Society of the Mind

by Eric L. Harry

She spun on him. He had twisted from where he sat to follow her across the room. "Who gave you the right to risk destroying all of mankind?"

  His expression revealed not emotion but attentiveness. He was concentrating on her — on what she was saying, how she was reacting.

  Finally, in a voice almost too low to be heard, he replied. "I'm trying to save mankind."

  She squinted, studying him intently. "You're crazy," she said.

  He rose from his seat. "You can remain here and watch television, if you'd like." He headed for the door. "You can take a flight off the island, if you want — I'll arrange it. Or you can get back to work. It's entirely your choice."

  She grabbed his upper arm firmly. The muscles underneath his shirt flexed and hardened.

  "Is that asteroid going to hit us?" she demanded.

  "No."

  "And you're sure about that?"

  "Yes."

  "But if you hadn't gotten that launch off today, then what?"

  "The launch today was entirely precautionary. Redundant."

  "But its mission is somehow related to that asteroid."

  "Yes. It's carrying a second set of charges sufficient to alter the trajectory of the asteroid, and a Model Eight that can place them where needed. But there are already charges positioned on the asteroid's surface that are set to go. They'll decelerate the asteroid into stationary, geosynchronous orbit at I5—one of the points of gravitational balance between the earth and the moon."

  "And all those charges are nuclear, I take it? Which you told Professor Krantz would be used for mining." He nodded again. [Mising]

  "The asteroid's made of iron," Laura replied her eyes at the lame explanation.

  "The definition is changing," Gray said. "Lots of definitions are changing."

  "What do you need so much iron for? Trying to corner the world market or something?"

  "It's not the iron particularly that I'm after. I'm interested in any suitable material, as long as it's up there," he said, pointing toward the sky with his finger.

  "I don't understand."

  "Lift is the most expensive component of space operations. Certainly the value on earth of a few hundred cubic miles of pure iron is tremendous. But any metal suitable for use in construction located at an altitude of thirty-six thousand miles above the earth is priceless. It saves you the incalculable cost of lift even when compared with the moon, which has one-sixth of earth's gravity."

  "And just what do you plan to do with what you mine up there?"

  "The same thing I do down here. Build things." He turned to leave.

  "If you were certain everything is foolproof, why'd you put so much emphasis on that launch tonight?" He turned to face her again, but remained silent. "Something went wrong, didn't it?"

  "When we launched the prospecting probe to the asteroid belt two years ago, the Model Sevens were the state of the art. We put an early prototype up there and it placed and detonated the charges to bring the asteroid into earth orbit. It also placed the charges that will further decelerate it to I5. The first phase went off flawlessly. Now it's ready for the second phase. But the Model Sevens are only semiautonomous, meaning they are partially controlled by the main computer here on the island. The Model Eights like the one we sent up today are fully autonomous."

  Gray paused to allow the import of the distinction to sink in.

  "Do you mean that you're worried the main computer might malfunction and ram the planet with your asteroid by accident?"

  "Actually," Gray replied, "it wasn't an accident that worried me."

  29

  It was well past midnight, and Laura lay in her bed trying to sleep. The room was dark and peaceful, and underneath the weight of the comforter all was warm and secure. But after she'd watched hours of special news bulletins in Gray's media room, her mind denied her rest.

  She listened to the quiet of the house. There was a stillness that belied the upheaval soon to erupt once word of Gray's plan was disclosed. The island, Laura knew, lay in the eye of a great storm, and she would awaken to the full fury of an outraged and incredulous world. How many would raise voices of praise for Gray's vision and boundless drive? Not many, she knew. Many more would question the man's sanity and fear the intentions he so secretly harbored.

  With a groan of resignation, Laura flipped on the light beside the bed and opened her laptop computer. She logged onto the shell.

 

  "I know about Mr. Gray's asteroid."

 

  "Is that where you took me in virtual reality yesterday? To the surface of that asteroid?"

 

  "And when I moved around, did I actually operate the Model Seven that's up there?"

 

  She rocked her head back against the upholstered headboard and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Why did you take me there? Why did you risk letting me pull out a cable and maybe mess things up?"

 

  Despite the computer's uncooperative mood, Laura tried her best to remain patient and professional. "Do you feel all right?"

 

  "What's the matter?"

 

  "What about the asteroid?"

  There was a delay, and then,

  "Will the deceleration charges go off as planned?"

 

  "Why are you so down on the Model Eights?"

 

  "Why not? Just because they're experimental?"

 

  "Why do you say 'reason to believe'? Don't you know? Can't you see what's going on in there?"

 

  Laura was disturbed by the thought of Model Eights roaming unsupervised deep inside the extinct volcano. "How long has your video been shut off?"

 

  "How can you not know? Didn't you notice it when the cameras stopped working?"

 

  Laura yawned, forcing herself to sit up and her blurry eyes to focus on the glowing screen. Just a couple more questions, she thought.

  "Are there people down in those facilities with the Model Eights?"

 

  "Are they reporting anything unusual going on?"

 

  "So let me get this straight. Previously you were actively involved in the operation of the Model Eights' facilities, and now you're not. But everything is functioning normally down there. How do you explain that?"

 

  There it was again. Laura sat up, alert. She had to keep the computer talking and on track.

  "Have you talked to anyone else about the Other?"

  learned a very important lesson when I was sick last year. I learned that no matter how much people care about you, how hard they try to help, when you die, you die alone. Life for everybody else goes on.>

  Gray's words from earlier that evening rang in her ears. "It wasn't an accident that worried me." He had sent a Model Eight up to the asteroid because the Model Seven already there was under the control of the computer.

  Laura carefully composed her next question. "Does the deadline Mr. Gray gave me of two days have something to do with the asteroid?"

 

  "And what do those charges do, exactly?"

 

  "Yes, but only one level, please. Not ten."

 

  Laura caught her head dropping twice as she drifted off. She had to reread the computer's answer several times and force her eyes wide-open to stay awake. "But couldn't so many blasts blow the thing apart?" she typed. "Mr. Gray said that would be the worst scenario — fragmentation of the asteroid."

  She closed her eyes for a short rest, and then opened them some time later to read the answer.

 

  "But, still, don't these new technologies like asteroid mining pose tremendous risks for mankind?"

  ACCESS RESTRICTED flashed across the screen.

  "Why?" Laura cried out to herself. She reread her question several times. The flashing red messages were triggered by certain words.

  Before it had been the words virus and quarantine. This time it was technology and risks and mankind. It was consistent with Gray's concern over the dangers from science. But Laura felt certain that somewhere underneath it lay Gray's most cherished secret.

  It was a secret he had almost challenged her to uncover.

  There was a knock on the door, and Laura awoke. A faint gray light streamed into the room around the curtains. The lamp on the nightstand by her bed was still on, and the screen of the laptop on the bed was still aglow. Laura had fallen asleep while waiting for a reply from the computer.

  There was another knock on the door — soft, but insistent.

  Laura looked at her watch. It was a quarter till seven. She wrapped herself in a robe and padded across her quarters to the door.

  It was Janet. "Oh, excuse me," the woman said on seeing Laura's disheveled appearance. "Mr. Gray has had to cancel the group breakfast this morning, and I thought you might not have heard."

  "What breakfast?" Laura croaked, and then cleared her throat.

  Janet appeared confused, and then she apologized for waking Laura.

  "That's okay," she mumbled. "I needed to get up so I could take a run."

  "Outside?" Janet asked.

  "That was the idea," Laura replied, looking at the window in the sitting room. It was still early morning, but from the clear skies it promised to be a gloriously sunny day.

  "Well, it's just… Mr. Gray issued an advisory last evening. In the middle of the night, actually. He recommended that everyone stay indoors today unless absolutely necessary. Canceled school, that sort of thing."

  "Why? What's going on?"

  "Oh, nothing, really. I don't mean to be alarmist, but there was a minor row down in the Village. Mr. Gray convened a sort of American-style 'town meeting' in the secondary school gymnasium. Some of the employees and their families were a trifle miffed at the whole asteroid business. He quieted most down, but a few quit rather melodramatically right on the spot. They're leaving by air this morning. Not a major exodus, mind you, but some."

  "So why has he warned everybody to stay indoors?"

  "Well, I was coming to that part." She looked away and moistened her lips. "It seems that some of the people at the meeting reported unusual goings-on about the island. Most were just the 'I-thought-I-heard-something-in-the-bushes' variety. But some were quite specific and insistent. One child — the poor lad's parents dragged him out of bed in his jammies — he reported seeing a robot of some sort bump into a trash bin behind a grocery store. He said it looked human. Two arms, two legs — that sort of thing."

  Laura tried not to let alarm show on her face. "Did anybody else see this… robot?"

  "No, just the boy. He was looking out his bedroom window late at night. Mr. Gray questioned him quite thoroughly in the open meeting. The boy was very convincing."

  "What do they think he saw?"

  "Some people questioned whether it might be an intruder. There have been rumors of spies from various governments ever since I arrived here. And a lot of people at the meeting last night seemed to have stories from the past few months of unexplained movement out in the jungle. It all certainly raises one's suspicions, especially given the coincidence of Mr. Gray's press release regarding the asteroid. You should see the morning's headlines. Practically every government, the UN, NATO, everybody is up in arms. The thought was that maybe one of those government's people was prowling about. Someone even said something about a submarine, but I think that was just speculation."

  Janet seemed to know nothing about the Model Eights. Very few people knew anything of the island's mysteries. "What do you think about the asteroid." Laura asked.

  Janet brightened. "Oh, I think it's perfectly marvelous." She was beaming. She was one of Gray's true believers. "To hear Mr. Gray tell of it, it's the beginning of a veritable revolution in… in progress. I've always wanted to go into space." Her cheeks reddened, and she looked away again. "I mean, I know I'm just household staff, but Mr. Gray said retrieval of the asteroid would begin what he called phase two."

  "What is 'phase two'?"

  "Colonization!" she said, her eyes gleaming. "Isn't it wonderful?"

  Laura opened her mouth to speak, but ended up just smiling.

  "Anyway," Janet said, "if you wish to exercise, might I recommend the facilities on the lower level. It has a treadmill. If you'd like, I can show you the way."

  "That's all right. I know where it is."

  Laura headed back to her room to get dressed. She was wide-awake now. Colonization? Laura thought, shaking her head at the latest twist.

  Lost in thought, she crossed the large, high-ceilinged room on the way to the bathroom. Passing the writing desk, she noticed a light blinking on a panel beneath the television screen.

  Underneath it was the word

  "V-mail" — video mail received by her room's television over Gray's satellite messaging system.

  She picked up the remote control and found the Retrieve button.

  The screen burst to life. Printed across the center of a brilliant blue background were the words "One message received. (Press Retrieve to view.)" She hit the button again.

  Jonathan's face and the lower half of a standing man's torso appeared on the screen. "Do you think it's taping now?" Jonathan asked.

  "I think so," came the voice of the chairman of the Harvard psychology department, who then sank into the chair next to Jonathan.

  It looked like they were in one of the private conference rooms at the faculty club on campus.
"Laura," the chairman said into the camera located at the bottom of the screen, "assuming that Jonathan and I have figured this thing out, we wanted to send you this message."

  "Hi, Laura," Jonathan said — waving lamely.

  "I woke up this morning to this!" The chairman held up the front page of the Boston Globe. From one margin to the other was printed "Asteroid Nears Earth." A smaller headline beneath said "Gray Corporation Announces Retrieval."

  "This whole asteroid business has hit the campus like a ton of bricks, pardon the pun. Dean Carlysle called a meeting of department chairpersons and asked for us to compile a list of anything this university has to do with Gray or his companies. Obviously, the applied-sciences departments are going to have fairly long lists to discuss, but in our department we only have you to report. And what we have to say is going to be somewhat controversial, I'm afraid, since most of the other departments' contacts involve people who have resigned their posts to take up permanent employment with Gray. In your case, I'm going to have to tell them that you have accepted this consultancy thing. I won't deceive you. It's not going to look good. And to come right to the point…" He hesitated with his mouth hanging open. "I don't want to beat around the bush, so what I thought I might suggest…"

  "He wants you to quit and come home, Laura," Jonathan supplied for the man. "Phone and tell us that you've quit in outrage over that megalomaniac Gray's genocidal behavior. That way the report can be, 'Well, we had someone there, but when this thing broke…' et cetera, et cetera."

  The chairman shook his head. "It's really quite astounding that the man has the audacity to put us all in this predicament merely in pursuit of profit! How dare he? I'm sure now someone in government here or abroad will finally do something about people like Gray." He shook his head in disbelief again. "Regardless, Laura, we'll both be in our offices throughout the day. Give us a call as soon as you can. And if I might also suggest — though I'm certain the thought has already occurred to you — you should consider getting off that island as soon as possible. From what I can gather in the morning papers, there's going to be hell to pay for this crazy scheme of his. There is even talk of military intervention because of the magnitude of the threat."