Evolution 2.0: The Singularity is Here

by Richard Childers

  “Just lucky, I guess,” I said, giving him a hand to get up to his feet. “Want to go another round?”

  “Nah, it’s time we knocked off for the day. I’ll get you tomorrow. But man, you really smoked me on that last one. I still don’t know how you did that.”

  When he arrived the next day, he had another one of the Special Forces soldiers, a guy named Bill Boyd, accompanying him. “Bill’s going to observe us today. You ready to begin?”

  “Sure,” I said. I’ve been practicing my forms.” And I had, together with Sanci, I had worked for two hours, reducing the moves to memory while she tweaked what she could. When we started our workout, Rick had me start with some routines forms, all of which I executed with some degree of competence and a modicum of form.

  “You’re doing well,” Rick told me. “I’m glad you are taking this seriously. OK, let’s try some defensive moves.” He came at me with a Palm strike, expecting to pull his punch as his palm struck my chest. His hand was a blur but it struck only empty air. Sanci had seen the move coming and had shunted me to the side in a split second. I counter with a Spinning Back Fist, striking him on the ribs in what would have been a very painful blow had it not been pulled.

  “OK, I watched that pretty carefully,” Bill Boyd said from the side of the mat. “I don’t see how he could have learned to move that quickly in only two days. Are you sure you’ve never done any martial arts?” he asked me.

  I shook my head and answered, “Never. Guess I’m a quick study.”

  As we continued our lessons, eventually all of the Special Forces guys became spectators to the workouts. I was sorry that I had to keep them in the dark about what was really going on. But they had no need to know so they didn’t.

  And thus began my education into Krav Maga. For three hours a day Rick showed me how to strike so quickly, so effectively that my opponent never had a chance to hurt me. I had never thought of my arm as a weapon before but it quickly became obvious that it could in fact be a formidable club, smashing noses and gauging eyes in a flash. I can’t say the training was fun, but it was interesting. I very quickly went from a defenseless nerd to a very dangerous one if attacked.

  Three or four days later, Rick came to me with a suggestion that originated with Thomas, the ex-seal who handled the team’s mechanical systems including radios, detonating devices, and the like. They came to me after breakfast while I was sitting on the aft lounge deck. “Hey Colin, I want to take a closer look at your arm. Thomas thinks we can substantially beef it up.”

  I held my arm out for his inspection and then he asked me if I would take it off. I did so and handed it to him. Thomas looked at the underside of the forearm intently and then he said to me, “I’ve watched you work out and your speed is impressive. But in a fight with a pro, you’d lose. What I am thinking is we could cut a groove right here,” he said pointing at the forearm, “ and place a spring mounted blade that would extend like a stiletto when needed. It could come out here,” he said indicating the narrow space between the first two fingers, “and easily extend four or five inches past your fist. Now that would be a formidable weapon.”

  “It sounds wicked,” I said staring at my fist. “How would I trigger it?”

  “Maybe by closing your hand into a fist. It would be pretty easy to have that trigger the movement. I checked out the shop they have below for working on the ship’s gear. Everything I need to make it is there. What do you think? It could make a lot a difference if you end up needing an edge.”

  “Well, it couldn’t hurt. I think my greatest defense is my brain but I am worried what would happen if it all comes apart. Sure, do it. It couldn’t hurt. It would be invisible?”

  “Yeah, totally. Even in an x-ray, I think people would just assume it was part of the operating mechanism.”

  “I think it’s a good idea,” Sanci chimed in. “You may be a pretty tough nerd with all this Krav Maga stuff but I think I could kick your ass. Every little bit helps when the shit hits the fan.”

  Four days later I got my arm back and after putting it on, Thomas, Rick, and I headed to the gym to give it a try. The arm didn’t really feel any heavier but the balance was subtly altered. I moved through some forms and it didn’t really feel any different. But when I moved for a fist strike with my artificial arm, a lethal looking blade, slim and well honed, snapped forward between my fingers. It would turn a hard strike into a deadly one. “Don’t you think this is a bit dangerous?”

  “Look Colin, if you need to fight, it will be because they are trying to kill you. So don’t worry about how badly you might hurt someone. That’s the idea.”

  “OK, then this baby certainly does the trick. Better than Captain Hook,” I said brandishing my newly acquired blade. “I wouldn’t want to be gutted by this baby.”

  “That’s the idea. Maximum force applied at maximum speed with no thought of mercy.”

  Three days before we were due to arrive in Shanghai, we all gathered in the dining salon to discuss our action plan. ”On the face of it,” Bob Fincher began, “we have traveled here for a meeting with the Minister of Economic Development about the possibilities of opening up a satellite development shop in Shanghai to manufacture our new artificial arm. That meeting is set for Tuesday at 2PM followed by a dinner hosted by the minister. I told him that I first wanted to meet with him privately and that Colin would join us for the afternoon meeting at 3PM. That gives Colin and Jun enough time to get their job done with Qiang while providing them with a good reason they have to leave. “

  “And what is Jun’s cover?” Rick Finklestein asked.

  “He is here to serve as a translator. No one at that meeting will be aware that Jun works for the Chinese Intelligence services. Thomas, why don’t you run through your schedule with us?’

  Thomas stood, glanced at his notepad and began speaking. “We caught a bit of a break here. Jun’s parents live in the Chenghuang Temple apartment complex. This is less than a block off of a pretty good sized river that runs into outer reaches of Hangzhou Bay. The river is barely deep enough for the subs but it is very brown and murky from mud and pollutants. We will depart the Napenthe through the underwater port three hours before dawn. There will be six of us in three submarines. We will reach our waypoint directly across from the target apartment well before dawn and Rick, Jason, and I will disembark as quietly as we can and head for the apartment. As soon as we are out of the subs, they will submerge and sit on the bottom until recall. The three of us will be dressed as deliverymen and we will arrive at the Min’s apartment and enter surreptitiously. When we are in I will wake Dr. Min first if possible and explain our mission.”

  “What if he doesn’t believe you?” I asked.

  “I will be carrying a letter from Jun detailing the situation that they can expect to be arrested within the week and sent for reeducation. Dr. Min is well aware of his daughter’s activities so he knows the risks he has been taking. If they agree to exfil with us, both the Doctor and his wife will call in to work sick and we will wait at the apartment for dark. At 7 PM we will all take a stroll, heading for the river. When everything is clear I will send an electronic signal to the subs which will then surface and we will load the Mins, one into each sub. Rick, Janson, and I will change into Napenthe crew uniforms and then take a cab back to the dock where Napenthe will be berthed, just three sailors returning to the boat after an evening shore leave in the local pubs.”

  Bob once again picked up the narration. “These hosted dinners can often run quite late but at 10PM I will complain of a headache and we will all head back to the Napenthe. We should be on board by 11PM for a midnight departure. As we head out of Shanghai harbor we will load the submarines at the same spot where we left them off. Colin, why don’t you tell us how your part of this charade is supposed to unfold?”

  “Jun will have called Qiang a day ahead of time, telling him we are coming in. He and I will travel to Qiang’s building first thing Tuesday morning. I will take my Surface with me
and the code that we prepared will be on its hard drive. Qiang will have 4 hours for his technicians to test the code and at the end of that time, assuming he is satisfied, he will wire transfer $10 million to an account that I set up in the Caymans. When I have confirmed receipt of the money, I will give Qiang the code that he needs to activate the software, and Jun and I will leave for the meeting at the Ministry of Development. The AI engine that Qiang thinks he is receiving will revolutionize Chinese manufacturing, giving them a decided edge in the world market. I will entice him into good behavior by promising to get ahold of other equally appealing software products in the near future. Hopefully that will assure me of an easy exit.”

  “So how do we avoid giving away valuable secrets to this guy?” Rick asked.

  “The code I am delivering to him will look good. It should pass a battery of tests to verify its validity. It should because that is all it does, pass tests. The software itself is useless. Within a couple of days Qiang will be aware of that fact but by that time, we will be long gone. Any questions?”

  “What if he figures it out, the scam I mean?” Rick asked.

  “Then I guess we find out how good a hand to hand combat instructor you are.”

  Chapter 14

  All in all, our passage across the Pacific Ocean was swift and uneventful but I was sure glad when Bob announced at dinner that we would be arriving in Shanghai in the morning. Seventeen days on the open ocean can be a bit trying, even on a sybaritic floating palace like the Napenthe. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to a certain degree of trepidation as my upcoming adventure became imminent. It’s one thing to contemplate waltzing into the den of a spymaster and taking him for a ride, but it’s another thing entirely to actually do it. As I went to bed that night I really questioned my sanity. “Why did I get myself into this?” I asked myself.

  “You didn’t,” Sanci answered. “I did. “This was my idea and we’re going to pull it off.”

  “I can’t blame you. You’re an AI. What do you know?”

  “Everything. I told you before, I know everything. And we had to do something. Otherwise this guy was going to ruin your life and Jun’s too. It’s time he was taken down a peg.”

  “I guess it’s too late to back out now. But I am so nervous, I doubt I will get a wink of sleep.”

  “I can fix that,” Sanci said. And a moment later, I was fast asleep. There are certain advantages to sharing your skull with a beautiful woman.

  I woke precisely at 3AM, dressed in chinos and a long sleeve Brooks Brothers shirt, and drifted down to the submarine bay to see the six men off on the first stage of today’s adventure. As a pair of soldiers settled into their individual chairs, the bubble hatch closed and with a thumbs up signal, the sub was lowered into the sea and the next sub swung into place. Rick was in the first sub and I could hear his radio check coming from inside my head.

  “I am patched into all of the encrypted radio and cellular systems,” Sanci informed me. “I assume you want to listen in as well.”

  “Yes, I do,” I answered. Within a half hour, all three subs had descended into the sea. As soon as the last was away, the Napenthe resumed its approach to the spacious berth at the luxury marina that the Minister of Economic Development had advised us was our destination.

  The Captain informed us “Customs and Immigration will come aboard in about an hour and until then no one is to leave the ship. Breakfast will be served on the fantail today so you can all enjoy your first view of dawn over China. I am guessing it will be spectacular because the pollution index is off the charts. Enjoy your meal and have your documentation ready when the inspectors come on board.”

  “How do we account for the six men that left on the subs?” I asked Bob as we sat down to breakfast.

  “They will show up on the ship’s papers as crew. They don’t actually require individual visas.”

  The dawn lived up to its advance billing and a huge industrial city with enormous cargo handling capacity slowly came into view beneath a sky of crimson tendrils of color stretching from horizon to horizon. As it turned out, customs and immigration only took a few minutes. The inspectors came on board with our visas all filled out, informing us that the Minister of Economic Development had cleared us in advance. They were very polite, and if anything, overly friendly.

  Bob and I sat in the lounge as we listened to the conversations of the three men detailed to enter the Min’s residence and bring them out to the boat. They had no problem exiting the subs and entering the Chenghuang Temple apartments. It only took a few moments for Thomas to pick the lock on the front door, gaining entry to the apartment’s living room. But to their surprise, Jun’s sister Shirley was sitting at the dining room table with a laptop computer and a couple of books open on the table. She stared at the intruders with her mouth open but before she could scream, Rick told her, “Shirley, we are friends of your brother. We’re here to help you.”

  “You’re Americans?” she asked in clear English.

  “Yes, we’re Americans. Your brother sent us. You and your family are in grave danger.”

  “Danger? How are we in danger from anyone other than three American intruders who broke into our home? At least you don’t have guns, or do you?”

  Rick was a bit flustered but he answered truthfully. “Yes, we have guns.”

  “Well, at least they are not pointed at me. So what’s this danger you are talking about?” Shirley asked.

  “Your brother is being blackmailed into working for the Ministry of State Security. He is being threatened with your safety and that of your parents as well. It seems you have been involved in some surreptitious anti-government activities, something to do with a Chinese civil rights activist recently sentenced to life in prison, a guy named Ilham Tohti.”

  “Yes, he is an academic and a moderate critic of the government. Some of the students here and in Beijing were working to organize a protest march. How do you know about that? I haven’t even told my parents.”

  “Your brother knows about it because he has been told that you and your parents are going to be sentenced to a labor camp unless he helps this minister steal industrial secrets. Jun sent us here to get you out of the country before that happens.”

  “What do you want me to do?” the young woman asked.

  “Why don’t you start by waking your parents up and bringing them in here so we can all talk together?”

  During the silence while Shirley went to wake her parents, Fincher asked Jun how two people named Hu Fang and An Bo ended up with a daughter named Shirley. “My mother is crazy about Shirley MacLaine. Her favorite movie is Being There and when she found out she was pregnant with a girl, she decided to name her Shirley.”

  At this point we heard the young woman returning with her parents in tow. There was a rather excited babble of conversation in Chinese as the three were obviously arguing. When she saw the three Americans, Hu Fang abruptly stopped speaking with her daughter and stared at the intruders. “What are you doing in my house?” she demanded.

  Rick did his best to retell his story but he had hardly begun when the woman turned back to her daughter and began berating her in Chinese, gesticulating with her arms and shouting in anger.

  An Bo placed his hand over his wife’s mouth and said to her, “Hush woman. Let me find out what this is about.” He turned to his daughter and asked, “Is it true you have been organizing protests?”

  “No Father, I am not organizing them. I’ve just been making signs and things like that. I’m not one of the organizers or anything.”

  “But you are involved?” he asked sternly.

  “Yes Father” she admitted, her eyes downcast and her feet shuffling as if she was stifling the urge to run away.

  “You foolish child, what have you done to us?” Then he spoke to Rick once more, “You say Jun sent you to us?”

  “Yes sir. He is listening in on this conversation from a boat docked at the harbor.”

  “He’s here? My son is
here?”

  “Tell him I am sorry but there was no way I could let them know about this in advance,” said Jun.

  When Rick had relayed this information An Bo asked, “So what do we do?”

  “We are here to take you and your family out of China to the United States.”

  “And when would this occur?” the man asked.

  “Right away. Today. We will take you out to the boat this evening in the dark in some small submarines we have hidden on the bottom of the river.”

  Jun’s mother had been following this whole conversation quietly up to this point but at his revelation she interjected, “Are you crazy? I can’t go to the United States, certainly not today!”

  “Would you rather go to jail?” Rick asked bluntly. “That is your alternative.”

  “I don’t even know who you are,” she answered. “How do I even know you are telling us the truth?”

  Fincher turned to Jun and asked, “You say your mother is a diehard Shirley MacLaine fan?”

  “She is. I think she has seen all of her movies at least three or four times,” Jun replied. “Why?”

  “Just an idea,” Fincher said. “Give me a minute to see if I can pull this off.” Bob picked up his cell phone and selected a name from the directory.

  The Phone rang several times and was then picked up by a woman. “You better have a good reason for calling me in the middle of the night, Bob Fincher!” a voice said.

  “Hi, Shirley. Sorry to call so late. Were you sleeping?”

  “No I was just sitting here drinking some of Francis Coppola’s red wine and discussing Zen Buddhism and quantum theory with a friend of mine from San Francisco. What’s up?”