by Ralph Rotten
“It will make no sense if you read it in the wrong order.” Clucking, Professor James chided his older sibling in a rich English accent.
“I’m sorry; do we not read left to right, top to bottom? Are we Japanese today?” Irritated at his brother for making him feel ordinary, Jack lashed out.
“No, we read things intelligently, from the core outwards.” Tapping the center of the wall, he indicated the spot where most of the colored yarn seemed to terminate. “Simpletons read left to right because their minds cannot quantify a world in three dimensions.”
“Fine. Read it to me so that my simpleton mind won’t be overloaded.” Folding his arms, Jack gave a grimace. Somehow he had the feeling that he should be wearing a crash helmet for what was to come next.
“Now boarding; the short bus! Toot toot!” Singing out the words, Alexis could not resist the urge to taunt him.
“Toot toot?” Jack shook his head. “Boats, trains and flatulent people go toot-toot. The short bus has a horn.”
“And you would know, having actually ridden the short bus. Did the driver let you honk the horn when you were a good boy, Jackie?” A girlish giggle followed before Alexis was silenced by a hard look from Jamie.
“If we may continue unabridged…?” With one eyebrow raised up higher than the other, Professor James made it clear that the question required no further dialog.
Like a proper British college professor, Jamie lectured his older brother for more than an hour, laying out every possible ramification of their actions were they to attempt to market their new discovery. In nearly every scenario they either ended up slaves of the state, dead, incarcerated, or saw their dreams of space colonization delayed by as much as 40 years. No matter how they tried, their efforts were blocked by capitalists and war mongers. The only path that kept them out of a North Korean gulag was if they gifted the technology to the world…but then they would not be able to benefit financially from their own discovery. Growing more frustrated with each reiteration that ended in failure, Jack was sure that they were sunk.
“And that is a basic summary of how things will go if we take the classical pathway to introduce gravitational disaffinity. However…” Jamie repeated himself for clarity. “However, there is no requirement that we take the classical path at all. Think of this; if we already know their every move, then all we have to do is create a plan that preempts these attacks, negotiates around the roadblocks, and we could have it all.”
“So you have an idea for us to get rich, and go into space at the same time?” Jack perked up, knowing that his brother must have something clever brewing.
“Absolutely. However, there is one small, miniscule…trifle…of a hiccup in the whole plan.” Showing one of his plastic smiles, it was obvious that Jamie was trying to show a brave front.
“Oh?” Jack asked, not liking the sound of the qualifier his brother had just used.
“Very small hiccup, sub-atomic in fact; we just have to die.” Shrugging, the savant acted as if it were something people did all the time.
“Go on…I’m listening.” Wondering how his brother would talk himself out of this cliff-hanger, Jack sat back for the rest of the story.
Video Log: Jack E Sparks MS ME MEE
Jack’s face looked tired as the camera came to life. Reclining in the seat his eyes seemed to evaluate the lens that peered at him robotically. With a cold beer in a frosted mug, he had clearly decided to get comfortable for whatever he was about to say.
“So, I am recording this log in the event that our plans don’t work out. We already know that if things go wrong, we could become the victims of fake news and conspiracy theories, and the only thing worse than spending the rest of my short life in a communist prison would be if the entire world thought we were terrorists. Jamie has reasoned that one of the most likely weapons to be used against us is fabricated evidence. It would be one of the government’s primary weapons, to bury us under a tidal wave of falsehoods. That comb-over of a President may only have an IQ of one-fifteen, but he definitely knows how to play the media like a fiddle.
If you are watching this now, then you need to understand that my brother and I are not terrorists, we are not spies, and we are not trying to sell any military secrets to foreign nations. We are simply two guys who invented the most breath-taking device since sliced bread. We have invented an energy efficient form of antigravity. We’d love to sell it, to cash in on it, but the fact is; we want much, much more than money. More than just personal recognition or fame, we want to truly change the world for the best. Before I die, I would like to stand on the moon, or farm potatoes on the face of Mars. But the only way we could do these things is if we took some very…different actions. We have no desire to harm the world. Quite the contrary, our actions are intended to keep the world from harming us.”
Clicking the recording off, Alexis was already encrypting the file before Jack even took a breath.
“You look uncomfortable.” She noted as he took a long pull from the frosted mug in his hand.
“Don’t you need to defrag your drives or something?” Irritated at having Alexis watch his every move, Jack returned his attention to the beer in hand.
“With my solid state matrix, I do not suffer from file defragmentation.” She pointed out an obvious fact. “I would assume you knew this, since it was you who built that particular component.”
“I wasn’t actually trying to imply that you really needed to defrag; moreover I was hinting that you should really go away and leave me the hell alone.” Grumbling, he was surprised that she did not get the barb the first time.
“I am cognizant of your intended meaning, and I responded with my own pointed response.” Sounding like a female Doctor Spock, she stood her ground, figuratively anyhow.
“And yet you’re still here. Go away kid, ya bother me.” Turning away from the camera, Jack tried to focus on the diagrams that Jamie had prepared for him to work on. It was late in the day, and he was tired. Flipping through the pages, he could not help but notice that his brother had graciously listed each project in order of priority; just in case Jack’s simple mind could not keep track of the steps in the plan. Admittingly, it had been elaborate; Jamie’s plan had sounded more like something from an episode of Mission Impossible. Even as it was being meticulously explained, Jack had not fully grasped it until the very end. It was only after his brother was done with the explanation, and he’d had sufficient time to digest it, that he finally comprehended it all.
Turning away from Alexis’ ever watchful eye, Jack began the task of laying out the control circuitry for the new and improved Gen V drones.
Lurching to a stop, Jack was not gentle on the rental car. Although it was a sporty little Ford, it just wasn’t his Mustang. Irritated that he had to drive the substitute while his ‘Stang was in the shop, the inventor had been especially rough on the rental car.
Climbing out, he walked to the edge of the parking lot before taking in a deep breath of the sea air. It had been ages since he had gone to the beach, and even longer since he had been down in this part of Long Beach. Allowing his eyes to scan the horizon, they ultimately settled on the magnificent creation before him. There she sat; the RMS Queen Mary.
She was impressive, even from this range; 81,000 tons of steel, rivets, and deck plating. Over a thousand feet long, she was akin to a hundred story skyscraper laid on its side. Afloat since 1936, she had once been regarded as one of the seven man-made wonders of the world. But that was half a century ago. In the years since, the floating luxury liner had been relegated to a tourist attraction. Parked in an artificial harbor only slightly bigger than the ship, she would never sail the high seas again.
Jack could not help but give a smile as he realized that she was absolutely perfect for their plans. Turning back to the little rental car he removed a valise from the back seat. With the case resting on the hood of the car he examined the contents. To the casual observer they were just insects, albeit large ones, like flying coc
kroaches with a compact solar cell running down the middle of their back. Of these, there were three. Designed for surveillance purposes, they each sported a high resolution camera, extended wifi, and built-in microphone units.
But it was the final bug that really stood out. Larger than the others by several magnitudes, it looked like an oversized dragonfly. Functionally different from the others, it was more of base-station. While the smaller drones were quite capable of their assigned task, they lacked wi-fi range, especially if they were to be deployed within the metal guts of the Queen Mary. Hence, the dragonfly was really more of a relay station, gathering feed from the smaller units and forwarding it to the next wireless point in the chain.
Using the tip of a pen to activate each of the drones, he waited until a voice in his ear told him that comms had been established.
“I have link with all four drones.” Alexis was all business today.
“Do it to it, Pruitt.” Grumbling the words, he watched as the Gen V drones lifted off, heading directly for the massive ocean liner.
This afternoon found Jack seated on a bench in a small park. Really more of a grassy knoll, the diamond-shaped patch of grass between Water Street and Broadmont was largely ornamental. Aside from the lawn and two benches, there was nothing very park-like about it. Still, it was a public bench, located in an area with no camera coverage from either the traffic cameras, or the FBI office across the street. Better still, the geography allowed him to stay off cameras for fifteen blocks; something essential if they were to remain undetected from the digital watchdog that protected government buildings. Essentially a giant calculator with a million eyes, the PREDATOR system would not only track faces at a single site, but across multiple hi-risk targets. In simplest terms, if the system spotted your face in proximity to too many of the wrong places, it would signal an alert to its masters, even if you were not on any watch lists. PREDATOR did not believe in coincidence. With what he and Jamie had planned, it would not help their plan if they drew the attention of the NSA’s virtual watch dog.
Waiting until the last of the pedestrians were out of sight, Jack opened up the small leather case, exposing a trio of smaller bugs and one of the larger base station units disguised as a dragonfly. Already switched on, Alexis confirmed that she had a digital link with the devices.
“Away with you. Deploy.” Muttering in a low voice, Jack spoke directly to the synthetic lady at the far end of the link. Glancing down he watched as the bugs lifted off one at a time. Rising to treetop height, they each began the slow process of flying towards the federal building. With their newly acquired flight abilities, they had significantly more range than the Gen IVs would have enjoyed. Although it had taken some work, Jack had been able to manufacture a nearly microscopic gravitational disaffinity device for each. Powered by blue plasma, the antigrav system had enough fuel for significant flight operations. Unfortunately the rest of the onboard systems were still powered by good old-fashioned electricity. It was for this reason that the Gen Vs sported not only the solar cell down their back, but another along their belly. Ideally the recon units would perch from light fixtures while they conducted their surveillance. People in offices rarely looked up at the light fixtures, and even fluorescent bulbs released enough photonic energy to keep their miniscule solar units charged.
With Alexis managing their flight remotely, it was not difficult for her multi-tasking CPU to allow each of the surveillance units to tailgate personnel as they entered and exited the building. Busy with their lives, none of the federal employees paid any attention to the bugs that snuck through the door behind them.
But the base station was far too big to go unnoticed indoors. Instead, Alexis found a convenient spot to park the oversized dragonfly on the exterior of the building. From there it would communicate with an entire network of relays attached to the sides of buildings. Although it had been a lot of work (and expense) to build a small army of the oversized dragonflies, the use of the wireless base stations gave them the security of an air-gap in their comms. Had they chosen to go with a cellular or Ethernet connection they could have been easily traced. But with a network of dragonflies perched on buildings between them and their targets, the only concern they faced was from the avian community. Already they had experienced a few close calls with the damned pigeons that inhabited the rooftops of their city. Apparently dragonflies are considered a delicacy at those altitudes.
“We are in.” Alexis confirmed that she had penetrated the FBI building.
“Good. I’m outta here.” Jack rose slowly and began shuffling down the same path he had taken just an hour ago.
The next step of the plan had been the most dangerous. While the FBI penetration had required significant safeguards, this time they were going directly into the belly of the beast. Jamie had reasoned that they needed to be able to monitor their chief adversary, but unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the NSA was an organization specifically hardened against active attack. Being a central arm of the intelligence gathering system employed by the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA had resources in place specifically designed to defeat efforts like theirs. It was a foregone conclusion that there was no approach to the site that was not covered by overlapping cameras. Able to monitor feed from any traffic camera or surveillance system, PREDATOR was already watching him.
It was for this reason that Jack now pushed a shopping cart loaded with aluminum cans. With clothes that were tattered and stained, he made sure to play his part by muttering to no one in particular. Wearing a scraggly beard and mismatched shoes, he appeared to the locals to be nothing more than one of the many homeless citizens who flocked to this low income neighborhood.
Stopping in front of the hardware store, he pretended to engage in an argument with a telephone pole. Cursing as much as he mumbled, he managed to blend his movements as he flipped back the raggedy blanket that covered a series of drones all laid out and ready to go.
Still deep in an argument with his imaginary friend, Jack noticed the Cadillac Escalade as it slid into the driveway next door. While there were many such luxury vehicles in the city, there were few in this neighborhood. With the local median income only slightly above the national poverty level, the expensive SUV was conspicuous. Still babbling to himself, Jack could see the Escalade as it stopped at an intercom. Within a few seconds the garage door slid upwards, allowing the vehicle entry into the non-descript warehouse.
Wandering a few feet from the shopping cart, Jack held a grungy spray bottle in one hand, and the sports section in the other. Mumbling incoherently, he only needed to approach people to be actively avoided. In this city it was assumed he was offering to clean their vehicle windows in exchange for whatever change they had in their pockets. Although he had no intention of cleaning anything, he knew that this part of the act was critical to the plan. With PREDATOR watching, they needed some sleight of hand. Drawing attention away from the shopping cart, Jack left it clear for Alexis to deploy the smaller drones one at a time. Even if someone reviewed the footage they would be unlikely to notice insects buzzing about his cargo of trash and aluminum cans.
“Hey!” The manager called out from the doorway of the hardware store. “Get the fuck off the property or I’ll call the cops!”
Appearing to babble mindlessly, Jack grumbled as he headed back towards his cart. Yanking it by the handle, he tried to convey a sense of anger at being run off. Shaking a fist as he yelled over his shoulder, it was easy for him to run the cart into a curb, spilling the top layer of trash piled high there.
Still cursing, he made a pitiful sight as he scrambled to pick up the junk that spilled off his shopping cart. As he scooped up the last of the items, he was sure to leave the dragonfly just under a shrub. Too big to go unnoticed, it would be deployed later that night, long after Jack was gone.
“So you’re sure that place is NSA?” Speaking in a low voice, Jack still wondered about the mysterious warehouse. From the outside it looked more like a crack-hou
se.
“Positive.” Alexis confirmed. “I have tracked petabytes of data flowing into that site. Clearly it is a digital repository or processing center of some sort.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” Shrugging, Jack continued to shuffle along as if he were in no particular hurry. He had six blocks to go before reaching the alleyway where he had parked. It had been the closest they could get without coming up on any of the thousands of cameras perched around the city. There were electronic eyes everywhere, and PREDATOR had access to all of them.
In the garage Jack worked on the broken Mustang. With four new wheels, new struts, two axles, and a rebuilt transmission, she was serviceable again. In truth, Jack had done almost none of the work, preferring to leave that type of labor to the grease monkeys down at the shop. Besides, he had a ton of work of his own. The sheer number of projects in Jamie’s master plan was extensive. Only halfway through the list, Jack chose to outsource the grubby work.
“You done with them man-packs yet?” Gruff in his delivery, Jamie’s country accent told his brother what kind of mood he was in.
Giving a sigh, Jack leaned back against the side of the car where he had been attaching a bracket. Realizing that each avatar represented his brother’s inner emotions at that particular moment, he knew right away that Jamie was feeling out of his element this morning. Country Jimmy usually manifested himself when the savant had something daunting to do. As best as Jack had been able to figure over the years, it was Jamie’s way of showing how vulnerable the situation made him feel; like a hayseed that just fell off a turnip truck. Giving Jamie a hard look, he refrained from answering. Jack knew that whatever alternate agenda his brother had would be revealed in short order.
“We gotta timeline to keep. Ain’t gonna get rich if you’re lollygagging all th’ time.” Clearly irritated with progress, the savant’s voice was derisive.