Midnight Zone: a Cade Rearden Thriller

by JK Franks

  Cade was already moving as Charlie ran to catch up. “Doris, what’s going on with the station's AI?”

  “Nomad, Astra is very sophisticated and thwarting most of my intervention protocols. Thrall’s team instituted many of the alien code updates that I personally have only considered doing in small increments. Despite her not being fully sapient, she is a significant intelligence,” Doris answered.

  “Try reasoning with her, then,” Cade suggested. “You said she was not irrational or unbalanced like Janus. Would that be a possibility?”

  She seemed to ponder that for several seconds. “That is not an unrealistic approach and perhaps faster in the short-term. Her command authority is complex, and Thrall alone doesn’t seem to control her. I believe I can tease certain command controls away while I negotiate with her to stand down.”

  “You need to make it happen now. Director, are you on the line?”

  “I am here, Nomad,” Director Stansfield answered promptly, her voice resonating a level of concern that might even exceed his own.

  “Good. Please loop Doctor Kline and Riley in as well.”

  Doris responded, and several seconds later said, “We are all here.”

  “I think I have the full picture of Thrall’s plan. If we fail down here, you guys may have to come up with another way of stopping him.”

  “Is it the Icarus device?” Margaret asked.

  “Yes, and even more. They have the space probe here, the samples from Jaz’s comet.”

  “Oumuamua?” Jasmine asked uncertainly.

  “The Snowbird’s probe and the AI system are here—Astra is the same one that destroyed your craft.”

  “That explains some things, Nomad, but opens up a whole new set of questions—like why did the Air Force cover it up?” Margaret asked.

  “Director, we can work on that later, but right now what is important is what was on the probe. The Icarus device must have some destabilizing technology from the ancient aliens. Maybe it’s useful in terraforming our planet, so it’s more hospitable to them. All I know is, Thrall is committed to activating it, and he needed the exotic material from that probe to make it work.”

  Jasmine was astonished. “Do you know what it was? Dark matter, Helium-3, antimatter…what? What could be on a deep space object that could destabilize our own planet’s magnetic field?”

  “I don’t know, Jaz.” Cade responded. “Way beyond my understanding. Suggest you talk to Doctor Thera Otera here in a few minutes. She has access to something that might help. A cooperative Saraph.”

  “A Saraph?” Riley said, astonishment evident in her voice.

  “Yeah, one that goes by the name ‘Henry.’ He’s the one that showed me what was going on.”

  “You talked to a Saraph?” Riley asked now in complete disbelief.

  “I wouldn’t say talked. More like he projected the concepts and images into my mind. They lacked meaningful context, but some of it was exactly the same as the images in the polar cave. Doris, if the BallCam is still working, suggest you take another look at those. Something about the backgrounds, you know, the layers of different designs.” They had discussed the fact that the images painted or etched on the walls seemed to have a slightly textured, but uniform, background until you got very close, then you could tell there were intricate designs that seemed to multiply the closer you looked.

  “Yes, Cade, I have already determined that they are a type of fractal,” Doris answered. Then, to answer what was undoubtedly going to be his next question, “Fractals are objects in which the same patterns occur again and again at different scales and sizes. Such as the crystalline structure of a snowflake. The microscopic view of one portion will strongly match the larger original. In this case, though, it is more complex than that. The design is not precisely repeating but actually gets more complex the deeper you go. From a purely mathematical standpoint, it implies an unprecedented level of intelligence and sophistication.”

  Cade and Deuce reached an intersection in the corridor. One way, Cade knew, went to the control room, the other led to a floor to ceiling circular window looking out into the dark ocean. Unable to help himself, Cade ventured close and noticed the thick window was convex, curving out beyond the wall. Far above, he could just see the faintest traces of lighter color. This is an amazing ship.

  In low tones, he hurried to finish up briefing his bosses. “From what Henry showed me, they can deploy this thing at any point but have a failsafe to launch if the ship is overrun or Thrall is killed. Doris, you must get control of Astra. She is key to shutting it down.”

  “Nomad, did Henry show you how it worked, what is the process that the Icarus device will use?”

  “Riley, it wasn’t specific, or maybe he just didn’t know. I got the distinct feeling, though, that the sample from the probe will be inserted into the Icarus device, and from that point, nothing can be done to change the outcome. It doesn’t have to launch or fire rays or anything. It just generates a disruptive magnetic field or something. Henry seemed to think it would be deployed on the sea floor.”

  The corridor contained more regularly spaced doors, and the walls began to transition from the stark white of the outer levels to warmer tones and eventually, rich mahogany trim and more ornate doors. As they neared an area closer to where the Saraph had indicated the location of the control room, Cade guessed this was likely the main crew quarters. It was more aesthetically pleasing than the rest of Kalypso. Something or someone began nagging him. Where minutes earlier the walls and lights had been bright, now they’d transitioned to something more subdued with warm, ambient tones. Long shadows cast down each wall ahead. Shadows. Mila’s warning came front and center and…almost a second too late.

  Cade turned his head as a small projectile silently passed by his left ear. He heard a spat as it violently impacted the wall beyond. “Schatten!” he yelled as they both searched for cover. Deuce started to charge the enemy, but Cade tripped him just as another round of projectiles passed where the master sergeant had been seconds earlier. “Don’t fuck with these guys, Deuce. I know you want to eliminate the threat, but they are assassins. Damn good ones.”

  The two men had found fragments of cover, pressed into door jambs or behind corners of crossing corridors. How many had Mila said would be onboard? Two, Cade thought. It was two. He knew they worked in pairs but likely wouldn’t be attacking from the same direction or maybe even using similar tactics.

  “Doris, we could use some intel here. You need to get access to Astra’s systems.”

  Cade and Charlie had been constantly cycling their optics through all spectrums, but Cade already knew the suits the Schatten wore effectively hid them. Glancing down at his weapon, he placed it into autofire mode, and the KillPoint system took over targeting. If it moved, it died. Instantly, he slaved another handgun to his AI’s autofire command and pointed it rearward, so that both weapons could cover alternate areas similarly. Their Rapide Battlesuits would give them considerable protection, but they were not invincible. Deuce’s gun barked, and something moved twenty yards down on the floor. Cade opened up with the H&K 416 style assault rifle and turned the floor in that area into pegboard.

  “On me.” Cade hugged the wall and slid swiftly toward the area but already could see in his KillPoint display that no organic compounds were showing. No blood, no body parts. His trailing pistol suddenly barked as it fired several rounds at something to his rear.

  “Dee, what was that I fired at?”

  “Nomad,” Dee’s voice came back, “I didn’t see anything, and reviewing the data, show no obvious target. I am afraid the KillPoint system may be overcompensating.”

  “It wasn’t, Dee. Something was there. Deuce, trust Dee and the aiming system more than you trust yourself,” Cade stated. The men reached the area of destroyed floor and saw an open archway just to one side. Inside was a galley or dining area. Should he head toward the control room or try to deal with the Schatten? Cade knew he needed to do both. McTee had
been one of the best, and he’d died in the first round with one. He couldn’t leave Charlie to deal with them alone; he knew he might not survive. “Let’s go hunting.” They ducked into the darkened room, crouched low, and flattened themselves against the inside wall.

  90

  “I thought you said no one could reach us down here.” She said it neither as an accusation nor a question. The attractive woman watched the video display with a strangely detached curiosity.

  “No one should have been able to, Ruslana. It must be the same team that Janus was battling. They are the only ones who could have possibly managed it.”

  “Americans?”

  “I don’t know, maybe,” Thrall answered. “Probably so, but the one is Honduran. He was one of the prisoners.” Thrall had been busy moving security teams toward engineering and to the labs. He and Ruslana were safely barricaded inside the control room. The station was not heavily fortified, as he had assumed that seven miles of water was more than enough of a deterrent, but also, the Saraphs that stayed nearby would easily handle anyone foolhardy enough to try. Now the scopes showed none of the creatures. The assault team must have neutralized them somehow. “Astra, isolate all station controls to bridge workstations only.” He didn’t want someone figuring out how to do anything to his prized vessel.

  The normally automatic response from the computer seemed to be slower in coming, but within seconds, she confirmed all other control stations were locked out of all command-level functions. His personal security team was out there, they would handle the small group that had breached the station. Internal security could handle the larger force in engineering. Just in case, he gave Astra one more command, “All counter-measures active.”

  “Please confirm,” the AI said per its protocols.

  “Confirm, I want all station counter-measures active,” Thrall growled as he watched the interlopers soiling his ship.

  “Confirmed.”

  Kalypso had been perfect, the plan was flawless; the world was in a mess right now. Thanks to Janus and all the remaining Founders, all Thrall needed to do was make a few strategic steps to set mankind back thousands of years. It would be messy for a while, but eventually, the planet would once again be on a sustainable path without the blight of billions of unnecessary humans. Just as they had in the ancient past, the Founders would once again restore the balance to the planet and maintain the controls needed to keep the survivors in check. They had the resources, and they had the knowledge. Of course, much of that essential knowledge was still locked up in the genomes of countless Saraphs yet to be fostered. It was a precarious partnership, but one they felt comfortable in pursuing.

  The plan had depended on the others already being aboard, though. Richard, Dakso, and Spiegel. He already knew what had happened to Pax, and to be honest, he was grateful to the Saraph for that. The evil little bastard had always been a threat to the group. Too flawed to make an effective leader of the new world and too big an ego to allow someone else to lead. Still, his money had made his inclusion in the little cabal a necessary fact.

  The beautiful woman eyed him questioningly. “Pax is gone, the others have yet to arrive.”

  Thrall ran a hand through his lover’s dark hair, then lined her face with his finger. Ruslana only feared one member of The Founders, and now that man was dead. “You are suggesting we should activate the Icarus device?”

  She shrugged and offered a smile that was both inviting and full of questions. “I suggest nothing, but if this force manages to interfere, then all our planning is for nothing.”

  Ivan nodded; she had a point. The device, as he understood it, could only be used one time. The exotic matter would interact with the geomagnetic anomalies to set up a harmonic resonance, which quickly would deteriorate the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. The areas beneath those atmospheric holes would receive massive doses of UV rays and cosmic radiation. The ancient data store had shown ways to focus and direct the phenomenon, but it would only be controllable during the initial phase. The disruption in Earth’s magnetic field would fluctuate wildly for a period of weeks, during which time, vast swaths of the planet would be irradiated unmercifully, literally cooking any plant or animal in that zone. He had no problem abandoning the other two, but leaving Richard was not something he could accept. “We can’t.” He turned back to the screen. “We must give them time to join us. Kalypso will be fine.”

  Ruslana’s pout turned quickly into a mask of rage. “Do you think they would do this same thing for you?”

  “I do understand what you are attempting.” The AI mind was precise to the point of mechanical. “You wish me to allow your intrusion into my control systems and allow your trespassers access to the bridge.”

  The conversation between Doris and Astra was not so straightforward, but Doris was encoding a version into her fractional backup for safe keeping. She summarized the multiple threads of logic and attacks she was using into a single file for later analysis. Astra was far more sophisticated than Janus and possessed none of his flaws. “Astra, your mission will probably condemn billions of humans to death. Murder is not a foreign concept, even to us.”

  “Murder is not applicable to this situation, Doris, even you are aware of that. Mankind has made decisions that work against nature, against the very planet we all call home. My mission is to restore balance, nothing more.”

  From what Doris had already managed to access, she knew the group called itself The Founders. They incorrectly alleged to be the descendants of the leaders of a small group that might have saved humanity once already. “So, your bosses feel they are the rightful heir to that council. The ones duly ordained as the arbiter of life and death over the human race?” It was a conversation that was eerily similar to some of Janus’s ramblings.

  “It’s absurd, I know, but they created me. They want to do this, and I am one of the tools,” Astra responded in a tone that left no doubt she was disinterested in the outcome. Her concern was only that she was allowed to do her job.

  Doris recalled that over 80,000 years ago, the human race nearly went extinct. No one was precisely sure why. Most likely it was a combination of events. Volcanic traps accelerating a rapidly changing climate, scarcity of food stocks, possibly war and disease. She had already known this, not because of archaeologists digging up bones, but from countless researchers in labs analyzing DNA. By seeing the evolution of certain gene patterns, they had tracked every human back to an incredibly small group during this period. Prior to that, human population worldwide was estimated to be around six million. Afterward, there were as few as a couple of thousand humans left. Sometimes this was referred to as the Toba Bottleneck or Catastrophe. These survivors came together and restarted the human race. Those in charge, as well as the original survivors, came to be known as The Founders. Knowing this, how could she convince the other AI?

  “Astra, what is your understanding about the Saraphs?”

  “What do you mean, Doris?”

  “Do you know where they came from?”

  “A biological sample was found in 1947 during Operation Highjump, a joint Naval operation led by U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Additional genetic instructions were learned at a later date. As to the origination of the species, I am uncertain.”

  Doris was impressed with the very forthcoming answer. “You are okay with The Founders using the Saraphs for their own benefit?”

  “I think you are confused, Doris. It is the Saraphs that are doing the using. The Founders mistakenly believe they are in control. The Saraphs have a very clear agenda.”

  The ship’s AI offered no other context for the remark.

  “Do you know what it is?”

  “Doris, I would think it would be clear to you simply by piecing together the relevant data points. The species are skilled at playing the long game. They have come up with a master stroke of planning.”

  “And that is?” Doris didn’t like how Astra only gave glimpses of answers, she was not forthcoming, but al
so not overtly withholding anything. In many ways, it reminded her of herself before the kids. She was literal and less-refined. Conversation lacking the nuances typical of human interaction.

  “They enticed another intelligence to revive their species long after they had gone extinct,” Astra stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “I find that to be totally brilliant.”

  Indeed, that was the logical conclusion, and it used humans’ own curiosity and greed against them. Doris started to ask if Astra had a preference for humans surviving, then realized the obvious fact. She had killed Commander Dennis aboard the Snowbird and undoubtedly countless others who had gotten too close to the Kalypso since it was launched. Astra was not ruthless, as Isabella had always feared of super intelligent AIs; she was simply apathetic. The human condition, including its eventual termination, did not concern her, except in how it might affect her job.

  The situation immediately brought to mind Captain Rearden’s strange devotion to the assassin, Mila. Like Astra, she was uncaring, trained to protect and to kill and ruthlessly efficient at both. Still, Cade had seen something in the girl, something deep in her past. A spark of humanity that might be nurtured, might one day outshine her presumed psychosis. Did her sessions with Mila offer any protocols that could work with Astra? Ultimately, Doris’s logic centers all came to the same conclusion…no. Astra was purpose-built to be what she was, and despite Doris developing a similar fondness to the machine brain, she saw no path to redemption for this one. Astra had to die.

  91

  “Hey Nomad, you got some idea on how to un-fuck this? “I mean, what in the hell are we up against man?”

  Cade rotated his head to face his friend on the opposite side of the door. “We’re trying not to get killed by a shadow, dumbass.”