us … the Three Musketeers. Have us a heart-to-heart when we get back.’
‘I think that would be a good idea.’
Mr Pineda stepped into the wheelhouse and turned off the engine. It rattled, grumbled and coughed like a bad-tempered asthmatic, then fell silent.
‘Jay-zus … finally,’ whispered Liam.
The quiet seemed to have a volume all of its own. Almost deafening. Then into that void the subtle chirrups and stirrings of the jungle cautiously stepped in; the soothing lap and gurgle of river water against
Mrs Pineda
’s worn wooden hull.
A torch flickered around at the other end of the boat as Billy foraged for something; he found what he was after and the torch snapped off. Liam could hear the low murmur of their voices. Adam was talking to Billy. Mr Pineda seemed to be trying toengage Bob in conversation about something. It was a one-sided conversation. His goodnatured sing-song contrasted with the occasional monosyllabic rumble from Bob.
‘Maddy?’
‘Yup?’
‘You really think we’ll find an answer in that cave of Adam’s?’
‘I hope so. You know what I think?’
‘Not yet.’
‘I think there are two sides out there. There’s Waldstein, and there’s someone else. We know exactly what Waldstein wants. He wants humanity to wipe itself out in 2070. For whatever reason, good or bad … we don’t know which and we don’t know why. I think it’s safe to say he sent those killer support units because we threatened to stop doing what we were set up to do. Maybe if we could speak to him, he could explain why he wants that, and who knows, we might even agree with him. Then at least we’d be back where we were, working for him, preserving history as it is, but knowing
why
we’re doing it.’
She smiled wistfully. ‘Just like it was in the good ol’ days.’
‘Aye, that would be nice.’ Liam realized how much he missed the certainty that what they were doing was the
right
thing: the thing that was saving mankind.
‘But,’ she continued, ‘I think someone else wants something quite different. And this cave, the Voynich Manuscript, the Holy Grail and that note in San Francisco is them trying to get in touch with us, to give us
their
side of the story.’
‘Jay-zus, Maddy.’ He sighed and rubbed his temples. ‘I just about nearly caught up with yer convoluted thinking. And then you throw more notions into the pot. Do you ever give that head of yours a rest?’
‘No. I guess that’s why I’m always crabby.’
Liam laughed. Better that than to say ‘aye’.
‘Anyway, do keep up, Liam. I’m just saying that we need to hear out both sides. We need to talk to Waldstein and we need to know what that message is. Then we can finally decide what it is we should be doing. Whether we’re for, or against, the end of the world happening in 2070.’
Mr Pineda studied Bob with a wary frown. ‘You a big man. VERY big man, brudder. You a army man?’
Bob sensed the pilot was addressing him and put file-sorting on hold for the moment. ‘Clarification: are you asking me whether I am a military unit?’
Mr Pineda nodded. ‘Mil-try man, army man. Yes.’
Bob considered that for a moment. Technically speaking, he was. ‘Yes. I am.’
‘You fight in the big war?’ The pilot pointed across the moonlit river to the jungle on the far side. Nicaragua.
Prototypes of Bob’s particular batch had been tested in several combat zones. Of course, the AI was earlier-generation software, which had been prone to several glitches. There was a notorious incident of a support unit using an earlier version of his AI base code. The incident was referred to by the military as an ‘extreme blue on blue’. A unit undergoing testing in the field had somehow managed to flip friend/foe identifier tags and massacred almost an entire company of US troops as they slept in their beds.
Bob, personally, had seen plenty of combat and not malfunctioned once.
‘I have fought in many combat zones.’
Mr Pineda’s
‘I think that would be a good idea.’
Mr Pineda stepped into the wheelhouse and turned off the engine. It rattled, grumbled and coughed like a bad-tempered asthmatic, then fell silent.
‘Jay-zus … finally,’ whispered Liam.
The quiet seemed to have a volume all of its own. Almost deafening. Then into that void the subtle chirrups and stirrings of the jungle cautiously stepped in; the soothing lap and gurgle of river water against
Mrs Pineda
’s worn wooden hull.
A torch flickered around at the other end of the boat as Billy foraged for something; he found what he was after and the torch snapped off. Liam could hear the low murmur of their voices. Adam was talking to Billy. Mr Pineda seemed to be trying toengage Bob in conversation about something. It was a one-sided conversation. His goodnatured sing-song contrasted with the occasional monosyllabic rumble from Bob.
‘Maddy?’
‘Yup?’
‘You really think we’ll find an answer in that cave of Adam’s?’
‘I hope so. You know what I think?’
‘Not yet.’
‘I think there are two sides out there. There’s Waldstein, and there’s someone else. We know exactly what Waldstein wants. He wants humanity to wipe itself out in 2070. For whatever reason, good or bad … we don’t know which and we don’t know why. I think it’s safe to say he sent those killer support units because we threatened to stop doing what we were set up to do. Maybe if we could speak to him, he could explain why he wants that, and who knows, we might even agree with him. Then at least we’d be back where we were, working for him, preserving history as it is, but knowing
why
we’re doing it.’
She smiled wistfully. ‘Just like it was in the good ol’ days.’
‘Aye, that would be nice.’ Liam realized how much he missed the certainty that what they were doing was the
right
thing: the thing that was saving mankind.
‘But,’ she continued, ‘I think someone else wants something quite different. And this cave, the Voynich Manuscript, the Holy Grail and that note in San Francisco is them trying to get in touch with us, to give us
their
side of the story.’
‘Jay-zus, Maddy.’ He sighed and rubbed his temples. ‘I just about nearly caught up with yer convoluted thinking. And then you throw more notions into the pot. Do you ever give that head of yours a rest?’
‘No. I guess that’s why I’m always crabby.’
Liam laughed. Better that than to say ‘aye’.
‘Anyway, do keep up, Liam. I’m just saying that we need to hear out both sides. We need to talk to Waldstein and we need to know what that message is. Then we can finally decide what it is we should be doing. Whether we’re for, or against, the end of the world happening in 2070.’
Mr Pineda studied Bob with a wary frown. ‘You a big man. VERY big man, brudder. You a army man?’
Bob sensed the pilot was addressing him and put file-sorting on hold for the moment. ‘Clarification: are you asking me whether I am a military unit?’
Mr Pineda nodded. ‘Mil-try man, army man. Yes.’
Bob considered that for a moment. Technically speaking, he was. ‘Yes. I am.’
‘You fight in the big war?’ The pilot pointed across the moonlit river to the jungle on the far side. Nicaragua.
Prototypes of Bob’s particular batch had been tested in several combat zones. Of course, the AI was earlier-generation software, which had been prone to several glitches. There was a notorious incident of a support unit using an earlier version of his AI base code. The incident was referred to by the military as an ‘extreme blue on blue’. A unit undergoing testing in the field had somehow managed to flip friend/foe identifier tags and massacred almost an entire company of US troops as they slept in their beds.
Bob, personally, had seen plenty of combat and not malfunctioned once.
‘I have fought in many combat zones.’
Mr Pineda’s
Similar Books
