The Hundred Gram Mission (32 page)

"And sometimes pictures. They won't do video, they are shy. I'm not some pervert - we discuss Islam and the Quran. They very educated."

"They are bots," said Meng. "Recruitment bots. Extremists use them to lure in young men - and women."

"Please. I think I can tell a bot from a person, thank you."

"No," Meng shook his head. "You
can't
. No one can anymore. How did you find them?"

"And do you know anyone else who - talks to girls online?" asked Suyin. "These sorts of girls?"

"I don't know.  I have not heard or seen anything. We are good Moslems and -.
ah! 
What the?
You old bitch!
AH!
"

"Please," Meng looked away, "please stop slapping him."

Arzu held her hand like a biblical tablet, judgment ready. "Listen you selfie-taking, self-righteous,
shit
. You want to talk about the Quran?
You've
let snakes into this garden, into
my
garden. You're going to tell us everything you know, or I'm going to tear out your rib, and make something better than you.
A woman.
Do you understand?"

Tohti glared, his whole face red (some bits, redder).

"Oh yeah? You think you can take me?" The old lady beckoned, kung fu style. "Come at me Toh'."

"Maybe," Suyin stepped between them, "we should look at this a different way? If anyone you know - any friends - are being manipulated by bots, then we can be sure that whoever is running those bots has an agenda. One they can't be honest and open with, yes? Which means it can't be good for your friends, agreed?"

Tohti said nothing.

"Snotty preachy shit, not saying much now, eh?" Arzu peeked around Suyin, fists held up like a boxer's.

"Please don't slap him," said Meng.

"It's not a slap he's going to get."

"Do something about her!" Tohti yelled.

"We have no authority here," Meng shrugged. "And we're not police, anyway."

"Bitch,
I'm
the police!" Arzu raised her fists. "If you don't talk, a lot of angry men are going to come visit you and all your friends. Angry men who want their tea. So talk, Tohti. Either talk now, or talk later. I don't mind either way."

"There's - there's a few of us," he said at last. "We didn't do anything wrong. We
never
did anything wrong."

"Who? Who did you talk to?" asked Suyin.

"A
mujahid
. They're good people. They care about us, about all Moslems."

"You just spoke to just him? He's your contact?"

"Yes, his name is Amir."

"Has he asked your group to do anything?"

"Little things. Like showing support on social media, and starting our own message group. He showed us how the West and the Big Five spy on us. He taught us how to protect our privacy and stay anonymous."

"Has he had any other contact with you?"

"He sent us a card. A real, physical one. His daughter made it for us."

"Where is it?"

"At my friend's house. We have our meetings there."

"Can you take us there?"

As they began walking, Meng looked over to Arzu.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You look quite sad."

"I was hoping he'd talk later."

The edge of the village center.

It was back to rustic houses, though data/water lines poked through brickwork. Some goats were eating paper notices off a bulletin board. An old lady sat outside her house, watching her grandchildren playing. The youngest stopped and stared; Suyin smiled and waved at her. The child giggled and waved back furiously.

"That's the house," said Tohti pointing.

"Your friend normally leaves all the lights on?" asked Suyin.

"They must have had a late night."

"It's three in the afternoon."

"Pathetic!" grouched Arzu. "The laziness of young people!"

They reached the house and Tohti knocked on the door. He cocked his head and frowned.

"The
door
sounds different."

Tohti knocked again, harder. Then Meng did too.

"You're right, it's like it's made of plastic," he said.

"Are you okay in there?" Tohti yelled. "I've brought - some people."

"Something is wrong." said Suyin, her hand went to her pistol. "Tohti don't - "

Tohti shoulder-rammed the door, it broke like an eggshell and he fell right through. Inside it was dark, even with the lights on. Arzu stepped in and bent over the man, Meng ran his finger over the jagged door-shell. His hand came away with black, snot-thick, slime.

"What the hell is - "

"Colonel, don't come any closer," he held up his clean hand. Arzu and Tohti stood - they were covered in the black slime. "It's the same stuff we found in Yemen."

"Disgusting!" Arzu stepped out, wiping her hands on her apron. "Everything inside is covered with it, even the walls."

"What happened? What happened to my friends?" Slimed Tohti scratched his arm. Then he scratched it again, harder. Then his back. "It's burning!"

"Some sort of chemical?" Arzu rubbed her hands together. "It
does
burn."

"It's still active," said Meng. He shook his hand, "fuck, it hurts."

"Just stay there, I'll get you some medical attention," she pulled out her phone.

Tohti swore, and tore his shirt off. His back and chest was red, as if badly sun burned. On the floor, his shirt started to smoke.  He screamed and started clawing his face.

"Hey take it easy," said Meng. "Don't panic. Don't panic."

Smoke hissed from between his fingers. Tohti started screaming, his skin coming away on his hands. His eyeballs were bleeding.

"Don't - oh dear," then he started scratching his hand and arm. He drew blood came away under his nails. 

"Meng! You - "

"Go child, go!" Arzu hands left stains on her clothes. She started tearing blood. "
Run!
"

"I'm not leaving!" she yelled above Tohti's screaming. "I'm not leaving anyone!"

"You have to," Meng put his arm around Arzu, the old lady started coughing but didn't stop. "Just get as far away from us as you can."

"Meng what are you doing!"

"Can't talk.
Hurts
."

Wincing blood, he grabbed Arzu and stepped back into the dissolving house.

"Come back! What - Meng!"

The roof of the house collapsed in. A huge cloud of black mist rose up over it, and drifted towards the village center.

"Take us! Take us!"

Suyin looked back over her shoulder. Three men and a woman had cleared the burning barricade and entered the bay. They ran towards her, their skin and clothes dripping black slime.

"Stay back!" she stepped away from the docking hatch, aimed, fired. The floor sparked before the lead runner, and they stopped.

"You have to help us!" wailed the woman, her clothes were steaming. "Take us in your ship!"

"You're infected!"

One man started running again. The others followed.

"Stop!"

The first fell forward, blood spraying out his back. The second she shot through the throat. The third took three rounds before he went down. The woman grabbed at the gun as Suyin shot her in the face.

"Shit!" Suyin looked at the black slime smeared on her left hand. "Oh you
bitch!
"

Beyond the bay she heard an explosion. Through the windows, the air had turned to smog. Debris smacked off the glass, spider-webbing it.

Her left hand began stinging.

"Fuck this," she put down her gun, and tore a strip off her sleeve with her good hand.  "Fuck these people," she tied it skin-whitening tight, around her bad wrist. "And fuck this place!"

She picked up the pistol, pressed it into place, and shot her hand off.

"We have detached from E2
Glavnaya
," said the AI. "Shall I return us to Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center?
[lxvii]
Madam? Colonel Suyin Lee, shall I return us to Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center?"

"No," Suyin managed. "Can't go to Earth. Can't risk spreading it." she glanced at her stump, then grimaced and looked away. "Where are the nearest - the nearest nanotechnologists?"

"Colonel, do you mean what facility with someone of that specialization, we can reach the soonest? In two hours I can put us on a transfer orbit to Paul Dirac City. It also currently supports the most, off-world, registered members of the International Association of Nanotechnology. We would reach there in another six hours. Shall I plan the burn?"

"Oh God," she looked at her reflection in the canopy. Her face was pale and armored in sweat. "Oh God I even look like I feel."

"Colonel Suyin Lee?"

She opened a bay and pulled out the first aid kit. She gave the blood clotting factor a good shake, and sprayed most of it over the stump. Then she squeezed rapid flesh gel over it, it felt ice cold and numb. The outside turned grey as it hardened against the air.

"Madam? Colonel Suyin Lee, shall I take us to Paul Dirac City?"

She wrapped the stump with a entire roll of gauze. It wasn't so terrible if she didn't see bone. She looked outside at E2, they were about a two hundred meters from it now. Most of the lights had gone out. Through the glass end cap she could only see black smoke.

"There seems to be some difficulty on E2
Glavnaya
."

"You could say that," she opened a squeeze bag of rehydration solution and drained it in big gulps. It was glucose-sweet, the wrapper spun away as she tore open another one.

"In two hours I can put us on a transfer orbit to Paul Dirac City. We would reach there in another six hours. Shall I plan the burn?"

"Plan it," she laid her head back. "Tell Jiuquan what's going on. As - as best you can. I guess."

"Planning burn," the AI replied. The tiny shuttle begun turning about on its reaction wheels. "I do not understand what I need to relay to Jiuquan Mission Control. Can you elaborate Colonel?"

But she was already asleep.

Political Review

Daryl Spektorov, V

"Has it landed yet?" The scientist’s eyes were wide. "Is it finally goddamn here yet?"

Ken Brown didn't have formal prison wear, but they all knew to do what they could.  Aziz and Jones in laundry had been cursing the entire week. Who was so important that even the indentured help needed to look good?

"It's landed."  said the second scientist, Doctor Johnson, the man in charge when no other men in charge were here.  

"How can you tell?" Asked the first scientist, Doctor Simmons from Earth. "Shouldn't we have heard it?  Or felt it? It's a big boat. It's a
very
big boat."

The video feed in the canteen cut to the main landing pad. An atmosphere-capable ship thrice the size of the resupply freighter, had anchored its harpoons into the self-healing pad. Some of the engineers in the mess hall started clapping.

"Any of you Einsteins going to tell us who the fuck is visiting now?" asked one prisoner. It was Jose Jimenez, Brown’s roommate. They all stood ranked like North Korean soldiers at a parade, scientists and prisoners alike.

"Is it the President?" asked another. "I bet it's the President. Hey guys we're all getting pardoned!"

"Shut up, Conner."

A walkway gantry tube extended and sealed against the ship. About 10 minutes later, they heard people coming down the hallway.

Dr. Henrikson, who had already been around for a week, entered the mess first. Behind him came a group of scientists Ken had never seen before. They carried suitcases and folded, plastic-wrapped, pressure suits over their arms. They talked with the easy friendship of strangers suddenly spending several days together.

"Shit." said Jose.

Behind them came a group of large men and women. They carried duffel bags and gas-powered flechette rifles. They took in the room quickly, sizing up everyone.  Several put down their bags and moved about the room, securing exits.  They tapped ear pieces and spoke in German. Brown noticed the security cameras, normally off, were panning and judging them again.

"Hey Connor," said Jose, "You think the President came here to pardon us with bullets?"

"Take it easy Jose," said Doctor Johnson. "They're just private security."

"Against what, Navy SEALs? You going to tell us what the fuck is going on now?"

Lastly a group of suits came in. Cameras flashed and a film crew kept just ahead. The heart of the group stopped, smiled, and waved.

"Mother fucker!" Jose clapped along with everyone else. Some of the engineers cheered, even some of the prisoners. Ken was one.

"Good morning everyone," said Spektorov. "I’m so sorry we couldn’t let you know that I was coming. There's a lot of people who want to see us fail. We didn't want to risk any interference from them. As you can see, there are a lot of new faces here with me. These here are some of the world's best nanotechnologists. Frankly, I think they are the best, because, like you, they’ve got the guts to come up here, to change the world. Give them a round!"

Some cheers and loud clapping.

"Now you may be wondering why I brought nanotechnologists with me, and not physicists to help with the production problem. Well that’s because we’re going to solve
all
the production problems. Not just for us, or for the mission colonists. I mean for the entire world. That’s right, today we officially and publicly, begin our Von Neumann technology program."

The room exploded into loud cheering and raised arms. Some hugged each other and back slapped. The
USA! USA!
chant began.

Spektorov smiled. "Funny that you mention that. Now as you all know, Von Neumann research is highly illegal. Everyone is so afraid that some crazy terrorist somewhere will develop them into weapons of mass destruction. Every country in the world has outlawed it. Well," he pointed out the three meter thick, leaded window, "that’s the Earth over there. And we’re over here. And today," he looked right at the main camera, "I am announcing Paul Dirac City’s independence. We are the first nation state, in space."

Silence.

"You’ll all be getting work visas. Anyone who wants it, will get citizenship, too. That comes with a luxury house and property on one of my orbitals. That goes for you boys, too," he pointed at the orange jump suits.

"Yes, I’m sure you’re all worried, the world won’t be too happy with this. And if anyone - at any time - decides they don’t want to do this, they can go home. You’ll be paid for your work and have no black marks against you. This is being broadcast live by the way, so questions, demands, and threats are about to start filling up in your email boxes. But please understand, out here, we are essentially untouchable. That’s important for Earth too - if anything goes wrong there’s no chance of contamination. I have people - great people - who are engaging at a high level with the US government. We’re going to maintain - or at least, repair - our relationship with the United States. They are still our biggest client, and will continue to be, as we produce this amazing new technology."

A couple of weak claps.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the frontier. It’s where new innovations and ideas are breathed into old nations. It’s what made our forefathers great, and why we value exploration and Science. Today, we are the frontiersmen. We are the ones who will breathe life into a tired and struggling world, so beaten down that its governments outlaw solutions.

"We will go to other worlds. But no one can say anymore, that we didn’t stop on the way, to save our own. God bless you and the work you do. God bless America, and God bless Paul Dirac City!"

Some polite clapping. Then the armed contractors clapped loudly, and everyone else rooted around and found some enthusiasm. Spektorov held up two little flags - one of the United States, and one that looked like a variant of the Pathfinder logo.

"Oh - My - God!" yelled someone from the back of the room. Heads turned, Spektorov tried to hide a frown.

"Dude," continued Evan Stockwell, live on camera, "You are fucking
shitting
me!"
 

"Nice of you to join me for lunch."

Henrikson sat down with his tray across from Stockwell. The others in the mess hall were quiet, all eyes were on the screen with news from Earth. That is, unless they were eating steak. Their patron had brought quite a lot along with him.

"Aren't you worried about being spied on?"

"Not anymore, no," said the scientist.  "It is quite clear that no one sees you as a threat."

"You really know how to make a guy feel swell."

"They didn't even take away your gun."

"Speaking of, where did all the Boy Scouts go?"

"Outside mostly. They are using his ship as their barracks. They are not actually allowed in here."

"Why not?"

"People will feel like they are under duress."

"Well, you are."

"I'm not so sure about that."

For a moment, the two men ate quietly.  Someone changed the news to a Spanish language stream. On every channel it was the same: pictures of asteroid 2043 QR 3, and clips of Spektorov’s little speech. The Talking Heads were academics, people in the street, and grumpy-looking generals.

"I came to tell you that we are about to have visitors."

"Already?"

"A Shenlong 3
[lxviii]
space plane, arriving in two hours. The AI claims it has only one passenger, and that she is in need of medical attention."

"That’s as likely as Batman taking a shit and Superman living in it."
[lxix]

"Spektorov thinks so too, but what are the chances that they would have a Strike Team ready to go at near this orbit, so soon? It was already on transfer orbit to us."

"Where from?"

"E2. Which apparently has gone radio silent."

A Department of Corrections robot walked in, scanned the room, and left. A group of nanotechnologists peering over laptops, suddenly cheered and started high-fiving each other.

"Are they going to let them land?"

"They can't stop a landing, at least not now. But they will try to confront and restrain whoever is aboard."

"So why are you telling me? You don't seem particularly upset about your patron’s shenanigans."

"I am telling you because the Shenlong can contact Earth. Right now, neither of us can do that."

"They won’t let the head scientist call home?"

"They won't let
any
of us call home. And right now I don't think I count as head scientist anymore. I imagine you would like to brief your government on what's going on here, and they may have instructions for you. So, how do feel about helping our Chinese patient?"  

"I’m in, but I can't take on all the Boy Scouts."

"You won't need to. There are alternate landing pads, I can send the spaceplane directions to one of the more distant ones.  No one else is sending it landing coordinates so I don't think there will be any confusion. I can sign out an asteroid hopper for you," he slipped him a flash drive. "Please transmit that to the address listed. It's my husband, I want him to know that I am safe.  If you leave now, you will have about an hour's lead time on the contractors."

Stockwell took the drive.

"Aren't you worried what might happen to you if they find out?"

"I may not be the lead scientist anymore, but nothing is going to Alpha Centauri without me. Last I checked, it does not seem that we are getting any new Antimatter Beamed Core engineers, any time soon."

"You need to tell your boss that the Chinese are coming for him."

It was late at night and the DC diner was largely empty.  There were some aides (to aides) eating chicken wings, sauce on their fingers, poring over a position paper due in the morning. A kid in a hoodie waved his hand around and swore over the phone. Congressman Herrera leaned forward, his coffee cooling, untouched.

"We already know about the Chinese," said Snyder. "We have people ready to apprehend them as soon as the Shenlong lands."

Herrera raised an eyebrow. "I don't know anything about that, but the Chinese Embassy have quietly mentioned to State that special forces are being launched from Jiuquan in the next few hours. There's still time to sort this out."

"I agree, there is," Snyder pulled out the tea bag and set it aside. "So get the Chinese to back off."

Herrera facepalmed and then ground his teeth.  

"You do realize that everyone up there is in big trouble? And because you obviously knew about it you can also be charged with Conspiracy? We're not having this conversation in an interrogation room as a gesture to your insane boss."

"No," Snyder shook his head. "It's because no one is sure yet what to do."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on. The DoD must be delighted. Von Neumann machines are the biggest thing since we split the atom.
[lxx]
In addition to antimatter engines, They are going to have the most powerful manufacturing technology that human beings can even conceive of. And it's going to be one hundred percent US government property."

"Well the DoD aren't calling the shots - "

"No but they are calling enough of them. I bet State and Justice want us all to hang."

Herrera nodded this way and that. "It's been suggested by some."

"Here's how I see this. If the United States recognizes Paul Dirac City, it is condoning and sanctioning Spektorov. It implies that the United States is cheating to get around its own, and international laws. However, then it would have no responsibility, and the Chinese can raid it.

"However, if the United States does
not
recognize Paul Dirac City, then it is obliged to protect its own citizens."

"You forget that we are also then obliged to control our citizens."

"No, I’m not. That's why the Chinese Embassy is talking to the State Department. They very much want you to take care of this, because how is it going to look when China moves against misbehaving US citizens? How am I doing so far?"

The congressman said nothing.

"However, if the United States intervenes to stop the raid, then by protecting Paul Dirac City it is condoning and sanctioning Spektorov. The entire US position on the proliferation of WMD, becomes a sham worldwide. We throw away a century of diplomacy.

"But, if the United States
doesn’t
recognize
or
intervene, then China will capture the facility. China will have antimatter technology: including the prototype, Single-Stage-To-Orbit, fighter engine we're making for the USAF. Goodbye Air and Space Superiority. They will also confiscate the preliminary notes by some of the world's best, on Von Neumann machines. So," he sipped his tea, "I think my not being arrested has nothing to do with any kind gestures on the part of the US government."

"This is going to go very badly, and for everyone. You have to make him see sense."

"He sees sense just fine. From the UNHCR upwards, we've tried to be reasonable.  No vested interests are in any way concerned with what we need. That wouldn't matter - what do you expect? Except that they also don't seem too concerned with what
they
need. We've had to declare ourselves an independent country to be taken seriously. We're not about to give up that chip."