Merkiaari Wars: 03 - Operation Oracle Read online

  Two high velocity targets blinked into existence on his display appended with their designations. They were Grafton’s dropships. Both ships hammered into the upper atmosphere in formation. They performed the evolution as if this were just another combat drop. The fiery entry into the atmosphere was a thrilling sight on the big screen set up for the civs to watch.

  The dropships came in hot, but aborted the usual finale—the high speed landing—by roaring over the base, the sonic booms of their passage a salute to the audience. They separated and circled back, slowing to a gentle landing ready to offload their precious cargo.

  Ramps came down and a few moments later the cryo units appeared in column floating on their grav cradles. Two columns, one from each dropship, proceeded toward the tech centre escorted and controlled by a score of medical personnel walking in step beside them. Almost four hundred cryo units entered the building, while the regiment watched holding their salutes to the wounded and the fallen.

  Burgton’s thoughts were far away, seeing all the other times this scene had played out for him. He had seen the like so many times. Faces and numbers changed, but the situation never did. Of these four hundred, less than hundred units would return to duty. It might take weeks or months, but they would rejoin 1st Batt. The others were true dead. Their databases, their logs, and everything they were would be uploaded to the archives kept safe under the mountain. Their memories and experiences would never truly be lost, but still he mourned them. How many more names would he add to the thousands already inscribed on the regiment’s memorials before his own name joined them?

  The civilian audience stood in silent respect as the cryo units entered the tech centre. The regiment ended their salute when the last unit was swallowed up and the dropships launched to go back to Grafton. Burgton dropped his hand and turned to dismiss his men. He nodded to his exec.

  Colonel Flowers saluted and in his best parade ground voice roared. “Regiment! Disssss-miss!” His order was taken up and repeated by his subordinates.

  “Battalion...”

  “Company...”

  “...Disssss-miss!” the orders echoed into silence.

  Burgton watched his men pivot right face, stamping the ground in unison, and the sound hammered the air. With that last manoeuvre accomplished, the ceremony was over. Formations broke apart and murmured conversations filled the previous silence. Burgton moved toward Gina who had stuck with her charges. The Shan were watching everything with interest and she was chattering away with them in their own tongue. Burgton caught a few things. She was telling them about the base, where things were and what each of the buildings were used for.

  “Welcome to Petruso Base and Snakeholme,” Burgton said to the group as he approached. “I’m sure you’ve noticed the gravity here is greater than you’re used to. It will take a few days... cycles for you to become accustomed. Please be careful and take that time to learn your way about the base. I’m going to ask Gina here to show you around and look after you.”

  “Just standing here is tiring,” Shima agreed. “I feel very heavy.”

  Chailen and Sharn murmured similar things. Varya was watching the vipers milling around and didn’t comment. Kazim filmed everything, but he was listening. His ears were canted toward them.

  “Gravity is 1.29g Earth normal,” Gina explained. “That’s roughly 1.35 times Harmony’s gravity. You’re a third heavier here, Shima. You’ll get used to it, but until you do, I want you to be careful. Especially on stairs. We have no spiral ways as you’re used to.”

  Shan used ramps instead of stairs, it was something to do with their physiology, but they could climb. Stairs would not be impossible for them, just uncomfortable. Maybe they would just go to all fours. Burgton wondered in the decades ahead whether Human architecture would take Shan comfort into account. Would new buildings have elevators, stairs, and spiral ways incorporated into them? Stairs might become extinct in favour of spiral ways. They worked for both species equally well after all. Snakeholme would be the first Alliance planet to need them, he realised, and other things too. He needed to discuss that with his department heads. Even things like signs would need to be dual language... or would they? Would it be better to encourage the Shan to learn English? He frowned uncertainly. He shook his head, time for that later.

  “Gina, I’m allocating some of our spare officer housing to our guests. I believe the services are all in good order, but you’ll need to draw on stores for furnishings.”

  “With your permission, sir, I’ll have a couple of my men start on that now.”

  Burgton nodded, and Gina took a moment to contact her people via viper comm. While she did that, Burgton was thinking ahead to the work that had no doubt piled up on his desk while he was away. There were some projects running that he was very interested in, and one in particular was on his mind. He needed to talk with Liz, soonest. Liz Brenchley was head of industry, an extremely important position. Her department controlled Snakeholme’s industrial complex including its single weapon’s factory and the necessary smelters in orbit. Unlike some of his department heads, she was more than an able administrator. Liz was a very capable engineer and design theorist in her own right. He relied upon her expertise, especially for that certain project. He was eager to learn how far along with it she was.

  Yes indeed, he needed to catch up on things here on Snakeholme, but 1st Battalion needed urgent attention also. He was reluctant to undo the splendid work Colonel Stanbridge had done building 2nd Battalion. He didn’t want to rebuild 1st Batt by taking units from 2nd. Those vipers were a cohesive unit now, and they valued their identity. That meant he needed to send Stanbridge on another recruitment drive, and soon. He could foresee meetings, meetings, and more meetings over the coming days.

  “I have a squad heading over there now,” Gina was saying in Shan, and Burgton brought his attention back to her. “If you’re ready, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying, and then we can get something to eat. After that, I’ll arrange a tour.”

  Burgton nodded his approval and made another decision. Gina would oversee Shima’s welfare before, during, and after her treatment. In fact, he would make the entire Shan operation hers for now. She would need to help Kazim and Varya explore Snakeholme and pick a likely spot for a colony. That would require her to ferry them around by shuttle and protect them in the wilds. The Ranger and Forestry Commission had enough to do keeping the wildlife under control near the cities. Gina and one or two of her friends could handle protection of the Shan while they explored.

  “Well then,” Burgton said. “Take the next few days to settle in. Gina will look after your needs and then we’ll get to the real work of fixing your eyes, Shima.

  “Varya, I’m sure you and Kazim are eager to explore, but please don’t go off alone. I know you’re both capable hunters,” he said. All Shan were, even Kazim was, though his peers would laugh to hear that. “But the wildlife is different to what you’re used to. If you give us a little time to get settled back in, I promise to send you with Gina and some of her people to explore as much as you want. Understood?”

  Varya flicked his ears in assent. “More than fair, General. Kazim and I will spend the time in study. If we might be given access to maps and information on this planet’s ecosystem?”

  “See to that would you?” Burgton said and Gina nodded. “Anything else?”

  Sharn stepped forward. “Chailen and I would very much like to be involved with Shima’s treatment. Anything we can learn about the process would be a great benefit to my people.”

  Burgton nodded. “I’ll make certain medical allows you access. I believe a lot of our medical knowledge would belong to your caste of scientists and engineers rather than your healer caste, Sharn. The Alliance uses nanotech a great deal, and my vipers were created using it. I’m not sure how much will make sense to you.”

  Sharn flicked his ears in agreement. “Nanotech has been discussed within the castes since knowledge of it became known. I believe its man
ufacture and many of its uses will be in the province of science and engineering, but medical applications and the programming required for that will be healer caste.”

  That made perfect sense to him. Burgton nodded and said, “A lot of data on nanotech is openly available in the Alliance. Gina will get you set up on our Infonet so you can access it. You’ll understand that certain military uses are restricted. You won’t have the access required for those.”

  Sharn flicked his ears. “There are plenty of things at home restricted to caste and rank. No need to explain.”

  “Good. I’ll leave you in Gina’s capable hands then,” Burgton said and headed for his office. He really needed to get started on his backlog of work.

  General Burgton’s office, Petruso Base

  It took a week of meetings for Burgton to feel on top of things within the regiment, and able to turn his attention outward to Snakeholme and future projects. Rather than send Colonel Stanbridge to Alliance HQ and another round of recruit testing, he finally decided to send his exec, Colonel Flowers. Dan Flowers had done a fine job when he recruited the men and women who later became 1st Battalion. He was the perfect choice to recruit more people to repair his creation.

  As before, Lieutenant Hymas and Sergeant Rutledge joined Flowers’ team, but Stone stayed behind this time. Stone was the closest thing the regiment had to an Intel officer despite his rank of Master Sergeant and they had been away a long time. He needed Stone to tap his contacts and get up to date intelligence on what was happening within the Alliance. Flowers took a solid team with him; he wouldn’t miss Stone too much.

  His plan to reconstruct the regiment was progressing and the President was still solidly behind him on that. The Shan were safe for now, and the Alliance was on a war footing at last. The only thing better would be news that the Merkiaari had all surrendered in a fit of madness. The Council might even be scared enough to contemplate offensive ops, a recon in force to evaluate the Merki. Might. It would be a ballsy but sensible move, not something the Council was renowned for. Frankly, he doubted they would authorize it, but he’d been wrong before. Whatever the future might bring, his own world was improving. The regiment would be strong again. That was all that mattered at this moment in time. All his other plans relied upon that.

  A knock sounded upon his door.

  “Come!” Burgton said looking up from the latest report he had been reading.

  His new adjutant, PFC Raphael Robshaw, stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

  With more units now online, Burgton had decided it was permissible for him to tap one of them to help him in the office here. Normally Dan Flowers, his exec, would be here and performing that task, but with him on the way to Alliance HQ, Burgton had decided to start rotating units through various admin positions to help take the load off his officer’s shoulders. It would also give the new units experience in something other than combat. That was how the regiment should be run and how it had been run before the Council betrayed him and prevented him recruiting back to full strength. Hopefully, the new people would learn something, and give him a bigger pool of competent people to draw upon at need. Stone’s idea of a proper Intel Section was much on his mind. They had never had intel weenies of their own, but they needed something like them among other things. It was probably time to reorganise and promote his oldest veterans into full time staff positions rather than using his current ad-hoc method of using whomever was handy at the time. He didn’t think Stone would like it much, but they all had to make sacrifices. He had been a master sergeant for most of his career and preferred it, but it was time he moved up.

  “Sir?” PFC Robshaw said.

  Burgton shook off his preoccupation. “Sorry, Raph, I was day dreaming. You need something?”

  “Mrs Brenchley is here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

  Burgton waved that off. “For future reference, she has an open invitation. Make a note, Raph, that all my department heads have access to me at any hour, but Liz has priority. She is working on a few special projects.”

  “Understood, sir,” Robshaw said and left the room to invite her in.

  Liz Brenchley, Snakeholme’s head of industry, stepped inside a moment later and closed the door.

  Burgton rounded his desk to greet her. “Liz, this is a surprise.”

  Liz nodded and shook his hand before taking a seat. Burgton sat behind his desk and clasped his hands upon it. She was looking well, he thought, especially as she had been in her current position for over sixty years. It was a stressful job he’d given her, but she had taken over from her predecessor without complaint and he had never regretted that. Tasked with building a self-sufficient and robust industrial infrastructure for an entire planet, she had come through despite the handicap of having to use only local resources to maintain security.

  Liz was as much responsible for Snakeholme’s success as the regiment was. She was over a hundred now, well into her middle years, but she still looked good. No sign she planned to quit any time soon, and he was glad. He didn’t know who would or could replace her. Her deputy could handle the day to day, but no one else had her vision.

  Liz sat quietly before him, her brown eyes hard and locked upon his. She wore a light grey business suit, her jacket unbuttoned to reveal a white shirt open at the neck revealing a man’s gold wedding band strung on a thin gold chain. Her husband had died in a shuttle accident more than twenty years ago, and she had carried that ring with her ever since. She had never remarried.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure,” Burgton said, starting to feel just a touch uneasy. Liz was unusually quiet. “You didn’t call ahead.”

  “I had to do this in person, George. I wouldn’t feel right otherwise.”

  “Ah?”

  She nodded and took a breath, her eyes looking bleak. “I’ve failed,” she said bitterly and Burgton stiffened. “I promised you I could do it, I really believed I could, but... I can’t. It didn’t bloody work!”

  Burgton winced at the volume as well as the bitterness. “Oracle?”

  “It’s dead. Project Oracle is a failure, complete and utter.”

  “Surely not complete. The facility—”

  Liz chopped the air with a hand to silence him, and Burgton felt the first flickers of anger at her attitude. He wasn’t one of her subordinates! He held his temper, reasoning that she wasn’t used to setbacks like this.

  “... amounts to just another hole under the mountain. You don’t need me to build yet another empty bunker! You gave me a task to perform, and I’ve failed you damn it!”

  “That’s enough,” he said keeping his voice calm and cold. “You haven’t failed until I say you have.”

  “But!”

  “Quiet,” he said softly.

  Liz closed her mouth and swallowed whatever she was about to say.

  “Projects like this are a gamble; we both knew the odds when we started. The facility is complete?”

  “Yes, but it doesn’t work!”

  “So you said. Explain to me what the problem is, and we’ll decide what to do about it.”

  Liz clenched a fist. “There’s nothing to decide. I’ve hit the wall, the same wall the original researchers failed to breach.”

  The wall she was referring to was metaphorical, but a severe impediment to their success. Liz had told him that centuries of advancement in computer technology coupled with nanotechnology and twenty-twenty hindsight, would allow her to succeed in something that had ended in failure almost five centuries ago. Back then, the creation of the first true A.I had been a goal of scientists who spent entire lifetimes trying to realise it. Failure upon failure had led them to believe the task impossible, and they called that point of failure, the wall. It was the point where the hardware of the time reached its limits; theories remained unproven not because they were wrong, but because the technology was lacking. Then, out of the blue came success. The breakthrough that remained unexplained to this day.

  Liz had r
esearched and studied everything she could get her hands on regarding the A.Is and their destruction during the Hacker Rebellion. She was the only expert Burgton had. She knew everything there was to know about the subject, from the first tentative experiments on Earth, to the breakthrough that saw the very first A.I created. The problem was that every attempt to duplicate the breakthrough had failed. It was known as the greatest anomaly in the history of science—an experiment that succeeded but could not be reproduced in the laboratory.

  Project Oracle was Liz’s effort to reproduce the anomaly here on Snakeholme using cutting edge tech and centuries of learned discussion and theorising to bolster her own theories.

  Looked at from Burgton’s laymen’s standpoint, it should have been easy to create his very own A.I. After all, what had been built once could be built again right?

  Wrong.

  A.I hardware could be built and had been many times over the centuries. Liz had succeeded in that despite the ban. It was the mind that should inhabit the hardware that failed. The software simply failed to wake into full cognitive awareness.

  “Have you any other ideas?” Burgton said. “The software was exact?”

  Liz sighed and nodded. “Down to the very last byte of data, I swear it’s identical to the historical record. It should have worked as it did back then.”

  Burgton smiled. “You realise that you’re parroting the thousands of scientists through history who studied the breakthrough?”

  “Of course I do, George. It doesn’t make it easier.”

  “No, I suppose not. Shame we can’t ask the A.Is themselves.”

  “Hmmm,” Liz frowned in thought. “I bet they know the answer. Something happened back then you know. Something unplanned, something unnoticed and random. Something undocumented. An error entered at a keyboard by a programmer maybe, or a random power surge scrambled something, queered the matrix at a key point... something!” Liz sighed. “Something so random that we can’t duplicate it.”