The New Republic of Texas. E. Mandervellt
brilliant blue sky broken by dying leaves cast in countless shades of reddish-brown above an old and overgrown forest path that led to a distant, little house on a hill. The lighting was near impeccable, and the piece evoked in Carlisle a feeling of melancholy and yearning for things lost.
"Yes sir! Thanks for noticing! Do you paint?"
"I try. Nothing like that. The shading is...." Carlisle trailed off as he tried to understand Elliss's posturing and anticipate what would be asked of him.
"No matter! You'll get it. Just paint through the lashes, like Matisse! Or, or, Rembrandt. I don't remember. Anyway, you squint your eyes, see? Then the contrast goes up and makes the shadows stand out. Makes it easy."
Elliss paused to take a pull from his cigar and continued in deep, gruff tones.
"That was my father's house. In Vermont. Last time I saw it before we had to sell it off. We'd spend every summer there before the war. Fishing. Racing bikes. Fireworks. Hell of a time! The kids loved it."
Carlisle nodded gently before breaking the smoke-filled silence. "What can I do for you, General?"
"Yes. Business. I assume you've read the docket we sent?" Elliss asked.
Carlisle nodded. "Most of it. Yes, sir."
"Then you know that last week the PRC made another attempt to take out your last official workplace, the Tango Alpha Laboratory. Tango used Sol to protect itself. In spectacular fashion, I might add. Now listen. This is classified, so don't go spreading it around." Elliss lowered his head nearer the desk, nodding with eyebrows raised, eagerly awaiting a response.
"I don't talk to people, sir."
"Good! Alright! Now, you had access to the basic Sol API back then, but not information on its capabilities. When Tango commandeered it, it was a simple, one-shot, space-based energy weapon. You could hit one target with pinpoint accuracy, one shot per hour. No split beams. No five minute recharge. None of these kinetic energy weapons. No sir. None of that shit. We checked our recordings and there is no doubt that all space-borne attacks connected to the incident came from that one platform. So, Mr. Carlisle, given your history and expertise on Tango, we want some kind of insight. What is he doing down there? Or up there? How in all-get-out did he manage to enhance that satellite to such a degree without our detecting any missions up there? No data. Radio. Visual. Nothing. We checked twice. And more important is why? Can we trust him at his word that he wouldn't attack us? Do you think he would hit the States? Why else would he hide his activity?"
General Elliss sat back in his chair as he tossed the docket he'd been holding onto his desk. He took a deep drag on his cigar and considered Carlisle with a critical stare. Carlisle nodded, taking a moment to compose his response. He too took a drag from his cigar, holding his index finger up in the universal gesture of one in action that said, give me a minute. His arms and eyes lowered for a moment as he exhaled before meeting the General's gaze.
"It's important for you all to understand that Tango Alpha is smart. Very smart. Possibly smarter than any life-form could ever be. He also has access to every piece of information ever placed on the internet and possesses the capability to analyse and cross-reference data in a way that our best AI can't touch. It's not impossible that he's so embedded in the communications infrastructure that he can monitor and manipulate any signal, any data packet. Anything transmitted. Anywhere in the world. Even quantum."
"Sounds like a stretch, John, but we already pretty much know all that. That's why we have closed circuits. Please go on," Elliss gestured he continue.
"He could have manipulated your data. I believe that Tango Alpha could have just as easily intercepted the control signal, cracked their codes, and driven the tanks peacefully to some weapons facility for re-purposing or study as attack them like it says in that report. It, he, chose not to. And you're going to have a hard time figuring that reason out. I've spoken with him, early on, before he was so... guarded. The timescales he thinks on are geological. But sometimes he does things just for fun. It's weird, sir. Maybe that's exactly what happened. Maybe it was a show of force for California, not us. I don't know. You have an ambassador here. Relations aren't that bad, are they?"
"John, how could he modify that satellite without us seeing it?"
Carlisle shifted his gaze from his cigar smoke to lock eyes with the General.
"Sir, Tango Alpha shows you what he wants you to see."
Elliss was nonplussed. "You mean to tell me that Tango has been manipulating our surveillance data? That's far too much to cover up. Possibly real-time, too! We've developed the best encryption on the planet! After Texas and Japan, of course. Our defensive capability is stronger in any case, and to date there has been not one successful cyber-attack originating from either country. They still try every now and then. I just don't buy it."
"The reason those attacks were unsuccessful is because he wants you to think that your security is better than it is. That you have built a wall he can only bang his head against. And unless there's something else you're missing you're simply going to have to accept that he's hoodwinked you. There was some inlet, somewhere, that gave him access. But I don't think you have to worry about an attack. Tango really does seem to view America as an ally. If you read their Constitution, which he drafted, it's clearly modeled on ours. My personal opinion is that, if he's making any moves in our space, it's purely in self-defense. There have been no hostilities since we let up, and he seems to treat the Texans just fine. Doesn't your own son work for him? Ask John."
Elliss glanced at the painting. "Unfortunately, it's against the wishes of the Administration. And us two aren't exactly on speaking terms. As far as Tango goes, we just can't get enough data to make predictions and that makes us nervous. If it loses its compassion and we can't monitor the damn thing, what then? I don't think my boy would work for a homicidal maniac, but, frankly, I'm not certain he's in his right mind, leaving the way he did."
Carlisle looked down. "I doubt there's anything we could do were he hostile."
The General opened a desk drawer and brought out a large envelope which he handed to Carlisle. It contained a printed mission profile, a disk with relevant information and media from the latest Border incident, and a check for ten thousand U.S. dollars. Carlisle sighed and looked up. "Can't you just talk to the Ambassador? Please?"
"It won't tell us anything. Wants you. In person. My secretary will brief you tomorrow at your residence. Just learn what you can. Oh, and there's one more thing, John. We know it was you who wrote that essay."
Carlisle making to leave now froze. "What essay, sir?"
"That damned essay that spawned the church of Harmony! I know you didn't mean to, son, but you cost us California. Now, now, don't worry. That'll be our little secret." Elliss shook John's hand and smiled widely. "I'm sure you'll make us proud."
CHAPTER FOUR
Carlisle was visibly shaken as he left the General's office and wholly unable to enjoy a parting glance at the gorgeous female security guard who had checked him in.
God. Dammit, he thought. How did they find out? Pseudonym, false style. I even went through, what? three proxies getting it to the Journal of Science.
The Science of Harmony was not so widely adopted in the U.S. as to become a state religion as it was in the PRC, but there were certainly enough believers to give Harmony a foothold. They were extremely vocal, pushy, and loud. Every single Harmonizer Carlisle had met was an annoying proselyte who integrated the language of the Teachings into nearly every bit of their conversational output. If those morons discovered his identity as the Receiver of the Seed of Wisdom, as they called it, he would become a target for both adulation from them and ceaseless vitriol from people like himself who hated them. Were his authorship declassified, he might even become a target of government, which feared the most radical of the Harmonizers who called for PRC-style policies on a near constant basis.
What really infuriated Carlisle was the fact that the Science of Harmony was a horrifying misuse of his original paper which was a pure thesis on cosmology. He'd even added a harsh disclaimer about