Virus-72 Hours to Live

by Ray Jay Perreault

  “Acknowledged.”

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  “Tom, Joan. The facility, where SIMPOC is located, is still under attack and SIMPOC’s mobile units are losing position to the attackers. The facility might be overrun and we’ll be the only ones left. If we are able to control the attackers here, I might send resources to help there, but my objectives were reaffirmed by SIMPOC. I am to protect you and then this facility.”

  The dynamic battlefield in front of them continued moving as the attackers changed tactics and tried to outflank the pulse weapons. Alpha was able to anticipate the changes and by moving the weapons at the proper time, he was able to keep the attackers from gaining ground. After some moves and counter moves, the numbers of attackers started to diminish and at times, one or two of the pulse weapons weren’t fully engaged.

  Alpha saw this and announced, “I think we have adequate defense here, I’m moving two of the pulse weapons to SIMPOC’s location to help in their defense.”

  Joan thought for a moment as she saw two of the weapon teams begin boarding their trucks. “Alpha, do you know where this EDU computer is located?”

  “Yes, its location was loaded as part of my tactical information package. Its location is about 35 miles south of here.”

  “I have a suggestion that might change this entire situation. There is a CH-47F parked downstairs. It’s big enough to load the truck and a bunch of you guys. I could fly it to this EDU’s place and we can surprise it. I doubt it will expect a load of us to land right on top of it.”

  Alpha looked thoughtful for a moment and said, “That is not part of my program or objectives. But I see its’ merits.”

  Joan had a look in her eyes that Tom recognized, “You are supposed to protect us but are you allowed to restrain us? We might just decide to take that helicopter and go for a ride, and the only way you can protect us is to ride along?”

  Tom laughed, he could almost see the smoke coming out of Alpha’s little ear holes.

  Joan said loudly, “While you think it over, I’m getting that Chinook warmed up. You’re welcome to join us if you like. I suggest you take a truck and one of your pulse weapons,” Then she ran down the stairs.

  Tom knew his wife and decided that he better keep up with her. By the time, they reached the bottom, Alpha was right behind them and a truck with one of the pulse weapon teams was driving up the ramp in the back of the Chinook.

  As Joan was running to the crew entrance door, she yelled, “Kick the tires, light the fires and brief on guard.” Tom smiled and Alpha was busy trying to understand what she said.

  By the time the cargo door was closing, the rotors were turning and Joan began taxing the large helicopter out of the hangar. “Dear, you better go back there and make sure the load was tied down, I’d hate to rotate and not be able to stop.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  Tom didn’t have a clue what the total weight was. He knew the Chinook could handle the gross weight, so he just had to make sure he positioned it right. Picking a place centered on the CG mark on the deck, he grabbed a couple of 25k tie down chains, hooked them up to the truck and tightened them up. Tom looked at Alpha, connected a couple of chains to the dual rail tie down systems and threw the ends to Alpha. "Hold on to these and stay put." Alpha's only choice was to do as he was told. Good enough for government work, Tom thought just as the rotor speed was coming up and he could feel the craft lifting of the ramp.

  “Alpha, I don’t know how you’re communicating with SIMPOC but you might want to keep this among ourselves. If this other computer has any brains, it might be monitoring your frequencies and I’d hate to let it know we’re coming,” pointed out Tom.

  “Acknowledged.”

  By the time Tom made it to the flight deck, he could see the trees barely missing the bottom of the fuselage. He could tell by the smile on Joan’s face that she was in her element. He decided to just sit back and let his wife enjoy herself. He remembered an old saying; flying can be the closest you can get to sex; with your clothes on.

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  “SIMPOC; Fin. The attackers have made it past the ground entrance and are working on the barriers on our floor.”

  “SIMPOC; Comm. There is another attack on our network coming from the Space Consortium. The programmer has disguised his address so it appeared that it was coming from a trusted computer on our network. It is trying to gain control.”

  “Mobile; SIMPOC. Can you shut down all power to the Space Consortium?”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “SIMPOC; Comm. The intrusion has stopped.”

  “SIMPOC; Fin. The attackers have entered the hallway outside our facility. Our technicians in this room won’t be able to stop them, once they cut through our doors.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The Chinook approached the facility low and fast. After passing the boundary, Joan made a tight turn to dissipate airspeed and survey the area, looking for a suitable landing site. She saw a nice lawn about 100 meters from the building and decided to plant it there; she could come into the zone and drop onto the lawn while Tom opened the ramp. As soon as they hit, and the chains were popped off, the vehicle could exit at high speed and the intention was to ram the building and go on foot looking for the EDU.

  Alpha listened to the plan, and, even though, his computer brain had tremendous power, the rapid development and execution of this plan didn’t allow him to weigh all possible outcomes. But, at this point, he elected to follow the humans. They had confidence and bravado that he was beginning to respect.

  As Joan came in low over the roof, she pitched the nose up and increased the collective to slow down rapidly. She slammed the rear wheels into the soft lawn taking up a ton of energy. Then she backed off on the throttles and allowed the nose to plow into the soft grass, all of this bringing the craft to a rapid halt. As she climbed out of her seat, she could hear the truck starting up and she was just able to jump onboard as it moved down the ramp.

  The truck accelerated quickly and Joan knew who was driving. Ramming the front of a glass building in a truck was something she knew Tom would love. Just about then, the truck jumped the curb and launched itself into the lobby. Everyone bailed out and Alpha, despite his size, was leading the pack.

  As they crossed the lobby, Tom yelled from the rear for them to halt. He casually walked up to the marquee and looked up the computer lab while the entire attack force stood and watched, “It is two floors down and to the right.” He yelled and the pack immediately charged off looking for a couple of elevators.

  "Alpha you come with us and have your other units use the other elevator. I doubt one elevator can handle all of us," Tom directed.

  "Acknowledged."

  The two elevators opened at the same time and two humans and three mobile units stepped off. They looked up and down the hall, turned right moving fast and reading the door signs.

  “Here it is,” Tom shouted as he read the door sign saying, “Engineering Development Laboratory.”

  Joan was thinking, this is way too easy when two large mobile units exploded from a door further down the hallway. Alpha’s gunner turned and the pulse weapon made a quick burst of sound, as the two units fell on the floor.

  Tom looked at the door, reached down and turned the doorknob. The door opened easily and they walked in. In the center of the room was a large tank full of a mass of what appeared to be jelly. Nothing moved and there was no sound, just the machine noise of the support equipment. The walls of the room were lined with com panels and supporting computers. Tom casually walked around turning off the equipment, making sure the supporting pumps and fluid flows continued. When it was all done, the room was almost silent and it seemed anticlimactic, but it was done. Joan pointed to a small plaque below the container, which said “Engineering Development Unit.”

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The uncontrolled mobile units entered the organic processor growth room and the
y stopped. SIMPOC looked at them expecting the worst, but nothing happened.

  “What are your instructions?” SIMPOC said through his voice synthesizer.

  “We were told to attack this facility and now we are waiting for further instructions.

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  “SIMPOC, Alpha. We have separated the EDU from its communication sources. We have left it powered, but inert. We left the space consortium facility and flew to the EDU location in a helicopter. The humans I was protecting suggested this solution.

  “Alpha, SIMPOC. Please return to the space consortium and secure that facility. We have received numerous hostile programing attempts from that facility, trying to gain access to our network.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Tom, Joan we are returning to the consortium facility there has been hostile programing attempts on SIMPOC from that facility.”

  “Ok, by us, I guess we’ll leave this EDU up and running until your SIMPOC decides what to do with it?” Tom said.

  "You're receiving hostile programing attacks from the consortium?"

  "Yes, a programmer is attempting to gain control of SIMPOC's networks."

  John and Tom looked at each other. "One of our people is trying to gain control of SIMPOC? There is something about that, I don't like," said Tom.

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  “SIMPOC; Fin. It appears that the EDU has been disconnected?”

  “Yes, that is why these mobile units have reached the end their instruction set. Please remove them to the laboratory and ensure their separation from the EDU.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Date – 2051.61230 (3:44 PM)

  “Well dear, I know this flight wasn’t as much fun, but I bet it was fun to handle the controls again. It’s been what three years since you flew the Chinook?” Tom asked.

  As Joan shut down the turbines near the hanger, she just sat there for a few moments enjoying the smells and feel of the old bird. She loved the years flying her and missed it. Being the Oasis commander was the pinnacle of her career but flying low levels in an old Chinny was really a thrill, “Yes it brought back some real memories.”

  The turbines were still winding down and she looked at her husband, “Do you think we’re the last humans left on Earth?” Her words were both a question and statement, then she began to tear up.

  Tom sat with the same thought as he remembered all of his friends and family and watched as Alpha and his teams moved from the craft to the hanger. “I guess we have to go in and see how the remainder of the Oasis crew is doing. We need to find out who trying to gain control of SIMPOC.”

  They both looked at each other nodded and unstrapped. They approached Alpha and followed him into the hanger.

  “Tom, SIMPOC has directed me to find out who has been making aggressive attacks on his network,” Alpha said as they walked together into the office suite.

  “We need to check on the crew which evacuated the space station with us,” Joan was saying as they followed Alpha into the office suite.

  Will Harmon saw them enter and asked, “What is going on, Dr. Harold jumped on the computers as soon as we got in here and he swore and kept working. About half an hour ago, he charged out and took one of the vehicles. He kept saying something about having an opportunity.”

  Joan and Tom looked at each other and Alpha asked if they knew who might have been attempting to gain control of the SIMPOC network.

  Joan took a deep breath and said, “Dr. Harold was our lead engineer in developing advanced computer processor concepts in space. He was growing organic processors that were denser and used significantly less energy. He was working with a couple of companies on Earth on some defense DARPA contracts. He was odd, to say the least. I think he was a little paranoid and had some visions of grandeur. Apparently he was on the computers while we were battling the EDU and he left the facility a little while ago.”

  Tom looked uneasy and said, “I think we need to go back to the EDU and check it out. Alpha I suggest you update SIMPOC while we head back.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  This landing on the lawn in front of the building where the EDU was located was a little gentler. As Joan approached and sat down, the large gouges she had left in the lawn on her last landing impressed her. They had moved out of the chopper before the blades were stopped and walked to the building. The truck was still parked in the lobby and most of the windows were broken. Walking through the lobby at a much slower pace their feet crunched on the broken glass and it seemed so quiet. Tom was well aware the silence was due in large part to the death of every human on Earth.

  The elevators still worked and the two mobile units were still on the floor in the hallway. As soon as they entered the laboratory, they knew something was different. It had been ransacked and many of the files were broken into. The one thing, which was obvious, was the container, which held the EDU was dark and looked like decaying seaweed. Someone had turned off the EDU and essentially murdered it.

  “If Dr. Harold did this; why?” Tom asked.

  Joan spoke aloud but to no one, in particular, “He didn’t kill it before he downloaded the program and stole some of the nurturing tanks, hardware, chemicals and technical information. I think he had a plan, and I don’t think we’re going to like it.”

  Tom looked at Alpha and said, “I think you better update SIMPOC and tell him Dr. Harold is going to be a problem.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  The large Chinook passed by making the typical wap, wap, wap sound. Julius smiled and thought how surprised they’ll be when they look for the computer. He had arrived just as they were invading the facility earlier. When they left, he went to work, claiming his materials and destroying what was left. True he destroyed the EDU organic processor, but he walked away with the programing, the biomaterials and most important of all, the research. With his skills and this wealth of materials, he knew he would be able to create a bigger, faster, smarter computer.

  Date – 2051.61324 (11:58 PM)

  SIMPOC just thought for a moment. Its world had changed in dramatic ways in the last 32.6 hours, but something was becoming obvious. The changes had only begun.

  “FIN; SIMPOC. We need to enhance our security plans.

  “Acknowledged.”

  ####

  The End

  Epilog

  I want to thank you for downloading this book and reading it. As you may notice this is an expansion of my SIMPOC series. After I wrote SIMPOC 1 and SIMPOC 2, many of my readers wanted to know how the President and astronauts dealt with the virus. This book and the next in the series will cover those parallel plot lines. I've included the full text from the SIMPOC series for completeness because I'll be including all of the characters in the next book.

  Thanks

  Ray Jay Perreault

  rayjayperreault.com.

  Reference Material

  Yottabyte – A gigabyte is approximately 1 X 10^6, a terabyte is approximately 1 X 10^7 and a yottabyte is approximately 1X 10^11. A yottabyte is exactly 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes of information or 2 ^ (80) or a little over 5,000,000,000,000,000,000 average books.

  “Comm” – Abbreviation for communication.

  “Rog” – Abbreviation for “Roger” many people using radios abbreviate some of the key words.

  Geosynchronous Orbit – A point in space where an object orbits the earth it will remain over the same point on the earths’ surface. The point is approximately 26,100 miles from the earth’s surface.

  Pulse Detonation Engine - Def

  Additive Manufacturing - This engineering process is a term describing the industrial process similar to 3D printing.

  Oxygen Manufacturing Process - This type of propulsion doesn't have many moving parts. It uses a series of detonations that cause shock waves to provide the propulsion.

  About the Author

  Hi everyone, my name is Ray Jay Perreault. I’m a Sc
ience Fiction author that has two other series released. One series called SIMPOC and the other series is called Gemini.

  I’ve loved Sci-Fi my entire life and it was likely a contributor to my chosen career path. I went to Arizona State, majoring in Aeronautical Engineering then I was fortunate to fly in the Air Force for almost 10 years. I literally saw the world, flying to 27 countries while flying a great airplane the C-130. The last 5 years of the Air Force, I had the thrill of being an instructor pilot in T-38’s, and I was fortunate to be an instructor for the first class of USAF female pilots.

  After the AF, I enjoyed 28 years working for a major aerospace company and I worked on various projects including the F-23, F-35, VTX, Global Hawk, TSSAM, D-21 Destroyer and the B-2 Bomber.

  I’ve loved Sci-Fi and I always think about the ‘other guy’. When the hero is fighting an evil computer, I think what is the computer’s story, how did it begin, why did it turn evil? That is the story behind my first series called SIMPOC.

  If the good guys are fighting an evil alien, I wonder what is the alien’s backstory? For some reason I always think part of the story is missing. So, in my writing I’m trying to focus on the other story.

  Good reading, and don’t let the aliens getcha!

  Ray Jay Perreault

  Books by Ray Jay Perreault

  Available on Amazon, Smashwords, IBooks, Barnes & Noble, KOBO, Oyster and other eBook Outlets

  SIMPOC – The Thinking Computer

  SIMPOC – Human Remnants

  Gemini (Bk1)

  Science Fiction Anthology Vol. 1

  1. Progeny