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14 - The Next Logical Step · Astounding Sci-Fi Audiobook Library

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  Speaker 1: The Next Logical Step by Ben Bova. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Chris Gujinia The Next Logical Step by Ben Bova. Ordinarily,
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  Speaker 1: the military least ones to have the others know the
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  Speaker 1: final details of their war plans, but logically there would
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  Speaker 1: be times. I don't really see what this problem has
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  Speaker 1: anything to do with me, the CIA man said, and frankly,
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  Speaker 1: there are a lot of more important things I could
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  Speaker 1: be doing. Ford, the physicist glanced at General Leroy. The
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  Speaker 1: General had that quizzical expression on his face, the look
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  Speaker 1: that meant he was about to do something decisive. Would
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  Speaker 1: you like to see the problem firsthand, the general asked, innocently.
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  Speaker 1: The CIA man took a quick look at his wristwatch. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: if it doesn't take too long, it's late enough already.
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  Speaker 1: It won't take very long, will it, Ford, the general said,
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  Speaker 1: getting out of his chair, Not very long. Ford agreed,
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  Speaker 1: only a lifetime, The CIA man grunted as they went
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  Speaker 1: to the doorway and left the General's office, going down
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  Speaker 1: the dark, deserted hallway. Their footsteps echoed wholly. I can't
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  Speaker 1: overemphasize the seriousness of this problem, General Leroy said to
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  Speaker 1: the CIA man. Eight ranking members of the General's staff
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  Speaker 1: had either resigned their commissions or gone straight to the
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  Speaker 1: violent ward after just one session with the computer. The
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  Speaker 1: CIA man scowled, is this every secure? General LeRoy's face
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  Speaker 1: turned red. This entire building is as secure as any
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  Speaker 1: edifice in the free world, mister, and it's empty, but
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  Speaker 1: the only living people inside here at this hour. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not taking any chances. Just want to be sure. Perhaps
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  Speaker 1: if I explain the computer a little more fort said,
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  Speaker 1: changing the subject, you'll know what to expect. Good idea,
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  Speaker 1: said the man from CIA. We told you that this
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  Speaker 1: is the most modern, most complex and delicate computer in
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  Speaker 1: the world. Nothing like it has ever been attended before anywhere.
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  Speaker 1: I know that they don't have anything like it, the
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  Speaker 1: CIA man agreed. And you also know, I suppose that
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  Speaker 1: it was built to simulate actual war situations. We fight
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  Speaker 1: wars in this computer, wars with missiles and bombs and gas,
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  Speaker 1: real wars complete down to the tiniest detail. The computer
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  Speaker 1: tell us what will actually happen to every missile, every city,
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  Speaker 1: every man who dies, how many planes are lost, how
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  Speaker 1: many trucks will fail to start in a cold morning,
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  Speaker 1: whether a battle is won or lust. General Leroy interrupted
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  Speaker 1: the computer. Run these analysis for both sides, so we
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  Speaker 1: can see what's happening to them too. The CIA man
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  Speaker 1: gest read impatiently. Wargame simulations aren't new, You've been doing
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  Speaker 1: them for years. Yes, but this machine is different, forward
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  Speaker 1: pointing out it not only gives a much more detailed wargame,
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  Speaker 1: it's the next logical step in the development of machine
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  Speaker 1: simulated wargames. He hesitated dramatically. Well, what is it. We've
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  Speaker 1: added a variation of the electro incephalograph. The CIA man
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  Speaker 1: stopped walking. The electro What electroencephalograph? You know, a recording
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  Speaker 1: device that breads the electrical patterns of your brain, like
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  Speaker 1: the electro cardiograph. Oh, but you see, we've given the
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  Speaker 1: EEG a reverse twist. Instead of using a machine that
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  Speaker 1: makes a recording of the brain's electrical wave output, we
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  Speaker 1: have developed a device that would take the computer's weed
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  Speaker 1: out tapes and turn them into electrical patterns that are
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  Speaker 1: put into your brain. I don't get it. General Leroy
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  Speaker 1: took over. You set it the machine's control console. A
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  Speaker 1: helmet is placed over your head. You set the machine
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  Speaker 1: in operation. You see the results. Yes, Ford went on,
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  Speaker 1: instead of reading rows of figures from the computer to sprinter,
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  Speaker 1: you actually see the war being fought, complete visual and
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  Speaker 1: auditory hallucinations. You can watch the progress of the battles,
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  Speaker 1: and as you change strategy and tactics, you can see
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  Speaker 1: the results before your eyes. The idea originally was to
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  Speaker 1: make it easier for the general staff to visualize strategic situations.
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  Speaker 1: General Reroy said, but everyone who's used the machine has
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  Speaker 1: either resigned his commission or gone insane. Ford added, to see,
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  Speaker 1: iamn cacked an eye at Leroy. You've used the computer, correct,
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  Speaker 1: and you have neither resigned nor cracked up. General Leroy nodded.
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  Speaker 1: I called you in. Before the CIAM man could comment,
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  Speaker 1: Ford said, the computer is right inside this doorway. Let's
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  Speaker 1: get this over with while the building is still empty.
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  Speaker 1: They stepped in. The physicist and the General showed the
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  Speaker 1: CIA man through the room filling rows of massive consoles.
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  Speaker 1: It's all transistorized and subminiaturized. Of course, Ford explained, that's
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  Speaker 1: the only way we could build so much detail into
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  Speaker 1: the machine and still have it small enough to fit
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  Speaker 1: inside the single building A single building. Oh yes, this
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  Speaker 1: is only the control section. Most of this building is
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  Speaker 1: taken up by the circuits, the memory banks and the
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  Speaker 1: rest of it. Mm hm. They showed them finally to
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  Speaker 1: small desk studded with control buttons and dials. The single
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  Speaker 1: spotlight above the desk lit it brilliantly, in harsh contrast
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  Speaker 1: to the same eye darkness of the rest of the room.
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  Speaker 1: Since he'd never run the computer before, Ford said, General
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  Speaker 1: leroy Wood the controlling You just sit and watch what happens.
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  Speaker 1: The General sat in one of the well padded chairs
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  Speaker 1: and done a grotesque headgear that was connected to the
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  Speaker 1: desk by a half dozen wires. The CIA man took
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  Speaker 1: his chairs slowly. When they put one of the bulky
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  Speaker 1: helmets on him, he looked up at them, squinting a
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  Speaker 1: little in the bright light. This this isn't going too
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  Speaker 1: well to me, any damage, is it? My goodness? No,
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  Speaker 1: Ford said, you mean mentally, no, of course not. You're
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  Speaker 1: not in the General's staff, so it shouldn't. It won't
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  Speaker 1: affect you the way it did the others. The reaction
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  Speaker 1: has nothing to do with the computer, per se. Several
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  Speaker 1: civilians have used the computer with no ill effects. General
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  Speaker 1: Leroy said, Forte has used it many times. The CIA
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  Speaker 1: man nodded, and they closed the transparent a visor over
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  Speaker 1: his face. He sat there and watched the General Leroy
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  Speaker 1: press a series of buttons, then turn the dial. Can
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  Speaker 1: you hear me? The General's voice came muffled through the helmet, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: he said, all right, here we go. If familiar with
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  Speaker 1: situation one two one, that's where we're going to be seeing.
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  Speaker 1: Situation one two one was a standard wargame. The CIA
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  Speaker 1: man was well acquainted with it. He watched the General
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  Speaker 1: flipp a switch, then set back and folded his arms
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  Speaker 1: over his chest. A row of lights on the desk
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  Speaker 1: console began blinking on and off one two, three, down
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  Speaker 1: to the end of the row, then back to the
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  Speaker 1: beginning again, on and off, on and off, and then
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  Speaker 1: somehow he could see it. He was poised incredibly somewhere
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  Speaker 1: in space, and he could see it all in a funny, blurry,
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  Speaker 1: double sided, dream like way. He seemed to be seeing
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  Speaker 1: several pictures and hearing many voices all at once. He
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  Speaker 1: was all mixed up, and yet he made a weird
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  Speaker 1: kind of sense. For a panic instant, he wanted to
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  Speaker 1: rip the helmet off his head. It's only an illusion,
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  Speaker 1: he told himself, forcing calm in his unwilling nerves. Only
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  Speaker 1: an illusion, but it seemed strangely real. He was watching
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  Speaker 1: the Gulf of Mexico. He could see Florida off to
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  Speaker 1: his right, and the arching coast of the southeastern United States.
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  Speaker 1: He could even make out the Rio Grande River Situation
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  Speaker 1: one two. Once started, he remembered with the discovery of
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  Speaker 1: misile beearing enemy submarines in the gulf. Even as he
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  Speaker 1: watched the whole area as though perched on a satellite,
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  Speaker 1: He could see under water and close up the menacing,
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  Speaker 1: shadowy figure of a submarine gliding through the crystal blue sea.
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  Speaker 1: He saw to a patrol plane as it spotted the
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  Speaker 1: submarine and sent an urgent radio warning. The underwater picture
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  Speaker 1: dissolved in a bewildering burst of bubbles. A missile had
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  Speaker 1: been launched. Within seconds, another burst, this time a nuclear
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  Speaker 1: depth charge, arly destroyed the submarine. He was confusing, He
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  Speaker 1: was every place at once. The details were overpowering, but
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  Speaker 1: the total picture was sagonizingly clear. Six submarines filed missiles
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  Speaker 1: from the Gulf of Mexico. Four were immediately sunk, but
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  Speaker 1: too late. New Orleans, Saint Louis, and three Air Force
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  Speaker 1: bases were obliterated by hydrogen fusion warheads. The CIA man
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  Speaker 1: was familiar with the opening stages of the war. The
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  Speaker 1: first missile fired it in the United States was the
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  Speaker 1: signal for whole fleets of missiles and bombers to launched
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  Speaker 1: themselves at the enemy. It was confusing to see the
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  Speaker 1: world at once. At times he could not tell if
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  Speaker 1: the fireball and mushroom cloud was over Chicago or Shanghai,
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  Speaker 1: New York on nove Sebirsk, Baltimore or Budapest. It did
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  Speaker 1: not make much difference, really. They all got in the
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  Speaker 1: first few hours of the war, as did London and Moscow,
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  Speaker 1: Washington and the king Detroit and Delhi, and many many more.
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  Speaker 1: The defensive systems on all sides seemed to operate well,
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  Speaker 1: except that there were never enough anti missiles. Defensive systems
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  Speaker 1: were expensive compared to attack rockets. It was cheaper to
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  Speaker 1: build the deterrent than to defend against it. The missiles
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  Speaker 1: flashed up from submarines and railway cars, from underground silos
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  Speaker 1: and streterospheric jets, secret ones fired off automatically when a
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  Speaker 1: certain air base commandposed seized memen out of restraining radio signal.
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  Speaker 1: The defensive systems were simply overloaded, and when the bombs
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  Speaker 1: ran out, the missiles carried dust and germs and gas,
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  Speaker 1: on and on for six days and six fire lit nights.
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  Speaker 1: Launch boost, coast, re enter death, And now it was over.
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  Speaker 1: The CIA man thought the missiles were all gone, the
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  Speaker 1: airplanes were exhausted, the nations that had built the weapons
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  Speaker 1: no longer existed. By all the rules he knew of,
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  Speaker 1: the war should have been ended. Yet the fighting did
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  Speaker 1: not end. The machine knew better. There were still many
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  Speaker 1: ways to kill an enemy, time tested wastes. There were
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  Speaker 1: armies fighting in four continents, Armies that had marched overland,
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  Speaker 1: or splashed ashore from the sea, or dropped out of
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  Speaker 1: the skies. Incredibly, the war went on. When the tanks
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  Speaker 1: ran out of gas and the plane throwers became useless,
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  Speaker 1: and even the prosaic artillery pieces had no more round
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  Speaker 1: to fire, there were still simple guns and even simpler
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  Speaker 1: bayonets and sorts. The proud Armies, the descendants of the
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  Speaker 1: Alexanders and Caesars and Timugins and Wellentons and Grants and
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  Speaker 1: Rommels relived their revolution in revers The war went on slowly, inevitably,
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  Speaker 1: the army split apart into smaller and smaller units, until
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  Speaker 1: the tortured countryside that so recently had felt the impact
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  Speaker 1: of nuclear war once again knew the tread of bands
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  Speaker 1: of armed marauders. The tiny savage groups, stranded in alien lands,
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  Speaker 1: far from the homes and families that they knew to
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  Speaker 1: be destroyed, carried on a mockery of war, lived at
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  Speaker 1: the land, fought their own countrymen if the occasion suited,
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  Speaker 1: and revived the ancient terror of a hand wielded personal,
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  Speaker 1: one headed a time killing the cia men watched the
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  Speaker 1: world disintegrate. Death was an individual business now, and none
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  Speaker 1: the better for no longer being mass produced. In agonized fascination,
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  Speaker 1: he saw the myriad ways in which a man might tie.
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  Speaker 1: Murder was only one of them. Radiation, disease, toxic gases
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  Speaker 1: that lingered and drifted on the once innocent winds, and finally,
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  Speaker 1: the most efficient destroyer of them all, starvation. Three billion people,
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  Speaker 1: give or take a meaningless hundred million lived on the
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  Speaker 1: planet Earth when the war began. Now with the tenors
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  Speaker 1: spread of civilization burned away. Most of those who were
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  Speaker 1: not killed by the fighting itself succumbed inexorably to starvation.
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  Speaker 1: Not everyone died, of course, life went on. Some were
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  Speaker 1: lucky along. Darkness settled in the world. Life went on
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  Speaker 1: for a few, a pitiful few, a bitter, hateful, suspicious, savage. Few.
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  Speaker 1: Cities became pastles, books became fuel. Knowledge died. Civilization was
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  Speaker 1: completely gone from the planet Earth. The helmet was lifted
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  Speaker 1: slowly off his head. The CIA man found that he
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  Speaker 1: was too weak to raise his arms in help. He
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  Speaker 1: was shivering and damp with perspiration. Now you see, Ford
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  Speaker 1: said quietly, Why the military man cracked up when they
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  Speaker 1: used a computer? General Leroy even was fail How can
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  Speaker 1: a man with any conscience at all direct a military
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  Speaker 1: operation when he knows that that will be the consequence.
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  Speaker 1: The CIA man struck up a cigarette and bolt hard
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  Speaker 1: on it. He exhaled sharply. Or all the war games
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  Speaker 1: like that, every plan, some are worse, Ford said, we
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  Speaker 1: picked an average one for you. Even one of the
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  Speaker 1: brush fire games get out of hand and end up
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  Speaker 1: like that. So what do you intend to do? Why
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  Speaker 1: did you call me in? What can I do? You're
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  Speaker 1: the CIA, the general said, don't you handle espionage? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: but what's that got to do with it? The general
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  Speaker 1: looked at him. It seems to me that the next
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  Speaker 1: logical step, it's to make them certain that they get
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  Speaker 1: the plans to this computer and fast. The end of
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  Speaker 1: the next logical step by Ben Bova