Chapter 12

SHEILA - Synthetic, Humanoid, Enlightened, Inquisitive, Living, Android

Sheila seemed to be momentarily distracted after we had stopped. Sitting there, I waited for her report when she was done.

Timur was rolling on the ground, feeling like his face was on fire. He also noticed that his left arm and cheek hurt like hell. Still, he held his right hand tightly closed. (“Proklyat’ye! Kusok der’ma!”) (Damn it! Piece of shit!) He repeated over and over.

Ruslan rushed back to the man as he rolled around on the ground. “Timur? Are you injured?” When the small man didn’t answer, Ruslan started to get worried. Reaching out, he stopped the small man from his rolling, seeing that the small man was indeed injured. “Serafima! The emergency field kit!”

A moment later, a dark red-headed woman ran up with the med kit. “So, comrade, you have finally met your match it seems,” she said with a sadistic smile on her lips. “As it appears my Karina has also.”

“Not now, Serafima! We are a man down at the moment. The loss of one of you can destroy a mission as you well know,” Ruslan said, effectively making her clamp her mouth shut. A moment later, Karina approached, shocked to see Timur on the ground bleeding. “Karina! Report!”

“Da, leader. I got three shots off before it accelerated out of sight. Leader, I am sure I hit it, and I am also sure I heard a ricochet of my shell. You know as well as I do that my shells DO NOT ricochet!” Karina stated, a tear falling from her eyes. “I do not miss, leader, as I am sure I did not this time.” Karina was in thought a moment, then an idea hit her. “Leader? Do you think they knew we were coming?”

Ruslan thought this over a moment, then shook his head. “I do not know, though I will find out now.” Two more tall men appeared a moment later as Ruslan instructed them to take Timur to the hospital. He also reminded them not to leave his side. A look of almost rage covered Ruslan’s face as he arose, flanked by both women. Entering the jeep, he arrived at the General’s office twenty minutes later. Getting out, they all entered the office, Ruslan walking with a determined gait.

General Gance could hear them when they entered the building. Sighing, he knew they had missed, else they’d still be out there or partying.

Ruslan walked right up to the General, slamming his fist on the desk, cracking it. “Dam it, General, they knew! Karina does not miss; she says she heard a ricochet after the first shot. So you want to tell me how they knew?”

“You don’t realize who you are up against, do you?” The General asked, to which Ruslan shook his head no. “Doctor Roger Gance, the foremost authority on robotics, cybernetics, A.I. technology. He holds a Ph.D. in all three fields. During this whole thing, I had high hopes for him. He was, in lack of a better word, the perfect son. Then I noticed he didn’t like what we were doing with them. Sentimental garbage.”

Ruslan’s eyes had gone wide. So he thought we were the best going against the best. With a huge smile, he nodded yes; it was as it should be. “I take it he disobeyed orders?”

The General growled at Ruslan, who backed up a bit, as did the two women. “He did far more than that; he destroyed two prototypes that were about to rid this country of two of its greatest enemies. After that, he sent self-destruct signals, destroying three more along with more than two dozen scientists. He then destroyed most of the lab, erased well over ninety-nine percent of the files. The president ordered a seek and destroy.”

“I see, so no capture then?” Ruslan asked.

“Hell no! He is to be destroyed as well as what he created. We have to rid the world of this worthless piece of shit! The orders state he is to be terminated with extreme prejudice. I intend to see that this happens,” General Gance told the three of them.

“Then that is what we will do, we have to go check on Timur.” At the General’s questioning look, Ruslan continued. “He tried to hack the android; it appears she copied a few of the military virus attacks. One of them got Timur’s laptop and Timur.” With that, the three of them left. The general’s eyes widened for a moment as he thought of just how good Timur was in his job. Damn it, the android would be close to unstoppable if this kept up.

Ruslan ran his hand through his short blonde hair. Pulling out the authorization from the General, he and the two women were allowed through. They were again stopped at the entrance of the hospital as several men kept their weapons trained on them. Ruslan nodded, impressed; the security was the best he’d seen in some time.

A moment later, a full-bird colonel appeared, looking over the three. “They wished to enter with their weapons, sir,” an Air Force first sergeant told the Colonel. “They have authorization from a General Gance G.A.M.”

The Colonel looked over the authorization, then handed it back to Ruslan. “I don’t really give a shit who this General is. This is a medical institution; you leave your weapons or you don’t enter.”

Karina and Serafima both bristled, reaching for their weapons, only freezing upon hearing the clicking of at least twenty weapons. The fact that several laser sights were also trained on them wasn’t lost either. Ruslan gave a slight shake of his head, causing both women to relax.

Ruslan allowed the command first sergeant and chief master sergeant to search him. Both were amazed as they started to pull several knives, grenades, and several Ammunition Cartridge Belts from his person. Surprised, he saw that they also found most of the pistols he had on his legs.

Going over him one more time, they also found a few weapons on his back. Shaking, Ruslan almost felt naked, at least thirty pounds lighter. He’d seen both Karina and Serafima taken to another room by two female marines, a master sergeant, and a first sergeant. They were all, of course, escorted out by several female marines, weapons ever at the ready.

Ruslan smiled; this was the most secure he’d seen a military institution since they had left Russia. It was perhaps half an hour later that all three met up to go to Timur’s room. Nodding to Egor and Stas, Ruslan went in alone.

I had sat while Sheila seemed to be paused. She was emitting a whirring sound the whole time. Then almost twenty minutes later I heard a click, and Sheila turned to me.

“I have completed the analysis, Doctor Gance. All pathways that the interloper was able to penetrate have been closed and guarded. I have also searched for any others that might be corrupted; these have also been repaired and guarded,” Sheila informed me.

“It might be advisable for you to keep a closer watch on all pathways, not just those that are susceptible. The one who did this seems to be almost as good as I am,” I advised Sheila.

“No, Doctor Gance, this one’s knowledge was only near yours in computer language and commands. By no means was their knowledge even half as much as yours. Had they known that I have emotions, they would have attacked far differently,” Sheila replied, a slight smile on her face.

I did a double-take for a moment. Was she just giving me a boost of confidence? Shaking my head, I saw that this time her slight smile had vanished. In fact, I could swear that it was growing larger, though almost imperceptibly.

“The fact that you were able to be attacked worries me quite a bit. Even with all the upgrades you had, I’m afraid it still wasn’t enough,” I told Sheila, voicing my worries.

“I don’t think you have to worry there much, Doctor Gance. I sent the destruct virus to his computer,” Sheila replied.

I just looked at Sheila with a sad expression, then shook my head. “With one as good as they were, they more than likely have several backups.”

Sheila took this in for a moment, then nodded. “I concur, Doctor Gance.” Sheila paused again as she turned her head for a moment. “It appears that a man was admitted to the Elmendorf Air Force Base hospital. Severe burns and lacerations to the face, left arm, and left leg. From what they are saying, they match the type of injuries of the one I intercepted.”

I looked at Sheila as she conveyed this. “The destruct virus caused this?” I asked, a little surprised.

“Yes, Doctor Gance, it was basically designed to wipe the system it infected clean. I made more than a few modifications to it. It caused several overloads that caused the unit to overheat and explode. Usually, this would be a good deterrent, but in this case, as you indicated, it most likely will not,” Sheila informed me.

I nodded my agreement as Sheila picked me up, taking off at an accelerated rate. I thought she’d head back south, but to my astonishment, she took off due east. Shit, I thought, we’re going into Canadian territory now. Shaking my head, I just hoped we didn’t start an incident with our neighbors.

It seemed we were going on for a long time as I once again fell asleep. Not sure how long I was out, I was awakened by an inner voice. [Control, we have now reached mid-obtainable mass. Access to the data cube can now be extended to two-hour units. We await any orders that you may have.]

I jerked awake, feeling—or rather, not feeling—all that much in my extremities. [Sheila, I need to get down. Stop as soon as you can. It appears I have lost feeling in my legs again.]

Sheila immediately stopped, lowering me off her shoulder. [I apologize, Doctor Gance; I was intent on us making as much distance as we could. We need perhaps thirty more minutes before we reach the city of Yellowknife.] Sheila’s thoughts came to me.