“So, what do we do with this information?”Lennox asked.
That was a good question.How were they going to tell the Navy that one or more of the Genesis Project investors might be trying to sell the weapon system out from under them without tangible proof?Besides, he’d promised Katrina they’d figure this whole mess with her family out together.He couldn’t say anything to the Navy until he was sure her father and brother were involved.
Darwin and his Teammates were still talking about that when one of the engineers from the program office stuck his head in the door a few hours later and told them that they were all wanted in the hangar.
“About damn time,” Simon muttered as they left the room and headed back down the hallway.
The moment Darwin stepped into the main hangar, he immediately understood what Lennox had been talking about earlier when he’d said everyone was tense and on edge.It was impossible to miss the tension filling the room.Or the worried look on Captain Reynolds’ face.
Scanning the crowd, Darwin noted that Silas and Harold were nowhere to be seen.Then again, he hadn’t seen them hanging around the first two times either.
“We’ve finally gotten authorization for a full disclosure of last night’s events,” Seth said, moving to the front of the rows of folding chairs that had been set up near one side of the hangar, near the wall covered with TV screens and computer monitors.“If everyone will take their seats, we’ll get started.”
Darwin and his Teammates quickly grabbed some chairs off to one side of the group as Stevens waited for everyone to quiet down.
“At 0300 this morning, during a random sweep of the hangar next door, security discovered that the Genesis system had disappeared,” Seth said.
It was clear that Captain Reynolds from NCIS already knew that, along with Giles and the rest of the engineer types operating the computers over by the wall.The rest of the room, however, was clearly stunned.Darwin and his Teammates were right there with them.
“What do you mean,disappeared?”Darwin asked, his mind immediately going to Jameson and all the other suspects at the resort.“Are you saying someone broke into the hangar and stole it?”
Seth nodded, looking decidedly uncomfortable.“That’s one possibility.Though it isn’t the only one.”
Darwin frowned.What the hell did that mean?
“Meaning?”one of the lieutenant commanders standing near Reynolds asked bluntly.“Either someone broke in and stole the weapon, or they didn’t.It’s not like the Genesis system flew itself out of that hangar.”
The silent glance that passed between Seth and Reynolds spoke volumes.Not that Darwin had any idea what it was saying.Just that things seemed to be getting more complicated by the second.
“Actually,” Seth started slowly, “with the Genesis system, there’s a chance that’s exactly what happened.”
He had to be joking, right?
“Before you start throwing the BS flag, you need to understand that the Genesis drone possesses certain capabilities that have remained restricted even to the majority of the people read into the program,” Reynolds said loudly, stepping forward and raising his hands to interrupt when everyone started talking at once.“The information was deemed too sensitive and limited to the minimum number of personnel with a specific need-to-know.But now that the platform has disappeared, it’s been determined that the people in this room need to be aware of what we’re up against.”
While Darwin realized this was the first time anyone had confirmed Genesis was actually a drone, he couldn’t help but wonder why he and his fellow SEALs needed to beaware of what they were up against.Phase three of the testing was clearly on hold, maybe permanently.It wasn’t like they’d be of any help in finding the thing.
“As background for those not up to speed,” Seth added, motioning toward an engineer sitting behind one of the nearby computers, who brought up a picture of the matte black drone Darwin had caught a glimpse of the other day in the hangar next door.“Genesis is a covert surveillance and attack platform capable of operations in any environment, be it in the jungle or the middle of a heavily populated city.The vehicle is capable of flight mission times in excess of five hours.It’s whisper silent, unobservable by radar, impervious to all current forms of jamming, spoofing, and electronic tracking.When its sniper pod is loaded, Genesis can engage targets with pinpoint accuracy at ranges out to a thousand meters.”
Various pictures had come up while Seth was talking, showing different views of the weapon.No wonder Darwin and the other guys had such a hard time dealing with Genesis during the first two phases of the test.This thing was beyond state-of-the-art.But something told him there was more to this.
Something big.
“As Captain Reynolds mentioned, there are several unacknowledged aspects to the Genesis design,” Seth continued.“Most important among those aspects is the fact that the platform is controlled by a fully autonomous artificial intelligence mission computer.”
That announcement earned the program manager quite a few startled looks, Darwin included.Sure, everyone knew AI weapons were supposed to be the next big thing, but to realize those weapons were already a reality was a serious game-changer.No wonder he and his Teammates hadn’t been able to outsmart the thing.
“After receiving the mission parameters and target set from the operator, be it a specific location or a specific person, no further instructions or involvement are required from the user,” Seth continued.“Genesis can use its internal facial and biometric recognition capabilities to track its target, or tap into any online state, federal, or international database, bypassing all forms of encryption or security, to hunt down the target that way.The AI is constantly learning, figuring out the best way to find and neutralize its target, no matter what that target does to evade it.”
Darwin had been right.They weren’t dealing with a covert surveillance drone.Genesis was an assassination drone.Pure and simple.And the damn thing was currently missing.To make matters worse, it was likely Katrina’s father and brother were involved in the theft.
Darwin cursed silently.Regardless of his promise to Katrina, he was going to have to say something about it.Unfortunately, if he did, her family would be screwed.While he didn’t care much for her father and brother, he knew how much it would hurt Katrina if they went to prison.But what the hell else could he do?
“I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with who stole the drone,” the same lieutenant commander who’d spoken earlier interjected.“No matter how smart this AI platform might be, someone still had to open the locked hangar door and tow it out of there.”
“Actually, they didn’t,” Reynolds answered.“If someone with the proper authorization codes uploaded Genesis with a mission that required it to leave the hangar, it could have easily hacked into the building’s security system and opened the electronically locked door and then flown out all on its own.”
Well, that was damn scary.
