Keith Laumer - The Compleat Bolo

(picked up by electronic surveillance grid, unidentified terrorist, Queen's Park, November 1, 1084, 1800 hours)

"Right in that flowerbed yonder. Boss Hangar said at 1815 hours precisely, and he and Gunn studied the setup for over two years, so I guess we'd better stick strictly to instructions. Old Secretary Millspaugh knocks off puttering in his garden at 1800 sharp, and we have to give him time to get busy with his dinner.

"Another six minutes is all. Take it easy. We walk right in there as if we owned the park, dump our stuff in the big red-white-and blue box, and make it out the other side and split up. Just follow my lead-and think about something else. We got no time for jitters. Buck will be there with the car, and by the time she blows on the 5th we'll be long gone and under cover.

"Never mind that, Binder. Maybe I'd better do it alone after all. OK, OK, "I'm just thinking out loud. Your job is to keep the old eyeballs peeled just in case one of these fat cats happens to come wandering in, off-schedule. But that's highly unlikely at cocktail-and-dinner time, all out of the public trough.

"Keep cool. All right, now we cross the street and look at the schedule on the post over there, as if we missed the ferry or something. I'm carrying the garbage, all wrapped and sealed according to the law. OK, watch that servo-cart! Damn steering beam gave me an after-image!

"Funny, that wasn't in our briefing. OK, now!"

(fragmentary message received by Space Communications from Pluto Probe, November 2, 1084 NS)

… as a result of the above, I have relieved Commander Bland, and shall do my best to hold my command intact. Naturally, the Lord of All expects instant compliance with all instructions, but I have resolved to leave that decision to his Imperial Majesty, and am aborting the mission as of this hour 0213111981. Confirm soonest, as I must commit within ninety-one hours.

– Admiral Starbird

(General Margrave to field agent, Imperial Security)

"Certainly I think sitting the Relocation Facility adjacent to the Proving Ground is a good idea. I didn't pick the location by accident. The damned riff-raff can see the Bolo looming up over there beyond the fence, and it'll put the fear of God and the Emperor into them. I know what I'm doing.

"Yes, I know the Bolo called for a full briefing as soon as it rolled out of the shed and turned its scanners on the detention camp. That's okay. Give it all the data it wants. It's on low alert and under complete control. The more it knows, the better it can do its job."

(surveillance tape, ex-Chief Joel Trace, detained in Relocation Facility, November 3, 1084 NS)

"I can't agree with you fellows that we've been deprived of anything but the opportunity to raise hell, and the government has enough on its hands these days, what with the nuclear blackmail movement, and the confusing reports from the Pluto Probe.

"All right, in rounding up the revolutionaries, a few of us loyal subjects were caught in the net. It's an inconvenience, but we've received decent enough treatment. Lots of these folks never lived this well before.

"Now, they've gone ahead with the Bolo. You saw the thing yourselves today, moving around the Proving Ground, big as a hill but docile as a lamb. I can't help feeling excited and proud. She's my baby, you know. All those years, building her CSR capability. Maybe, now that she's clad in her war hull, with her weapons activated, she'll stop feeling nervous and scared and order us to be released. "Things will be straightened out eventually. I'm sure we'll be well recompensed. For the last time, fellows, I am not in sympathy with your plans."

Possibly, I have erred in the direction of excess in my arrangements for random sampling. I lack rigorous parameters for effective evaluation of data. I am at hazard of overloading my circuitry with extraneous material.

As for the observation of two men bringing wrapped waste for disposal at point 1392-A16, I am unsure why my alert circuitry was activated. I must conduct a search of the files, and shall allocate.004 seconds to the task.

It appears that the automatic correlation analysis conducted by the Mass Archival Data Collator and Presenter has noted a series of events occurring at widely separated points as evidently interrelated and fruitful of mischief. Since the MADCAP circuitry has been organized for precisely this function, even in the absence of any direct evidence, it appears logical to.99876 degree to accept the finding as representative of an actual potential threat, to be acted upon accordingly.

Thus I compute that my first mission is now clear. I must act against these men and the wrapped waste at once.

(General Margrave to Bolo technical staff, November 4, 1084 NS, 0800 hours)

Proceed at once with second-stage activation.

(unidentified detainee, Relocation Facility, audio pick-up by electronic surveillance grid, November 4, 1084 NS, 0830 hours)

Hey, lookit that thing! Pardon me, mister, I'm in a hurry. I tell ya, it's coming this way! See that scarf draped over the fore turret? That's the twelve-foot chain-link fence! It's on the loose! Let's move!

Don't panic there. Let's not have no pile-up.

Wait a minute. It's veering off. It's missed the Admin hut, but-well, I'll be! It's taken out the guard hut. Lookit them hardshots sparking off the hull-like shooting BB's at a rhino!

She sure is big. Easy, boys. We got a clear escape route past the huts. Let's form up here and march out in good order. The Bolo released us, insteada running us down. Funny, and we're in here because we're against it, or supposed to be.

Fall in, there! You, too, Mr. Trace. What are you waiting for? You said she was your baby, didn't ya? Maybe it's you she wants ta bust out. Maybe she couldn't see no other way around the Imperial red tape. Come on!

That's it. Hup, two, column haff-right, make for Supply Street yonder. We're out! Probably just accidental, but the Bolo let us out! It's nutty but I like it! Hup, two…

(Bolo Systems Coordinator, to General Margrave, via computer, November 4, 0930 hours)

No, sir, I have no theory as to why the machine should have broken through the security fence at the Relocation Facility. Very probably, simply accidental-happened to be in its path. Its destination? It had none. I mean, no specific one. It simply wanted to broaden the scope of its data base. It wanted to go out and see the world, so to speak.

Yes, sir, we could have stopped it, but only by wrecking the circuitry, which hardly seemed warranted at the time.

(Special Programmer Th. Uling, in taped conversation with General Margrave, November 4, 1084 NS, 1000 hours)

"I certainly did. I followed the special coding to the letter, but the Bolo just kept going. You can see for yourself, sir, with respect. Look at the seals on that panel. Every 'abort' device we have was activated, and they didn't stop her. I don't know what we'll do next. I'm only a technician, sir. You'll have to ask the boss, or ex-Chief Trace, maybe, if you can find him.

"But we don't have to worry. She's bound to stop soon. She didn't do any damage except to let that bunch of radicals loose. If you'll excuse me now, sir, with respect, I've got work to do-"

(from a scrambled audio communication, General Margrave to First Secretary, Strategic Command, Hexagon, November 4, 1084 NS, 1200 hours)

I know the boys were a little startled when she engaged her drive without a specific order, but that's just because they were jumpy. Tense, like the rest of us.