Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-Seven

Poole had never had much contact with the group that assembled the weapons that everyone wanted to use forever.It was fitting, though inauspicious, that the operation had been named Gattaca; but the highly specialized nature of the operation precluded any direct contribution from him.And he knew enough about the whole Special Forces group to understand that some of them might almost be aliens.In fact, one of the key members was apparently in a madhouse (Poole was amazed that such a place still existed), and Chairman O'Connor sometimes suggested that at least two should be admitted together.

"Have you heard of 'Project Enigma'?" she asked Poole after a particularly frustrating session. Poole shook her head, and she went on: "I'm surprised you don't know! It was only a few decades before you were born. I saw it when I was looking for material for 'Gait Shot', and it was in a similar situation: in During a certain war in your day, a group of brilliant scientists came together in secret to break the enemy's codes...and, by the way, they built the first real computers before this job could be done. "There's also a lovely story—hopefully true, and one that reminds me of our team. One day the Prime Minister came for an inspection, and afterwards he said to the Commander of Project Enigma: 'I told you not to let any corner, didn't expect you to actually follow suit.'”

Presumably, everyone has searched every corner for the "Neighborhood Project".However, no one knows whether the deadline is days, weeks or years, so it is difficult to create a sense of urgency at the beginning.The need for secrecy also created problems, as there was really no reason to alert the entire solar system, so fewer than 50 people knew about the plan.But they were key figures who could muster all the force needed, and some could be single-handedly tasked with opening the Pinnacle Chamber for the first time in 500 years. It seemed like something was going to happen, too, as Harman reported that the slabs were receiving more and more information.Poole wasn't the only one finding it difficult to sleep these days, even with Brain-Cap's anti-insomnia program.Before he finally fell asleep, he often asked himself whether he had a tomorrow.But at least all the components of the weapon were assembled—an invisible, untouchable weapon that, to all warriors throughout history, was still an unexpected weapon.

A perfectly standard megabit memory chip that millions of Brain Hats use every day seems harmless and innocent enough.However, it was encased in a large crystalline mass, crossed with metal bands, showing that it was an extraordinary thing. Poole took the thing reluctantly and reluctantly.He wondered if the man who had been tasked with carrying the warhead of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the site where it was launched, Pacific Air Force Base, felt the same way.However, if all their fears are justifiable, his responsibility may be even greater. And he wasn't even sure if the first part of his mission would work!Because no loop was absolutely safe, Harman didn't yet know all about the Gacha Project, which Poole would tell him when he got back to Ganymede.

Then he can only hope that Harman is willing to play the role of "trojan horse"; and, perhaps, he has to be willing to be sacrificed in the process.