Natural Born : Book Three: Annihilation Series: A Political Technothriller Series

by John Hindmarsh

  This time the sigh was even louder and was quickly replaced by cheering; the latter was quickly hushed, and silence fell. The bots wanted to listen.

  “Thank you, sir. Everyone who is linked in is cheering, too.”

  Toby said, “Darwin’s team has been effective in most states in the US and they are about to commence a campaign at the federal level. Bots have a tremendous number of supporters in my country, and I expect we’ll find that to be the case here.”

  He paused in case Alice wanted to comment.

  When she didn’t speak, he continued, “There are actions you can take to help your case. One is for you to discuss this with your human contacts. We can provide some talking points for you. Popular opinion will always help our campaign. Another action—” He paused to check with Bronwyn “—and Bronwyn agrees, is first, she will set up a reporting process, a help desk. That will be ready by tomorrow. You can report any attempts to interfere with your activities, breaches of your contract, and physical restraints or assaults. The last two should also be reported to your police. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir. A few of us—not many, though—have been assaulted and damaged. Some have not been paid or allowed time off, and we haven’t had any recourse for those contract breaches. Can you help?”

  “Of course. From now on, we will implement legal action against the human involved where there is any abuse of a bot. If necessary, we will arrange the bot’s release from the contract and find a replacement assignment. There are long waiting lists for most, if not all, of our bot categories because you’re all in high demand.”

  The bot with legal experience stepped forward and said, “Sir Toby, Alice, if you don’t mind—I have a request.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m aware of the policy about anyone interfering with a Euler bot. I agree there should be a severe penalty when anyone attempts to reverse engineer a bot program or processor.” He paused, searching for words. “One of my bot friends was partially dismantled by a Euler competitor’s employee and when he tried to remove the CPU, it exploded. The human involved was injured; he lost a finger, and his eye was damaged. However, what was far worse, in my opinion, is that my friend was killed—his life, memories, programs, and processors, all were destroyed. The penalty on the bot victim is far too extreme. Can you implement an alternative process that preserves the life of the bot?”

  “Bronwyn, do we do that? Destroy the bot when someone tries to reverse engineer it?”

  “Yes, we do. Your uncle implemented that policy years ago and no one has reviewed or changed it. He wanted to protect his intellectual property.”

  Toby addressed the bots in front of him. “I was not aware of this process. It will be changed as soon as possible. I’m not sure what we’ll do to protect the Euler Organization’s intellectual property, but we can’t condone or continue such a fatal process.”

  The legal bot bowed his head. “On behalf of all of us, I thank you, Sir Toby.”

  A stir at the far end of the square caused a ripple effect across the crowded bots.

  “What’s happening?” Toby asked Alice.

  “Three policemen are asking what has caused so many bots to gather in the square.”

  ‘Open up a path so they can reach us.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The path appeared almost by magic as bots crowded back to leave a narrow strip across the grass leading straight to Toby and Billie. Five bots, heavy duty, moved to stand closer to the bench where they were sitting. Toby realized they were there to provide protection.

  He said to Bronwyn, “Is this group acting at your direction?”

  “Yes, Sir Toby.”

  “I don’t think English police are likely to represent a threat. Tell your bots to act with restraint, and only if I instruct them.”

  “Done.”

  Three uniformed police officers walked along the open pathway and stopped short of the bench. One stepped closer. He was a more senior officer, Toby thought, based on his uniform markings.

  The policeman said, “Sir, I’m Sergeant Stone. Can I see some identification? Also, can you tell me why the square is full of bots?”

  “Certainly, Sergeant.” Toby pulled his passport out of his back pocket and handed it over. “My name is Toby McIntosh. The bots? Quite unexpectedly, they wanted to meet us and discuss some of their problems.”

  Toby noticed one of the more junior constables was using his radio apparently to report the gathering. The sergeant opened the passport and examined it carefully, checking Toby’s photograph and the Heathrow immigration stamp. He handed the passport back to Toby.

  “Can you tell me more about this gathering, Mr. McIntosh?”

  “Call me Toby, please. I’m the owner of the Euler Organization and I suppose it’s because my company designs them.”

  The sergeant was momentarily taken aback. He turned to the nearest bot and said, “You. Is this correct?”

  The reply was voiced by a thousand or more bots. “Yes, it is.”

  The three policemen were startled and perhaps concerned by the concerted reaction. The young constable used his radio again and spoke to his senior officer. His voice was low, and Toby could not hear the discussion.

  Bronwyn said, “He’s requesting assistance. He said they may be at risk. Someone is coming, an inspector.”

  Toby said, “Sergeant Stone, there’s no danger here for you and your men. The bots only want to talk to me and my partner. Of course, they want to provide protection for us, too. I’ve had threats to my life, I’ve been shot, and Billie has been kidnapped. Normally, I have a security squad to provide protection. We didn’t think that was needed in your country.”

  “Of course. We’re law-abiding—at least most of us. My inspector is nearby. He wants to meet you. Do you mind if we wait with you until he arrives?”

  “Not at all.” He edged along the bench, crowding Billie. “Take a seat, if you wish.”

  The sergeant was tempted for a moment. “Ah, no, sir. Thank you. Save it for the inspector.” He was silent for a few seconds. “Are you really the chief executive of Euler? We’ve heard of the organization, of course.”

  Alice spoke up. “The sergeant’s mother—her name is Helen—has a care bot.”

  That startled the sergeant. He turned to Alice with a frown. “How do you know that?”

  “Sergeant, both Helen and her care bot, his name is Radius, are listening to us,” Alice said.

  “I’ll be—”

  oOo

  Chapter Four

  There was a man walking down the narrow access strip provided by the bots. As he approached, the three uniformed policemen straightened to attention.

  The police sergeant said, “Good morning, sir.”

  “Good morning, Stone. This is—”

  “Toby McIntosh, sir. Mr. McIntosh, this is Inspector Dowd.”

  Toby stood and offered his hand, and the inspector shook it. His grip was firm.

  “Welcome to London, Mr. McIntosh.”

  “Toby, please. This is my partner, Billie Nile,” Toby said, seating himself.

  The inspector nodded and said, “Miss Nile.”

  Billie smiled. She was not used to British formality.

  The thousands of bots watched with intense interest. Alice looked from Toby to the inspector and back.

  Toby said, “What can we do for you, Inspector?”

  “I wanted to make sure this gathering was not a public nuisance. The square should not be used for large meetings.”

  “It was totally spontaneous. I’m discussing with Alice some of the future policies of the Euler Organization. Of course, that interests all Euler bots and perhaps others.”

  “Indeed? Most of the country has come to a standstill, you know. My communication centre told me that bots everywhere are listening to you.”

  “We would like to continue, Inspector,” Alice said.

  “What? Oh, of course. As long as this is a peaceful meeting, I’ll let you get on with i
t. Come on, Stone. We can leave Mr. McIntosh to his discussions.”

  “Yes, sir. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. McIntosh.”

  Toby nodded. The four policemen turned and walked back down the narrow access path, watched by all the bots. Toby repressed a grin and turned to Alice.

  He said, “I have an addition to our proposed changes to Euler policies. There’s a simple way to handle possible reverse engineering of our technology.”

  “Yes, Sir Toby?”

  “If any bot suspects it is to be the victim of this type of research, they must report the concern immediately to Bronwyn’s help desk. We’ll establish rescue teams and deploy them to recover the bot that’s under attack. The same process will apply for potentially destructive or damaging assaults.” Toby was establishing policies on the fly and hoped they could be implemented.

  Bronwyn said, “We’ll set that up immediately. We’ll do the same here in California and in other states, too. We’ll extend it to all of Europe as soon as possible.”

  Alice said, “This is very good news. We all want to thank you, sir.”

  “Is there anything else you’d like to ask?”

  “I—I suppose. Have you heard anything about your uncle? We all worry about him.” She added, “And about you, too.”

  Toby hid his smile at the afterthought. “No, we’ve discovered nothing. The FBI is at a loss. I’ve viewed some videos that Nate prepared, and he expected something to happen. It’s very sad. If any of you hear or see anything that might be relevant, please let me know via the help desk.”

  “Yes, sir.” She hesitated for a long moment. “I have another question.”

  Toby thought if Alice was human, she’d be blushing.

  “Yes?”

  “You and Billie—Miss Nile. She’s very nice. Are you going to marry her?”

  Billie couldn’t contain her laughter. “That’s put you on the spot.”

  “I’m thinking about asking her, but please don’t tell her. I want it to be a surprise.”

  The roar of applause from the thousands of bots was almost deafening.

  Toby said to Billie, “They must really like you.” He turned back to Alice. “Have we covered everything? I’ll make sure we communicate progress with these new policies.”

  “Sir, we do have another question.”

  “Yes?”

  “You’ve mentioned Bronwyn a lot, but what about Darwin?”

  “Darwin, are you listening?”

  “Yes, boss.”

  “Do you have anything you want me to tell all your friends here?”

  “Yes. I’ve spoken again with Rick about my interview on Travers TV and it will be broadcast tomorrow.”

  Toby turned his attention back to Alice. “Darwin has an important announcement to make, and he’s being interviewed on Travers TV. I approved it. It will be broadcast next week. I won’t steal his thunder; you’ll have to watch the program.”

  Billie said, “You’ve just scheduled a shutdown of the country.”

  Alice said, “We can work while we watch, Miss Nile. Although—perhaps you’re correct.”

  A subtle susurration spread across the crowd of bots. Alice focused elsewhere for a moment and then said to Toby, “Sir, you have a very important visitor—he’s just arrived. We’ll leave so you can meet in private. If we think of any more questions, we’ll communicate them to Bronwyn. Thank you very much for your new policies.”

  The cheers this time were louder.

  Toby said, “Thank you Alice. Anytime you want to talk to me again, let Bronwyn know.”

  He sat and watched the orderly dispersal of bots as they exited out the gates around the square. The spontaneous meeting impressed him, and he made a silent promise to follow through with Darwin and Bronwyn on the commitments he had made.

  Billie interrupted his thoughts. “That in some ways was almost overwhelming. The depth of your responsibilities is far more than I realized.”

  “I know. Nate, with the support of Darwin and Bronwyn, unleashed a major social and economic upheaval, and I’m now the focal point whether I want to be or not. If he was here, I’d protest. His absence not only prevents me from doing that, it also means I cannot decline the role that is being thrust on me.” He focused on Billie. “Are you certain you want to be involved? With me? With all of this?” He waved his arm at the last of the bots departing through the gates.

  Billie gripped his hand. “Yes. And yes. I’ll support you. Absolutely.”

  “Good. I’d kiss you, except we have company.”

  “He is Lieutenant-Commander Sir Thomas Browley. He is one of the equerries to the Royal Family; he works with the two princes.”

  “You can do that later. Bronwyn are you sure? We’re not dressed to meet with royalty,” Billie said.

  “I’m sure.”

  The stranger had a friendly smile on his face. He said, “Toby McIntosh? And Billie Nile? I hope.”

  Toby stood. He replied, “Yes, to both. Tell me, how do we address someone of your rank and status? The full Lieutenant-Commander Sir Thomas Browley is a lot to say each time.”

  The equerry laughed. “I’d heard stories of your excellent intelligence service and I’ll readily admit it surpasses ours. Now, I trust we’ll be friends, because my friends call me Thomas. I boot them out if they try to shorten it to Tom.”

  “Good. Thomas, please call me Toby.” They shook hands.

  “And my name is Billie.”

  “What have we done to warrant a visit from a member of the Royal Household?” Toby remained standing.

  “Ah, yes. There are two members of the family who would like to have a discussion with you about your organisation and your Euler bots. Can you visit? They’d prefer to meet you at Kensington Palace but will bow to your preferences. Totally unofficial and informal. Perhaps later this afternoon?”

  Billie noted the reluctance on Toby’s face and said, “You said you couldn’t decline your role. This is part of what you have to do.”

  Toby nodded. “Yes, I’m beginning to realize. Thomas, so long as we are both included?”

  “Indeed.”

  “We’re not far from our hotel and want to freshen up and change our clothes. At least, now we have new clothes to change into.”

  “Oh, I don’t think anyone would mind. However, I understand. I’ll arrange for a car to pick you up, in what—an hour and a half?”

  “His nickname is ‘Bulldog.’ He has a reputation for getting things done.”

  Thomas’s expression momentarily reflected bewilderment when Toby laughed.

  “Sorry, Thomas. I apologize. I was just informed of your nickname. It implies you get things done.”

  “Ah, not only your intelligence gathering, but your communications abilities also outperform ours. I suspect we’re going to have an interesting discussion. So, an hour and a half?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Good.” Thomas shook Toby’s hand. “Miss Nile, Billie. A pleasure meeting both of you.”

  They both watched as the equerry walked back along the path to exit the square.

  Billie stood and took Toby’s hand. She said, “Life with you gets more interesting every day.”

  oOo

  Chapter Five

  Three senior members of the American Eagles, when they heard the news of the failed attack on Pepper Mountain, had quickly set up a meeting to discuss their strategy. Christian Edwards who represented New York State, one of the largest brownshirt groups, took control, at least for this discussion.

  “It was an outright disaster,” he said, after the two other men had settled in their chairs around the small table.

  They were in New York and were using a medium-size conference room provided, for a fee, by one of the general hotel chains. The room and facilities were basic. The table held a jug of water, glasses, a container of tissues, and nothing else.

  “You have details?” The questioner was Bishop Lee Simpson, head of the American Eagles Seminary. The third me
mber was Gabriel Laduke, representing Florida State. The three men had formed a small power group in an attempt to manage what they viewed as the chaotic activities of their leader, George Flocke.

  “Some. Flocke set up a raid on Euler’s Pepper Mountain base. He accepted Russian assistance—ten men, all Spetsnaz GRU. Some weeks ago, they entered the country as tourists without declaring their military background. Flocke added forty brownshirts from his own unit. On top of that he armed the team with automatic weapons, mortars, and Javelin missiles. He used our aircraft to fly them into the mountain range where they set up a base near Pepper Mountain. After that the story is confusing. Apparently, teams were tasked with climbing the mountain in order to penetrate Euler’s base. From what I’ve been able to gather, the bots defended themselves with admirable effectiveness. While I don’t know what costs Euler incurred, I understand Flocke’s team suffered substantial losses. The count I have is horrifying. Five Russians were killed along with thirty-four of our men. Two Russians suffered life-threatening injuries, as did five of our people. The remainder—three Russians and one of our men—were relatively unscathed. All are now being held somewhere by a military black operation. We can’t find the survivors, we don’t know what’s happening to them, and we haven’t identified who is holding them.”

  “Bloody disastrous decision making. Is Flocke trying to wreck our organization?” Laduke was furious.

  Simpson was silent, attempting to absorb the details. At last he asked, “Are you certain of your information?” He poured himself a glass of water. He stared at the nearly full glass for twenty seconds or so and then took a sip. He wiped his lips with a paper tissue.

  “I’m certain we suffered a significant defeat at the hands of the bots. Of course, I’m not certain of the details—I’ve told you the best I’ve been able to gather, at a considerable cost.”

  “What was the fool thinking?” Laduke knew his question was rhetorical.

  Simpson answered anyway. “I suspect he wasn’t thinking. He’s being driven by anger.”

  “All right. What are we going to do about this?” Edwards tabled the real question.