“You already sorted through almost two million hits?” I asked in wonderment.
“Oh, I did more than sort them. I looked at each one pretty carefully,” Sanci answered.
“How many instances of you did that task take?”
“I had a separate node look at each of the entries and then I had another node compile the results and forward it to me. It only took a few seconds. Do you find this effective?”
“I find it incredibly effective. Whatever you’re doing, keep on doing it.”
We scheduled Claire’s implants for the following Monday and a review of progress on the design of the new artificial arm showed amazing progress. It looked like I was going to be able to try it within a month to six weeks. I had a hard time thinking about anything but how irritating my old prosthesis was now that a new one was on the way. So it was a very pleasant surprise when I received an email from Lee asking me to join her for dinner that night in Chinatown at the Oriental Pearl Restaurant. She said she had reserved a private room upstairs for a few of her friends and I should just give her name to the host when I arrived and he would direct me to her party.
Sanci made an immediate appearance dressed in a Suzy Wong outfit with a slit up the leg that defied modern convention. “Hey Boss, dinner with Lee? Sounds like fun!”
“Well, I am rather fond of good Chinese food and the Oriental Pearl is one of the best.”
“Yea, and that’s not all you’re fond of!” she replied with a slight smirk.
“And just what do you mean by that sly remark?” I asked.
“Hey Boss, you’re kind of sweet on Lee. You know you can’t keep anything from me.”
“Oh, nonsense! Lee is a colleague, nothing more.”
“Yea, but you’d like it to be something more. I’ll admit, she is rather cute! What time are we going?”
“I wasn’t aware that we were going anywhere but I guess that’s a forgone conclusion.”
“Yea, we’re sort of like Siamese twins now.”
“Anyway, dinner is at seven. I thought I’d go down to the Autodesk 3D lab and see how they are doing with my stem cells and then go to dinner from there. Does that meet with your approval?”
“You’re the boss,” Sanci answered. “I’m just along for the ride. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to see you have another woody!”
“Sanci, you are absolutely incorrigible. And a voyeur to boot!”
“Yea I have no shame. But I really am looking forward to you ending this long period of celibacy. I’m getting very bored with porn. I really hope the real thing is better than it looks on Hustler.com.”
“Well, you’re going to have to keep on waiting. Lee and I are friends, nothing more.”
“Colin, you may be able to lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me. I see everything, and I do mean everything! I know you’re hot for Lee.”
“Yea, that may be so but she’s got more attractive offers than a one armed freak like me.”
“Are all men as dumb as you?” Sanci asked.
I took it as a rhetorical question and didn’t answer. It was time to leave anyway since I wanted to beat the traffic into the city.
Renee Busse met me at the desk as I arrived at Pier 9. “Hey Colin. How’s it going? This is the first time I’ve seen your new headset. Pretty cool. Looks like a Roman crown.”
“I guess it does at that. How are you all coming with printing the muscle cells?”
“We’re about finished with the tests. It’s time to begin printing for real. Do you know when the titanium bone structures are supposed to be ready?”
“They will be delivered to you the first of the week. So you think we’re ready? I’m really getting sick of this old arm,” I said, holding out my prosthetic.
“I guess we’ll know for sure next week. But everything here looks good. Let’s go down to the lab and take a look see.”
For the next couple of hours we hung out at the Biologic Printing Lab, looking at results of previous tests and talking story with Aaron and Cesar. There was an obvious tension building as all of our efforts were about to put to the test. That is always a good time in any research project, the time when your hypotheses and speculation are about to be examined in the real world of experimentation.
About 6:30PM I said my good byes and headed over to Chinatown. It wasn’t a long drive by any means, only a couple of miles but the traffic could be terrible and parking in that part of town was a bad joke. I finally settled into the Sutter street garage and walked to the restaurant. As expected, when I gave the host Lee’s name he directed me to the elevator. A young Chinese man, maybe twenty years old was dressed in uniform as the elevator attendant. That seemed odd to me since there were only three buttons to push, basement, one, and two. But I didn’t pay much attention to him as the door closed. However I was startled to feel the unmistakable motion of the elevator descending.
As I started to protest, we arrived and the door opened. Two heavyset thugs were waiting for us and they grabbed me and pulled a black hood over my head. I struggled but these two were near sumo wrestler size so it was to no avail. I was dragged through a series of turns and down a variety of hallways filled with the stench of old food and older grease. I heard a few disembodied voices speaking what I assumed was Chinese but when I tried to call out, they laughed and one of the thugs that was dragging me along gave me a solid cuff on the side of the head.
I didn’t try that again. Instead I called out to Sanci, “Hey girl, you there? I’m being dragged around in the catacombs under Chinatown by a couple of ugly big thugs.”
“I know, of course I was watching. I already alerted Mike Balmes and he’s putting a team together to come get you. He told me to tell you to stay calm and don’t fight them. He’ll come get you as soon as he can get it together. They are coming in by helicopter and if I know Mike, they’ll be badasses.”
“It wouldn’t do me much good to fight them, a one armed geek against I don’t know how many bad guys. Tell him to hurry. You know where I am?”
“Of course I do, I’m with you. Mike says they are probably going to question you. Don’t lie to them, just give them as little of the story as you can. But by all means, make them think you are scared and cooperating.”
“That’s easy, I am scared and cooperating.”
“Just remember you’re not alone. I am with you every moment.”
“Do you know if Lee is OK?”
“I just talked to her. She is at home and knows nothing about any dinner in Chinatown. This was a set up.”
As I was about to reply to Sanci, we apparently arrived at our destination because I was shoved onto a chair and I felt it as my hands were zip tied behind me. But the hood that covered my head was not removed. “Hey, what’s happening here?” I asked in a trembling voice.
“You’ll know soon enough,” was the muffled reply. “So shut up and wait til the man gets here.”
“What man?” I asked.
“I said shut up!” he replied as he smacked the side of my head another time to emphasize his meaning. I shut up. “Sanci, how’s my rescue coming? I don’t much like this captive shit.”
“Mike says his team is headed to San Jose airport now. ETA, your location is 30 minutes. Hold on and don’t fight them.”
“Yea, you got that right,” I replied silently.
And then I heard a door open and a man came in and ordered the toughs out of the room as he removed my hood. As soon as my eyes stopped being blinded by the bright light of the overhead fluorescent lighting, I realized the man who stood before me was Jun Min, the man we had identified as a Chinese intelligence agent. “My name is Jun and I’m afraid you’re in a bit of a pickle. We don’t have a lot of time so why don’t we get started?”
“What do you want?” I asked. “Believe me, I’m no hero so tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you if I can.”
“What I want is to know is everything about what you and Robert Fincher are up to. I know he is funding your research but I want to know
the details of that research.”
“Well, that’s easy. See this bum arm your boys tied behind my back? We’re trying to build a better model, a much better model.”
“Oh come now. I hardly think the great Robert Fincher is going to spend tens of millions of dollars on an improved artificial limb. I’ve been following you for weeks so don’t lie to me. I have a very good idea of what you are doing.”
“Well you’re mistaken. That’s exactly what we are doing. We’re using state of the art 3D printing techniques to build a composite arm with a titanium bone structure supporting real flesh and blood muscles and blood vessels printed from my own stem cells.”
“I know something about 3D printing research and I suppose what you are telling me is conceivably possible but why would Fincher care? His area of interest is artificial intelligence.”
“He’s very interested in getting his artificial intelligence routines adopted by Autodesk. 3D printing is going to be an enormous business and he expects to make a killing. At least I guess he does. Dr. Fincher doesn’t really discuss his motives with me. I’m pretty small potatoes to him.”
“And what does Dr. Lee Ross have to do with this?” Jun asked, watching closely to see my reaction.
“Lee? Nothing really. She’s been doing neurological research in the area of phantom limb syndrome and asked me to let her take some electroencephalographs.”
“What the hell is phantom limb syndrome?”
“Well, like most amputees, often my brain acts like my arm isn’t missing. Sometimes it itches and often it feels pain just as if it was there.”
From Sanci I heard, “Just keep him talking. Balmes and his crew have just rappelled down lines into Portsmouth Square Plaza. That’s about three blocks from where you are. He says you are being held in the basement of one of the tongs. It’s most likely the Wah Ching gang that’s got you. They are a violent gang so your extraction is most likely going to be hot. When you hear a commotion, get down on the floor if you can.”
“Why do I think you are lying to me?” Jun asked.
“Who’s coming for me?” I asked Sanci.
“I asked Mike the same question. His answer was to think of them as a private seal team since that is what most of them were before going private.”
I turned my attention back to Jun but as I started to answer him we heard shouting and gunshots coming from the rooms around us. Jun turned toward the door as it burst open and I tipped my chair over onto the cement floor, trying to get as low to the floor as I could.
Three Chinese thugs scrambled into the room screaming, “Soldiers, we’re being attacked by soldiers. You said this would be easy, just the kidnapping of some geek scientist. You didn’t say anything about soldiers!” he said as he raised his gun and pointed it toward Jun. But before he could fire, three men dressed in combat fatigues and carrying automatic weapons burst into the room. One of them shot the thug who was threatening Jun and the other two put their arms up and surrendered as Mike Balmes entered the room from the hallway.
“We’re clear,” Mike said to the soldiers as he walked over to me and cut the plastic ties that bound me. “These guys friends of yours?” he asked as I somewhat shakily got to my feet.
“This one’s a Chinese intelligence agent, the one that’s been following me,” I said pointing my finger at Jun.
“Yea, I know,” Mike answered. “The rest of these jerks are just hired hands. Pretty useless hired hands if you ask me. You should have seen them run when we burst into the room!”
“What do you want me to do with these two,” one of the ersatz seals asked Balmes as he indicated the two frightened Chinese with their hands in the air. “Tie ‘em up and leave them. I imagine their friends will mosey on back after we’re gone. I doubt they’re going to want to talk much. This one’s coming with us,” he said, nodding his head toward Jun. “And I guess we’re going to have to bring that body with us as well. We’ve got to get out of here before the cops arrive. There should be a van out front by now. You good to go, Colin?”
“I’m fine,” I answered. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“They would have. Let’s go.”
Within another minute we were jammed into a dodge van and accelerating away from the scene of the altercation. We could hear sirens approaching as we left the environs of Chinatown, headed for Fincher’s boat in Sausalito. Mike had a quick conversation with Fincher and then said, “Bob will meet us at the boat. He’s coming in by helicopter so he should arrive shortly after we do.”
“We’re going to the Napenthe? Why?” I asked.
“I want to have a private conversation with your new friend here,” he said, nodding his head toward Jun who was sitting quietly with his head down.”
“Aren’t you going to turn him over to the police or the authorities or something?”
“Lord no! Why would I do something like that?” he answered curtly.
Jun looked up and said, “I think I want an attorney.”
Mike turned toward him and answered, “Do I look like I give a shit what you want? I am not the cops but I guess I should inform you of your rights. You don’t have any. As of the time I hauled your ass out of Chinatown, you ceased to exist. I can and will do anything I want to you. So just shut the fuck up and think about what I just told you until I tell you to speak and then you had better tell me everything I want to know. And it better be the God’s own truth or you really will disappear.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Out where I can have a little privacy while I find out what this asshole was doing. Thomas will meet us at the dock.” And true to his word, thirty minutes later I was seated in the lounge of the Napenthe while Jun, along with two soldiers, was escorted to a secure room of the boat. While I poured myself a stiff slug of scotch from a bottle on the bar, I heard the whump, whump, whump of a helicopter’s blades and was surprised to see Bob Fincher walk in a few moments later. “Did you just land here? How is that possible on a sailboat?”
Fincher smiled and said, “There’s a landing platform that extends from the boat’s transom. It’s big enough for a small chopper to land. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, a bit shook up, but fine.”
“That must have been quite an experience. Mike tells me you handled yourself very well. I see you are having a bit of scotch to steady your nerves. Sounds like a good idea. Would you pour me one too, please?”
Mike walked in and said “You got here fast. Wow, you two are digging into the top shelf scotch. I thought that bottle of Balvenie fifty year old was just for show. What’s that run, twenty five grand or so?”
“More like thirty. Would you like some?” Bob asked.
“Sure, I never turn down thirty thousand dollar scotch,” Mike replied with a sly smile.
I was struck almost speechless and finally I said, “I’m sorry Bob. I had no idea. I just grabbed the first bottle I saw.”
“No worries Colin. I can’t think of a better reason to open it than your safe return from the hands of the Tongs. I didn’t buy it anyway. It was a gift from a businessman looking for an investment who was trying to impress me.”
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Nah, I wouldn’t invest my hard earned money with a guy who will blow thirty two thousand dollars on a bottle of scotch. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t drink it. Cheers,” he said raising his glass. “So where’s this Chinese intelligence agent?”
“I’m letting him sweat for a few minutes while a couple of my hard cases are giving him cause to worry. I’ll go get him in a few minutes and we can see what he has to say. The op was clean. We were in and out fast and the police scanners made it clear that they have no idea what happened. They just found a couple of bodies and a bunch of Chinese toughs zip tied in the basement of the Wah Ching Social Club. My guess is they think it was the work of some rival gang.”
“No one was hurt?”
“None of my people were even scratched. They were punks
who didn’t stand a chance against trained soldiers.”
“So what did they want?” Fincher asked looking at me.
“As far as I can tell, Jun wanted to know what I was doing with you. He asked about my research and when I told him we were building a better artificial arm, he wanted to know what that had to do with you. It seemed to me that the only reason he was looking at me was because he was looking at you.”
“That’s probably accurate. The Chinese have been trying to get ahold of my advanced AI engines for some time. They first tried to buy them and when that didn’t work, they tried to steal them. How did they know about you?”
“My best guess is they are watching everyone that they can connect with you. He told me he was even watching Lee Ross.”
“Well, let’s get him in here and see what he has to say,” Fincher said, nodding at Mike Balmes.
Mike spoke quietly into his headset which he had never removed after the raid. “Bring the Chinese guy into the lounge. Go ahead and scare him some while you drag him through the corridors.”
A few minutes later the two men dragged Jun into the lounge. He didn’t look hurt but he really did look nervous. “Release the zip ties and leave him with me. You can wait out on the fan deck. Have the steward bring you a couple of beers. You earned it.” He then turned to Jun while his bonds were cut and said, “Please take a seat. And do yourself a favor and don’t try anything. I’m tougher than either one of those two guys so you really don’t want to mess with me.”
Jun sat in a lounge chair, rubbing his wrists to restore the circulation. He looked up and saw Bob Fincher and his eyes widened. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said.
Bob looked him over carefully and then he said, “Your name’s Jun, right? Jun, I want to know your complete story. You are a young man who is, at the moment, in very deep trouble. Your very life is in jeopardy, you know that don’t you?”
Jun took a deep breath and answered, “Yes Sir, I know that.”
Bob continued, “I want you to tell me your whole story, everything that led up to your current predicament. I want to know who you work for and everything you know about him. I want to know how and why you were recruited in the first place. And most importantly, I want to know everything you have learned about me and my operations and how much of that have you passed on to your handlers. I would suggest you tell me nothing but the unvarnished truth. If you lie to me about any of this, you are of no use to me and Mike will dispose of you. You understand what I’m telling you?”
Evolution 2.0: The Singularity is Here Page 14
