ROBO SAPIENS: A Science Fiction Classic

by Gary Naiman

  Lucinda’s eyes widened. “You’re monitoring us?”

  “Yes.”

  “Without my authorization?”

  “Yes.”

  She clenched her fist. “Who the hell is in charge of this mission?”

  “You, 0021.”

  “I’m not so sure, but it’s time to find out.” Lucinda placed her finger on the lump and tapped three shorts and two longs. Despite the risk, she could wait no longer. Contact must be made.

  Nothing.

  She tried again, but the expected vibration didn’t come. She stared at the darkness that should be a materializing hologram.

  Her eyes locked on the Meta. “What’s wrong? Why isn’t it working?”

  “Your transmitter is functional, but all communications are blocked by jamming static.”

  Lucinda slid her finger off her wrist. “You’re saying they know?”

  “Yes, 0021. They have known for some time. They are extremely intelligent.”

  Lucinda looked down at her wrist in disbelief. “The Synapse transmission uses our most powerful cryptology. It’s unbreakable.”

  The Meta floated beside her. “They are very smart.”

  She stared at the amber eye.

  “If I may, 0021, I sense you are torn between your clandestine assignment and an ingrained urge to assist your fellow scientists in solving the Gordian.”

  Lucinda’s face flushed. “I told you not to probe human emotions. You are a robot and nothing more.”

  The Meta retreated into the shadows.

  Lucinda pushed off the sleep bubble and gestured for the interior light to come on, her eyes searching for the micro-cameras that must be monitoring her. She glared at the domed ceiling. “Where are they? Where the hell are they?”

  The Meta’s voice chilled her. “They are everywhere, 0021. They study your every move.”

  The chill deepened. Instinctively, her forefinger probed the concealed shoulder pocket of her uniform. She could feel the protrusion beneath the iridescent-blue fabric.

  Her face flushed. Two taps and a press of her finger against the concealed needle, and she would be dead in five seconds. She glared at the amber eye. “Then … they know?”

  The eye flickered. “They have seen nothing.”

  “But you said—”

  “They have seen false images. I programmed their cameras to display you toileting, bathing, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, and retiring to your sleep bubble.”

  Her finger slid away from the pocket, her eyes locked on the Meta. “You did this without advising me?”

  “It was best you not know. Their brain scanners are very powerful.”

  Lucinda stared at the eye. For the second time since their introduction, she had tasted Gog’s power. First, the vaporized rogue wave. Now, a brilliant deflection of the enemy’s monitoring system. In both cases, self-conceived and directed by the amber-eyed creature floating in front of her.

  She dropped on the bubble, her eyes locked on the Meta. “If you’re that good, why can’t you neutralize their jamming software?”

  “If I neutralize it, they will be alerted and will surely detonate the device.”

  “Device?”

  “Yes, 0021. A second nuclear device has been implanted on the platform. The enemy is committed to its detonation.”

  She stared at the Meta in shock. “You know this?”

  “Yes, 0021. I am monitoring all communications.”

  “But they’re blocked.”

  “To some.”

  Lucinda looked down, her fingers probing for the protrusion. “Then I’ve failed. We’re finished.”

  “You have not failed, 0021. I am with you.”

  She looked at the amber eye. “What should I do?”

  “The answer lies at thirty-five thousand feet.”

  CHAPTER 18

  The Request

  Dawn was breaking over the Philippine Sea, its brightening sky streaked with orange-tinted clouds. The water had turned slate blue, its gentle swells lapping against the platform. In a few minutes, the eastern horizon would erupt with blazing sunlight and a new day would begin — all of it unnoticed by the platform’s project director as she peered at the cargo ship’s red light.

  Kenney cursed under her breath. Despite the platform’s hailing signals, no contact had been made with the Cathay in almost six hours. The ship’s ballast problem could be severe, but why hadn’t the ship’s captain used light signals to communicate their status?

  She clenched her fist. “Why do you toy with me? Do you think I’m a fool?”

  “Director?”

  Kenney whirled around and glared at the young woman in iridescent-blue.

  Lucinda backed away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your thoughts.”

  Kenney’s glare softened. She forced a smile at the woman standing before her. “Romanoff told me you worked all night.”

  Lucinda looked down. “In vain.”

  “But you came close. That’s good, 0021. That’s very good.” Kenney waited for a response, but there was none. “Did you get any sleep?”

  Lucinda brushed past her and rested her hands on the rail. “Beautiful sunrise.”

  “Yes.”

  Lucinda looked down at the swells. “I was so close.”

  Kenney eased beside her. “You are no good to us if your mind is clouded. You know the importance of a clear mind when confronting a Gordian. The blasted thing is organic. Every ploy you attempt, every algorithm you throw at it, is deflected. The octagon alters its solution whenever challenged. It’s a living, breathing organism.”

  “Then you know about the advanced models?”

  “Of course, that’s why we need you. Surely Robotron’s best can break a Gordian.”

  Lucinda stared at the swells.

  Kenney glanced at the bobbing red light. “Get some rest, 0021. Pick it up tonight.”

  Lucinda turned toward her. “Do you really want my help?”

  Kenney gave her a puzzled look. “This is no time for silly questions.”

  “Do you?”

  “Of course, that’s why we accepted you. Forget my ranting about biologists and the like. You were the perfect choice, our best hope to break the Gordian.”

  “Then I need to go down there.”

  “Down?”

  Lucinda nodded at the deck.

  Kenney’s eyes widened. “The bottom?”

  “All the way.”

  Kenney stared at her in disbelief. “Your request makes no sense. We can glean any undersea information from the control room.” She shook her head. “No way, 0021. If you’re so close to solving the Gordian’s puzzle, expend your energy on that instead of a needless deep sea plunge.”

  Lucinda frowned. “The Gordian is unsolvable. You said it best. It’s a living, breathing organism that changes its solution whenever challenged. Your people waste their time.”

  Kenney’s face reddened. “And that’s how you help us? To dash our hopes with that rash conclusion? To ignore six months of valiant effort by the Consortium’s finest scientists?”

  Lucinda raised her hand for calm. “I’m very close to a solution, but it has nothing to do with the Gordian. If you take me down now, I’ll capture the one piece of data your surface instruments can’t provide... and we’ll know the truth.”

  “Truth?”

  Lucinda nodded.

  Kenney pushed away from the rail, her black eyes flickering. “You ask a lot, 0021, but you offer nothing in return except an unsubstantiated promise.”

  Lucinda leaned against the rail. “If my underwater test proves correct, I’ll give the Consortium an endless supply of Manna.”

  Kenney stared at her.

  “I need to sample the algae.”

  Kenney shrugged. “That’s it?”

  “Yes.”

  Kenney threw up her hands. “A descent is unnecessary. We have ample algae smears in the lab. The undersea drone collects them every day.”

 
“From?”

  “The collection vault.”

  Lucinda shook her head. “I need to test the algae at the collection points.”

  “The scoops?”

  “It’s the only way to know the truth.”

  Kenney’s face reddened. “Insanity, 0021.Your ego has gotten the best of you.”

  Lucinda stared at her. “I assure you, if there were another way —”

  Kenney raised her hand for silence. Her black eyes locked on the woman in iridescent-blue. “Why don’t I trust you?”

  Lucinda backed away. “I don’t know, Project Director. It’s your decision.” She turned toward the opened hatch.

  “Wait.” Kenney glared at her. “Prepare yourself for a tough descent. The rover launches in thirty minutes.” She stormed past Lucinda and disappeared through the opened hatch. The sun was rising in the east. It would be a beautiful day on the Philippine Sea, unless you were seven miles below.

  CHAPTER 19

  Stingray

  Arkady Zirdak leaned forward, his albino eyes squinting at the green ooze rushing at the six-foot holographic screen. “I can’t see a damn thing. Full magnification, Number One.”

  The crimson-uniformed officer seated on his left placed his finger on the instrument panel’s violet light. “Full mag, Captain.”

  Zirdak squinted at the shadow dead ahead. “That’s the umbilical?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Distance?”

  “Six kilometers, sir. Estimated intercept, two minutes, thirty-two seconds.”

  Arkady nodded. “Slow to fifteen knots.”

  The officer placed his finger on a yellow light and braced himself. “Slowing, Captain.”

  Zirdak gripped the chair’s plasma arms as the conning tower lurched forward from the attack sub’s deceleration.

  The officer withdrew his hand from the console. “Fifteen knots and closing, Captain.”

  Zirdak eyed the screen. “When we’re at two kilometers, ease her to the bottom and go to full stop. The ooze should give us sufficient camouflage to avoid detection.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Zirdak spun his plasma chair toward the two rows of crimson-uniformed officers hunched over their consoles. He studied their glowing faces. The conning tower was bathed in soft blue light. The only sound was the gentle hum of the sub’s fusion engines.

  Zirdak glanced at the six red digits above the sealed airtight door at the compartment’s rear. It was exactly zero-six-hundred hours. He rose from his command chair and started toward the officer seated at the rear console’s center. He hesitated and turned back to the viewing screen. “Number One, let’s have a quick look at ourselves.”

  Number one nodded and placed his finger on a blue light. The viewing screen morphed from an enhanced zoom of the Neptune mining operation to a satellite view of their stingray-shaped sub slipping along the seabed, its sensors guiding it between the jagged rocks jutting from the ooze.

  Zirdak frowned. “I don’t trust that ooze. Take us to maximum camouflage.”

  “Yes, sir.” Number One placed his finger on a small holographic replica of their attack sub. In seconds, the replica changed from gray to muddy green, as did the two hundred fifty foot stealth sub on the viewing screen, rendering it nearly invisible.

  Zirdak nodded at his pilot. “Well done, Number One. Proceed as ordered.”

  Number One lifted his finger off the replica, returning the view to the approaching undersea mining complex.

  It only took a few seconds for the communications officer, a.k.a. Stingray #02, to establish contact with Olafang Tabulek. The channel echoed with warbling cryptology.

  “Captain Zirdak?”

  Zirdak spoke slowly while staring at the conning tower’s viewing screen. “Overlord, we are within six kilometers of the Neptune umbilical and proceeding along the seabed in full camouflage. At two kilometers, we will establish a holding position and commence scanning.”

  Tabulek’s voice crackled. “The Forty-threes have been briefed?”

  “Yes, Overlord, the robots have received their orders and are prepared for the assault.”

  “What is your estimated time of attack?”

  Zirdak glanced at the red digits above the airtight door. “We will reach our hold position in eight minutes. After a three-minute magnetic scan of the complex’s mining scoops and umbilical, we will dispatch the Forty-threes through our airlock. It should take them two minutes to reach the umbilical, and another eight to ascend to the platform.”

  “And then?”

  Zirdak stroked his chin with his knuckle. “I estimate a final two minutes to ward off any surface attack while disarming the device.”

  “Not good enough, Captain.”

  “Overlord?”

  “Hear me well, Captain. This is the most important mission in human history. We are dealing with fanatics who will gladly sacrifice themselves for their warped cause. It is essential your Forty-threes wipe out all resistance within thirty seconds of boarding the platform. Synapse’s computers have analyzed the attack scenario and have responded with a thirty-second mandate. That is the only way to ensure the device is not detonated.”

  Zirdak frowned. “I understand, sir. Thirty seconds.”

  “Good luck, Captain. You and the Stingray are the best we have.”

  “Thank you, Overlord. We will not fail you.”

  Zirdak took a deep breath, his eyes focused on the viewing screen. One deck below, the twin Forty-three’s stood motionless, their throbbing red eyes staring at the sealed airlock.

  CHAPTER 20

  The Human Edict

  Kenney placed her hand over the instrument panel’s pulsing red light. “Tighten your straps, 0021, I’m accelerating our descent.” She lowered her hand, emitting a soft whine from the rover’s tilting dive planes. The rover’s nose dipped sharply into the blackness of the Mariana Trench.

  Lucinda pressed her fist against the crossed electromagnetic straps on her chest, causing them to tighten. She rested her head against the chair’s plasma cushion, her gray eyes staring at the blurred sea creatures flowing past the rover’s viewing screen. Only ten minutes had elapsed since their launch from the platform’s airlock, but the surface light was almost gone. She took a calming breath and looked at Kenney. “How long to the collectors?”

  “Twenty-four minutes unless we catch a thermal upsurge.” Kenney glared at the darkening water. “We’re in dangerous water, 0021.”

  Lucinda stared at the blackness.

  Kenney pushed back from the instrument panel. “So what’s this magical test?”

  Lucinda reached into her pack and lifted out a small black tube. “I’ve modified one of your spectrometers to measure the algae’s nuclear cell density.”

  Kenney eyed the spectrometer. “Density?”

  “I strongly suspect my sample will disclose a higher density than your lab samples.”

  Kenney stared at her. “I don’t understand. Our instruments are the finest.”

  Lucinda rested the spectrometer on her lap. “It’s not your instruments. It’s your samples.”

  “Our?”

  “You said your lab samples are taken from algae collected in the undersea vault.”

  Kenney nodded impatiently.

  “And that the initial enhancement occurs there?”

  “Get to it, 0021.”

  “If my test finds the seabed algae’s nuclear cell density normal, it will mean the untreated algae is not depleted, but is instead quite abundant.” She looked at the stunned project director. “It will mean something is corrupting the algae in the undersea collection vault.” She hesitated. “I believe your additive is Enhancement X.”

  Lucinda awaited a challenge, but there was none. She stared at the blackness rushing against the screen. “We need to get close to a collection point. When we reach the bottom, we can follow one of the tentacles to its scoop.”

  Kenney’s face reddened. “The suction is too great. Anything within a hundred yard
s of the collection points will be dragged into the tentacle’s strainers and ripped apart.”

  “A hundred yards should be sufficient.”

  Kenney fought a rush of anger while turning her attention to the red digits flashing on the instrument panel. “We’re three miles down. We should reach the seabed in twenty-one minutes. Then another five to reach the collection zone.” She stared at the dark water. “The pressure is incredible on the other side of our hull.” Her black eyes flickered. “I warn you, 0021, if I detect the slightest anomaly, we’re going up.”

  “But the test?”

  “The hell with your test. If I had known your intent, we could have attached your jury-rigged spectrometer to one of our deep-sea drones and let the robot do the dirty work. No need risking our lives for a cell density reading.”

  Lucinda stared at her. “You’re aborting the dive?”

  Kenney shook her head. “We’ve gone this far. Might as well go all the way.”

  Lucinda felt a chill. She dropped back in her seat, her gray eyes gazing at the screen.

  Kenney placed her hand over a throbbing blue light. “Let’s have a look at our destination.” She lowered her hand, her eyes focused on the screen. The blackness morphed to a phosphorescent hologram of the approaching seabed. The flashing red digits above it indicated they had dropped four miles. The small cockpit hissed from a sudden rush of air.

  “I’m increasing our internal pressure to compensate for the crushing depth. It’s going to be uncomfortable from now on.”

  Lucinda wasn’t listening. She stared at the faint glow coming from the seabed while reflecting on Kenney’s words.

  We’ve gone this far. Might as well go all the way.

  “Are you ill, 0021?”

  Lucinda shook her head.

  “If you become ill, please use the plasma vomit bag under your seat. Last thing we need is human stench seven miles deep.”

  Lucinda eyed the scrolling digits. “Over four miles.”

  “Yes, and close enough to scan the bottom.” Kenney placed her finger on a violet disk and rotated it. “Full magnification, 0021. See anything?”

  Lucinda peered at the small object in the ooze.

  “I believe that is a Consortium stealth sub.”