Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer) (74 page)

“Hi, um, I think I screwed up,” she said and then fainted.

...*...*...*...*...

“Sprite, I'm still not comfortable with this plan, it is beyond
dangerous,” the admiral said.

“I agree it is has some distressing implications and the misuse is
a bit terrifying for an organic...”

“But not an AI?”

“Well, since these will be coded to handle only organic tissue...
no.”

“Not even the historical precedence's bother you? You recall the
AI wars better than I do Commander.”

Sprite felt a bit of anger in her emotional pathways. She ran a
series of fast sims to calm herself. “Yes Admiral, that in a way is true.”

“Did it ever occur to either of you that this is half baked?”

“In what way?”

“I've been thinking about it. It saves the sapient organics
right?”

“Yes...”

“Sapient organics. What about all the animals?” he demanded. “You
can't exactly ask them to line up and have a shot you know.”

Sprite closed her eyes, she hadn't thought about that. She'd been
so focused on how to get it to work with the sapient population she'd
overlooked the broader picture. “You are correct. But once we have a working
prototype we can make an aerosol.”

“Oh that's lovely, it won't cover everything unless you go Von
Neumann. And no, I'm not backing that.”

“Okay...”

“Did either of you two geniuses consider attacking the source?
Fight fire with fire?”

“Fight... you mean create nanites to attack the Xeno nanites?”
Sprite asked.

“Exactly! Suicide timer, drop them on the source. Kill, gobble,
whatever is required for oh, a week, then shut down.”

“A week...”

“Or however long you AI calculate it will take.”

“What about a radio cut off switch?”

“Possible, but easy to hack. Same as your cell tower update
method. If there's a Xeno nanite in the area that picks up on it, then it can
replicate the signal and take control of the nanites.”

“I knew that. That was why we set up a thee hundred kilometer no
go zone.”

“Around Rubicon. But what about nanites in other locations?”

Sprite thought about it, running a series a simulations for a long
minute. Finally she answered. “I believe you are correct admiral, fighting fire
with fire is the better solution.”

“Really?”

“I also factored in distribution methods of the nanite shield. It
will take weeks to get it to every person on the planet, and the non-sentient
biota would still suffer.” Sprite noted the doctor initialize the quarantine in
the quarantine chamber. With fluid grace and not a hint of hesitation, she
picked up the injector with the nanites in it and applied it to her arm, right
through her suit.

“Okay.”

Sprite wondered for a moment about the human's sanity. “But
there's something else to consider. I'm afraid the good doctor has taken it out
of our hands.”

“She...”

“You need to get to the quarantine chamber now,” Sprite said.
“Right now.”

“Shit.”

Alerted to her actions, the admiral, Doctor's Salt, Ivanov, and La
Plaz raced to the quarantine chamber but arrived after she had infected
herself.

“You idiot!” Her husband raged at her through the glass. They
could hear her breathing, it was coming in as ragged gasps of pain. She was
clutching at her right arm, laying on the floor.

“We don't have time to play around. We need results,” she said.
“Human trials. I volunteered,” she said.

“And if this goes wrong? Which it is?” Sam demanded, raging at the
door. Irons grimaced, the man had mucked up the controls in his desperation to
get in. He quickly went to work, using his right arm to rewire the door.

The concentrated virus hit her hard, and she collapsed. The
nanites had only minutes to enter her system, so they are only partially
successful in stopping the virus. “Is it the nanites? Can we kill them?”

“No, the idiot....” Sam pointed to the lights. “In order to work
on samples of the virus we had to shut the ultraviolet lights off. She shut
them off,” he said.

“Damn it, her temperature is already rising. One hundred F and
climbing,” La Plaz said as the admiral got the door open. Sam brushed past the
others to get in first so he could kneel beside his fallen wife.

“Idiot!” He growled at her.

“So not helping honey,” she gasped out.

“We can't treat her in the suit,” Salt said looking down at her.

“Get her out of here,” Irons said. “Get her to the hospital.
Quarantine her,” he growled, eying her.

“I want to know what is going on? Is it the nanites?” Sam asked.
“Admiral can you check?” he demanded as a nurse came in pushing a gurney.

“I can get up,” Robby said, struggling weakly. Sam pushed her down
and looked up imploringly to the admiral.

Irons knelt and put a hand on her shoulder. He felt Proteus launch
nanites into her body, but the nanites within the doctor's body immediately put
up a fight. Before the AI withdrew he discovered the woman had been infected.

“She's infected,” Proteus reported. “And the nanites are killing
anything that enters her body, including the infection.”

“That's good right?” Sam demanded.

“I don't know.”

Irons scanned her body and then frowned. “Doctor, did you stop to
think of what this is doing to your fetus?” he asked.

Robby looked up, pale. “I'm... I'm pregnant?” her face crumpled
into tears and sobs as her husband wrapped his arm around her. She shook,
crying. “I'm sorry,” she sobbed, over and over.

The admiral sighed, stepping aside to let the nurses in.

...*...*...*...*...

Several hours later the team watched helplessly. The virus had
infected the embryo and destroyed it, and the two partners were stricken with
grief. Doctor La Plaz returned to work, he came back with an updated version of
the nanites. He had used her readings and the data on the new virus to update
the nanites. These unlike the E-1101 batch had a connection method as well, a
method to remote watch and control the nanites. E-1101's version didn't have
that, they had overlooked that necessity in their haste.

Robby was resting comfortably in a hospital bed, out of her suit.
The doctor gave her boosters of the nanites, and they seemed to help, her pain
immediately eased. The spread of the virus was halted, and her immune system
actually begins to adapt to develop antibodies and fight it off.

Robby cried, clutching at her now barren abdomen. Sam never left
her side, holding her hand.

A portable scanner was brought in, they did a quick scan of her
and then withdrew. The medical nanites performed as expected, but they had a
consequence they hadn't planned on. They were at war, with the doctor's body as
a battlefield and both sides took no prisoners. The nanites waged a scorched
earth attack on the virus, taking them apart at the molecular level, as well as
any cell infected.  Unfortunately for her this meant her entire reproductive
system and the three week fetus inside. She was thrown into early menopause.

Her husband berated her as he tenderly held her hand. “You little
idiot!” he said over and over.

She shushed him, fighting back her own tears. At least now she was
stable, though she was still running a light fever. They had her resting
comfortably in the hospital. “I couldn't stand it anymore, the little faces...
the suffering. Someone had to do something.”

“And you thought that someone had to be you.”

“Well, I didn't know I'd get infected.”

“Your suit is self-sealing doctor, but the pathogens were in the
air and on the surface of the syringe. You unfortunately didn't sterilize it
before you injected yourself,” Sprite said. “That is the leading theory
anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Were you trying to be the hero?” Helen demanded over the radio
link. The woman closed her eyes, putting her hands over her now empty belly.

“Helen... enough. She's been through enough, paid a heavy enough
price,” her husband said. She squeezed his hand in thanks and comfort.

“Besides, I'm going to put her over my knee and wail the shit out
of her ass the first chance I get,” he growled. That got a gurgled laugh from
her as she hugged him.

“I deserve it,” she cried and then broke down into sobs.

“Yeah, I know you do,” he murmured, rubbing her back. “Scared the
shit out of me...” Helen left them alone, closing the connection.

...*...*...*...*...

Phoenix, Sprite, and the admiral were trying to keep an eye on the
big picture, but it was hard. They had yet to find out how effective the EMP
weapon was, and predicting the spread of the current crop of pathogens was
problematic.

Unfortunately summer weather was clouding over the area. Radar
from Phoenix wasn't much of a help, the AI couldn't reconfigure the radar array
to get a good enough resolution. The array was designed to pick up objects at
range in space, not to see through clouds and pick out details on the surface
and be able to differentiate between terrain and other objects... and certainly
not see nanites on the surface of a planet.

A follow up drone was planned. Jerry and Hank stated they would
get on it... just as soon as they had six solid hours outside their suits.
Irons couldn't blame them so got started on the project on his own.

...*...*...*...*...

Two days after Robby injected herself it seemed she'd survive.
Helen arrived later that morning in a one way flight with a team at her back.

Helen and her staff moved to Hazard in a series of flights, each
one way. Apparently she'd commandeered quite a few aircraft to get the team
moved.

One of the first things Helen did was march over to the hospital.
She nodded to the weary staff on duty, but passed them in favor of finding the
Daniels.

She balled out Robby for self-testing, something the admiral heard
even outside the building. He winced, he hadn't heard how loud Helen Richards
could be.. and didn't ever want to hear it again. He noted her team and raised
an eyebrow.

It was a mark on how far they had come that they didn't need
Hazmat suits, every one of the team was inoculated against all the latest
viruses. They also brought vaccines for the population, and distribution was
immediately set up right there on the tarmac. By the time Helen was finished
with the Daniels, Ted Zane had the impromptu clinic up and running and the
first groups vaccinated.

...*...*...*...*...

Kong caught Neo otter pick pockets. Some were working the refugee
camps, one had a mask on and had been going through the purses and wallets of
people too sick to fight back. Another was going through the pockets of the
dead. He warned them to knock that crap off as he picked up the leader by the
scruff of his neck. “We don't need that shit. You want people to remember Neo's
for taking advantage of them when they are sick? Well do ya chump?” he
demanded, shaking the otter.

“Uh...No, no, no sir, no nnooo,” the otter chattered.

“Then give it back,” Kong demanded, setting him down hard.

The otter squeaked indignantly and then sighed and tossed the
watch to the angry woman. He turned and flicked his whiskers. “I suppose you
want your stuff back too?” he asked ingeniously, taking out a wallet and watch.

“Why you little...” Kong snarled. The otter laughed and tossed the
items up into the air and then took off, scampering under a nearby carriage.
Kong grabbed at the wallet and glittering watch and pocketed them. He turned
but the other otters were gone. “Damn little shits!”

“Better to be a small pile of crap than a big one!” an otter
called from a rooftop and then was gone. Kong looked up, snorted, and then
chuffed at himself and the others looking around.

“What are you people looking at? Move along,” he growled, knuckle
walking back to his bar.

Doctor Daniels spent several days recovering from the virus, and
the team used her readings to refine the nanites. After three days of
successful tests on animals they began inoculating the staff,  then the police
and uninfected city folk. There was a tiny sample of uninfected city folk by
that time.

The admiral reluctantly aided in the effort. He created the
medical replicators. Once Helen was briefed and on-board with the project and
they had positive results from the control group they went into full
production.

Each of the phases of testing went well, including updating the
nanites and even using a remote kill switch. Deliberate exposure of pathogens
was attempted, they were immediately killed by the nanites. Doctor Salt
suggested lining the patient's esophagus, mouth, and nose with the nanites,
they could screen for airborne pathogens there, thus saving damage to the rest
of the body. The updated version proved very effective and minimally damaging
to the patient.