Mark Alpert - Extinction

The network had already prepared itself for the American counterstrike. Nearly all its Modules in China had taken refuge in shelters outside the blast zones. Supreme Harmony had also strengthened its communications system by installing hardened equipment that could withstand the electromagnetic pulses caused by nuclear explosions. Because of these precautions, the network anticipated that at least a hundred of its Modules would survive the nuclear exchange. And because Supreme Harmony had accumulated a large stockpile of implants, it could make up for any losses by incorporating some of the human survivors. Amid the chaos, it would dispatch its Modules to every part of the globe, seizing control of any governments that managed to outlast the apocalypse.

In the Politburo’s shelter outside Beijing, Modules 73 and 152 sat in the conference room with the other members of the Standing Committee, who anxiously monitored the launch preparations. On the opposite side of the globe, in southern Pennsylvania, Modules 156 and 157 entered the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a bunker for top Pentagon officials. And deep inside the Yunnan Operations Center, Modules 32 and 67 adjusted the mix of sedatives being administered to James T. and Layla A. Pierce. The implantation procedures had been successful, and the retinal and pulvinar implants were functioning normally. As soon as Supreme Harmony extracted the information it needed, the Modules would lance the patients’ thalami to cut the neural connections that sustained individual consciousness. Then the father and daughter would become Modules 175 and 176.

Outside the Operations Center, the network’s infrared cameras observed the burning fuselage of a UH-60 Black Hawk tumbling down the western slope of Yulong Xueshan. The other helicopter was two kilometers away from the center’s entrance and closing in at fifty meters per second. Supreme Harmony alerted the platoon of Modules at the fortifications, ordering them to aim their shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles at the remaining Black Hawk. Although the network could no longer guide the missiles toward the helicopter’s transponder, which had shut down, the Black Hawk was now close enough that the Modules could employ their laser-guidance systems. But as the Modules prepared to launch their SAMs at the helicopter, the network detected an incoming missile apparently fired by the Black Hawk a few seconds ago. Supreme Harmony ordered the Modules to take cover inside their fortifications. The concrete pillboxes could withstand a direct hit, and they were equipped with portholes to allow the Modules to return fire.

The incoming missile didn’t hit the pillboxes, however. It didn’t even explode. It arced above the fortifications and made a popping noise in the darkness overhead. Supreme Harmony assumed the missile was a dud. It ordered the Modules to fire at the Black Hawk, which was now an easy target.

The Modules picked up their missile launchers and rested the barrels on their shoulders. But a moment later, three of them dropped their weapons and fell to the ground. Then four more collapsed and started to convulse. Supreme Harmony scanned the area but didn’t detect any more incoming fire from the Black Hawk. Instead, it saw several hundred insects descending on the Modules.

The Black Hawk’s missile had released a drone swarm.

“Ha!” Hammer yelled. “Take that, assholes!”

The Black Hawk raced through the darkness toward the Operations Center. With her glasses tuned to infrared, Kirsten spotted at least a dozen warm bodies lying on the ground near the pillboxes. Several other Modules ran headlong down the mountain. As the helicopter sped closer to the fortifications, she saw a cloud of whirling dots just above the slope. Because the flies were cold-blooded they didn’t stand out so well on the infrared display, but their implanted electronics glowed brightly.

Smiling, Kirsten turned to Hammer. “How the hell did you get the drones into a missile?”

He smiled back at her. “You remember Dusty, my tech guy? He figured out a way to stuff the bugs into the payload. They’re pretty tough critters.”

After a few seconds, the Black Hawk slowed down and hovered over a line of boulders perched on the mountainside about a hundred yards from the pillboxes. The Special Ops guys sprang into action, throwing their fast ropes out the doorways of the helicopter and sliding to the ground. Kirsten donned a pair of gloves and slung an M-4 carbine over her shoulder. She hadn’t jumped out of a helicopter in twenty years, but the army had trained her well. Grabbing one of the braided ropes with her gloved hands, she skidded down to the rocky slope and ran for cover behind the boulders. Hammer and Agent Morrison followed right behind, and then the Black Hawk took off, chasing the Modules who’d fled downhill.

Kirsten peered around the edge of a boulder as the Special Ops team regrouped. The entrance to the Operations Center looked free and clear. But while she was searching for any Modules who might remain in the pillboxes, the cloud of drones suddenly collapsed. All the whirling dots fell to the mountainside and lay motionless. She turned to Hammer. “Hey, your swarm just died.”

“Already?” Hammer peered around the boulder, but without infrared he couldn’t see the drones in the dark. “Fucking hell. They must’ve shut it down.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Guoanbu must’ve put a shutdown switch in the drones they gave us. Just like Arvin did with the retinal implants.” He shook his head. “I knew this might happen, but I thought we’d have more time. How the fuck did they shut it down so quick?”

“You’re not fighting the Guoanbu now,” Kirsten said. “You’re fighting Supreme Harmony. The network moves fast.”

As if to underline her point, a burst of machine-gun fire erupted from one of the pillboxes. The commandos ducked behind the boulders. Sergeant Briscoe, who crouched beside Hammer, gave the CIA agent a dirty look. “I thought you said there’d be minimal resistance.” The bullets ricocheted off the rocks. The sergeant had to shout over the noise. “Is this your idea of minimal?”

Hammer didn’t answer. Briscoe turned away from him and got on his radio to contact the Black Hawk. Meanwhile, Kirsten recalled what she knew about Chinese weaponry. The machine gun in the pillbox was probably a W85, which shot 12.7 mm bullets at a rate of 600 rounds per minute. There was no way the Special Ops soldiers could make it to the entrance of the Operations Center. They were pinned down.

After a few seconds, the gunfire paused. Kirsten heard Briscoe talking into his radio, ordering the helicopter pilot to launch his Hellfire missiles at the pillbox. She wasn’t sure, though, that this would do any good. The Hellfires were great for destroying tanks, but the fortifications outside the Operations Center were hulking structures with thick concrete walls. And the Modules had already proved they could shoot down a Black Hawk.

Feeling desperate, Kirsten dared another look around the boulder. What she saw surprised the hell out of her—the whirling dots were in the air again. It looked like the drone swarm had come back to life. “You’re not gonna believe this,” she told Hammer. “Your drones are back in business.”

“What? They’re flying again?”

But as Kirsten looked closer, she saw that the swarm no longer hovered above the pillboxes. The drones were coming their way, heading for the line of boulders. This was a different swarm, she realized, not Hammer’s. These drones belonged to Supreme Harmony.

Kirsten grabbed Briscoe’s arm. “Get the Black Hawk over here! Tell the pilot to fly over our position!”

The sergeant was so startled he almost dropped his radio. “Jesus, Chan, calm down! The bird can’t come here. It has to be farther away from the target when it shoots the Hellfires.”