Read Online I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel by Edward P. Cardillo - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Edward P. Cardillo
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answers.”
“I understand your confusion, son, but it was important that you saw it for yourself. The ‘ID Program’ stands for Insidious Drone Program.”
“Drone? That man looked dead.”
“Undead, actually,” Major Lewis corrected.
“Undead? You mean…zombies, sir?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. I suppose you could call them that. In the twentieth century, in the early 1990’s there was a civil war in what was then Rwanda , between the Tutsi and the Hutu.”
“Yes, I remember something about it from Twentieth Century History class.”
“Well, then you may have remembered the genocide perpetuated by the Presidential Guard, the Rwanda armed forces, and extremist militia targeting those who supported the Arusha Accord. Nearly one million Rwandans were killed. That was nearly ten percent of the population.”
“Yes, but the Rwandan Patriotic Front got their revenge, didn’t they?”
“Well, yes, but that’s on oversimplification. In 1992, the production of coffee, their main export, went down, and since most of the land was dedicated to growing coffee, there wasn’t enough food. What resulted was famine and disease.”
Peter was wondering what this had to do with zombies.
Major Lewis continued his explanation. “Even after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) retook the capital of Kigali, disease was still rampant. In fact, there were reports of civilians becoming sick and turning to cannibalism. Soon RPF soldiers had fallen victim to this mysterious sickness. The Hutu fled to the Congo.
“Later, when the US-backed Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire entered the Congo with the RPF, they encountered what first appeared to be refugees wandering through villages.
“But these refugees were afflicted with the mysterious disease and were devouring everyone in sight. They were unsure if these were agents of the French, who were backing the Hutu. Curious about the phenomenon, the Alliance forces followed them, observing from a distance.
“They observed the afflicted hunting down and cannibalizing Hutu refugees. Thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, they attempted to approach these afflicted individuals with disastrous results.
“So they captured many of the afflicted, killing some in the process out of self-preservation, and they were extracted secretly by US Special Forces. The press blamed the RPF for the slaughter of the Hutu refugees in the Congo, but it was written off as a justified response to the genocide.”
Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Zombies in the Congo? It sounded like the plot of a bad black-and-white movie. “So…that soldier in the Labyrinth, he’s a…”
“Yes.”
That explained the blank expression, putrescent smell, and the man’s constant attempts to try to eat him.
“Lieutenant, I know this must be a great deal for you to digest. But, we’ve found that they make the perfect soldiers, combining unconventional and psychological warfare. They never need to be fed, they don’t dehydrate, they never show fatigue, and in numbers , they can swarm and overwhelm just about any position.”
Peter recalled the footsteps in the maze. “The soldier in the maze was relentless.”
“Yes, and it drove you to panic. That’s the psychological component that we didn’t even anticipate until the field tests.”
“Field tests?”
“Just image your panic if we threw forty, fifty, or even one hundred of these Insidious Drones at you.”
Peter didn’t want to, but he got the point.
“And furthermore, they can be sent into terrain normally inaccessible to live soldiers. Just imagine, finally we can breach the cave systems of Afghanistan. All we’d have to do is pour a few hundred of these bad boys into the caves, and they would just keep wandering through, sniffing out terrorists…”
“And eating them?”
“But no lives of American soldiers would be risked. They are the ultimate drones. And we could apply this not only to
“I understand your confusion, son, but it was important that you saw it for yourself. The ‘ID Program’ stands for Insidious Drone Program.”
“Drone? That man looked dead.”
“Undead, actually,” Major Lewis corrected.
“Undead? You mean…zombies, sir?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. I suppose you could call them that. In the twentieth century, in the early 1990’s there was a civil war in what was then Rwanda , between the Tutsi and the Hutu.”
“Yes, I remember something about it from Twentieth Century History class.”
“Well, then you may have remembered the genocide perpetuated by the Presidential Guard, the Rwanda armed forces, and extremist militia targeting those who supported the Arusha Accord. Nearly one million Rwandans were killed. That was nearly ten percent of the population.”
“Yes, but the Rwandan Patriotic Front got their revenge, didn’t they?”
“Well, yes, but that’s on oversimplification. In 1992, the production of coffee, their main export, went down, and since most of the land was dedicated to growing coffee, there wasn’t enough food. What resulted was famine and disease.”
Peter was wondering what this had to do with zombies.
Major Lewis continued his explanation. “Even after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) retook the capital of Kigali, disease was still rampant. In fact, there were reports of civilians becoming sick and turning to cannibalism. Soon RPF soldiers had fallen victim to this mysterious sickness. The Hutu fled to the Congo.
“Later, when the US-backed Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire entered the Congo with the RPF, they encountered what first appeared to be refugees wandering through villages.
“But these refugees were afflicted with the mysterious disease and were devouring everyone in sight. They were unsure if these were agents of the French, who were backing the Hutu. Curious about the phenomenon, the Alliance forces followed them, observing from a distance.
“They observed the afflicted hunting down and cannibalizing Hutu refugees. Thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, they attempted to approach these afflicted individuals with disastrous results.
“So they captured many of the afflicted, killing some in the process out of self-preservation, and they were extracted secretly by US Special Forces. The press blamed the RPF for the slaughter of the Hutu refugees in the Congo, but it was written off as a justified response to the genocide.”
Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Zombies in the Congo? It sounded like the plot of a bad black-and-white movie. “So…that soldier in the Labyrinth, he’s a…”
“Yes.”
That explained the blank expression, putrescent smell, and the man’s constant attempts to try to eat him.
“Lieutenant, I know this must be a great deal for you to digest. But, we’ve found that they make the perfect soldiers, combining unconventional and psychological warfare. They never need to be fed, they don’t dehydrate, they never show fatigue, and in numbers , they can swarm and overwhelm just about any position.”
Peter recalled the footsteps in the maze. “The soldier in the maze was relentless.”
“Yes, and it drove you to panic. That’s the psychological component that we didn’t even anticipate until the field tests.”
“Field tests?”
“Just image your panic if we threw forty, fifty, or even one hundred of these Insidious Drones at you.”
Peter didn’t want to, but he got the point.
“And furthermore, they can be sent into terrain normally inaccessible to live soldiers. Just imagine, finally we can breach the cave systems of Afghanistan. All we’d have to do is pour a few hundred of these bad boys into the caves, and they would just keep wandering through, sniffing out terrorists…”
“And eating them?”
“But no lives of American soldiers would be risked. They are the ultimate drones. And we could apply this not only to
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