Agencies

Part 1

Chapter 1

The flame crackled as it burst through the thick steel and immediately started to trace a slow glowing path across, down, across and finally upward.  As the glowing outline connected with its starting point the steel slab held for a few seconds before falling inward to land solidly on the floor.  Dust flew into the beams of torchlight that were cast by moving hands on the far side of the opening.  The acetylene torch hissed and sputtered out of life. Silence returned to the chamber.

Aldion stepped through the entrance careful to keep his sleek environment suit away from the hot, rough edges.  Once inside he shone his torch in all directions.  The walls and floors stretched away from the opening but nothing else, no surface or artefact, could be seen in the dark.  It was as though the thin atmosphere inside the chamber was absorbing the light.

Aldion turned and signalled for the rest of the insertion team to move inside.

Team A, take the left wall, team B the right wall.  Make sure your micro-positioning software is turned on - we want to get a good map of the space inside this structure.  Aldion said, his voice crackling through the radio.  He bent down and fixed the first smooth plastic positioning node securely to the floor.  It would act as the anchor point for the mapping process - communicating with the software running inside each of the suits worn by his team, combining and collating the data streaming from the multi-bandwidth cameras that were attached to their helmets.  All this data would then be piped back outside via that first node to the computer systems set up in the surveillance unit.  The software would construct and update a real-time map of the known internal structure of the cavern.

As the two teams started to move out Beena stepped through the opening and lowered her rucksack to the floor.  She took out five zooms - mobile micro-mappers that resembled toy remote control cars.  They were equipped with the same multi-bandwidth cameras that were worn by the team.  Each zoom also carried four secondary nodes that they could deploy to help both with positioning and communication.  She pointed one towards the darkness of the cavern and turned it on.  After a second it sprang to life and rolled forward, disappearing into the gloom.  The zooms were self-directing and had collision sensors.  They sent data and received instructions from the control system in the surveillance unit outside.  Fall back software algorithms enabled them to continue mapping and then retrace their steps if they lost contact.

We should have some idea of the extent, structure and any points of interest within five minutes, sir.  Beena said, talking to Aldion over a dedicated suit-to-suit channel.

Thanks Beena.  Report back to the surveillance unit once all the zooms are deployed.

Yes sir.  Beena bent down and dispatched the second of the five zooms.

Aldion stood staring into the gloom of the cavern.  The structure had been discovered while his team were excavating craters to find water deposits on the fringes of the dark side of the Moon.  The dark side was not perpetually dark - but the mere thought evoked the same strange feeling he always felt when he was not in line of sight of the Earth.  A feeling of isolation.  A network of transmitters and satellites allowed communication back to the Earth-side bases and on to Earth.  But even though this communication was available he felt as though his team was isolated from the rest of humanity.

He shook his head and tried to focus on the job at hand.  Just like all of the abandoned buildings and factories in the deserted cities. He said to himself, remembering his last job on Earth.  Except here there was no light to see by and the team was entirely dependent on the micro-mapping technology to visualise the space.

Chapter 2

Carth lay on his back watching the fragments of white clouds scud across the blue sky.  Every now and then a light breeze would ruffle the leaves on the surrounding trees.  He listened to the sound that the leaves made - it reminded him of small waves crashing along the shores of the Mediterranean.  Further away a smattering of applause interrupted the sounds of impacts and yells that let him know that the cricket match he had been watching earlier was continuing on the pitch across the park.

He closed his eyes and let the sun warm his skin.  He felt relaxed - very relaxed.  He could almost drift off to sleep.

An extended beep sounded from the bag on the grass next to him.  He ignored it for a minute hoping it would go away.  It didn't, instead it beeped again.  He pushed himself upright and took the small screen phone out of his bag.  The relaxation he had been feeling started to dissipate as he tapped in his access code and opened the message waiting for him.  He frowned at the message on the screen, then stared up at the sky.

He put the phone on the grass next to him and rummaged in his bag until he finally pulled out his tab.  He logged in and activated several applications.  The first application started to play a video image in a corner of the screen - next to it a second application displayed a wireframe video that was populated by moving dots.  He watched the videos and the text scrolling in a third window before minimising the two videos and opening a third application.  Typing slowly and carefully he entered a long access code.  He waited for the confirmation screen to pop up and then slowly entered a second long access code.  The tab beeped twice and two large buttons popped up - one was red, the other blue.

He paused to watch the text scrolling in one of the windows, then he looked up at the university buildings that surrounded the park.  Breathing out he turned his gaze back to the tab and pressed the large red button - and watched as the screen fizzed to blackness.

Chapter 3

Aldion studied the computer screens that displayed the emerging layout of the structure.  It was littered with walls, corridors and side chambers of every size.  As though a computer screen saver had started randomly drawing lines to partition the space and then suddenly stopped.

Here sir.  Beena said, her finger pointing to a window showing video footage from one of the zooms.  It looks like there is some sort of technical installation here.

Aldion looked at the image.  There were murky forms that looked like desks.  Upon these were other surfaces that looked like screens.  The zoom was too low down to be able to get a clear view of the screens on the desk.

Pull it back.  Aldion said.  See if you can get a clearer view of the screens on those desks.

Beena clicked on the controls that instructed the zoom to inch backwards.  The video feed was very low quality, but even so the image on one of the screens was clearly recognisable.  It was an image of the Earth.  Aldion leaned closer to study the image as it started to wobble and shake.  Hold it steady.  He said.  As he spoke a red light started to flash on the control panel beside the desk.

Sir - the atmospheric pressure is starting to drop.  A voice spoke from a speaker on the desk - it was one of the team that was inside the chamber assisting with the mapping.

It's not from our entry point.  Beena said, clicking through remote images and screens of statistics.  The readings show that the bubble-lock is still tightly sealed.

Sir - the pressure is dropping very rapidly now.  There seems to be some structural instability.  The walls and the floors are vibrating and moving.  I'm not sure how stable the structure is.  The voice spoke from the speaker with a measure of concern.

Aldion thought for a second.  Pull back to the entrance.  He said.  Immediately.  After he had issued the command a frown started to crease his forehead.  Could our opening have caused a structural failure elsewhere in the chamber?  He spoke his thoughts out loud.

Inside the chamber four suited figures quickly made their way back to the entrance.  Sounds of collapse echoed through the thin atmosphere and grew louder by the second.  As the final figure stepped through the entrance way a ripping and crashing sound was followed by a gale of wind whipping out of the chamber.  The bubble-lock was not designed to withstand a sudden increase in pressure and its seals detached from the outside of the chamber.  Pent-up atmosphere vented in a torrent of wind - blowing dust from the surface high into the sky - as though the chamber was letting out a heavy sigh.

The sounds stopped with the loss of the atmosphere.  As suddenly as the wind started it also stopped. Dust started its slow drift back down to the surface.

Report.  Is everyone out?  Aldion asked over the comms channel.  Each member of the insertion team confirmed they were out and uninjured.  He turned back to look at the screens.

We lost comms and video from all of the zooms, sir.  Beena said.

Okay.  Aldion said.  He shook his head - remembering the numerous building collapses he had experienced during his time mapping the deserted cities on Earth.  It was time for plan B.  How many bugs have we got?

Chapter 4

Carth walked into the old train station - now rebranded as a transit point.  Several people had just arrived and were moving slowly away from the platforms and towards the exit.  A few clusters of people chatted as they stood in front the tourist kiosks and displays picking up brochures about the town.

He used his phone to pull up information about the service on the local line and booked a solopod.  He frowned when he was confronted with a 20 minute delay - due to high demand out toward Banbury.  Rather than wait 20 minutes he walked out on to the platform.  Since the installation of the packetized suburban transport system 20 years earlier you did not have to cross over to the correct platform depending on your destination.  Although, Carth thought to himself, he was already on the right side to get to London.

Walking to the back of the solopod pickup queue he counted the 6 passengers in front of him.  On the display of his phone he tapped in 100 and then clicked the icon to offer a payoff to his fellow passengers to let him push in front of them in the queue.  After a discordant series of beeps and buzzes they individually picked out their phones and, after reading the information displayed, turned to look at Carth.

In a hurry, eh?  One of the passengers said as he tapped the approve icon.  After he had received all of the other confirmations Carth moved to the front of the queue, waving phones with each of the passengers to complete the transaction.  Just as he reached the front of the queue a solopod pulled in to the departure space.  He clambered in, pulled the door closed behind him and waved his phone at the console.

A whirr sounded from the engine as the pod slowly moved away from the station and edged out on to the fast line - merging seamlessly with the other fast-moving pods that were not stopping at the station.  Carth checked the model of the pod and was happy to see that is was capable of off-track travel.  He entered his ultimate location into the pod’s guidance system.  Sitting back he pulled his tab out of his bag and, after bringing it back to life, started studying the reports on the applications that were still running.

He was deep in thought staring at the scenery out of the window of the solopod 20 minutes later when it disengaged from the rails at Paddington and switched on to the guided roadway.  He had chosen London as his base because it had both vast vacated areas and an extensive guided roadway network.  The solopod would be able to take him to within 200 metres of his apartment.  Then his work would really begin.

Chapter 5

Dan turned on the tap and put his hand into the stream of water, waiting for it to warm.  When it was hot enough he started to wash away the ring of coffee that had formed on the inside his mug.  The sponge that lived beside the taps had not been replaced for a few days - so it was questionable whether he was removing dirt or putting more dirt on.  When he was done he rinsed the soap suds from the mug and placed it on the counter next to a second mug.

That was a great concert last night.  Erith said, watching Dan as he picked out two tea bags and placed one in each of the mugs.  Those old school songs from the turn of the century really brought back some memories.  That deep base line in the last song just built and built.  I felt like my heart was thumping along with the music.

Old school songs have their place.  Dan said.  But nuJam music is amazing.  Every week there seems to be a new instrument. I've seen some bands where just a couple of musicians can lay down a new track, variations and link it in to a theme while out there on stage.  It's quite something.

The kettle clicked off.  Water poured into the two cups.  Bags and spoons twirled, tapped and were discarded.

I'll bring you some tracks in tomorrow.  Dan said as he walked across to his desk and sat down.

I'm not in tomorrow, how about the day after?  Erith asked, but Dan's attention had locked on to the computer screens in front of him.  Dan?  She said in an inquisitive tone.  Dan glanced up for a second then pointed vacantly at her screens.  Erith frowned but got the message that the chit chat was over until the next tea break.  Dan was one of the more social of her colleagues - in the kitchen and when out on team building events.  She watched now as he feverishly typed away on his keyboard - eyes fixed on the screen in front of him.

Erith.  You'll want to see this.  Dan said looking up at her.

Erith put down her tea and turned her attention to her own screens.  At first she did not understand what the screens were telling her.  A few seconds later she was sat in her chair, amazed, as she clicked through the reports - this just couldn't be.  She fired up a diagnostic application and opened up some logs that were the source of the information.  Nothing was evident in the logs themselves - but this lack of evidence was suggested by the alert that had just been thrown up.

It's everywhere. She said, to no-one in particular.

The alert had been raised by one of a number of long running background analysis agents.  This collection of adaptable modules were linked to the full intelligence corpus stored in the archive systems.  The agents could investigate, correlate and even speculate by attempting to connect previously unconnected low level signals.  The agent that had just triggered an alert had an elapsed running time of over two years.  As Erith investigated the modules and sub-modules it had requisitioned she saw that it had grown far larger than any agent she had seen before.

The alert itself suggested that there was a low-level wide-ranging passive intrusion program running across their whole intelligence network.  In addition, the agent had collected and reviewed traffic to suspected communication nodes for the other agencies and it had reached the conclusion that they were also compromised.  In fact it seemed as though the intrusion program had infected all networks that had been