by Hylton Smith
Chapter 21
Harley didn’t really subscribe to everything Albert had put forward, but admitted, that another visit to Jupiter space was justified. How it could be arranged was the problem. He also felt it was not going to be helpful to spread this hypothesis of Albert to a wider audience at present. He put this to the Primede ‘Ambassador’.
As could be expected, Albert was open to suggestion, but emphasised that his ability to take cyborgs out of their present conflict predisposition was indeed only a sticking plaster. It would still be necessary to find an alternative to silicon chips, which would take them back to the early twentieth century. “You need to look at this differently. Removing all cyborgs would not in itself prevent future humans from inventing similar devices which could drift to the same evolutionary predicament. Humans need a retrospective nudge.”
Harley asked about who needed to know about these ‘predictions’. The perfunctory reply only compounded the problem for the new leader of the Brotherhood. “It can’t be put off if the human race moves close to extinction. You can delay my involvement by a successful campaign against the Borg. Feel free to enquire about a humane means of eliminating cyborgs, it would simplify things considerably. I will not discuss this with anyone else unless you ask me to, or human extinction looks inevitable. Take all the time you think you may have.”
*
Cleopatra and Christophe pondered the approach to Seattle. The city had not seen the expected exodus of forces to cleanse the Vancouver region following Tolstoy’s capture. This was due to Alexander’s characteristic response. They agreed that opportunistic, cherry-picked raids should be employed until they had obtained sufficient DPB units for every soldier in their ever-growing army.
*
Harley was suffering from cybernetic nervous disorder. Having the deadline of Alexander’s threat to kill another one hundred thousand citizens had to be weighed against Albert’s deadline which was not as precise in terms of time, but extremely precise in its relative consequence. He felt weak, inadequate and somewhat of an impostor, especially since he had been hailed as an inspirational leader. He badly needed a moment of epiphany. He contacted Cleopatra and insisted that he was to be at the forefront of the Seattle campaign. She argued against this to no avail, and he was briefed with every detail. He questioned none of it, and spent the short period before the action commenced by speaking with every single recruit in the force. He found this to be a therapeutic distraction. The first suburb chosen was one of graphic deprivation. Cleopatra emphasised the ‘get in – hit – and get out’ regimen. “The advance phalanx will engage the Hulk squad, and only then the follow-up collectors will take the recovered DPB units and armour. By this time we are likely to have attracted a second squad of hostiles. A third detachment of our own offensive troops will join the first and take these hostiles out. You must then encourage bystanders to take any available DPBs and armour, before retreating to our base. The residents who take up the weapons have a choice, join us or retire to their accommodation with the means of protecting themselves in the future. Such snipers will be a serious threat to the Hulk dominance in high rise buildings, and will preoccupy their command structure. Hopefully it will encourage their response units to search for the Neanderthals in the outskirts, where we are better prepared than they think we are.”
Harley listened while watching the growing anxiety in all but the Neanderthals, who couldn’t wait to get started. He had a moment of madness instead of his desired epiphany. “I will not require a weapon. There will be one tiny addition to Cleopatra’s sequence. We must have a recovery team for assistance to any wounded soldiers, ours and theirs. My assistant in this task will be Tolstoy. If he had refused, he would have been publicly dematerialised. He has agreed to this since I modified his upgrade modules, and he may prove to be of further use with any captured Hulks. Do not let this affect your instructions to kill the enemy. Leave the wounded to my unit.”
The component of stealth was important and they chose the encroaching dusk to enter a cul-de-sac from the side. Exploding from the entry point broke their cover, but they had achieved the desired element of surprise. The scattering crowd acted as a focussing lens to the target. Triangulated fire accounted for all but four hostiles, and stray beams caused serious collateral damage to buildings, one of which lurched and crumbled, blocking one exit. The call to cease-fire came from Harley. Cleopatra and Christophe were bemused. Harley pushed Tolstoy ahead of the phalanx and toward the remaining four terrified Hulks. Tolstoy was prodded and told to speak. The instruction was to lay down their arms and they would be spared. They quickly complied and the weapons were gathered up by the collectors. The prisoners were herded into the cul-de-sac as the rest of the rebel army took position on the upper floors of buildings in that street. Bystanders began to poke their noses out from refuges in wonderment at the strange giants who had despatched the invincible Hulks with such impunity. The eerie silence was eventually broken by the collective footfall of another hostile squad arriving from directly opposite the cul-de-sac. They closed on their four unarmed colleagues and were damaged with pinpoint accuracy DPB refocused sniper fire. The dropout volunteer collectors threw six of the recovered DPBs to the nearest Seattle residents who had bravely exited the shelter of their mouse-holes. They were encouraged to take them home or join the departing army. No losses had been suffered and sixteen Hulks had been taken prisoner. They retreated to the outskirts and the cover of wooded terrain. The prolonged exposure to radiation-rich air was potentially a problem for the human contingent without protective suits and supplies of this apparel was becoming a priority. The drug addicts didn’t care, they were high on a different substance as night fell. The army would have to move on soon. This was precipitated earlier than planned because the Borg response had tracked them and set fire to the woods. They had to head with the wind to outrun the threat and they were confronted by no fewer than four squads of loyalist Hulks. It heralded the first ever inter-Hulk conflict. Interspersing the captured units among their regular groups of Neanderthals caused absolute confusion in the loyalist ranks. Their cybernetic routines were reaching overload as they were programmed to avoid firing at what they identified as their own forces. One by one they stopped all aggressive actions. Tolstoy beckoned them to abandon the manoeuvre, drop their weapons and advance. The process of module removal could begin with the sixty-four captured Hulks. This unexpected gain raised the proposal of developing and using Hulk shields as a prime strategy. The Neanderthals didn’t like this idea. They disliked the bit-part role implied. The exodus from the woods was urgent as the fire was forming a crescent around them. Retreating to a disused warehouse gave space to analyse the events more rationally.
*
Back in the city, the loyalist machine was in disarray. With no reports from the four squad detachment, and the grapevine suggesting that Tolstoy had defected, the ground force lacked tactical direction. Cleopatra was just about to find out by interrogation of the captured Hulks that the four squads had been led by a senior commander. His name and identity designation was recognised by Tolstoy. Attila was ‘revered’ by the Seattle elite loyalists. Cleopatra wondered about the potential advantage this could offer for the next phase of tackling infrastructure gains. Initially, she only aired this with Christophe. “It’s a weakness that we hadn’t realised we might be able to exploit with Borg architecture, and the Hulks in particular. They are more stringently programmed than almost any other class. It is an oversight which will not last, so we should make it count as quickly as possible. Alexander will have to begin modifying the global template, so we have to concentrate on those already commissioned.”
Christophe didn’t respond at first. Cleopatra thought he wasn’t in favour for some reason, but eventually he answered. “I’m sorry, but I am still distracted by the Neanderthals’ dissent about using the Hulks as a shield.”
“Yes, I was surprised by that, but I recall that you were also worried about suggesting to them th
at the pregnant females should have the maturation injection. Well, I think there may be a factor they have not yet considered. I noticed yesterday that Atlas is showing the first signs of ageing. Did you expect this?”
“I had forgotten that the maturation rate would slow with time, but it still shortens the lifespan. I remember Douglas Newton saying that the process would lead to death in old age after about a year. This also applies to the twins, Adam, Simon and of course Albert.”
“Right, in that case they need to know. Unless they delay coming off the maturation process for a few generations at least, they won’t be able to care for their offspring beyond infancy. They will be deprived of parenthood and a safe world for their children. This may influence their views on maturation, and also on how quickly we have to progress the campaign. They can join the Hulks in the ‘shield’ if that satisfies their need for valour. If their stance is purely one of morality, we may have a problem.”
Christophe nodded in agreement and she went off to see Harley. When he’d digested the précis, his thoughts meandered to the near certainty that Albert would die due to ‘natural causes’ before humanity was flirting with extinction. His cybernetic nervous disposition was receding, but would return if and when Albert realised that his time was so short. Maybe he already had.
Chapter 22
Albert decided to take out an insurance policy. He had met with apathy from Christophe regarding the temporal puzzle, and he detected silent concern in the mind of Harley with respect to the gift of a genocide solution to the loyalist Borg problem. He had always felt that Harley was so opposed to the loyalist agenda that he would have seized such an opportunity. He hadn’t bargained for a cybernetic ‘turn the other cheek’ persona, especially when the mass executions were back on the loyalist menu. He spoke again to Christophe, not knowing that he seemed to be heading toward an alternate joint solution with Cleopatra. He was open about the preoccupation of Harley with a clean campaign, which had led to his apparent indecisiveness in embracing a swift end to hostilities.
“In Harley’s case, he could clearly summon up the objectivity to accept the justification logic of my recent analysis of the entire Primede purpose with the vials. You had other things on your mind. He was fascinated by my revelations, which not only explained the Ganymede mission, but actually led on to necessary actions which must be taken. He baulked at this, and I don’t think it is fear for his own future, rather that he can’t find the moral conviction to sanction the use of a species killer. I expect him to prevaricate in the hope that the recent success can avoid such barbaric measures. I know that you don’t have such conflicting emotions. I made a mistake by approaching him. My solution cannot be shared with any more of his kind. I will require a favour in return for disclosing the method. Do I have your attention now Christophe?”
“Absolutely, Harley and I have never really been ploughing the same furrow. I want to hear of anything which can eradicate the Borg elite, even if it means a few friendlies have to go with them. If I remember correctly you concluded our last conversation by referring to something to do with Bio-Bricks. You see, I was hearing, but not truly listening. You can start by telling me what the hell they have to do with the war.”
“Excellent, but first I have to be sure you can accommodate my favour. I need to have a series of ‘brothers’. You have access to the vials and know the procedural technique better than anyone. I realise we would need a laboratory to perform the task. It requires the maturation version and it may need to be repeated at another time. Is this doable?”
“Back up a little, like why you need to do this all of a sudden.”
“You must not have observed the premature ageing of the other vial children. They won’t survive very long, so your campaign may run out of bodies. In my case there is an inbuilt limiter to this accelerated existence, but it comes with the cost of reduced oxygen tolerance. Therefore I need to have continuity for a different reason. In the event of me falling to such pulmonary toxicity, you need a back-up for me. Do we have an agreement?”
“I don’t see a problem with the procedures, but we must be ready to explain the appearance of more of your kind. Give this careful thought, because Cleopatra is red hot on stuff like this. She misses nothing.”
“Yes, but do we have an agreement?”
“Tell me about these Bio-Bricks.”
“Very well, the serious research started early in the twenty-first century. Bio-Brick biological parts are actually DNA sequences of rigorously defined structure and function. They share a common interface and are designed to be composed and incorporated into living cells, to construct new biological systems. Bio-Brick parts represent an effort to introduce engineering principles into synthetic biology.
One of the primary objectives of the Bio-Bricks project was to provide a viable approach to nanotechnology, employing biological organisms. Another, more long-term aim was to produce a synthetic living organism from the engineered parts. This was ridiculed at first, but the developers were undeterred and their initial success created a storm of protest. Eventually, in 2052 the process was banned. However, as with many acts of prohibition, it went underground. The technology still exists.”
“I must be misunderstanding something Albert, aren’t we trying to get rid of synthetic life forms?”
“I said synthetic living organisms. Its semantic conveyance depends on your definition of organisms, and their root in organic structure. I don’t personally consider cyborgs to be organisms, although they are very well organised. Let us concentrate on the science. This ability to employ simple circuitry to encourage a living cell to consume specific tissue for support of its metabolism is the key.”
“Go on.”
“Well this is one process in a sequence which can lead to the creation of life. What if our purpose is to reverse this sequence? If we can create an organism which consumes circuitry, it would become the nemesis of the Borg. It is the equivalent of the plague affecting humans right now. We know that the Borg dermis is a highly effective carrier material, and they have conveniently banned humans from travel, which is the secondary requirement for propagation of the contagion. We need a bio-lab and a bio-engineer to get started. I hear you want to create more Neanderthals, and I need a few comrades, so it fits with your plan. The reversal of the Bio-Brick process is likely to be difficult without my guidance. When it is ready we will need a delivery mechanism. This could be our greatest obstacle, as it will not discriminate between circuits such as Harley and Tolstoy, for example.”
Christophe was stunned and said he needed time to digest the concept. “No pun intended.”
*
Attila had delivered a lot of tactical information to Cleopatra following disablement of certain modules. Completing this personality purge allowed her to attempt a bold strike. She informed Harley and Christophe of the detail and said she didn’t want either of them involved, because of the extreme risk. “Firstly Christophe, this has to be a Borg-only exercise. Any presence of humans will be seen as a trap. In a similar way Harley, your refusal to be armed will cause suspicion. The essence of the deception requires the presence of both Tolstoy and Attila. The latter will contact one of his lieutenants in the inner ring which contains the rebels and humans. He will state that he has escaped with other loyalist Hulks, and has a plan to rescue Tolstoy, who has been partially ‘dumbed down’. He will stress that this rescue attempt is now a higher priority than simply guarding demoralised citizens. His reputation will sway the entire ring contingent to meet with the ‘Hulk escapees’. When they are face-to-face, and Attila beckons them closer to hear the Tolstoy plan, we encircle the destination with every available Neanderthal. Instructions from Attila to proceed to the airfreight hangar, in a very tight formation, will follow. As they approach the target location, they find only humans guarding Tolstoy. Attila will have made it clear that there must be no premature use of weapons, as there are hidden DPB snipers on the mezzanine, and this would put Tolstoy at risk. He wil
l ask to speak to whoever is in command. When I appear and seem to comply with Attila’s command to hand over the hostage, because of their obvious superiority in numbers, I raise the stakes by giving my DPB to Tolstoy. He has been prepared to shoot at the Hulks. As we observed in the last skirmish, the Hulks can’t handle firing at units of the same designation and the processing conflict causes them to overload almost instantly. We may lose a few during their shutdown interval, including Tolstoy, but the prize is that Seattle will be open to us. If my plan goes seriously wrong then the Neanderthals can dematerialise the entire hanger and its contents, and we only lose me.”
Harley didn’t like it, but Christophe was not too concerned about the threat to Cleopatra, and swung the balance. The contact from Attila was made.
The first part went well and the lieutenant brought every Hulk to the point of confluence with Attila’s contingent. The population in the centre of Seattle immediately took advantage of their departure by evacuating their homes, despite the radiation exposure. The meeting raised questions about the concentration of their forces while moving toward the specified location. Some of the new arrivals were having trouble reconciling such naive tactics with the leader they knew. He managed to diffuse the concern by saying he would typically be first into the hangar. “We outnumber the enemy by a significant factor, and more importantly, we must recover our former ability to generate utter fear before a single weapon is discharged. Some of us will fall, but this is a mission to recover our glorious leader, and the lift in morale which comes as a welcome bonus. If I am the first of our number to suffer expiration, it will be in an important cause. However if mine is the first hand to set free our leader, it will be a moment I will remember forever. We must not delay our task any longer, follow me.” Cleopatra breathed a sigh of relief.