by Scott Baron
“Daisy, we received your update,” Sid’s voice crackled through the comms. “Multiple additional AIs have been found intact by the advance teams and have been networked back into the restored communications hard-lines. At present, all communications appear normal, and all are functioning at peak operational capacity with your modified safety kill-switches installed. Major cities, including New Orleans, Chicago, San Diego, Minneapolis, and Houston are now all online. The teams are continuing their missions and bringing more cities back into the fold as I send this. Regarding your dilemma. We have searched records for alternate access points to Joshua’s network, but as you know, Dark Side’s data stores were largely purged prior to my installation. We will, however, continue to search, and will inform you if we find any information that may prove useful. Please update us regularly.”
“Well that’s no help,” she groaned.
“Sorry, Daze, me too. I’ve got nothing.”
“No worries, Sis, it’s not like we thought it would be easy,” she replied. She looked around the room one more time, then headed back out to join her surviving teammates.
“Hey, I heard from Dark Side. Sid says the others have successfully reconnected with at least a half-dozen major city AIs already and the teams are out scouting for more.”
“This is excellent news, Daisy!” Jonathan chirped excitedly.
“Yeah, it would be, only after all of that hard work, as well as losing several of our team, it looks like we have no way to communicate with Joshua, here. That is, unless you guys have come across something I missed.”
They all shook their heads.
“Yeah, didn’t think so. Dammit, we came all this way only to have no way to even let him know we’re here.”
“It is a disappointment, but we are used to hardship,” the scruffy man said. “We must make the best of what the lord provides.”
“Well, he provided some old food packs in the break room, Moses. Knock yourself out. You earned it,” Daisy said. “But don’t open the fridge, it’s not safe––”
She froze mid-sentence.
“What is it, Daisy?” Tamara said.
Gears were turning quickly in her head.
Oh hell, how could I miss that?
“Daisy?”
“The fridge!” She grabbed the comms unit and bolted for the break room. Daisy carefully put the transmitter on the counter, then began pulling the massive refrigerator from the wall. “Jonathan, give me a hand here.”
“Of course,” the cyborg said. “Glad to be of service.”
The two of them dragged the hefty steel box free from its nook. Daisy eagerly peered behind it.
“Yeah now! That’s what I’m talking about!”
“For fuck’s sake, Daisy, what is it?” Tamara asked.
She looked at her friend with a broad smile. “The fridge had a warning on it. Not just a standard one, but a custom one. As if it were monitored. Watched by someone who wanted to ensure the men guarding it didn’t succumb to something as avoidable as food poisoning.”
“You don’t mean––”
She reached behind the fridge and pulled loose a very thin communications link cable.
“Yes, I do. This refrigerator, my friends, is the last remaining link to Joshua.”
“But there’s no panel, no controls. How are you going to connect with him?”
“I’m not.” She patted the comms unit. “Sid is.”
Daisy set to work modifying a small connector, creating a makeshift cross-device relay to allow Sid to communicate directly with the long-silent AI. There would be the standard delay, but once Joshua was contacted, if he was contacted, then with his processing capacity, it would be easy to send highly concentrated information bursts to Sid. AI to AI, they could cover months of human-speed conversation in a few minutes, and that was including the transmission lag.
Daisy made the final connection and powered the device on.
Nothing.
“Daisy? Is something supposed to happen?” Tamara wondered.
“It’ll take time. If we don’t hear anything in the next fifteen minutes or so, I’d say it’s a wash. While we wait, everyone eat up. The food packets are ancient, but they should still be edible so long as they aren’t puffy from spoilage. Can’t speak to how they’ll taste, though. In any case, get some energy in you while you can. One way or another, I’m sure we’ll need it.”
The team, exhausted from both the travel as well as the fight, ate in silence, the tension in the room thick enough to spread on the dry crackers contained in their meal pouches.
“Daisy,” Sid finally said, a solid thirteen minutes later, “Joshua has verified my credentials as Dark Side’s resident AI, albeit reluctantly. I have just updated him on the global situation, including the new information we have acquired from our fellow AIs now linked into our network. He informed me that he would process the data and run a series of scenarios in his war game simulator. He has also re-activated his external monitors. You can expect admittance into the heart of NORAD shortly. I suggest you wait near the main entrance for your escort. Do not be alarmed by their appearance, and do not engage them. They are military-grade cyborgs, and while they are not infected, those units can be a bit… jumpy at times. Good job, Daisy. All of you. Now please disconnect the comms unit and bring it with you into the base. You will be shown where to reconnect it once inside.”
Tamara gave a little round of applause. “Oh, hell yes. Nicely done, team!”
Despite their losses, a much-needed sense of accomplishment managed to lessen their shared pain. They had sacrificed for a reason, and now it appeared that their efforts were a success.
“All right, you heard him. Gather up your stuff, and let’s get to the entry. It’s time to go meet Joshua.” Daisy disconnected the comms unit and slung it over her shoulder and headed out to meet the great and powerful Oz. The massive mind behind the curtain.
Chapter Forty
Man, that’s one big door, she marveled as the thirty-ton hunk of steel and stone slowly rumbled open.
Feet marching in unison echoed from inside.
Ah, yes, our escort.
A dozen fleshless cyborgs in fatigues marched to a halt just inside the door. Sid was correct, they were different from other tin men. Far sturdier, with reinforced joints and armored coverings protecting both their AI processors, as well as their power supplies.
“Which one of you is Daisy?” the apparent leader of the squad of metal men asked.
“That’d be me,” Daisy replied.
The cyborg strode to her and extended his hand. “Sergeant George Franklin. Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. It’s been a long time since we’ve had visitors.”
Daisy pushed back her knee-jerk revulsion and clasped the cold metal hand firmly and shook.
“We’re glad to meet you as well, Sergeant. It was quite a chore getting here.”
He surveyed the utter carnage of fallen cyborgs and nodded approvingly.
“Your squad appears to have been more than up to the challenge.”
“They were, but we did lose five of our team.”
“It’s never easy losing men under your command. Believe me, I know. The best you can do is try your damnedest to make sure they didn’t die in vain.” He paused, seemingly choked up, which, for a cyborg, Daisy thought, was quite unusual. “We can talk more about this later, if you wish. I’m happy to lend an ear if you need. But for now, let’s get you inside. Joshua is looking forward to meeting you all.”
Daisy and her team followed George into the gaping maw of the mile-long tunnel. The massive door’s rumbling was amplified in the cavernous space as it loudly swung shut behind them.
“Don’t mind that,” the sergeant said. “Protocol. After all, with all the madness out there these days, you never know.”
A people mover stood waiting for them.
“And here I thought we’d have to make the trek on foot,” Tamara joked.
The sergeant laughed.
&n
bsp; “Hell, we’re mechanical, and even we don’t want to make that trek on foot if we don’t have to,” he said with a mirthful chuckle. “George Franklin.” He extended his hand with a metal grin.
“Lieutenant Tamara Burke, pleased to meet you, Sarge,” she said, shaking with her good hand.
“I see you’ve got a little hitch in your giddy-up there,” he said, gesturing to her deactivated arm.
“Yeah, that damned AI virus knocked it for a loop.”
He recoiled slightly.
“Relax, George. The AI was totally wiped. Purged the whole system, and the virus along with it. Unfortunately, that means this thing’s just an inconveniently dangling hunk of metal until I can get it fixed.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Lt. I don’t know if Joshua has any facilities that can help you, but I’m sure he’d be glad to take a look once he’s done with his simulations. It might be a while, though. He can get a little preoccupied once he sets his mind to a task.”
Daisy turned to them both. “If defeating the aliens who destroyed our planet is his preoccupation, that’s fine by me.”
The electric people mover slowed to a halt over a mile deep in the tunnel at the thick double doors that would take them into the heart of the mountain.
“Now I have to ask you all to please not touch anything,” George said. “This is a highly sensitive military facility, and I’d hate to have to remove you from it.”
The only threat was a gently implied one, but Daisy had no doubt that despite his calm and jovial demeanor, when it came to his job and duty, good old George would have no problem opting for the stick instead of the carrot.
The team followed their escort to a central command room deep within the complex.
“Please connect your communications device to the docking link to your left, Daisy,” a pleasant male voice requested.
She did as she was asked, and moments later, the panel lit up with a flashing array of lights as it ran through a cycle of data transfer and reconfiguration.
“Thank you. You may disconnect it now. I have assimilated the encryption, firewall, and delay decoy into my systems and no longer need your device,” Joshua said. “And my compliments on a clever design. From what Sid, Mal, and the other networked AIs now online have informed me, the Ra’az Hok and their Chithiid conscripts are quite talented at tracking communications signals and any inorganic movements. Your delayed relay trick and firewalls are quite inspired. Tactically speaking, I heartily approve.”
“Thank you, Joshua. They say necessity is the mother of invention,” Daisy replied.
“Indeed,” he agreed. “So, let’s get down to it. From what I've been able to discern from the aggregated observations from all sources, both terrestrial and lunar, the Ra’az Hok are indeed making great progress on a new hyper warp drive system.”
“You can just call them the Ra’az,” Daisy interrupted. “It’s what the Chithiid call them for short.”
“Thank you. I'll update my files with this new data. And you say you have contact with members of a Chithiid rebellion?”
“More like one Chithiid who is trying to help us start one. You see, his homeworld––”
“Yes, I have been informed. So, this is another asset on the table, and a possible source of unconventional attack and even sabotage. A covert Chithiid force at our disposal may prove quite useful, tactically. Now, as I was saying, the Ra’az have taken design concepts gleaned from a device found in the shuttlecraft Daisy commandeered and retrofitted, and that has allowed them to accelerate their previously stalled program exponentially. In fact, from the observations of the surviving AI nearest the Bay Area, it appears as if the drive is far closer to completion than you realized, which almost certainly poses a catastrophic threat. If they could successfully travel to and from their fleet or their homeworld in an instant instead of the several years of leapfrogged jumps, they could recall their fleet at a moment’s notice. Likewise, the stripping and destruction of this, and other planets, would be accelerated to a disastrous pace.”
“Wait, you said this new warp drive is farther along than we thought. Exactly how much farther are we talking, here?” Daisy said, alarmed.
“The only thing that has slowed them thus far has been the apparent improper tuning of the device. Any technology which fiddles with the folds of space-time, such as this warp drive, is extremely dangerous. So far, their technical issues have resulted in the loss of a multitude of their most advanced ships, and cost them numerous Chithiid test pilots in the bargain, though the Ra’az seem to care little about the loss of Chithiid lives. From power spikes at their San Francisco research and development facility, it would appear they will be launching another test launch in just a few days.”
“Not Oakland?”
“No. Regional AIs have reported activities shifted across the bay, at least for the launch of their test ships.”
“So, San Francisco is actually their base of operations?”
“For this program, yes. The resources stripped from the high-density tech areas of Silicon Valley have provided them a treasure trove of useful materials.”
“So we take out the comms in Tokyo and then we stop them,” Tamara said. “It won’t be easy, but there’s a decent chance we can get into that base. We’ve got a plan. We just need your help accessing an explosives depot on the island of Japan so we can get some real firepower."
“Why Tokyo?” Joshua asked.
“Don’t you know? That’s the communications hub they use to reach the advancing fleet. If we don’t take that out and prevent them from recalling the fleet, the Chithiid won’t help us.”
“But that is not the only facility. There are three of them on different continents.”
“No, I was told those were all decoys.”
“That is incorrect information, Daisy. I’ve reviewed relevant information gleaned from all AIs currently connected with Dark Side Base. Signal aspects and transmission strength show that Tokyo, Sydney, and New York are all linked together, transmitting both to the fleet as it advances, as well as back to the Ra’az homeworld.”
“So you’re saying we’ll have to cripple not one, but three communications systems?”
“Yes.”
“And then we have to stop their ships from launching too?”
“Yes as well. Once the communications are down, there is a ninety-five percent likelihood that the Ra’az will attempt to utilize the new warp drive to send ships to the fleet, their homeworld, and the Chithiid’s home as well. If just one of those ships successfully leaves orbit and makes the jump, it will be able to reach not one, but all three destinations in short order. While the Ra’az scientists would still require time to replicate the technology on board, I estimate the entire fleet would be retrofitted and able to return to Earth within two point eight months, rather than two to four years.”
“We’ll be wiped out,” Daisy gasped. “There’s no way we can withstand even a fraction of their fleet. And since they know about Dark Side from their initial attack, they will likely bombard it again as soon as they return, so we wouldn’t be safe there either, even if we could escape the surface.”
“I'd call that an astute observation.”
“So the Tokyo communications attack. The Ra’az have been playing a misinformation game for centuries. Planting a single bomb will do nothing. It was all a trick. A trap.”
“Indeed, it appears so. Merely disabling one facility will not suffice, nor will eliminating all three, should the Ra’az be able to launch their ships. I will need to devise a better plan than what you originally came up with.”
“Can you do that? You said we only have days.”
“Daisy, I’m the most powerful military strategist ever created. Yes, I can do that.”
“But even if you can, we don’t have the firepower to knock out all three communications hubs. We’re screwed.”
Joshua laughed heartily.
“It’s not funny!” Daisy yelled.
“N
o, of course not,” he said, still chuckling. “My apologies. But did I also mention that I can control the access and targeting codes for hypersonic missiles? If the Ra’az Hok communications were temporarily disrupted on the ground, those missiles would reach them before they knew what hit them.”
Daisy felt her spirits begin to lift. A slim ray of hope began pulling her back from rapidly approaching despair.
“Really?” she said. “But there are more than just a few facilities we’ll have to deal with now. Exactly how many of those missiles do you control?”
Joshua stifled another chuckle.
“Daisy,” he said, “I control them all.”
A smile of realization slowly spread across her face.
You hear that? she asked her silent partner.
“You bet I did,” Sarah replied. “This changes everything, Daze.”
Oh yes it does, she said, her smile in full bloom. “I think we’d better grab a bottle opener, Sis.
“Why’s that?”
Because it looks like we’re going to be opening up a whole fucking case of whoop-ass on those alien bastards.
“Okay, Joshua,” Daisy said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Daisy’s Gambit
THE CLOCKWORK CHIMERA BOOK 3
SCOTT BARON
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
– Neil deGrasse Tyson
Chapter One
Pulse rifle fire peppered the wall to Daisy’s left, sending razor-sharp bits of stone shrapnel flying every which way.
“Ow! Sonofa––” Tamara cursed as another new gash opened in her cheek. Soon she’d have yet another scar to add to her collection. That is, if they stayed alive long enough for her to grow it.
How many did you count, Sarah? Daisy asked her mental sidekick.
“I saw five of them spaced out between two and four o’clock. I counted only three with pulse rifles, though. The other two are trying to flank you on the left. I lost track of them after they swung past your nine o’clock, but I think only one of them is armed.”