by M. R. Forbes
"Calling for reinforcements?" Max said.
"I think we should get out of here," Michael said.
"Yeah, I'm with you," Mitchell agreed. "Back in the-"
The sound was more of a low rumble. If there were anything else around them, they wouldn't have even noticed it. A moment later, the branches on the trees began bending to a sudden, forceful wind.
The VTOL dropped out of nowhere, its belly cloaked by a high-resolution screen that projected the stars above it, the only trace of its existence coming from the light whooshing noise and the wind. Mitchell joined the others in raising his weapon toward it.
He heard a soft thump behind him, and then the muzzle of a rifle was pressed against the back of his head.
"Shh... Stay soft. Take it slow and easy," the woman at his back said.
Mitchell glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Two others had gotten behind Max and Lyle.
The VTOL came to rest in front of them, lighting up as it touched down. The U.S. Army markings were obvious emblazoned on its angled sides.
"I should have known," Daisy said, turning to face their attackers. "Colonel, meet Sergeant Linda Damon, callsign Demon."
The gun vanished from his head. He turned around. The woman behind him was stiff and straight, greeting him with a tight salute.
"Sir," she snapped.
Mitchell started to bow in response. Then he smiled and mimicked her salute. "Sergeant."
"Over there is Major Koos, we call her Kook, and Corporal Dawes, or Dreck."
"My name is mud," Dawes said. He was the largest of the three, and even then was barely Mitchell's height and at least thirty pounds lighter.
The hatch on the VTOL opened, and two more soldiers stepped out.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hans Stoker, callsign Dracula," the first said. He was the oldest, with a white flat top and a bit of stubble around his chin. He hopped off the short wing of the craft and approached Mitchell, saluting when he reached him. "Our pilot is Captain Verma. We call him Mazerat. Corporal Cooper is still inside, prepping your gear."
"A pleasure," Mitchell said, making eye contact with each of them. "You certainly know how to make an entrance."
"That's how we do it, Colonel. Quiet and quick, every time. Sorry for the spook, but we had to be sure you were safe."
"Understood. How much do you know?"
"Next to nothing. All Daisy here told me was that she had a situation with an ex and to keep the details on mute."
"What?" Max said.
"An emergency," Stoker said. "A big one that we shouldn't tell home base about. We don't have a true command on location. We get mission parameters delivered from all over the world, usually hush-hush orders signed by the President. It's not unusual for our outfit to take off in the middle of the night without a word to anybody. In fact, I think the other way around would be out of character for us, wouldn't you say, Kook?"
"Yes, sir," Koos replied.
"So I understand this mission is critical to national security?" Stoker said.
"That's right," Daisy replied. "You aren't going to believe how big this thing is."
"I can think pretty big," Stoker said. "I imagine you'll debrief us on the way, Colonel?"
"Yes," Mitchell said. "Trust me, Lieutenant Colonel, I don't think you're thinking this big."
Stoker smiled. "Sounds like a party. Of course, I'm not entirely sure about teaming up with a bunch of jarheads."
"We're real excited about hopping into that thing with a squad of dog faces," Max said. "Real excited. Oorah!"
"Be careful, we bite," Damon said, laughing as she passed Max.
The others headed for the VTOL, leaving Mitchell standing next to the car with Michael. He was the only civilian in the group, and he looked terrified of the aircraft.
"Are you okay?" Mitchell said.
"I'm not a big fan of flying. I can do the cushy seats and free peanuts. This isn't that."
"You don't have to stay with us. You aren't a soldier. There's no shame in bowing out."
Michael looked back at the car. Then he shook his head. "You might find yourself in need of someone with my skills. Anyway, as scared as I am of flying in that thing, I'm more scared of feeling like I let Kathy down."
Mitchell felt a chill, his mind turning to the silent explosions that marked the deaths of everyone and everything he cared about.
"That's what keeps me going," he said.
52
It took a little more subterfuge to get out of Nova Taurus without drawing attention, forcing Katherine and Trevor to sneak through the loading docks, ditching their original clothing for two pairs of scrubs they found in a huge dumpster of outgoing laundry. The navy blue outfits smelled awful, but also allowed them to take a secondary exit out onto the street behind the massive tower.
Of course, they had made it out because Watson wanted them to get out. Their path had been void of any of the security details that wandered the halls, and passing beyond the cameras hadn't led to interception. They had stepped out of the building along with another pair of men in scrubs who pulled out vaporizers the moment the door closed behind them.
They took a roundabout route back to the hotel, not speaking to one another the entire way. Trevor was shaken, and she understood why. He had downplayed his relationship with the tech, making it seem more like the relationship he had shared with her. A little bit of fun, a little bit of romance, but nothing that either one of them believed would last. Coates had been more than that, and she was dismayed by his loss and the effect it was having on the man beside her. She was still feeling Michael's absence herself.
Her mind was also still consumed by her desire to outthink Watson. She didn't believe it were possible, but she felt like she at least needed to try. She went over the possibilities again and again, trying to work out all of the combinations. In one scenario, Origin had done everything intentionally, setting the pieces in motion like a chess master. In another, everything had gone completely wrong from the start. Most of the rest were somewhere in between, and it was there that Katherine believed the truth was sitting.
It was also where the branches split, one after another, after another, too far down to ever make sense of.
The only choice they had was to go completely from their gut.
The entered their suite, remaining quiet as they went in separate directions. Katherine grabbed a change of clothes and jumped in the master shower. She assumed Trevor did the same. She emerged thirty minutes later, still struggling to find her center, but getting closer. Trevor was already waiting for her, dressed all in black, ready for war.
"What's our next move?" he asked. The pain he had been exhibiting before had hardened into resolve.
"We need a ride to Antarctica."
"Antarctica?" he said. "XENO-1?"
"Yes. Pretty obvious, I guess."
"The where. Not the why."
"Watson wants something that is still on the ship. I don't know what. Origin said that Mitchell was already on his way there."
"How did she know?"
"I don't know. She must have been in contact with him." If that were true, why hadn't the intelligence let her at least talk to the Colonel? They were supposed to have some kind of eternal chemistry already, and she at least wanted a chance to see if it would ever make itself known.
"Do you have any ideas on how we can get there?" Trevor asked.
"You were in special forces. You have a lot of connections."
"Not that kind of connection."
"We'll figure something out," Katherine said. "Origin wouldn't have told me to go if she didn't think I could get there."
"I'm not convinced. For as old and experienced as this Tetron claimed to be, we've been getting beaten pretty soundly so far. How do we know she wasn't the inferior intelligence? How do we know she didn't get Jason killed for nothing? She said it herself. Humans have never won this war."
"I know you're hurting, Trev. What happened to the resolve I saw a minut
e ago?"
"I'm resolved to fight. That doesn't mean I believe we can win. I've been through a lot, Kate. I've been places, seen things you wouldn't believe. Your war was in the air, mine was in cities around the globe. What happens out of sight is much worse than what happens in the skies. Jason was the first person I've met who helped me stay focused, and now he's gone. I'll be happy to take a few of those AIT assholes with me when I die."
"You aren't going to die."
"Do you believe that?"
Katherine shrugged. They both knew the odds were against them. "Colonel Williams is going to be there. Origin made him sound like some kind of super-soldier. He got the war this far."
"Or he lost the war in his recursion and ran to this one."
"Damn it, Trevor," Katherine said, getting angry. "Pull your shit together. Whatever Coates did for you, you're still a frigging soldier. Start acting like one."
Trevor stared at her, jaw tight. Then he nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Someone knocked on the door to the emergency stairwell.
Katherine and Trevor looked at one another. Trevor stood, drew his gun, and moved to the side of the room, in position to shoot whoever was there. No guests would be sent up that way.
Katherine approached it, her nerves trying to get the best of her. Whoever the visitor was, they were unexpected, uninvited, and more likely than not had been sent by Watson.
She reached the door right as the person knocked on it again. The emergency door opened outward toward the stairs, and she pulled up the lever and pushed slowly. Origin had disabled everything coming from the room, so it didn't set off an alarm.
"Katherine," Yousefi said. He was dressed in a pair of fatigues, his expression concerned.
"Admiral?" Katherine said, confused. "What are you doing here?"
He held up his AR glasses. "I received a secured transmission an hour and a half ago, encrypted to my identifier and using a secondary military encryption that nobody outside of UEA command is supposed to know. The sender id was yours."
"What? I didn't send you anything."
"I'm not surprised to hear you say that. The transmission carried a schematic unlike anything I've ever seen before, along with a short message in your voice from someone calling themselves Origin."
Katherine stared at him. Then a smile began creeping across her face.
"May I come in?"
53
Yousefi took off his AR glasses and handed them to Katherine. "I've removed the device security so you can see what I was sent."
Katherine put Yousefi's glasses on. A translucent overlay appeared in the corner, and a thought turned the lenses opaque and moved it to the front of both eyes, enlarging it. Her message was at the top of a list of military communique that had been sent to the commander of the Dove. She couldn't help but notice that the one preceding it was from the General.
She focused on her message and opened it with a thought.
"Rear-Admiral Yousefi. I am called Origin. I do not have time to explain the fullness of my identity, and for that, I apologize. I am sending you this message because Major Katherine Asher is in need of your immediate assistance. I am including a data file stolen from the mainframe of the Nova Taurus Corporation. It contains evidence of a plot to sabotage the Dove on the day of her launch, as well as proof that Nova Taurus has been subverted by the head of the AIT. Please, Admiral, bring this information directly to Katherine. I have provided the coordinates. Do not trust anyone in the UEA with this information. The AIT's spies are everywhere. I understand you are risking your career if you do this. I also know the man that you are, as we have met before in a time that has not yet occurred. Your daughter's name will be Jala, and she will truly be a brightness."
Katherine reached up and lowered the glasses. Yousefi was staring at her with a look of concern. She raised them back to view the file.
It was a schematic, as Yousefi had said. A three-dimensional blueprint. The shape was vaguely that of a pyramid, though it was smaller than the ones she had seen in her dreams. Inside of it was a maze of wiring and pipes and other machinery, the makeup and purpose of which she didn't understand. The viewpoint began to shift, floating through the marks and lines, moving toward the center. There was an energy source there, a core that branched out into the structure like it were the center of a nervous system. A small, empty space sat beside it.
"Eternal engine," the label read, popping up and pointing to the space. More text appeared above it. "There are no Tetron energy condensers in this timeline. Watson requires the power of the eternal engine to begin true reproduction. He has yet to find where it was hidden on the Goliath. Mitchell has unlocked the secured message I left for him twenty years ago with your friend Michael's assistance. He will be there. Be cautious. Watson will follow one or both of you. You must protect one another, claim the engine, and keep it from his hands. It must be on the Dove when she launches, along with you and Mitchell."
"The war is not over, Katherine," Origin's voice said, following the text. "The Mesh has been broken. It is beginning anew."
The file closed, pushing her back to the list of messages. She took off the glasses. Michael was alive and with Mitchell? Maybe they had a chance after all.
"She didn't say how he's planning to sabotage the Dove," Katherine said, looking at Trevor. "She did confirm what he wants."
"To be God?" Trevor asked.
"Essentially." She looked at Yousefi. "Jala?"
He nodded. "Yes. We haven't told anyone the name, and yet this Origin knew it. She also mentioned a timeline. A time traveler?" He seemed more curious about the idea than fearful of it.
"In a sense, but not exactly. The important part is that she wasn't the only one, and the other is the head of the AIT, and pulling the strings within Nova Taurus."
"Nova Taurus? They have had access to all of our research for the last ten years."
"I know. I'm sorry you were dragged into this, sir, but Origin trusted you. She knows you'll do the right thing. So do I. She gave herself up to get this information to us. To get you to me, so that you can get me to the crash site."
"Watson is the leader of the AIT?"
"Yes."
"She said he will follow."
"He hasn't been able to locate the eternal engine inside the wreckage, whatever it is. He also knows that Origin wants us to put it on the Dove. He's counting on us finding it for him."
"And what happens when we do?"
"One of us will leave with the engine," Trevor said.
"And the other one will die," Katherine finished.
Yousefi pursed his lips and breathed out heavily. "I could be court-martialed for this."
"Sir, if we don't get the engine and keep it out of Watson's possession, if we don't ensure the Dove makes her launch, your little girl will never be born."
"Neither will billions of others," Trevor said, driving home the stakes.
Yousefi looked at both of them before nodding. "Okay. I can organize an emergency flight to Antarctica, but I can't keep it under the radar. If the AIT is as deep into the UEA as you think, they'll know our plans."
"Watson already knows our plans," Katherine said, finally beginning to pull the pieces together. "Except we won't be the only ones there."
"Mitchell?" Yousefi asked.
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"The cat," Katherine said.
"What does that make us?"
"The cheese."
54
Katherine, Trevor, and Admiral Yousefi were back at Naval Station Norfolk inside of two hours. Her return to the base was being kept top secret, her civilian status in a restricted area impossible for even Yousefi to clear or resolve with Command. If General Petrov discovered she had been returned to the base, or to service, he would be sure to disband all of the Dove's inaugural flight crew in favor of one of the backup teams. Having Trevor with her would make things doubly worse.
She knew Yousefi was taking a massive risk in helping th
em. She was grateful for her superior's trust, and for his willingness to go against any number of rules and ordinances to make the trip happen. It had taken some work to get the base's only high-velocity delivery unit procured and ready for travel, and Yousefi had been forced to lie at a level she had never even known existed.
Landing at NSN, he had taken them from the runway in a tarp-covered transport, hiding them away in the back while asking the driver what he had seen.
"Nothing, sir," the Private had replied.
"Make sure it stays that way if you ever want to reach Sergeant," Yousefi had warned.
Then they had been led on foot through the bowels of the base, through passages buried below ground where the utility lines were run. It was cold and damp under there and left Katherine feeling cold and uncertain.
At least until they arrived inside the barracks proper.
A squad of five soldiers was waiting for them as they emerged, already suited up in winter fatigues and camouflaged powered armor. They snapped to attention at Yousefi's arrival, saluting as Katherine and Trevor entered behind him.
"Atten-shun," the soldier on the forward left said. "Admiral on the floor."
Katherine recognized each and every one of them. They were members of Project Olive Branch, each from a different nation and armed service. They were her friends and enemies, her competition for the spot on the Dove, the people that Yousefi trusted the most to follow his orders and otherwise say nothing.
"At ease," Yousefi said.
The armors shifted, the noise of it echoing in the room.
"I thought you would need backup," Yousefi said to her.
"We might, sir." She lowered her voice. "There's a good chance all of these people are going to die."
"That's part of being a soldier," Yousefi replied. "They're all volunteers, and I told them the odds are against us."
"Do they know what they're fighting?"
"Not completely. They know they're defending our future. That's what matters."
"Sir," a woman's voice said from behind them.