A. R. Yngve - The Argus Project.pdf

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The Argus Project
By A. R. Yugue
CONTENTS
A. R. Yugue - The Argus Project 1
PROLOGUE: The Last Politician 4
Chapter 1: The Last Broken Nose 7
Chapter 2: Crash 11
Chapter 3: In Cold Blood 15
Chapter 4: The Process 19
Chapter 5: The Newborn 23
Chapter 6: Bringing Up Argus 27
Chapter 7: The View From Ganymede 32
Chapter 8: The Glass War 38
 
Chapter 9: Night Flight To Venus 41
Chapter 10: His Master's Voice 46
Chapter 11: The People's Cyborg 51
Chapter 12: A Night inCopenhagen 57
Chapter 13: Young Cyborgs in Love 61
Chapter 14: Forward Top Speed 68
Chapter 15: Gilded Cage 73
Chapter 16: Escape Velocity 79
Chapter 17: Bomb Run 84
Chapter 18: The Crew 90
Chapter 19: Bullet Time 94
Chapter 20: Gone Surfin' 100
Chapter 21: Second Bomb Run 103
Chapter 22: On the Home Front 107
Chapter 23:ToughMiningTown 110
Chapter 24: "He Flies Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease!" 114
Chapter 25: Heroes 117
Chapter 26: Sumo Space Surfers Go To Mars120
Chapter 27: Burn, Cyborg, Burn! 123
Chapter 28: The Scarlet Letter 126
Chapter 29: The Dead Astronaut's Canyon 130
Chapter 30: A Storm Coming 133
Chapter 31: Epiphany 137
Chapter 32: Last Truck to Hell 140
Chapter 33: Party Crasher 145
Chapter 34: A Small Killing150
 
Chapter 35: Energy Low 153
Chapter 36: A Quiet Evening With the Family 156
Chapter 37:Boulder's Game 159
Chapter 38: A Night at the Observatory 164
Chapter 39: Voices In the Vacuum 168
Chapter 40: Inner Space 170
Chapter 41: Kansler! 174
Chapter 42: Famous Last Words 176
Chapter 43: Impeccable Logic 181
Chapter 44: The Times That Try Men's Souls185
Chapter 45: The Permanent Storm 191
Chapter 46: K-O 196
Chapter 47: "I am the Greatest!" 198
EPILOGUE: The Human Race 202
PROLOGUE: The Last Politician
He was the last politician, and everyone called him "Kansler".
Of all the political offices from previous times of human history - chief, warlord, king, president, prime
minister, governor, mayor, councilman - only the Kansler's title carried real authority in the 22nd century.
He was the appointed Chancellor of the Outer Defense Ring Charter - a title rarely used - and his
jurisdiction stretched across a vast space of the Solar System. From the orbit of Mars to the orbit of
Pluto, the Kansler was the acting supreme commander of Earth's military forces. A thirty-year career had
finally taken him to this, the last remaining position of ultimate power in the Solar System, and he had built
up a strong fleet of warships.
And yet, the Kansler's power hung by a thread - for his title would be lost, the moment he made a
significant mistake in the eyes of the Terran public. And with Earth at war with its Jovian colonies, his
career was at stake. The populace of the old homeward regarded itself "genetically superior" to the
renegade "little moles" who built underground cities on Jupiter's moons, and cared little for what was
done to them. But defeat - after having paid trillions of tax credits to sustain attacks and blockades - that
they would never forgive.
 
Time was on the side of the Jovian rebellion; time which the Kansler did not have...
"What we need is a hero," the Kansler explained to Boulder Pi.
"What do you mean, Kansler?" the midget engineer asked.
"A man who the public can identify with, who can embody the strength, purity and superiority of the
Terran fleet. Someone who can rack up my hits and bring us the funding we need to keep the war effort
going."
The Kansler's problem boiled down to money - or rather Popularity Points, "hits", the currency of the
times. The more popular one was, the more electronic credits one raked in from the world's computer
indexes of all humans. A citizen known to nobody, a child or a moron, could earn as little as 1,000 PP -
not enough to buy a decent set of clothes. A megastar actress or musical artist, known to billions across
the Solar System, could peak a career with a hundred trillion PP. Most citizens of Earth never earned
more than 1,000,000 PP during a year; there was not an infinite supply of popularity for all.
The Kansler's PP Index now lay at an unstable 300 billion points - and he needed at least ten times that
amount over a period of several years, to fill the war chest.
"Kansler, might you consider shrinking our offensive to just one of the breakaway colonies?" a deputy
officer cautiously suggested. "It could be less financially risky to take the system back one planet at a
time, instead of all in one sweep..."
"You talk like the underling you are," the Kansler said, stating a fact rather than venting his emotions.
"You are an underling because you think small. The public doesn't click hits to small men with small ideas.
This is a big project I have in mind - you will understand later."
"A question, Kansler," the deputy asked in a softer voice.
"Yes?"
"About 'heroes'... If one of our combat pilots becomes a war hero to the public... won't the hits increase
go just to him, and less to the Fleet itself? Can we get the jurisdiction to, eh... 'tax' his credits earned on
our war?"
"I don't give a damn about the legal details and I don't care. Bring me Clarke on the line."
The deputy, earning his wages, pushed the buttons that made the call to Colonel Haruman Clarke of the
Martian Security Force, stationed on Phobos. Ever since Mars won its partial independence from Earth
rule, the 2,000-man Security Force had watched over this new nation, ready to squash any further
attempts to "destabilize" the Solar System. At the time, Clarke was on an Earthbound vacation - he hated
Mars and would not set his foot there.
"Reporting for duty, Kansler," the stern-faced colonel greeted his superior. "You wish a high-level talk?"
The Kansler looked about himself; only the deputy and Boulder Pi were physically present in the room,
plus two of the Kansler's bodyguard robots. A few cam-links to Earth were active, but the universal
 
computer indexes indicated that the public's attention was turned elsewhere - to a sports event on Venus.
The deputy made a questioning motion toward the exit doorway; the Kansler merely shook his head.
"Colonel", the Kansler said with a little smile, "I have chosen you to become the greatest hero in the
history of war. Should you accept this honor, you will never regret it."
He paused, and waited for the signals to travel back and forth between Mars and Earth. Minutes
passed. Finally, the on-screen image of Clarke raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
The Kansler continued: "Colonel, meet Boulder Pi. He's the Fleet's chief cybernetics engineer who's
going to make it happen. Mother Earth needs a man a cut above the rest, who is prepared to become a
cyborg." When he heard the word "cyborg," a sneer of dislike crossed Clarke's face - or it could be the
sight of a Jovian mutant, standing next to his commander, that disturbed him. Clarke's sneer arrived on
the screen after the Kansler had finished his speech, but he had stood still in front of the camera the
whole time - before and after. Clarke spoke few words and radiated the patience of a rock, more than
most Terrans were capable of. Perfect, thought the Kansler. Of all my candidates I couldn't have made a
better choice.
"Don't be alarmed," the Kansler reassured him. "This is no ordinary cyborg we're talking of..."
The conversation that followed was, like most actions made by citizens with high PP counts, available for
public view. As the men talked, they could observe their personal hit counters go up... first slowly, then
by the thousands per minute. The count reached its peak just after the Kansler mentioned the code word
"Argus" in public view.
Enemy agents also had open access to this information. The Kansler was fully aware of it. After all, one
of the enemy were in fact standing in the same room. He nodded slightly to Boulder Pi, who had jumped
into a set of artificial leg extensions he utilized to walk faster. Here on the Moon, a midget likeBoulder
could easily use leg extensions without motors. Boulder Pi listened in on the conversation, knowing some
of the Kansler's plans from previous discussions. His chief worry was that the Kansler might succeed, but
also that the plans would be structurally flawed and doomed to fail - a potential blow againstBoulder's
professional prestige and PP count.
In much,Boulderwas a man of two minds.
"Boulder?" Kansler asked him. "Would you care to show the Colonel your prototype cyborg?"
Boulder Pi said, in a confident tone: "Sure. On this 3-D model, you can see the working protoype for
Project Argus, Model V-NICS - also called 'Venix'..."
"I see," Clarke replied after a while, "but I still don't understand what you're getting at."
"You will," the Kansler said, his glassy eyes glittering with excitement.
Chapter 1: The Last Broken Nose
 

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