Sophie saw her concentrate hard on what her display was telling her. The young police sniper had never taken a shot in anger before and was clearly steeling herself for the moment. Sophie knew it was a huge responsibility for Lucy to be on an op like this. Outsiders thought of the modern sniper-operator as just playing a video game. But it wasn’t like that at all. She had many things to consider: public safety, hitting home first time without alerting the target, verifying the computer’s verdict and more. One factor they had decided for her was how this needed to end: to kill or capture Lukin. They simply could not allow the armour to fall into Russian hands. No right-minded person relished the thought of taking life—even that of a foreign spy—but the priority now was maximising the chance of success. The display showed the jetpack making evasive jinks to the left and right as if Lukin sensed young Lucy’s glare. The ASU rifle was constantly playing catch-up with the target, giving only momentary firing windows. It was not warm inside the unit, yet Sophie saw a bead of sweat run down Lucy’s forehead. Her face was flushing red. She took a deep breath and then another then started to hyperventilate.
“Are you okay, Lucy?”
Lucy removed her headset and turned away from the display towards Sophie. “I ... I just can’t do it!”
She put her head in her hands and sobbed.
“Damn it, we can’t let him get away! Come on…”
Lucy just shook her head and continued crying.
“Okay … Well if you can’t do it then I guess I’ll have to. You need to move ... come on, move now!”
Lucy got up, her head and eyes cast downwards, and left the police unit while Sophie took control of the ASU. She didn’t bother with the comms headset and quickly assimilated the situation from the display. Once again, the ASU target box played catch-up as Lukin jinked and weaved. As the chase went on though, the flickers of firing windows became half-second opportunities. Then, for a few seconds, the evasive manoeuvres stopped and the green box lingered on her quarry. She’d already checked the parameters and this felt the best it had so far. Sophie flicked off the safety and took the shot.
One second he was scything through the night air like a rocket, the next there was a loud crack and his world was spinning. Lukin turned end over end. In complete disorientation, he saw earth then sky then earth, alternating once a second. The crop field grew bigger; accelerating towards him until he felt the immovable bulk of the ground hit him. He blacked out on impact, never to awaken.
***
Police arrived at the crash scene fifteen minutes later, but by then it was clear that there would be no arrest to make. After trying to comfort the distraught young Lucy, Sophie travelled to the crash site with Ashley and secured the armour sample. As they did so, a squadron of Challenger III tanks left RAF Honington on transporter trucks. They arrived at the Cambridge Science & Technology Park an hour later to neutralise the rogue Sentinel. Armed with only .50 cal Gatling guns and its fixed location made it easy prey for the main battle tanks.
The price for stopping the Russians was higher than anyone had thought possible. Fourteen police officers had lost their lives. The establishment had lost any illusions they may have had about the lengths their rivals would go to. They’d also been reminded, not for the first time, of the shortcomings of their security services.
4
The central lesson of our time is that the appetite of aggression is never satisfied. To withdraw from one battlefield means only to prepare for the next.
Ross Gregory
Tuesday, September 18th, 2040 10:55am: The London Guardian News Report
Faraday Announces British Military Withdrawal from Islamic Caliphate
by Jessica Thomas
Tuesday 18 September 2040 09.05 GMT Last modified on Tuesday 18 September 2040 10.55 GMT
Britain's fifteen-year war against IC will end by Christmas, Nigel Faraday announced today during a press conference in London.
A joint statement by the prime minister, Nigel Faraday, and defence secretary, John Hardcastle, said: “The role played by the UK combat forces in the fight against IC is drawing to a close. These forces will complete their hand over of territory to local coalition forces and will then leave all countries of the Middle East and North Africa.”
Amid mounting pressure at home over troop losses, the Cabinet voted for the unilateral withdrawal, which will see the bulk of the 52,200 British troops leave the region by Christmas, with all military operations ending on 30 November. Territory held by British forces will be handed over to anti-IC militias and coalition countries.
Faraday is expected to make a statement to the Commons tomorrow in which he will indicate that British troops will start to withdraw via airbases all over the vast swath of territory stretching from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east. Around 800 troops will remain to help with the training of anti-IC forces.
Faraday told reporters at the press conference with Hardcastle, “The extremist forces of the Islamic Caliphate still remain a threat to world security. After damaging world trade and restricting access to oil and gas since the 2020s, we are still no closer to ousting them. We have made progress in many areas—in particular pushing back the enemy on the Arabian Peninsula. But the position of this new BIP government is that our losses are unacceptable and have mounted under the leadership of previous governments.”
Faraday paid tribute to the 16,913 British service personnel who have died in the war and more than 150,000 members of the armed forces who have been involved in it since the invasion fifteen years ago in “one way or another.”
He said, “It is important to remember we have been engaged in the most difficult and challenging of work: the task of suppressing extremism across a vast region and the task of building a democracy for the future and defending it against terrorism. We have made a huge contribution and we leave the region a better place.”
When asked to respond to reports of anger from the leaders of the MENAGIE—the Middle East & North African Governments in Exile—Conference, as well as coalition partners, he said, “We have worked closely with our partners from the region and coalition countries to minimise the disruption to the on-going fight. However, they understand that, as British Prime Minister, I must put the needs of my country first and strengthen our military before we can make the difference we all desire.”
When asked whether this meant a future return to the war against IC, Hardcastle replied, “[We] need to ensure the illegal IC regime is eventually destroyed to regain world security and secure the energy resources we need. We consider all options on the table for future action and we are strengthening our military to a level that has not been seen in many generations. We have seen from history that a weak military encourages aggressors such as IC and their Russian suppliers. The current campaign is sapping our young soldiers’ blood and British morale. When the military is in the right state to continue its work we will not shy away from any hard choices that need to be made.”
Yesterday, the prime minister had a meeting with MENAGIE leaders as well as the US Secretary of Defense, Hilary Claiborne, to discuss the withdrawal. The US is expected to follow suit, pulling out its limited number of troops next year. At today's subdued press conference, there was a beefed-up security presence, after the recent upsurge in Russian and IC espionage activity.
Public pressure for withdrawal, including last month’s anti-war demonstration in Hyde Park, has been mounting. The BIP government’s manifesto promise to pull out of the war has been frustratingly slow in coming, according to many.
Britain is making clear that it cannot simply keep accepting personnel losses and it needs to expand its robotic war fighting capability for future action. Field Marshal Sir Anthony Rose, the chief of the defence staff, said last month that British troops could not be continually decimated as they were being. “It is crucial that we reduce the operational tempo for our armed forces, and regroup,” Rose said. With waning American and Chinese support for the war and no formal allian
ce commitments for Britain to fulfil any longer, it is seen as a change of tack towards national interest and modernisation. The leader of the opposition, Ed Bull, suggests Britain is making moves towards becoming “militarily assertive,” and said in a statement, “It can only bode ill for the future.”
***
Tuesday, September 18th, 2040 9:30pm: BDS Tower, London
“So next comes your part: announcing all those lovely jobs your company’s creating,” said Hardcastle. He was sitting opposite Zane over a glass coffee table in the corner of the plush office suite. The lights of London twinkled all around, most of them well below the BDS Tower. Delivery drones criss-crossed the low altitudes on their way to customers all over the city and beyond.
Zane swallowed his whisky and replied, “Yes, of course ... as we agreed, my friend. We’ll cover that in tomorrow’s press release on the opening of the Doncaster Plant in two years’ time. Now, about the plant capacity, John...”
“Vic, I know trade barriers and export controls have made securing overseas orders slow. Some like-minded allies and I have been working on increasing the army’s order. Don’t worry, we will use all of your capacity, and, anyway, we’ll need the extra firepower with the strategy the PM has in mind. We’re going to need a lot more than one hundred and eighty thousand Centurion Mk2s and twelve thousand Sentinel-B1s to beat IC. Just be assured—the PM is sympathetic to this.” He smiled, taking a deep swig of his single malt. He savoured the taste, swishing it around his mouth, and waited for Zane’s reaction.
Zane’s previous frown brightened into a full-on grin at the news. “So is it too early to talk numbers?”
“We’re looking at a fifty-percent increase in both Centurions and Sentinels. Then perhaps a second tranche after the rollout of the first in 2045. All going to plan, anyway. The AI Limitation Act has changed the public and military’s view on your products, Vic. They’re no longer scared of ‘robopocalypse’ now that human operators are mandated by law.”
“And the government is no longer scared of a coup d’état?” said Zane.
“Well, you know as well as I do why the establishment supported the AI Limitation Act so fervently. The whole jobs-for-humans thing was a nice vote winner, but was rather cancelled out by the fact that Labour and the Tories supported the Act too. No, before the Act, I can tell you, what they were scared shitless of ... it wasn’t rise-of-the-machines or anything as exciting as that, my friend—rather, a concentration of power controlled by the few.”
“Yes, yes, I know ... control the AI robot army, control the country,” interrupted Zane in an impatient tone. “Shame though, I miss the days when I didn’t have to pay so much tax. No wonder half the billionaires who lived here earlier in the century upped sticks to other places. Hasn’t stopped the masses using the old one-percent label on us though, has it, John?”
“Well, we both have assets worthy of the title after all, don’t we?” he asked rhetorically.
“But don’t you think that’s precisely the reason this country will never be great? If we continue with the policies of tax and spend, damning globalisation and keep on celebrating mediocrity then it’s downhill all the way, and you know it!” Zane accessed the internet using his implanted computer system. “As Churchill said, ‘The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery.’ He was right. The whole of British politics has swung to the left for too long. It can’t go on like this!”
“I know, I know. But can’t you see we’re hamstrung? The unions and the left have a stranglehold on us. The past hasn’t been forgotten yet, my friend. You can see it, not just here, but in America, on the continent and even in Japan. Wherever people have a right to vote they use it to protect their own jobs—against automation, globalisation and anything else that’s been shown as a threat to the ordinary worker. The ordinary voters were awoken long ago and they haven’t gone back to sleep yet!”
The unequal societies of the first twenty years of the century had been causing dangerous rifts between the one-percent and everyone else. The middle classes—for so long the bedrock of stable democracies—were being squeezed year-on-year. The ranks of the working poor were swelling, as were the assets of the super-rich like Zane, Hardcastle and the rest of the elite. Historians looked back on those years as a close escape from the upheavals of revolution. The pitchforks were coming and the governments of democracy had to do something to appease the majority. In the game where the one percent took everything and the rest got very little, it could have only ended one of three ways: revolution, a police state, or the third way: job creation and increased income redistribution.
“Well, I couldn’t give a damn about what other countries do. Britain is my country and we’ve been taking the wrong path for far too long, John. My company and others like it got your party into power and we don’t expect Faraday to simply follow the policies of the last government. His agenda doesn’t go far enough I’m afraid—not by a long chalk. I’ve spoken to other BIP supporters about this—just this morning Roman Sinclair was here—and they are on board with it too. We need the proposed reforms to happen early in this Parliament or we might not get time to implement them.” The formerly relaxed meeting was become heated, such was Zane’s passion for these deeply-held views.
“The reforms you are in favour of—tax cuts, new free trade agreements, union and labour law reforms—they have almost no chance of getting through Parliament. And that’s even if I can persuade the Cabinet to back them. I’m on your side, Zane, I really am, but the political landscape is a lot different to twenty or even ten years ago,” he said, trying to pacify the glaring Zane.
“Then we must find a way to change it,” said Zane in a firm and final tone. His look of resolve was steely. Hardcastle knew only too well when Victor Zane put his mind to something, he usually found a way.
“I’ve known you a long time, Vic. I agree with you and I’ll work with you. I have many allies inside and outside the party that share our views. We’ll do what we need to do, my friend.”
***
Thursday, March 14th, 2041 10:00pm: Question Time, BMC Studios, London
“Joining us tonight on Question Time we have Defence Secretary, John Hardcastle, Shadow Defence Secretary Damian Scott, and former Army General, Sir Edward Swift. Here, too, is the CEO of British Defence Systems, Victor Zane, whose company makes the military robots used by the British Army. And last but not least, Radio Talk London host and former Conservative MP Penny Hale. Please welcome our panel...” announced the host, Joseph Pellegrini, to enthusiastic applause from the live studio audience.
Sophie Walsh had applied for tickets to the show just like everyone else. She was there not as a member of the Security Service but as Jo Public. Even so, she’d used the legend name of Melanie Price just in case. Ever since she’d been assigned the Lukin operation, she’d become interested in BDS and the new battle robots. She wasn’t the only one fascinated by them. The Russians hadn’t stopped just because she’d had taken down Lukin and MI5 was still playing catch-up in several suspected cases of industrial espionage. She scanned the other one-hundred or so others sitting in ten rows facing down towards the black stage. The British Media Corporation studio was almost all black apart from the brightly lit zone containing the five guests and suited, grey-haired host, veteran broadcaster Joseph Pellegrini. Three guests sat to his right, two to his left, behind the curved desk. The blue, backlit panel wall formed the backdrop. It was a mass of swirls and indeterminate shapes with only the words ‘Question Time’ lending it some orderliness.
Her eyes passed over the panel once more and but rested on John Hardcastle. She hadn’t voted for him and his BIP lot and there was something about him she didn’t like or trust. Maybe it was just because he was a politician. Or maybe it was because he was technically a cyborg—something disclosed in The London Guardian article she’d read the previous Sunday. She’d learnt from the story that Zane was ano
ther cyborg and that the two men were close. A little too close. The London Guardian had stopped short of accusing them of cronyism, but Sophie could read between the lines. She also knew that it’d take some solid evidence to risk a libel battle with two such powerful men. And that evidence was not easy to come by, she suspected. Who knows what these guys discuss with their implanted computers? she thought. Her work had convinced her that these devices were an altogether bad idea no matter what the makers said about their supposedly unassailable security. As far as she was concerned, there was no such thing, notwithstanding the fact that MI5 had struggled to penetrate ICS networks so far. Implanted computers were almost as bad as unfettered AI in her book. Both men were extremely wealthy and well connected—literally.
Her thoughts were broken when the host announced, “Welcome to our studio audience here at BMC Studios in London, as well as our viewers around the country. Our first question comes from Jyoti Meera.”
A good-looking thirtysomething British-Indian woman asked, clearly and confidently, “Will Britain be left vulnerable after the proposed cuts to the Army Regulars?”
After a paraphrased repeat of the question by Pellegrini, he turned to Hardcastle. The rugged, good-looking politician with salt and pepper hair wore a tailored blue suit and the purple tie of the BIP. He smiled to Pellegrini then towards the lady in the audience whose question it was. “I’m glad you asked that question, Jyoti, because it’s important that everyone’s clear on the plans detailed in the Defence Strategy Review we’ve just published. The headlines focused on the reduction in regular combat troops from 85,000 to 55,000. If you simply read that you would, indeed, be alarmed. But that headline is just a small part of the story. The reduction in regulars will be phased over a period of five years with a more-than commensurate increase in the Reserve Force. But we’re not stopping there. This is a complete transformation of the army, to make it fit-for-purpose and to meet the strategic objectives of this country. At the moment we do not have the tools to do the job against IC, which is one of the reasons we were forced to pull out of the Middle East and North Africa.”
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