The Soldier

“I have some news.”

“Good or bad?”

Caitlin and Larry were eating at Larry’s apartment, where Caitlin had taken to spending a lot of her off time lately.

“Depends.”

“On?” Larry prompted.

" On your point of view,” Caitlin said as she took a bite. "Oh, this is good. What is in this?”

“Meat,” Larry said.

“You mean real meat, as in from a cow meat? I thought you couldn’t get that anymore?”

“You know how things go,” Larry said. “If any government tries to say you can’t have something, somebody will start a black market for it.”

“Then it must have cost you a fortune.”

“Only half a fortune,” Larry said. “I have some people who owed me a favor, and I felt like splurging. Anyway, your news?”

“Oh. Yes. I cracked the chip.”

Larry put his fork down.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to actually do that?”

“I know. But the Wicked Witch of the West was watching me like a hawk. I couldn’t stall anymore. So, I tried to peek under the hood, but I couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t? I though you could crack anything.”

“So did I. And it really got me ticked off that I couldn’t.”

“So?”

“So, I really went to work and finally got inside the damned thing and figured it all out.”

“And?”

“And the chip doesn’t do what the American’s think it does.”

“You mean it’s not a guidance chip?”

“Not in the least,” she said. “It’s actually a basic CPU. About half as powerful as my computer in my office.”

“They are going to be so pissed off,” he said. “So, what makes it so special? It must do something different for all the effort they were putting into it.”

“Well it is a prototype,” Caitlin said. “Actually, it’s more of a test bed. It tests an innovation that can be adapted to any type of circuit.”

“Which is?”

“It’s resistant to EMPs.”

Larry’s hand stopped halfway to his mouth.

“Excuse me? I didn’t think it was possible to fully shield electronics from the effect of an EMP.”

“I didn’t say the chip was shielded, now did I?”

“No, you didn’t, but you did say it was resistant.”

“Maybe resistant isn’t the right word,” she said. “I suppose the more accurate description is to say it’s built to survive an EMP burst by basically restoring itself.”

“How?”

Caitlin took a drink of her iced tea.

“It really is a bit of work of miniaturization. The damn thing actually has multiple layers of circuitry, built in backups.”

“OK, fine, it’s got backups,” Larry said. “But an EMP fries every circuit within 100 miles.”

“Every active circuit.”

Larry looked stunned. “How?”

“The backups are completely powered down unless they’re needed. It’s quite brilliant. The EMP hits and fries the first circuit. Built into the chip is a mechanical nanotimer, kind of a micro-miniature hourglass, connected to a nanobattery. Every few minutes it comes active and tests the circuitry, and if it determines the primary circuit is dead it brings the backup on line.”

“That’s all well and good, but even if your computer is OK, you still need power and wouldn’t the EMP knock out the power?”

“You’re not paying attention,” Caitlin said. “I said this was a test bed. If this protective strategy is deployed throughout a system, including power generation, you’ve completely protected your defense network. It can’t be knocked out. Well, to be precise it can -- but within a matter of minutes it restores itself.”

“So, it’s not a guidance chip?”

“Not a guidance chip.”

“Somebody’s head is going to roll, “Larry said.

“Indeed, I just hope one of them isn’t mine.”

Jon, Logan and the minutemen guided their horses off a long-abandoned causeway onto a stretch of barrier island.

“The countryside is beautiful and all, but was it really necessary to take the scenic route? Why not head directly for the space center?”

“A couple of reasons,” Jon replied. ” Misdirection for one. If the wrong people see us they don’t know exactly where we came from, so it’s harder for them to figure out where our camps are.”

“And two?”

“If we want to contact someone who works at KSC, we need to be where they are,” Jon said. “And for the most part, that means Cocoa Beach, which is just south of here.”

“And Kennedy’s to the north?”

Jon nodded.

“Right. You go ahead, I want to scout things out a bit, “Logan said.

“Not by yourself you’re not,” Jon said. Before Logan could protest, he turned to the others. “Head south and stop a mile or so outside of town and set up camp.”

One of the men nodded, and the group headed off down a dirt path.

“Let’s go,” Jon said and headed off North.

Several days later, Caitlin and Larry walked into the dance club in Cocoa Beach they had gone to on their first date. At least Caitlin mentally called it the dance club just as a point of reference as it didn’t seem to have a real name, at least as far as she knew. It was just an old warehouse that everyone seemed to know about. As far as she could tell, there were no efforts to keep its existence a secret, and there wasn’t anyone standing at the door asking for the secret password when they entered.

“We can go somewhere else if you’d like, “Larry said. “This really isn’t the only place in town.”

“I know, but I like it here. I like the music and,” she said as she moved closer to him and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “It has a special meaning. Don’t you have a soft spot in your heart for ‘first date’ locations?”

“I wouldn’t know, haven’t been on that many first dates for it to matter,” he said. “And damned few second or third dates for that matter.”

“You have got to be kidding, you’re a great guy, surely every woman in town must have looked your way at least once.”

“You are being kind, but the truth is most women can’t get past the computer geek part, and I really don’t compare well to the strong, he-man military types that are all over the place.”

“Well, you do as far as I’m concerned,” Caitlin said, “compare well I mean. At least to me.”

She stopped talking and quickly sat down, a hint of red appearing on her cheeks. Larry pretended not to notice as he sat next to her.

“So, do you want to just sit for a bit or get out on the dance floor?”

“Sit for a bit, I think. But can you get us something to drink first?”

“You got it,” Larry said. He stood up, bent over and gave Caitlin a quick kiss on the cheek before walking over to the bar.

Jon and Logan walked casually up a street towards a building from which music could be heard. The team had reached the area two days prior and had an encampment set up far enough back in the woods, at least by Jon’s estimation, to avoid detection.

“Shall we go in?”

“No reason not to,” Jon said. “We can get a drink and keep our ears open.”

Logan nodded. “I would still feel better if we were armed.”

“Would’ve been a bad idea,” Jon said. ” Out in the wild, weapons are tolerated by the Feds, in towns, not so much. Your mission would have ended really quick if we were stopped and found to be armed.

“It would have been a quick side trip to the nearest Fed penal camp, do not pass go, do not collect $200.”

“Excuse me?” Logan asked, puzzled.

“It’s Monopoly. Don’t you guys have any of those old board games anymore?”

Logan shook his head.

“Pretty much not. Just about everything American was purged when you lot first cut yourself off from the world. Even though feeling have cooled somewhat, no trade means no trade. And that means nothing American, including your old games.”

“Too bad, fun game.”

“I’m sure. Now shall we go in?”

“After you,” Jon said.

The two men walked into the dance hall and looked around. It was fairly crowded, and the light was dim.

“How romantic. Wish I had brought someone else.”

“I’m sure,” Jon said. “Let’s get something to drink.”

“Really? I don’t know about you but I’m a little short of American cash. You don’t think they’ll my Bank of England credit card, do you?”

“Not likely. My treat.”

" Very nice of you,” Logan said.

“Yes, yes, it is,” Jon replied as he walked over to the bar.

“How’s it goin’,” Jon said to the large, bearded man behind the bar.

“You know, same shit, different day,” the man said. “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

“Good eye,” Jon said “Hunting party out of Bushnell. Ended up a little further east then we intended so we’re camped a few miles outside of town. Me and Logan here decided to come in for a look around before we pull out and head for home tomorrow. Name’s Jon, by the way.”

“Dennis,” the bartender said as he first shook Jon’s hand and then Logan’s. “Weapons?”

“Back in camp.”

“Good move, the Feds raid us every now and again, just to keep everyone honest.”

“I expected as much. It’s pretty much the same everywhere from what I hear.”

“Well, it would be damned nice if they’d just leave us the hell alone,” Dennis said.

“No argument from me, brother. Now what are you pouring?”

“Well, you can have anything you want, as long as it’s either beer or our own, special recipe homebrew whiskey.”

“I’ll take a shot of that whiskey,” Jon said.

“Beer,” Logan said, not wanting to say too much that would reveal his accent.

“Coming up,” Dennis said as he put a shot glass on the bar. He got a mug and quickly filled it from a nearby tap, placing the glass in front of Logan. Then he expertly filled the shot glass with whiskey without spilling so much as a drop.

Jon placed a bill on the bar large enough to cover the drinks and a generous tip for Dennis, who made it quickly disappear.

“Always be good to your bartender,” Jon said to Logan as they walked to a nearby table and sat down.

“So, what’s our next move?”

“Frankly, I was hoping for just a bit of luck,” Logan said.

“Like what, running into Caitlin as we’re wandering around town?”

Logan raised his glass to take a sip of beer, stopping before the glass reached his lips, his eyes widening in surprise. Then he placed the glass the rest of the way to his lips, swallowed and put it back down.

“Yes, something like that would be bloody convenient would it not,” Logan said, nodding towards the dance floor. Jon turned to look and saw Caitlin and Larry dancing.

“Remind me never to play poker with you.”

“I’ll do that,” Logan said as he took another sip of beer. He put his glass down then stood and walked over to the couple, maneuvering so Caitlin would see him first over Larry’s shoulder. Logan put a finger to his lips and mouthed ‘play along’ before walking up and tapping Larry on his shoulder.

“May I cut in,” he said, trying his best to match Jon’s accent and speech pattern.

“Sorry, pal, she’s my date, go find someone else,” Larry said.

“Not a lot of options in here tonight,” Logan said. “Give a man a break, I’ve been out hunting for three weeks. Share the wealth a bit. I won’t try anything funny.”

“It’s all right Larry, I don’t mind,” Caitlin said.

Larry looked from Caitlin to Logan.

“Fine,” he said a bit briskly. “One dance.”

Logan took Caitlin in his arms and they began to dance as Larry sat down, his eyes never leaving the dancing couple.

“OK, you managed to track me down, now how about getting me out of here,” she said in a whisper that she hoped only Logan could here.

“Not so fast. What about the chip?”

“What about it?”

“I received intel that you were assigned to work on it.”

“That’s true.”

“And?”

“And I hacked it,” Caitlin said, “I couldn’t stall anymore and, well, to make a long story short it wasn’t hard and I felt challenged so I hacked it. But listen, it’s not a guidance chip.”

Logan was stunned. “So, what does it do.”

“Nothing, well this one doesn’t do anything, it’s a prototype. Listen, I think we should just sit down and bring Larry in on this.”

“You don’t really know him all that well.”

“True, but I’m generally a good judge of character and I think he can be trusted.”

“Well, I trust your judgment, even if I don’t know this bloke that well myself. But I’m curious, just how good a friend is he?”

“That is really none of your business,” she said. “And by the way, how is our little miss Mandy anyway?”

“Fine,” Logan said, somewhat surprised by the unexpected display of jealousy. “As of the last time I saw her before we came after you.”

“Dandy,” Caitlin said as she led Logan over to the table where Larry sat.

“Larry I’d like you to meet Marcus Logan, he’s,” she paused and looked meaningfully at Logan, “the leader of our merry band.”

“A pleasure,” Logan said, reverting to his normal voice as he extended a hand.

“That remains to be seen,” Larry said as he shook Logan’s hand. “Your British. What the hell are you doing in America.”

He looked at Caitlin.

“So just how many of you are there in this ‘merry band’ of yours?”

“Relax Larry, it’s not an invasion. It’s just four of us.”

“And you’re here to. . .”

“Recover that chip Caitlin’s been working on. You Yanks stole it from the company I was working for and the blame fell in my lap. We’re here to get it back.”

“That makes you some kind of spy, then?”

“No, my country doesn’t know I’m here. I just took this upon myself to clear my name, as it were.”

“Wonderful. So, Caitlin, this, you and I, has all been bogus, just a way to get out.”

Caitlin sat and put her hand on Larry’s arm.

“Maybe at first, but I really like you Larry, you’re sweet.”

“Sweet, great, that really compares with Mr. British Secret Service here.”

“I already told you, mate, I’m not officially even here,” Logan said. “If, and it’s a big if at this point, we get back to England and the government figures out we’ve been over here, I’ll be in just as much trouble over there.”

Caitlin glared at Logan.

“But the bottom line is the chip doesn’t do what we thought and isn’t a threat to England .. ”

“Which you still haven’t explained,” Logan said, interrupting her.

“Right,” Caitlin said looking more than a little annoyed. “It’s a prototype for a chip that allows electronics to withstand, or more precisely recover from an EMP. The chip essentially restores itself. It’s all about defense and not offense.”

Caitlin thought for a moment.

“Which begs the question, why not just leave it here and start trying to figure out how to get home?”

Logan thought for a moment. “Because I still want to recover the blasted chip. If it was important enough for England to develop, it’s important enough for use to get it back and keep the tech from getting into the American’s hands, they bloody well don’t deserve it. No offense intended.”

“None taken,” Larry said. “There’s quite a lot of us that aren’t exactly all that happy with the way America’s been run lately.”

“Does that mean you’d be willing to help us?” Caitlin asked.

“I’ll try,” Larry said after considering for just a moment. “But I really don’t see how we’re gonna’ pull this off.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something,” Logan said as he waived Jon over to fill him in on the turn of events.