Mparntwe. - 17. Chapter 17

Mparntwe Chapter 17.

***

The fifteen centimeter communication tunnel from the top of the lift shaft was now widened to 130 centimeters and to negotiate its vertical rise Jarra had to transfer through the top of the transport capsule which had carried him up the lift shaft and buckle himself into the harness arrangement which would take him the final step to the surface. There had been a delay while strengthening walls and shoring made everything safe but that just meant he had a slightly longer sleep. He clicked the safety buckle into place and almost immediately the harness started rising. Yirgella must have a sensor watching. Yes, there it was on the frame of the harness.

The walls slid past and the radiance above took his attention. As he emerged into the pool of emergency lights the surrounding rubble, the range of equipment, and the large group of people hardly registered.

The best smile in the world was right in front of him.

***

"Members of Mparntwe Council, I welcome you to Country."

Baradin accepted the very formal greeting and there was quiet as everyone waited to see what Yirgella would say.

"The death of friends and acquaintances is a painful new experience and we will remember them properly at an appropriate gathering.

We have pressing concerns though and I have asked Professor Allerton to take Durrebar's place. A capable and forceful leader will be necessary in the coming months and I would like you to endorse him as the head of Alkere project."

Baradin received the immediate nods of every council member and nodded himself.

"Professor, it will be a great relief if you accept this important but difficult position."

The professor rose to his feet.

"Can I accept on a temporary basis? I don't have the organisational skills or broad view and understanding that was natural to Durrebar, but with Yirgella's help I will do my best to follow his lead."

"Wonderful, the Council accepts your temporary appointment with gratitude and hopes it will last a very long time.”

Baradin paused a moment before continuing.

“Yirgella, the attack was directed at you but it harms us as well and we have grave concerns about the actions and response we need to take. The malice and hostility has been strong and relentless. So strong and relentless in fact that, while you exist, we believe it will strike again and again. More of our citizens will be placed in danger."

What? It sounded like Baradin was against Yirgella. Did he want him to go somewhere else? Was he representing the views of the rest of the Council? Jarra's shock and disbelief at what he was hearing started to become anger at this betrayal of everything Yirgella had done for Mparntwe. He was about to jump to his feet in protest when Yirgella took over.

"I agree completely, Baradin, and as of now the safety of anyone here is my personal responsibility. I am taking complete control of the defence and security of this complex and once my new system is in place the likelihood of any successful attack will become increasingly remote."

"Your system?"

"Yes, the previous system intercepted eleven of the fifteen missiles launched. My system will detect all known stealth approaches and be able to cope with the release of hundreds of missiles. Overnight I have been searching the databases of military installations all round the world and the equipment we build here will be a synthesis of the very best."

"You can bypass military grade security?"

"Not all of it, that will come, but as a result of this attack I have made the InterWeb a tool for our defence. I will use it to gather electronic data on every approaching flight, to trace the origin of every public comment which might be part of a deliberate program against Artificial Intelligence or our community, and to search for those responsible."

There was silence for a while as everyone pondered the implications of this startling announcement.

"You can access all those protected databases?"

"I've had that capability for quite some time but until now I've only used it for testing and verification purposes."

"Have you discovered anything about who's doing this to us?"

"At present I have the identities of three nations and seven multinational corporations with definite involvement, and many more with varying degrees of association."

Baradin, along with five other counsellors jumped to their feet.

"Yirgella, you know all that? Tell us and we'll do something. The World needs to know about this. Have you got definite evidence?"

"Release of that information is conditional on the promise that you don't let the World know and that you do nothing about it."

"What?"

Three more counsellors were now on their feet.

"Four hundred and eighty-five Australian lives were lost and you want us to do nothing? That's... That's obscene!"

Looking at all the disbelieving and angry faces, Jarra agreed.

"Yirgella, explain. You have our full attention."

"Thank you, Baradin. This is most important. Any action now would be extremely dangerous. With Alkere power disrupted and my actions curtailed by the loss of the NanoFactories we are in a highly vulnerable position. Our adversaries believe they have been successful in preserving the status quo of their power and financial influence but once they learn of my continued existence the danger will again become immediate and extreme. In two months from now we will be restored and prepared and until then I ask for Alkere to be made a secure area and my survival kept secret."

Baradin was smiling. So were many others and they all sat down.

"Of course. That's only common sense and you have a strategy to implement all this don't you?"

"I do."

***

The next five weeks at Alkere were the hardest Jarra had ever experienced and despite extending his four-day pattern to five there was just too much work to cope with and Yirgella's four week prediction had to stretch by an extra week.

Ninety percent of the time went to the mini NanoFactory, but the unusual capabilities of the special 3D printers in his project room made it the major centre for many other repair tasks and his special large printer was frequently needed. That meant he helped with all sorts of necessary tasks and that all slowed down the NanoFactory work.

The main Alkere power distribution center had been close enough to get put out of action and Jarra, working with Yirgella specifications, built the five techbots which helped Burnu's Alkere technicians restore the power flow to Mparntwe, the outside world, and to Yirgella's underground domain.

A small job was building modules to repair the lift system as well as a few special-purpose machines to help with the clean-up at the surface and starting on shelters for the return of the two big NanoFactories.

Mirri kept particularly close for the first few weeks till Darri researched the traditional dancing groups in Mparntwe and Mirri very excitedly started learning all sorts of ceremonial dances and routines with his new friends. Jarra felt bad because he couldn't be with him. That would happen when this emergency time was over and he had to be satisfied with occasional ComPatch glimpses through Yirgella.

When Baradin arranged for the doctor to visit to make sure Jarra wasn't doing too much Yirgella decided to upgrade the medical facility by making an extra room with all the facilities needed for Jarra special treatments. Jarra thought it was unnecessary. Everyone else thought it was great.

***

Jarra zipped down to the mini NanoFactory in his Project personal carrier with the final module towing behind on a trolley. Someone else usually did this but this last connection and the commencement of operations at full capability was quite a momentous occasion and everyone agreed that Jarra should be the one to do the honours. Jarra thought the same and his anticipation lifted as he entered the big storage room. Whoo! Most of the project staff were there, all smiling. Word had spread.

"How long will it take to install?"

Professor Allerton and three other staff jockeyed the module from the trolley to its position in the NanoFactory.

"It's very straightforward and Yirgella will do a diagnostic test of the whole NanoFactory once it's in place. About five minutes."

"And twenty-four seconds for the test. Well done, Jarra. The whole Project thank you for your efforts."

There were nods, smiles, and even some clapping, which made Jarra feel quite proud at this comment. With a deft touch he seated and locked the series of connections then, with a great feeling of achievement, nodded to Yirgella.

"It's all yours. It should be ready to go."

Yirgella's image was replaced with a big countdown screen and everyone watched the numbers change.

19.

18.

17.

Professor Allerton grabbed Jarra's arm.

12.

11.

10.

There was a hum from the NanoFactory and everyone's attention diverted for a few seconds.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

The screen flashed red and Jarra stared in shock.

"The discombobulator has become obfuscated and the doohickey has melted all the thingamajigs. Oh no! Another five weeks while we rebuild this thing."

Disccomb... What? There was no such part and Jarra burst into laughter at the sight of the worried faces all around him.

"Yirgella, you're an idiot. Get on with it."

"Oops! My malfunction function is malfunctioning. Diagnostics complete and all successful. First task initiated."

Professor Allerton, along with everyone else present was staring.

"What happened? Has something gone wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong except the sense of humor you programmed into him. It's getting out of control."

There were humorous snorts of disgust, chuckles, and several bursts of outright laughter as understanding clicked in.

"It's all working perfectly and you did that to us?"

"Everything is working perfectly and the first three defence scanner units are ready for installation."

"Already?"

"There are now six units and the full complement of thirty-five will be finished in another 160 seconds."

Jarra smiled with delight. Yirgella and the project were back in full force and things would now happen at NanoFactory rates.

Professor Allerton looked startled.

"Who's installing them? I haven't heard anything about this."

"Thirty-five recyclable techbots specifically designed for the job will be available after a further six minutes. All you will need to provide is transport to the designated locations.

Security has to be our greatest priority and I've had five weeks to refine our defence plan and design the equipment and installation techbots. Everything will be in place and functioning by the end of tomorrow and we'll be able to concentrate on returning our other projects to full function."

Jarra knew Yirgella's immediate program really well because they'd argued about it. Well, not really argued because Yirgella was insisting that Jarra take a well earned break and travel to Birringurra Country with Mirri for the Corobboree performance he'd missed five weeks ago. Jarra's conscience said that he should be helping to build the first big surface NanoFactory but Yirgella had overridden that and with a great deal of relief Jarra had no choice but to go along.

After defence, repairs and replacement parts for all the excavators would keep the mini NanoFactory busy for several days.

The Geothermal project which had halted completely from loss of power would follow next and then the start of the big new eighty square kilometer Solar array which had already been okayed with the Mparntwe Council and Alkere Inc.

After that would come repairs to the Vac-tunnel and replacing the Alkere terminal, but Jarra would be back by then and the surface NanoFactories in full function.

"Tomorrow?... All the defence missiles and scanners?"

"Yes, when our materials factories and other external projects all start up it will announce my survival to the world and the observers spread through the Alice Springs communities will have news for their employers. We must be ready for any reaction."

Jarra hadn't heard about any observers. Neither had Professor Allerton who was now looking at a group of the security people.

"What observers?"

"There are three groups, one in each of the Alice Springs Communities, and they've been trying to watch any activity involving Alkere. We're monitoring them very closely and they haven't learnt anything so we rate them is relatively harmless. Yirgella identified them the day after the attack."

Jarra and Professor Allerton both turned to Yirgella now.

"Five weeks and you didn't say anything?"

"You and Jarra had more important things to worry about."

"Observers watching what we do isn't important?"

"They have no idea what we do, professor. They believe all the activity has been to restore Alkere power and they've been sending messages to that effect ever since they arrived. We even allowed some of them to join a newsgroup sortie documenting the damage at the attack site and the progress of the repair work at Alkere Power."

Jarra was impressed.

"They'll know they've been tricked when the surface NanoFactories start producing things."

"They will, and their messages will bring an onslaught of attention. But we'll be ready and every act of scrutiny will give us important information about the people responsible."

"They'll send more missiles."

"They can try but their launching instrumentation will malfunction and their aircraft will land at the Darwin Defence base. Any satellite trying to scan Alkere directly will have its guidance system scrambled, and any attempts at electronic attack or surveillance through the InterWeb will fail completely."

"You can do all that?"

"And much more, professor. For the past five weeks I have been building my knowledge of the InterWeb and anything connected to it."

"Military aircraft and satellites aren't connected to the InterWeb."

"Not directly, but they connect to systems which are."

Jarra decided he'd find out a lot more about this when he returned from Birringurra.

"How long will it take to have processor production restored? There's a huge backlog of orders."

"When the second NanoFactory starts up your processors and the panels for the new solar array will have top priority. That should be in six days."

Jarra was surprised.

"I thought the thermal project was first priority?"

"It is. Energy from the new array will greatly speed up its completion. The extra energy will also enable us to allocate an extra ten excavation machines to the Australia wide tunnel network and three more for our AI projects."

"We need excavating machines for the AI projects?"

"We could rebuild them securely on the surface with our new defence systems, but underground is better."

Another thing Jarra was behind with. When he got back there was a great deal of catching up to do.

***

"Will we see the whales?"

"I don't think so, Mirri. It's the wrong time of the year."

"I liked his big tail and when his eyes looked at us."

Tail meant the fluke on display.

"Karmai will take us to his dolphins again and he does want us to see the baby pelicans at the Pelican Nursery."

"Can we take Barega and Akama with us? Barega wants to see them."

Mirri was all excited about Barega's secret and he'd spoken to the twins several times in the last few days making plans about it with them. All very curious.

"Of course we can. As long as Jarli says it's okay."

Jarli would. He liked his twins being with Jarra and Mirri.

"Look! The big water."

The plane landed and Jarli and two excited twins were waiting for them.

***

"PC ride! PC ride!"

PC meant the personal carrier and the ride was to the favorite swimming spot.

Jarra was laughing because the twins had organised the whole afternoon and taken it for granted that everything would happen just as they wanted. Mirri was totally in agreement as it was exploring, swimming, and fun with the twins. Jarra needed a rest after the air trip and the transfer to Birringurra country but he figured he could last the extra ten minutes ride on the personal carrier then sleep for half an hour on the soft sand and the makeshift bed of grass and leaves Mirri would expertly construct for him.

He loved the exploring, the swimming, and the fun with the twins too, and besides this must be part of the plans they'd made over the InterWeb because tonight was the Corroboree and tomorrow they had be at Monkey Mia with Karmai.

After whoops of laughter and excitement from the twins behind him, Jarra knew all the spots to swerve and thrilling little rises by heart, Mirri took charge and organised the collection of soft material and the eucalypt scented leaves he knew Jarra liked to use as a pillow.

"Barega, you must be quiet. Jarra has had a long, long trip and we have to look after him."

Jarra was surprised for a moment. Barega was much louder and more active than Akama but they both always followed Mirri's lead without question when it was Jarra's rest time. He watched two serious little nods. That was normal. The exchange of looks that passed between the three of them next wasn't. Aha. They were into their plans.

"Thank you, Mirri. After such a long, long, trip I need a long, long, sleep and I think I won't wake up for over two hours."

Jarra saw dismay, particularly on Akama's face, but Mirri just laughed his great happy laugh.

"JJ is a tricker. We won't have to wait such a long time. He wants a sleepy-time hug."

After two enthusiastic hugs and of course a special Mirri hug, Jarra watched the three move further down the sandy bank of the river where the dolphin dive and the crocodile attack game would be muted to a background noise. He closed his eyes and smiled at the sound of Barega's pleas for a pig ride.

What? It was too quiet. Jarra cracked his eyes open and his sleepiness dissolved to a smile. Three statues were staring at him from only a meter away.

"Sneaks! I didn't hear you make a sound."

"Have you had a good rest, Uncle Jarra?"

Jarra closed his eyes and said nothing till Mirri's laugh spoiled his pretense by making him smile again. These two boys could easily tell it wasn't a sleep smile so he sat up.

"Look, tortoise tracks."

Starting about ten meters away were the trails where the three had dropped to their knees and quietly shuffled closer and closer in a little game which Jarra had no doubt was started by Mirri.

"One big sneaky tortoise and two little sneaky tortoises."

Mirri liked that and so did the twins. Akama grabbed Jarra's hand.

"We are going to the tree, Uncle Jarra, and Mirri will give you a pig ride."

Jarra found out later from Jarli that the pig ride Mirri had given him in view of the whole gathering at the last Corroboree had made a big impact on the twins and they often acted it out in their play.

"It's too far for a pig ride. The tree is right back near Birringurra. Mirri will get too tired."

"Yes, the pig ride starts back there."

They had it all worked out. Akama pointed out where to stop the personal carrier and for nearly a hundred meters Mirri strode along with Jarra on his back and the twins trotting beside. Jarra never did understand why the pig ride was part of their plan but part it was till they reached the tree.

"You sit there, Uncle Jarra, and Mirri sits next to you and Barega sits on your other side."

Jarra's spot was against the trunk of the tree and quite comfortable because he could rest his back. When Akama sat down in front of them Barega said it was time for a story.

"I haven't got one ready, Barega. What would you like it to be about?"

The three of them laughed with such delight Jarra knew he'd been set up somehow.

"Not you, JJ. This is Akama's story."

Jarra listened with growing wonder at the story about a very tired man who was so clever he lived at the bottom of a cave in a special room where he could build wonderful machines to help people all round the world, about the bad people who didn't like him and sent bombs to kill him and his friends, about the people who cried when they thought he was gone, and about the magic spirit friend who dug tunnels through the dirt to set him free.

Jarra stared at Akama in total amazement.

How could a seven-year-old boy hold attention so strongly, tell a story so convincingly? Jarra had always been good with words but not like this. The words were simple but the pattern and style felt like the dreamtime stories told around the campfire by the walkabout guides and the leaders at the Corroboree. Some of it definitely had the flavor of Mirri's viewpoint and there were words distinctive to Barega so there'd been quite a bit of collaboration over the InterWeb. No wonder Mirri had been so excited about this visit.

"Thank you Akama and Barega and Mirri. That is the best story anyone has ever told me."

Mirri was nodding his complete agreement.

"Yes, JJ, and it's our secret story. Akama made it up and we are happy you didn't get hurt. We remember it forever."

That last wasn't a Mirri phrase. They'd even discussed some things to say about it.

"Forever, Mirri. It's the newest story in the whole world. Do you want to keep it secret from Yirgy? He likes to watch everything from our ComPatches."

Mirri explained to the boys.

"Yirgy will keep our secret. He is our magic friend. He dug the tunnel to bring JJ back."

Jarra wondered how much the twins understood about Artificial Intelligences. Jarli must have made explanations of some kind after the destruction of the neighboring Carnarvon AI project where more people had been killed than at Alkere. Oops!

"Mirri, I'm very bad."

Jarra held out one hand and gave it a little smack with the other to emphasise to the twins what he was saying.

"We mustn't talk to anyone about Yirgy because if the bad people think he's still there they'll get nasty again. It's all right with Akama and Barega because they are good secret keepers."

"Our daddy already told us to keep Yirgella secret when we found out how you were saved."

Jarra almost felt silly. Of course they knew about Yirgella. They'd put him in the story as the magic friend and they'd been talking with Mirri about him over the InterWeb. There was another thought. The InterWeb wasn't very safe against... Yes it was. Yirgella heard every word through Mirri's ComPatch when he was in Mparntwe and he'd have made sure it was secure.

Now that the nonsense about Jarra being very bad was apparently over Mirri gave Barega a big nudge, a blatant get on with our plans nudge.

"Uncle Jarra do you remember why we like this tree so much?"

Jarra screwed his face up as if this was a very hard tricky question then stopped when he saw the boys weren't fooled for one moment. Mirri liked it though so that was enough to carry on with.

"It's so big?"

"No!"

Mirri was shaking his head.

"It's a very old tree?"

"No!"

"It's got good gum leaves to smell?"

"NO!"

Time to say the right answer or Mirri wouldn't be able to contain himself.

"Yes! Yes! You got it right. Can I get it for you?"

"You can't, Mirri. It's in the burl. You'd have to cut the the big lump off the tree."

"Not that secret. The other secret."

So Barega's secret that had given Mirri so much fun to talk about was up there. Keeping a secret with a secret. Very clever.

"A secret story, a tree secret, and now another secret. There are secrets everywhere. Yes, Mirri, you'll have to get it for me because you're such a good tree climber."

Mirri leapt for the first branch, he knew the best way up this tree, and Jarra and the boys stood up to watch his progress. Oh my, there certainly was something up there. A big flat package leaning against the trunk in the fork at the lookout place. Mirri eagerly picked it up then paused while he puzzled out how to handle it safely then started his careful descent. The last part was too tricky so he dangled upside down and passed the new secret to Jarra's upstretched hands.

While Mirri dropped nimbly on his feet, Jarra sat back in his spot against the tree to contemplate the package. It was flat, roughly rectangular and quite large and remembering Mirri's comment about it being a beautiful secret he figured it might be a picture.

"I'm too nervous. Will you take the packing for me please, Barega?"

Yes, it was a picture. And yes, it was beautiful. Jarra stared at the rich ochre colours of the traditional style painting of a gum tree, this gum tree, with the burl and the fork of the lookout place. And there was the evil Willy Willy, the funny-face bird and the tortoise and hundreds of dots making lines to the branches of another tree.

"This is my story. Did you get an artist to paint it for me? It's amazing."

Mirri and Akama laughed and pointed at Barega.

"It's my painting, Uncle Jarra. I had to do it lots of times to make it be good enough for you."

“There's the Willy Willy wind. How did you make it look so angry?"

Barega eagerly explained the different features for the next few minutes.

Jarra next explained to the boys that even though he'd been trapped underground he'd been quite safe and that there had been over six months of supplies for everyone if they needed them.

"Yirgella's project area is just like living in your underground home at Carnarvon. There are scientists and lots of special projects happening but Yirgella has started making it into a proper Community so anyone can live there with their families."

"Uncle Jarra, does Yirgella look after you all the time? Our daddy says he's friendly but some people at our school say AIs are so clever they might take over and machines will rule all the people."

This was from Akama, the one who always asked questions, and Jarra had to think about his answer.

"Most people don't understand AIs and they watch the InterWeb and see bad stories about them. They're very sneaky stories made up by people who are scared of AIs. Some of the people are really bad because they spread the stories on purpose and lots of others aren't bad but they spread the stories because they don't know the truth about what Yirgella is really like."

"But AIs hurt people. Padilpa told us that people died because of them."

"Padilpa's wrong. Who is he?"

"He teaches us at our school. He knows a lot of things."

Akama nodded his agreement with Barega.

"Well the sneaky stories have tricked him. Mirri and I talk to Yirgella all the time and he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Mirri, tell the boys what Yirgella is like."

"Yirgy is our very best friend. Yirgy is fun and Yirgy saved Jarra from the bad people."

"Does he talk to children?"

"Akama, he'd love to talk to you. I know he will. When we get back to the Center we'll speak to him through the InterWeb."

"Does he look like a big machine? What will we ask him?"

"He makes a picture on the screen that looks like an ordinary person and you can ask him whatever you like. He loves tricky questions."

"Yirgy knows everything."

"Not everything, Mirri, but he finds out so quickly it seems like he does."

"JJ, Will we climb the tree before we go back to the Center?"

Enough talk. This was explore time.

***

End of chapter 17.