Part 36 (1/2)
”The benefits of censors.h.i.+p and your lovely treaty,” Zimmerman said acidly. ”You work in ignorance of what has already been done years ago.”
”Yes, I can see that.”
Zimmerman started to take another swig of the fruit juice, then decided against it and put the gla.s.s down firmly on their little table.
”That young man is my long-term experiment. He was dying from radiation overdose when I injected the nanomachines into him, eight years ago-”
”Eight years?” Inoguchi seemed startled. ”Was he at the south pole with Brennart?”
Zimmerman blinked. ”Yes. Brennart died there.”
”I was there also. Or close by, actually. I broke my ribs in a landing accident. Yamagata and the Masterson Corporation were racing to claim the ice fields discovered at the south polar region.”
”So. That was when I injected Douglas Stavenger with the nanomachines. Some were specialized, others programmed in a more general way.”
”And they have been inside him all these years?”
”They will always be inside him. They have formed a symbiotic relations.h.i.+p with him.”
”How can inanimate machines create a symbiosis with an organism?” Inoguchi challenged.
”You see what they have done! What else can you call it?”
”But true symbiosis...”
They argued for hours, neither of them raising his voice, both of them waxing pa.s.sionate for his position and against the other's. Zimmerman enjoyed the debate immensely; he hadn't had this kind of intellectual stimulation since he'd left Switzerland.
”It's a shame you must return to Kyoto,” the old man said at last.
”Perhaps I won't,” said Inoguchi.
”You want to remain here? You want to work with me?”
”Most certainly.”
Zimmerman beamed at him. ”Very good! You can ask for asylum and-”
”No, I'm afraid you don't understand,” Inoguchi said, smiling politely.
”What don't I understand?”
”My work at Kyoto, fumbling and childlike as it is, must be done in great secrecy because j.a.pan has signed the nanotechnology treaty and therefore such research is technically illegal.”
”So come here to Moonbase!”
”Once Yamagata Industries has acquired Moonbase, I will certainly come here and engage in nanotechnology research without all the hinderances I experience in Kyoto. I offer you the opportunity of remaining here even after the others have been removed. You may remain here and work with me.”
Zimmerman took a moment to digest what he heard, then sputtered, ”You would allow me to remain at Moonbase and work under under you?” you?”
”With me,” Inoguchi corrected.
”We would be working for Yamagata, then?”
”Yes, of course.”
Zimmerman scowled at the younger man.
”You could continue your research unhindered,” Inoguchi promised. ”There is no need for you to be sent back to Earth, no need for you to stop your work.”
Coldly, Zimmerman said, ”You are a.s.suming that Yamagata will conquer Moonbase.”
With a wan smile, Inoguchi replied, ”That is inevitable, Professor. Regretful, perhaps, but inevitable. There is no way that Moonbase can resist the combined strength of the Peacekeepers and Yamagata's special forces.”
”Even if I can make the entire base invisible to you?”
”What?” Inoguchi's brows knit with consternation. ”What are you saying?”
”Never mind,” Zimmerman replied, shaking his head.
”Invisible? How?”
”I will tell you only this much, young man. Your Peacekeepers and Yamagata forces might be able to destroy Moon-base and kill everyone in it, but they will never take us over. We will not be conquered! I will see to it that every man and woman in this base dies before we surrender to you!”
”You can't be serious! I'm offering you an opportunity to continue your work as if nothing happened.”
With an angry snort, Zimmerman said, ”You think I am a fool? You think I am an amoral egomaniac like your Georges Faure? Or like some renaissance tinkerer, content to work for any prince as long as he gets paid? I'm not a von Braun, I don't work for any regime that allows me to pursue my goal. Moonbase is my home and I will defend it to the end! Freedom or death!”
Inoguchi had never felt so stunningly surprised in his entire life. The man thinks like a samurai, he realized.
DAY FORTY-THREE.
”You can't go after him,” Edith said. ”You can't even get out of bed!”
Doug smiled at her and hiked a thumb at the monitors over his head. ”Look at the screens, Edith. Everything's in the normal range, isn't it?”
She glanced upward, then looked back at him. ”The doctor told me-”
”The doctor's playing it by the book. Zimmerman wants to observe how his nan.o.bugs are working. But I've got to find Bam and stop him.”
”Why you? Why not a security team?”
”He wouldn't give up without a fight. I don't want anybody hurt.”
”After he tried to murder you?”
”It's my job, Edith,” said Doug calmly. ”My responsibility.”
She started to shake her head. ”I'm not going to help you risk your b.u.t.t all over again.”
”I've got to, Edith. Go back to our place and get a fresh set of clothes for me.”