Rogue Wave

by Christopher Cartwright

“No, thank you. I’ll have a strong coffee. Black. If you’ve got some.”

  Sam stepped into the bridge. “Hey Matthew, when you see Genevieve, can you please ask her to bring us two strong, black, coffees.”

  “Will do boss.”

  “We’ll be out on the aft deck.”

  Luke checked his lines again and then followed Sam. Down the side deck. Onto the aft deck. He stopped to look at the Sea King. “She’s a beautiful ship with a striking helicopter to match. You look like you’ve been having fun. Good for you.”

  “I haven’t lately. We’ve had a problem. One you intentionally brought me in to fix. So, you may as well fill me in. Elise, one of my crew – she’s kind of a computer genius, is currently tracking the area with military satellite surveillance. Looking for their glowing lights. We might have to go at any time if she finds them.”

  “Good. Tell her to look for intermittent electrical depolarizations.”

  “You mean like the discharge in a storm cloud?”

  “Precisely. Each plankton is producing electrical charge through kinetic energy. If she can’t see their bioluminescent glow, she should spot a five-mile area containing multiple electrical discharges.”

  “Okay, thank you. I’ll let her know.”

  Sam went inside to give Elise the tip. He returned a couple minutes later. Luke had stopped at the most aft section of the ship and was staring out into the calm seas. He looked up at Sam, smiled and then said, “How long have you known that I was alive?”

  Chapter Eighty Nine

  Sam took a deep breath. Smiled. “I had a feeling when I watched the video of your purported death. You appeared to be moving downwards. It wasn’t that, so much as your smile. It wasn’t even the fact that you appeared calm. It was the fact that you looked proud.” Sam shook his head. “It was nothing but a hunch until Tom told me about the green ghost he’d met. And then when I saw it with my own eyes, I knew that you were involved somehow.”

  “It’s not what you think,” Luke reassured him.

  “I never thought it was. So tell me about it.”

  “Timothy Locke, Benjamin White and I have spoken for nearly twenty years about the need to harness the power of the ocean. I’ve known it since I was a child. If we’re ever truly going to become self-sustainable as a species, we needed to capture some of the energy from the ocean. About five years ago, the time had come for us to act. We’d reached the perfect time in the history of civilization. Timothy Locke had the knowledge and the power to make small machines, Benjamin White was an expert on the movements of the oceans, and I had spent my entire life studying alternative and mainstream energy sources. I’ve studied everything from solar panels, windfarms and wave generators, through to nuclear and thorium conductors.”

  Luke stopped as Genevieve arrived with their coffees. She dropped them off, left a pot of black coffee, and quietly left without saying a word. Luke watched her go. “She’s quite stunning, isn’t she?”

  “Forget it you dirty old man. She’s not interested.”

  “In men?”

  Sam shrugged his shoulders. “In anyone.”

  Luke hadn’t changed with age. He was always known as a lady’s man – attractive, intelligent, funny and loquacious around women in a way that they never seemed to find annoying. And as far as Sam could tell, they just liked him. Of course, it had probably been the cause of all three of his divorces.

  Luke smiled when he finally accepted that Sam wasn’t going to give him any more information. “Okay, where was I?”

  “You’re an expert in the development of clean energy.”

  Luke took a small gulp of coffee. It was 4 a.m. after all. “None of those sources were limitless and without damage. Even windfarms require large amounts of mining to gain the materials to build. Wave generators destroy the local marine life and require the use of oil, which naturally seeps into the ocean, to maintain. In many ways nuclear and thorium reactors appear the only feasible long term solution, with the one major drawback being our inability to remove the waste.”

  “So you created a swarm of nanobots intent on destroying humanity?” Sam interrupted.

  Luke smiled good-naturedly. “So we looked at it from an entirely different perspective – we looked at breeding a species that worked symbiotically with nature to produce energy. Kinetic energy, small amounts, absorbed through the natural movements of the sea, covering trillions upon trillions of plankton cells.”

  “Okay, so how far did you get before someone offered to kill your research?”

  “It took more than a year to build fifty nanobots. The sheer practicality of such an undertaking made it impossible for us to continue without the ability to increase production substantially. Even if we wanted to, we would die from old age before we could build a relevant colony.”

  Sam had heard this argument against nanotechnology before. “So you looked to the plankton to grow them for you?”

  “Yes. As you would know, certain plankton procreate through cellular division. At its most basic level, the cells make an exact replica of themselves. It’s inside their DNA – the building codes for all cells. So we thought, why not reprogram the DNA with nanotechnology?”

  “Because up until the time I watched it under an electron microscope I believed that it was impossible,” Sam said.

  “I did too, but Timothy Locke assured me it could be done. In fact, he wasn’t even concerned about how to do that. For him, it related to computer codes. And coding was something you could do at any level. His concern was our ability to produce substantial numbers.”

  “Why? If he could reprogram the DNA to include the nanotechnology and plankton cells divide every 24-48 hours, the population must grow rapidly?”

  “They do, but not fast enough. You have to realize that the type of plankton we were using had a complete life cycle of eight days. That meant that although we were doubling the colony every 24-48 hours we were losing an entire generation every ten days.”

  “So how did you overcome that?”

  “We genetically modified the plankton, by increasing the rate it divided. If all requirements were met, such as warmth, nutrients, and building blocks for the nanoparticles – the cells would now multiply every 2-4 hours.”

  Sam frowned. “Yes, Veyron showed me. We were wondering why anyone would do that.”

  “But it didn’t just produce more symbiotic plankton. The process ended up having an unexpected side effect.”

  A small wave lapped up towards the side of the ship. Sam stepped back to avoid the splash. “What was the side effect?”

  “It sped up the life cycle and generations of the plankton.”

  “What would that do?”

  “It’s an old theory in evolution. You see, if you subscribe to current theories about evolution you learn that everything evolves through generational responses to external stimuli. For example, in a small cave system in Bolivia a certain breed of fish have become entrapped in complete darkness. As the species evolved to survive without light, their eyes became smaller and smaller until today’s cavefish no longer have eyes. Instead, they developed whisker like sensor at the edge of their mouths which pick up tiny movements.”

  Sam nodded his head. He’d read about the Bolivian Cavefish in college, but he still didn’t see the relevance to their nanocreation. “What happened?”

  Luke finished his coffee and immediately poured himself another. “We shortened the generational cycle of the plankton – and increased their rate of evolution.”

  Chapter Ninety

  Sam started on his second cup of coffee. It was unusual for him, but so was this story. “You increased its rate of evolution. But how much does plankton evolve?” Sam still didn’t feel like he was getting anywhere.

  Luke smiled patiently. “It turns out quite a bit. Also, you have to remember, this wasn’t just plankton. It now shared its DNA with the nanobots which served a basic point. They were basically designed to create kinetic energy as they moved with the swell
of the ocean.”

  “How were they storing the energy?”

  “They weren’t. We hadn’t gotten to that point yet. All we wanted to know was that the energy could be produced. We had a number of theories about how to then capture that energy, but the entire program was still in its infancy.”

  “And the colony was growing and evolving?” Sam persisted.

  “Yes. Incredibly fast.” Luke took a deep breath. Swallowed. And then continued. “We started off a small private island in the Bahamas, using a small lake. Each day, I would take more nutrients and building blocks down to the lake. Soon they would meet me at the jetty, like carp they would wait to be fed. Eventually, they befriended me as someone who fed them.”

  Sam threw the last of his now cold coffee overboard. “Are you telling me this thing developed AI?”

  “No. Artificial Intelligence kind of went out of vogue after the turn of the millennium. Too many Venture Capitalists got burnt by what it was supposed to be capable of. We talk about the term Predictive Response. This is where machines are designed to mimic the appearance of cognitive function by applying a series of answers to yes and no questions to solve a common goal. You have to remember these were still a series of machines performing very basic tasks as a collective to achieve a common goal. Such as, move here when man comes down and get food.”

  “None of the AI theories proved possible?” Sam asked.

  “Sure they did. It’s just the scientists asking for the money from the Venture Capitalists were off by about thirty years’ worth of research.”

  Sam persisted. “And yet you built a working prototype?”

  “Yes and no. Evolution sped up the process of their mimicked intelligence but we hadn’t taken into account the simple fact that plankton is alive. Single cellular or not, all living things share one common desire – they want to survive. It was after the colony had survived for a year that things began to get super weird.”

  Chapter Ninety One

  Sam looked at the starlight, fading into the twilight of dawn. The possibilities were limitless now. “Okay, tell me how things got weird?”

  Luke sat down. He appeared tired but at the same time frustrated because he needed to get some things off his chest, and he still had a job to do before it was finished. “Because I came down to the lake one day and the colony started to raise itself out of the water and take form.”

  “The green ghost we saw?” Sam asked.

  Luke stared into the dark water. “Ah, you’ve met one of them?”

  “One of them? You mean there’s others?”

  “Yes. Not at first, but eventually they multiplied. They liked to mimic things. Soon they were copying my general shape and eventually they were able to perform simple tasks such as creating the shape of my eyes, and face. In the end it was like I was staring at a reflection, albeit a little greener.”

  Sam looked at him. He appeared close to tears. “So what went wrong?”

  “We needed money. We’d raised our initial capital ourselves. Timothy was one of the worst hit. He had to sell his house to put in his equal share. I think he wanted to ask us for a loan, but had too much pride. Besides, we all thought we were on to something. This was our big break.”

  On the horizon Sam watched a shooting star race towards earth. “Okay, so where did you raise the funding to continue? I would have thought with that kind of story you’d have Venture Capitalists trying to throw money at you.”

  “No way. Not anymore. Too many broken bridges with nanotechnology. No one was interested. After all, what had we really created? A microscopic machine that could create a single face out of water. No one knew of any particular uses for that. No, we needed to increase the size of the colony so that we could begin progress towards energy production.”

  “But someone did fund your research?”

  “A friend of ours knew a person who could get us the cash we needed. In fact, they could get us all the funding we would ever need – because they’d just discovered exactly what they could do with machines that made seawater rise and fall into the air.”

  “They wanted a weapon!” Sam shook his head.

  “Of course they did. If you really want funding for research and development, just tell them that one of the uses of your study will create a weapon. Pity, really. The human race is so predictable.”

  “Did you know who was making the offer?”

  “No. It was a high tech armaments company. Probably American based, but who knows. Our friend assured us THEY would only sell to friendly countries.”

  “You were going to create the world’s most destructive weapon, and you took it on your friend’s word that THEY weren’t going to sell to unfriendly nations?”

  Luke stood up and paced a little. He looked uncertain about whether or not he would be allowed to leave the ship. “We just wanted the funding. Per our contract, we were paid for the product. Any other collateral data gathered in the process was a bonus. We kidded ourselves into thinking that we were producing a machine that could power the world, rendering most wars redundant. Wars that, as you know, are fought over energy.”

  Sam sighed. “I thought they were fought over religion.”

  “No, we just say that so that people accept the craziness better. We don’t blink an eye when a country slaughters its minorities, despite our Christian ideals that America was supposed to be founded on. But if such an atrocity were to affect our pipelines, our oil production, or our gas production – then let’s put boots on the ground.”

  Sam had been in Afghanistan. Even if he’d been there for the right reasons, he knew that Luke was telling the truth. Would his government have cared so much, if it hadn’t effected the free flow of oil and gas? “Okay, so you were saving the world at the same time as you were offering the perfect weapon to destroy it.”

  Luke laughed. “Don’t think I missed the irony. I get it. And at the end of the day, I won’t lie – I wanted to make some real money, too.”

  “Okay, so you went to bed with an arms dealer. Never a good idea to begin with, but you came good with the research, so where did it go wrong?”

  “When we failed to produce the weapon.”

  Chapter Ninety Two

  Sam stood up. “You failed to produce the weapon?”

  “Yeah. More irony, hey?” Luke replied. “We could get the plankton to raise and lower its height in the water, but we had no way of controlling the direction of the water once it fell. In fact, when we tried, it simply splashed back down gently, barely creating a ripple. Like I said, these were simple machines. Nothing like the science fiction movies.”

  “So what did you tell your backer?” Sam asked.

  “I told them what they wanted to hear. We needed more time. We were making great leaps of progress but it would take time and money.” Luke’s eyes then widened as he appeared to recall something fantastic. “And then the magic started.”

  “What magic?”

  “We spent so much time working on the weapon, we ceased researching energy solutions. Then one day we noticed a single metallic sphere.”

  “Like the millions we found inside the cavern?” Sam asked. His interest picking up.

  “Yes.”

  “So, what’s with those small metallic balls? There must have been millions of them.”

  The wonder disappeared from Luke’s eyes. “Those are what caused all this trouble in the first place.”

  “Little metallic balls?” Sam was incredulous.

  “We called them Elixir Eight. It was a play on a number of things really. They’re batteries built out of thorium. Like a shrine to their ancestors, they’re produced every time the plankton’s lifecycle of eight days is over. The nanobots seem to like producing them. I don’t know why. I can’t see any purpose for them. And the nanobots certainly don’t seem to use them. But, all the same they produce them and stockpile them here.”

  “Tiny batteries?” Sam confirmed.

  “Those are the most powerful batteries th
e world has ever seen. One of those spheres would power your submarine for its lifetime.” Luke sighed. “Don’t you see? That’s what this is all about. Someone came to us from the oil companies to make an offer to buy the research. They wanted to purchase the research lines and quash them from ever being used. I was very nearly tempted by the offer, too. It was to the tune of 20 billion dollars! That’s a lot of money for someone like me. Even for someone like you.”

  Sam smiled at the attack. His father was one of the richest men alive. “Okay, so why didn’t you just accept their offer.”

  “I was going to. Really, you have no idea how close I was. The technology was worth ten times that much if we could harness it. But research takes time. Politics come into play and the next thing you know you’ve blown the remainder of your life trying to achieve something that will serve only to make your grandchildren rich.”

  “And stop the human race from destroying itself.”

  “Well, there is that, too.”

  “So what did stop you?”

  “It was the person they sent to negotiate on their behalf that made me change my mind. I was so insulted by their boldness. In the end, I couldn’t live with myself if I accepted. Of course, I couldn’t do that without it being obvious that I would go to the media about it. And if I did that, this person’s world was going to change. This person represented a conglomerate of oil tycoons from around the world. Powerful and protected, this person convinced the other members of my team to use my own creation to kill me.”

  “All right. Who’s the person?” Sam asked.

  Luke shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you. Not until I have the final piece of evidence. Once I have that I will tell you everything. Then we can make them pay.”

  “So what are you doing here?” Luke asked.

  “We came to destroy the colony. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see if my creation had returned.”

  “Returned?” Sam looked confused. “You knew about this place?”