Chapter 48
Linlin couldn’t believe her eyes. The Oregon had all of the accoutrements of an actual cargo ship. But her exploration of each camera deployed in nearly every cabin, compartment, and storage space peeled away the clever veneer.
The Oregon was actually a highly sophisticated intelligence-gathering operation—perhaps the greatest one ever assembled. Peng De would be jealous beyond imagination, she thought.
In addition to advanced electronic surveillance systems, she discovered a moon pool in the belly of the ship, perfect for operations with the three submersible vehicles suspended above it.
Shore operations would be supported by an incredible collection of vehicles including rigid inflatables, Jet Skis, and what appeared to be a version of an armored Mercedes-Benz Unimog.
But if all of that wasn’t remarkable enough, she also discovered the vessel deployed an array of weapons worthy of a science fiction novel.
She was well aware of her government’s most advanced military research projects.
None of them had yet reached this level of sophistication.
When she stumbled upon the laser cannon, she suddenly realized why brilliant Mark Murphy was on board the vessel.
There were rumors from former classmates that he had joined a top secret weapons development program after MIT, but she could never confirm it.
The Oregon was now all the confirmation she needed that his advanced computer programming and engineering skills were indeed fully utilized.
Perhaps she had underestimated the boy.
But high-tech weapons weren’t the prize. She was on the hunt for an organoid computer with AGI capabilities, and Murphy was the clue that had brought her here. Were the Americans working on a weaponized version of AGI? The thought terrified her—spurring her on to even greater effort.
Her espionage software had sifted through the labyrinth of directories on the mainframe, but found nothing directly related to organoid computing. The closest she got was finding Murph’s one article on organoid software interfaces—the one she had already read and reread.
Having exhausted the databases, Linlin returned to searching the vessel via cameras for any additional clues.
She switched over to the room on the list labeled Armory.
Inside she saw Chairman Cabrillo. He was speaking out loud with someone over the ship’s intercom.
She caught the tail end of the conversation.
“I’ll issue the order. Tell your hacker friend Eidolon my people are on the way.”
“Excellent. Keep me posted.”
Linlin gasped. She breathed the name. Eidolon…
The name evoked an almost divine reverence among her peers. Eidolon was truly the ghost in the machine, haunting the digital universe with godlike impunity—the Platonic ideal of the perfect hacker. His capture would be nearly as valuable as the AGI.
Why should she be surprised that a mystical presence like Eidolon would suddenly appear at such a critical juncture in human history?
More important, was it possible Eidolon was connected to her objective?
It was time to dig in deeper. Perhaps there was information on Eidolon on the Cray computer she had missed. Her fingers brushed the keys when her cabin door rattled with a couple of heavy thuds.
“Linlin! It’s me, Murph!”
Linlin rolled her eyes. Not now! she wanted to scream.
But she didn’t dare drop her legend of the sad, frightened girl waiting to be rescued. She’d brush him off quickly with some excuse and get back to work.
“Coming!”
She closed her search program with a couple of quick keystrokes, then swept the mini hacking rig into the mouth of her backpack before bouncing over to the door and flinging it open.
The scruffy genius beamed with pride as he showed her his prize. Murphy held a wide pizza pan aloft in one hand and a six-pack of Guinness in the other. He’d used the steel toe of his combat boot to knock on the door.
“Hawaiian pizza. Still your fav, I hope.”
Linlin forced a wide smile. “Oh, yes. Awesome.”
Murph pushed his way in past her and set everything down on her table.
“Hope you’re hungry.”
“Well, actually I—” But Linlin saw the disappointment that began welling up in his eyes and she caught herself. “I feel kinda grungy. Let me go wash my hands first.”
“Hurry, before the pizza gets cold and the beer gets warm. We’ll eat and hang out. I know how bored you get down here. I’ve got four hours before my next shift.”
“Four hours?”
“Yeah.”
“Awesome.” Linlin swallowed her aggravation behind a gleaming smile. She headed to the bathroom to wash her hands and face and stifle a silent scream. Her Eidolon search would just have to wait. She couldn’t blow it now.
Besides, who knew what Murphy might accidentally give up after a few beers? The lovelorn fool had always been such a lightweight on the liquor.