Zero Option

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“Some run-in,” Bolan commented. “From the way you’re talking about Zero, Mr. President, I’m guessing this orbiting platform is up and running.”

“Construction and final interior equipping was completed six months ago. There was a great deal to do. You have to appreciate the sophistication of the interior systems. Once all that had been given the all-clear Zero came partially online. A secondary function of Zero is information gathering and transmitting to our Earth command station. Coupled with Slingshot, Zero can pinpoint any known location, listen and see what’s going on. That part of the Zero platform is already operating. We have, in essence, the best observation station in existence.”

“That isn’t the whole story, sir?”

The President glanced in Bolan’s direction. “No. Zero’s primary function is still on hold. And it will be until the final piece of the puzzle is in place. That brings me to why you’re here. But first I have to explain the way Zero will be controlled. A somewhat unique way.”

“To do with Doug Buchanan?”

“Doug Buchanan will be Zero’s guiding hand and decision maker. The platform can perform its mechanical functions, yes, but every one of those operations requires a command decision initiated by human intelligence. An intelligence that can assess the parameters and reach a decision based on experience and the capacity to make judgments with considerations for the consequences. Something a machine doesn’t always regard as necessary.”

“So Buchanan will be in command of the platform?”

The President looked across at Brognola.

“This is where your knowledge of Zero stopped before, Hal. Now seems to be the time to bring you up to speed, as well as Striker.”

If Bolan was surprised that Brognola already had insight into Zero, he didn’t show it.

“Doug Buchanan will become part of Zero, yes, but I mean a part in the sense that a process will assimilate him, via what is termed a biocouch. His physical body will fuse to the couch, the connections being made by neural implants designed to merge living matter with the implants already within the couch. In the simplest terms Buchanan will become Zero will become Buchanan. Don’t ask me to go into too much detail because Saul Kaplan lost me after the first couple of pages.”

Bolan considered what the President had told him. He was as aware of bio-and cybernetic engineering as most. He was not aware it had developed this far.

“Research into this field has been going on behind the scenes for years,” the President said. “Saul Kaplan has been one of the most energetic participants in the advancement of this science. When he put his concept forward at the start of the Zero project we realized just how far he had gone. This man-machine bonding hadn’t been part of the Zero equation until Kaplan showed interest. The man is brilliant, creative, and he had everything mapped out when he made his presentation to the oversight group.”

“How did Buchanan become part of this project?” Brognola asked.

“You mean why would a man offer to put himself through such a trauma?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Doug Buchanan is a serving officer in the U.S. Air Force. Impeccable record. He is also a man who loves his country and has dedicated himself to serving it any way he can. Not unlike the people in this room right now. We each do what we can in individual ways. In Doug Buchanan’s case he had reached a point in his life where he needed to make a critical decision. He has an incurable cancer. It will kill him, and there isn’t a damned thing anyone can do to stop it. That was true until Buchanan and Kaplan came together. Saul Kaplan offered Buchanan a way out. I have to admit it turned out to be the most dramatic way, but once Kaplan had explained it, Buchanan volunteered to join the Zero Option project.”

“The merging of Buchanan to Zero means the biocouch will replace many of Buchanan’s bodily functions. Zero will both nourish and monitor his life patterns. It will, as I understand it, kill off the cancer cells and sustain his life for as long as he remains integrated. His life expectancy will be extended, and the pain he would have experienced from his cancer will be eliminated. There will be, of course, substantial changes in his level of physical ability.”

“He won’t be able to leave this biocouch?” Bolan said.

“Exactly. But as Buchanan himself said, by the advanced stages of his cancer he would be confined to a hospital bed anyway. At least with Zero he would still be able to contribute something.”

The President paused. He sensed that both Bolan and Brognola were trying to come to terms with what he had just told them. He allowed them their time by getting up to refill his coffee mug.

“Doug Buchanan is an intelligent, forward-thinking man. He took a long time considering the options open to him. There was no pressure put on him. No one had any right to push him into something like this. I made that a stipulation when Kaplan first came to me with the concept. Buchanan’s decision was related to his life as it would be if he decided not to join Zero. In the end he came to me and we discussed it at length. He saw the challenge in the project. Looked on it as a step forward in his own life and something important for the defense of the country.”

“So what happened?”

“The project was established at a facility in the New Mexico desert. This had been closed down some years previously, and when Zero came along it was decided this facility would be an ideal place—isolated, with all the things Kaplan would need. The facility was reopened and equipped under Kaplan’s supervision. The Zero team was composed of only a small number of technicians, plus Air Force personnel and security. They worked day and night to have everything ready for when the Zero platform reached completion. They were almost there when a nighttime strike by enemies unknown destroyed the facility, the equipment and the personnel. By the time a rescue team arrived, the facility was totally destroyed. Everything. There were no survivors. The intensity of the explosions and the thermal devices used had reduced the place to ashes. Even the bodies were consumed to the point where it was impossible to make a count.

“I have to mention something at this point,” the President added. “Saul Kaplan had removed himself from the project some time back. He lost faith in the whole thing, I believe now due to some conflict he had with the Air Force command. I didn’t learn about this until too late. He simply walked one day. Apparently he refused to do what they wanted. I had some heated discussions with the people involved and made it clear I wasn’t pleased with their behavior and attitude. But the damage was done, and we were too far along to abandon the project. I’m telling you this because I did speak to Kaplan some time later. He had taken a post as a lecturer in a Midwest university. Even though I apologized for the attitude of the Air Force, I was unable to persuade him to return.” The President smiled. “In the end Kaplan hung up on me. I took that as his final no.”

“Is this a way of saying Kaplan might be involved in the strike against the facility, sir?” Brognola asked.

The President shook his head. “This wasn’t revenge by a disgruntled ex-worker. Saul Kaplan is too much of a decent man to even consider something like this. Don’t forget that his protégé, Doug Buchanan, was at the facility. Kaplan wouldn’t do anything to hurt that man.”

“Are there any theories on the strike force?”

“Nothing yet. We believe it may be the work of some foreign organization that may have found out about the Zero project and was simply making an attempt to prevent it becoming a reality. There are nations who would feel unjustly threatened even by the thought of something like Zero watching over them. Think about it, gentlemen.”