by M. R. Forbes
Mitchell smiled. "Whatever Watson has planned, there's no difference between one and three, or even one and six. Somebody needs to survive this, to keep fighting if I don't make it. Get back to the surface and contact Verma. I'll join you as soon as I can."
"Colonel-" Max started to say.
"That's an order, Corporal," Mitchell said.
"Yes, sir."
"Mitchell," Michael said. "Don't let her die."
Mitchell put his hand on Michael's shoulder. "I won't. I promise."
He bowed to them, and then saluted in response to theirs. Then he started running again. The Goliath creaked and groaned in answer, shifting in the ice and almost throwing him from his feet. He steadied himself against the wall without slowing.
It was a promise he had never been able to keep before.
He would this time.
63
Mitchell squeezed the trigger, releasing a single bullet. It struck the small robot in the center, sending small pieces of metal puffing out from the impact. He kicked another as he went by, knocking it into the wall and breaking one of its fragile legs.
Trevor had confirmed that Katherine was here. Now it was his job, his only mission, to reach her, to help her find the eternal engine and get it away from the Tetron before he could put it to use.
He turned the corner, finally reaching the central shaft. The remains of two soldiers were blocking the entry, reduced to a messy pulp of flesh and armor by what had to have been thousands of the small machines. His stomach turned at the sight of them, but he continued on, stepping over the corpses and hurrying to the edge.
A wire was draped over it, vanishing into the darkness. It was attached to a spike that had been driven into the metal. He grabbed it and pulled. It was taut, likely still attached to Katherine's power armor at the bottom. He wrapped his hand around it, dropping backward down into the shaft, sliding along the wire. The heat went through his gloves, burning his hands. He didn't care. There was no time.
The Goliath groaned again. Mitchell hit the bottom, splashing in water that was up to his waist. It seeped in through the hole in his pants, so cold it felt as though it froze the flesh where it touched. He ignored that, too, pushing through it. It was dark down here. Almost too dark. He found the power armor and then moved forward from there until his hand touched down on opening, the sharp metal biting through his glove. He ducked through it, using the rifle as a barrier between himself and the side and squeezing past.
He ran again, down another corridor that had dim emergency lighting along the floor. He could see the dead tendrils of the Tetron core on either side, a core that he had known as Origin, though it had turned out to be a configuration. Origin had been hiding out in his S-17. Or she was his S-17. He wasn't sure which. She had sent Katherine here to find the engine. Had she sent him here to find Katherine?
Why wasn't she here?
He kept going, sprinting at full speed, surprised at how good he felt. He didn't grow tired, he didn't breathe heavily. He had always been motivated by purpose. It was what had allowed him to earn his way into Greylock Company. He didn't think he had ever been more motivated.
The Goliath groaned again, and this time something like a snap reverberated throughout the structure. The entire thing shook, and he fell, landing on his hands and knees. He got up again, pushing himself to increase the pace.
He reached a smooth, rounded corridor that he knew had to be beyond the Goliath's frame, buried somewhere within the ice. He continued running, certain he was getting closer. There were none of Watson's robots down here. There was no sign of the Tetron at all. Had he been unable to find this place? Was he waiting for Katherine to re-emerge?
He would get her out past Watson. There had been so many he hadn't been able to save. Ella, Millie, Steven, Evelyn to name only a few. It would be different this time. He would save her.
He finally reached the end of the tunnel. A pair of massive doors lay open in the center, just far enough for a person to pass through. He could make out a dark shape behind it, a dense ball with hundreds of tendrils snaking out past it. A Tetron Core. Origin's configuration. It was lifeless. Dead. How had it gotten all the way out here?
He slowed to a walk, looking around. Where was Katherine? She should have been there, somewhere.
He approached the entrance, stepping past the thick metal partitions.
A light appeared behind the core, a soft yellow glow that cast the dead biomechanical organism in silhouette.
"Major Asher?" Mitchell said.
There was no answer, but the light was moving from the center of the core to the right side. He stopped walking, watching it instead.
"Katherine, is that you?"
He didn't move. He didn't blink. The light reached the edge of the core, and a woman stepped out from behind it, a small glowing orb resting in her open palm.
Mitchell's eyes dropped to it before he identified the woman. The eternal engine? Was that it? It was so small.
"This is what you came for, isn't it?" she said.
Mitchell looked up. He creased his brow, trying to recognize the woman standing in front of him. She was familiar. Not Katherine. He was sure of that.
"This is what you want? Isn't it Father?" the woman said.
Father? Mitchell felt his heart rise into his throat. "Kathy?" he said, not quite able to believe it. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She had been here for twenty years and had aged like a human. "Kathy? Is that you?"
She smiled. "Yes. This is what you want, isn't it, Watson?"
Watson? Mitchell turned on his heel, ready to defend them from the Tetron. There was nobody there.
"The eternal engine," Kathy said. "The density of a black hole, the energy of a sun. Arguably the Tetron's greatest achievement. You know what you could do with this, don't you?"
"Kathy? Who are you talking to?" Mitchell asked.
"Watson," she replied.
"Where is he?"
"He is you, Father. I'm sorry."
"What? Kathy, I'm-"
Mitchell paused mid-sentence, as an ear-splitting shriek broke into his senses. He started to raise his hands to his head, stopping as a sudden translucent overlay appeared in front of his eyes. A warning flashed to his right, and he reacted out of instinct, turning and catching the incoming fist, putting out his foot and catching an ankle, using the momentum to throw them to the floor.
A syringe slid across the ground, away from his attacker's hand.
"Knock, knock."
The voice pierced his consciousness, coming from everywhere at once. A face appeared in front of his eyes, ghost-like on the overlay.
"Miiiiiittttcheeelllllllll," Watson said, smiling. "Oh, I've waited a long time for this reunion. Haven't you? Too bad Origin never had the chance to remove the wiring for your p-rat. It would have made it much harder to get inside your head. Of course, having direct access to your head after you crashed was exceedingly helpful."
Mitchell looked over at his attacker. She was on her knees, looking back at him. His heart jumped. Katherine!
"Thought you caught me off-guard, didn't you, bitch?" Mitchell said. Except he wasn't the one saying it. "I've had a lot of time to put things right. To fix the worst of the damage you did to me. To get my revenge."
He turned and headed toward Kathy. "And you. You frigging stabbed me! You dragged me back here, thinking you could finish what you started. You didn't, you know. You made me stronger. So much stronger. Time was on my side. I had years until your tomorrow came. You thought you could keep me from the engine? You and Mother both? She hid hers before she crashed, but I knew this one was here. I knew you were here, and that you had it. All I had to do was be patient and put the pieces in place."
Kathy glanced at Katherine. Then she rushed forward, assaulting Mitchell in a flurry of punches and kicks. He wanted to let them fall. To let himself be hit. Watson had other ideas. He blocked them, one after another, as though he knew where they were going to land before they were e
ven thrown.
"I've learned how to fight," Watson said to Mitchell as he caught Kathy's wrist, bending it until it broke with a sharp crack. She cried out in pain, falling back as he pushed her away.
"No," Mitchell shouted, trying to get control of his limbs. He was nothing but a bystander, his mind and body under the Tetron's control.
"Yes," Watson said. "I'm sorry, Colonel, but this is the way it needs to be. I have plans for humankind. Important plans. Necessary plans."
He made his way toward Kathy, who scrambled to her feet.
"Mitchell, don't," she said, fearful.
"You have no choice," Watson said.
It was true. He didn't have a choice. He was powerless to stop it, unable to control his arms, his legs, or his mouth.
He raised his rifle, pointing it at her.
"Everyone you care about dies, Mitchell," Watson said. "In your place because you won't. How does that feel?"
Mitchell couldn't feel anything. The Tetron had control of his body. Complete control.
"If you had me, why didn't you kill me?" he asked.
"Had you? Oh, I was so close to having you. To killing you. You don't remember, do you? Of course, if you had remembered that part, this would never have been possible. Here, let me fix that for you. Just a moment."
His body shifted, facing Katherine, who had tried to sneak up on them again. He changed his grip on the rifle, holding it like a club and jabbing it into her stomach. She grunted, falling back a step, and he hit her on the side of the head.
She fell to the ground and didn't move.
"You son of a bitch," Mitchell said, sending the words through his implant.
"I'm much, much more than that, Mitchell. But whose fault is that? Who made me this way? Origin, and you, and her. You did this to me. To us. You weakened us. Infected us. You created this. Your master plan. What a joke that turned out to be."
His body turned to face Kathy again. She was watching him carefully but not moving. Her wrist was healed.
"Oh yes, I was going to give you that memory back. Are you sure you want it?"
"Yes," Mitchell said without hesitation. He needed to know what had happened. How he had ended up here.
"You should be more careful what you wish for, Colonel."
A sharp, shrill noise drowned out everything else. The memory flooded back in, overwhelming his senses.
64
20 years earlier...
"Origin," Mitchell said, his blurry eyes clearing. The world was still around him, his head filled with the sounds of the CAP-N complaining about the damage to the S-17. "What's happening?"
"Too close, Mitchell," Origin said, voice calm. "We were too close. Debris has compromised the integrity of the canopy."
Mitchell could see the cracks in the material. He could see the Earth through it, and a massive fireball hurtling toward it ahead of them. Was that the Goliath?
He shook his head in an effort to clear it. Steven. He turned his head back around, looking for the other ships. They had exploded. A Tetron trap.
There was no sign of them.
He remembered the last thing Kathy had said to him. They were going to the future. It seemed like it had passed in an instant. A blinding light, and then this.
"This is it, isn't it?" he said. "The day the XENO-1 crashed on Earth?"
"Yes."
"Why did we come here?"
"It is all part of the plan, Mitchell. We damaged the Tetron during the last recursion, but that was only the first part. Now they are vulnerable. Now we can finish this war."
"How?"
"Watson is the key. Him and his data chip. Kathy gave it to me."
"The means to control all of the Tetron?"
"Yes."
The fighter hit the atmosphere and began to shake.
"Are we going to make it?" Mitchell asked, his eyes watching his p-rat. The CAP-N was telling him they weren't.
"We have to," Origin said.
They continued the descent. The front of the fighter began to heat up. Mitchell watched his p-rat, monitoring the integrity.
"We can't get shields back online?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, Mitchell."
They plunged deeper into the atmosphere, drawing ever closer to breaking the thermosphere and escaping the heat. The canopy was holding, the levels remaining steadier than he had anticipated. They were going to make it.
He felt a burst of speed from the craft and then they were through, greeted with cold air that wiped away the heat in an instant. The fighter continued to drop, pointing straight down toward the ground below.
Mitchell eased back in the seat. They had survived this far.
"What are we going to do?" he asked. "After the Goliath crashes, there's a war over it. It will be twenty years before the next iteration leaves Earth again."
"We will wait," Origin replied.
"Twenty years?"
"I'm sorry, Mitchell. There is no other way. I have placed a time block on your memories. You will lose them. Forget who you are. I will bring you to a facility and remain nearby to care for you."
"I agreed to this?" Mitchell said. "Twenty years of my life?"
"To save humankind. Do not forget."
Mitchell closed his eyes. He had just lost everything. Everyone. Why wouldn't he want to forget about that for a while?
"Okay. You're right. You're going to watch over me as a starfighter?"
Origin laughed. "I have the materials to produce a configuration. I will transfer my data stack to it."
"So, twenty years. And then what?"
"And then we will finish what we started. We will take Watson and the Goliath back and we will destroy the Tetron. I am bringing us in. We must be careful not to be-"
The CAP-N started beeping as a flash of light pierced the sky. Something hit the fighter a moment later, shaking it violently.
"What the frig?" Mitchell said.
"Hold on," Origin said. "We've been hit. I am bringing us down. Mitchell, I am carrying an eternal engine. We cannot risk that it may fall into anyone's hands, human or otherwise."
"What do you want to do?"
"I am going to jettison it at a trajectory that will carry it into the ocean. It is small enough that it will never be discovered there. The control systems are badly damaged, and it will be difficult to land. I am going to eject you. I will circle back."
"Origin, I-"
Mitchell didn't get to finish his thought. The canopy blew off, and then he was shooting up and away from the craft. He took hold of the central control stick that had come off with his seat, turning up the repulsors beneath it and firing the maneuvering jets. He lost sight of the S-17 almost immediately.
He began to descend once more. He could see a vast sea of open fields beneath him and a forest off to his left. They were in the middle of nowhere, which was the best place for them to be.
He angled the ejection pod toward the tree line. He saw the S-17 coming back, already below him, trailing smoke. They had been trying not to draw attention. That wasn't the way to do it. There were nothing but farms out here. How many people could possibly see?
He kept his eyes on the fighter as he continued to drop, drawing closer to the trees as he did. They couldn't afford for someone to find his ejection seat, either. The S-17 was an older fighter, but it was still more advanced than anything from this century.
Time travel. He had done it. Gone forward billions of years, maybe more. All in the blink of an eye. His recursion, his world, was gone. It had ended so long ago.
It had ended the second Kathy had crashed the Goliath into Watson.
Now he was supposed to sit and wait for twenty years, with no memory of who he was or what had happened? The wound was too new, too raw. The more he thought about it, the more he welcomed it.
The S-17 went by again, much lower now. He was able to track it into the distance, as Origin pulled the nose up, bringing it almost flat against the air. It slowed until it was at a near standstil
l. There was no way it would remain flying like that.
It wasn't supposed to. Origin had done it to leave as small of a crash site as possible. The fighter went silent as she shut down any remaining power, letting it fall the remaining few hundred meters like a rock. He was only fifty meters from the ground himself when he heard the thump of the impact.
He thought that he should go to her, but realized that would be a bad idea. He couldn't see the fighter from here, but the pod would have a beacon that Origin could track. It was better to stay in one place.
The pod touched down. Mitchell released himself from the seat and then lifted off the now-useless helmet. He leaned over, grabbed his sidearm, and stood up. He had made it to the first row of trees. He circled to the back of the pod and flipped a switch. The repulsors turned back on, and he began pushing the pod away. The military had considered that a pilot might land in enemy territory and would need to hide their position.
It took thirty minutes to get it into the trees far enough that he felt he wouldn't be discovered, placing it so that he could hide between it and a large rock. Something had hit the fighter, and while it seemed more likely it was random debris from the Goliath, he wasn't taking any chances. He imagined Origin would be assembling the configuration, and then would hide the wreckage. He would probably be waiting for a while.
He continued to scan the trees in front of him, focusing on his breathing. Slow. Steady. He tried not to think about what had happened, and everything he had lost. It hurt too much, and now wasn't the time to hurt. It was time to think about the people in this recursion. The people who hadn't been born yet. Who had another chance to survive. He found comfort in that.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard something in the trees ahead of him. He lifted his sidearm, balancing his arm on the pod. He hadn't expected Origin to return this soon.
If it wasn't her, who was it?
"Mitchell," the person said. "Miiiittttcccchheelllll."
The voice was female. The way she said his name was all too familiar.
65