Enigma Page 2
3
Birthday Present
On the eve of her twenty-third birthday, Luca Lee-McNabb felt utterly disconnected. In truth, she had felt this way for most of her life—this sense of dislocation, of not quite belonging, of being an odd-shaped peg trying to fit into an even odder-shaped world.
The foundation of this feeling she traced to a failed kidnapping attempt by the VanHeilding family, back when she was only seven years old. Sometimes, she wondered that if they had been successful in their attempt, then maybe she might have been better off. Not in the financial sense, although they were reputed to be one of the most powerful families in the solar system, but in the sense of belonging, of being part of something.
It was after this incident when her parents realized that if they were to protect their only daughter then they must send her into hiding. That was the first great disconnection in her life—a seismic emotional wrenching from which there would be no healing.
Her second disconnect was more of a feeling than a specific event. It was an ever-increasing sense that she was not fully part of this world, as if some element of her being had migrated to a parallel universe. This feeling grew as she grew, like an ever-widening existential rift. But unbeknownst to Luca, as she entered the elevator in her apartment block after a long day at the Science & Technology Institute, the third great disconnect in her life was about to begin.
When the door opened for her floor, she was surprised to find Dr. Stephanie Rayman waiting for her outside her apartment. She was one of the directors of the Institute where Luca worked, and a woman whom Luca regarded as a personal friend, even though Dr. Rayman was very much her senior. But she had taken Luca under her wing at a very early age and, to some extent, Luca regarded her as a second mother.
“Steph? What are you doing here?”
Dr. Rayman gestured apologetically. “Sorry to surprise you like this Luca, but I have…eh, something I need to discuss with you.”
“Sure, of course.” Luca placed a finger on the door lock to her apartment. She knew from Dr. Rayman’s tone that this was not a social call, something was up, maybe at the Institute. Possibly just some political machinations that meant rearranging people around different departments. She probably wanted to give Luca a heads up. “Come in, I’ll make us some coffee.”
The doctor sat down on one side of a breakfast counter as Luca busied herself brewing up a cup of joe. But it was evident to Luca that Steph was in a strange mood, quiet, almost nervous.
“So what’s up?” Luca placed a mug under the coffee machine and tapped a button; the machine began to grind and gurgle as it began its process.
Steph reached into the bag she was carrying and brought out a package, a box around the size of a small birthday cake, and placed it on the counter. “This is for you.”
“Ooh, a birthday present, thank you. Is it cake?”
“Actually, I don’t know what it is. It’s not from me. It’s from Athena.”
This stopped Luca dead in her tracks, and she couldn’t speak for a moment. All she could do was stare at the box resting on the counter.
“Athena? The QI, Athena?”
Dr. Rayman nodded. “The very same.”
Luca slowly moved over to the counter and fingered the package like it was a sacred artifact, which in many ways it was.
“But before you open it, I’d better explain what’s going on.”
“Please do.” Luca sat down on a stool opposite, and took a sip of coffee. She needed to take a breath and to calm herself down as she realized that whatever was going on was definitely not some mundane political drama at the Institute.
“You’ve probably heard about the attack on the Grid Node a few days ago?”
“Yeah. I didn’t believe it at first. But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so. It was badly damaged in a drone attack, a lot of people dead and injured. However bad and all that attack was, the more worrying aspect is that Athena did not detect it before it happened. Meaning that the QI didn’t see it coming.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.” Dr. Rayman shifted in her seat. “I know the newsfeeds have being playing it down, but we are pretty sure it’s the work of the Seven, mainly VanHeilding.”
And there it was, that name that would forever haunt Luca and the very reason for her being here, for her exile, her dislocation. She had suspected as much when she first got word of the attack on the Grid Node, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind, trying not to believe her own paranoia. But now her fears had just been made real by Dr. Rayman.
“They’ve been creating havoc for quite a while with these…neuralists, these so-called Node Runners,” Dr. Rayman continued. “But nothing on this scale. This was a major operation, a demonstration of their new capabilities, a show of force.”
Luca sipped her coffee as she tried to fathom the implications. “But why a Grid Node?”
“Because it proves that they can undermine Athena. This datacenter infrastructure was well within its patch. It means that everything has just changed, and as a consequence, this now concerns you.”
“Me? What have I got to do with any of this?”
“It matters because Athena may not be able to keep you hidden for much longer. If VanHeilding can destroy a Grid Node by manipulating the data-stream, then this means they also have the capability to find you.”
“But all that was a long time ago. Surely they’re not still looking for me after all these years?”
“They are, and our fear is they will find you now.”
Luca’s world had just been turned upside down. A few moments ago, she had been thinking about what to do for her birthday, now it seemed that she may not see the next one.
“It means, if you want to stay safe, you’ll have to leave.”
“Leave? What, you mean the Institute?”
“No, Luca. I mean Earth.”
It was lucky that Luca had been sitting down, otherwise her legs may have failed to keep her upright. “But…”
“I know it’s all a bit sudden, but the situation has dramatically changed. So much so that even Athena has communicated this to me in person. And you know it takes a lot for a QI to have a dialogue with an actual human.”
Luca looked over at Dr. Rayman. “Is it true that the QIs are becoming so detached from reality that they don’t care about us anymore?”
“It may seem that way, but I don’t know if it’s true. Athena may be distant, but it does care. I think they have been preoccupied with these attacks by Node Runners, something that would seem impossible up until recently. Times are changing, Luca. We are entering a dark age, I fear.”
“What about my parents? What are they saying about this?”
Dr. Rayman paused for a beat; her look became more serious and she leaned in across the counter. “The plan is for you to leave Earth and travel to the new O’Neill cylinder habitat they’re building out in the asteroid belt, New World One. Out there you will be safe. Arrangements have been made, we leave tomorrow. That is, if you choose to go. No one’s forcing you, Luca. But I would strongly advise it.”
Luca gave the doctor a slow, considered look. Then she lowered her head and spoke in a low tone. “I’ve never told you this before, Steph, but I’ve wanted out of here for a long time. I never felt that I really belonged here. Childish as it may seem, I’ve always had this feeling that I was meant for better things.”
“Don’t worry, it passes with age.” Dr. Rayman gave her a wry smile. “You’ll need to get ready tonight and pack light, we leave in the morning. I’ll pick you up and travel with you as far as the Johnston Transit Orbital. From there you’re scheduled on a flight to New World One.”
Luca glanced around her small apartment, cluttered with the accumulated detritus of her almost twenty-three years of life, and felt no great attachment to any of it. There were some friends and an on-off relationship she would miss, but nothing that really mattered. She looked out the window at the evening sky beyond. But out there, she thought, is a chance to meet my family again and also see some of the wonders of the solar system.
“What about all this?” She gestured around the room.
“Don’t worry, it will all be packed up and sent on.”
“And this?” Luca nudged the package resting on the counter between them.
“As I said, it’s from Athena, so who knows what it could be. Although, it must be pretty special as very few people are ever given anything by a QI. So, all I can say is that you must matter a great deal to it.” Dr. Rayman rose from the stool. “So it’s agreed, I’ll see you here around seven?”
Luca also stood up and came over to the doctor. She nodded. “Yes, let’s do it.”
They hugged for a moment, then Dr. Rayman headed out the door, leaving Luca to contemplate the contents of the enigmatic birthday present from the quantum intelligence, Athena.
4
Fly
It was some time after Dr. Rayman had left before Luca finally decided to open the package from Athena. Her initial reluctance was partly because since this was a birthday present, she should really wait until tomorrow when it was officially her birthday. But in reality, she was a little scared of what it might contain. After all, it was from a quantum intelligence so the contents of the package were likely to be very eccentric or even downright bizarre.
Yet when she examined the box, turning it over in her hands, Luca sensed that it contained an electronic device of some kind, as she could feel the infinitesimal current it radiated. This hy
persensitivity to electromagnetic radiation that Luca possessed was both a gift and a curse. At work they called her the human voltmeter. Any time she had reason to enter a high-energy environment, every nerve in her body would tingle, and not in a pleasant way. It was not that this hypersensitivity was dangerous, it was just extremely uncomfortable for her.
But she couldn’t sleep. Instead she lay awake thinking about how all the great dislocations in her life had been because of the VanHeilding family, and here was yet another one. So, as dawn began to cast its pale light over the city skyline, Luca got up, made herself a coffee, and began examining the package.
On the top surface it had a fingerprint lock, so she placed her index finger on it and after a second it chimed, then the upper half of the case split in two and folded open. Nestled inside was an elegantly designed insect drone, about the size of her fully extended hand. It twitched, and Luca moved back a little, not quite knowing what to expect. The drone raised itself up on six spindly legs, arched its head toward Luca, and activated a laser scanner. A thin beam of light scrolled up across Luca’s body, pausing momentarily over her eyes. It was doing a retinal scan, presumably to verify that the person opening the package was the rightful recipient.
Satisfied that the person before it was Luca, the outer casing on the back of the insect drone cracked open, extended a set of semi-translucent wings, and rose into the air. It hovered for a moment before settling back down on the counter just to one side of the packaging.
“Hello, my name is Fly and I have a message for you from Athena.” Its voice was thin and slightly retro, but not unpleasant.
“Happy birthday, Luca. I am sorry that you have to leave Earth, but I fear I am unable to provide you with the protection you need. No doubt you have heard about the increase in attacks on our network, not just in frequency but also in their audacity. This means that your safety has become uncertain and I have advised those who have your best interest at heart to make arrangements for your departure.
“As a parting gift, I have created this little drone to assist you on your travels. It can be operated via the neural lace enclosed.
“Please know that you have never been far from my thoughts ever since you arrived under my protection all those years ago. And so it is with great sadness that I bid you farewell.”
The drone then deactivated itself, having finished the message. It sat mute on the breakfast counter, its wings folded, its strange eyes cold and lifeless.
Luca took a sip of coffee, then delicately extracted the neural lace—the mind-machine interface that controlled the drone—from its slot inside the package.
Why has Athena given me this? she wondered as she examined the neural interface. Athena was an all-knowing quantum intelligence, so surely it should be acutely aware of Luca’s hypersensitivity to electrical current. She had always shunned the use of a neural lace; it was almost a phobia with her. Did Athena have some ulterior motive in giving her the one thing she most feared?
She examined the lace, turning it over in her hands. It was not unlike a slim, curved comb that slid under the hairline at the base of the skull, wrapping around from ear to ear. Once in place and activated, thin electrode filaments would snake out from each of the prongs and make their way across the cranium, finding the sweet spots, and securing themselves through hair follicles. It was elegant and discreet, and it would be difficult to tell if someone was wearing one. Yet, as she examined it, she realized that this one could do much more than simply control a drone. It could theoretically interface with any system or data-stream, depending on the skill of the operator.
She placed it carefully back into its case and turned her attention to the drone itself, Fly. Luca, being a technologist, could appreciate the engineering and technical sophistication of the machine. She reached over and picked it up.
It was a little bigger than her hand and surprisingly light. Its thin wings had folded themselves up under the hard outer casing. Since it was an ornithopter, achieving flight by high-speed flapping, its wings were delicate and so needed protecting when not in use. She turned it over, examining its underside. Six spindly legs extended with multiple articulations. Two had clawed feet, the other four with pads like a gecko. These presumably gave it the ability to both cling to surfaces and manipulate objects. But the thing that most surprised Luca was a prominent bulge on its underbelly, indicating to her that it had a weapons system. She clicked on a desk light and leaned in to get a closer look.
A small nozzle protruded from the bulge. It was some class of projectile system. Laser or plasma would require too much energy for such a tiny device. Darts? she wondered. But for something this small, such a projectile would be useless, at best simply an irritation for the target. If this was the best protection Athena was offering her, then she was in deep trouble already.
She switched off the lamp, stowed the little drone back into its case along with the neural lace, and shoved it into her backpack. She checked the time: 6:50 am.
Soon, the ground car would arrive and she would be leaving this place, leaving the Institute, leaving her friends, leaving her whole life behind. Sneaking out at the break of dawn like a callous lover. She wondered if she should tell someone, let them know what she was doing. But Dr. Rayman had strictly forbade it, emphasizing the need for total secrecy. No communication whatsoever in case the Node Runners picked it up on the Grid and drilled down to her location.
As she sat there waiting, Luca once again began to lament the misfortune of her lineage. Why did she have to be a VanHeilding? Why could she not have been born into some mundane family, whose only mission in life was to just simply live it, not seek global domination? But this was her lot, her burden to bear, and she had been running and hiding most of her life. Now at least, she might get to see her parents again—that was something normal people did.
Her wrist tab pinged, indicating the approach of the ground car coming to collect her. She stood up, slung on her backpack, took one last look around her tiny apartment, and headed out the door.
Outside on the street, Luca wasn’t sure if the battered wreck that vaguely resembled a ground car was really here for her. But it was the only one within sight, so it must be. Yet it was with some trepidation that she approached it. The side door swung open and to her surprise she realized it wasn’t autonomous, as nearly all cars were.
“Hi Luca, sorry for the beat-up junker, but we couldn’t risk an autonomous vehicle. That would mean a connection to the Grid.” Dr. Rayman was sitting behind a set of complicated-looking manual controls.
“What museum did you extract this thing from?” Luca said as she clambered into the passenger seat.
“There are more of these machines on the roads than people realize. They’re a rich person’s hobby. You would be shocked to know how much this is worth.”
“I’m sure I would.” Luca cast a glance at the shabby interior.
“Better buckle up.” Dr. Rayman started the ground car up again. “We have a rough ride ahead of us.”
5
Shuttle Port
An early morning sun broke over the mountains to the east, casting jagged shadows across the valley floor below. Dr. Stephanie Rayman slid down from her perch on top of a boulder, bringing with her a cloud of dust and sand.
“No sign of the shuttle, yet,” she said as she patted the dust off her clothes and handed the binoculars to Luca. “Here, you take a look. Maybe you can see something I’ve missed.”
It had taken them the best part of two hours to exit the city and make their way up through the mountains to the location of the old shuttle port. The ancient ground car struggled and wheezed its way along the back roads and dirt tracks, and she had felt that at any moment it would finally give up and die, leaving them stranded. But it got there in the end, helped along by copious four-letter encouragement from Dr. Rayman.
She had parked it a short distance from the derelict facility, high up on a side road from where they could scout out the area. A move Luca found disconcerting, considering that this shuttle had been arranged by Steph in the first place, so why all the caution? But Luca didn’t quiz her about it, preferring instead to let the doctor do it her way. But now it seemed that the shuttle was nowhere to be seen. Not a good start.