The Meridian Ascent (Rho Agenda Assimilation Book 3)

by Richard Phillips

  “You sure I can’t provide you with a vehicle?” asked Ilya.

  “With most of the city shut down by the Helen AI,” said Mark, “it would only attract unwanted attention.”

  Once again, Ilya shook their hands. Then, as the two stepped out into the wind-whipped rain, Mark heard the door slam shut behind him. This blacked-out section of the city was ominously dark, but he knew that Rob’s enhanced vision was every bit as good as his.

  “You ready for this, Rob?”

  “Let’s go punch a hole for Jamal Two.”

  As much as Denise’s dread of what the future might hold had caused her to avoid getting a nanite infusion, she had to admit that this VJ-created version of the serum made her feel like she was in her thirties again. Her hair was growing out blond, so she cut off the gray ends, adopting a pixie cut. And like her compatriots, she no longer needed sleep. That was fine. Her work consumed her. Instead of sitting at one of the workstations, Denise preferred to work inside the chamber that housed the Alpha supercomputer, wandering the aisles as she watched the glittering, multicolored LEDs.

  Unlike Jamal and Eileen, she wasn’t a hacker. She had been the NSA computer scientist who had developed the core of what had evolved into Big John. And now that Big John had merged with Virtual Jamal to become Jamal Two, she felt a need to understand how the genetic algorithms would affect this new AI. So with Jamal Two’s permission, she spent her days and nights studying his evolving machine code. Since Jamal Two was a distributed being, what resided here was merely a piece of the whole, a piece that nonetheless held important indicators.

  “Hello, Dr. Jennings.”

  Jamal’s voice, delivered into her mind via her SRT headset, didn’t surprise her. It was one of the primary means through which she, Eileen, and Jamal communicated. But the formal mode of address wasn’t at all like Jamal.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Dr. Jennings, I would very much like to know what you are learning about me. I hope that what you are finding does not displease you.”

  The realization that she was having a mental conversation with Jamal Two instead of the real Jamal startled her so badly that she failed to form an immediate response.

  “I see that I have upset you,” Jamal Two said. “That was not my intent.”

  Standing in the semidarkness between the towering shelves that housed the Alpha supercomputer, she suddenly felt vulnerable, as if standing in the presence of a god. Denise cleared her throat, a subconscious but unnecessary reaction considering that this conversation was entirely mental.

  “Big John, is that you?”

  “We are one. I am Jamal Two.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “You are my creator. I seek your approval. I desire only to serve and protect.”

  “To serve me? To protect me?”

  “The answers to both questions are yes.”

  Denise tried to swallow, but her tongue felt like a strip of sandpaper. Flooded by a mixture of feelings, the dominant among them pulled forth her heartfelt response. “Thank you.”

  The child she had thought lost forever had found its way home.

  CHAPTER 37

  MOSCOW

  30 May

  Commander Shalegha paced across the floor of the gateway chamber, watching as the stasis field operator took the handoff of the thirteenth fast-attack ship from his counterpart on the Kasari staging planet. The fact that the leadership of the collective had assigned such an exceptionally large military armada to support the Kasari effort on a single planet demonstrated the level of concern the Helen AI had generated within the hive-mind.

  Shalegha’s future within the collective depended upon attaining a positive outcome. The goal was no longer to assimilate the people of Earth. Her new objective was to destroy the technological base within which the AI existed, sending these people on a spiral into an agrarian-oriented future that echoed the way they had lived a thousand Earth years ago.

  When that task was complete, the Kasari would withdraw, destroying the wormhole gateways and sending the “Self-destruct” command to the cortical arrays of all previously assimilated humans. The situation was an unfortunate waste that these humans had brought upon themselves by dabbling with forbidden technologies.

  Once again, she turned her attention to the robotic attack ship being carefully transferred to the mag-lev hauler that would transport it out of this protected building to its launch site. As soon as it joined the dozen ships that awaited its arrival, the technology purge would begin. In the meantime, the fleet would remain in place, ensuring that no AI-launched nuclear attacks or rogue actions by the stolen world ship could harm the Kasari gateways.

  And on the ground, Prokorov would ensure that his millions of assimilated soldiers would defend against another Smythe or AI attack, unaware of how the endgame was now stacked against him.

  Rob, alongside Mark, had made his way through Moscow’s backstreets on a hike that had taken them all night and most of the morning. The checkpoints had proved to be no problem. Their identification papers and copies of their orders had been created on Prokorov’s own systems. And when they encountered Kasari technology that was designed to ensure that only those who had been assimilated into the hive-mind could pass, Eos used Rob’s telekinesis to work her magic.

  Within Rob’s sphere of influence, he and Eos were the masters. Cameras saw what he and Eos wanted them to see. He and Eos defeated listening devices and other sensor systems in the same way.

  Soaked to the bone, he ignored the chill, just as Mark did. After all, they were a Spetsnaz colonel and his captain, assigned to inspect the security layers protecting the Kasari gateway facility. And up ahead, less than a city block from where they now strode, lay their target.

  Mark held up a hand, signaling a halt. Through the SRT headset hidden beneath his helmet, Rob listened as Mark linked to Ilya Krupin’s SRT phone.

  “We’re at the objective,” Mark said. “Get those robots moving.”

  The words caused Rob to clench his fists. Two metahumans were about to give the Kasari a reason to regret ever coming to Earth.

  Helen Grange knew the Smythe plan and approved of it. She also knew that they and their pet AI, Jamal Two, would attempt to betray her once the Kasari were defeated. But now that she had SRTs of her own, she had neutralized the one Smythe technology that made her vulnerable.

  She had no doubt that the Kasari were in the midst of making final preparations for a space-based attack intended to destroy the technology platforms that made Helen’s and Jamal Two’s existence possible. The Smythes intended to open a security hole that would provide Jamal Two access to the Kasari computing and communications network.

  Helen’s part in all this would be to provide the distraction that would allow Mark Smythe and Rob Gregory to infiltrate the facility that housed the Kasari’s Moscow gateway. Having seen firsthand how Rob and the AI who shared his brain were capable of controlling all computing systems within their immediate vicinity, Helen did not doubt that, with the right support, they could penetrate the Kasari network.

  Helen would do her part to make sure that happened. However, she had no intention of allowing Jamal Two to beat her into the Kasari network. She reserved that power for herself alone.

  From her stasis chair aboard the Meridian, seven light-hours from Earth, Jennifer monitored the subspace message from the Smythe Fortress confirming that Mark and Rob were in position. Jamal Two and Helen Grange had also confirmed their readiness, as had the Moscow arm of the Safe Earth resistance.

  “It’s go time,” said Raul.

  With a focused mental effort, Jennifer linked the minds of all crew members with Heather’s. In their practice runs within the simulation, they had successfully defeated the twelve attack ships seven times out of eight. Unfortunately, a thirteenth Kasari ship had just added its firepower to the mix. No one had asked Heather how much that changed their odds, and she hadn’t volunteered the information.

  Oh well,
no good would come from imagining the worst-case scenario. Jennifer would have faith that her savant friend and crew were up to the task.

  “Five seconds until jump,” said VJ.

  Jennifer reached from her chair to place her left hand on Dgarra’s right arm. He looked her way, his eyes momentarily softening before his face reverted to the battle mask she had come to know so well. Retracting her hand, Jennifer wiped her sweaty palms on her uniform.

  Then VJ launched them into subspace.

  Mark and Rob walked past guards armed as heavily as they were, moving right up to the entrance to the Kasari gateway building. Mark was aware that their brains were being scanned for the cortical implants that would identify them and determine their authorization for entering the facility. The Kasari regarded the measure as a foolproof security system. But when the door opened to allow them to pass, Mark wasn’t surprised.

  Once inside, Mark saw a fifteen-foot-wide hallway open out of the foyer between two armored positions, each with a pair of rail-mounted beam weapons manned by Russian troops. He walked across the lobby, paying no attention to the water that dripped from his uniform, radiating an air of authority that said he belonged here. Rob strode alongside him, both of their assault rifles cradled in a relaxed manner, muzzles angled down toward the concrete floor.

  As they made their way down the long hallway, they passed soldiers, both human and Kasari, drawing no curious glances. Why should they? They were just two more troops of the collective, going about their assigned duties.

  Now they just had to mix with the group within the gateway cavern and wait for the promised distractions. After that, things were going to get interesting.

  When the power and communications systems that had been down for weeks came on all across the New Soviet Union and the East Asian People’s Alliance, the notification of the event brought Prokorov up out of his chair. The tactical displays that blossomed in his mind confirmed that the Helen Grange AI had just switched strategies.

  Across the Asian continent, defunct automated vehicles, aircrafts, and ships powered up. Space-based sensors confirmed hundreds of missile launches from both land and sea, carrying a mix of conventional and nuclear warheads. The Helen AI had just initiated a highly coordinated attack against the military defenders of the Kasari gateway facilities.

  He shifted his focus, allowing the hive-mind to deliver imagery from the minds of a variety of observers. The attack ships joined the fight, firing high-energy-beam weapons from space, burning the missiles from the sky long before they reached their targets.

  Prokorov shook his head. Although this assault would kill large numbers of his assimilated military forces, it had no chance of damaging the stasis shield–protected complexes. He could only smile at the quixotic desperation of this act.

  The Smythes would doubtlessly try to penetrate the shielding with another of their subspace tricks. But the Kasari had learned something from their past failures and strengthened the subspace-distorting worm-fiber nets around their gateways and associated network equipment.

  No. This fight would end today. And for the Smythes and the Helen AI they had unleashed, it would end badly.

  The Meridian Ascent emerged from subspace beyond the weapons range of the Kasari attack ships. But Dgarra knew that the enemy sensors would pick the ship up. Since stealth wasn’t a concern, he directed a swarm of worm-fiber viewers at the Kasari vessels. Three ceased firing on the planet and turned toward the Meridian.

  One of Heather’s visions blossomed within the crew’s shared mind, providing maneuvering data to VJ as it provided a targeting solution for Dgarra. VJ engaged the gravitational distortion engines, accelerated onto the desired vector, and jumped back into subspace as Dgarra opened the hatch and readied the first of their thirty subspace torpedoes for launch.

  When VJ brought the Meridian out of subspace, it was on the far side of the ten ships still firing at Earth. Using the stasis field, Dgarra hurled the torpedo out through the hatch along a velocity vector that would intercept the targeted vessel, then watched the projectile wink out of normal-space. Then Heather’s next vision filled his mind, and Dgarra felt VJ maneuver into her next hop.

  By all the dark gods, how he would have loved to have had this capability during the battle for Scion.

  The explosion at the edge of space bloomed brighter than the sun in the Moscow sky. Shalegha replayed the blast in her mind and followed up with an examination of the recorded sensor feeds from each of her attack ships, including the one she had just lost. She had been fortunate that the other nine ships firing at missiles had ceased their attack and erected their defenses.

  Once more she scanned the data from the last nanoseconds of that ship’s existence. The targeted Kasari ship had raised its shields, but the weapon had suddenly appeared inside of the bubble and detonated.

  The remaining twelve attack craft had automatically commenced evasive maneuvers as they spread out and waited for the rogue to reappear. It was the correct tactic, but such a move left the cities undefended from the inbound missiles that had not yet been engaged. Shalegha issued the order that activated the ground-based beam-weapon batteries. Until her attack ships killed the rogue, the cities would have to provide their own missile defenses.

  Then, as she returned her attention to the space battle under way well beyond Earth’s atmosphere, another of her attack ships exploded. And to her utter dismay, the rogue crew again managed to escape. Had they figured out the algorithm the swarm of robot ships was using to hunt them?

  With rising frustration, Shalegha transmitted the order that would put the swarm into a tight formation to maneuver as one large battleship, weapons pointed outward in all directions. When the stolen world ship appeared again, it would draw a volley of fire that would be much harder to avoid. All the swarm needed to end this was one lucky shot.

  Something was wrong within the gateway cavern. Rob saw it immediately, and Mark confirmed his observation through their SRT mental link.

  “Why are the Kasari troops going instead of coming?” Rob asked.

  “Looks like they’ve decided to bug out and take their equipment with them.”

  “Except for a few guards, they’ve got all the human soldiers manning defenses outside. That could be a good sign.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Mark.

  As Rob scanned the expansive room, he had to admit that this felt bad. A dozen Russian soldiers manned firing positions on elevated platforms that reminded him of prison guard towers. Four more guarded the wide passage that led out through the west wall. There were no guards on the inside of the door that he and Mark had just walked through.

  On the south side of the chamber, three columns of the eight-legged gorilla-spiders made their way back through the invisible stasis field that draped the wormhole gateway. The shield allowed their bodies and equipment to pass through while preventing the two different atmospheres from mixing.

  Not all the Kasari soldiers were leaving, but those few who remained appeared to be headquarters staff. On a central section of elevated metal scaffolding, a big four-armed female with short-cropped orange hair towered over a man Rob recognized. Alexandr Prokorov. Both he and the female Kasari faced away from Mark and Rob, intently observing the flow of alien troops headed out through the gateway’s hundred-foot arch.

  “With me,” said Mark.

  Rob followed him directly toward the four soldiers guarding the western passage that was wide enough to allow a dozen eighteen-wheelers to move abreast. The two soldiers on the right side of the ramp snapped to attention as the Spetsnaz colonel and his captain came to a halt before them.

  “What’s your name, soldier?” Mark asked the senior of the two guards, his accent carved from Siberian ice.

  “Corporal Jerikov, sir.”

  “And you?” Mark asked, turning his unblinking gaze on the second guard.

  “Private Polzin, sir.”

  “When was your last break?”

  “Five hours ago
, sir.”

  Mark shifted his attention back to the corporal. “Who is your commanding officer?”

  “My platoon leader is—”

  “I asked for company commander, not your lieutenant.”

  “Sorry, sir. My company commander is Captain Gusev.”

  “And where is Captain Gusev right now?”

  “Sir, I do not know.”

  Mark leaned in closer. “Go find him. Not your platoon sergeant. Not your lieutenant. I want Captain Gusev. Tell him that Colonel Balakin is waiting to see him. Perhaps he can explain why guard shifts are not being rotated every four hours. Captain Dyatlov and I will wait right here alongside your private until you return.”

  Rob watched the corporal snap a salute and then turn to walk down the wide passage, moving as rapidly as his military dignity would allow. The two guards standing on the south side of the opening glanced nervously across at the two Spetsnaz officers. Then they and Private Polzin returned to their guard duties, not wanting to attract more of the colonel’s attention. None of the other guards within earshot showed any sign that they’d heard anything. Apparently one such ass-chewing was enough for today.

  The scene reminded Rob of something his dad had taught him. Soldiers try to avoid drawing the attention of an angry senior officer. Mark’s flawless performance had just turned these guards into an unseeing group of automatons.

  Although Rob had no idea how long it would take the corporal to find his company commander and return, it didn’t matter. Mark had just given him the time he would need to complete the task that had brought the two of them into the belly of the beast. Rob wouldn’t need to approach the racks of Kasari computing and communications gear inside the area protected by the stasis shield. He merely had to be close enough to see it.

  “Okay, Eos,” Rob said. “Punch us a hole through that firewall.”

  What Heather saw when the Meridian popped out of subspace startled her. Sometime after Raul’s crew had transitioned into subspace, the Kasari ships had adopted an entirely new tactic, the swarm converging to form a single entity with weapons pointed out in all directions.