Nanomachine War series Box Set

by Don Viecelli

  “I found something. Do you see it from my headcam?” Doug called out on his comlink.

  “I see it. Do you recognize it?”

  “No, I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’m moving closer.”

  Doug heard a noise, but he could not see anything but dust in the air. The green light on the signaling device disappeared. “Something is happening here. I lost the signal. Do you see anything on radar, Captain?” Doug asked rapidly, his heart starting to beat faster.

  “Nothing on radar, Director. You need to come back now!” Captain Tills demanded.

  Something appeared in front of Doug. He knew he was not alone. The first thing he thought of was what Colonel Jackson told him he had seen before he was attacked on the alien starship—a tall shimmering shape. Before Doug could make any move or call for help, a beam of light hit him full force in the chest. He blacked out immediately.

  *****

  Doug woke up feeling like he had received a powerful electric shock. His head ached around his temple and his chest felt tight as he tried to breathe and regain his senses. He focused his eyes on his surroundings. He was inside some sort of spacecraft, sitting on a bench seat. It was dimly lit and colder that he liked. He was breathing air, but it felt low in oxygen and he wondered how long before he blacked out again. His helmet was still on his head, but the visor was open. He couldn’t move his arms; they were tied behind his back.

  Then he remembered what had happened and jerked fully awake as adrenaline kicked in. He looked around the spacecraft for whomever or whatever had captured him. He saw the Intruder sitting in the front seat at the controls working on something. Doug shouted, “Who are you? What do you want?”

  The Intruder turned around and said in passable English, “You are awake. Good.”

  As the Intruder stood up and moved towards Doug, the lights came on. Doug could see the thing standing in front of him. It was taller than Doug, but the face did not look like a real, breathing organic being. It was some sort of humanoid robot. It looked similar to the Qumru aliens, but it lacked some of the normal features that made Qumru living, breathing beings. It was wearing a dark colored armored suit with weapons hanging from all sides. It was obviously some sort of military combat soldier fully equipped to engage in battle with its enemy.

  “My name is Vice Leader Di. I am a Qumru android soldier.”

  Doug shook his head to shake out the cobwebs still clogging his thoughts. He looked closer at the Intruder. “Why are you trying to kill your own people?”

  Di sat down on the seat across from Doug. “They are no longer Qumru. They are controlled by the Yoyka.”

  Doug thought for a moment, remembering his visit with the Qumru on board the starship. “They seemed okay to me when I last spoke to Utor. You’re the one who caused all the damage to the starship and killed the previous crewmembers. You endangered the entire ship and all its passengers.”

  “That is true. I tried to save the ship from the Yoyka. All the crewmembers have been infected with the Yoyka nanomachines.”

  “How is blowing a hole in the starship saving anyone. They all could have died in space,” Doug tried to defend his position, but he was beginning to have doubts what was really going on here.

  The Intruder, Di, held up his hand holding a small hologram device and projected a planet orbiting another star system. He said, “This is Holtu; my home world. This is where android soldiers like me live. There are also five billion Qumru living there. Utor will use the passenger minds to create more Qumru and infect them with the Yoyka nanomachines before sending them down to the planet. Another home world will be lost to the Yoyka.”

  Doug said nothing for a moment. He realized the horrible implications; if the Intruder was not lying to him. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth, Vice Leader Di?”

  “Because if we don’t help each other, this planet Mars and your home world Earth and all humans on it will be infected with the Yoyka nanomachines before the starship leaves orbit!”

  Chapter 24

  Infection Discovered

  Doctor Janice Martin was finishing her research on a particular Martian strain of microbes, which Janice initially discovered in her earlier search for microorganisms in underground ice found in the Utopia Planitia region. It was a thrilling discovery that proved ancient life did exist many millions of years ago when liquid water existed on the surface of Mars.

  The strain of microbes Janice was studying under a microscope was multicellular, which normally would have created all types of species of plants and fungi or algae in primordial times. However, the current conditions on Mars were not hospitable to higher life-forms and Janice’s most recent research centered on astrobiology, which is the study of the origin of life in the universe. Apparently, Mars was a perfect planet for this type of study since surface conditions on Mars have not changed substantially for over 3.5 billion years making it an ideal place to examine how life would have emerged if conditions were favorable.

  Before she left the lab, Janice wanted to check on the blood test results for Haruto Nakamura so she could forward the results to Haruto’s primary physician and inform Haruto of the results. Janice walked over to the department responsible for testing blood samples and entered the lab. Everyone else left for the day, so she sat down at the computer keyboard and entered the commands to find Haruto’s blood work. The laboratory analysis was complete and Janice reviewed the results. What she saw shocked her to her core. The complete blood count (CBC) gave Janice information about the cells in the patient’s blood, including cell count and concentrations of various compounds circulating in the bloodstream. Normally, this would include counts for white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.

  Haruto’s white blood cell count was very high indicating leukocytosis, which is usually a sign of an acute bacterial or viral infection. Haruto was very sick and needed immediate treatment.

  Janice wondered what would cause such an illness. She checked for the cause of the infection streaming through Haruto’s blood. The computer analysis ruled out all known bacteria and virus agents. Something new was identified as a foreign agent. It was made of a silicon compound not listed in the medical database. It was some sort of new biomechanical element. The only thing that made sense to Janice was the unknown agent streaming through Haruto’s blood was nanobots and it could not be of human origin!

  Janice was alarmed! There could be only one source of these nanites—the alien starship. She remembered what the AI, Shonya, had told her about the Yoyka nanomachines when she was on the starship. The only way Haruto could have gotten the nanomachines was from his recent visit to the starship. But that means the others might be infected also, she realized!

  Janice’s next thoughts were, how contagious is this infection and how fast will it infect others? What is the time interval before it becomes communicable? How does the infection spread; by air like the flu or colds, or by contact only? Janice’s fear increased by the second. Time was the critical path in preventing the infection from spreading to everyone on Mars. The infected persons must be quarantined immediately.

  I could be infected, Janice suddenly realized! The nanomachines could be coursing through her veins now. Janice raised her hand to her forehead. She did not feel warm; no fever yet. Maybe the infection had an incubation period before it became infectious or contagious. She knew the difference. Infectious diseases are usually caused by the environment and spread easily. Contagious diseases spread by contact only. Which was this?

  Janice called Haruto’s office. No one answered. She tried his personal comphone number. No answer. She remembered who went to visit the starship with Haruto? She called Haruto’s two assistants, Karen Riles and Carl Mentors. Neither answered their comphones. She called Colonel Jackson’s office and was told he had left for the day. He was not feeling well. Janice was beginning to panic. Things were getting out of hand.

  It was time to escalate the situation to emergency levels. She called the Mars
Center for Disease Control, the MCDC. She was on the emergency response team. She informed the head Director there, a Korean named Doctor Chang-Woo Mun of the situation.

  Doctor Mun was patient while Janice told him a condensed version of what happened. She finished by saying, “I could not get ahold of anyone who just came back from the starship. They may be very sick now and went home. We need to find them and put everyone in isolation.”

  “I understand, Doctor Martin. I will institute emergency action and alert the other offices. You must report here for further testing as well and possibly quarantine. We need to know how much time we have before the infection becomes contagious.”

  “I understand, Doctor Mun. I’ll bring a sample of Haruto’s blood with me so I can isolate the nanomachines and see how they can be neutralized. We must act quickly. If I am not infected yet, then it must take time for the infection to develop. Maybe we can prevent the nanomachines from spreading to others.” Janice ended the call.

  Janice worked quickly to take a sample of her blood for testing purposes and ran it through the equipment in her lab. She could get the results in an hour using computer links at the MCDC lab. Then she found Haruto’s original blood sample she had taken at Haruto’s office early in the day and put it in her medical bag along with a blood sample of her own.

  As Janice was leaving her office she called Doug’s comphone and received the voice mailbox. She left a detailed voice message in a trembling voice and told Doug to call her as soon as he could. It was very important.

  *****

  Captain Shirley Tills slapped the steering wheel hard in frustration as she sat in the rover staring at the monitor screen. Nothing appeared on radar. Doug’s locator chip was not emitting a signal. No sign of anything they could track. Doug was gone—vanished into thin Martian air. They had searched the area for two miles in every direction. One hour had past. The air packs each person wore only lasted for eight hours before needing recharging. Doug would die if left out in the Martian thin atmosphere too long.

  “What do you have?” Tills asked Chuck Williams who was checking all satellite feeds for any sightings of the alien Intruder. They all knew the Intruder had Doug. It was the only thing that made sense from the last images they saw from Doug’s headcam video. Otherwise, the Intruder would have attacked them as well.

  “I got nothing. There aren’t any radar echoes for any unidentified objects around us. Whatever the alien is using, we can’t see it.” Chuck was clearly upset.

  “Okay, I’m calling it in. We need reinforcements.” Tills reached to press the button on her comlink to call the UN Peace Keeping Force office when her comlink beeped. She tapped her earpiece. “Tills here?”

  “Hello, Captain. This is Doug. Where are you?”

  Captain Tills smiled in surprise and stopped the rover. “It’s good to hear from you, Director. We’ve been searching the area for you for an hour. Where are you? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, Captain. I’m sitting in a spacecraft with the Intruder using his communication link. I haven’t been harmed; just a little sore from the energy blast that knocked me out. We need to talk, Captain. This is not a trick. I need you to drive to the coordinates I’m sending now to pick me up. It’s close by. It’s very important you come ASAP. I’ll explain more when you get here.”

  The comlink shut down. Captain Tills turned to the other three people in the rover and explained the situation. She was in command now, but she wanted a vote if they should trust what Doug told her over the comlink and go pick him up. There was no hesitation. They all said yes.

  Chapter 25

  MCDC

  Haruto Nakamura was not feeling well. He was at home trying to get some rest. His wife, Aiko, was getting worried. They had been married for thirty-one years and she had rarely ever seen Haruto feeling this bad before. Haruto had told her it was probably a simple infection and his doctor would prescribe medication for it as soon as his blood test results were received. “Not to worry,” was his constant advice to Aiko.

  “But, Haruto, you’re running a fever. I must have this medicine now,” Aiko felt his forehead with her hand and tried to get him to drink more water.

  Haruto smiled at Aiko and was about to tell her to call the doctor when the comphone rang by his bed. He picked it up thinking it was the office. “Hello, this is Haruto.”

  “Mister Secretary, this is Doctor Chang-Woo Mun, head of the MCDC. How are you feeling?”

  Haruto was surprised by the call and who was calling. “I’m a little under the weather, but I should feel better tomorrow. Why are you calling, Doctor Mun?”

  Doctor Mun explained the situation as succinctly as possible. Then he said, “I’m sorry, but I must place you under quarantine for a while until we ascertain the seriousness of your illness. I’m sure you understand the reasons why. We don’t want this infection to spread.”

  Haruto looked at his wife with concern. If what Doctor Mun said was true, then he might have infected Aiko. He knew what the Yoyka nanomachines were capable of. “What about my wife, Doctor?”

  “I am sending someone over to pick both of you up as we speak. You are to leave the home and come here to the MCDC for further testing to see if she has been infected also. We are not certain when you will become contagious, Mister Secretary. This is of utmost importance. I issued an emergency alert about the situation.”

  “What about the others who were with me to visit the alien starship,” Haruto suddenly remembered.

  “We are contacting them now, Mister Secretary. Hopefully, we will find everyone in time.” Doctor Mun’s voice sounded troubled, but he tried to hide it.

  Janice Martin made it to the MCDC office in Haffen City using a driverless cab. The office was located a mile away near the Spaceport. On the ride over, she continuously tried to call Doug, but only got his voicemail. It was not like Doug not to return her calls. Something was wrong; she could feel it. She knew he was out searching for the Intruder, but he would have called her by now if everything was alright.

  Janice reached the MCDC office and entered the building. Doctor Mun’s office was on the second floor. People everywhere seemed to be in a hurried state; as if they thought a big storm was coming. Janice was worried too. They all had a right to be concerned.

  Janice reached Doctor Mun’s office and saw the door was open. She went right in. “Doctor Mun, I brought the blood samples.”

  Doctor Mun was shorter than Janice and older, but he had a quick smile that put most people at ease. He stood up to greet her. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Janice. Please, tell me all you know about these nanomachines.” He sat down behind his desk and motioned for her to take a seat.

  Janice sat in a chair in front of the desk. She told the doctor about the first visit to the alien starship and what transpired. She confirmed all participants were thoroughly tested afterwards for any type of contamination or foreign microbes they might have picked up on the spaceship. The test results were all negative. Then she told Mun about the second visit Haruto and others recently took to visit First Leader Utor. This time something happened. She was afraid the visitors had contracted the Yoyka nanomachines that were capable of controlling people like slaves. It had happened to the Qumru aliens who had fled Qum. Now she was almost certain the crew aboard the starship were also infected and somehow passed it on.

  “We need to study these nanomachines and see if we can find a neutralizing agent to stop the nanomachines from spreading,” Jan said urgently holding up Haruto’s blood sample.

  Doctor Mun looked at the blood sample Janice was holding. “You confirmed it’s composed of nanomachines?” He was visibly shaken.

  “I have seen them under our STM (scanning tunnelling microscope), Doctor Mun. They’re unlike anything I have seen before. These nanomachines are so small; there’s nothing to prevent them from passing through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) membrane and infecting the brain. Our own nanotechnology is ancient compared to this. I don’t know how we
can stop it, Doctor Mun.”

  Janice was on the verge of tears. Doctor Mun tried to calm her down. “We’ll find a way, Janice. We always have.”

  Doctor Mun stood up. “We have a lot of work to do. I want you to go to the quarantine area lab and get your blood sample results so we can see if you are infected. You must remain in quarantine. I will arrange to bring in more equipment you can use to help us study these nanomachines and find a solution.

  “I contacted Haruto and his wife. They have been picked up and are on their way here for quarantine purposes. I am still in the process of locating Haruto’s two assistants and Colonel Jackson and the five Marines he took with him to the starship. I issued a MCDC Emergency Alert notice to all offices on Mars. We must make sure no one leaves Haffen City for travel to other cities on Mars. The Spaceport will be shut down until the situation is under control.”

  Janice stood up to leave. “I understand, Doctor Mun. I will do all I can to help you. I have been trying to contact my husband, Doug, to tell him what is happening, but I have not been able to reach him.”

  Doctor Mun said, “If he calls here, I will make sure it’s transferred to you. Let me know what your blood test results are as soon as possible.”

  Janice walked out the door to find the quarantine lab. She tried calling Doug one more time and left another voice message, “Please call me back, Doug. I’m at the MCDC. I think the aliens have infected us with nanomachines. We need your help. I love you.” She was truly worried now and prayed nothing would harm their baby.

  Chapter 26

  Valles Marineris

  Doug was standing outside at the bottom of the canyon near the lava tube cave where Vice Leader Di was hiding inside his spacecraft. Doug decided this was not the time to introduce the Intruder to the team picking him up. As it were, Captain Tills may well decide to ignore whatever Doug tells her and order the UN Peace Keepers in Haffen City to fly out and attack Di. Doug needed more time to work things out.