The Sixth Extinction

by Bob Blink

  "I'd appreciate if you get back up there and see what you can learn," Walker directed. "Call me at my private number the moment you know anything."

  Ray nodded. He'd have liked to stick around and see how things went, but he knew when he was being dismissed, and anything but immediate obedience would have been suspicious.

  "Yes, sir," Ray said, and turned and walked away.

  "Did he say anything?" Walker asked, turning to Luke. "Anything to tell us who did this?"

  Luke shook his head sadly.

  "He might as well be with Pete. He's gone. I can't see what you hope to do. I assume you want to scan his mind, but you don't have a clone ready. It'll go bad before you have one grown."

  "You go with Zack," Walker directed. "You'll learn something new tonight. I have to get with Dr. Ho and see how the scanning goes."

  With that he walked off, heading into the building. Zack indicated that Luke should follow him, and the two men made their way into the building, but then headed down a set of stairs to one of the lower levels. None of them noticed that Ray hadn't left yet, and had overheard the exchange.

  Walker made his way to the special secured area that held the mind scanners. He'd already spotted the medical attendant leaving, having been dismissed after Jake and he got Joe's inert form into the building. The man wasn't authorized to know where they were taking Joe, nor what kind of equipment they had waiting there. The scanners were in a special room that only Walker had the access codes for until he'd shared them with Dr. Ho when they'd realized what they had discovered in the sealed room off the special library adjacent to her office.

  "What's his status?" Walker asked after he'd stepped into the room where Jake and Dr. Ho were hurriedly setting up the gear, hooking the special electrode net to Joe's head. There were three of the machines in the moderately sized room, but only one had been unpacked and set up. The other two remained in the special packing crates, complete with all factory materials and instructions. There was no need for more than one to be operational given their very limited use of the device, and Walker had felt the spares were safer in the carefully preserved composite crates that currently held them.

  "Fading fast," Dr. Ho replied, her mind as much on what she was doing as Walker's questions. "I'm very doubtful that we will be able to extract a viable brain kernel from your friend. The bullet was deflected by the skull, but still had done considerable damage. Add to that the greatly reduced flow of blood because of his hemorrhaging, and it's questionable how much of his mind is still functioning."

  "You're going to put him in one of the Cyborgs, I assume." Ho said.

  "Is there any other choice?" Walker asked.

  "In a week I'll have Vanessa's clone to a viable point, but that's all that are even close."

  "Vanessa? A woman's body?"

  "It would work until we can grow his own. He'd have to deal with it, but maybe that's a bad idea, especially given the state I think his mind will be in. The Cyborgs are probably a better idea."

  As she spoke, she scanned the readouts, and then nodding to herself she started the scan. The process was remarkably quick given the complexity of the mind, but within five minutes she was flipping controls and shutting down the interface.

  "That's all we get," she said. "He's gone."

  Walker looked at the body on the gurney. Joe looked smaller and somehow shrunken.

  "Did you get all of him?"

  "No," Ho admitted, "and there are warning indicators for large areas of the scan. We won't know what we have until his mind has settled into the Cyborg. Don't get your hopes up. I suggest you consider extracting him from the Sim and starting fresh."

  Walker shook his head.

  "I need what Joe knows and what he saw before being shot."

  "Let's head down to the Cyborg room," Dr. Ho said. "I've transferred the kernel to the imbedding unit down there. Zack should have everything ready by the time we arrive."

  Luke was there as well, stunned by what he was seeing.

  "These are real?" he asked.

  Walker nodded as Luke, Jake and Dr. Ho prepared the unit for the kernel installation.

  "Cyborgs. They are meant as temporary labor and fighting forces. Joe's brain can survive in one of them until the doctor can get his clone grown. We've done this before."

  Luke watched as the three worked over the Cyborg lying on the table. He'd help Zack move the heavy monster over there.

  "Zack needs to speak with you," Luke warned. "He wanted to call you earlier, but knew you wanted some sleep and decided morning was soon enough."

  "Do you know what about?" Walker asked, half listening. His mind was focused on the activity across the room.

  "Yeah. Apparently someone named Greg had been using one of the gaming couches to visit the Simulation. It looks like you might have been right all along."

  Chapter 28

  Sequoia Facility

  Tucked away in the quiet apartment on the top floor of one of the unused residential buildings where Ray had helped them set up one of their safe houses, Rao, Jessica, Greg and Ed waited to hear from him. For the moment, they didn't know if they were being actively sought. The long silence from Ray made them all uncomfortable, but all signals into the place had been deliberately disabled, and Ray had warned against use of any of their electronics. They couldn't even check the news to see what might be being said about the deaths of the two close friends of Director Walker. Jessica wondered how long they would have to wait, and secretly thought it might be better if they split up. Ray may have been compromised and might at this moment be in custody, official or secretly, by Walker's thugs.

  "How are you doing?" Ed asked, as Jessica paced the room. He misinterpreted her restlessness as having to do with her actions earlier in the evening. "It was Ray's shot that actually killed him," he added, hoping to take that burden from her if that was what was bothering her.

  "I didn't plan on shooting him," she said. "The damn gun just went off. I didn't realize it was that easy to fire one of the things. I've never shot one before."

  "I should have checked the safety before handing it to you," Greg said apologetically.

  Jessica waived him off, her blue eyes clear and focused.

  "It doesn't matter. He was a bastard anyway. I could tell he didn't like my being close to Glenn, and someone was going to have to kill him before the night was over anyway. We all know that."

  She hesitated and glanced at Greg.

  "You didn't seem particularly concerned that you killed Coleman."

  "It was pretty clear he was about to shoot one of us. There really wasn't much choice at that point," Greg said a little defensively. If the truth be known, he was a bit pleased at his quick action that had stopped things from going sour on them. "Ray's move was a bit cold-blooded, if you want to compare actions," he added.

  "The group's been killing folks for some time," Ed said. "Doesn't seem like a great loss for the two of them to be eliminated. Sort of fair turn around if you ask me."

  Jessica was thinking this group was a little more direct than she would have expected. Nothing in any of their lives would have suggested they would react as they had.

  "I am thinking we might have real problems to worry about," Rao said, a little queasy from the events of the past couple of hours. He'd never seen anyone killed before, and whatever the motivation, he hoped not to see another. "Director Walker will be knowing for certain that something is going on he doesn't understand. We are not ready for such scrutiny just yet. I do not think we will be able to set up our new link before he will force abandonment of the other path into the Simulation. We will be cut off from those we have promised to help."

  Jessica realized there was a good chance that Rao was right. When Walker realized what had been taken, he would almost certainly think of Rao and Dale, and from there anyone who was close to them. Dale was out there, and unless Ray had warned him, wouldn't know how things had gone. He was particularly vulnerable at the moment.

 
They were discussing the implications of the shootings when Ray knocked discretely with the agreed to signal and stepped into the apartment.

  "Well?" Jessica asked anxiously. She noticed she wasn't alone as they waited for Ray's report.

  "We may have gotten lucky," he said. "Joe didn't call in, so Walker doesn't know who was involved in the shooting.

  "Thank heavens," Ed said.

  "That said," Ray continued, now with the bad news. "He'll know pretty soon what was taken from the warehouse. Our hope of the missing gear going unnoticed for a while is gone. The killings brought attention to the theft, and they'll be doing a careful search to see what is missing, and a full list will be forwarded to Walker. He's the Director after all."

  "Which means he'll have a pretty good idea who might want that stuff," Jessica said. "It's not like there is a black market for stolen hardware around this place."

  Greg was quick to fill in the blanks.

  "He'll assume that somehow Rao and Dale are involved. If not the theft, whatever it is being taken to support. He'll be wanting to talk with them."

  Ray nodded. "That's something we can't allow. So it's time for both of them to disappear. That means Matti and Sarah too, because Walker will go after them for leverage, if nothing else."

  "Dale probably doesn't know what's happening," Greg pointed out.

  "That's right," Ray agreed. "I need you or Ed to make a run and let him know. Get him moved as soon as possible to the closest secure location. We'll see about moving both Rao and Dale out to the Ring bunker later."

  "What about the rest of us?" Ed asked.

  "We aren't out of the woods completely," Ray admitted. "I screwed up. Joe is still alive, but his condition is terminal. I should have checked him after I fired that last shot, but who would have expected the bullet to be deflected by his skull?"

  "If he's terminal and not expected to wake up, what difference does it make?" Jessica asked.

  "A very strange thing happened when Walker was told about the shootings," Ray said. "He directed that Thomas be brought to the cloning labs rather than the hospital."

  "Whatever for?" Jessica asked. "They wouldn't be prepared to handle the trauma from bullet wounds."

  "That was my thought when it happened, but who am I to argue with the Director, especially when it would most likely work in our favor if Joe passed as a result."

  "That's where you ran into Walker?" Greg asked.

  Ray nodded. "We spoke briefly, and he directed me back to the site of the shooting and tasked me with seeing what I could learn there. Then he promptly forgot about me. I was close enough to overhear something surprising. Walker had Joe carried off by a couple of his men and he indicated that they were going to scan his brain. I didn't think we had the ability to do that. We are told as much each time we are re-cloned and brought into the Facility."

  Rao was immediately interested. "I am thinking they have a Memory Mapping device hidden away somewhere. It would explain much about Director Walker's plans."

  Jessica had never paid much attention to some of this in the past, but asked, "You mean the kind of device they used to map our memories and put us into the Sim?"

  "Why would they need such a device?" Ed asked.

  "They can copy their existing memories and place them into a clone when the time comes. They effectively don't die like the rest of us," Greg pointed out. "I heard rumors about such a thing existing somewhere in the caverns, but always assumed it was one of those stories that get started."

  "If they can copy Joe's mind before he dies they might be able to learn about us," Jessica said, realizing what was worrying Ray.

  "Unless they have a body handy to place the kernel into, that won't help," Greg explained. "The kernel they create will begin to degrade immediately."

  "They could put it into the Sim like Rao did," she argued.

  "They don't know that can be done," Rao contradicted her. "Dale and I have not revealed the capability. They must be planning something else."

  "Can they read the kernel and learn what they want to know that way?" Ed asked.

  Again Rao shook his head. "If they could do that they wouldn't have tasked Dale and myself to come up with an editing capability."

  "Maybe they plan on putting the mind into someone else's body," Rao suggested. "That would be confusing for the individual, but would work. They could keep the kernel alive until they could grow a new body for Joe."

  "I'll need to check and see what might be available," Ray said. "I don't know who is scheduled for cloning at the moment."

  "Let me check," Greg suggested. "I have a friend named Sam in the cloning labs who would know. Since they don't know about us yet, I'm certain he wouldn't be particularly suspicious if I were to ask in the right way."

  "Can he be trusted?" Ray asked.

  "I don't have to tell him why I'm asking," Greg replied. "He's not likely to announce what he told me. That kind of information normally isn't spread around."

  "We are missing something," Rao said softly. "It would be most surprising for a body to be available just at the moment they need one."

  The others waited for him to explain, but after a moment he only smiled and shrugged. "I do not know what it might be, but my intuition suggests there is something. Perhaps there is more tolerance in these things than I understand."

  Everyone was silent for a bit.

  "We can go then?" Jessica asked finally.

  "All but Rao and Dale," Ray agreed. "I think they should remain hidden until we see where this goes."

  "Are you sure Walker doesn't suspect you?" Greg asked Ray. "You've been right there at the center of things."

  "As I explained, I talked with him when we delivered Joe. From Walker's point of view I was simply doing my job. He didn't bat an eyelash when he spoke with me. He's not that good of an actor, and I think I would have known if he was suspicious. So far, nothing links me to any of what has happened. I'm probably safer than the rest of you."

  Chapter 29

  Sequoia Facility

  Three Days Later

  "He's nowhere to be found," Luke explained. He was referring to Greg Harper, the engineer whose ID had been used to gain access to the Resort gaming couch that had been used to access the Sim portal that was supposed to be a complete secret. He hasn't been seen by anyone at the Resort, nor has he been seen by any of his friends we have checked with. He must know that we have found out about his actions. I'd bet money he was one of those that shot Joe and killed Pete."

  "This place is a closed environment," Walker swore. "He can't be that hard to find."

  "There's a lot of square miles of territory, and you said you wanted to keep this as quiet as possible, and not put out a formal alert for the guy. That makes it harder. That security guy hasn't had any luck either."

  Ray Burke had been selected by Walker to head up all official aspects of the investigation related to the theft and the shootings. The man impressed Walker. He had been prompt and acted without a lot of unnecessary questions when he'd been directed to bring Joe Thomas to the cloning labs. Then, when Walker had told him to find out what had been taken, he'd set right off, and before the day was out had provided a detailed list of the missing equipment. Walker liked his efficiency. So far, though, he hadn't managed to come through on this damn engineer.

  "I'd still like to know who he sent into the Sim," Walker said. "Are you certain there is no way to tell?"

  "Normally it would be easy, but you had those programmers build the interface so that such information wasn't tracked," Luke reminded him. "You said we would be the only ones using it, and you didn't want any traceable records later."

  "I just know it was Rao or that buddy of his. They make the most sense and would be most at home with the transfer, having designed it. We haven't found them either, have we."

  "No one has seen them since the day of the theft," Luke explained. "They were at their usual work place, but after the day was over, they simply vanished."

 
; "There's nothing simple about it," roared Walker. "They've been planning this. I want to know who they talked to inside the Sim."

  Luke was quiet. He knew that telling Walker that they had no way of knowing that would only get him yelled at. Besides, Walker knew that already. The boss was really upset with the recent string of events, and the failure to apprehend any of those being sought.

  "Okay," Walker said, visibly calming down. "Keep after the three of them. Anyone of them will be able to tell us just what is going on and who their allies are. But I want this Greg guy. He's not being sought officially, so we have more freedom on how to deal with him."

  Glenn had used the theft and the shootings to support the searches that he had security working. There hadn't been a murder in the Facility in the more than a thousand years it had existed, so Ray and those he worked with were eagerly seeking those thought to be responsible. Given the list of pilfered items, Rao and Dale had been at the top of the list. For now, the general public hadn't been informed of what was going on, but some leaks were starting to show.

  "Yes, sir," Luke said, and gratefully backed away and left the office, happy for the chance to escape. He headed down the hall to where the rest of the surviving five members of the team were waiting.

  "Any change?" Walker asked a short time later after he'd driven over to the Cloning Clinic to speak with Dr. Ho.

  "He's not right," she replied. "I warned you that the chances of a successful capture was small. His brain was damaged by the gunshot, and he's not adapting well to the new environment."

  Glenn could see why. They had moved the Cyborg from the transfer area into this private room where she and Jake could watch over him without the general staff being aware of what was going on. The beast was really a robot. It had been dubbed a Cyborg because the brain inside the metal and plastic chassis was human, but in truth even that was inside an electronic memory array and not a flesh and blood brain. There were really no biological parts to the thing.