The Darwinian Extension: Completion

by Hylton Smith

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  Alexandra Vogel had formed opinions about her ‘cabinet’ members. It was simply based on focus of the task at hand. She gave no weight to esoteric self-career massaging or social fantasy. Even as early as this she knew there would be casualties. It was only a question of how and when. One of them needed urgent consideration. Dwight Wynyard was a bellicose idealist who always sought debate and sometimes admitted that this was the essence of every decision in government, even the colour of the toilet paper. Whenever he was reminded that attention to detail is sometimes preceded by identifying direction, he inevitably dragged any such notion into a treacle swamp of minutiae. His remit was ill-fitting with his ability. Vogel decided to ask for the help of Cheverry. Wynyard was invited to a course in Beijing, which was a study group, expressly evaluating the reconstruction progress in Korea. They had no power, they didn’t implement; they were to make observations but not clutter the vision with highly specific recommendations. It was perfect – a gathering of erudite intellectuals without the burden of responsibility for achieving anything. While he was gone she asked Varanda Singh if he would help out. His experience would be invaluable, and would give the electorate and the rest of the cabinet a taste of what life could be like without Dwight.

  The new arrival in the family was a girl and Stella wanted to name her after her grandmother Anna. They eventually gave her two names, Anna-Severine, as her other grandmother was French. The checks to log her differences in genetic pattern from both of her parents would wait until they could observe behavioural and aptitude data to compare with any inferences. Carvalho and Stella had agreed that they didn’t want to extend the family any further.

  The constituent QSD units were accumulating on the flat plain adjacent to the silo doors. It was becoming a hazard, and the receiving framework was prioritised to be made ready for the hull section to head skyward for fitting to the skeletal Phoenix.

  Yamamoto was now pretty fluent in comprehension of spoken Axis, but could not vocally master the complex clicks. This frustrated him because it was a voice apparatus hardware problem and not a cerebral software deficiency. It did help foster a kindred appetite with Rose for further refinement of the interlock ‘dead spots’. The project as a whole was reaching a critical point of the splitting of resources between Robots and supervision, orbit and planet-side, and Symbiant/non-Symbiant. The last mentioned was becoming highlighted in the critical path analysis because of the almost infinite need for interdependence of data streams for the plethora of functions aboard Phoenix. It threatened delay and that meant a lot of revisions which could also affect the other outpost schedules.

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  The families were cooperative with the Hong Kong agents up to a point. They were taken in by the charade of being ex-colleagues, and one family reacted well to a request. The agents had asked for a recommendation for hotel accommodation to continue their endeavour before reluctantly giving up on their friends. They were invited to stay overnight with the family. During the evening a fair amount of home-made wine was imbibed by the father and after his wife retired to bed he erred. “There was some kind of problem at the H.Q. before he left, and it was not his fault but he was fired. He said he was blamed for a system failure that was not down to him. No matter how much he argued that it was not human error they needed a scapegoat. He said that the tribunal for unfair dismissal was as corrupt as the management, and the story was twisted further to his disadvantage. You must know of his frustration, or did you only get the management version of events?”

  One of the agents shook his head. “No, this happened after we left but we heard about it, and we know this system was always causing problems. They are just covering their own poor workmanship. Another thing we found was that after we left, it still followed us around. I had many instances in my new job where I was asked questions about my qualifications and whether I could verify them for the third or fourth time. It’s creepy when you find out that someone is trying to discredit you just for leaving. I wouldn’t be surprised if your son has the same problem.”

  The father hesitated then whispered, “He can’t get a job here now, that is why he said he was going to have a brand new start. He left for a new career in Australia six months ago.”

  The agent bluffed again. “Wow, I guess that rules out our bachelor party. It’s a pity when it comes to this, anyway I would send him some wedding cake if it would travel, still never mind.... or I can drop him a post card telling him he missed a hell of a party. Better than that can you write and let him know we miss him?”

  The inebriated old man was flattered but offered the address instead.

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  Varanda Singh fitted in like an old pair of slippers. He continually talked to citizens at their place of work and was a very good facilitator for Alexandra Vogel, in pushing through action rather than rhetoric. He found it refreshing, having experienced similar frustration to the new Governess when he was in office on Earth. Many important measures were set in motion while Wynyard was amongst his like-minded talking machines, and the returning son would not feel very prodigal when the time came. A very well-accepted function was that of the police. Vogel was disinclined to disband this just because it had been misdirected. The new Patrol Service, as it was called, was charged with asking citizens if they needed help or advice. The staffing was such that an officer could remember the names of the citizens in their patch. There were as many women as men and any incidents of unacceptable behaviour were dealt with swiftly. Unlike a neighbourhood watch scheme, the patrols took responsibility, rather than citizens themselves having to divide the community by ‘telling tales’ on one another.

  The judiciary was expected to deliver reprimands which were seen to be deterrents, not just to discourage re-offending, but as a lesson for others to contemplate. Varanda Singh’s feedback into this was vital. He was perceived as indispensable.

 

  Chapter 34

  The sky appeared to be full of the Phoenix. With less than six months to go the entire framework was orbiting and ‘coming to life’. The major hold-up and safety concern was that the QSD units were accumulating faster at Echus than they were being fitted in orbit. The Symbiants were handling all the radioactive exposure phases until the shielding was in place. The shielding could not be fitted until the units were in place on the hull. This meant that Echus was gradually experiencing higher radiation levels. The humans and Axis had Hazmat suits but they hindered flexibility and accuracy of some tasks. The Axis opted for more replications and it was only ten days before the work flow chart got back on track.

  This in turn got more efficiency from the robots and the ambitious schedule looked like it would be met. One legacy from this mind-boggling project was the bequeathing of the prototype eight metre five seat QSD craft to the humans remaining on Mars.

  Following the final replications it was time to get the red crystal into orbit, and the storage area aboard Phoenix could then be welded shut until arrival on Nexus. It was a Symbiant only task, but this had been planned and did not have adverse impact on the overall progress.

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  Kinsey decided to accompany the Hong Kong agents on the flight to Melbourne, after a protracted period of surveillance and interception of mail. This was to scare them into moving if their parents had disclosed the bogus visit of the agents. They had asked for advance cooperation with the local security people who had confirmed that the two suspects were living as a married couple. The rather lavish property was rented and their bank accounts showed regular quarterly incoming payments from a Swiss bank, which had different names as account holders. The eventual confrontation took them totally by surprise and they were edgy because they did not yet have Australian citizenship. Kinsey said Beijing may back-off to a degree in exchange for information on the whereabouts of the crystals, and their sponsor being revealed. They had some private conversation in Chinese and then stated their position. “We refute these allegations completely and we
ask for the protection of the Australian authorities.”

  The Australians said nothing at this stage. Kinsey nodded and said he would apply for an extradition order to be considered by Melbourne within forty-eight hours. “We of course will stay with you for however long it takes to get this done.”

  The Australian chief said, “We want to conduct our own inquiry into possible fraud as there is no tie-up of data with your Swiss bank.”

  The duo reverted to Chinese again and then asked what evidence Kinsey had. They were outraged. The American produced the video footage showing the male’s repetitive timetable into the vault and the female’s disabling of the scanner to fit with his daily exit. Kinsey challenged them. “Do you seriously believe we didn’t know what you were doing?” He then bluffed. “We kept records of the disappearance of the crystal, but decided to allow you to continue, so we could let you lead us to the head figure, knowing you were hired help. We expected you to have contact with him when we watched you here. We’ve waited long enough. You two are going down either here or back in China or both, we’re cutting our losses. You have one final chance to cooperate.” They wanted to know what helping Kinsey would entail.

  “We don’t know until we hear what you have. If you give us the name we want, and appear in court, we may exercise some leniency with respect to your breach of security with Beijing. If you don’t deliver this directly or indirectly you are on your own. I can’t speak for my Australian colleagues, but you may wish to contemplate whether this is a safer bet than incarceration in China. Anyway, you are the best judge of that.”

  The male said, “He is not Chinese.”

  “Ok, we have a start, proceed.”

  The female asked for a couple of minutes to confer once more in Chinese. They then turned to Kinsey and asked about protection.

  He knew he had them. “I can’t even discuss that until I know we have our man.”

  The male said they didn’t know the man at the very top. They could reveal the one who first approached them and his contact who they had met twice. They believed he was directly linked to the boss. Kinsey said this was disappointing and it was not enough in itself to trade. The female broke ranks. “We know an address of this second man; we had to go there to receive instruction about the repeat shipment of samples. We had to keep these to parcel size quantities for courier delivery. It was a warehouse.” The male nudged her to indicate enough. Kinsey responded. “What is the name of the first contact?”

  They knew he was not a threat to them personally. The Chinese name meant nothing to Kinsey. They said he still worked in Beijing. At this point Kinsey said, “You can come in now.”

  The two Hong Kong agents entered and Kinsey handed them the recorder from his trench coat. The replay enabled the ‘private’ chat to be translated. The interrogation resumed. “Ok, so you have inadvertently told us that we are looking for a Russian in London. Does the name Korolev mean anything to you?”

  The couple sat down. The fear in their eyes was all Kinsey needed to proceed to the known address of Mikhail Korolev. This was of course the same Russian who had set up Beth Eisentrager to steal the composition of the crystal while on Mars. Korolev had also arranged for Sergei Radmanov to eliminate her once cleared of Beijing jurisdiction, but this had backfired when he was detained on Mars. Kinsey recognised Radmanov’s name from the Hong Kong translation, even though the reports of his initial brief was thirty years ago. He left the Australians to keep the couple in custody, and said Beijing would forward the extradition request imminently, but they would be relaxed about the timing as long as the ‘refugees’ did not evaporate.

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  It appeared as if there would be a small surplus of Seaborgium Oxy-chloride after all, so another trip to Europa was not necessary. The Axis idea of having built a warehouse with thrusters to transport components to orbit, and then have robots take inventory as they needed it, had been very efficient. This was especially true for the ten thousand QSD units. It was therefore a setback when a malfunction occurred with a robot approaching the warehouse. Another was about to close the doors after exit while carrying a unit, and the odds against what happened were very long. At precisely the same time, each entered the code for opposite instruction. The approaching robot’s detector had not picked up that the door was already open as the out-coming thirty metre QSD was blocking the receiver device at one side of the doors. The feedback caused repeated attempts and the exiting one turned to re-enter. The other one now tried to enter and collided with the rear of the first one. The QSD unit was not damaged but slipped out of the robot restraining arms and all three spun off into their individual orbits. An emergency team was activated to attempt recovery and it was only then that a technobabble message from Dan had alerted his fellow Symbiants that he had been in the trajectory of one of the robots and was clinging to it. It was decided to go after Dan and the QSD unit with manual control of two other robots after attaching extra cushioning to the arms.

  The QSD unit was the first to be located and the matching of attitude and trajectory before capture took some time. To the onlooker it was a slow motion space ballet. When Red had helped guide this recovery robot to its target he let go, and this presented a relatively easy capture. The subsequent pursuit of the two damaged robots was the trickiest of the recoveries. As they were the same mass the approach and final positioning prior to the ‘grab’ was ultra-critical. With Symbiants at the controls it was precise, but still a long drawn out capture before Dan was reunited with his rescuers. The damaged ones would be returned to the surface once the warehouse was empty. This whole distraction had caused four full days hiatus. Without the technobabble facility Dan may have reverted to crystal, but there was no discussion amongst them when he returned. They simply resumed the work schedule.

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  When Kinsey arrived in London he was accompanied by the Russian Internal Security Chief. The British police had provided backup squads, but they were not required.

  Radmanov was taken first and forced to accompany them to Korolev’s residence. They found the oligarch in poor health and he was being attended by his private doctor. When they cautioned him then explained how they had flushed out his foot soldiers in Melbourne, he raised a smile. Kinsey began his deliverance of consequences, and the whereabouts of the crystal being the only possible bargaining chip he had, when Korolev asked them to sit. The oligarch could only speak a few words at a time. “Gentlemen - you have no proof - of your allegations - and the time it will.....will take you, to indict me, will exceed my life expectancy. Please check - this with the doctor.”

  Kinsey allowed him to talk to the Security Chief and the doctor in their mother tongue, whereupon they discovered he was in the final stages of prostate cancer. Korolev summoned up the energy to speak again. “Radmanov will answer your - questions, I, I have no - further comment. You must do - with me - what you will.” He then faded into semi-consciousness.

  Kinsey insisted they continued the interrogation in the oligarch’s presence. Radmanov said he was not prepared to answer further questions without a British solicitor. He was allowed to make the call and it would take two hours for the expensive individual to arrive. Kinsey decided to fill in the time by outlining exactly how the Chinese duo in Melbourne had provided Radmanov’s name and address, and how he was described as the contact via a third party in Beijing. He claimed that they were all in custody and willing to testify. Radmanov simply refused to say anything until his solicitor arrived.

  The delay had given Radmanov time to think. When his solicitor did make an entrance he insisted on the proceedings being recorded and began testimony with a declaration that any previous questioning by Kinsey and the Russian Security Chief were inadmissible and highly irregular. Kinsey began again and was interrupted several times by the solicitor requesting details or proof of allegations. They were getting nowhere. Kinsey’s parting shot was in relation to the current legal status of possession or distribution of crystal and the pena
lty it carried. “You have chosen not to cooperate. I think that may prove unwise. We will bring a case in Beijing with our witnesses and you will have to attend. If you are obstructive in this investigation it won’t be helpful if you are later convicted. You should perhaps bear in mind that crystal has disappeared – fact. When it does hit the open market it will be signalled openly by the observation of replicants. We then have another line of enquiry. This kind of operation always flushes out the hive, and when we find the Queen, plus favoured drones, the penalties will become even more severe. We’ll leave you now and rest assured you will hear from us. We’ve already asked the British Home Office to hold you here while we proceed to court submission.”

  As they got up to leave there was a quick conference between Radmanov and his lawyer and the recorder was switched off. Kinsey was asked to wait. A couple of minutes later the legal man re-started the recorder and said his client was prepared to cooperate to the extent that he knew of rumours of such a project, but was not involved in any illegal activity. His remit was other business with the oligarch in London. It was a registered import company with warehouse premises and was fully legitimate.

  They would happily submit the documentation to inspection immediately. Radmanov said if the oligarch was involved in such alleged possession he would never have disclosed it to others in his standard lines of trade.

  Kinsey accepted the offer to examine the books and requested copies, which were given. He eventually concluded without saying so, that they were taking advantage of Korolev’s impending demise, and the investigation that it would trigger in Russia. He knew the planning for such a circumstance would have been long in the pipeline and constructed to resist legal challenge for years.

  It would be better to wait for the inevitable emergence of replicants to make the next move. He reflected on whether it was good news that the Chinese government looked as if they were not involved, or bad news that the crystal was in an underground market place. Then he remembered what Ayrton de Santos had reportedly said to Cheverry, namely that the Chinese withdrawal of the legal challenge probably indicated they knew the crystal had been stolen. Maybe they knew who stole it.