“I’ve never heard of nanotechnology,” Turcotte said. “What is it?”
“It’s only a theory to us,” Duncan said. “We’re several decades from actually applying the theory.”
“It looks like it took the guardian only a couple of days to go from theory to application,” Turcotte noted.
“It makes sense,” Duncan said. “If I was the guardian, nanotechnology would be the way I would go.”
“And what way is that exactly?” Turcotte asked.
“The best analogy I can give you,” Duncan said, “is to think about the way computers deal with information. They can process it, change it, and reproduce it by themselves at practically no cost. They do that by breaking the information down to bits, the most basic level, and then manipulating or reproducing it.
“Imagine if a machine could do the same thing structurally at the atomic level. The real kicker to it is that it is almost like inventing a new virus, a machine virus, because the nanomachines are capable of taking new material, manipulating it molecule by molecule, and reproducing. A nanorobot can break down a molecule, change it, and eventually make another nanorobot.”
“So that was the virus that invaded the Washington?” Turcotte asked.
“Yes. The nanorobots were able to take apart the material of the Washington at the molecular level.”
“Jesus,” Turcotte exclaimed. “What about the people these things touched?”
“I don’t know,” Duncan said.
“There were over six thousand people on board the Washington,” Turcotte said.
“I know that. The Navy picked up almost four thousand crew members out of the ocean. They jumped overboard when Admiral Poldan gave the order.”
“And the other two thousand crew? We don’t know what happened to them?”
“From Poldan’s last transmissions, we know some of them were killed. The rest, well, I would have to assume they have been … the only word I could use is captured.”
“Can nanotechnology affect humans?” Turcotte asked.
“In various ways, yes.”
“Goddamn!” Turcotte exploded. “We stopped the Black Death and now we have this?”
“Nanotechnology,” Duncan said, “is the wave of the future in almost every area. It will revolutionize practically everything we know. Think of machines built at the molecular level able to go inside our bodies and help maintain them. Machines that can attack cholesterol at the molecular level in our bloodstream. Or be designed specifically to attack cancer cells.
“And nanotechnology removes waste in construction. Since the building is done at the molecular level, there is no excess or lost material. It is also extremely efficient of energy. It’s like”… Duncan paused, searching for an analogy… “like having a machine that is a paper copier, except dealing with machines rather than paper images… it would be able to make copies of anything.
“A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter,” Duncan continued. “You get about ten atoms per nanometer. What I think the guardian has mastered that we can’t do yet is be able to work the atoms individually and place them where it wants. We’ve barely begun to work at microtechnology, which are small robots you can see. You can’t even see a nanorobot.
“I call it a virus, because it’s the mechanical sibling of the organic virus. Capable of replicating on its own, operating at a level even smaller than that of organic viruses.”
“What is the guardian going to do now that it has mastered this?”
“I don’t know,” Duncan said.
“We’d better come up with something,” Turcotte said, “because it just sucked up the most powerful weapon system on the face of this planet. How many nuclear warheads were on board the Washington?”
“Eight.”
“Great.”
“Don’t forget that the Washington also had two nuclear reactors,” Duncan added. She leaned forward, and her voice lowered. “I think this is going to force UNAOC’s hand. They’re going to have to attack Easter Island.”
“Then you’d better hope those two thousand sailors are really dead,” Turcotte said.
“Even if they aren’t,” Duncan said, “when you have a virus, sometimes you have to cut off the infected part.”
“Jesus!” Turcotte exclaimed. “That’s a bit cold.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Duncan quickly said. Her hands were pressed against the side of her head. The others in the room were watching her, not able to offer any support.
“I know you didn’t, but is that the way UNAOC is going to look at it?” Turcotte asked. “When I was getting ready to go on an operation, we always had to ask ourselves some hard questions. One of those questions was what we would do if we had someone wounded and he couldn’t keep up with us.
“It’s real easy in the movies for that guy to volunteer to stay behind, or for someone to make the decision to leave that guy behind with a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a gun in the other, but in real life it’s a whole different ball game. Because the question we would ask was what if it was me, not some other guy.” His voice was tight. “Me that was the one who was wounded. The one we were talking about leaving behind. The one on Easter Island we’re talking about nuking.”
“I understand, Mike, but this is out of our hands now.”
“I know, but goddamn, two thousand men! And Kelly Reynolds, let’s not forget she’s still there.”
Duncan sighed. “Mike, let’s let UNAOC take care of this. The good thing is that Easter Island is very isolated. Whatever the guardian has planned, I hope we can contain it. Let’s keep our focus on finding this key. That’s the most immediate problem.”
“What about Che Lu?” Turcotte changed the subject.
“There’s not much we can do about that either. We haven’t heard from her since the nuke went off. The Chinese have sealed their borders.”
“Goddamn,” Turcotte swore. “This is ridiculous. We’re not only fighting the aliens, we’re fighting ourselves again.”
“Mike, I know that. We have to do the best we can.”
“And if it’s not good enough?” There was a short pause. “Does anyone there have anything useful?” Turcotte finally asked.
“I will try to interpret the high runes on the stone,” Mualama said. “I believe it will lead us to an even more significant find.”
“I have something.” Kincaid opened a folder. “My computer whiz guys have extracted more from the Scorpion hard drives.”
He handed a copy to each person and read it out loud so Turcotte could get it.
Appendix 1 Cross-References The Mission & Domeka
(research reconstruction and field report)
10 / 21 / 92… Cordian
Overview:
While investigating the role of The Mission in the Inquisition, specifically the trail of Galileo for heresy in 1624, I discovered that the Fiscal Proctor, one of the key men responsible for prosecuting the case, apparently was a Guide.
We know that through the Dark Ages to the Industrial Revolution, The Mission was based in Europe, most of the time in Italy. It exerted strong influence on the Roman Catholic Church, reaching its zenith during the Papal Inquisition.
Domeka was the name of a Fiscal Proctor, an extremely powerful man who was instrumental in many key prosecutions designed to stem the growth of human knowledge.
The Ones Who Wait counterattacked the power of The Mission in Europe, infiltrating the forces of both the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, which seriously weakened The Mission’s influence via Rome. Even more interestingly, The Ones Who Wait subverted The Mission in an area Domeka and his comrades never suspected… the arts. It is no coincidence that most great scientists who escaped the net of The Mission at this time were also artists first… such men as Da Vinci.