Read Online Project Aura by Bob Mayer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bob Mayer
Tags: Fiction & Literature
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"We've got two problems. One is we don't know who is doing this surveillance. The second is we don't know what's being hidden from us."
"I think-" Jackson began, but suddenly stopped.
"Go ahead," Dalton urged her.
"I shouldn't say anything. I don't really know for sure, anyway."
"Know what for sure?" Dalton asked.
Jackson glanced at Hammond. "You weren't with the original Bright Gate program, were you?"
Hammond shook her head. "I was brought in after Professor Jenkins died in a car crash."
"Who brought you here?" Jackson asked.
"I was working for the Department of Defense at Livermore. A General Eichen approached me."
Dalton considered that. Since she mentioned Eichen's name so easily, Dalton assumed that she was an unwitting participant and not reporting back to him.
"So you weren't NSA or CIA?" Jackons asked.
"No, why?"
"Because the NSA and the CIA started Bright Gate," Jackson said. She shook her head. "It's nothing. Really." She quickly walked out of the room, leaving Dalton alone with Hammond.
"She's right," Hammond said.
"Right about what?"
"There's something really strange about this place, this program. All of it. Beyond the technology. I was working on quantum physics at Livermore when Eichen tapped me to come here and take over, and we had no clue about any of this level of advancement in physics. It's like it came out of the blue."
"The Russians had the hyperspace howitzer way back in the early sixties," Dalton noted
"Yeah, and where did they get that from? I've been studying the data the Russians recovered on that and it's definitely far too advanced for the time it was developed. Hell, it's too advanced for us now. I don't think we could duplicate the howitzer even with what we know. It's good it was destroyed."
Hammond leaned back in her chair, exhausted. "There's something else. I've been looking at some of the information you brought back from the Russian SD-8 base."
"And?"
"Chyort-the devil avatar-he was..." Hammond trailed off into silence.
Dalton waited a few moments. "Tell me."
"Even with what they did to his mind-- making a direct interface with the computer-- he was more than the sum of his parts. Or lack of parts," she added, referring to the scant human remains that had constituted the man who had been Chyort.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I don't understand this." Hammond shifted her tired gaze to Dalton. "You've constantly accused me of not knowing what I'm doing, and I'm admitting to you now that I agree with you. All of this--" she waved her hand to indicate the Bright Gate control center-- "it's based on concepts we don't really understand. I don't think the Russians had much of a clue what they were doing either."
Dalton was trying to follow what she was getting at. "But you said it didn't matter if you understood the concepts as long as you can use them."
Hammond gave a defeated smile. "I did say that, didn't I? But I've been thinking about it, and the best analogy I can come up with is that it's like saying we didn't understand the concept of the internal combustion engine, but we built one and used it in a prototype car. The question is, who did understand the concept enough so that we could build it? Who was able to invent and build a mind-computer interface at SD-8 so well that the results were far beyond what we could have imagined? How was Sybyl developed?"
"Have you heard of a Professor Souris?" he asked.
"Who is that?"
"She's the first one to work on Bright Gate."
"That's strange," Hammond said. "There's no record of her anywhere here."
"Couldn't all this," Dalton indicated the control center, "be the result of an intuitive leap on one person's part? I mean, where do scientific breakthroughs come from?"
"If that's true and Souris did this," Hammond said, "I would expect to see some documentation. More data. We've got the equipment, the computer, the system, but we don't have anything detailing the supporting theories. That doesn't make sense. That's not how a
"I think-" Jackson began, but suddenly stopped.
"Go ahead," Dalton urged her.
"I shouldn't say anything. I don't really know for sure, anyway."
"Know what for sure?" Dalton asked.
Jackson glanced at Hammond. "You weren't with the original Bright Gate program, were you?"
Hammond shook her head. "I was brought in after Professor Jenkins died in a car crash."
"Who brought you here?" Jackson asked.
"I was working for the Department of Defense at Livermore. A General Eichen approached me."
Dalton considered that. Since she mentioned Eichen's name so easily, Dalton assumed that she was an unwitting participant and not reporting back to him.
"So you weren't NSA or CIA?" Jackons asked.
"No, why?"
"Because the NSA and the CIA started Bright Gate," Jackson said. She shook her head. "It's nothing. Really." She quickly walked out of the room, leaving Dalton alone with Hammond.
"She's right," Hammond said.
"Right about what?"
"There's something really strange about this place, this program. All of it. Beyond the technology. I was working on quantum physics at Livermore when Eichen tapped me to come here and take over, and we had no clue about any of this level of advancement in physics. It's like it came out of the blue."
"The Russians had the hyperspace howitzer way back in the early sixties," Dalton noted
"Yeah, and where did they get that from? I've been studying the data the Russians recovered on that and it's definitely far too advanced for the time it was developed. Hell, it's too advanced for us now. I don't think we could duplicate the howitzer even with what we know. It's good it was destroyed."
Hammond leaned back in her chair, exhausted. "There's something else. I've been looking at some of the information you brought back from the Russian SD-8 base."
"And?"
"Chyort-the devil avatar-he was..." Hammond trailed off into silence.
Dalton waited a few moments. "Tell me."
"Even with what they did to his mind-- making a direct interface with the computer-- he was more than the sum of his parts. Or lack of parts," she added, referring to the scant human remains that had constituted the man who had been Chyort.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I don't understand this." Hammond shifted her tired gaze to Dalton. "You've constantly accused me of not knowing what I'm doing, and I'm admitting to you now that I agree with you. All of this--" she waved her hand to indicate the Bright Gate control center-- "it's based on concepts we don't really understand. I don't think the Russians had much of a clue what they were doing either."
Dalton was trying to follow what she was getting at. "But you said it didn't matter if you understood the concepts as long as you can use them."
Hammond gave a defeated smile. "I did say that, didn't I? But I've been thinking about it, and the best analogy I can come up with is that it's like saying we didn't understand the concept of the internal combustion engine, but we built one and used it in a prototype car. The question is, who did understand the concept enough so that we could build it? Who was able to invent and build a mind-computer interface at SD-8 so well that the results were far beyond what we could have imagined? How was Sybyl developed?"
"Have you heard of a Professor Souris?" he asked.
"Who is that?"
"She's the first one to work on Bright Gate."
"That's strange," Hammond said. "There's no record of her anywhere here."
"Couldn't all this," Dalton indicated the control center, "be the result of an intuitive leap on one person's part? I mean, where do scientific breakthroughs come from?"
"If that's true and Souris did this," Hammond said, "I would expect to see some documentation. More data. We've got the equipment, the computer, the system, but we don't have anything detailing the supporting theories. That doesn't make sense. That's not how a
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