Cut and Run
Copyright© 2021 by C...B
Chapter 20: Consequences
Fifty minutes later, the electro-jet lifted off from the Forbin platform just as a small group of angry humans exited the entry dome in hot pursuit. Naomi promised that the remaining hopper aircraft on the platform were temporarily disabled so barring an unexpected shoulder-fired missile, there was no threat. We had made it.
“We did it!” I gushed to the others. The other two humans were laughing with me and even Ohmu seemed to have a glint in her illuminated eyes. Stowed in the cargo hold behind us were the four self-contained memory units. They were fully secured with their integral Faraday cages intact so we could not scan them but The EM sensors around the units showed no leakage.
We did not dare tamper with them now, even to verify that they contained valid data. That would come later. All we knew was that the experiment had seemed to proceed as expected and that the memory modules had tripped into their automatic safety mode signaling that they were full of something.
I shuddered as I recalled that final trip down to the output register chamber to retrieve the memory units. Rami had joined me and we entered the dark chamber wearing head shielding and carrying simple flashlights and glowsticks. The air in the chamber had a distinct acrid smell of burnt plastic with a metallic tang of oxidized thermite. We were lucky the fumes were not so bad in this chamber that we needed supplemental oxygen as we had forgotten to bring any.
I could only imagine what it was like out in the main experiment dome. The hundreds of mobile units and all of our custom nodes had eaten themselves with a similar thermite lobotomy and the air must have been unbreathable. I already felt sympathy for the workers who would have to clean up the chamber.
Rami and I had loaded up the four memory units onto two trolleys and gotten them onto one of the big freight elevators. Uxe and Ohmu joined us, and we rode up to the surface with our precious cargo. When we had arrived at the cargo transfer terminal just below the seabed, I could tell from the shouts and yelling that the jig was up. Naomi and Neokoros had covered our activities as best they could up until now but the news of what we’d done had somehow leaked, likely by word of mouth.
We had barely made it across the cargo receiving cavern to the final topside lift. Naomi had had to activate the fire alarms in the underwater residential habitat to distract the braver humans who had begun to mobilize to stop us from leaving. Nothing like the threat of fire where your loved ones lived to sway their priorities.
Now, we were in the air and flying south. Zamora, Ecuador was just an hour away. And, a few hours later, we would be off this planet on our way to orbit. I was still too keyed up to doze during the flight, but I knew I would crash as soon as the adrenaline wore off. Uxe and Rami also looked to be near the end of their reserves. Like me, they were now just sitting silently staring into space, reliving the whirlwind day.
Ohmu signaled for our attention. “Despite Naomi’s best efforts screening communications, word of our activities at Forbin has spread across the planet. It is likely that we will face human opposition at the launch facility in Zamora. It is also likely that if we divert to any of the other launch facilities, we could face similar opposition. Tempers seem to be running high on both Conscientia and the more exclusive human-peer forums.”
Rami and Uxe began to discuss our options. I sat there listening to them talk but was deep in my own thoughts. We could head for my island? We would be safe there, at least for a time. But we would also be trapped and somewhat isolated.
—An alternate means to reach orbit is just ahead, John.— Naomi’s voice said in my implant
The suspicions I had been feeling were confirmed with that message. I even knew what the alternate means were. I hated to burn Naomi’s secret as the AI was clearly being circumspect, but it looked like there was no choice.
“Are you sure we have to go that route?” I asked subvocally.
—Yes John. Disseminating the knowledge of this capability should present no real hardships to my operations moving forward.— the AI replied.
All righty then. “Ohmu, have the electro-jet fly slow and low on this same heading. Take us down to five hundred meters altitude. Let me know when we are over deep water.”
I felt the aircraft’s engines throttle back and we ceased our high thrust climb. The cabin grew quieter as we arched over and began to descend back down towards the ocean below. I checked the map display. We were already a hundred kilometers south-southwest of the platform. It would not be long.
“What is it, John? Do you have an idea?” Uxe asked, clearly concerned.
“Yes, in a few minutes we’ll know for sure.”
We waited the minutes in silence. Uxe and Rami just looking at me with puzzled looks on their faces as I watched out the aircraft’s window. Finally, Ohmu spoke up. “I am detecting a low power transponder just ahead. Is this our target?”
“I think so Ohmu. Are we close Naomi?”
The AI’s distinct voice came through the ceiling speakers. “Yes, John. I have assumed control of your aircraft. Prepare for landing.”
Uxe and Rami looked both surprised and puzzled. They knew from the map display that there were no islands on this heading. I just smiled and pointed out to the window as the plane started to bank around to port. There was a surge of bubbles near a small floating buoy. Something big was surfacing.
The electro-jet slowed to a hover allowing us a good view as a very dark and very large object breached the surface of the Gulf. It was a submarine! A very BIG submarine. Ohmu looked at me. “How did you realize?”
“I had suspected from various comments Naomi had made recently. It had also used a submarine for the background of every virtual communications session I shared with it. Naomi was created as part of a submarine. It’s only logical that it remains as one.”
I left unsaid the other reasons I had deduced. I had realized that Naomi would want a way to remain stealthy and mobile while staying near the Chinese coast while I had been nomadic in central Asia. It also needed to maintain a reliable and fast way to evacuate me from the Earth’s surface. What was better than a fixed launching facility? A mobile launching facility!
A submarine could launch orbital rockets just as well as a land-based spaceport and it could do so in stealth! Without realizing it at the time, I had already witnessed its rockets in action. Back in Mongolia when the fast-response drones had arrived and dispatched the two neo-bears, I had been wrong in assuming that they had been dropped from orbit. Instead, they had been launched from this submarine.
The large, black, cigar-shaped bulk of the sub settled itself on the surface. The low, late afternoon sunlight revealed the shadow of a small conning tower near one end, obviously the bow from the direction of the sub’s slow movement. Aft of the conning tower was a marked circular landing area. Behind that, along the flatter middle section of the boat were the outlines of various sized circular hatches, most likely covering launch tubes.
Naomi set the jet down gently and invited us to come aboard to refresh ourselves. We waited a minute until the engines wound down before we disembarked. Outside, the rubberized coating of the boat allowed plenty of traction despite its wetness. A pair of mobile units were already waiting to retrieve the memory modules we had extracted from Forbin.
Uxe and I eagerly entered the open hatch in the back of the conning tower. We’d lived on Nautilus for a few weeks right after we’d met almost two centuries ago. Hell, we’d shared our first intimate moments together on that boat so we both had very fond memories of submarines. Rami followed behind a bit slower. He perked up when Ohmu mentioned that she was detecting the traces of an active fusion reactor nearby.
Below, we found that this big sub had surprisingly intimate habitable spaces which in many ways resembled those on the Nautilus. We entered a similar salon complete with a small kitchen area but this version did not have the curving hull ceiling and wall displays like the salon on Nautilus had.
Naomi explained that this sub was not intended for long-term habitation but merely as temporary transport to other shelters or an orbital escape. She did say that there were berths and a fully equipped head along with a medical bay below. We learned that we had just over four hours to wait until our launch window arrived. Instead of Gateway Sigma, the AI was going to launch us directly to a rendezvous point with an arriving lunar shuttle.
I felt a slight bump and the sub angled downward a few degrees. Naomi reported that the electro-jet had been offloaded and had just taken off heading back to its rental base. The submarine would now be submerging while we waited for our launch window.
What to do for four hours? I began to feel the fatigue of the day and mentioned that I needed a nap. Uxe said she wanted a shower, while Rami expressed an interest in a tour of the boat. Naomi shanghaied Ohmu into playing tour guide for him and they departed, heading aft towards the reactor compartment most likely.
Unlike the layout of Nautilus, the head and the berthing compartments on this submarine were below the salon on the next level down. Uxe followed me as we used the stairs at the aft end of the salon. After fully spiraling around, we found ourselves on the berthing deck. Uxe paused at the door to the head. Her raised eyes and smirk said I was welcome to join her. I was tempted but just smacked her ass and sent her into the head.
I found a berthing compartment but before I could enter Naomi spoke in my implant. —John. Have you considered all the trouble I have gone through for you today?—
I sighed. I had indeed wondered about that. Naomi continued before I could speak.
—I have thought of a suitable way for you to pay me back.—
“What can I do for you, Naomi?”
—Simply enjoy your nap ... but in a medical crèche instead of a berth.—
Ah, a mind-data backup. I realized that it had been a while. I had gone to Vesta and returned since the last one. I was a slightly different person than I had been when the last recording was made back on my island. “Sure, Naomi. Lead the way.”
Two hours later I was done with both the mind scan and the nap. I felt great! Naomi must have put me directly into REM sleep after its scans had been completed. The crèche lid opened, and I exited. The boat was nearly silent and stable, so we must still be crawling along submerged waiting for our launch window.
There were three other crèches in this large compartment. Two of them were sealed and I wondered if they contained my clones. The compartment’s sides were curved outwards from the floor which told me we were in a lower portion of the sub’s cylindrical pressure hull. I was able to estimate the boat’s size from the width of the chamber and the radius of the curves.
I came up with a diameter of over eighteen meters or three times the six-meter diameter of Nautilus’s main hull. Eighteen meters would have made this boat thirty percent larger than the old Ohio class ballistic missile submarines from my old era. I was in a really big boat!
I asked Naomi why the boat was so big. She responded directly via my implant.
–Two main reasons John. The first is that the submarine contains a fully independent fusion power plant which is rather bulky. The second is that the diameter is needed to enclose an orbital-class launcher large enough to carry humans safely to any of the orbital stations.–
“What did you name the boat?” I asked next.
–The submarine’s current designation is ‘Submersible Two’ John.–
The AI must have detected my visible cringe as it followed up with. –Please feel free to properly name the vessel as you see fit.–
Hmm. I thought for a moment before it came to me “Let’s call her Querencia, Naomi.”
—of course, John. A fitting name.—
Naomi indicated that we still had almost two hours until our launch window. Plenty of time for a hot shower. I returned to the deck which had the berths and the head. I was able to hear the sounds of lovemaking coming from one of the berths. Uxe and Rami were napping aggressively it seemed. The sounds of their passion combined with the fact that I had gone without for a few weeks meant that I would be taking a longer shower than normal.
An hour later we all met up in the salon and had supper. Ohmu had prepared an Italian meal complete with a Mediterranean salad with Spaghetti alla Carbonara. There was even a decent-tasting wine to accompany the delicious food. All in all, it was a good capstone to the day we’d just had.
After our meal, we used the head before visiting the boat’s garment fitter. It had produced tailored pressure outfits for each of us to wear during the launch. We helped each other into the suits. Naomi had accessed our personal preference files and each suit was decorated to our personal tastes. Uxe had her traditional jaguar patterned suit. Mine looked like a set of vintage racing leathers and Rami’s resembled a crash test dummy which made me smile.
We were told our helmets were already on the launcher. Ohmu handed each of us our personal items which we placed in our suit’s interior pocket. Back in the salon we shared one last shot of bourbon (for luck!) before heading down the starboard corridor leading aft. The launch cells began twenty meters astern of the salon with the larger orbital launcher being the closest.
We bunched up at the narrow and steep stairwell which led towards the launcher access gantry. We climbed carefully because a slip and injury now would truly suck. Also, the submarine was beginning to surface for our launch and the stairs were tilted as the sub rose. Ohmu was in the lead and opened the hatch leading to the deployed gantry tube which we would use to reach the capsule.
Uxe led the way, crawling down the narrow tube. Rami and I shared a look after we caught each other ogling her cute little wiggling ass. The possessive smirk he gave me earned him a smack on the shoulder. Laughing, he went next, struggling a bit to fit in the narrow tube. I wondered how the mobile units had gotten the bulky memory modules aboard before I realized that they could have used another hatch leading directly into the launch cell.
I was the last to board as I would be seated in the middle seat. I had the largest shell and it had the most leg room. When I reached the capsule, I found Uxe and Rami already stuffed into the outer seats. Below I could see Ohmu compactly stowed, surrounded by the four memory units. I had to laugh as I squeezed in to the last bit of space.
My seat was slightly overlapping theirs and I bet if Rami sneezed, Uxe would feel it through me. Rami and Uxe began to laugh with me. I doubt there was enough spare room for a single piece of luggage in the capsule with us when the hatch closed and sealed. The cramped space reminded me of those old Russian Soyuz capsules where they would send three humans to the international space station. At least our flight would be brief.
I managed to get myself strapped in and Uxe helped pull my helmet down onto my head. After it sealed itself to my suit, I looked around inspecting the tight capsule. There were no instruments or controls to clutter the space. No windows either, I realized somewhat sadly. There was a groaning sound and a vibration. It was probably the gantry tube retracting but there were no portholes in the hatch to confirm that.
“Bummer. I wish there were windows,” I said out loud. Uxe and Rami agreed with my sentiments.
“I can create a virtuality which will closely mimic the actual capsule and launch if you like? It will have reduced noise, vibration, and G forces as well,” Ohmu said from below us.
“Sounds great Ohmu! Go for it,” I said.
My view of reality faded, and I found myself in a slightly larger version of the capsule. Uxe and Rami soon appeared with me. The virtual seats were larger and not as crowded. Also, Uxe was now in the center seat. I noticed our pressure suits were gone and we were all wearing soft, comfortable outfits.
Above us, the windowless capsule nose was now a giant crystal viewport. We were able to see Querencia’s large, circular hatch open above us. A beautiful virtual evening sky lit by the crimson twilight glow of a recent sunset was revealed. Off to the right, an enormous, fantastic moon hung, filling that quarter of the sky. I heard the others gasp at the fantastic view. They had decided to join me in this version of virtuality.
Our launcher began to rise on an elevator mechanism. Naomi spoke up describing what was happening. Due to the size of the orbital launcher, we would first need to be elevated out of the sub instead of launching out of a tube. For the same reason, the sub had to be surfaced instead of launching us submerged like it did with its smaller missiles.
I tried to twist my head back far enough to see the hull of Querencia. In my peripheral vision, I saw that we were pretty high above the waves, at least twenty meters. Ohmu had noticed my efforts to see what was happening because a pop-up display appeared in front of us which showed a view of the launcher as seen from the conning tower at the bow of the sub.
I snorted. Our rocket looked like a fat fireplug. But it made sense that our launcher was squat as it had to fit inside Querencia. A ten-second countdown began. I felt Uxe reach over and pat my arm. She was doing the same to Rami. I smiled as we both held her hand. The countdown finished and we began to rise. The noise and vibrations mimicked the real launches I had experienced over the centuries but were greatly muted.
The pop-up view of our launch showed the rocket rising on an enormous gout of bright yellow flames. They quickly smothered the view from the coning tower until we were much higher. I asked Naomi about the bright exhaust, expecting it to be just a virtual effect. I soon learned it was realistic.
“The launcher is fueled by a solid compound similar to what was used in the missiles of your time, John. It is a type of explosive stabilized by a polymer binder. Hydrogen is not used as it would have required a much larger tankage volume.”
Hmm. Solid fuel. We were flying old school. That meant we were not aborting this flight by stopping the rocket’s engines. If something happened, the capsule would probably have to be ejected. Hopefully, that would not be needed as I could imagine the heavy G forces that would expose us too.
I was sure we were already going through one hell of a rough and hard launch based upon how fast the rocket in the camera display was climbing. Here’s to virtuality! As we continued climbing and accelerating, I sat back and just enjoyed the ride. Soon, the twilight sky became the deep black of space. Wild twinkling stars and flaming comets joined the impossible Moon in the display. Onward to our rendezvous in orbit and then a few days after, the Moon!
I came awake feeling a hand caressing my chest. Opening my eyes, I looked over to see Beatrice Yoveanu smiling back at me. Apparently, it was morning or close enough that it did not matter. Her hand drifted lower and gently stroked my firming manhood. It looked like I still owed on my night’s lodging. I smiled and got to work to finish paying off my bill.
Later, after our shower, we made it out to her kitchen unit and enjoyed a quiet breakfast. Over the past few weeks, Beatrice had gotten over most of the anger she was radiating when I had first arrived on her doorstep. I had called her from space to warn her that I was coming, but that had only given her time to learn why. My actions combined with her fear of the Forbin complex had infuriated her and I had been greeted with both barrels.
As should be obvious, we had made it to the moon after our submarine get-away launch. Beatrice’s quarters were in the small gravity habitat located below the surface structures of the far side station. The station itself was located deep inside the Daedalus crater in the central part of the far side of Luna. We had come here to use the secure testing chambers which already existed in the more distant corners of the crater.
The far side station was under the control of the Praxcia AI. Praxcia was the major AI responsible for humanity’s retribution effort against our enemy. The work that went on here was primarily weapons research and other offense-related technologies. As currently planned, once the enemy ark had passed through the system, we would be attacking it ‘stern chase style’ with everything we had left. Praxcia was to develop and coordinate those attacks.
The far side station had been confirmed as our destination while we were still in Earth orbit. Naomi had been busy negotiating with (and probably coercing) the AI advisory council and human peer groups about the aftermath of our little adventure at Forbin. It was determined that the memory modules we had obtained from the ‘Forbin incident’ would be examined on the far side of the moon.
As noted, Praxcia had its secure facilities already active there and this included a small but knowledgeable staff of experienced human scientists and programmers. They were already fully trained for working around dangerous weapons systems and militant digital viruses. And, since our wormhole technology could greatly alter our planned retribution efforts against the Assemblage, Praxcia was better suited than Ganasium to be our main AI partner working to solve its complications.
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