“That doesn’t mean I won’t resort to it.”
She fired six shots into the wall, close enough to each man for them to feel the slugs pass by their hair. To a man they flinched and her augmented sense of smell picked up the acidic scent of urine.
“I don’t know where he went, but I know what he has planned,” one of the men said to sidelong glares from his comrades. “He’s going to set off an MDC and disintegrate the Intrepid.”
“Try again,” Tanis said. “There’s no evidence of an MDC on the ring.”
“That’s because you weren’t looking in the right place. The MDC is built into the network matrix for this portion of the ring. When the ship makes its hookups, the system will send the pulse through the network.”
Tanis waited until Angela mentally confirmed that it was technically possible to pull that off.
“Thank you for the info,” Tanis said. “Now, I want you all to lie down on your stomachs with your hands behind your heads. Anyone tries something funny and I’ll put lead into you. I’ve got— Tanis felt the weight of the pistol—“seven shots left. Who thinks I’ll still have one left over if I decide to take you out?”
<They’re not made of lead anymore, you know,> Angela said.
<Yeah, I had been made aware of that.>
<Sorry, was just trying to break the tension. You scare the crap out of me sometimes…if I had crap to scare, that is.> Tanis didn’t have to hold the men long. Angela had alerted the TSF and ChoSec the moment she had connectivity. Within minutes they had arrived. Tanis passed recordings of the event to each group and let them work out jurisdiction and custody while she slipped out of the room, querying the 701st engineering company for the location of the closest network node to the dock and requesting their best platoon on the double.
One hour and twenty-seven minutes.
A very large part of her wanted to go after Strang. She was tempted to tell Angela to start accessing visual feeds and track the man, but that wasn’t the priority. Nowhere he could run would be far enough. Tanis didn’t think he would hide at any rate. His type would get behind a wall of corporate lawyers as soon as possible.
No, Arlen Strang could wait.
<And he really isn’t that important,> Angela said.
<I wouldn’t say that.>
<All that matters is to save the Intrepid. If we can get outsystem then all of this gets left behind.> A barrage of queries was coming in from TSF command on Callisto, as well as requests from ChoSec to return to the scene for more statements. Tanis shunted them all to her message queue, keeping an eye out for any message from the 701 engineers.
She was nearing the network node that Angela had marked off as the closest to the Intrepid’s berth when General Grissom, the Callisto TSF division commander, used an override to break past her queue.
<Major Richards. I need you to come in for a debriefing immediately.> He didn’t sound happy, though in her experience generals rarely did. It was almost as though there was a special breed of dour human specially created to be generals.
<Sir, I must insist that we do that later, I have a clear and present threat to this ring and the Intrepid.> Tanis couldn’t believe that they wanted to debrief her when there was the MDC to deal with. She brought up her preliminary report. <I sent this in to command three minutes ago, it outlines the danger we’re facing.> <We have no solid evidence of an MDC. Even if it is there, the engineers you called in can handle it. We have questions we need to ask you about Strang.> <It’s all in the full sensory recording, sir. I really should be at the network node. It’s impossible to know what they could find. A billion lives are in the balance—I have to believe that’s more important than anything to do with Strang.> <Major Richards, report to the DCP now! That’s an order!>
Tanis bit her lip in frustration—stopping when she tasted blood. <Yes, sir, I’m on my way, sir> Grissom broke the contact with Tanis and she kept moving toward the network node.
<I take it we’re going to ignore Grissom.>
<We are—sorry for dragging you into this; we’re probably both going to get in trouble…a lot of trouble.> <Tanis, I’m always prepared for you to get us in trouble. If it worried me I wouldn’t still be with you.> Angela’s astringent words didn’t hide the sentiment Tanis knew she felt. <That may be the nicest thing that anyone ever said to me.> <Then you need to be nice to more people. You’d stand a better chance of people being nice back if you were more so.> <Yeesh, you can sure turn a ‘thank you’ back on me, can’t you?>
<Comes from years of being in your mind. We AI are very susceptible to your mental influences, you know.> Tanis decided that she wasn’t going to be drawn further into the discussion and focused on moving through the crowded corridors of the ring. Eventually they made it through the commercial district into a more sparsely populated systems control section. The sleek corridor walls gave way to rows of conduit containing both electronics and bio support liquids.
A few workers cast glances her way as she bolted past them. It probably wasn’t often that a TSF officer, more specifically, a TSF officer with a uniform full of burn holes, ran past them at top speed.
<It also could be that your top speed is over thirty kilometers per hour,> Angela interjected into Tanis’s thoughts. <I doubt they are spending much time looking at your uniform and probably more just making sure you don’t smash into them.> Tanis’s mental avatar stuck its tongue out at Angela. <Don’t you have other things to do than listen in on my inner monologue?> <I’m pretty good at multitasking, you know.>
Tanis rounded the final bend between her and the network node and saw that the engineers hadn’t arrived yet. The entrance looked like any other door off the service corridor, but behind it would be a marvel of man’s technological achievements. Angela exchanged tokens with the ring’s security AI and was denied access.
<Sweet fuck, what now?>
<He says that our access has been revoked; we’re wanted by ChoSec and the CIA.>
<Hold him off,> Tanis said to Angela, before establishing a Link to Trist. <Trist, I’ve got a sec AI named…> <Blair,> Angela supplied.
<That’s telling us we’re persona non grata. Any tacks you suggest we take?>
Trist’s mental chuckle was a welcome sound. <I’ve had a few run-ins with him in the past. He thinks he’s hot shit, but I can get past him. What are you trying to access?> <Node BX7.>
<No problem, give me…done.>
The doors slid open in front of Tanis and she stepped into the node.
<We gonna have ChoSec down on us?>
<I’ve got them taken care of. As far as ring security is concerned you’ve gone elsewhere—a maglev station antispin to be precise.> <How come you never let on you could hack this fast?>
<Well, this ring is so full of other hackers’ hooks that all I have to do is slip them some credit and they give me time on their SPNs. Speaking of which, this is going to wipe out that discretionary fund you set up for me in under one hour.> <I’m sending you an update. Let’s just hope we’re still here in an hour.>
One hour and nineteen minutes.
Tanis’s attention shifted to the view in front of her. She stood on a catwalk that ran around a large cubic space, roughly eighty meters along each side. The catwalk ran around the edge of the cube, roughly twenty meters from the floor. There were other walkways at the forty and sixty meter marks, each with a shimmering ES shield around it to shelter it from the three degrees kelvin temperatures that the node operated in. On each of the six sides of the cubic room, massive conduits breached the spaces between catwalks containing fiber-optic, plasma, and waveguide energy data transportation systems.
The conduit converged on an object that was difficult for the eye to perceive. It was essentially a massive structure housing several crystalline matrixes of super-dense silicon. The array contained some of the most impressive information-sorting and throughput technology in the Sol system.
The processing power of the Callisto nodes was well known to be immense. As
humanity’s largest habitat, Callisto had more internal communication than every other habitation and planet in the Sol system put together. The hub in front of Tanis could conceivably handle all of the network traffic on Mars 1 and have bandwidth to spare.
Angela was deploying probes through the ES field and assembling a full picture of the node to determine if anything looked amiss. Tanis pulled a wad of formation material out of her pocket and set it on the railing, deploying nano to begin turning it into a multi-interface holo projector.
<See, I am actually capable of controlling my own nano,> Tanis said.
<May the wonders never cease.> Angela’s remark was acerbic as usual.
The holo projector was completed and Angela linked her nanoprobes to it before slaving their controls to the projector’s interface. The arrangement would allow the engineers control of the system once they arrived.
<So is anything standing out yet?> Tanis asked.
<Well, by my way of understanding, an MDC takes a lot of power, and at least several meters worth of equipment. In this thing that’s like a needle in a haystack.> <Especially considering that if they have it in multiple nodes they may have figured out a way to break it up into smaller components.> Angela fed several proposed component dimensions onto the holo. <A possibility that has given me more than a little consternation. It could look like any of these, or none of them. I’m not even sure how you could send a decoupling pulse through a network…it needs to have an emitter of some sort to create the targeted waveforms, or beam, or field.> <I get the picture.>
Tanis pondered that, bringing up documentation on everything that was known about MDCs. They were initially conceived of in the twenty-first century, but at that point the technology to create one was only nebulously imagined. In the thirty-second century several scientists discovered that by altering the emitter from a ramscoop they could break apart certain bonds and make asteroid mining easier. At some later point several governments had begun weaponizing the technology, working out methods to have a single carrier wave contain other wavelengths specifically targeted at molecular structures. While an MDC couldn’t do something like take apart an entire planet, it could certainly break apart smaller bodies into their base elements.
Further perusal yielded formulas for how much energy it would take to generate either the targeted beam, general wave, or field effects that could break apart the Intrepid. The numbers were large, but well within the energy available to the network nodes.
Tanis loaded all of the information into the holo projector, which swelled to encapsulate the new data and the ever-enhancing view of the node that Angela’s nano were providing.
The sound of the doors sliding open heralded the entrance of the engineers. Tanis turned to address Lieutenant Simon, their CO.
“Glad to have you folks here. We’ve got credible intel indicating an MDC is in this and probably the other three network nodes here on the ring. We’ve got some preliminary data up, but so far nothing is standing out to us as anomalous.”
Simon eyed the holo projector. “Nice work, sir. You’ve saved us valuable time with this.” He walked to the railing, looking out into the node as he said this. A sidelong glance betrayed an uncertainty his voice did not. “How sure are you there is a molecular decoupler in these nodes? I’m not certain if you’re aware that such a charge could take a healthy portion of this ring with it—potentially the whole Cho if a runaway scenario were to occur.”
“All too aware, Lieutenant. I know there is some threat against the Intrepid, and so far this is our best lead. The thing I can’t wrap my mind around is how the pulse could be sent through the network.”
The engineers were setting up more equipment around them and one, a corporal, spoke up. “If I may, sir.”
Tanis nodded and he continued. “I wouldn’t actually deliver the pulse from the nodes as much as the raw energy from them. There is a significant flow of energy brought in via ionized plasma. If one were to well, enhance that energy, and direct it from each node through various conduits, you could have a relatively small device, comparatively speaking, emit the wave from elsewhere.”
“So this could even be software,” Tanis said.
“Yes, sir. That’s how I’d do it.”
Tanis pondered this as she stepped back and let the engineers do their work. Long minutes passed before one of the women bent over a series of holo interfaces called out. “I’ve found something. It looks like this node has a persistent connection to the dock the Intrepid is berthing at.”
“With the amount of network traffic going to that dock, that doesn’t seem unlikely,” Tanis said.
“Aye, sir, but this is a secondary connection. From what I can tell, each of the nodes has a similar connection.”
“Can you trace the end device?” Lieutenant Simon asked.
“Trying to, it’s pretty nebulous. It just seems to arrive at the dock, connect to the main routers there and then dissipate.”
“Either way you’re saying that there is something actually on the dock, right?” Tanis asked.
“Everything points in that direction,” Lieutenant Simon said.
“Then I’m heading out. You folks stay here and see if you can find a way to sever that connection.”
“Yes, sir.” Simon saluted. “Good luck.”
“I’ll stay connected to your net. Keep me abreast of any updates.”
The lieutenant nodded as he turned back to the main holo and the data that was being brought up on the anomalous connection.
Fifty-seven minutes.
CHAPTER 31
STELLAR DATE: 3227347 / 01.29.4124 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: District C9Y, Ring 19C, Callisto Orbital Habitat (Cho)
REGION: Jovian Combine, Sol Space Federation
Tanis sprinted through the corridors, taking the fastest route to the docks that also kept her from running into the large shift-change crowds currently flooding the main thoroughfares.
After several a-spin tubes and a short maglev train ride she arrived at the dock. Several TSF Regulars guarded the entrance, passing all comers through a thorough Auth & Auth check.
<We going to have trouble here?> Tanis asked Angela.
<Are you kidding? I oversaw these Auth & Auths being set up. Oh, you mean the humans, then yes.> Upon seeing her, the soldiers tensed and their squad leader, a Sergeant Weston, stepped forward.
“Uh sir, Major Richards. We’ve been ordered to take you into custody should you show up here.” He was clearly nervous, but his hand was on his sidearm, a certain indication that the sergeant would do his duty.
“Sergeant, there was a mixup. ChoSec tried to get me pulled in and passed off a series of commands as though they came from Grissom.”
The sergeant cast her an appraising look. “I don’t know about that, sir.”
“Look.” Tanis stepped up to the Auth & Auth, which proceeded to approve her access to the docks. “Would the system let me pass if I were flagged? Not even an alert attached to me on the approval display.”
Weston scratched his head. “Well, those Cho guys do like to throw their weight around…”
“You know it, Sergeant. Glad to see you’re with the TSF on this. I’ll be sure to mention it in my report.”
Tanis walked past the soldiers and onto the dock. Behind her she heard Sergeant Weston start to say something and then stop.
<He’s calling it in, isn’t he?> Tanis asked.
<I imagine you’d be long dead.>
<You’re so uplifting.>
Tanis was surveying the dock when a voice spoke from beside her. “So, what’s the plan, Major?”
Tanis turned to see Trist standing beside her and smiled. “Thanks for the help back at the node. How did you get them off my back anyway?”
“Well, as far as they know, you got into a firefight and ducked into a maglev that derailed on an external part of its track. It’s going t
o take over thirty minutes to get to you.”
“I’m doing all that right now, am I?” Tanis cocked an eyebrow at Trist.
“Yeah, and your life signs show you as unconscious with a damaged Link node.”
“That’s really unfortunate for me.”
“I thought so.”
“I have to say, you’re pretty good at this.”
“I’ve been told.”
“So what do you make of this?” Tanis asked. “Think there’s really some sort of MDC emitter here?”
“Could be, there’s enough crap to hide it in.”
“What’s the most likely culprit?”
“I’m guessing something in line of sight with the main cargo hatch.”
“Well, we’ve got one/two and two/three on the dock doing final inspections. We can get them to help.”
“The more the merrier.” Trist smiled.
A few dock workers, cargo handlers, and of course the people setting up the stage for the post-docking ceremonies could be seen. Tanis decided that for now she would let them continue their work, no need to cause a panic. It wouldn’t take long for word of something like this to race across the Cho.
She called the two fireteams to her position and when they arrived updated them on the current situation.
“Marines, we’ve got a problem,” Tanis began.
“When don’t we?” Perez said under his breath.
Sergeant Kowalski shot the private a look to shut him up. Tanis found herself wondering why his superiors even bothered.
“We have credible intel regarding an MDC on the ring, and it’s here on this deck. We’ve got to find it before the Intrepid is in range.”
“Sir, wouldn’t something like that be rather large and…well…really noticeable?” Dvorak asked.
<Normally, yes,> Angela said on the tactical net. <But they’ve used the power of the ring’s NNs to form the energy stream—we think. The 701 thinks that they’re probably using the plasma streams.> “Damn, that means it could be a lot smaller,” Dvorak said.