The Genie and the Engineer 3: Ravages of War (28 page)

“That’s it in a nutshell, yes,” Daneel 10 agreed with a sad
smile. “I think you have no choice, Dad, but to assume that he has them in hand
and can arm and detonate them whenever he chooses.”

Paul turned to Daneel 1. “Have you started search teams
yet?”

The Scottie nodded. “There are two entire divisions now in
low Earth orbit and portions of a third. Of course, it would be easier if we
knew which cities to search.”

Paul sat and thought a few moments. “We need more manpower
than that. And even then, it will take time to be thorough.”

“True, Dad,” responded Daneel 1. “But I need your
authorization to release the other units for the search effort.”

Paul turned back to Capie. “I apologize, dear. But we will
probably need every Scottie to search for these warheads, including the units
in Africa.”

She grimaced. “I understand completely. Do what you have
to.”

“Daneel,” Paul said. “If we put every Scottie into the
search effort, how long will it take to search every large city in the world
for nuclear warheads?”

“According to our preliminary calculations, roughly 3.5
days, Dad,” the Scottie replied. “And that is only searching cities with
populations of more than 500,000 people. If we could do active scanning, such
as we used on Mars when we were looking for titanium and beryllium, we could
search the entire world in less than two hours.”

“But that would require an active scan,” Paul pointed out,
shifting uneasily in his chair. “And it would be detectable and would alert
Clarke. They would likely detonate at least one and possibly more of those
warheads, to make us back off.”

“Yes, that is what we surmised could happen when we ran the
war-game scenarios back on Mars,” Daneel I acknowledged.

“Please refine your calculations,” Paul requested, weighing
his words carefully. “I think we should put out the necessary instructions and
get everyone into space and start the search. Everybody except 1st Battalion, 4th
Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps. I would like to borrow them for a few hours,
at least. You can have them back later.”

“What are you going to do?” Capie asked him, a puzzled frown
on her face.

“We need to buy some time,” Paul answered her, reaching out
to take her hand. “I’m afraid you are not going to like my plan. For that
matter, even I don’t like it, but I don’t see many acceptable alternatives.”

Ω

The search method they referred to in the Situation Room,
the method that the Scotties would be using to look for hidden nuclear
warheads, was one they had developed during their war-game simulations back on
Mars. They owed credit to Gerty 2 (2009 film
Moon
), one of several of
their experts on nuclear engineering.

In her self-education on all things nuclear, Gerty 2 un-earthed
a scientific discovery made at Purdue University, namely that the rate of decay
of radioactive materials was not a constant, despite what Paul had been taught
at high school and in college. Researchers at Purdue noted that the radioactive
decay rates of silicon 32 and radium 226 were a smidgen higher during the day
versus at night, and slightly higher when the Earth was closer in its
elliptical orbit to the Sun than when it was father away.

Their theory, which the Scotties had laboriously confirmed,
was that solar neutrinos were responsible. Variations in neutrino flux were
determined to be the cause for a slight but measureable change in the decay
rate of radioactive materials. It was this principle that the Scotties would
exploit in their search technique for
Errabêlu
’s alleged nuclear
weapons.

Neutrinos were nearly massless particles which only weakly
interact with ordinary matter. Indeed, according to one scientific estimate
Paul had once read, an average low-energy neutrino could safely sail completely
through 50 light-years of solid lead! How neutrinos, which had so little interaction
with normal matter, somehow affected radioactive decay rates was a complete
mystery to Earth’s physicists. And, too, for the Scotties as well. However, the
process didn’t need to be understood in order to exploit it.

1st Brigade, 1st Division of II Corps were the first
Scotties to move into search position, 360 miles directly over the Dodger
Stadium, virtually dead center of the city of Los Angeles. The 360 mile
distance put the Scotties as close to any
Errabêlu
wizards on the
Earth’s surface as Paul dared allow them to be, lest the brigade’s presence be
otherwise detected.

The Scotties spread out horizontally, spacing themselves a
distance of 60 feet from each other, creating a huge circular disk. By way of
WiFi connections, they coordinated creating a huge portal, reaching outward 4.3
miles in diameter.

The portal they created was very specific in intent. One end
of the portal reached out, in a direct line with the sun, to a point just
inside the orbit of Venus, 43.8 million miles from Earth. The spell which
created the portal was highly singular, intentionally cast to allow only one
type of matter to transit through: solar neutrinos. Nothing else, not even
photons or radiation, was permitted. The level of solar neutrino flux at Venus
was double that of Earth. Added to the normal neutrino flow arriving at Earth,
the solar neutrinos coming through the portal tripled the amount now raining
down on Dodger Stadium and the immediate area.

The Scotties reached out and cast a second spell, which
created a giant convex lens around themselves. Again, the spell was very
specific and affected only solar neutrinos. Adjusting the focal point of the lens,
they were able to further concentrate the neutrino flux so that at ground level
around the stadium, in a circle one mile in diameter, the flux level was 840%
of normal. Outside the circle, the flux level dropped to zero, out to a
diameter of 4 miles, under the “shadow” of the convex lens.

Inside the one mile circle, every radioactive element
responded to the 840% increase in solar neutrinos by doubling its rate of
decay, emitting twice as many gamma rays, neutrons, alpha particles and what
not as normal.

2nd Brigade, 1st Division of II Corps arrived after 1st
Brigade was fully in place, and like the 1st Brigade, the Scotties of 2nd
Brigade formed a large circle as well, their formation centered around the
convex lens of 1st Brigade but fifty feet closer to Earth. 2nd Brigade spread
themselves out 50 yards apart, their much larger configuration 50 miles in
diameter. They too cast a spell, forming a field designed to detect the
emission of anti-neutrinos. This field, which had a very narrow beam-width, was
aimed at the heart of the one mile circle of 1st Brigade’s target, where the
solar neutrinos were focused. All of the Scotties of 2nd Brigade were also
linked together by WiFi. It was their job to closely monitor any anti-neutrinos
emanating from that one mile circle. Under normal circumstances there would be
some few detected, perhaps a couple of hundred such anti-neutrinos per second.
For all intents and purposes, this would be nothing more than background
radiation.

Unless and until that circle of solar neutrinos encountered
a nuclear warhead. The solar neutrino beam would go right through the lead and
steel casing of the warhead itself, just as easily as neutrinos passed through
the center of the Earth (or 50 light years of lead). But the neutrinos would
greatly increase the decay rate of the warhead’s plutonium 239, the uranium 235,
and the tritium in the core. Oh, not enough to exceed critical mass. The
consequences of that event would be disastrous indeed! But, by Gerty 2’s calculations,
due to the two-stage design of all U.S. and Soviet warheads, the radioactive
decay of the plutonium 239 could be safely doubled without triggering the
device itself.

No, the increased output of the radioactive materials inside
the device could not pierce the bomb casing to the point that the Scotties
could detect it. It could, of course, be argued that the increase in decay rate
could be detected if at least one Scottie could make his way to within a few
yards of the warhead’s location. But, in reality, this risk wasn’t necessary.
During the radioactive decay process of both the warhead’s plutonium and uranium
components, six anti-neutrinos would be released for every fission event. And
anti-neutrinos were just as influenced by matter as were neutrinos, which was
to say, virtually not at all. The anti-neutrinos would escape the warhead,
passing right through the casing as easily as the solar neutrinos did entering
it.

The increased level of the anti-neutrinos, of course, would
be instantly seen by 2nd Brigade. The anti-neutrino flux level would go up from
only a couple hundred per second to tens of thousands per second. The change in
that flux level would alert both 1st and 2nd Brigades that they had
successfully located a nuclear warhead.

This was their search plan, the one they tested
efficaciously on Mars several times. The most consequential advantage it
provided was to allow detection of nuclear warheads from Earth orbit, hundreds
of miles away and without any of the wizards on Earth knowing that such a
search was even being conducted at all.

Unfortunately, the disadvantage to the search plan was time.
The solar neutrino search “beam” was only a mile in diameter. The Scottie
brigades would, of course, synchronously move above the city, conducting a
spiral search pattern outwardly from city center toward the suburbs, moving the
search beam at roughly 120 mile/hr. Even at that speed, it would take nearly an
hour to conduct a complete search of a medium sized city such as Bakersfield or
Colorado Springs. Cities the size of Los Angeles, with all the additional
metropolitan sprawl beyond its city limits, would consume a lot more time.

And given the number of cities on Earth to search, even with
50,000 Scotties, the search would take days to conduct. A lot more time than
was available.

The Saint Elias Mountains, Canada

Mount Logan Facility

Situation Room

Friday, 9:16 a.m. PDT

May

“S
tatus
update?” Paul asked in a quiet voice.

“I just checked, Dad. We have twelve search teams in
operation now,” Daneel 1’s face on the front of his cube replied. “The good
news is that Team 6 found what looks to be a 550 kiloton warhead buried in the backyard
of an empty residence on West L Avenue in Lancaster, California.”

“Kudos to Team 6,” Paul said, smiling grimly. “And in Los
Angeles?”

“That’s the bad news,” Daneel 1 sighed sadly. “We’ve barely
scratched the surface there. And we’ve lost the effective search angle from the
solar neutrinos in that time zone. The search teams have moved on to Anchorage,
Honolulu, Auckland, Sidney, Tokyo and points west.”

Capie stepped over to Paul and squeezed his arm, lending him
moral support.

“We don’t have much time,” Daneel 1 pointed out dolefully.
“Just what did you want from 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Division, II
Corps, if I might ask?”

Paul sighed and scratched an earlobe. “Before I answer your
question, Daneel 1, I need to talk to Rommie 451 first. See if she is available
and, if so, put her on a display screen here.”

Daneel 1 only needed a few seconds in order to contact her. Rommie’s
image popped up on a standard sized display only a few seconds after that.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, her holographic face smiling. “What can
I do for you?”

“Do you have any further updates on Hamadi or Yuan?” Paul
asked, scratching his chin with one hand.

“Nothing since yesterday’s report,” she replied casually.
“Both ex-wizards have been repeatedly tested. They show no signs of magical
powers at all now. And they don’t seem to be suffering any side effects, at
least not anymore they aren’t. But we were right about the headaches! When they
woke up, they cried in agony for over an hour! Oh, and now they are both in a
deep blue funk. But that’s not an effect of the surgery; they’re depressed
because they lost their powers.”

“And you still have them on Suicide watches?” Capie asked.

“Yep. Mom, we’ve had to stop Yuan from killing himself twice
now. He’s a real basket case, he is. Won’t eat, not even when we cast a hunger
spell on him. I’d be surprised if he lasts a week out in the real world.”

Capie grinned maliciously. “My heart bleeds.”

Rommie laughed. “Since good old Yuan participated in the
communist purges of the early 1950’s, where millions of Normals were killed, I
just can’t seem to find it in my heart to feel sorry for the scumbag.”

Paul crisply nodded, with a deep gratifying sigh. “Based on
what you know now, is the conversion process a success?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Rommie 451 crowed.

“And can you start converting the other wizards?”

“Yep. Whenever you want.”

Paul turned to Daneel 1. “Send the 3rd Brigade, 1st
Division, 1st Corps to Azkaban Prison. I want all of our captured
Errabêlu
wizards converted to Normals before the Saturday deadline. Convert them but
keep them unconscious until I call for them.”

Daneel 1 and Capie both grinned. “I don’t know what you are
planning, Dad,” Daneel 1 said, “but I like it already.”

Ω

“I can’t let you do it!” screamed Capie, practically in
Paul’s face, hers clouded with anger and despair. “Our child needs a father!
And I need you too! You can’t sacrifice yourself this way! You just
can’t
!”

She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and
gripping him tightly, crying uncontrollably.

Paul sighed, brushing her hair with his right hand and
waiting for her to get control of herself again. He could see that all the
Scotties in the room were more than a bit emotional as well, just a tad more
restrained about it.

“No one said anything about a sacrifice,” Paul said calmly
and in a reassuring voice. “The Scotties will be closely watching me.”

“Don’t
lie
to me, Paul Armstead! You will be in his
hands, without a talisman! He could kill you any time he chooses to do so and
the Scotties couldn’t prevent it!” she spat out at him. “Don’t do this!”

Paul held her tightly to him. “You know the score, honey. So
far the Scottie Search Teams have found eight nuclear warheads. Lancaster,
Auckland, Sidney, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi, and Jerusalem. At the rate
that they are going, it will take a few more hours to finish searching cities
over a million in population. And another two days to search those over a half
million.” Paul sighed again, recognizing her anxiety and fear, feeling frustrated
himself that he could not take those feelings away from her. “If we only knew
how many bombs he has…but we don’t. We have to find a way to stall him, to buy
more time for the Scotties to finish their search.”

“Paul?” she asked, the pain in her voice causing him to
wince. “Please, Paul! Don’t do this! Don’t surrender to him! He’ll kill you!
And what will happen to the war then and the Plan, hey? It’ll be over with
then! We need you! All of Earth needs you!” 

“One man? Worth more than who knows how many cities of
innocent people?” Paul asked, the anguish in his voice plain for everyone in
the room to hear. “Is that what you are saying?”

“It’s true and you know it!” she snarled.

“He won’t kill me!” Paul countered, his voice quaking with
suppressed emotion. “He will demand a lot of information first. The secret of isotopes,
the secret of how to turn Normals to wizards and wizards back to Normals. And
how to move through solid matter. Those secrets will take time for me to
explain. And while I am explaining how it all works, he won’t be detonating any
bombs. After all, he wants to take back control of all the Earth. It really
isn’t in his interests to set off any of those bombs, not if I don’t force him
to do so.”

“I can’t believe you would so willingly surrender this way!”
she cried in frustration, more tears running down her cheeks.

“If he detonated a single warhead, then I would have
millions of deaths on my head,” Paul explained quietly, though his heart was
breaking. “I couldn’t live with that on my conscience. Not when I can do this.
I know I can do this! All we need to do is buy another 24 to 36 hours.”

“No!” she sobbed quietly, her head on his chest, her tears
soaking through his shirt.

“I will make you a promise,” Paul assured her with the most
confident voice that he was able to generate. “The moment it appears that my
life is truly in danger, I will signal the Scotties to move in and rescue me.
You know how fast they can move. You’ve seen them. Trust me, darling, please! I
want to live too! There is so much to live for! I promise I won’t let them kill
me. This is just another ruse on my part, a rather clever one if I do say so
myself.”

“Paul Thomas Armstead, if you get yourself killed, I will
never forgive you, you dolt!” she cried, again losing her emotional control.

Paul held to her tightly. Inside, the tiny voice in his head
was screaming at him that she was right and that he was doomed to die a
horrible, painful death.

Ω

The deadline of the ultimatum was nearly upon them.

“Any further word from the Search Teams?” Paul asked again,
rubbing his sweaty hands together.

“No change in the last three minutes, not since you last
asked,” Daneel 1 replied. “Twelve warheads located, the last four in Minsk,
Naples, Dublin, and New York City. We expect to find more in the United
States,” he predicted. “And it seems strange that we haven’t found any in South
America or Africa yet. I think we will.”

Capie reached out to hug him tightly again. “Check your
transceiver once more, please?”

In Paul’s right ear, in the targus under the skin, was
implanted a miniature digital RF transceiver. Its power source was a small
battery also implanted beneath the skin, but below the right ear and behind the
jaw, near a lymph node. The battery should have enough power to transmit for a
few hours, which, hopefully, would be more than enough time. The transceiver
also used a tiny tantalum wire as an antenna, threaded under the skin down the
outside of his spinal cord to his right foot. The technology had been borrowed
from cochlear ear implants but improved upon by the Scotties.

Paul grimaced but clinched his jaw hard, activating the
transceiver. “Testing, one, two, three, four,” he said, in a monotone.

“Loud and clear,” Daneel’s tinny voice sounded in his ear.
At least, it sounded to Paul like it was in his ear.

“Working fine,” he reported to Capie, gently smiling at her,
doing his best to keep up his façade of confidence.

A portal opened up and the unconscious bodies of Yuan Wu and
Akbar Hamadi floated through, closely followed by Rommie 451.

“They’re all ready to go,” she reported. “Doped up enough to
keep them asleep for about a day, more or less. Can’t do better than that
without endangering their lives.”

“And the rest of the wizards?” Capie asked, still trying to
hold back her tears.

“We have over a hundred converted so far. We’ll have the
rest in another twelve hours or so,” Rommie 451 reported cheerfully.

A folded sheet of paper floated through the air and dropped
into Paul’s outstretched hand.

Daneel 1 nodded at the paper. “That’s the first clue set for
Yuan Wu’s and Hamadi’s bodies. We’ll have them in place shortly.”

“Thanks, that will be sufficient, I believe,” Paul replied,
anxiety gnawing away at his thin disguise of courage. He tucked the paper in
his shirt pocket, turned again to Capie, hugging her tightly again, perhaps for
the very last time.

“I promise everything will be fine,” he said, as cheerfully
as he could manage.

“Liar,” she snapped angrily. “You just come back to me in one
piece, Paul! I need you more than words can say.”

“I will,” Paul said, letting go of her. He pulled his
talisman from his arm and handed it to her. “Keep this for me, until I get
back.”

Somehow, he found the mettle to nod to Daneel 1. “It’s
time.”