by Tom Germann
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for staying to address this problem. We have an open act of subtle sabotage that has been carried out against the Glentol Corporation and the Corporate Marine project. Most of you are aware of these, but for the rest, we will be discussing the nannites that are injected into the Marines during their training that are first used to improve and repair any minor issues and eventually, to fix major genetic damage. Toward the end, the nannites are slowly changed so that they are improving the individual’s response time and reactions. This has never been broadcast, but upon completion of their training, Marines are almost 50 percent stronger than an unmodified human and have responses that can be rated at approximately 70 percent faster. It is even possible for a Marine to ‘boost’ what the nannites are doing and almost double their abilities. There are several other benefits as well for the Marine. Increased healing rate is one, and there are improvements in how they interact with their armour.”
The president pauses for a second before continuing. Everyone in the room and attending through electronic means knows this information already. No one interrupts.
“There have been side effects until just recently, however. The technology was so new that for the first twenty years of nannite use, every Marine was on a timer as soon as the first nannites were put in. Within fifteen years max the side effects became obvious, and if the individual continued it was fatal 100 percent of the time. There have been breakthroughs and the side effects have been eliminated. Better yet, the new nannites can actually heal up past Marines so they are able to live a more normal life. They can’t go back to space and wear their armour, however. This was a tremendous breakthrough and had substantial impact on the need for new Marines. Yet . . . ” Everyone could hear the change in the president’s voice and no one was willing to interrupt him, even though several had urgent questions. “. . . with the new nannites, new protocols needed to be put in place. It appears that somehow that was sabotaged. I understand the background here as I have had time to evaluate. However, none of you have. I will have Dr. John Hansen join us. He has only been told that he is briefing one of the higher-level managers, which he is doing. We are simply eavesdropping. This is live and a second walk-through. Pay attention and leave questions till the end.”
At the head of the table, a single screen clears and then an older man in a lab coat is sitting at a table talking to the screen. He is middle-aged with short thinning brown hair on his head. He is wearing a fashionable pair of glasses and both of his hands are on the tabletop, where he is fiddling with a pencil while he talks.
“Yes sir, I’ll run through it again. My name is John Hansen. I’m the project manager for nannite production and development within the Glentol Corporation. We are located in Arizona of the United States of America in a high-security compound. There are twenty personnel working in the lab. We do very little actual creation in the lab. Instead, we implement changes that are sent to us from other labs across the world. We produce the majority of the nannites that are used by the Corporation.”
The man pauses and takes a drink from a glass before continuing.
“The problem came up while we were getting ready for the next big production run of nannites. We are constantly producing a small amount to keep the machinery in use. However, we come up to full production just shortly before the next batch is due to be shipped out. So a week ago we were going through a maintenance cycle. It involved running diagnostics on the machines and physically checking for parts that may need replacement. My people know what to look for in a machine to keep it operating at 100 percent efficiency and we don’t wait for a breakdown. That’s part of the reason that we have never had to call a halt or send a hastener up for repairs.” He paused. “Sorry, I’ll get back on topic. We had replaced all of the previous testing machines with the new systems six months ago. Given how busy we had been, the machinery had not been prepared for shipping before then. I had given one of our newer lab techs, Sally Ruthers, the job of preparing all four machines for shipment. I honestly expected her to run the short diagnostic before pulling the plug on them, which is what usually occurs. Instead she ran the full diagnostic, for which I am eternally grateful. The full diagnostic involves taking a batch sample of nannites and running them through to ensure that the sensors are still operating within parameters. This is so that the machinery can be sent off and we know that they are fully functional. Sally tested all four machines multiple times on different nannite batches that we had.”
Again the man pauses and takes another drink. His calm composure cracks for a second as he looks down at his hands. When he continues, he is quieter.
“You cannot believe how thankful I am that she tested all the machines as she did. Her documentation was excellent. I didn’t originally believe that the new machines could be this far off. Yet when I reviewed first her work and then the protocols that she had followed, I believed her. We then ran all of the same nannites through the new machines. The results were completely different. The old machines all gave returns that showed the nannites were all just over 8 percent off of standard. The new machines showed them being within operating parameters by .02 percent. Our AI is a Level 1 for basic number crunching. I triggered a request for a Level 3 evaluation and we then received a Level 4 AI review. I did not have the initial grounds to call a halt and we had time before the next production batch was to start. The Level 4 AI had the answer back and several sims as well by the next day. The new machines were incorrect and had been tampered with. I immediately called for a shutdown of those machines and had the old ones set up again. While my staff were doing that, in the morning I contacted my supervisor and gave them the results and the data from the AI sim.”
A different voice starts talking. It is obviously the supervisor who is running the debrief.
“What are the results from the testing? You have the suggested impact on the nannites? Please review.”
“Yes, sir. The nannites would not interact properly with a human metabolism now. In fact, in most people they will slow the healing process down a bit and it appears that they would not react to critical injuries in the same way, either. I am not familiar with the armour or really how the nannites interact there, but I believe that the overall effectiveness of a Marine in armour will be decreased—possibly to the point where a human in armour without modification would be just as effective. Sir, I just want to say that I don’t think any of my people carried out this sabotage. I’ve been working with them all for years and Sally Ruthers, while new, is the one who discovered that this issue existed. In my recommendations I suggest that all machines in the future go through a full diagnostic review six months to a year after being replaced and that the shortened diagnostic protocol be put aside.”
Again the other man’s voice.
“That recommendation has been sent up the chain and it is fully endorsed. Dr. Hansen, no one believes that any of your personnel had anything to do with this incident. It is believed that the machines that came in may have minor faults that were not immediately obvious but slowly decreased their effectiveness over time. Just to finish, can you tell me what else happened?”
Dr. Hansen nods. “Yes. I have been reviewing the nannites and all those that have been pushed up the chain have been reviewed as well. Everything in the system was corrupted and could not be used. ALL of those nannites have been destroyed. The nannites being produced in-system now are all functioning correctly. We should have sufficient stock available within two more weeks to replace the corrupted material.”
The voice from off-screen says, “Thank you for your time, doctor. If I have any further questions I’ll just message you. If you need anything, let me know immediately.”
The screen blanks out.
The president’s voice is quiet. “This was no accident. The primary machines in the main nannite production site for the Glentol Corporation did not all deviate that much, all together. We have a direct act
of sabotage that required a great degree of coordination and power. We have, since finding out about this issue, discovered that one of the main programmers just recently passed away during a vacation while rock climbing. At this point, given communication lag, we have no clue how much or little combat our Marines out on the edge of our space have gone through. Most of them should have received the new nannites, which render them less effective. Booster shots are given regularly as old nannites fail. The new nannites also do not accept the old programming and the doctor was not aware that they are overwriting and destroying the ‘old’ nannites. Mark my words. We will find those who are responsible for doing this.”
A Successful Assault Completed. Laying A Trap
Shiv walked down the passage of the freighter, heading toward the meeting room. The Representative would want to know what was going on and how the plan was progressing.
He was amazed that things were working as well as they were. He had never heard of such a large operation being carried out by the military. A freighter and two specially refitted courier boats assaulting an alien planet, taking the site, and then holding on to it. It had never been done.
Yes, the taking and conquering of an alien site had been done. The material and knowledge that was located at this Hooman site was now theirs for the taking.
The reports from the surface were looking good, and while he did not understand why they simply did not kill all the honourless creatures immediately, take the goods stored ready for transit and destroy the site, it was not a question he needed to worry about.
The Representative was in charge and everything that had been ordered had been carried out, and carried out well. The three ships had exited deep space farther out and then switched around personnel from the different ships, for an aggressive assault.
Then there had been a great meeting. Every section leader had been brought into the main loading bay, which was full of cargo containers. The Representative himself had come in with Kaza at his back. A third of the section commanders, mere leaders of seven, had been so in awe that their fur had stood straight out.
The Representative had stepped up onto a low container and then called out for everyone to stand. All did immediately, but none would look directly upon the emperor’s agent in fear of showing disrespect. The message was simple and clear: The Hooman outpost would be captured with stealth. The workers would not be massacred but carefully rounded up and then evaluated. The emperor himself wanted to know why any race would carry out such a despicable attack. No more of the enemy were to be killed than absolutely necessary. He had charged each and every one of us to take them alive and to stop our warriors that may act out of the desire for vengeance. After we had what the emperor wanted to know, the site would be razed. He never said what would happen to the workers. That was obvious.
Shiv had known looking around that the warriors—no, soldiers—that were in attendance would make sure that any who tried to strike in anger or for vengeance against the Hoomans would be stopped.
The soldiers would not be kind. No, not that. But they would not slaughter the Hoomans out of hand like they had slaughtered our people.
Shiv stopped himself for a second. The Representative had stated in every meeting that a leader must have an open mind. He knew deep down that the Hoomans had destroyed the outpost. Yet until they had concrete proof that would satisfy the emperor and his Representative, the Hoomans would not be destroyed or treated with absolute contempt. Still, it was hard.
Shiv made it to the conference room where the Representative would have a meeting to hear the initial findings of the raiding party. There were two guards at the door from his clan and he nodded at them. They nodded back and acknowledged his presence but maintained a watchful air.
That was good. He would have taken them through the worst training imaginable if they lowered their guard when at a post, even if they did know him.
The door was still closed so the audience was not yet. Shiv took a meditative position to the side out of the flow of traffic in the passage—what little of it there was—and reflected on what had happened.
The ships had redistributed the warriors of the assault to the two smaller scout ships. The freighter itself had a majority of the warriors for training during the transit, just in case. There were two assault shuttles ready to fly more warriors in when the first foothold was secure and the heavy defences were down or at least suppressed.
That had been smoothly carried out. The three ships had then accelerated toward the system with the two light ships pulling ahead quickly. Shiv himself had been in the lead ship along with five of his warriors in heavy armour and another dozen of the new raiders in medium armour. The other ship had a similar loadout and there was enough heavy firepower between the thirty-six warriors to fight a small war.
There were even some new experimental weapons with the assault party. Not a complete loadout, but there was one multiple missile system with each ship. It clipped onto the heavy armour perfectly. Shiv had been glad that the Representative had not pushed for every suit of heavy armour to trial the new system.
Images of heavily armoured warriors exploding as the system malfunctioned, or worse, if some idiot scientist had made something more complex than it needed to be and the missiles were volleyed at another section ran through Shiv’s mind. He shuddered at the memory of a heavy projectile weapon that had been tested when he was much younger. There had been eight barrels and a special ammunition that exploded on contact. Thirty or forty rounds on a target would shred even Kah-Choo heavy armour. The only problem had been that the barrels were of a new alloy forged in space. Miraculous and light. In an atmosphere, the heat had not dissipated enough and the barrels had melted like a candle made of fat. The explosion was huge, and thankfully the weapon system had been set up for automatic firing in a special bunker. But six thousand rounds of that special ammunition had gone up in a glorious fireball. It had destroyed the bunker and left a crater a hundred and sixty krels long from end to end.
After that incident, all weapons testing had been moved to a testing ground on one of the smaller moons for the reason of security.
The Representative understood real-world necessity.
Shiv found himself drifting back and reviewing how the entire operation had worked out so far, aside from the new weapon system.
He had asked his clan for experienced warriors and they had gladly come. There had been several honour duels between members vying for a position on the operation. The duels had all been non-lethal, of course, even though many broken bones were healing now, some with members of the force.
The other clan was one Shiv had originally thought would be a problem. He had doubted that they would have the strength to send members of the warrior branch. Seventy-five warriors had appeared at the training centre the day of preparation. They had gone through all the testing to see if they had what it took to be a raider. They had all passed. Not all well, but most of them, and that was surprising.
In fact, when he had inspected the rows of warriors lined up he was impressed with what he saw. Not their equipment—most of it was older and not of the best quality—but he had been impressed with the skill with which they wielded inferior weapons and with the warriors themselves.
There had only been time to familiarize them to the basic weapons at the ranges. Again, their weapon handling and scores were all higher than normal.
There had been some problems getting equipment issued to the warriors. Every warrior was supposed to come to his lord with his best weapons clean and ready for action, and he should also be able to sustain himself for at least a week on the supplies he carried.
It wasn’t like this in the raiders. Every raider was issued the same high-quality equipment. The raiders were unique in the armies of the emperor in that they were standardized. The old practice of bringing your own weapons was slowly fading, but many still adhered to it. Usually
those who had not been in space combat.
That old practice had reared its head, though. The supply system had balked at issuing superior weapons and space armour to a ‘lesser clan’. When the meeting had been held with Shiv and Kaza after the third failed attempt by section leaders to draw equipment, it had been a short meeting.
The depot manager and his senior people had made some direct comments about the lack of honour of the warriors who had dared to ask for the emperor’s equipment.
Kaza had listened impassively and then his sword was out and the heads of the manager and his two senior people were bouncing on the floor. He had simply cleaned his blade off while the rest of the managers mewled in terror. Then he had re-sheathed it and looked at the fourth in command. “The emperor has commanded that these warriors are to be used as raiders in this operation. To go against the word of the emperor is a disgrace. I have allowed the manager a fast death for his insubordination because he has served faithfully for his entire life. You are now in charge. Proper equipment will be issued, now. There will be no more problems or you will be hanging in a metal basket outside the city walls on treason row.”
He had then turned and left. Shiv had followed.
All the equipment had been issued immediately and everything was brand new. There was not a single refurbished piece of equipment and, better, the spares that should always be there but sometimes were not available were all issued as well.
The warriors had field-tested the equipment for two days in the grand park and then flown back to the imperial star port where they were loaded and flown to the Dss class freighter. Shiv had gone with them and brought his two best warriors with him. The flight out had been incredibly busy; training was run constantly with no breaks. By breaking the soldiers up into three separate groups they had been able to accomplish the task. Barely.
The warriors were good, strong, patient, and able to strike swiftly. Everything a raider should be.
