by M. R. Forbes
"Amoebics," Mitchell said, opening the batteries and unleashing the weapons.
They streaked across space and slammed into the Tetron beside the Federation missiles, causing the shields to weaken. One of the amoebics got through, hitting a dendrite and causing a momentary burst of flame.
The Federation ships continued moving in, but the Tetron had seen enough. It froze in place, taking a deep breath before the plunge. Then it was gone.
"We did it," Mitchell said. It had been as easy as he expected. It had been almost too easy.
"So far, Mitchell," Origin said. "We aren't done with this yet."
Mitchell checked his view, noticing that with the Tetron gone, the Federation ships had all readjusted their vectors and surrounded the Dove. While he had the firepower to destroy all of the ships, that wasn't why he had come.
"They are attempting to communicate with us," Origin said.
"Open a channel," Mitchell replied.
"Open."
"Unidentified starship, this is Chancellor Hozen Ken of the Frontier Federation. Please state your intentions, or you will be forcibly removed from this sector."
"Chancellor Ken," Mitchell replied. "My name is Colonel Mitchell Williams, United Planetary Alliance Space Marines. My intention is to first, protect you from the Tetron that almost just destroyed your space station, which I have done, and second, to speak to you regarding your position on the war."
"War?" Ken replied. "You mean between the Federation and the Alliance?"
"No. That war is over, as of right now," Mitchell said. "I mean the war between the humans and the Tetron. The war to save us all from extinction."
19
Mitchell's actions defending the station from the Tetron allowed him the opportunity to travel from the Dove to the star dock under a declaration of immunity. The Chancellor was very interested to hear more about the enemy that had nearly obliterated them, and he was even more interested to hear about the man, and the ship, that had stopped the attack.
Mitchell had contacted Millie before he left, asking her to be patient while he tried to work things out with the Chancellor, but also to be ready in case he reneged on his declaration. The Federation was big on honor, but the rules became easier to bend or break this far out from the central ring. He also left instructions with Origin to defend the station as best she could if the Tetron returned, and to send a message to Millie to get the Riggers on board if they had to leave without him.
Then he had taken thirty minutes to shower and change his clothes, slipping into UPASMC dress blues that Origin had hastily made for him, making sure they were crisp and clean before he departed. He felt strange in the high-collared shirt and jacket, and uncomfortable in the fitted slacks. He much preferred the grays, or a flight suit, to the starched perfection he had no choice but to go with now.
His transport hovered just out of the reach of one of the station's many arms while he waited for clearance to dock. The waiting threatened to unnerve him, making him wonder if the Chancellor was as good as his word, or if they were using the time to organize his death or capture. More likely, the pause was designed to throw him off, to make him nervous and edgy so he might be a less effective liar. The tactic might have worked, too, except he had no intention to tell them anything but the truth.
"Transport Omega," the operator said, using the temporary designation the unmarked ship had been given. "You have clearance to dock at arm one seven. Please remain in position until the clamps have secured and the airlock has opened."
"Roger," Mitchell said, looking out the forward viewport of the ship.
An extension had emerged from the side of the arm, reaching toward his transport. It took a few seconds for it to line up, and then it jutted out, catching the side of the ship with magnetic clamps and pulling it in closer. Once the extension was fully retracted, a sharp clang sounded, followed by a hiss.
"Airlock secure," the operator said. "You are clear to disembark."
"Thank you," Mitchell replied. He spared a glance out of the ship as he stood, seeking the Schism and finding it further down, on deck four or five. It was still and silent, waiting for its fate to be decided. The Federation knew the Schism was a UPA ship. He didn't know how yet, but he was sure of it. That they had decided to leave it alone for now was a good sign.
He moved to the transport's airlock, tapping the control to open it. It slid aside, a soft hiss following as the pressure between the two spaces equalized. He had expected the Chancellor would have sent someone to retrieve him and bring him in. He was surprised to find the Chancellor had come to greet him personally, flanked by a pair of guards.
"Chancellor Ken," Mitchell said, bowing formally. "Colonel Mitchell Williams."
"Colonel," the Chancellor replied, bowing slightly. "It seems everyone in the UPA knows my face these days."
He was referring to the assassination that wasn't going to happen, waiting to see how Mitchell would react.
"The Alliance is concerned about the Federation building a military base so close to Liberty," Mitchell said. "I'm sure you can understand why."
Ken smiled. "I appreciate your bluntness, Colonel. Come, walk with me. There are many places I can't allow you to go, but there are some that you can. No one on this station can deny that your intervention against, what did you call it, a Tetron? That your intervention against the Tetron saved this installation from potentially catastrophic damage. The energy levels we captured from the enemy's weapon were beyond the range of every sensor we have."
"I've seen what the plasma stream can do firsthand, Chancellor," Mitchell said. "Believe me when I say this station would have been reduced to dust."
"Then as I said, I am grateful for your intervention. Though I am also curious. How did you know when and where to intervene?"
"I should ask you the same thing."
Ken laughed and started walking, leaving Mitchell to keep pace beside him. "In our case, it was an anonymous tip."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I swear it on my honor, Colonel. An encrypted message was delivered by a trader three weeks ago. That message contained a mission report from General Cornelius. Do you know the General?"
"I know him," Mitchell said.
"The mission report was sent to Admiral Mildred Narayan, aboard the starship Schism. A black ops team, I understand? I got every detail of the attack direct from the General himself."
Mitchell didn't respond. The Chancellor had been given the same mission briefing that had been delivered to Millie. How? He had a feeling he knew. After hearing Kathy's message, he had considered that perhaps the Schism wouldn't have a Watson on it. After all, they had definitively changed the past that would have produced that specific configuration. Or at least, he thought they had. He still didn't know where they had gone wrong on that front.
"In any case, Colonel, it is not a personal matter. The Alliance and the Federation are at war, even if the leaders of both sides are afraid to declare it formally. They make excuses for these outer quadrant skirmishes and power struggles, and accept them as part of the cost of doing business. And there is an excellent business in war, isn't there, Colonel?"
"That depends on who you ask," Mitchell said, thinking of all the people he had seen die. It didn't matter than many of them were still alive in this recursion. It had still happened.
"Indeed," Ken said. They reached the end of the docking arm, and he pointed to the right. "This way. So, Colonel, I answered your question in a forthright manner. Perhaps you would do the same for mine. How did you know when and where to intervene?"
"I've been here before."
"This station?"
"Yes. Only the last time, I was in the Schism, as part of the team sent to kill you. I watched the Tetron destroy this place. We barely got away from it ourselves."
Ken stopped walking, turning to face Mitchell. "What do you mean, last time?"
"Like I said, Chancellor. There is a new enemy coming. A new war coming. It's
one that we've been fighting for a long, long time. An eternity, without exaggeration. We're close to winning, and the fact that your station is still here, that you're still here, is proof of that. But we can't do it without help. Without the Federation and the Alliance working together."
"You are a time traveler, then?" he said, laughing.
"Yes," Mitchell said, his face straight. "The General Cornelius who sent these orders isn't the real General Cornelius. He's a slave of these Tetron, under their control. They're trying to start a real war between the Federation and the Alliance so that the ships they don't take will be too busy fighting one another to gang up on them. They're powerful, but they aren't invincible."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I swear it on my honor."
Ken stopped smiling. "Be careful what you say, Colonel."
"I know what I'm saying. I mean every word of it, Chancellor. I wish to God that I didn't."
He started walking again, silent for a moment. They reached a bank of lifts, and he pressed the control to summon one.
"These Tetron," he said at last. "What are they? Where did they come from?"
"Artificial intelligence," Mitchell replied. "We made them."
"We?"
"Humans. A Federation employee, to be more specific. They're time travelers as well. They came back here to get help to fight a war of their own. Only they aren't asking for that help."
"We will resist them."
"You can't," Mitchell said, as they stepped into the lift and started to descend. "They can access your neural implant. Control you through your p-rat. I can help you with a secure encryption system, but you need to join me first."
"Join you? I imagine you mean in fighting these things?"
"Yes."
"I don't have the authority to do that, Colonel, even if I were so inclined."
"But you know the people who do. Why wouldn't you be inclined? You're lucky you're still alive."
The lift stopped, the doors opening. Ken stepped out. Mitchell followed.
"Again, I am grateful. Though I do wonder how you managed to stand up to something that powerful. I have noticed that your ship shares a similar pattern of tendrils wrapping around it and that it fired a similar weapon."
"Not all Tetron are working to destroy humankind. There are two who are trying to save us."
"For what reason?"
"Guilt, in part. For destroying us in the first place."
"The only reason I might believe you is because this story is too beyond belief not to be true. No mind can fabricate such a delusion."
"For a long time, I thought it was all in my head. I still wish it were."
"I will admit, you were brave to come here, Colonel. You were even braver to leave the safety of your powerful starship to speak with me."
"Are you planning on detaining me?" Mitchell asked. "I don't recommend it."
"No?"
"I told you, the Tetron are artificial intelligences. I don't need to be on my ship for it to blow your base to hell. But let's try to avoid the threats. I didn't come here to get into some kind of Alliance versus Federation pissing contest. When I say I need your help, I mean it. You need my help, too. In fact, we all need to help one another. Otherwise, it won't just be the Alliance that falls. It will be the Federation that falls with it. I've seen it happen."
"And what of the New Terrans?" Ken asked. "Will you ask them to join us as well?"
Mitchell paused. He didn't really know about the New Terrans. The part of the war he had fought had all occurred in Federation and Alliance space, and he had never considered asking the reclusive nation to participate.
"They would likely ignore you anyway, Colonel," Ken said. "This way."
They had reached another docking arm. Mitchell stopped when he realized where the Chancellor was leading him.
"Why are you taking me to the Schism?" he asked.
"You want to bargain? I want to show you my chips."
"I told you," Mitchell said. "I didn't come to bargain. I came to save you, and to warn you about this threat that is bigger than any mistrust the Federation has of the Alliance. Your colonies will fall, Chancellor. Your planets will be captured, its people enslaved or destroyed. The Tetron will sweep through your system unimpeded."
"If there is a new enemy to fight, then the Federation will fight them."
"Your ships are no match for the Tetron."
"No, but yours is."
Mitchell smiled. "So that's it? You want to trade the Schism for the Dove? Why would I ever agree to that?"
"You said you served with the people on board, in a past life." He made an incredulous face. "What would you be willing to do to save them? What would you give up? If the Tetron are as big of a threat as you say, does it matter who controls the ship that stops them? Does it matter if it is the Alliance or the Federation?"
"It has to be me," Mitchell said.
"Why?"
"It won't follow anyone else."
"As if it has a choice?"
"It's sentient, Chancellor. It makes choices."
"But if it feels guilty, why would it allow us to perish again? Just because you are no longer in charge?"
Mitchell fell silent. This wasn't going well. The Chancellor had taken his words and twisted them, finding a way to use them to strengthen his own argument.
They reached the end of the docking arm. There was an entire squad of soldiers in heavy exosuits waiting near the Schism's airlock. Mitchell also noticed a cruiser outside the viewport, sitting close and waiting for a verdict.
He considered the Chancellor's request. He didn't know if Origin would allow the Federation on board. He did know that her systems would be inoperable to them. They had added those safeguards for a reason.
"This is your choice, Colonel. While I appreciate your intervention with the Tetron, we do not negotiate with the Alliance, under any circumstances. With that being said, my honor decrees that I offer you some sort of boon for your heroism, and so I will make you this bargain and this bargain only. Get on the Schism. Join their crew. You will be free to leave, but your ship remains behind with us. We will use it to defend ourselves from this threat."
"I came here under a declaration of immunity," Mitchell snapped.
"And you will leave unharmed. But you have to choose. Take the Schism or take your ship. One. Not both."
Mitchell felt his anger rising, and he clenched his jaw in an effort to stay composed. "You son of a bitch. I thought I could get through to you."
"You have gotten through, Colonel. You have shown me the necessity to prepare to fight these intelligent machines. Starting with controlling an asset that can stand against them."
"Is every Federation bureaucrat as big of an asshole as you?"
Ken's eyes narrowed. "Be glad I gave you a choice at all, Colonel."
Mitchell stared at the Chancellor for a moment and then made his decision.
"Fine. Let me onto the Schism. You can keep the Dove. You won't be able to do anything with it anyway."
"You sound very certain, Colonel."
"I'm a time traveler, remember?"
The statement gave the Chancellor pause, and his lip quivered as he tried to decide what to do.
"A strong threat, Colonel. I should like to see you turn it into reality." He motioned to the guards at the airlock. "Open her up."
"Yes, sir." They banged their fists on the Schism's airlock, which opened a moment later.
"Thank you for this transaction, Colonel Williams. Have a safe journey home."
"I should have let the Tetron kill you," Mitchell replied.
"Yes, maybe you should have. I suppose you didn't foresee how this would turn out."
One of the guards grabbed Mitchell by the arm. There was no sense in resisting. He let them walk him to the Schism's airlock, where a surprised Colonel Shank was waiting.
"Take this and get out of here," Chancellor Ken said as Mitchell was thrown into Shank's arms.
Mitchell turned as the airlock closed, catching a glimpse of Ken's amused expression.
"Let him laugh," he said. "We'll see how funny it is later."
He straightened up, looking Shank in the eye. The soldier was as stoic as ever.
"Shank, take me to Millie."
20
When Mitchell stepped onto the bridge of the Schism, it was as though he were stepping onto it for the first time. Almost everything was the same as he remembered it, right down to Millie sitting in her chair, uniform pressed and crisp, hair tied back and under her dress cap. She didn't move as they entered, waiting for Shank to announce him.
"Captain," Shank said. "Colonel Mitchell Williams."
"One minute, Colonel," Millie said. "I've got to get us away from this station. I appreciate that you got us released, but I have to admit, you're an idiot for doing it."
Mitchell smiled. He had missed her.
"Don't worry, Captain," he said. "You're going to help me get her back."
She broke her attention from navigating the Schism away from the docking arm for a moment, looking back at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh? Are we?"
"If you want to keep your head from frying, yes. I told you I could help you, but not without my ship."
She looked back at the viewport. The Schism rotated to face opposite the dock, and then she fired the thrusters, pushing them away from it.
"You have clearance for hyperspace departure," the operator told her.
"Roger. Going to FTL in t-minus twenty seconds."
"Affirmative."
"And how are we going to get your ship back, Colonel?" Millie asked.
"You're the Riggers. If anyone can do it, it's you."
"Our reputation precedes us," Shank said.
"I mean, once we hyperspace out of here, we can't come back, at least not for a day or two. Your ship will be gone by then."