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Chapters (83)
  1. Cover
  2. ALSO BY TOM CLANCY
  3. PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
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  83. What’s next onyour reading list?

Jack shook his head. “I’m utterly amazed. You’re putting a beat cop in the sky. A beat cop with a perfect set of eyes and a perfect memory.”

Singh nodded thoughtfully. “More or less, yes.”

“This is what military and intelligence agencies have been doing for the last ten years,” Jack said. “I know you’ve written your own AI programs, but what’s your value-added?”

“You know how these government systems run. A Predator operation might have eighty, a hundred, even two hundred people in the loop, everyone from the ground-control station and flight crew all the way back to the Pentagon, with civilian and military analysts added in for good measure.” He held up the tablet again. “Here’s your analysis team. The UAV we’ve developed can be transported in the back of a truck, unloaded, assembled, and made ready to launch in less than thirty minutes by just two people with a wrench and a screwdriver. Compared to the large military systems, Steady Stare is cheap, easy to use, and requires very little manpower.” Singh flashed a smile. “And of course, Dalfan is prepared to provide any or all of those manpower services if the client requires them. If not, Dalfan provides all of the training and technical support they might need.”

Jack glanced around the room. There were four analysts sitting at workstations with headsets on, speaking. “How does a police department actually use a system like this?”

“The SPF is responding to various calls around the city every day. If they conduct their initial investigation and can’t identify the culprits in a crime—for example, a hit-and-run car accident—an assigned detective will call us and give us the street address of the accident, and then we perform a ‘time travel’ search function like the one I just showed you. We would then call in the terminal address of the alleged vehicle to the detective and officers would be dispatched to the location. We’re not replacing police work, we’re just making it far more efficient.”

“Politicians will love it because their police departments will be solving far more crimes for less money,” Lian said. “And when word gets out, it will deter crime. If every speeding vehicle automatically gets ticketed because of Steady Stare, fewer people will speed—that means fewer accidents, lower insurance costs, and fewer injuries and deaths.”

No wonder Marin Aerospace wants a piece of this, Jack thought. He ran his hand through his hair, considering the possibilities—and the profits.

Jack turned to Lian. “Now I’m getting a better idea why Dalfan has such tight security. The Chinese would love to steal this kind of technology.”

“They’ve already tried.” Lian smiled. “And not just the Chinese.”

Jack checked his watch. “This has been fascinating, Dr. Singh. I’d like to see the airport facility.”

“When?”

“Why not now?”

Lian shrugged. “Fine. Let’s go.”

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