of the Symbiosis Project—depends on trusting ANAD. I’m trying to blend the nanobots you designed with my own troopers. Make a blended man-machine warrior. I can’t have ANAD going off half-cocked, doing things that put my troopers’ lives in jeopardy. A nanotrooper’s got to have absolute trust in his buddies and his equipment. Anything less and…well—“ Kraft shrugged. “What’s the point? We may as well hang back and blast our enemies with HERF and magpulses.”
Frost could offer no more assurances and the briefing was ended. Winger and Tallant were ordered to Mission Prep to get their detachments and gear together.
“I’ll have tasking from UNIFORCE by 1200 hours,” Kraft told them. “And two hyperjets on the liftpads too. Run your team selections by me before 1800 hours. I want both detachments underway by this time tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” Tallant and Winger both said in unison. They excused themselves from Ops and left the building. On the walk across the snowy quadrangle toward Mission Hall, Tallant had a question.
“Wings, maybe we’d better run full diagnostics on ANAD before we shove off. When I’m in Indian country, I want to be able to count on my horse.”
“There’s nothing wrong with ANAD,” Winger said, more firmly than he really intended. That didn’t sound right. “I mean…pre-mission checks are mandatory, for all gear, anyway.”
Tallant had already picked up on the undercurrent of defensiveness. “Hey, don’t bite my head off, okay? I know you two are like brothers, Wings, but think about it: it just makes sense. ANAD’s a bot. That’s all he is. A piece of equipment. We clean and check our weapons. We test Superfly and MOB and our camoufog. We should check ANAD out too. After all, we depend on him for everything.”
Winger said, “Sorry…I just get a little touchy about it, that’s all. Yeah, I know ANAD’s a bot. But it’s like Doc Frost said…he’s got capabilities we’ve only just begun to explore.”
“And this is supposed to make me feel better? I don’t want my HERF carbine going off free-lancing on me when I’m under fire. I don’t want my MOB canister feeling sorry for itself and refusing to deploy when I press the button. Come on, Wings…face it. You’re in love with the little guy. We all know it. It’s kind of cute, actually. I can see the headlines in Quantum Corps Times now: ‘Love-starved nanotrooper shacks up with bot, makes a happy couple together. “We just want to be alone,” says trooper.” ‘
Winger saw no humor in any of it. “You ‘ve made your point. Let’s get to Mission Hall and get the teams together.”
They said nothing else until they reached the bunker at the north end of Table Top.
“The Himalayas, huh?” Deeno D’Nunzio was saying. “Garden spot of the earth…I mean, what’s not to like? It’s got snow. It’s got fleas and flies. Howling winds. Subzero temps. Why can’t we ever get a mission to someplace else… like Tuscany? Or St. Thomas?”
“’Cause we’re in the Corps, girl. Stop complaining and hand me that power cell.” Sheila Reaves was at a nearby table, with parts and pieces of a HERF gun disassembled and laid out before her.
Moby M’Bela was nearby too, loading a MOB canister. “Skipper, what’s it really like being entangled? Can you breathe?”
Reaves snorked. “I was entangled once…but the scumbag ran off with another girl.”
Winger planned to download his ANAD into a local containment bay and run some diagnostics. Tallant was right. You couldn’t be too careful. “Guys, it’s hard to describe. It seems real enough. But Doc Frost warned us not to touch anything, not to interact in any way with the environment. Sort of like being in a dream, I suppose.”
Tallant piped up, from her own gear stand, where she was blowing out her hypersuit. “The rules haven’t been written for how to run ops when you’re entangled. It’s greater than the difference between ANAD’s world and ours, macro and nano. Think back to nog school and molecular ops…how you had to re-learn how to move and advance when you’re the size of an atom. I just hope we don’t have to go through entanglement too much…. it’s really creepy.”
D’Nunzio was sighting in her own HERF carbine, checking how much juice she still had in her ‘trons. “So, tell me, Skipper, what’s the real scoop on this mission…what’s it called?”
“Operation Quantum Shadow,” Winger told them. “It’s part recon, part infiltration, part throw a wrench in Red Hammer’s gears and see what happens.”
M’bela asked, “The target is this monastery? Are we doing another underground assault?”
Winger let his shoulder capsule discharge ANAD into containment. The chamber was little bigger than a basketball, but it was surrounded by thick ganglia of cables, tubes and pipes. When the control board lit up all green, he knew the tiny assembler was inside, safe and sound.
“We’re not assaulting anything and no, we’re not going underground.”
Deeno heaved a loud sigh of relief. “Thank God…I hate being a mole.”
“Just covert entry and recon. Plus, we’re leaving behind a little present for Red Hammer…sort of a calling card. Doc Frost’s working on it now.”
“What is it, Skipper?”
Winger explained what little he knew of the theory. “Doc calls it a disentangler. It’s supposed to prevent the cartel from using those spheres, from downloading anything from that archive Q2 thinks they’re using. Doc said it decoheres entanglement states, mucks everything up so only gibberish comes back. I’ll have to take his word on that. Our job is to make a covert entry, using only ANAD, replicate a disentangler, put it in place near their sphere, and get the hell out of dodge.”
M’bela hmmm’ed. “Only ANAD. Do we need a full detachment for that?”
Winger shrugged. “Ironpants thinks so. We’re setting up shop on the Nepal border…spot’s already been picked out. I’ll drive ANAD. The rest of you will monitor and support. Q2 says Red Hammer’s got eyes and ears all over the area, so we have to be ready for anything.”
Tallant came over to the containment bay, watched the imager screen as ANAD drifted toward its mount inside. “Wings, is he ready? Can he do the job?”
“We’ll soon find out. I downloading all configs and going over them line by line. Plus I want to tweak C88…that’s a new one. We’ll be using that from launch to entry.”
Reaves scratched her head. “C88…I don’t know that one. What is it?”
“Something I cobbled together when I was in the infirmary. Major Kraft’ll have to approve but it basically makes ANAD and any swarm he replicates look like snowflakes…the last met report I saw showed serious snow storms across Tibet over the next few days…one after another. We’ll hitch a ride on them and masquerade ANAD as just another weather front.”
Deeno was skeptical. “Skipper, Red Hammer’s got to have sensors tuned for atomic activity …thermals, acoustics, bond breaking. ANAD will stand out like a poodle in a hurricane.”
Winger smiled mischievously. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, Deeno. I’ve been tinkering…working with the Doc to cut down on ANAD’s emissions. With the right storm raging all around him, he’ll look more like a flea than a poodle. Doc’s worked with me to make his replicating way more efficient. The idea came from Engebbe and from tactics we stole from Red Hammer.”
Tallant watched the imager screen as the ANAD master bot flexed its effectors in a methodical routine, grabbers, probes, enzymatic knives, abstractors…one after another was exercised and checked. “Wings, I keep hearing more and more symbiosis stuff. Like the Corps may finally spring for all of us to get shoulder capsules…and embeds, not just command staff.”
“I’ve heard that too. It would be big undertaking. And those selected would be offline for weeks, what with the surgery and recovery, the training, coupler ops, more training. I think Kraft wants to do it, but the mission load’s too great right now.”
Reaves came over, cocked her head, and with a smile, felt for Winger’s capsule port. “What’s it like, Skipper, having the little guy right there with you all the time?”
Winger watched ANAD cycling his effectors. “It’s like having a little brother watching everything you do. Remember how that was…how you had to explain everything. You’ve got voices in the back of your head, asking why all the time, offering suggestions, commenting on everything. It’s not always a great thing…Doc’s got some work to do on the interface.”
Reaves shook her head. “I have a little brother. Mom and Dad practically had to clobber us every day to keep us apart. I’m not sure I want that again.”
“Blended Man-Machine Warrior…that’s the idea,” Winger told them. “Make a nanotrooper and his ANAD unit one badass fighting machine. It’s going to take some work…which is what we need to be doing to get ready. Major Kraft wants us aboard that hyperjet at 0800 hours tomorrow, full kit and ready to rock and roll. We’ve got a full debrief with the man tonight. So stop bitching and moaning and get your gear shipshape.”
With that, the nanotroopers of Alpha and Bravo Detachment bent to their tasks. There was a lot to be done. Winger silently willed ANAD to step through his diagnostics faster. He decided he would speed things up by downloading configs right from containment. Jeez, I’d better get some of that hog piss the commissary calls coffee over here…we’re going to be up all night as it is.