Einstein Must Die! (Fate of Nations Book 1) (8 page)

“Amazing,” whispered Tesla, walking around the huge tank. He was tempted to run his hand over the burnished hull, but kept his hands close. “So much ability in one device.”

“Uh-huh,” agreed Savannah. “But the real magic is under here,” she said, walking under the massive machine. Tesla followed her between the treads, astonished that he didn’t have to stoop to fit under it.

She pointed overhead to an access hatch, which hung open. He stood below it and looked up. He saw an open space, large enough for a small car. Secured within it, a metal cube hung in the space, connected to the tank by a flurry of hoses and cables.

“Autonomous,” she said. “That cube houses a mechanical brain. Hollerith’s team upstairs designed it.”

Tesla searched her face, certain she was joking. “This machine has no crew?” The idea frightened and excited him. Such a machine without proper control would be a nightmare. But with the right guidance, it could be put to glorious use. He instantly imagined a world where war no longer ground men into the dust.

“I know that look,” she said. “You see the potential, don’t you?”

“Why yes, of course! Technology is the best tool we have for improving man’s lot. Though I haven’t invented weapons before. At least, not on purpose,” he added, remembering the debacle at the Academy.

“I know. And while you’d be free to pursue such things here, we really are interested in one invention in particular.”

“My mechanical brain? But you already have—”

“It doesn’t work. At least, not the way we need it to. Sure, it can handle fire control and navigation. If we give it a target, it can shoot it. Put it on a navigation course, and it will get back home just fine. But it can’t fight effectively. In a simulated battle, it just can’t process the variables quickly enough to react the way a person would.”

“I see,” he replied, stroking his cheek. “But my device is hardly superior. It can be trained to recognize items, yes, but—”

“I know. Here’s where that unbridled creativity comes in.”

Tesla’s brows furrowed, wondering where this discussion was about to go.

Savannah paused and took a breath. “We want you to expand your design. Radically. To the point that an actual human mind can be placed within the computer.”

Tesla cocked his head, waiting for her to laugh, and ask forgiveness at teasing him. But she didn’t laugh. If anything, her silent questioning look implored Tesla to respond positively.

“My design is patterned after the neural network of the human brain, yes. But my invention has two hundred and fifty-six connections. A real brain has billions. It’s just not possible.”

Savannah held up both hands. “I know, it sounds impossible. Maybe it is. But this project is dead in the water without a breakthrough. Hollerith is a genius, but he couldn’t do it. I’m thinking if anyone can, it’s you. Am I mistaken?”

Tesla laughed nervously. He had expected military interest in his wireless communications, or his work with oscillating vibrations, but this was madness.

Seeing the thoughts in his face, Savannah tried another tack.

“Just… think about it. Let’s have coffee in the morning. The Empress at nine. You’ve seen the resources we have here. Someday, someone will figure it out. I’d just as soon that person be you.”

Tesla bit the inside of his lip and stole another look up into Beowulf’s brain housing.
 

The dark metal cube had no advice for him.

DEBATE

A DEBATE WITH PIGEONS

Tesla enjoyed two things above all else. One was the thrill that raced through his heart when he saw some creation of his brain unfolding to success. The other was feeding, and spending time with, pigeons.

The whirlwind morning and the sights he’d witnessed, not to mention the impossible task asked of him, had set his mind spinning.
 

Savannah had returned him to the city, but he found the walls of his room confining and claustrophobic. He quickly ran outside and went straight to Central Park.
 

He found an empty bench and pulled an old loaf of bread from his jacket pocket. The birds immediately congregated around him, but their demands were singular and easily satisfied. He pinched off chunks of stale bread for them and tossed the bits around, ensuring everyone got some of the meal.

In one day he’d gone from toiling in a ditch to witnessing the pinnacle of human inventiveness. He realized he was mostly right earlier. God may not be cruel, but He
did
have a sense of humor.

An attractive young couple walked by, holding hands. The man whispered in her ear, and she giggled, clutching his hand to her chest.

The thought of working for the military gave him deep pause, though. A pacifist by nature and by training, he hated war for its ability to derail human progress. When nations chose to fight, more was lost than men. Resources that could fuel new discoveries instead went to bullets and bandages. Time that could be spent investigating the universe was instead squandered on espionage, conflict, and empty political promises.

For a moment he thought he could change all that, but his father’s voice chastised him for such hubris. Man was a violent creature, and always would be.
 

Tesla agreed that violence was a potent ingredient in man’s makeup, but that didn’t mean it must dominate. After all, men had created the rule of law. It wasn’t always that way, but it was now. Progress was possible, even if maddeningly slow.

Perhaps technology had an important role to play on the military stage? If nations could settle their differences with machines rather than men, wouldn’t that be a vast improvement? And didn’t he have a moral duty to further that cause, if he could?

The pigeons were enjoying their meal, he could tell. They were single-minded creatures, and in that moment, he envied them their simplicity. No wrestling with moral dilemmas. Just enjoying their bread.

The work would be well paid, he was sure. He could repay Mrs. Harrison’s kindness with welcome cash. And the job would be a resounding response to Edison’s smear campaign against him. In a flash he would leapfrog over the engineering jobs he’d recently begged for.
 

But he would still be working for the government, and he had rarely known governments to act honorably. Individually, a country’s leaders were typically good men. But when brought together as a collective, moral accountability had a way of fading away, like morning fog under the sunrise.

The bread was almost gone. He tore it into three last pieces and offered it to the pigeons. They gulped the pieces down quickly, then idled about, content to keep him company even without enticement.

He shivered, realizing the late-afternoon air was turning cool, and pulled his jacket tighter around him. The weight of his options pressed upon him, and a small frown formed on his lips.

He ran a hand through his hair and saw a military man approaching him. Older, but walking with a deliberate grace. The man smiled as he neared, then called out.

“You seem a man with much on his mind.” The officer grew closer, and Tesla recognized the rank insignia of colonel.

Tesla stood. “And you must be Savannah’s father, the strategist.” He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets to avoid another handshake.

“That I am,” said the man. He seemed kindly, more grandfather than military officer. He noted Tesla’s reluctance to touch, and nodded his greeting instead. “I was told you come here to think. Sorry I didn’t catch you back in the Rabbit Hole. I imagine you have a lot to think about after your visit.”

Tesla drew a deep breath and released it. “A fair assessment,” he admitted. “To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel.”

Colonel Browning nodded sagely. “Something we have in common, as far as this venture is concerned.”

At Tesla’s questioning look, the colonel wrapped his arms around himself. “Getting cold. My bones could do with a shot of whiskey. Don’t suppose you know a good place?”

Tesla guessed this man already knew much about him, including where he liked to drink.
 

But the idea did have merit.

MAJOR THOMAS ARRIVES

Major Archibald Thomas lay in his rack, unable to sleep, staring at the small cabin’s ceiling. Thankfully, the wild heaving of the ship had calmed considerably as they neared land. The captain predicted landfall today, and the men were beyond restless. They’d been crammed together at a density the ship wasn’t designed for. He’d kept them as busy as he could, cleaning and repairing the ship alongside the captain’s crew, but they yearned for solid ground again, and he mirrored the sentiment.

The ship’s crew had taken the worst of the attack, but his army had lost seven men also. In the lower holds, the twenty horses had escaped any injury, and their supplies were completely intact. It could have been much worse, he mused.

He sat up and moved to the small desk built into the cabin’s bulkhead. Pulling out a US map, he rolled it out again, for the hundredth time this journey. They’d sail along the coastline, then slip behind Long Island. Moving the beef tallow candle closer, he found New Haven, Connecticut, and placed a finger on it, blotting it out.
 

Twelve miles north was Branford, a sleepy town of no note, but a perfect landing site to unload the men and supplies. He slid his finger up to it. A few hours to get everyone off and a few more for the gear. Then he’d finally be ready to march his men south and take New Haven. With a decent port city under control, reinforcements could arrive. They should be a few days behind him, so controlling the port was key.
 

Then once their strength grew, it would be Boston to fall next, with its deep water port, allowing a steady stream of heavier ships to dock. A perfect foothold in this treacherous country.

He heard shouting and cries of celebration from above. The happy mood spread through the ship, and he knew they must have arrived.

“Thank God,” he said.

STALKING THE ARTEMIS

ELSTREE, ENGLAND

Lucas led Morgan and Eliza through the Aerodrome base, working their way to the hangar that housed the airship HMS
Artemis
. Their uniforms were a perfect match, and no one had looked twice at them. Once past gate security, everyone assumed they were supposed to be there. They approached the massive hangar and found an entrance.