to a coin?”
“Agreed,” Weber said, “we cannot act on this intelligence without corroborations.”
Nods rippled around the group as an agreement not to get involved without more information. Realizing that he hadn’t heard from the biggest brain there, Hendricks said aloud, “Annie, anything to add?”
A second’s pause, before her hurried voice came over our radios.
“Standby one,” she said in a clipped tone, making us all exchange confused looks. A second later, the soft chime indicated that she was back with us.
“Sorry, I was calculating and had to use most of my available memory, so I just replayed the sensory feed from all sources to analyze the data,” she explained enigmatically.
“And?” Anderson prompted, more out of interest in her processes than the facts.
“And I am now up to speed,” she responded quickly. “Hendricks, my thoughts are in agreement. I have reviewed the orbital footage of the area and calculated that Harrison’s story matches what I witnessed from space, within expected parameters for anecdotal inaccuracy. I cannot hypothesize on whether this Tanaka is likely to be a better choice of ally or not, but if I were able to connect to the system at the site which Harrison referred to as The Source, then I could interrogate that system for factual answers and not legends passed down through generations.”
“So, your recommendations?” Hendricks asked.
“My recommendations are prioritized,” she answered, a slight and subtle change in her voice as though there were the smallest hint of a question in her words. “First priority is to capture test subjects from The Swarm”—she invested the words with the dramatic gravitas that Harrison had used—“and find a way to neutralize that threat.”
“Are you …” Hendricks began hesitantly, “are you taking the piss out of Harrison?”
“A little,” Annie responded in a tone of voice that made me mindful of a crooked smile on one half of the mouth she didn’t possess. “How did I do?”
“Pretty well, actually,” Hendricks said before recapping. “So, we lock down, catch a couple of bugs, and see how to kill them, then find out if Harrison is telling the truth about Tanaka being the bad guy and find a way that we can all get along together whilst we plug Annie into a thousand-year-old version of her former self?”
“Not necessarily in that order,” Annie said, “there are other concerns and priority tasks, but I will reassess to see if they are more important than your list.” She paused for a second. “Done. Negative, other tasks are not prioritized.”
“What are the other tasks?” Amir asked, reminding most that the quiet businessman was still with them, after his claims of leading humanity into the future. His slow descent into obscurity as his talents were no longer that important in the new world had seemed to gather momentum over the last few days.
“Priority research on the coast,” she said, reminding them that due to the continental changes, what had previously been central Africa was now the west coast where it met the much-enlarged Atlantic oceans, “as well as further studies on flora and fauna and the start of the farming programs.”
“But it’s more important to not get wiped out by killer ants or stumble into a war before that, right?” Anderson asked, attempting and failing to lighten the mood.
“Yes,” Annie chorused, along with most of the team.
~
Tanaka had ordered The Keeper who had fled to the Springs, as his town name was simplified to by those who lived there, to be imprisoned and stripped of her talismans that had, according to legend, been imbued with mythical gifts of sight and strength.
Her crime had been to abandon her duties, which she accepted under a blood-oath as she was effectively married to the life-long task of protecting The Source.
Tanaka knew that, had she not fled to warn him of the attack, he would not have known about the treacherous breaking of the peace accord with Three Hills for another month almost before the supply convoy was sent to The Keepers and their absence or bodies discovered.
Still, regardless of how fortuitous the timing of her news had been, she had still broken a sacred vow and abandoned her brothers and sisters to save her own life. She had to be made an example of, and the treachery had to be punished.
He had a few days to consider how best to do both, and quickly made up his mind.
The Swarm would do both for him.
He selected a half dozen young and aspiring warriors, giving them a savage speech about how the