Virtual

by S A Pavli

  LeBlanc made an effort to answer her question.

  “Look, It could be that these things, the Virtuals, are quite harmless and indeed may actually bring us benefits. I can't see where this relationship will take us at the moment, it's too early. But there is a chance, and I have to be honest with you, that the future may not be so rosy.” LeBlanc looked uncomfortable and his eyes were shifty.

  "Come on Ray, out with it," said Mark.

  "Well, the physical nature of the substrate is one that absorbs electrical activity. What I'm saying is that our thoughts may be slowly absorbed into the substrate, the physical structure of the Virtual that is, until we are no more. It may be what happened to the population of this planet.”

  "The Virtual will eat my brain?" said Leslie with horror.

  "Well, that is a sensational way of putting it,” began LeBlanc.

  "I don't believe that Ray,” interrupted Mark. “What happened to the population of this planet happened very quickly. It's like the Marie Celeste here, except with bodies. What you’re describing sounds like it would happen slowly, with individuals gradually falling sick, a bit like Alzheimer’s for example. And anyway, how did the whole population become infected with these Virtuals?”

  "Maybe they just happen to occupy a particular region of Space," said LeBlanc. “These unfortunate people's planet went through that region and swept them up. As to why they all died so quickly, maybe the whole effect proceeds exponentially. The final breakdown could happen in a few days, or even hours.”

  "Ray, what makes you believe that the Virtuals absorb electrical activity?” It was Anja's voice, and she spoke quietly and thoughtfully.

  "I carried out some experiments with the trapped Virtual," replied LeBlanc. “I've been using it like a computer storage device, and it works very well, except that the charge degrades gradually. It's very slow, hardly measurable, and I need a much longer period to confirm it.”

  "But the human memory is not a perfect medium by any means,” pointed out Anja. “It degrades over a period of time, but old memories are replaced by new. The human brain doesn't have a fixed store of energy, it is constantly renewing itself.”

  "Yes, but the Virtual absorbs some of that energy," said LeBlanc.

  "As long as it's only some ?" said Anja. LeBlanc nodded, looking doubtful. There was a heavy silence for some moments after this, broken eventually by Mark.

  "Anything else to add Ray?”

  "No. I'm continuing with my experiments obviously, and time may reveal more.”

  "Right, thanks for letting us know. We can't keep this quiet. Ray, put together a description of your findings and we'll send them off. Since we now know how to protect ourselves from further infection, I guess it doesn't change anything very much. Except for the three individuals who haven t been infected. Andy, Jo and Jimmy, I think you should restrict yourselves to ship board operations only.”

  "Just as an aside Mark,” interrupted Walters. “It is interesting that Melanie and Leslie were not infected when they removed their suits on planet. If Ray is correct, and they are still infected, that would explain it.” Mark nodded his agreement.

  "Yep, that would explain it,” he agreed. “Which means that those of us who have been infected, cannot be re-infected. Not that we would want to try it.”

  "Since we are all together, I also have something that you may all be interested in,” began Walters, gesturing towards Mark for his attention.

  "Go on James," said Mark. “Let's hope it's good news.”

  "Well not good I'm afraid," said Walters. “Although it doesn't make our situation any worse.” He looked lugubriously around him before continuing. “We've had a few trips out to the planet now and taken a lot of samples, animal and vegetable. One thing sticks out like a sore thumb. We’ve found no higher life forms. Nothing larger or more intelligent that a rabbit. That is just not natural. The conclusion is obvious.” He looked around him, before finishing his sentence. “The Virtuals attack all higher life forms indiscriminately.”

  "My God how awful,” murmured Melanie. There was a depressed silence for some time before Mark spoke again.

  "Since these things are so inimical to life, I suggest we make all the facts known to the authorities as soon as possible, and proceed with caution from now on. Ray, we do need a sure fire way of detecting these things. Can you build a simple hand held device we can use?”

  "Yeah I'll get together with Jo and see what we can knock up," replied LeBlanc.

  "OK, and Jo, the priority is to get the robot working," said Mark. “It might tell us where these things came from.”

  "Sure Mark, I'll concentrate on that," said Jo.

  "Anja, is there anything more you can do on the moon?” asked Mark.

  "We have finished mapping the Trans-gate chamber,” she replied. “By the way, we haven’t found a single Space ship here. It seems to indicate that the Trans-Gate was the means of transport to and from the moon.”

  "Yes, it seems to be a working system,” agreed Mark. “I wonder how widespread it was though. Was there one of these on every city on the planet?”

  "They are hugely complex," said Anja. “You would have thought they wouldn't be justified for travel on planet.”

  "We won 't know until we have explored all the old cities on the planet," said Mark. “I'd like to re-combine our teams and concentrate on the planet. What do you think Anja?”

  "I would feel happier if we were all together,” agreed Anja. “The environment here is much more dangerous and I think we lack the resources to explore safely.”

  "I agree," said Mark. “Get yourselves here and we'll establish a base of operations here in New Vegas that's what we're calling the desert city here. Although we haven’t found any casinos or floor shows yet.”

  Chapter 30

  Geremy Carstairs was used to getting attention wherever he went, but even he had to admit that he had stirred up a hornet's nest of attention. His meeting with the Science Committee had been leaked and a thousand reporters and camera men besieged the big white building on the banks of the river. Most of them had been refused access to the roof port, and his hover car landed without obstruction, but a couple of enterprising individuals had somehow made it to the roof, and they dashed out to accost him as he stepped down from the car. One of them was waving a miniature hi-res camera in his face while his colleague shouted questions at him.

  "Mister Carstairs, is your daughter safe? Have the team found any live aliens? Have they got the robot working yet?” a couple of security men grappled with the intruders.

  "Gentlemen, we have received new information from the team and it will be released this afternoon. Patience!” he shouted at the news hounds as they were bundled away. A thrill of excitement surged within him and he was unable to repress a wolfish grin. The scoop to end all scoops he crowed mentally. But the Science Committee will be fussy, he thought cagily. They were unhappy at being prevented from communicating directly with the exploration teams, and would no doubt make his life as difficult as possible. He knew that eventually the project would be taken over by the authorities but for the moment he was using every legal trick in the book to keep his company in control. He had the legal rights to exploring the system and he was going to milk them for as long as possible.

  The latest releases on the Virtuals, and the Trans-Gate chambers had been sensational and dozens of his media experts were working on massaging and re-presenting the information in every conceivable way. Earth, the centre of the human federation of planets, had received the news and a hundred interplanetary media companies were negotiating with his marketing people to buy the rights. They would spread the news to all the other human inhabited planets in the federation. Every conceivable angle was being exploited, thought Carstairs with satisfaction. A small uneasy voice struggled to make itself heard above the maelstrom of planning and scheming. Don’t forget that your daughter is in the middle of all this , it nagged. If anything should happen to her…

  A
gaggle of security men had appeared to hustle off the news men and two of them escorted him to the conference room where the Science Committee were in session. The large room was full, with many standing around the walls. The Chair of the committee was the Dean of New Athens University, who he knew very well. As a patron of the University, Carstairs was confident of getting a sympathetic hearing from the old professor, but he was not sure of many of the younger members. The huge table gracing the centre of the room was made from a dark Alasian tropical wood, and at least thirty individuals were seated around it with another thirty standing around the walls. A lot of people must have pulled strings to attend this meeting he thought, since the committee was only twenty five strong. The high ceiling and huge windows gave the room light and space and Carstairs was suddenly aware that he may be taking part in an historic moment. The murmur of conversation quieted.

  "Mister Carstairs, do come in and take a seat.” The chairman, a tall spare individual, stooped and totally bald stood at the head of the table and waved at an empty seat half way along one side. Carstairs noted with satisfaction that the seat was facing away from the bright windows. Can't concentrate with the sun in your eyes he thought.

  "Thank you Mister Chairman, and good day to everyone," he said loudly, smiling amiably around him. There was a chorus of g’day's as he took his seat. He nodded to a number of familiar faces.

  "I think we have everyone now, so let us begin," said the Chairman. “As you know, we are here to discuss the momentous news we have received from the exploration teams funded by the Carstairs Corporation, whose head is with us today. We understand that the Carstairs Corporation has legal rights to the exploration, for the time being.” The Chairman paused and briefly directed a knowing look at the room over his old fashioned spectacles. “Until that situation is resolved, Mister Carstairs has generously agreed to allow the Science Committee full access to all the material from his teams. We are here to define a number of sub -committees to examine the data, and a structure for its collation and distribution. As you also know, the government is preparing an expedition to the … um Elpida system I believe it is called. It has asked the Science Committee to nominate a group of scientists to staff that expedition. That is the work we need to carry out today, but before we begin on the detail, I would like to call on Mister Carstairs to brief us thoroughly on the situation. We have all seen a lot of stuff in the media, some of it quite well, I should say, quite sensational, and I think we would appreciate a more sober presentation straight from the um horses mouth, so's to speak, if Mister Carstairs does not object to that description.” Carstairs put on his best fatherly expression and beamed around the room.

  "That end of the horse is fine Mister Chairman," he said, and after waiting for the titters of amusement to subside, continued. “Yes, there has been some misleading and sensational rubbish from some of our competitors, but not from ourselves. What we have released is the unvarnished truth, mostly original material from our exploration teams. So let me give the committee the facts as they are.” He paused and looked around the table keenly before continuing. “I have here a video presentation which has been prepared by my team this morning, with the latest information from Bounty Hunter and its sister ship the Chameleon. Once we have seen it, I will be available to answer questions.” He held a silver video chip aloft and a technician came over to take it. “I would like it back when we have finished,” whispered Carstairs to the young female technician as she took it. She nodded and Carstairs sat back in his seat. The lights dimmed and a big screen on the wall at the head of the table lit up.

  Carstairs media team had been up all night preparing the video and he had only seen it himself in the morning before leaving for the meeting. He had asked his team not to include any material that smacked of danger, mostly because he knew that some individuals would almost certainly try to exaggerate the dangers for their own ends, in particular, to curtail his team and prise the project away from the Carstairs Corporation. As a result, the accident at the bridge was not included, and neither were LeBlanc's findings on the possibly inimical nature of the Virtuals. That's all I need scowled Carstairs; deadly alien life forms that suck people's brains and may have destroyed a whole civilisation!

  Chapter 31

  Professor Chan was delighted with the first test of the Trans-Gate. Seeing the robot trundle along the gangplank, through one silver arch and suddenly appear on the other gangplank without traversing the empty space in between was a magical moment that was greeted by immense cheers from every technician and scientist in the huge room. It was an historic moment, and a continuous stream of individuals queued to shake his hand and thump him effusively on the back.

  "Next step New York,” exclaimed Doctor Sobell. “Buy your tickets here.” Professor Chan chuckled at his enthusiasm.

  "When are our friends in New York doing their first test Raoul?" he asked.

  "They are ready to go Professor,” he replied. “They’ve just been waiting for us to do the first test. They wanted you to have the honour.”

  "Well that is very sporting of them," said the Professor. “Unusual for the Americans not to want to be the first.”

  "Whichever site was first, the honour is yours sir. This is your baby," said Sobell. Professor Chan shook his head.

  "No no, I won 't have that Raoul, everybody on the project deserves the credit. It's been a magnificent achievement by you all. You've solved technical problems that I thought were impossible.” Sobell looked pleased.

  "In a way, I'm sorry to see it coming to an end. It has been such an exciting challenge.”

  "The end of the first phase," said the professor. “We have proved the theory and the technology.” He waved an arm at the massive machinery beneath him in the huge hall. “Now we have to refine it and turn it into a usable system. That could take years. I hope you and I will live to see it.”

  The next day, over breakfast, he switched on the news channel, expecting to see himself being interviewed by a host of reporters. But the Project was not the main news item. In fact, the news was about just one thing. He goggled with disbelief at the video footage from the Elpida system, hardly able to believe his eyes.

  I suppose it was bound to happen eventually, he mused, taking in the huge buildings on the moon, the desolate cities on the third planet and the staring dead Robots. But when he saw the video of the Trans-Gate chambers, he almost choked on his coffee. He leapt up, toppling his chair over, slopping coffee on the table and in his plate of cereal, his face a picture of disbelief.

  "Good God!” he gasped. “This in incredible.” The screen showed the silver arch, traversing up and down it, zooming in to show detail, and then out again. It panned to show the bulky machines filling the huge room and the professor jumped up and put his nose within a few centimetres of the screen, his eyes feverishly scanning the detail. When the transmission stopped, he waved his arms in the air in exasperation.

  "Why was I not given this?" he asked the room. “Why do I have to see it on public television?” He glared at the view screen. “The bloody media get the hands on priceless scientific information before we do. This is scandalous!” He rushed over to his comms terminal then paused, trying to think who he should call. The United Nations? The British government? The British minister for Information, or Science or Industry? They probably had one of each. Before he could decide, the unit buzzed and the screen lit up to show the bearded face of his chief scientist.

  "Professor, have you seen the news?“ shouted Doctor Sobel, unable to control his excitement.

  "I was just watching it Raoul," said the professor. “It's incredible, why were we not informed of this before?”

  "I know, I know," said Sobel. “They give this to the media first? It's ludicrous!” The Doctor's accent was intensified by his excitement and he then went on to mutter a few outraged remarks in French before continuing in English. “Have you seen the Trans-Gate chambers? The aliens had the technology Mathew. They used it to travel between thei
r planet and their moon.”

  "Yes, well, that proves it can work at those distances," said the professor. “I'd like to get a close look at those videos.”

  "Well, I don't see why not. They seem to be public knowledge," said Sobel wryly.

  "I'm going into the office now Raoul. Where are you?”

  "I came in early to check on the American's test," said Sobel. “I'm going to talk to a few people now and see what's happening.”

  "O K, see you in a few minutes.” The professor hurried to get dressed and dialled a hover car whilst he was doing so. No time for the monorail he thought as he hurriedly buttoned a fresh shirt. He was excited by the news he had just seen.

  If the aliens could use the technology for travel to the moon, then we can also he thought. He suddenly experienced a feeling of confidence. We can push on now, secure in the knowledge that the science is good.

  Chapter 32

  “Red 310," said Jo, connecting her continuity tester to the terminal. He husband responded with a bored

  “Check red bloody 310”.

  "That's it my darling, you are now a free man,” she smiled. Andy uncoiled himself from the uncomfortable position peering up the crotch of the alien robot and stretched out on the floor, his limbs cracking. They had been painstakingly mapping the wiring of the alien robot for the last two hours and feeding the information into the wiring diagram being constructed by Alden. From that, they would build a circuit diagram of the robot.

  "I've lost all feeling in my legs,” muttered Andy.

  "Oh no!” exclaimed Jo solicitously. “What about higher up? Is everything still working up there?”