by Erik Hanberg
“You just did,” Ignatius reported. “Half the bots have pulled away and are heading west toward Arlington. Seven million are still projected to reach you here.”
“Release seven million bots,” Shaw ordered.
“Releasing.”
Shaw watched the map as a swarm of bots left the Vatican to engage the incoming swarm.
“Clever,” the pope murmured.
“The swarm headed toward the clone has been reprogrammed and is returning in this direction. However, the distraction has given us more time for our shielding to immobilize them. Estimated bots reaching us are now down to two million.”
“Release two million bots,” Shaw replied.
“Releasing.”
The diverted swarm was soon engaged and in less than a minute the skies on the map were clear. Shaw pictured what it would look like in real life and not just on this holographic map.
“What do these bots actually look like?” he asked.
“A single one wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye. But together, they look like a black swarm against the sky,” Ignatius said.
Shaw imagined a swarm of disabled bots falling down on Rome, looking like wisps of black rain in the distance.
Shaw’s smile of satisfaction was cut short by Joan of Arc. “Just because you figured out a way to use nine million bots instead of fifteen million shouldn’t change the fact that you used them to save your own skin.”
“Maybe. But I also put the cartel on notice that I might have a few tricks up my sleeve. It should buy us a little time.”
He suddenly had a desire to be out of the dark room. “Does the council of war have to stay in such low light or are you mobile?” he asked.
“We can go anywhere that you prefer. So long as we stay on the grounds of Vatican City, we can maintain this form so we can interact with you.”
“Excellent. Because we need a new war room.”
A few minutes later, Shaw was walking along a long hallway decorated with maps. The saints’ avatars walked alongside him like a ghostly holographic retinue. Alberto was also at his side, the only human in the hallway beside Shaw after the pope had taken his leave.
“Alberto, find me a suitable war room in this place. Something with more light and room for a council of saints and humans alike. I don’t want to sit in a dark room with a bunch of holograms. No offense,” he added to Aquinas.
“None taken.”
“And I need you three thinking while we walk,” Shaw said, addressing the saints. “Let’s go on the offensive. If we keep waiting to see what they throw at us, we’ll never win. By the time we have a new room, I want to see recommendations on attack plans.”
“How many, Grand Master?”
“How many can you give me?”
“Would you like us to use the same rules of engagement we have been operating under to date?” Aquinas asked.
“What are the rules?”
“Minimizing civilian casualties, minimizing loss of territory, among other parameters.”
“No. Give me everything you have. Even if it falls outside what you would call a just war,” Shaw said.
“Yes, Grand Master. In that case, if you give us three minutes… several million options.”
“That should do it,” Shaw said, shaking his head in wonder.
“Of course, the AI working against us will be computing defensive strategies for all of them while we compute them.”
Shaw started to work on his breathing again. “I guess I’d rather have it doing that than thinking about ways to attack us again.”
“It is quite capable of doing both, I assure you.”
Shaw sighed. “Don’t fight the last war, Byron,” he murmured to himself.
“Grand Master Shaw—” Alberto started.
“You can just address me as ‘sir,’ Alberto,” Shaw said.
“Thank you, sir. What was that about the last war?”
“There’s an old saying that generals often fight the last war. They study old wars, but they forget how technology may have changed how a new war will be fought. This is the first war fought with Lattice-equipped AIs fighting each other. No one knows how to fight it—not even the AI.”
“Is that truly possible? The AI is giving you several million options. Why believe that we can come up with something better?”
“Because I have to believe it. Did the AI come up with using my clone as a distraction? No. In comparison to an AI, my mind is irrational, sloppy, and weak. And yet, I was the one to suggest that. I have to believe that even an AI using a super-charged new Lattice has blind spots. It is likely fighting the last war, just like me.”
Alberto was silent as he thought about it.
Shaw didn’t have time to wait. He had a million questions that needed answering. “You told me in the tank that Florian’s research team had provoked the Lattice cartel by investigating new ways to destroy the Lattice. And that they were making some amount of progress?” Shaw asked.
“Enough to spook them, yes,” Alberto said.
“What were they researching?”
“A computer virus of some kind. I don’t know for sure, I’m not very technical.”
Shaw made a face. “Taveena and Wulf and I searched for ways to make that idea work. We couldn’t find one.”
“I don’t know if it was realistic. But that’s what Florian was working on that got the cartel anxious.”
Shaw nodded. “I doubt it will come to anything, but tell Florian I want to meet him in the new war room as soon as we arrive.”
Alberto nodded. “I found the perfect place for us. We’ll be there in two minutes,” he told Shaw.
They kept walking and Shaw realized he finally had his first moment of free time since his crash landing in the Colosseum. He placed his ring to his temple and asked to be connected to Ellie.
He waited only a moment before Ellie appeared, an avatar projected in his mind just like the four saints. The saintly holograms made room for her, and Shaw had the uncomfortable notion that she had joined the council of war.
Shaw saw that her shoulder was bare, and that Jane was at her breast. Ellie’s avatar looked up at Shaw and gave a crooked smile.
“Hi, honey,” she said.
He couldn’t help but smile. “The last time we did this you just found out you were pregnant.”
“I know. It’s fitting,” she said.
“Are you and Jane OK?”
“Jane is healthy and happy. My milk hasn’t come in all the way, but we’re both doing our best. And Wulf has embraced his role as nurse. Dr. Coronovschi is giving him excellent instructions and he’s pampering me quite well.”
“And… Taveena?”
“Back in her cave. The control room doors are locked and Wulf tells me she’s meditating again.”
“About what happened…” Shaw started.
Ellie shook her head and stopped him. “Don’t. I know why you did it. And it almost worked, so I can’t totally fault you for that. Even if it separated us again.”
Shaw didn’t have anything to say to that. He kept walking and Ellie’s avatar walked beside him.
“I was wrong earlier, By,” she said quietly. “I was wrong to say I didn’t know whether I loved you or not.”
Shaw listened and Ellie took a deep breath and continued. “In that moment… in that room… I didn’t. I need you to understand that. How much things between us have broken. How much work it will take to repair. Because you understanding it is the only way we will be able to put the pieces back together again. I want to put them together. I want to fall in love with you again. I’m not saying everything is OK, because it’s definitely not. But maybe we can work on it again. When this is all over.”
“I’m in,” Shaw answered. “I am absolutely in.”
Ellie nodded. “I’m glad.”
“I’d send you flowers right now, except…”
She smiled. “Except Taveena might turn away the delivery. Yes.”
“I’ll
find a way to get you and Jane off that ship, Ellie. I promise.”
Ellie nodded. “When Jane’s sleeping I’ll try to pop in and see how you’re doing.”
Alberto stopped in front of a door and Shaw knew they had arrived at the room he’d selected.
“Stick around now, if you want,” Shaw told Ellie.
“It’s too soon for Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” Ellie answered. “And I need a nap. Take care, By.”
“I love you, Ellie,” he said.
Her avatar dissolved—without her returning the sentiment, he couldn’t help but notice. It was a thorn in an otherwise hopeful conversation, but he would take what he could get. Shaw discreetly wiped his eye.
Alberto pushed open the door to reveal a room covered in gold leaf and frescos. Natural light poured in from windows set into the wall. In the middle of the room was a round table with chairs around it. “The first of the Raphael Rooms,” Alberto announced. He pointed to a fresco up near the arched ceiling. “That’s the battle of Milvian Bridge,” he said. “After a vision in a dream, Emperor Constantine had the cross painted on the shields of his soldiers. He believed Christ helped them win the battle, and he converted to Christianity after their victory.”
“Which, of course, the Lattice has shown us was a story concocted by Constantine entirely after the fact,” Shaw added.
Alberto acquiesced, but said, “I thought you would find it inspiring.”
“I just got all the inspiration I need,” Shaw said. “And thank you, this room is far better.” He clapped a hand on Alberto’s back. “Where’s Florian?”
“Here, Grand Master Shaw,” said a voice at the door.
Shaw turned. “Brother Florian,” he said formally. “You were attempting to destroy the Lattice, I understand? With some sort of computer virus?”
Florian nodded. “In layman’s terms, yes, Grand Master.”
Shaw enjoyed the discomfort in Florian’s demeanor enough that he didn’t offer Florian the chance to just call him sir as he had with Alberto.
“And what would you need to continue your research?”
Florian’s eyes bulged in surprise. “His Holiness stopped our research. He said—”
“I know what he said. But I’m in charge now.”
“They will destroy us if we are successful,” Alberto whispered.
“Maybe. Or maybe if we have something the Lattice cartel truly fears, we can negotiate a peace before it comes to that. What do you need, Brother Florian?”
“Nothing except the order to do it.”
“Then go. And do it fast,” Shaw said.
Florian bowed, turned and walked out the door.
Shaw turned back to the room. The holograms of the saints had seated themselves around the table. Before he could address them, he got a notification of an incoming call. He glanced at his wrap and did a double take. Zella Galway?
He couldn’t pass it up. He accepted the call.
Her avatar appeared. “You think we’re scared of ‘Brother Florian’ and his research, Shaw?” she cackled.
“I’m merely investigating options, Zella,” Shaw said evenly.
“Your young Italian monk is right. If Florian ever got close to finding a way to take down the Lattice—not that we actually expect him to—we’d destroy him, and you, the Vatican, and all of Rome if it came to that, to stop that from happening. Do you really want all that blood and destruction on your hands?”
“I think you’re confusing whose hands would be bloody. My new friend Joan of Arc is right. You wouldn’t survive the public relations fallout if you did something like that.”
“And we know your mind better than you do, Byron Shaw. You wouldn’t stand to see so much death if you could stop it.”
“I don’t think you want to find out just how far I will go to save my wife and child. I just sacrificed nine million bots for the chance to see them again. Who knows what else a new father would be willing to sacrifice?” Shaw said the words as calmly as possible.
There was a pause as Galway considered what he said. He imagined her in her company offices, looking at her wrap and listening to the reports of his thoughts. If he kept his focus on her, perhaps she wouldn’t be able to evaluate how serious he really was. He pictured her office. He wondered if her feet were up on the desk. Were people in the room with her? Was she—
“Enough,” Galway spat. “We’ll soon see who’s bluffing.”
The call ended.
“She’s not going to be happy after that,” Shaw told the saints. “I need plans of attack before they come after us again.”
“Too late,” Ignatius reported. “Another attack is imminent.”
“Another bot swarm?” Shaw asked, his hand on his forehead.
“Drones this time. They are targeted at... us.” The saints exchanged a glance.
“Us?” Shaw asked.
“The Catholic AI.”
“They can do that? Where are you housed?”
“We’re distributed. There’s not just a big server in the catacombs. But the cartel’s AI knows the weak points. Of course.”
“How long do we have?”
“Eight minutes.”
“What are the odds?”
“We estimate nearly a one hundred percent chance of repelling the drones—but it will take almost every drone we have to do it.”
Shaw shook his head. “We can’t keep playing this game. They’ll force us to use everything we have until we’re defenseless. Tell me the options you came up with for an offensive maneuver. Let’s take the war to them.”
“We are completely surrounded,” Ignatius said.
“That’s not a great way to start off.”
Ignatius continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “But most of the enemy’s resources—including all their missiles and the drones that are heading toward us now—are amassed on the island of Sardinia. If you wanted to take out their resources, that’s where I would start.”
“Sardinia,” Shaw repeated. “Is that where they are running the war from?”
“The generals running the operation are there. They are ostensibly northerners—Italians from North Italy, I mean—but right now they answer to the cartel.”
“Because that’s where they are getting their arms, I assume?”
Ignatius nodded.
Shaw started to pace. “Big picture—how do we win this war?”
“Perhaps we should worry about the incoming drones,” Alberto said, a clearly worried expression on his face.
Shaw batted it away. “No. That’s how we lose. We can’t keep responding to whatever they throw at us. How do we win the war?”
“You split their forces,” Ignatius said. “Divide and conquer.”
Shaw nodded. He’d been thinking the same thing. “So. Is there any way we could drive a wedge between the Northerners and the cartel?” Shaw asked. “To show them their interests don’t align?”
“You could offer to give them Rome back,” Ignatius said. “That might help.”
“Except the pope would fire you for making the offer,” Aquinas told Shaw. “And in the end, it wouldn’t matter because the cartel would likely wage war against us on their own even if the Northerners backed down.”
“They wouldn’t,” Shaw said. “The civil war is their fig leaf. They aren’t going to go to war against a sovereign state on their own.”
“Possibly,” Ignatius said, with a tone that suggested to Shaw he didn’t think it was very possible.
Shaw was at the table, resting forward on his hands. “All right,” Shaw answered. “That gives us a rough idea of our strategy. Phase one: we take out the cartel’s resources on Sardinia. Once that’s accomplished, we move to phase two: I ask the pope to make peace with northern Italy. Whatever it takes to bring the civil war to an end. The cartel won’t continue fighting a war that’s already won. Everyone’s safe.”
“Everyone’s safe, except your wife and daughter,” Joan said.
Shaw nodded s
lowly.
“Don’t forget your goals, Shaw. You can’t just avert defeat,” Joan continued. “You need a true victory over the cartel.”
“Five minutes until the drones are here,” Ignatius said quietly.
Shaw pushed that away for the moment and turned his focus inward. He was getting too caught up in the heat of battle and it was liable to cost him. He paused. What was he fighting for? It wasn’t for Rome, it wasn’t for the Vatican, and it wasn’t for the Catholics, that was certain. It wasn’t to destroy the Lattice, even if he had needed to put it back on the table again for strategic reasons. It wasn’t to defeat Zella Galway either, however much he would relish the opportunity.
He thought of Ellie. He thought of Jane. Defeating the cartel meant they couldn’t shoot his family out of the sky. That was his guiding principle. He hadn’t been bluffing, he realized, he truly would be willing to sacrifice almost anything if it meant saving his family.
“Is there any strategy I’m missing that defeats the cartel?” Shaw asked.
“You would need to take out their laser satellites. That would take away most of their teeth. At least it would remove their ability to target and destroy the Walden,” Ignatius said.
“And how could we do that?” Shaw pressed.
“Four countries have control over lasers in space. The United States, China, Russia, and the European Union. Europe likely wouldn’t help—Galway and Dvorak Systems have too much sway there. Russia wouldn’t cross LRI. The United States could possibly be convinced. More than any other country, they have been concerned about the presence of private weapons in space. Your friend Yang has had a lot to do with that.”
Shaw nodded. “And China?”
“None of the companies in the Lattice cartel are located in China. If you are looking for allies in space, they might be an even more likely candidate than the U.S.”
“So that’s phase three,” Shaw said. “Get China or the U.S. to destroy the satellites of the cartel and save my family.”
“In theory, your plan is sound,” Aquinas answered.
“I sense an enormous reservation in how you say that, but just a second.” Shaw called to Alberto, “After we deal with the incoming drones, I need to reach out to Tim Yang, if he’s willing talk to me. And I met a professor in China when I was there. Professor Wu in Hefei. I’d like to talk to her as well. I need to talk to someone in North Italy, too.”