The Island Project: A Thriller

by Taylor Buck

“Hey there, Mr. Hollywood,” Kelly said. She smiled big as she walked up and gave Bennett a hug.

  “Hey. Travelling light, huh?” Bennett said with a smile. He looked to see if he could help with her bags but noticed she didn’t have anything other than a field bag.

  “I hate checking bags, such a waste of time. So much easier to carry-on.” She pointed to the backpack slung over her shoulder.

  Bennett looked at Kelly and couldn’t help but notice how she had grown up. Her dark brown hair had grown long since the last time he had seen her. Her big, hazel-green eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she smiled back at him. Bennett noticed her clothing; her usual tan pocketed shirt and safari shorts. Her appearance was delightfully predictable…always ready to go exploring. She definitely fit the part of a wildlife biologist—tomboyish enough to hold her own in the field, but always upheld a touch of elegance.

  “You’re tan!” Bennett remarked as he opened Kelly’s door for her.

  “Comes with the territory. You can’t avoid the sun here,” she said laughing.

  Bennett closed the passenger door and hopped in the driver’s seat. “It’s really good to see you Kelly. I’m glad we’re getting the chance to hang out.”

  “Me too!” Kelly said genuinely. “I’m so glad you called.”

  “Alright. Where too?” Bennett said.

  “Coffee?” Kelly offered. “My favorite cafe is just outside Hilo,” she said.

  “You read my mind. The reserve doesn’t open until 10:00. That will give us some time to catch up.”

  Bennett exited the terminal and drove out of the airport, heading toward downtown Hilo.

  CHAPTER 13

  CERTA GROUNDS, ALPHA SECTOR

  15 OCTOBER, 8:15 A.M.

  It was quiet outside. Not a sound except for the birds chirping in the palm trees swaying overhead. Rick Danner moved silently along the southern exterior of the building. He held his shotgun tightly, steadying the barrel in front of him as he crept through the wet ferns.

  Danner hadn’t heard back from his other team members yet—which was odd. Since the search began, they had checked in with him every hour or so. Something was definitely wrong and Danner could only expect the worse. He was making his way over to the Beta Sector to find out.

  The Alpha Sector included the four acres surrounding the building. The Beta Sector consisted of the four acres within the shock fence. The sectors ran out from the building in rings. The Alpha Sector held the facility itself, a supply shed, an electrical shed, a workout facility and a small covered parking garage. The Beta Sector was mainly open country, besides a small supply shed about 150 yards out.

  Danner had hired three of his ex-Delta pals to help him track Lorry: Jim Covington (Charlie), Kevin Kane (Kilo) and Bruce Tegan (Tango). Tegan had been out hunting the perimeter since yesterday and was now back home resting. Both Covington and Kane were still out in the field.

  Each man was fully armed with weapons and equipped with a walkie for communication. If one walkie were to go down, the men were directed to return to base to get fitted with a new one. At the moment, both walkies appeared to be out of communication and neither men were anywhere to be seen.

  Kane had been zoned to search the beta sector, inside the fence. Covington had gone searching outside the CERTA property, beyond the fence. If Lorry had managed to clear the shock fence, there was little chance Covington would find her quickly. Hundreds of acres of protected forest surrounded the complex for her to roam, and the robots could last a good forty-eight hours without requiring a full recharge. Furthermore, since the backup source of the robot’s replenishment was solar power, Danner knew that the island would unfortunately be able to provide adequate nourishment.

  Danner made his way past the electrical shed. He walked slowly, on alert.

  He knew what the robots were capable of. He had seen the training exercises the scientists put the robots through. And now that the secret was out about their ability to jump, at least thirty feet…it made Danner curious as to what other abilities they possessed.

  Danner recalled the briefing he had given his team prior to tracking. He had issued the basic facts of the current Juggernaut Models in a message to each team member.

  He covered the following:

  THE JUGGERNAUTS ARE PROGRAMMED TO AVOID CONTACT.

  They were not programmed to attack. They were actually wired to avoid contact with objects altogether—including humans.

  THEY ARE POWERFUL—FRIGHTENINGLY SO.

  Danner had witnessed a juggernaut trample a scientist on one freak occasion—nearly killing him. The robot had been in testing at the facility. It was climbing through the obstacle course inside the lab when a scientist, unassumingly jotting down notes, found himself directly in the path of the robot. The robot noticed the scientist and made necessary adjustments to move around him. The scientist panicked though, and ran the same direction. In a split second, the robot pivoted to avoid collision, but the body of the robot swung fiercely around, knocking the scientist clear across the room a good twenty-five feet. A sturdy 400lb machine stabilized by a carbon nanotube frame colliding against human flesh proved damaging. The scientist had three broken ribs, a concussion and a separated shoulder from the impact.

  THEY ARE TRANSPORTERS.

  The sole mission of the juggernauts was to be utilized as haulers during battle or in any instance where it was too dangerous for humans to tread. They could haul up to three times their body weight and still perform with incredible agility.

  THEY ARE FAST…FASTER THAN HUMANS.

  As far as Danner knew, Lorry had topped out at 35mph—quite an achievement. The fastest human in the world topped out somewhere around 29 mph. The news surrounding the Juggernaut’s speed had been hailed as a technological feat in automated robotics. It had become official. Robots had finally surpassed human physical ability in the area of both strength and speed.

  THEY CAN DISGUISE THEMSELVES.

  The robots were given cloaking mechanisms in order to use stealth tactics to sneak behind enemy lines. It was important to their missions to remain unseen, seeing as the information they would carry would most likely be highly sensitive. They were given an adaptive nano-coating that covered the entire carbon nanotube frame, giving it the ability to take on the coloring of the environment around it. The robots didn’t, however, have the ability to make conscience decisions about when to cloak themselves. The cloaking ability was only triggered in certain environments, or by manual activation. The adaptive nano-coat also has a distinctive texture that gives a “fur like” appearance to the robots. This furry appearance, mixed with the shape and mannerisms of the robots, makes the juggernauts appear amazingly lifelike.

  THEY HAVE LIMITED AI.

  Because the robots were intended as simple transporters, they weren’t given much for Artificial Intelligence. They contain onboard processors complex enough to perform necessary functions. They know when to run, climb and maneuver. They also have problem solving intelligence, such as when to correct itself if in fall. The robot can actually sense if it’s off balance and shift weight to the appropriate areas.

  The CERTA scientists were actually capable of increasing the amount of AI that the robots could process, but the Department of Defense didn’t allow it. In 2014, The Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Regulations Act was passed, deeming any degree of intelligence used in robotic technology to first be approved by the DOD. They considered the regulations necessary due to the rise in AI over the past ten years.

  For the juggernauts, the DOD put an initiative in place to begin with a marginal amount of AI and gradually upgrade the software over time, as needed. This regulated the progress of the robots and allowed DARPA to monitor production at a safe and controlled distance. Over time, Perry had managed to keep DARPA audits to a minimum. Danner hadn’t seen an auditor come b
y in over eight months. He was curious to whether DARPA was aware of the current state of the juggernaut project.

  It was no secret that Dr. Perry felt restricted by the AI regulating. He accused the Department of Defense of being lumpenproletariats, and faulted them for being afraid of forward progression. Of course, he didn’t like any sort of limitations with regards to his science. Neither did Kenneth Braden, who was in charge of AI development. In fact Braden had caused a fuss on a few occasions with the auditors who had come by in the past. It was obvious he wanted to raise the levels of AI in the robots, but the DOD representatives were very specific with what they allowed, and they threatened to pull funding if the guidelines weren’t followed. In the end, Braden agreed to abide. Dr. Perry was forced to supervise and CERTA, as a whole, stayed within the given guiderails. But only Braden truly knew what AI level the juggernauts were operating at on any given day. On top of that, Dr. Perry wasn’t around much anymore. He was usually off giving lectures or meeting with dignified members of society to raise money for endeavors. Dr. Perry was getting old. And with his age he had become increasingly less involved with the minutiae of the projects CERTA was involved in. Braden clearly ran the juggernaut project, for example. He oversaw all development and basically engineered the entire robot.

  Danner had always seen Braden as an odd one. He was known as the lone ranger at CERTA, always working late and keeping to himself. To Danner—the guy was suspicious. Danner also noticed Dr. Perry seemed to hold private meetings with him on multiple occasions.

  Danner was making good time. He hopped over a bed of black lava rock and crossed into the Beta Section. He stopped to look around. He was now out of site from the facility. Nothing but trees, bushes and tropical plants surrounded him.

  Danner had been trekking cross-country to where Kane had last checked in from, avoiding the trails. He figured he was roughly a hundred yards from the shock fence. Soon the south gate entrance would be visible—a single access door in the shock fence wall.

  The morning sun was working its way up into the sky and Danner could feel the temperature beginning to rise. He removed his thermal shell, placing it into his supply pack and continued on. A few paces further, he came across the shock fence stretching as far as the eye could see, from east to west. As he moved in closer, he spotted the door about thirty yards down.

  It was open.

  The door was open.

  Danner broke into a sprint. They wouldn’t leave the door open, would they? Danner was quite confident that his team wouldn’t have intentionally allowed a careless act such as this. He had to get it shut. Even though it probably wouldn’t make a difference to Lorry, Danner figured anything he could do to prevent an escape would help.

  He ran fast toward the gate. He was within ten yards of the door when he tripped on a large object that sent him whirling toward the fence, landing him within just inches of the shock lines.

  Danner froze. He laid on his back on the wet ground staring straight up at the sky.

  He could hear the hum of the electricity pulsating across the horizontal lines on the fence just inches from his face.

  12,000 volts.

  Even though he knew the amount wasn’t necessarily life threatening, it was substantial enough…certainly enough to burn the flesh on his face. Danner had no interest in having himself anywhere near it. He backed away slowly and brushed himself off. He retrieved his shotgun from the ground and walked over to see what had sent him flying through the air. As he approached, he quickly realized what it was.

  Jutting out from under a large Hibiscus bush, he clearly made out a human body lying face down. A gun still gripped loosely in the man’s right hand. Danner could see the initials engraved onto the KA-BAR combat knife attached to the man’s belt.

  K.K.

  It was Kane.

  CHAPTER 14

  HILO CAFE

  15 OCTOBER, 9:45 A.M.

  Bennett and Kelly sat in the back of a brightly colored cafe entertaining a couple of near-empty cappuccinos. A shared box of Malasadas, Portuguese sweet rolls, lay empty on the table. They had spent the past two hours catching up and searching the Internet for clues of a wildcat in Hawaii. Their searches hadn’t turned up much.

  Kelly came across an old folklore story about a “Hawaiian Mystery Big Cat” roaming the hills of the Big Island. However, as they dug deeper into the story it was revealed that it had been over eighty years since the last sighting. Not likely the cat Bennett and Kelly were looking for.

  “Let’s go!” Kelly said enthusiastically. “I figure the only way we’re going to actually know if this thing exists or not, is if we go find it ourselves. Do you still have access to the reserve?” Kelly asked.

  “Until Tuesday,” replied Bennett.

  “Well, then what are we waiting for?” she said.

  Bennett left some cash on the table and they drove away in the truck, west toward the reserve.

  CHAPTER 15

  OAHU CONVENTION CENTER

  15 OCTOBER, 10:15 A.M.

  Dr. Rupert Perry loosened his bowtie and scanned the floor for a waiter. All he could see were tuxedos and evening gowns. In order to get through another hour at this event, Perry knew he was going to need a scotch. Maybe two. The problem would be finding a tray of liquor being served at this hour.

  Dr. Perry was attending a brunch benefit on the island of Oahu held by the Advanced Orthotics and Prosthetics Association. The brilliant minds of Orthotic and Prosthetic development were being acknowledged today with a black tie brunch. Dr. Perry initially scoffed at the invite. Who would schedule a formal event at such a ludicrous time of day?

  His involvement with robotic prosthetics had earned him a spot as a guest speaker at the event. He had accepted the invitation mainly out of obligation. More than anything, though, he had agreed due to the proximity of the affair. Since it was a national event taking place on a neighboring island, it would appear strange had he not accepted.

  To the public, Dr. Perry’s accomplishments in robotic prosthetics were more widely recognized in contrast to his endeavors for the DOD. Dr. Perry was one of the top names (if not the very most) in robotic prosthetic development. He had written the book on modern prosthetic and orthotic development by neural communication. In fact, that was the name of it.

  It was a poor day to be stuck in an engagement, though—especially with a juggernaut missing from his facility.

  Perry was hoping that the robot would have somehow succumbed to the elements by now. The juggernauts were not yet field-approved. There were a few crucial components in their programming that were needed before they were ready to test out on their own. However, the possibility that Lorry had been neutralized was wishful thinking at best.

  Perry knew what they were capable of.

  At least thirty hours had passed since Lorry escaped. Based on her life unit, she should be starting to fade, too—which would most likely bring her back to the facility.

  The juggernauts were programmed to return to a power source if their energy falls below a certain level. Their life units held roughly 48 hours of charge. Even with the abundance of solar power, Lorry still needed a direct source to provide a complete charge. At least Dr. Perry was fairly certain anyway.

  Lorry is not responding to direct commands. Call immediately.

  That was the message chief engineer Kenneth Braden had sent Dr. Perry earlier that day. Perry found himself trying to rationalize a solution to the madness. The whole matter was putting him on edge. The current group of eight juggernauts was more dangerous than anybody knew and Perry was extremely uneasy about one being out in the open.

  This was Braden’s fault really, Perry thought to himself. He knew he had let Braden go too far in allowing the problem-solving, logistical functionality into the juggernaut’s programs. It proved correct by the fact that Lo
rry had jumped on her own will. She had jumped out of her containment. She had escaped the building. Perry still couldn’t believe it. He had to balance his concern with his excitement. If they were in fact acting independently, then he knew he had just made scientific history. Due to the AI restrictions on his research, he knew he couldn’t actually unveil this finding though. His research would be terminated and they would cease all of his operations. If Lorry was discovered by anyone, it was the end. He knew it.

  Rick Danner had better find her.

  As Dr. Perry thought about his dilemma he began to heat up. His brow began to perspire. He needed that scotch. Finally he spotted a waiter walking by. “Excuse me, what is this?” Perry pointed to the cocktail glasses balanced on the tray the man was holding.

  “Martini, sir…Gin.”

  Perry reacted with a disapproving expression that he didn’t attempt to hide. “I don’t much care, really.” He grabbed two glasses, downing one instantaneously. Perry felt his cell phone vibrating in his coat pocket. He placed the empty cocktail glass back on the waiter’s tray and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. It was a message from Rick Danner. He read the letters displayed on the screen:

  Kilo down. Found in the Beta Sector by the fence. It was open.

  The message took a second to sink in.

  Kilo down.