Sowing an interest
Although ASEC did not have to be shut down, all the units remained on stand by for the following forty eight hours. The Gravitor-I, under constant supervision seemed to be stable and proved to be a reliable source of unlimited electricity. The Excolopolis power outage had thrown a slight shadow onto the Expo, and the new power plant drew all attention over the following few days. Suddenly a strata of authoritative powers, that up until now had only passively followed events, began to move as a result of these developments. There were also those among them who were bothered by Steersman's invisible kingdom and how its reach seemed to extend everywhere.
Those states that were at a disadvantage because of their energy dependence were busy taking the unexpected opportunity to loosen the grip of countries exporting the raw materials for energy production.
So far, the most influential industrial and commercial figures in the world had appeared in Steersman's office, but by far the most unexpected visitor was the Greek senator, Gus Xanthopoulos.
“How can I be of assistance, Senator?” Steersman greeted the politician, offering him a seat. The senator was elderly man who showed not the slightest signs of age in his demeanor.
“First of all, thank you for being available so quickly, Mr Steersman. I know what a busy man you are, and popular as well,” croaked the seventy-eight-year-old senator, who was considered elderly even in political circles.
“That must mean that people know our organization in Greece as well.” Steersman smiled.
“And how! We have spoken about the impact of ASEC on industrial production, exports, education, and demographics who knows how many times in our senate,” the senator gurgled, his voice tinged with a smile.
“For some reason, that doesn't sound too reassuring,” Steersman noted.
“Come on, Mr Steersman. You do your job and this ruffles some feathers, yet that is all part and parcel of the game, as you know well. It's not as if you have ever bothered with it, no? But I did not come here to judge you. Frankly, and quite between ourselves, I am most delighted to see what you're doing, though I must ask you to keep that within these walls.”
“All right, as you wish.”
“I came here to ask for help,” said the senator changing his tone to a more serious one.
“If I can, I will help. What's it all about?”
“I do not ask much. I need your help to rid Greece of its raw material dependency on the Middle East. It is not such a big favor to ask, isn't it?” he smiled again. It seemed as if he felt that being old gave him the freedom to relax.
“Is it natural gas that we are talking about?”
“Yes, mainly. To buy a product from one country is one thing, but to be subjected to the whims of a semi-dictatorial country, or to the mercy of the leaders of other countries is a completely different thing. The service either fails or completely stops, while they raise prices, citing all sorts of brazen lies as to why.”
“It does indeed make it difficult to build a strong economy under those conditions.”
“It is unpredictable, and quite frankly, impossible!” the senator complained. “Your Gravitor … do I pronounce it correctly?” He snapped his fingers. Steersman nodded.
“I'm interested in your power generation plant. The one that uses this so called Gravitor technology. My understanding is that it produces electricity without requiring fuel.”
“Well, at the moment, we are closely observing the first live and commissioned model, but the next generation is already in development. And yes, it is true that – after commissioning – it does not require any further raw material for its operation.”
“It is incredible. Almost unbelievable. And how much energy does this beauty produce?”
“The Gravitor-I is capable of producing eight gigawatts. The second model will supply almost four times that: approximately thirty gigawatts.”
“Holy …!” The senator clapped his hands. “How did you manage it, Mr Steersman?”
“Well, we have been pleased with results, and to be honest, we didn't expect them either.”
“You are a dangerous man, Mr Steersman.” He shook his finger at Steersman as if scolding a child.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because from now on, it's you who will be dictating the rules. What you have in your hands is the key to the gates of eternal power. You can either take us all with you to an earthy paradise, or send us to hell, as you like.” His voice suddenly became very serious.
“I don't think that you should be afraid of hell. As far as I am concerned, energy exists as a fundamental part of nature and no one should be able use it as basis for personal enrichment.”
“What are you implying? The energy comes for free?”
“It is already free.”
The senator didn't completely understand what his host was implying, but he gave no voice to his doubts. It lasted only a moment, but the two of them looked at each other as if they were in accord with regard to all of the problems facing the world, and could understand them perfectly.
“Can I count on your help?”
“Just tell me where to install it. Once the Gravitor-II is completed, its first electricity generation will take place in Greece.”
“This really is fabulous, Mr Steersman. I thank you for your generosity on behalf of the people of Greece.”
“You're welcome, Mr Xanthopoulos. Soon you will be able to decommission your existing power stations as there will be no further need for them.”
“You know, this morning I had not thought that I would hear such news. I think there's nothing more that I can do in my political career. It is time for me to hand the reins over to the next generation,” he said, and with these words, the senator suddenly jumped up and made ready to leave.
Steersman quietly laughed.
“It seems to me that you're pretty capable of overtaking some of the youngsters.”
“Is it you to whom I should be explaining the tricks of nature?” asked the senator with a slight tone of irony, politely deflecting Steersman's compliment. “Well then, I thank you once more. My colleagues will send you the required parameters and we look forward to the news of the Gravitor's arrival with great anticipation.”
“You are welcome. It was my pleasure to have met you.”
“Likewise.”
Negative effects
It was not possible to know when, where and how the news of the installation of a power generation plant in Greece swept across the globe, but it did not go unnoticed.
“I have some bad news for you, Mr Steersman,” said Trenerry.
“Yes?”
“The Middle East Energy Alliance is threatening to stop gas supplies if the Greek government breaches the contract between them and introduces other energy sources.”
“I see. These countries have always used powerful rhetoric and threats as a part of their negotiations.”
“It is quite enough that they can afford to make that threat. It could affect the whole of Europe.”
“I wonder … how did the news spread so quickly?”
“That's not what surprises me.”
Steersman looked at Trenerry inquiringly. “What surprises me,” continued Trenerry, “is that no one's talking about the giant floating aircraft.”
Steersman studied his face, detecting some signs of discontent, uncertainty and anger as well.
“You are not too happy with me for not letting you in on this, are you? Trust me … I had my reasons.”
“I didn't ask you to give me the key to the city, but to do my job properly I have to know anything that concerns the image of this organization. We have talked about it, haven't we?”
“Yes, I know. All right. Listen, there is something that you don't know about yet.”
“What, apart from the flying monster?”
Steersman stood up and said, “please, come with me”.
Both of them left the office.
Karen saw them and kne
w where they were going. “High time … ” she muttered to herself. It was quite a burden for her to be the only one who knew Steersman's secrets, and perhaps Trenerry would calm down as well.
“Everything started with you putting a bug in my ear,” Steersman started to explain.
“What about?” Trenerry raised one eyebrow.
“It's all about what sort of impact our activities are having globally. With everything we do, we further overturn the existing socioeconomic structure. The GlideCraft, then the PrEUST, now the Gravitor; these are some of the things that have intervened in the established world order. At first, only smaller companies felt the impact, those who supplied larger companies. Even before they knew it, several industries were forced out onto the periphery. Now however, we have started to put pressure onto the economic operations of entire countries. The problem at the moment is not that what we achieve is based on good or bad, or what we do may be better or worse than other options, but the fact that the changes we are making are huge, and people will have to deal with them. What is even more dangerous is that we have, so to say, rattled the cages of powerful individuals who have huge interests in maintaining the present situation, and in addition will do whatever it takes to keep their power.”
“That's very true.”
“And we have to be prepared for it.”
“How? What do we have to be prepared for?”
“Protection, of course.”
“Yes, but who against, exactly?”
Steersman looked Trenerry in the eye as he opened the doors to the second sector. “Anyone!”
The lights came on, and a deep silence greeted them inside. It was only broken by the sound of the closing.
“What the hell …?” slipped out of Trenerry's mouth as he looked round and saw what was clearly a long row of robots standing along the edges of the area. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was nothing at all reassuring about them. They were waiting for something, standing motionless, raw. In the middle of section were endless lines of vehicles, further than the eye could see, all differing in size, shape, color. “What the hell is it? An army?”
“No, these are short-reaction target devices, or SRT. Whatever their appearance is, they all have the same job: to complete one task within the shortest period of time. Let's walk!”
Above them, there was an aircraft floating like the one that had earlier moved the Gravitor-I to its place. It seemed even more impressive in the closed space. A green light radius became visible and Trenerry – after a short explanation from Steersman – stepped into it.
“You haven't been wasting any time, have you?” he noted, turning to Steersman.
“What I managed to understand very quickly in the past few years is that I have to take threats more seriously. It could take only one second to lose everything that we've worked for.”
“I know that there are good reasons for us to prepare for threats that are both real and predictable,” agreed Trenerry, “but an armada of this size might be a bit too much, don't you think?”
“That is quite possibly. I have always gone beyond what is real and predictable, however. With this fleet, we will be fully capable of defending ourselves, our families, homes, anything that might be used against anybody, and that is all that's important. If any one of us is threatened, then I consider it to be a threat against ASEC itself.”
“Okay, I don't see anything too confrontational in this approach,” said Trenerry. “And what is the size of the fleet we're talking about?”
“We have as much equipment as is necessary to protect everyone, in any part of the world even in the face of multiple threats.”
“Then it's a pretty serious number. How do they work? Controlling them must be quite something,” he judged.
“It's not at all that complicated. The communication language is quite advanced enough to allow them to perform complex operations with one statement. As I said, each of them is a targeting device. Each has the capability, at deployment, to carry out a command and achieve a fixed goal. Once that goal has been achieved, the device returns to its original position, here.”
“Do they have weapons?”
“Not in the traditional sense of the word. They cannot shoot or blow things up. However, they do have a tool with which they can take a rocket out of the sky or even a jet fighter.”
“An air-force fighter?”
“Yes. With the redesigned gravitational radius that lifted us here, they are also able to catch objects in flight, then hold them and take them wheresoever they need to. To disable a fighter is not too complicated. Just one of the wings has to be removed and it will be unable to fly.”
“True. What do you mean by ‘short-reaction’?”
“It's related to completing the task. As they're not constantly active, their directive applies for a short period of time, until it has been carried out.”
“Are they able to learn?”
“These machines don't have long term memory. They have no learning processes. When giving them instructions, there is a certain amount of information given to them about the conditions needed for them to best carry out their duties. When the mission has been completed and the perceptions and experiences gained during the performance of the mission are uploaded to the CCI system, the order statement is completed.”
“Isn't it frightening that they are here and ready … not even that. What is most frightening is the fact that we may just need them. I don't know when and where, but the signs have been right in front of our noses for quite some time, and that is pretty depressing,” Trenerry summarized, frowning.
Steersman didn't care, he was long over it and thought only in solutions. He was always ready and prepared to solve any problem that might endanger their work.
“So, now you know everything. Prepare for the Gravitor's installation,” he said to Trenerry, without compunction.
“All right.”
“The plant will be carried to the site by the largest transport ship we have. The whole energetics unit is going too. The shipment will accompanied by fifty robotic air shields, and at least as many personal bodyguards.” He pointed to the units underneath.
“It's going to cause quite a shit storm …” Trenerry responded briefly.
***
Chapter 12
Installation
People who are surrounded by technology from birth are used to coming across new gadgets that are unknown in terms of operation, yet these people understand their existence. They accept that this is a normal part of life. In modern countries no one believes that a strange piece of machinery or a new gadget is the work of the devil, or of some other supernatural force. The most that can be expected is surprise, but it is more than likely that an individual faced by something new will want to understand, and even own it.
The world wasn't ready for that day to come, however, at least not yet.
*
The largest cargo aircraft in the world lifted off from the depths of sector two at dawn. It became immediately apparent that no bigger aircraft could have fit through the vault's launch doors. The launch of the gigantic machine made for a truly spectacular sight. The powerful DCG spheres on the hull of the Sumo-II produced immense anti-gravitational forces that could be seen as a shimmering band in the air. It was if it was resting on compacted, solidified air and the area below was almost forced flat, making even large trees bend away from the force. While the aircraft lifted the second generation Gravitor from the underground cavern, an army of shield shaped robotic aircraft shot out into the open air; their scarlet red color and lightening movements giving them a fearsome aspect. They raced into formation around the large cargo ship, yet from time to time they swapped positions like figures on a giant invisible chess board. The convoy headed south along its pre-specified route with the escort craft constantly changing position in complex defensive formations.
Because of the sensitive nature of the cargo they were carrying, they were forced to fly at low altitude
s and relatively slowly, meaning that the column did not go unnoticed.
The early morning TV shows were the first to broadcast news that shocked television studio and remote crews alike as they tried to follow the fleet's progress by road, and along with amateur thrill seekers, they caused serious traffic jams along the flight path. Even before midday, freeway traffic was backed up for miles because of the onlookers.
The Balkan peninsula began to resemble an anthill on amphetamines. As the route was straighter than an arrow the path was easy to predict, allowing spectators to move ahead to locations from where they could witness the spectacle in a heightened festival atmosphere. On higher areas, the proximity of the huge craft flying over house caused hearts to momentarily stop and feelings of nausea and dizziness in the people watching below.
By the afternoon, the consignment was floating above Greek soil, steadily approaching its final location on the out-skirts of Athens. In addition to the official welcoming delegation, huge crowds were waiting on the hills that emerged from the Aegean. An industrial area had been prepared for the new power plant, next to a lighthouse.
As the machines approached their destination, they slowed, and just before their arrival, dozens of the escort robots broke formation and flew directly over the area. Nearly one hundred robot guards descended and dispersed among the crowds of spectators to ensure security. By the time ship had carefully positioned itself above its specified landing zone, the guard units had secured a twenty-square-kilometer area, and had it under careful surveillance, monitoring land, sea and air.
As the sun set, its light still shining on the tangle of clouds that rested above the horizon, the land was already plunged into gloom. The giant aircraft froze motionlessly above the hill, almost completely obscuring it; its cargo door opened, and three anti-gravity beams gently lowered the Gravitor-II onto its foundation.
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