Frank Schatzing - The Swarm

'Not if it means you doing all the talking.'

Vanderbilt wheezed. He was sweating profusely. Li shot him a scornful look from the corner of her eye and leaned forward. 'You say that they're coded differently, right?'

'Right.' Oliviera nodded.

I'm no scientist, but wouldn't it he possible that their coding serves the same purpose as any type of human code? Like military passwords, for instance.'

'Yes.' Oliviera nodded again. 'That would be possible.'

'Passwords that allow them to recognise each other.'

Weaver scribbled something on a scrap of paper and pushed it in Anawak's direction. He read it, gave a quick nod and laid it aside.

'Why would they need to recognise each other?' asked Rubin. 'And why use such an intricate method?'

'I'd have thought that was obvious,' said Crowe.

For a moment the only sound was the rustling of Cellophane as she unwrapped a pack of cigarettes.

'What do you mean?' asked Li.

'I'd say it's for communication,' said Crowe. 'The cells are communicating with each other. It's a kind of conversation.'

'You mean this stuff. . .' Greywolf stared at her.

Crowe held the lighter to the end of her cigarette, took a drag and exhaled. 'It's exchanging information.'

VEHICLE RAMP

'Whatever happened to you last night?' asked Oliviera, as they made their way down to the lab.

Johanson shrugged. 'I haven't the faintest idea.'

'And how are you feeling now?'

'A bit weird. The headache's getting better, but I've got a hole in my memory about the size of the hangar bay.'

'Bad luck, eh?' Rubin glanced back at them. His teeth showed as he smiled. 'Who'd have thought we'd both end up with a headache? What a pair of invalids. I felt so rotten last night that I couldn't even get out of bed to let you know what was wrong. I can't apologise enough. But when you feel a migraine coming on like that. . . Wham! It just hits you. I was out for the count.'

Oliviera fixed Rubin with an unfathomable look. 'A migraine, was it?'

'It comes and goes. It doesn't happen too often, but when I get one, there's nothing I can do. It's enough trouble just to swallow my tablets and turn out the lights.'

'And you didn't wake up until this morning?'

'Yeah.' Rubin looked at her guiltily. I'm sorry, but a migraine knocks me out. Normally I'd have at least popped down to the lab…'

'But you stayed in bed?'

Rubin gave her a vexed smile. 'Yes.'

'Are you sure?'

'Well, I should know.'

Something clicked in Johanson's head. It was like a broken projector: the carousel kept trying to drop a slide into position, but something was sticking.

They stopped in front of the door to the lab, and Rubin punched in the code. The door swung open. As Rubin walked inside and turned on the lights, Oliviera whispered to Johanson, 'What's up? You were the one who swore blind you'd seen him last night.'

Johanson stared at her. 'Was I?'

'You know,' murmured Oliviera. 'We were sitting on that crate, drinking wine and waiting for the sequencer to finish. You said you'd seen him.'

Click. The carousel tried to release the slide. Click.

His mind felt woolly. He could remember drinking a glass of wine. And they'd talked for a bit. And then he'd… He'd seen something?

Click.

Oliviera raised her eyebrows. 'My God,' she said. 'That must have been quite some blow to the head.'

NEURAL NETWORK COMPUTER

They were sitting in the JIC at Weaver's computer. 'OK,' she said. 'This stuff about the coding puts an entirely new spin on things.'

Anawak nodded. 'The cells aren't identical. They're not like neurons.'

'So it's not just a case of how they're connected. If their DNA contains individually coded sequences, maybe that's their secret. It could be how they aggregate.'

'No, there has to be another trigger – something that can work over distance.'

'Well, yesterday we were talking about scent.'

'OK,' said Anawak. 'Give it a go. Program the units so they can secrete a scent that tells them to aggregate.'

Weaver thought for a moment. She picked up the phone and used the intercom to dial the lab. 'Sigur? Hi. We're working on the computer simulation. Any new ideas about how these cells are aggregating?' She listened for a while. 'Fine. We'll try that… OK. Let me know.'

'What did he say?' asked Anawak.

'They're doing a phase test. They're trying to get the jelly to dissociate, then band back together.'

'So they agree that the cells could be using a scent?'

'Yes.' Weaver wrinkled her nose. 'The trouble is, which cell would secrete the scent first? And why? If it's a chain reaction, it has to start somewhere.'

'It could be a genetic program,' mused Anawak. 'You know, with only particular cells capable of triggering aggregation.'

'So one part of the brain would have an inbuilt capacity to do more than the rest. . .' Weaver mused. 'It's an interesting idea. But I'm not sure it's right.'

'Hold on a minute- what if we're still on the wrong track? We're working on the assumption that the cells form a brain when they aggregate.'

'I'm almost certain they do.'

'Well, so am I. But it's just occurred to me that…'

'What?'

Anawak was thinking feverishly. 'Don't you find it odd that the cells are all different. To my mind, there's only one reason why the coding would be variable – their DNA has been programmed separately to enable them to accomplish different tasks. But if that were the case, each of those cells would be a brain in itself He stopped to think again. That would be amazing. But he didn't have the first clue how it might work. 'In fact, the DNA in each cell would actually be the brain.'

'Intelligent DNA?'

'Er, yes.'

'But it would have to be able to learn.' She looked at him doubtfully. I'm prepared to believe almost anything, but isn't that a bit… ?'

She was right. It was a crazy idea. It would involve a new type of biochemistry. Something they knew nothing about. But if there was a way of making it work… 'Can you tell me again how neural network computers actually learn?' he said.

'It's through parallel distributed processing. The computer learns from example. The more input patterns it encounters, the more output patterns it predicts.'

'And how does it retain that information?'

'It stores it.'

'So every unit has to have storage space. And the network of storage units produces artificial thought.'

'What are you getting at?'

Anawak explained. She listened, then made him start again from the beginning. 'But aren't you rewriting the laws of biology?'

'I guess so. But couldn't you write a program that works in a similar fashion?'

'Oh, God.'

'A smaller version, then.'

'Even that's a tall order. Christ, Leon, what a crazy theory. But, OK, I'll do it.'

She stretched her body. Tiny golden hairs shimmered on her forearms. Her muscles were taut beneath her T-shirt. Anawak gazed at her small, broad-shouldered frame, and thought again how much he liked her.

At that moment, she glanced up. 'It's going to cost you, though,' she said.

'What?'

'A massage. For my shoulders and back.' She grinned. 'Well, jump to it. You can start right away while I work on this program.'

RUBIN

At lunchtime they made their way to the officers' mess. Johanson was evidently feeling better, and he was getting on swimmingly with Oliviera. Neither seemed disappointed when Rubin announced that the migraine had ruined his appetite. 'I'm going for a stroll on the roof,' he said.

'Take good care of yourself,' grinned Johanson. 'You wouldn't want to slip.'

'Oh, I'll be fine,' laughed Rubin. If only you knew , he thought. If only you could see just how careful I'm being, your jaw would hit the well deck. 'Don't worry,' he said. I'll keep away from the edge.'