That level contained a huge server farm, a fraction of the total contained in Pepper Mountain. Toby remembered his first walk around the floor with row after row of stacks of servers, more than he’d seen in one place before. He tugged Billie away from the table.
“That’s your third coffee.”
“It’s the best coffee ever,” Billie protested.
“You’ll enjoy it more afterwards. Come on, Ruby’s waiting.”
The descending elevator pinged open its door. Toby said, “I keep forgetting the levels are in reverse order. This is deep.”
Ruby said, “We’re about five hundred feet from the top of the mountain. We decided we needed that depth for safety. There are more floors, really, because we have sub-floors for cooling, heating, maintenance, and other services. We’re adding more. The twelfth floor is ready for detailed construction. Bronwyn is planning to use it for manufacturing military bots. Mainly prototypes, she said. The construction bots have commenced drilling for the thirteenth floor.”
Toby was impressed. On his first visit the complex had ten floors with an eleventh under construction. “Do you know how many floors Darwin and Bronwyn are planning?”
Ruby tipped her head to one side. She was checking with Bronwyn. “She says based on Nate’s plans, twenty floors, although they’ve had to advance the drill and build schedule. The new floors are already allocated. The server farm is expanding very rapidly; it will require two more floors within three months.”
The small bot led the way along a row of servers. “Peter’s memory file shows he was here. He moved three rows over and returned to this row about a hundred yards along. I’ll take you to the other server row if you wish?”
“No, head in the general direction for now. We can always backtrack.”
“Yes, sir.”
They reached the end of the row. There was a gap, after which the row continued.
Ruby said, “Sometimes we need to move equipment around, so the layout provides access for the forklift bots.” She looked around and added, “Peter was here, at the end of this row. Then he went five rows over. This way.”
For a small bot, she could move quickly, Toby thought. They were heading generally in one direction; if his memory was correct, there was a steel wall at the end of the row. Another two hundred yards, he estimated.
“He stopped here. Then he moved very close to this wall. He was able to record Mr. Nate pressing a panel somewhere along—” Ruby pressed her hand against the steel wall and a panel slid away to reveal a door, also steel. There was a camera, a keypad, and other devices, all at eye level, on the side of the doorway.
“He watched Mr. Nate enter a code.”
She provided the ten numbers and Toby entered them into the numeric pad. Nothing happened for thirty seconds. A buzzing sound was followed by lights switching on. One was overhead and the other illuminated Toby’s face.
An anonymous voice gave an instruction; Toby thought it was a recording rather than a bot.
“Identify yourself.”
“I am Toby McIntosh.”
“Processing. Place your right hand on the rectangular panel.”
Toby wondered how his uncle would have obtained his handprint. He pressed his hand on the glass panel.
“Step up to the camera with your eye two inches from the lens.”
Toby remembered. When he first learned of Nate’s disappearance, when he went to the Bel Air property, he had undergone an identification process. This was similar and probably used the same reference points.
“Step back. State your reason for your attempt to enter this secure facility.”
“I am trying to discover what happened to my uncle, Nate Travers.”
The wait was longer. Eventually a voice spoke. This time it was a recording of his uncle’s voice. “Toby. I didn’t expect you to reach here so soon; you’ve not viewed any level one videos. The door will open for you. Do not permit a bot to enter; this section has been hidden from all bots and SIs. If there is any human person with you, decide whether that person can enter. The first room is a small office; I want you to watch a video before you proceed beyond that point. If you agree, push open the door. It will relock in sixty seconds.”
“Ruby, wait here until we return. Billie, come on.” Toby pushed open the door and stepped into the office. Billie followed, holding Toby’s hand. The door clunked shut behind them. It was pitch dark. Billie squeezed his fingers. Toby was about to comment when the overhead lights switched on.
Darwin turned his attention to Toby and Billie. Ruby had led them through a wing of the server farm where he’d lost track of them. He checked the video from the cameras located at the far end of the rows. Nothing. He refined his search. Ruby was standing against the end of one of the rows; she appeared to be off-line. He linked into the comms network and prodded her mind.
Ruby’s reaction was slow, languid even, and Darwin wondered why. He waited patiently until she returned to an active state.
“Toby—?”
“No, it’s Darwin. Where are Toby and Billie?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Toby told me to wait here, that he didn’t know how long they’d be. So, I’m waiting.”
“You don’t know where they went?”
“No. Have they gone somewhere?”
“I can’t find any trace of them on the server level. You’d better return to your home location.”
“No. No. Toby said to wait, that he’d be back.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. He told me to wait.”
Darwin realized the small bot wouldn’t accept countermanding instructions from him; at least, not without a lot of effort on his part. He said, “Inform me when they return.”
Ruby didn’t answer. She’d dropped back into her off-line state.
Interesting, Darwin thought. He returned to his task of trailing Flocke.
The small office was adequately furnished; that was the best Toby could say. There was a desk and two chairs, while a computer, keyboard, mouse, and small monitor were set up on the desk. Cables from the computer disappeared into the floor. There were no pens, no desk pads, nothing apart from the computer equipment on the desk. He sat down in front of the computer and switched it on.
It whirred away as the cooling fan built up revs; it was an older model. The screen flickered back and forth between black and pale white. A small input form displayed, requesting his name.
He entered his full name and pressed enter. A program presented a series of identification questions and, each time, Toby input the details and clicked Enter.
For a moment, it seemed the computer program had departed on some unknown journey. The white screen blacked out and reappeared, this time with an image; it was his uncle’s face.
The program typed a row of text. It read: Confirm you did not allow any bot or SI to enter this room: yes no.
Toby clicked: yes.
The next row of text read: Who is with you? Enter full name:
Toby entered: Billie Nile.
The computer whirred to itself. Toby guessed the machine was a good ten years old and had presumably sat in this office for that length of time and was scarcely used. A section of the wall slid open, displaying a larger monitor. It was switched on and again displayed Nate’s image.
“Welcome, Toby. I’ve checked the records and you should have watched another video before reaching this point. I don’t know whether to blame my negligence or to offer my congratulations. Anyway, I want you to watch file reference Toby001B now. It will commence in thirty seconds. Billie can watch, too.”
Toby moved the two chairs so both he and Billie could view the wall screen in reasonable comfort. The numbers incremented until the count reached thirty.
Nate said, “Sitting comfortably?”
“Yes,” Toby replied.
“Again, I assume I’m still missing. You have viewed two files, which I know were cryptic. This
one won’t be very different. First, I’ll brief you in more depth on aspects of the Euler Organization; that will give you material to compare with what you’ve discovered yourself. There’s a second file and in that I’ll try to explain possibly why I disappeared.”
oOo
Chapter Forty
The video was brief and did not reveal anything new. Toby already had discovered most of the information it contained. It did reference another file that his uncle said he needed to review before attempting to open the door into another, larger, room. Nate did not say what that room contained.
A blast of an emergency message and the loud repercussive impact of alarm sirens shattered the calm of the small office.
“Wow,” Billie said.
“It sounds urgent, so yes, let’s go. We’ll return to Nate’s file later.”
As he closed the office door behind them, Ruby was stirring. She focused on Toby. The alarms were even noisier in the server room.
Toby said, “Ruby, do you know—”
The sirens ceased their screeching. Darwin said, “Toby, we had to alert you. We need you. Get to the atrium as fast as you can.”
“Ruby, lead the way.”
The bot hurried, and Toby and Billie had to jog to keep up. The elevator delivered them to the atrium floor. Aerial was waiting.
“Okay,” Toby said, “We’re here. What’s the problem?”
Aerial pointed to the window-like display. Two sets of small specks were moving across the window, in close formation.
“They’re Army helicopters.”
“Chinooks,” Billie said. “Troop carriers.”
“Yes. Apparently, the FBI borrowed them from the Army. They are loaded with brownshirts contracted with the FBI. We haven’t yet identified whether they are on exercises or are intending to attack us. There is a lot of brownshirt activity near our distribution center, and we suspect they are planning to raid it. We evacuated the humans and deployed four squads of military bots. They’re armed, in case.”
Four squads was one hundred bots. Toby thought they should be able to defend against a brownshirt attack. The mention of the FBI using them as contractors was worrying.
“Contact Charles Henderson for me, tell him we might be under attack shortly, by brownshirts contracted with the FBI. Ask does he have any thought as to our exposure.”
“Yes, sir,” said Aerial.
“Bronwyn, take control of all military and security bots in Los Angeles. Prepare to defend our operations there, also defend any bots threatened by brownshirts.”
“Yes, Toby.”
“Darwin, I assume you replenished swarms and added to the security forces here?”
“Yes, Toby. We can hold off a small army.”
“Good. Whether that’s legal or not is another issue. I need you, Aerial and Junior to work together to defend this site. Bronwyn can assist as needed.”
“Yes, Toby.”
Aerial said, “I have Charles Henderson for you.”
“Toby. You have a problem?”
“Yes, Charles. We have an operation located in Nevada. We call it Pepper Mountain. This is one of our major sites, where we design bots and maintain our SIs. It contains one of the largest server installations that I’ve ever seen. I’d value the complex at well over a hundred million dollars, so we don’t want to see it invaded, damaged, or destroyed. There are six Chinooks flying near us. They are apparently loaded with brownshirt members, contracted with the FBI. No one has communicated with us, and while we don’t know if they intend to attack, I thought I should seek your advice.”
“Indeed. The whole country is in turmoil, I must admit. I saw a news item that your television operation has transferred to Canada—a prudent move, in my opinion. Now, as to your problem. How much at risk are you?”
“We can defend ourselves. Doing so could cause fatalities and serious injuries to the attackers.”
“Can you hold them off without fatalities while we check their warrants; assuming they’ve obtained them?”
“Probably. That might allow them to get too close for comfort, though.”
“Is there a landing area for these Chinooks?”
“No. They would have to hover while the men either jumped or abseiled out of the helicopters, to reach the entrance which is at the top of the mountain.”
“How many men do you estimate?”
“Up to three hundred. We have at least a thousand military and security bots here. We have what we call swarms, small drones that can be loaded with explosives, that can probably crash a Chinook. We could inflict a devastating defeat. What’s difficult is the ‘hold them off while we talk’ part.”
“Hmm. I assume you’ll try when they get closer and make their intentions known. Let me know when that happens. Your first task is to discover if they have a warrant, and what it’s for. Get a copy, if possible, and send it to me. I’ll check with some of my sources, too. I’ll do some research for you.”
“We’ll do the same thing. Very well, we’ll hold fire for the moment.”
Toby watched the distant helicopters for a moment. “Junior, you managed to take over the jets when they tried to attack?”
“Yes, Toby. I’ve tapped into these Chinook systems. They are primitive. I can take full control whenever you want. I can also relay their radio communications.”
“First, Aerial, can you get Colonel Coleman for me. Following that, I’d like to speak to FBI Special Agent Reynolds. Once I’ve finished those two conversations, you can relay their radio communications. Billie, you should consider taking your chopper and getting away from here.”
“No way. I’m here, with you. Always.” She hugged Toby.
“I’ve got Colonel Coleman.”
“Ty, are you able to talk?”
“Why, what’s the problem?”
“Are you with your Project E team?”
“Yes. I can talk.”
“We have six Army Chinooks flying around us, loaded with brownshirts. Apparently, they’re contracted with the FBI.”
“Aah. That explains something. We lost access to one of our satellites. It belongs to the Army. We’re moving another one into position. As a result, we’ve not had images for a few hours.”
“Pity. When will your satellite be ready?”
“Another thirty minutes. I’ll let you know.”
“Any idea what’s happening?”
“Apart from total chaos, you mean? At the moment, no. Our new SecDef is settling in. A number of my senior contacts are either walking away or retiring. The more determined officers are prepared to stay and ensure the military is not totally wrecked. Bots are on the do not use list. I’m not sure how long that will last; there are lots of objections being raised. Our readiness will reduce by over fifty percent. Congress is getting the details through unofficial channels. Of course, it doesn’t help that they’re in recess.”
“A different war.”
“You said it. Anyway, I’ll let you know when we have data.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Aerial said, “I have FBI Special Agent Reynolds.”
“Toby, what can I do for you?”
“Raymond. Have you any idea why some Chinooks should be flying around our mountain operation?”
Reynolds sounded bewildered. “No. Why should I?”
“They’re loaded with brownshirts contracted with the FBI.”
“Damn. So Flocke is acting against you. At least, that’s what I assume is happening.”
“Likewise. He’s keeping this close to his chest. Apparently, he’s learned how to avoid our intelligence gathering teams. This is totally out of the blue.”
“Has anyone made contact with you?”
“No, not yet. We’re being patient.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything. I’ve one or two friendly contacts in Quantico; they may have information. I’ll get back to you in an hour or so.”
“Thanks.”
Toby thought he’d covered the
bases for the moment. “Junior, let me listen to their radio communications, please.”
“Sure, boss. They’ve been quiet, though. I’m also listening to the brownshirt radios. I’ll overlay those if there’s anything interesting.”
The hiss of open links sounded from the atrium’s speaker system. Toby wondered whether he should instruct Junior to take control of the helicopters. He decided for the moment to listen to pilot communications.
“This is Blue Two Three. Anything yet that looks like a mountain factory?”
“Blue Leader. No, not yet. Apparently BS Leader is asking their base for more details.”
Toby almost shouted, “Junior, link to Colonel Coleman and tell him DON’T move his satellite into position.”
“I told him. He wants to speak to you.”
“Coleman?”
“Yes. What’s the issue?”
“The brownshirts don’t know our location. Whoever found us last time used your satellite to find us. Likewise for the two jets. So stay away!”
“Understood. I’ll stop the move. Keep me informed.”
“Sure.”
Billie said, “That was a good catch. They could search here all day, I suspect, and discover nothing.”
“Bronwyn, can anyone find us using infrared or heat detectors?”
“We’ve spread the heat exhausts in a way to prevent that happening. We’re fortunate the bots cleared away the damage done by the earlier attacks.”
“Agree. We’ll sit tight and see what happens.”
oOo
Blast of trumpets!
Tremendous—you’ve reached the end!
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