During the intervening time she had slowly managed to regain some control of her mind although her body remained melded to the golden pyramid like an insect to flypaper. She’d even managed to tap into the massive flow of data that poured through the guardian. She’d slipped in the command for the nanovirus to leave her body and even managed to get a message out to her friends at Area 51.
She’d also learned some things about the Airlia. She’d “seen” the destruction of Atlantis — Aspasia’s initial base on Earth — as a historical record inside the guardian. She’d “seen” one of the Airlia mothership float over the island and pulse down rays of golden power into the island, smashing it into the sea.
She’d also learned that the various guardians had once been linked together under a Master Guardian computer, allowing all the Airlia outposts on Earth, and even on Mars, to be coordinated and controlled. But during the civil war among the Airlia, the network had been shut down and the Master Guardian taken off-line.
As she sensed Aspasia’s Shadow “work” the Easter Island guardian she saw that her minor efforts, which had taken so much of her willpower to do, were just drops of water on an ocean compared to the power that Aspasia’s Shadow could exert as he became one with the guardian. She “saw” him absorbing data at a phenomenal speed. Kelly kept her psyche still, afraid to attract his attention. As quickly as information was going into Aspasia’s Shadow’s essence, orders were being issued by him.
Kelly tried to keep track of what he was doing but it was like watching Niagara Falls and trying to discern each drop of water going over the edge. Still she did glean a few things. And then she waited, crouching, hiding inside the computer, until Aspasia’s Shadow broke free and his essence was gone. She had an idea of his plans, but more importantly, she had an idea of his priorities. Then she began to work on the message she would try to send.
Aspasia’s Shadow felt more confident as he disconnected from the guardian and went back to the Grail. Things were progressing well and he had a good idea what Artad had planned. He had instructed the guardian to implement a strategy to counter Artad’s efforts to acquire Excalibur, and to recover the Master Guardian itself. The latter was something he had begun planning many years ago. Aspasia’s Shadow had many potential plans in place.
He retrieved the stone and held it over the end of the Grail. The flat surface opened. Aspasia’s Shadow slid his hand inside, placing the stone into the slight depression. He gasped as the opening irised shut against his wrist, trapping his hand.
A tingling sensation began to tickle the skin of the hand. The tingling grew stronger, becoming pain. His hand felt as if it were on fire, yet Aspasia’s Shadow remained perfectly still. Rivulets of sweat coursed down his pale skin. Then the pain began to move up his arm toward his shoulder and, strangely, Aspasia’s Shadow smiled.
All of Easter Island was enclosed in a hemispheric shield, impervious to most forms of attack. Inside the shield, on the surface of Easter Island, Aspasia’s Shadow’s orders only confirmed what had begun days ago. Thousands of humans went about the tasks the nanovirus inside of them directed them to do. At the same time, nanotechs went about their business.
Nanotechnology was a science that human scientists had just begun to explore while the guardian had perfected it. The concept was basic. All things are made from atoms. The properties of those things are determined by the way those atoms are arranged. If atoms could be rearranged at the molecular level then the possibilities of what could be constructed was limitless. Not only that, but the normal waste produced in most manufacturing processes would be eliminated.
The other thing the guardian had perfected with nanotechnology was self-replication. Its nanotechs could manufacture more of themselves, just as the nanovirus it had invented to control humans could replicate and spread, much like a regular virus. The Guides and the followers who had come to Easter Island, along with all the military personnel who had come into contact with the nanovirus, were now all under the thrall of the guardian.
Two men who had once been Navy SEALs, “Popeye” McGraw and Frank Olivetti, were summoned by the guardian. The two had recently infiltrated the island to try to discover what was happening, but they had been captured and infected with the nanovirus, absorbed into the forces on the island. Under the influence of the nanovirus they walked down the tunnel from the surface to the guardian chamber. Aspasia’s Shadow was lying on the floor to one side of the golden triangle, a smile on his face, eyes closed. The two ignored him and Kelly Reynolds’s withered figure as they approached the guardian. The nanovirus was enough to control a person’s body, but for what these two would be tasked to do, more control and adaptation was needed.
They both leaned against the side of the pyramid, bodies touching the metal. They were encompassed in the golden glow, the alien computer working on their minds, transforming them into Guides who would do what they were programmed to without needing constant activity and updating by the nanovirus. In addition to the mission they were given, the skills necessary to accomplish this were also implanted in their minds.
Since they would be traveling far from Easter Island into a harsh environment, a few special measures were taken. While they were still in the thrall of the guardian, several micromachines skittered across the floor of the cavern, metallic spiders with various appendages poking from their frames. They crawled up the men’s bodies and performed several modifications to them in conjunction with specific nanoviruses for parts of their bodies.
A miniature satellite transmitter and receiver was inserted just behind their right ears, attached to the skull with bone screws. Skin was grafted over the device. The wire antenna for the satcom was slipped under the skin and looped around the skull. Variations of the nanovirus immediately went to work on healing the incisions. Also, a special form of nanovirus that the guardian had just designed was injected into each man’s lungs and went to work on those organs.
When the guardian was done with them, the golden glow faded. Marines scooped up the unconscious and recuperating bodies and carried them out of the chamber to the surface. Other Marines picked up equipment they had been instructed to bring from a supply depot. The SEALs and equipment were carried to an F-14 Tomcat. The Marines stowed the rucksacks full of gear inside the cramped cockpit, before sliding the two unconscious SEALs into the seats and strapping them in. The Marines stepped back and the canopy descended, locking in place. The engine started up and the plane taxied to the end of the runway under the control of its flight computer. A second plane was right behind it, an S-3 Lockheed Viking. The F-14 roared down the runway and into the air, turning hard as soon as it was airborne to stay inside the shield. The Viking was right behind it and with both airborne, the island shield was dropped for a moment and the two aircraft flew off to the west. The shield snapped back into place as soon as they were clear. McGraw and Olivetti were unconscious inside the F-14 as the flight plan programmed by the guardian flew the craft. Somewhere deep inside their infected and transformed minds their essences as independent human beings still existed. That their bodies and skills were to be used in the service of the aliens was a horror of which they were aware but powerless to fight. It was the worst possible thing that could be done to a Navy SEAL, a fate far worse than death.