Super World

by Lawrence Ambrose

  "I know President Morgan personally," said Jamie. "I don't believe he has any desire to become a dictator. He and his staff don't sit around dreaming up conspiracies to control America. They're honestly afraid of the problems the superpowers could cause and want to prevent them. Especially after what happened in the Capitol Building."

  "Maybe Morgan is sincere. But what are they really so afraid of? If it were just a few super-powerful beings, I could understand, but not when everybody's augmented. Someone walking down Main Street with an assault rife might seem like a threat when no one else is armed, but not so much when everyone is carrying weapons."

  "Now we have people walking around who could level Main Street."

  "So could any halfway intelligent individual with a well-placed bomb." Walsh smiled at her and shook his head with exaggerated patience, as if correcting an errant student. "And anyone who tried that wouldn't know if someone might level him. You aren't going to bully people with a gun when everyone else is carrying – and some might have bigger guns than you. No, Mrs. Shepherd – Commander Shepherd – this isn't about protecting our citizens. This is about the people in power controlling those who threaten that power."

  Jamie hated to admit that she'd used similar arguments against her pro gun-control friends and colleagues.

  "But the effects of augmented people are more wide-ranging than guns," she said. "You say it threatens people in power, which is true, but someone has to be in power, don't they? Isn't that whole point of having government? Some augments think they're above the law. Or maybe, like the Brown Devils, they want to make their own laws."

  "I agree no one's above the law and that people need a governing authority with the power to enforce those laws. But for the last two hundred years, the power between citizens and their government has been heavily skewed in favor of government. But now all the advantages from specialized weapons, militarized police, armored vehicles, and aircraft have been negated. Modern weapon systems are largely antiquated. It was hopeless to fight your government. Now it's not. The playing field is more level."

  "And that's a good thing?" Karen smiled at him incredulously. "That kind of firepower in the hands of private citizens?"

  "I think so. It means – potentially – that we can't be bullied any more. There are many more private citizens than there are police or military personnel. You can still pass laws, and most people will obey, and will support their enforcement. But when you try to force stupid or unjust laws down people's throats, they won't. This new balance of power will favor good laws and punish bad ones. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  Jamie stared out at the broken plane, away from Damon Walsh's pleading gaze. He reminded her of her dad – always on some impassioned soapbox and begging for her to give his views on government, UFOS, or the New World Order serious consideration. In his case, she'd always thought he either had too much time and/or booze on his hands. She wasn't sure about Walsh's excuse.

  She motioned to Sergeant Wilcox, who'd been standing by.

  "I think we're finished with Professor Walsh," she said.

  Chapter 19

  IT WAS JAMIE'S FIRST "Presidential advisor call": she, Zachary, DARE Secretary Jim Bridger, Defense Secretary Paul Walker, and Homeland Security Secretary, Jill Allen, were in attendance in the Oval Room. The mood lacked the urgency that she had experienced last time he'd met with President Morgan and staff in the Situation Room. Now it was, she thought, a more grave undertaker vibe. But mostly, she wondered why the President had called her and Zachary here in this august company.

  "Give me the good news, Jim," said the President. "How's the registration going?"

  "We've processed 7.8 million people so far, Mr. President."

  "And what rate of compliance, roughly, is that?"

  "Roughly" – the DARE secretary coughed into one hand – "18%, sir."

  "Excuse me. Did you say eighteen percent?"

  "Yes, sir. But that's based on projections that aren't necessarily accurate. It's a guess, at best, how fast people will come. And, of course, registration sites are still missing in many areas, and wait times for processing can be long."

  "And it doesn't help that the AugmentRegistration.Gov website crashes every few seconds."

  "We're working overtime on that, sir."

  "Where have I heard that before?"

  When the DARE Secretary didn't reply, President Morgan leaned back in his chair and eyed the ceiling. DARE Secretary Jim Bridger cleared his throat again.

  "Those 7.8 million people have provided us with a wealth of information, Mr. President. However you stack it, that knowledge is invaluable. We're light years ahead of where we were in terms of understanding the range of augment powers. Director Walters and his team have gone over the data and believe a near-complete classification and description of augment abilities should be available within the month."

  "Director Walters?"

  Zach didn't show any reaction. At first, Jamie suspected he wasn't familiar enough with his title to know he was being called, but on second thought he appeared to be weighing his words.

  "I'm not sure about that time-estimate, Mr. President," he said. "But the data is suggestive of certain basic classifications. The most common ability is telekinetic. The most common physical attributes are enhanced physical strength, health, stamina, and energy. We're categorizing people with modest telekinesis and increases in physical strength as Class Three. From what we can tell, roughly one third of augments fit in that class, and usually there appears to be some added ability which is difficult to define. I'm a member of that class myself. Then there are those whose physical strength and telekinetic prowess are considerable greater. Some of these individuals possess what we're calling 'projection' powers, most notably concentrated beams of light or particles or plasma heat generation, which they can project onto an object. There's a considerable range of ability among these individuals, but we've been lumping those of them who possess primarily one extremely powerful ability into Class 2. Class 1 comprises individuals who possess two or more exceptional super-abilities. People with the most extreme telekinetic or overall abilities we're calling 'Apex Class.' We also have a designation we call 'strange' for those who possess what appear to be highly rare abilities. Our Jay Utrecht - "Telly" – is an example of that. So is Karen Clarkson, our only mind-reader, and Tilda Armstrong, who has some form of precognitive capability. Ditto for clairvoyance. One of the occupiers of the courthouse in Reno, a person who can dematerialize himself and other objects – what we're calling an 'immaterial' – also fits into that 'strange' class."

  "That's me," said President Morgan with a sour smile. "Though it's much more limited than 'Telly" or that Immaterial Man. It's more of a nuisance than anything."

  There was a polite chuckle with a hint of awkwardness around the table. Not the way people wanted to think of their President, Jamie thought. On the other man, he claimed to be a man of the people, and almost everyone was picking up some new weird ability.

  "Voice-command ability is extremely rare as well," Zach continued, "and thus earns the 'strange' designation. It's quite possible that powers remain unidentified which would qualify.

  "Also, a small number of augments are claiming clairvoyance or the ability to see patterns akin to certain autistic skills. Our field tests lack the rigor to assess these claims and to make more than a rough estimate of other abilities. We're mostly relying on what people are telling us, as I'm sure you understand, sir."

  President Morgan stirred his coffee, gazing past the circle of men and women to the grounds beyond the window.

  "AARRA mandates the recruitment, by compulsion if necessary, of people with unusual abilities." He turned to DARE Secretary General Jim Bridger. "How often is that being exercised?"

  "Only rarely by compulsion, for what I'm sure are obvious reasons," the Secretary replied. "As it is, people are likely understating their powers to avoid that. We are attempting to avoid penalizing them for being truthful. A decen
t percentage of them are accepting our bonus offers for coming in as a test subject and/or possible recruit. It would help, however, if our budget were increased enough to make those offers more generous. If we were offering, say, $20,000 instead of five thousand, I believe we'd get a much better response."

  The President gave him a thin smile and half-nod. "We'll put that before Congress. I'm sure they'll be happy to 'augment' the hundreds of billions they've already allocated to DARE. It's not as though this nationwide roundup and registration of augments is placing a strain on our economy."

  "Understood, sir," said Secretary Bridger. "But I'm sure Congress will agree that it is paramount that our government employ the most powerful augments, regardless of what that might take."

  "You're preaching to the choir, Jim." He sipped from his coffee and made a face. "I don't care what my doctor says. Stevia tastes like crap. Anyway, we'll see what we can do."

  "We should also consider a program of placing elite augments in our military," said Secretary of Defense Paul Walker. "You can bet China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are all doing that."

  "What do we know about what they're up to with their augment programs?"

  "China, Russia, and North Korea have all instituted compulsory registration and drafting of all exceptional augments into military or other state services. Concerted efforts to spread the nanovirus as quickly as possible through 'mass-exposure events' – public events where attendance is mandatory."

  "So the superpower arms race you predicted, Paul, is happening."

  "It wasn't a terribly difficult prediction to make, sir," his old friend answered with a dark smile. "But their programs haven't been without problems. We have reports of resistance – a handful of violent confrontations in Russia and a group of individuals in China who destroyed a local government building. At least one attempt on Kim Jong-un's life by an augment has been made, which he barely survived. He is rumored to be recovering in a state hospital as we speak."

  "So I heard. I called personally to wish him a speedy recovery." President Morgan shuffled through the papers on the table before them. "Jill, anything you want to add? Any hints of domestic or foreign intrigue on our shores you want to share?"

  "We've redoubled our efforts to locate Thomas Mayes," the DHS Secretary said. "We now believe he has infiltrated and may be significantly influencing three popular resistance groups, including the AAF. We also are acting on information that a jihadist group of elite augments affiliated with El Nusra and Al Qaida recently crossed into our country at our southern border. To this point, we've received no hard confirmation of that, but we're pursuing leads until we reach a resolution."

  President Morgan stared at her for a long moment before issuing a non-committal nod. "Thank you, Jill. Please get to the bottom of the jihadist threat, and I'd deeply appreciate it if you could bring me Thomas Mayes' head."

  "I believe we can make that happen, sir," said the DHS Secretary with a faint smile.

  "All right. That should about do it for today. Thank you for your report, Jill."

  "Um, you're welcome, Mr. President."

  She rose with a puzzled expression and President Morgan stood up to shake her hand. He settled back down as she departed the room. Jamie and Zach exchanged looks. Now what? Jamie wondered. The President was regarding them with a small smile that made her think he had something unexpected up his sleeve.

  He tapped the intercom speaker on the table. "Jan, please send in Administrator Ellenberg."

  "Yes, sir."

  A slim, dapper-looking individual with a thin mustache entered carrying a briefcase. Jamie thought he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him.

  "John, meet Jamie Shepherd, leader of IED's Team One, and Zachary Walters, director of DARE'S Biological Research program. I believe you've met Paul Walker." They all stood to shake hands. "This is John Ellenberg. He heads up NASA."

  Oh, thought Jamie. She now remembered him from some press conference or other. A reputation for being eccentric in some way? His dark brown eyes flashed intelligence and a hint of mischief.

  "John, why don't you show us what you showed me by email earlier."

  "Yes, Mr. President."

  He opened his briefcase and retrieved a set of 10 x 12 photos, laying them out on the table. Morgan nodded for them to help themselves. Jamie lifted the nearest one and Zachary the one beside that. Hers portrayed a portion of Mars and space. As far as she could tell, his photo portrayed the same scene.

  "What are we looking at, John?" asked Paul Walker. "Besides Mars, I mean."

  "Mars, and to the left, just over the top quadrant, Jupiter and the Magellan star system. That was taken yesterday morning from our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter." He pulled more photos from his briefcase and handed them out. "This was taken less than an hour later."

  At first, Jamie couldn't see any difference. Then she noticed the area above Mars no longer showed Jupiter, and most of the stars were blocked out. Comparing the two photos side-by-side, she was puzzled by what appeared to be stars or planets that were partly eclipsed...by something. There was a hint of a shape in that something, she thought.

  "Do you see any differences?" the NASA Administrator asked.

  "The stars are missing in the second photo?" Secretary Walker ventured.

  "Yes." John Ellenberg tapped the top left corner. "The Magellan system and Jupiter have been obscured. I say 'obscured' because something appears to be blocking them – something in space between Mars and the Orbiter. You can see the faint edge of darkness intruding on the Martian northern hemisphere. Also, some of the stars in camera range have only been partly blocked. If one carefully traces the area of blockage, a shape suggests itself."

  "What shape?" There was an undertone of impatience in Paul Walker's voice.

  "A roughly triangular or wing-shape, according to several of my scientists whose objectivity I trust."

  "You're saying that our satellite photographed a space craft?"

  The NASA Administrator offered a cautious shrug. "That is one possible interpretation, Secretary Walker."

  No one spoke for a time. Jamie wondered if the others were enjoying the creepy-crawly sensations that were scampering up and down her spine. She shared a "Can this be real?" glance with Zachary. He gave her a subtle shake of his head that might've been denial but she thought more likely dire acceptance.

  "They're here, then," said Zach, in a voice low enough to make both the Defense Secretary and the President lean toward him. "What the Object warned us about. That shape matches the image it showed us."

  A prolonged silence followed until President Morgan made a low, clearing-throat sound.

  "Let's not jump to any conclusions," he said. "On the other hand, we can't ignore that possibility."

  "Are there any other photos that show this...thing?" asked Jim Bridger.

  "That was the last photograph the Orbiter sent before we lost contact. More significantly, we lost contact at that same moment with all our other Martian satellites. As did our Indian and European counterparts."

  "The Martian satellites all went dead at the same time?" Apprehension cut through the disbelief in Secretary Walker's voice.

  "Yes. As did our Mars rovers and also our lunar satellites – ours and every other nation's. We've lost contact with Hubble and NASA's NEOWISE asteroid-spotting satellite as well. We're left with ground telescopes as of now."

  "Could anything non-artificial have caused this?" asked Zach.

  "An exceptionally powerful solar flare, perhaps. Which by some coincidence did occur very close to the time in question. In fact, it disrupted some power grids here on Earth. But while solar flares have disrupted satellite communications before, we have no precedent for disruption on this scale."

  "And by some coincidence," Paul Walker grumbled, "that leaves us essentially blind to what's going on out there."

  "We still have some very powerful telescopes," said Administrator Ellenberg. "But yes, our ability to monitor Mars and th
e Moon and deep space have been substantially reduced."

  "Does any other country have a photo of this object or whatever it is?"

  "Not to my knowledge. I spoke earlier to ESA Director General Phillips and IRSO Chairman Kumar, and they blamed it on the solar flare. I didn't mention the second hypothesis."

  "But it could be a solar flare?" President Morgan asked.

  "Yes. And perhaps that is the most probable explanation. The apparent obscuration might be due to a camera malfunction or some other illusion."

  President Morgan poured himself another cup of coffee. So did the Defense Secretary and Secretary Bridger.

  "I do believe," Morgan drawled, "that we ought to find out if anything's going on in the vicinity of Mars."

  "We don't have any Mars missions scheduled until several months from now," said Administrator Ellenberg.

  "Well, I expect we can move that forward a bit." The President gave him a canary-eating smile. "I believe we may have some resources which can reach Mars in hours. Perhaps minutes."

  "You're thinking of using augments?"

  "I'm sure some of them are space travel buffs."

  The President's chuckle found a dubious echo among the others. Jamie couldn't summon much humor as Morgan's gaze settled on her. He raised an eyebrow. So that's why I'm here.

  "I don't know if I'm capable of that, sir," she said.

  "You don't know that you aren't."

  "Telly or someone with teleportation abilities might be a better choice, sir," said Zach. "He would be impervious to space in his phantom phase, and presumably undetectable, too. Assuming his teleportation works in space."