Pulling The Dragon's Tail (18 page)

He snorted. “So how do I get enough evidence to
believe she’s trustworthy, Ms. Logical?”

“Do you see this?” She displayed the RVT scanner
and then replaced it neatly back into the small flap on the
waistband of her clothing.

A curious look grew on his face. Gadgets were
his forte. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

She smiled. “So I can go one better than Mr. AI
Wizard? This gadget helped me assess Keagan’s homicidal intents.
I’ve been assessing Es and so far she shows no homicidal
intent.”

He scowled. “And I need to point out two big
assumptions. One is that if it was accurate with Keagan, it’s also
accurate on a transhuman. Secondly, that your little device’s
integrity wasn’t compromised by our ice water encounter. Oh yeah, a
third assumption,” he said, voice rising,. “Es pulled you out of
the water. She certainly could have discovered that thing and done
something to it.”

She had no answer to his fury.

He continued. “What? You’ve lugged it all the
way to Canada to check on the locals, have you? I’m a pretty good
judge of character too, and my gut tells me differently. And I
don’t have to toss someone into a hospital first either!” He
stomped down the trail.

Any pretense that Campbell still played a
therapist role to that of Nate’s client role vanished at that
moment. With hands on her hips, she yelled, “Nathaniel Kristopher!
You are a stubborn, bitter man! Listen to yourself! Do you judge
somebody’s character and motives by your old prejudices and pain?”
Oh God, am I talking about myself?
“Is that the sum total of
your perfect little religion? Father Abraham came all the way from
Andromeda to save the world with that attitude?”

He stopped but didn’t turn around.

“Seems to me that you haven’t considered one
assumption that
you’ve made
; your level of trust in Dugan.
He and Es are rather chummy. Wouldn’t Dugan tell you if Es made any
threats toward you? And she saved your life, at least once; I’ll
count it twice, in the cave and in that damned freezing water. You
can have your little globe-trotting trek, but I’m through with
mine!” She turned and began walking away.

After a moment, he turned around. He watched as
she bounded down the trail to the cabin. “She’s not going
anywhere.” Turning to the CCR, he sat down on a bed of soft pine
needles, and observed, “I gotta deal with the real threat. Dugan,
what’s the current status of threats against my safety?”

“Level One: Gideon’s Army. Unidentified hackers
into your satellite communications. Successfully thwarted. Level
Two: The man who accosted us in the cave was last seen fleeing
southward across the valley.”

“Who saw him fleeing?” He guessed Dugan’s answer
before it was uttered by the CCR.

“Es reported this to me and I have confirmed it
by downloading her video inputs of the incident? Do you wish to
view it?”

Nate downloaded Es’s visuals. They confirmed
that she was caught between pursuing him on foot or rescuing her
floundering, near-frozen compatriots. The visuals confirmed she had
fired a laser rifle at him, deftly called the local office of Royal
Mounted Police, and then very quickly slid down the embankment and
into the frigid water. The visuals also showed that Browning
escaped unharmed.

Nate sighed. “Any Level Three threats?”

“Negative. There is no security breach in a
three hundred meter diameter from your current position.” Dugan was
unable to detect the subtle hint Nate dropped, so he pushed forward
more directly.

“Does Es present any danger to me?”

“Es presents no threat. Es is a protector.”
Dugan’s tail wagged slightly.

He kneeled beside his canine companion. Nate had
always been certain that Dugan was his best protection. He gazed
into the robotic eyes of Dugan and wondered how blind his faith was
in the CCR. “Are you sure Es is okay?”

“Yes.”

With a dumbfounded look he shook his head and
stared out into the lake. “What’s with her dang head movements? It
drives me crazy,” he muttered to himself.

“Nutations,” answered Dugan.

“What?”

“Transhumans’ programming includes autonomic
modifications to constantly monitor their environment. Nutations
are the computer-controlled head movements that allow them to scan
for danger. Upon conscious command they can be turned off, for
example, during sleep. However, transhumans do not require
substantial sleep.”

“I suppose you also can tell me how she seems to
sneak up on me? Has she morphed into a chameleon?”

“I have not conversed with her on this topic.
However, the most advanced transhumans utilize stealth
technology.”

“Stealth technology?”

“Nanotechnology has recently been able to render
metamaterials with a negative index of refraction that guides light
around objects. This was not possible until recently when
scientists were able to overcome—”

“Well, full of answers as usual, aren’t you.” He
half-smiled and patted Dugan on the head. “But those nutations
still drive me crazy. I guess it should also make me feel
safer.”

Still rather doubtful, he manually still checked
out the security settings in Dugan. All was in order, as the CCR
had reported. He snapped shut the monitor cover on Dugan’s
side.

Dugan turned around and faced him. Staring
directly into his owner’s face, he asked, “Why are you afraid of
Es? Es is my friend.”

“Your friend? I wish I knew more about you and
Es. It’s not Es per se, it’s the violence that so many transhumans
do .” He hopped to his feet and sighed, mentally dreading what he
had to do next. “So let’s go talk to your friend.”

“So help me trust you Talashia,” asked Nate a
moment later, back inside the cabin. Why have you been following
us?”

“As stated before, for your protection.”

“But who sent you?”

“Nobody actually sent me. I came here
freely.”

“Come on, you’re playing with words. You’d have
me believe that by mere happenstance you and Dugan met on the
information superhighway? Who employs you?”

The transhuman was silent. Her head slowly
turned toward the right, stopped at a forty-five degree angle, then
did the same on the left side.

“Telling us more about you would certainly be
helpful,” encouraged Campbell, keeping a deft finger on the RVT
inside her blanket.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot supply that
information.”

“More secrecy!” retorted Nate. “You can’t have
it both ways. You want me to trust you. You somehow have convinced
Dugan and Campbell that your motives are pure. But you don’t want
to level with me. Well, thanks for your help. Thanks for saving my
life. But your job here is over, so you can go,” he said
dismissively. Then he folded his arms defiantly.

“Cut the sarcasm,” Campbell stated pointedly.
“Why don’t you explain your mission to her first?”

“And potentially compromise our safety?” he
bellowed in return.

“I already know about your mission,” replied Es.
“It is to find the formula that was left here by Dr. Hilliard.”

“Oh, I see.” His eyes opened wide. “I shouldn’t
be too surprised. You seem to know just about everything else. And
you pulled that information from who?”

“I culled the same sources as you: the writings
of Dr. Hilliard.”

“Really?” said Nate scornfully. “And you came
here completely on your own with no accomplices? Then you chased
the man in the cave away all by yourself? You and Browning showing
up at nearly the same time? Pretty coincidental, don’t ya
think?”

“You could have become a lawyer, Skip.”

He was in no mood for levity. “Are you going to
answer the question?”

“I came unassisted. Transhumans are very
resourceful.”

Nate knew what that meant: incredible robotic
strength, advanced weaponry, and nano-technological implants.
“Yeah, I’ve still got several bruised ribs to testify about TH
resourcefulness. You’ve not even answered a simple question. So
again, thanks for your help, but Dugan and I can handle it from
here.”

“Skip, if I could tell you who sent me, I
would.”

“Ah, you lied then!”

She sighed. “I have an implant that prevents me
from identifying your benefactor. I am not here as a soldier but as
a protector. You are in great danger and will continue to be. I
certainly don’t know everything about you. All I was aware of was
the need to get to this location to protect you. I clearly saved
your life in the lake. I am not asking for appreciation but simply
acknowledgement and acceptance of my continued role in your
travels. I am greatly disappointed that you don’t trust me.” A
pained look crossed her face, the closest yet she had come to
expressing emotion.

He rubbed his forehead. “God, I’m so confused.”
She’s surely correct about the dangers lurking out
there
.

A moment later Dugan confirmed that Es did
indeed have a software patch that would administer pain if efforts
to thwart it occurred.

He made his way for the door as Campbell started
after him. “Don’t follow me! I’m not running away,” he said firmly,
raising his hand. He exited the door and headed for the
lakefront.

Campbell fingered the RVT beneath her clothing.
She muttered, “Stubborn, driven, unyielding jerk.”

“Traits not so unlike yourself,” replied a bold
Es. “And he is the same highly principled man I knew in the early
days of the Alpha Group. He sees the bigger picture, and feels
responsible for it. His religious faith is a good fit. And now his
mission to find the formula is a logical extension of his faith and
sense of responsibility. Your grandfather would be very proud of
him.”

“And you also know who I am? Does anything get
by you?”

“It is my job. Your demeanor suggests that you
fully trust my motives. And I believe that you would have
eventually arrived at the same conclusion even without you
utilizing your assessment tool.”

Campbell’s face grew beet red. She choked down a
nervous gulp. An innermost secret had been laid bare. At that
moment, she fully appreciated the resourcefulness of
transhumans.

“The changes to my body, especially the robotic
eye, can intimidate even the most hardened humans.”

“So how did you discover my scanner?” asked a
sheepish Campbell.

“I constantly gather data, much like Dugan does.
In fact it is no secret that I want to become more like a creature
such as Dugan. Anyway the radio waves emanating were of a strange
frequency. Brief research was conducted and I deduced that you
might be monitoring something in the brain to deduce one’s motives.
It was only a hypothesis. You just freely confirmed it.”

Campbell realized she had just lost a head game
to the transhuman. “You don’t miss much. But I guess we’ve already
established that.”

“Yes, doctor. Full and constant awareness is
necessary for survival. If I remain with you, perhaps you could
someday tell me more about your scanner.”

“Um, sure. That is if Nate wants you to stay.
Would you really leave if he orders it?”

“Of course.”

Campbell smiled coyly. “But you’d hang around on
the periphery, wouldn’t you?”

The slightest sparkle emanated from behind Es’s
metallic eye.

Suddenly Campbell felt even more secure in Es’
presence. “I hope he can set aside emotions and prejudices and
reach the rational conclusion. I really let him have a piece of my
mind out there on the trail.”

“He will reach the best conclusion he can.”

* * * * * *

Nate sat at the water’s edge, struggling to
focus. He called up his recently downloaded copy of the
controversial report from the Global Diversity & Sustainability
Project. Although its members were forced underground and their
research much maligned, the worldwide Net couldn’t stop its
dissemination. A very familiar voice reiterated the latest report
into Nate’s listening ear:

…
For over fifty years global warming has
remained
the
inconvenient reality facing
humankind. And since our first report in 2024, we have continually
confronted humankind with that reality, that is, an ice age will
soon cover the earth if humanity fails to rein in the effects of
human-induced global warming.

The current status is, unfortunately, a grim
one for Planet Earth’s health and the intricately woven web of
sustainability for all her inhabitants. Very little progress in
postponing the End-Date ice age scenario has been attained since
our last update in 2054. Therefore our forecast for the onset of
these catastrophic ecological changes remains fixed at the year
2076 +/- three years.

On the plus side, the past decade has seen a
rise in national budgets of nearly fifteen percent in
eco-sustainable infrastructure, while suicide rates have been
reduced by over twenty-five percent across sub-Saharan Africa and
over twenty percent in western Asia and Oceania. Additionally, the
rate of rapid-growth genetically-enhanced forests has increased by
an astonishing eighteen percent in North and South America.

Other developments, however, essentially
negate the above net gains. Business consortiums successfully
lobbied to boycott any sponsorship of the 2056 GDSP conference in
Kenya.

Despite the vehemence of these critics—who
refuse to accept reality—our computer modeling continues its
rigorousness and accuracy, verifying our bold predictions. But
despite the business and political forces who have constantly
sought to denigrate and even destroy this report, each person who
reads OR HEARS these words is a testament to the will of the people
to know the truth, however perilous, about the state of our
world…

The download was interrupted by a Net call.
“Sister Mariah, I need to make a very important decision. Can I
trust an old friend who has changed?” Nate stood at the water’s
edge. The visual image of Sister Mariah from her office in England
was crystal clear on his implanted monitor glasses.