I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel (22 page)

He took the time to look around, and he saw the layout of the maze. He saw that he was closer to the right side of the maze than the end.

He gave one final look to the crazed woman hissing and spitting at him, and he began to balance himself with his feet one behind the other.

He walked the wall like a tightrope and bid a fond farewell to his grotesque pursuer. It was just like Victory Tower. Only instead of being fifty feet up in the air with the clock chasing him, he had a crazed woman chasing him.

He kept his cool and made his way over to the right side of the Labyrinth, the woman wheezing after him through the rooms, and he jumped off the outer wall.

He landed on his side but rolled into a crouching position. As he stood
up, he looked into an exterior window as the woman threw herself against it, smearing blood and saliva on the glass with her face.

“What the
…”

He saw Sergeant Lorenzo running down the side of the maze toward him. “Private Birdsall, are you al
l right?”

“Yes, sir. What was
…”

“Meet me in the debriefing room.
”

“Sir, excuse me
…”

“In the debriefing room. That’s an order, Private.”

Carl stood up straight. “Yes, sir. Right away.”

He walked off towards the debriefing room. The whole time he wondered if this was some kind of joke. Was that woman in makeup? Was this a psychological experiment? Did she have some kind of a disease?

He reached the debriefing room, and Lockwood was already seated. Carl saluted and took a seat. Lockwood was silent.

Moments later Lorenzo barged in. Carl looked at him expectantly.

“We’re waiting for my commanding officer, the leader of the ID Program.”

Carl waited. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded in the exercise or he did something wrong. Then someone else barged in…

“Pete?”

Peter was laughing. Lorenzo also looked amused. Lockwood was still wearing his stoic expression.

“With all due respect, does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

Peter put his arms out, and Carl stood up. Peter hugged him. “Hello, Carl.”

Lorenzo gestured with his hand toward Peter. “May I introduce Lieutenant Peter Birdsall, leader of the Insidious Drone Program?”

Carl was confused. He was surprised to see Peter, and he sure as shit wasn’t sure if he just heard what Lorenzo said correctly. The
Insidious Drone Program?

“I-I don’t understand.”

“Holy shit, Carl. We’ve never seen anyone handle the orientation exercise in quite that way.”

“You said he was sharp, Lieutenant,” Lorenzo said.

“Wh-what orientation exercise? What was that?”

“That, Carl, was an ID, or an Insidious Drone, an undead soldier,” Peter announced with no small amount of pride.

“Un…dead? Like a zombie?”

“Yes, Carl. Exactly like a zombie.”

Carl looked around and wondered if he was on the set of a reality show. “This is a joke…right?”

“No joke, Carl. This is the latest in drone technology.”

“Drone? That was a drone?”

“Yes. It’s a long story. It’s a virus that causes the reanimation of dead cells. The result is a condition called Kluver-Bucy Syndrome.”

“Kluver…”

“Bucy. It’s caused by lesions in the amygdala that cause hyper aggression and sexuality.”

“Hyper…”

“The girl was my touch,” Lorenzo chimed in. “The
Lieutenant told me you were afraid of women.”

“I-I’m not afraid of women.”

Peter put his hand on Carl’s shoulder. “Carl, they are the perfect soldiers. They don’t have to be fed, there’s no dehydration, and they’re relentless. All you have to do is drop several dozen of these suckers into a cave and they’ll swarm any terrorist hideout.”

Carl sat back down in his seat. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. This was all a little too much.

“So you’re telling me that the United States Army is using zombies to smoke terrorists out of caves? It sounds like a bad sci-fi movie.”

“What gave you the idea to cross the maze on top?”

Carl wasn’t sure who asked the question. It was Lockwood. In fact, it was the first thing the man said since they entered the debriefing room.

“Pete and I used to go to these corn mazes every autumn growing up. One we went to had two crosswalks overlooking the maze, giving you a chance to get your bearings and figure out the pattern. In this
case, I figured out in the maze that it was a fractal pattern. But when I got up top, I saw I was close enough to the edge of the maze, so I hopped over.”

Lockwood’s stoic expression gave way to something else. If Carl wasn’t mistaken, he would’ve sworn the man was impressed.

Peter smiled in recognition. “Yeah, I remember that maze. Good thinking, bro. See, I told you guys he was smart.”

The rest of the day Carl was given a full tour of the program. He was introduced to Farrow, who demonstrated the technology and the role of a SWEEPER. Lockwood then introduced him to the weapons.

They returned to the debriefing room where the rest of the program was explained to him. They described the discoveries and progress made over months of training exercises: the ID squads and multiple AI kill switches, the pigs, the dogs, formations, extraction, and the humpers.

The next day Carl was integrated into his first training exercise. He swung along the side of the target structure scanning the inside and tracking the ID, confirming the neutralization of targets.

He was a quick learner and fell right into where the platoon was at in their progress. His role was simple but crucial, and he was thankful that he never had to get too close to any of the ID.

They gave him the
creeps, but that was the point. It wasn’t just their heartiness and their ability to swarm the enemy. They induced terror, which was intended to disorient the targets making them easier to catch. The neutralization wasn’t very humane, but then again, they were terrorists.

Nevertheless,
Carl was happy to be with his brother, and he was quite fascinated with the technology. He meshed well with Farrow and fed him plenty of ideas, many of which were utilized. He felt part of an important effort in combating terrorists.

After what they did to his poor mother, he welcomed any new application that would allow them to reach the terrorists sitting snugly in the depths of their hiding spots
, confident that authorities would never reach them. He relished the prospect of testing the ID out.

He was introduced to Major Lewis, who only regarded him tangentially, and of
course, Captain London.

“I believe you two have already met,” Peter teased.

Captain London shot Peter a dirty look. “Hello, Carl.”

Carl’s heart was in his throat.

“Say hello, Carl,” Peter needled.

“Hello, C-Captain London.”

She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Maybe it was the uniform.

“Please, everyone calls me Fiona or Doc. I’m available for a session any time you want to talk. Most of the soldiers in the ID Program come to visit at some point.”

“I can see why.”

Captain London blushed at the comment as Peter stood by grinning like a wise ass.

“Oh, no, I mean because of the zombies,” Carl recovered.

“The ID,” she corrected.

“Yes, the ID.”

“Your brother has sessions regularly.”

“I’m not surprised. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby. Repeatedly.”

She barely acknowledged the joke. It was if she was trying too hard to be professional. Peter noticed.

To be honest, Carl was different from what she remembered. He was more filled out, and he carried himself a little more confidently, even if he was still bashful.

“Well, welcome to Fort Bliss, Carl.”

“Thanks, Fiona.”

She shot Peter some daggers as she walked away. Peter stood next to Carl. “Hate to see her go, but you love to watch her leave.”

Carl shoved him and walked in the other direction towards the barracks.

Peter enjoyed having his brother there. Both had gone through an awful lot, and they needed each other. Besides, he could keep an eye on
him, but he would never admit that to anyone who asked.

August 23

18:00

Peter’s com unit was flashing. He touched the screen and Major Lewis’ face appeared on screen. His expression had more gravity than usual, which was saying a lot.

“Lieutenant, you and Sergeant Lorenzo report to the debriefing room on the airfield immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Peter put on his headgear and went to find Lorenzo, but Lorenzo found him first.

“You get the message, Lieutenant?”

Peter nodded. They left the barracks in a hurry.

Carl took notice of their abrupt exit. Something was up. Peter and Lorenzo were leaving without the platoon.

When Peter and Lorenzo reached the debriefing room, Major Lewis was seated at his desk, and Lockwood was already seated. They saluted the
Major and took their seats.

Major Lewis touched the screen on his Cybernetic Digital Organizer clipboard, and it lit up.

“Our forces have pursued the Navajas into Xcaret, Mexico, where it is believed that they are operating out of a rather large cenote on the outskirts of a popular tourist area.”

He touched the screen of his clipboard and a map of Xcaret projected on the screen behind him.

“As you can see, the location of the cenote is in immediate proximity to three hotels and a wildlife park, which is why our forces cannot engage in traditional fashion. The Navajas have rendezvoused with Order for International Liberation, who is believed to be serving as security detail for the operation.”

He touched the screen again and several satellite photos of Navajas and O.I.L. flashed up on the wall behind him.

“They are unaware that we have located their position, so we have the element of surprise. All the more reason why your detail is perfect for this operation. Minimum gunfire. Just let the ID do what they do best.”

“What about the Mexican government?” Peter asked. “If they could evacuate the nearby hotels
, it would free us up.”

“Too risky,” Major Lewis stated. “An evacuation of the three hotels would likely tip off the Navajas that their location has been compromised.”

Peter nodded his understanding. Major Lewis continued. “You will take your platoon in with four Black Hawks. You’ll be armed with a combination of the electronic ignition shotguns and automatic weapons to cover the ID and address any flank attacks.”

He touched his clipboard screen again and coordinates appeared on the map.

“You will be dropped here under the cover of night, on the outskirts of the tourist area. You will make your way to the drop site here…”

He cued up more coordinates.

“…where three Chinooks will deliver three standard forty-foot shipping crates filled with a total of ninety ID, thirty per crate.”

He pointed on the screen behind him.

“You will cross the terrain with the ID and locate the cenote. You will then funnel the ID into the cenote, and they will neutralize the targets. A small fleet of Blackhawks with smaller crates as sling load will lower the crates into the cenote, and you will begin extraction.”

Peter looked at Lorenzo excitedly. This was the first mission of the Insidious Drone platoon. They had been training for this very moment for months.

“There’s one complication…”

All attention was back on Major Lewis.

“In twenty-four hours, there’s going to be a hurricane entering the region, a real nasty one. They’re talking a possible category four. Drop-off, neutralization, and extraction have to occur well within this time window. If we wait till after the storm has passed, the Navajas and their O.I.L. escort will have likely relocated, slipping through our fingers.”

“Why isn’t the Mexican government evacuating the hotels?” Peter asked.

“They’ve evacuated Cancun, but they figure the elevation and topography of Xcaret will mitigate any threats from the storm. Each hotel has a concrete convention center where guests will be moved to for shelter-in-place.”

Major Lewis turned off his clipboard.

“This will be the first mission of the ID Program. This is what you’ve been training for. Sergeant Lockwood will accompany you as an observer. Any questions?”

Peter and Lorenzo shook their heads.

“Assemble the platoon in Hangar Two. You mobilize in one hour. Good luck, gentleman.”

Peter, Lorenzo, and Lockwood stepped smartly out of the debriefing room to assemble the men.