State of Emergency by Sam Fisher Read Free Book Online Page A

stem. When
needed, this controlled the release of a range of biochemicals
that performed a variety of functions – pain relief, hunger relief,
anti-motion-sickness, energy-boosting; even, in the direst of
circumstances, voluntary euthanasia. They were triggered by
the main computer centre at Base One but required a coded
numeric sequence from the team member in the field.
    'It's a weird sensation,' Maiko said, 'but the doc assures
me it's just a matter of getting used to the stuff. And if I
don't take to the implants they can be atomised remotely.
It's pretty cool. I feel like the six-million-dollar woman!'
    'Costs a bit more than that these days,' Mark retorted. 'And
I believe you're next, Pete,' he added, glancing his way.
    'I'm late already,' Pete said, jumping up rather enthusiastically.
'I'll see you in a couple of days.'
    'Yeah, in all the colours of the rainbow simultaneously,'
Tom sniggered.
    'Don't worry, computer boy,' Pete shot back. 'I'll ask the
doc to rig up a cyber interface so you can get nice and cuddly
with the mainframe. With an I/O port right here, lad.' And
he pointed to the middle of his forehead.
    'Bring it on, dude! Bring. It. On.'
    'Right,' Mark said as the door closed behind Pete. 'Mai,
are you up to a flight simulation today?'
    'I guess. It should be a doddle with these nanobots in my
cranium.'

13
Base One, Tintara
E-Force training, week six
    The four field members of E-Force were kitted out in their
operational bodysuits. These were made from a 'smart'
fabric, a blend of manmade fibres including latex and a
polymer produced from ultra-fine strands of carbon called
carbothreads. But the suits were much more than a clever
fabric. Referred to as 'cybersuits', they were part-garment,
part-machine, so light and thin the wearer was hardly aware
of them. Across the chest was written E-FORCE, and under
this the name of the team member.
    Woven into the fabric were millions of nano devices
and sensors that automatically adjusted the flow of liquids
through microscopic tubes interwoven with the threads of
the fabric. These cooled or warmed the wearer as necessary.
The suit could also supply nutrients, blood and other bodily
fluids through an almost invisible catheter. As well as this,
nanobots in the suit communicated directly with the
enhancements implanted into each of the field members of
E-Force. Combined, these allowed the wearer to survive for
weeks in even the most extreme environments. It also meant
the team had no need for heavy equipment such as phones,
laptops or sensor devices. Via the cybersuit, they were fully
connected – wired to the internet with a connection speed
of ten gigabits per second, thousands of times faster than
the latest conventional connections.
    The team was standing in Hangar C, the smallest of three
at Base One. It was a vast empty space, except for a row of
glass pods standing in a line stretching from one end of the
300-foot-long building to the other. The pods were cylinders
fifteen feet in diameter and twelve high. They were each
placed about five yards apart.
    At one end of the hangar stood a control room raised
about 25 feet above the ground on steel supports. It was
accessed by a steel stair. The control room was very narrow,
barely wide enough for two people to pass each other, but it
was packed with high-tech equipment. A holographic view
screen stood at one end, and there was a row of computer
stations with their 3D displays projected in the air above
virtual keyboards. The holographic image at the end of the
room and the computer holoscreens showed the same thing
– the four pods in the hangar.
    'Okay. This is the set-up,' Mark said. 'Each pod is a
mock-up of a fission reactor core, modelled on the reactor
at Philli C on the Eastern Seaboard. It has an inner skin, a
smaller cylinder, floor to ceiling. In our scenario, the core
has gone critical. You have to go into the chamber between
the inner and the outer cylinders and secure the three
stabiliser devices