Molly was glad that the swift planet shielded her from the bulk of the solar radiation. Being somewhat protected allowed the mission to conserve fuel. The UNSDF had taken many concerns into account, choosing this location for their frontline base because it was relatively safe. Any closer and the debris from the shattered Ring would be hazardous. The ship’s location was dangerous, but the gravity and rotation of Mercury cleared this area of many of the stray nanoparticles that might cause harm or spread contamination.
Molly had many key competencies that made her suited for the mission. The examination of a specimen required the delicate touch of a human. Even at close range the team could not have relied on telerobotics to accomplish her task. The only option had been to establish a lab at a location where they could retrieve the particles.
“Outer doors are confirmed locked. Moving away from the ship.”
“Roger.”
Molly triggered her jet blaster, propelling herself the 300 meters toward her laboratory, the Ring Material Research Facility. She would be the only one there. Her automated sampler had docked earlier after collecting nanomachine specimens from the orbiting debris. Her sampler was completely shut down and its engine cooled, but the exterior was still emitting enough thermal radiation to appear white hot.
The sampler had passed through the specially designed airlock and automatically loaded itself into position inside the RMRF. The six-hour wait was a precaution against the sort of contamination that had led to the last mission’s fatality. One of the most fascinating properties of the ring material was how it stored enough energy to consume most substances with which it came into contact.
The sampler collected material from the stream that was still being ejected from the production facilities on Mercury’s surface. Just before arriving at the RMRF, the sampler shed the direct contact protective shell that had physically interacted with ring material. Even if the sampler functioned perfectly, there was still the chance that the RMRF could be contaminated from the inside. They had already lost one sampler vehicle due to exposure during testing several months before. Thus the long and anxious wait.
Molly entered the RMRF airlock, fighting against her own inertia to close the outer door. Looking out, the main ship—with six cocoons around the bow, a 120 meter–wide solar radiation shield, eighteen egg-shaped fuel tanks, and two NERVA III engines all mounted onto the truss of the keel—reminded her of a Japanese dragon or a Vritra serpent. She was the UNSS Chadwick, the third ship built by the UNSDF.
The automated production facilities on Mercury were still protected by the grasers and were in full operation, continuously launching ring material into space. The Ring would eventually rebuild itself. It would have to be destroyed again at regular intervals. Preparations for the Builders’ flyby were also underway. The United Nations Security Council had recently adopted a resolution to expand its fleet of nuclear-powered spacecraft.
The first ship, the UNSS Phalanx, and the second ship, the UNSS Rutherford, were being readied at a low-orbit space station, along with a fourth ship for the following year’s Ring destruction mission. Modules for the fifth and sixth ships were under construction at various facilities across the globe. Increased fleet size lowered certain production costs but the budget for each vehicle was still over a hundred billion dollars. Because poverty and inflation were universal and the population had thinned due to environmental devastation and resultant starvation, the world’s governments remained focused on the threat of the Builders. Internally, negotiation and grudging cooperation had supplanted warfare. Most solvent countries diverted the majority of their defense and security budgets into a universal fund to ensure the completion of the UNSDF ships.
Emerging from the hard shell of her space suit, Molly floated into the cylindrical lab module. She carefully moved the sample of ring material onto an isolation stage. Separating the material into twenty smaller segments, she sealed one portion in a container that she placed under the scope. The sample was insulated from the container walls by a vacuum and held in place by an electrostatic field. Scanning the sample, relishing the opportunity to do this inspection with her own eyes, she opened a vidlink to the Chadwick.
“Chadwick, this is Rum-Ruff,” Molly said, using the diminutive name for the lab that only she liked. “Can you see? I don’t want you to miss out on delving into this uncharted microcosm.” Molly knew that her words sounded grandiose. It was a momentous occasion for her.
“Crystal,” responded Anastacia from her cocoon, sounding as clear as she would if she were standing next to Molly.
To minimize the risk, Molly was examining the ring material sample while the three scientists aboard the ship followed along remotely. Anastacia was her partner for this procedure. Via the vidlink, they both examined what looked like a sea of countless shards of coral under the microscope. Every individual particle was a self-replicating robot only a few molecules wide. Essentially, the particles were cells combined with microscopic spaceships: a number of elements shaped for a specific function using superstrong molecular bonds. Four distinct types of nanobots had been encountered: the daddy longlegs, the couch potato, the tanker, and the tripod. Daddy longlegs were a large cell with four wiry appendages. Daddy longlegs interlocked to form a lattice on which the other cells could balance.
Couch potatoes were plump and only moved in cooperation with other nanobots. The cells were made up of a number of elements, and each seemed to have its own function, which remained identical for cells of the same type. Elements with varying valence electrons were combined to form novel compounds. Their function had not been identified, but the prevailing theory was that the potatoes facilitated bonding.
Tankers were relatively large cooling chambers that contained densely packed protons. It was unclear where the tankers’ protons came from, though it was hypothesized that the Ring’s shape was due to its highly efficient production of protons.
The function of tripods was also undetermined. Tripods were rare, with only a few being found in the quarter million particles that had been studied. The three-legged cells had a center hub that appeared to be a joint with nothing attached. The assumption was that an undiscovered fifth particle fit the other side of the tripod’s joint.
Molly and Anastacia were on a quest to find that undiscovered nanobot.
ACT II: MAY 13, 2024
THE WHITE WALL of the United Nations General Assembly building stood behind the curved row of flags, unchanged since it had been built in the previous century. National flags of every color blew in the May breeze. Aki flashed her UNSDF badge and underwent the usual security pat-down before entering the lobby. Even though she was in New York, the United Nations was international territory where the laws of the United States had no jurisdiction. The lobby was lined with artwork from around the world in a poignant exhibit that depicted the violent bloodshed from wars of the twentieth century.