Uplift (14 page)

****

Sandy Withrow was enjoying the flush after an energetic lovemaking session with an employee at one of her resort homes. This assignation was at Whalehead Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Her lover had already left – an up, and coming executive at Sigma Max. She thought she heard a noise, but then felt a shock.

She came around a few minutes later realizing that it was cold, and she was naked – hanging in mid-air at the end of her pier. As soon as she started struggling she was dropped into the icy salt water. She swallowed some water, and fought her way to the surface, and looked around. She saw nothing, as the waves were too high to get to any ladder. She swam the short distance to the rocky shore, and just lay there panting. What was happening? Someone was trying to kill her. Patterson was doing this. How did he find out? Well, at least it didn’t work. She started to push herself out of the pebbles, and felt another searing shock.

When she regained consciousness she was hanging from her ankles. She could feel someone gripping her ankles enough to hold her, but padded somehow so not to bruise her. She held immobile while she regained her senses. What could she do? She couldn’t see anyone. “You don’t have to do this? Do you want a confession? Nothing would stand up in court – it is under duress. This is illegal,” she said, and heard a deep laugh.

“We can do this all night. This is going to end badly for you, your daughter Emily, your brother, his family, and children – your niece, and nephew. Your genome will be erased from the planet if you ever plan anything again – anything,” said the deep voice.

She started to say something when she was suddenly falling into the icy water again. She choked, and spit the water out of her nose, and mouth, and flailed her way to the beach again. She lay there gasping, and started to get up when the searing shock hit her again, and she lost consciousness.

Sandy slowly came to, and found herself in bed with her business clothes laid out on the chaise lounge for her workday tomorrow. Her ankles, and shoulders were sore so it couldn’t have been a dream. She didn’t have any sand on her – her security system was on, and showed she had been home all night. That was more frightening than she imagined – no one would know. She’d be gone, and she knew that the power behind that voice would erase all her family if she ever did anything toward Patterson again. How did they find out about her daughter, Emily? That was her most closely guarded secret. She would discourage anyone trying something against Richard Patterson – she knew he was a soldier, but who knew he could do this? She did now.

People’s Liberation Army HQ – Beijing, China

General Zhang Wei’s aide was reported missing twenty-four hours after the attack on Richard Patterson. His remains were identified from DNA two days later. The body had evidently been fed into a forestry chipper truck about forty-five kilometers from his apartment. No one had seen any vehicle, and it was too far for anyone to walk, or be carried such a distance. The photos on General’s Wei’s desk gave him the message. A smiling close-up photo of his wife, and two sons looked like they had been taken on a family outing. The photos were in stock frames the same make, and brand as others on his desk. He hadn’t taken the photos, or placed them on his desk. They appeared on the same day his aide’s body was identified. He would not pursue any other actions against Richard Patterson, and would discourage others to do so.

  Wake County Jail – Raleigh, North Carolina

The four attackers fell ill about the same time. They had somehow contracted a virulent form of Listeria monocytogenes, a rare, and antibiotic resistant bacterial disease. It was traced to a food delivery – requested – evidently by Sigma Max for their former employees, and high officials in the sheriff’s department who allowed the delivery. The four men recovered, but would be debilitated for life.

Phase III, Corey said.

I give. What is phase three? The education programs do not work on a third of the people. Isn’t the common denominator that those people are dumb as rocks?

Politicians? Bureaucrats? (Laughter)

Very funny…I’m serious Corey. What is Phase III? The nanites are fine. The power generators are busy making many jobs obsolete. The weapons are decent. The shields are getting more refined every day – and stronger. Are the shields some sort of Horde technology?

Yes. The shields are technology we recovered from the Horde. They didn’t invent it. They enslave smart people, and make them produce, or die. They take whatever resources they need, and eradicate everything else: beings, minerals, technology, water …everything.
The next phase will kill off many… because of genetic manipulation of food supplies, and disease prevention.

But we’re already doing that, Richard thought.

Exactly…but the drug companies are focusing on making money for corporations. No matter how benevolent a corporation begins, the shareholders will demand profit. They demand a return on their investments – rapidly – not over decades. Quarterly returns at best – yearly returns, or heads roll. Large agricultural firms sell seeds to farmers that can stand up to the pesticides, and fungicides the companies sell. The pesticides, and chemicals get stronger because the insects, disease, and fungi evolve, and become resistant. The chemicals enter the food chain through soil, water, produce, and meats. The chemicals enter the bodies of water, and damage the ecosystems of fresh, and salt water…they accumulate.
Corey continued.
Farmers are not allowed to replant the seeds they buy. They have to buy new seeds every year. They can’t take the seeds from the best products to grow more next season.
Thank your Supreme Court for that.

How do we stop that? I don’t know anything about farming. I knew as soon as I said that I’d get a data dump, and sure enough, even the index of knowledge was huge. I suppose I took courses in agriculture, and organic produce production – oh – animal husbandry.

Yep
.

Okay, Mister multidimensional personality core. How do we pull off this wonder? Have I already started another company?

Actually I started a few little companies a couple of years ago. You just acquired them recently…, and that’s a hyperdimensional personality core to you…

What do my new companies do?

You acquired several thousand companies actually instead of those big ones. You have bought a couple of the big agro companies though, and you’re reforming their research, policies, and advertising. You are having them research natural resistance, and insect sterilization programs for the nastier pests, and are having some early successes with the ‘stimulation programs’ you also introduced. The thousands of small companies offer seed sharing to their communities with backing from a large philanthropic donor.

Me?

Yep. You. The media campaign is spending millions. Looks like your competition is going into some shady genetic modifications that may kill…well… billions.

Billions? I thought you were here to save my planet not kill it off yourself
.
How?

You’ve been headed there all along. These chemical companies have been poisoning your soil, water, and air for the last hundred years – now – they added genetic manipulations they barely understand, and they will kill the weakest in your world. You will need the weapons, energy, and shields plus green food supplies to survive what is coming.

How can you predict that? I don’t see the evidence. What is coming?

When is the last time you saw advertisements for tomatoes, or strawberries? Organic coffee.

Hey I saw some just the other day. First time I’ve ever seen any advertising.

That was me – that was you…your advertising. PsyOps
.

I still don’t see how the current practices will kill that many people any time soon. Grocery prices are low.

Artificially low. The genetically modified crops are all about to fail.

How many crops will fail? How could they fail?

They’ve had programming added
.

By you?

Of course… Almost all big agro crops will fail this season.

What do you predict will happen?

I predict prices will rise dramatically, and organic food will be required to be labeled properly – due to the deaths that will occur from eating the ‘geneticlly modified’ food. PsyOps will attempt to label modified foods as poisonous, or carcinogenic so no one will want to eat it.

How can survive on lessor yields?

You will learn to work cooperatively with organic waste recycling, composting, high-rise hydroponics, (you’ve seen all those plans, and our people having been building them for the last two years). Soon you’ll be able to get fresh fruits, and vegetables year round – after the crisis that is…big Agro companies will not go quietly.

So this is phase III?

Well…partly. The nanites will ‘escape’ after being stolen, and will be duplicated. They can be copied, but not upgraded. They are programmed to work only at a certain cognitive level. That is why you have one in forty failures with the soldiers. You will have MANY more failures in the general public. Oh – Carole wants to talk with you over lunch somewhere safe.

…and you know this how?

She just sent you a text. La Farm Bakery in Cary. Great soups, soufflés, sandwiches…great reviews…reasonable… You’re supposed to meet her in an hour. Send your security to screen the area?

Yes. Send them. What did she want to talk about?

She didn’t say.

****

Joshua Wilslang, as he was known currently, had been following Carole Koth for three months. Joshua had found out that Richard Patterson dated one person since he had retired from Sigma Max. One woman – neighbors had opened up to him about Richard – they all talked like they had known him personally because he had lived in their building, and now he was a big success. It was touching except he had followed this broad for weeks – now months. How mundane? Same grind, same schedule – that never varied. Get up, work, grocery store, beauty parlor, nails, doctor – same ‘ole same ‘ole.

Joshua had been hired by a conglomerate six months previously to eliminate Richard Patterson. He found he wasn’t alone in wanting to get rid of him, from the scuttlebutt – it’s just that I won’t get paid if someone else kills him. Last week there was an attempt – probably Sigma Max for some other partner. It hadn’t ended well for the attackers. They were now all brain-damaged vegetables, and no one had heard a peep from Sigma Max. Joshua knew that Big Pharma, and Big Agro had teamed up to fund his own pay. Little Carole was going to meet Richard at a local restaurant… how sweet,
he thought.  He set up
, and ordered a little something, and told the waitress he was waiting for an online date – paid her an inordinate tip to be discrete, and ordered a bowl of soup. It wasn’t bad for American food, but he’d let it grow cold.

Carole Koth was angry with Richard Patterson, but he had started all those seed resellers, and was against the agro-industry. Green products – he was a closet environmentalist…who knew? She had thought he was just into weapons, and one-night stands. Maybe there was more to him than she imagined. She was still hurt that he hadn’t called, and then when he did – he had laughed at her. She reminded herself that she was angry even though he was a terrific lover. Angry. Remember angry.

Richard’s team swept the outside lot, and building, for explosives. They then moved to cover positions. They told Richard that Carole was seated inside, with her back to the door – in the back left corner of the restaurant. Richard acknowledged, and entered. He had a team outside with blocking vehicles ready if there were ramming attempts. A missile bearing drone was overhead. He felt as militarily prepared for a date as he could. He wished he felt as sure about his mental preparation for this meeting.

                                         ****

I walked in, and walked over to the table, and sat down across from Carole. “Carole. It is so good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“Really…funny way of showing it. You spend one night with me, and then I don’t hear from you – not one word for years. I give you a second chance, and you laugh at me,” she said, and looked hurt.

She looked so good. I couldn’t say I had forgotten because I don’t forget things now since my ‘revision.’ She looked even better than I remembered.

“You know I got fired from my old job,” she said. “I have a new job working at New Hills Retirement Center. I’m a supervisor now.”