by M. R. Forbes
"Bravo, this is Alfa, what's your status?" Mitchell asked, switching channels to the team.
"Alfa, this is Bravo," Max said. "We've got full bellies, and we're ready for a fight. How's the bar scene over there?."
"Unsatisfying," Mitchell replied. "We decided to call it a night and book a room at the Four Seasons." He looked over at Trevor and smiled. "We're going to need an extraction from the condemned zone downtown. What's your ETA to Jakarta from Delta?"
"Mazerat says about a hundred and ninety-seven minutes, assuming he can get a clear pass through restricted airspace," Max replied after a slight pause. "Do you think you can hold out that long?"
"We're tucked in pretty well," Mitchell said. "Let's give Watson a bit of time to get tired of circling the tin tangos. Let's say three hours. All it would take to knock us out of commission would be for him to crash one of the drones into our ride."
"If that's how you want it, sir," Max said. "Mazerat claims he can do a six-mile free fall and recover if you're anxious to come home. Total time inside sensor range would be less than thirty seconds."
Mitchell considered it. "Tempting, but it'll be easier for Yousefi to work things out with the brass and the local government if you arrive after nightfall. We're safe enough for now. It will take Watson some time to pull resources into the area, and more time than that to find us here."
"Yes, sir," Max said. "We'll set a countdown and prep for the pickup."
"Thanks, Max. I'll be in touch. Alfa, out."
Mitchell breathed in, holding the breath and closing his eyes. All they had to do was wait. That should be easy.
A ping in his ear made him open his eyes again.
"Michael," Mitchell said, opening the channel. "Is everything okay?" He had given them orders to maintain radio silence unless there was an emergency.
"Colonel, Kathy had a discussion with the Core," Michael said. "It estimated that Watson will have our position triangulated within four hours, now that he knows what it can do."
The Primitive. Mitchell cursed himself again for his decision to blow the research lab. What if Watson wasn't planning to use the weapon? As if the Tetron would bother to create something he wasn't going to use.
"I assume you're prepping to evacuate?" Mitchell said.
"Yes, sir. Uh. Eventually, sir. The Core isn't finished with the search query."
"How many days has it been?"
"Four, Colonel. You're aware we've had to work under the radar to avoid Watson's notice. It's slowed the process down considerably."
"I'm aware. The Core will have to finish the query somewhere else."
"Negative, sir. It promised Kathy it could complete the task in six hours if she fed it more power to expand."
"I'm not the smartest Marine around, and correct me if I'm wrong, but six minus four equals two, doesn't it?"
"Yes, Colonel."
Mitchell felt himself tensing even more. Four days to run the search, and it had come down to two hours? Hindsight was always twenty-twenty, but damn he wished he had held the mission back until tomorrow. Kathy was more than able to handle herself, but it would be just her and Michael against whatever Watson could throw at them.
"Does the reactor have the energy it needs?"
"No, sir. Kathy gave it the engine."
"What?"
"She said you would agree with her. We need to finish the query. If the Core had to shut down for an extended period of time, it would take that much longer."
He couldn't argue that fact. "It's already been done?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where is Kathy now?"
"She said she was going to prepare for the evac, and I guess to defend the place until the Core is finished."
"Okay. Stay in contact for as long as you can. Whatever Kathy tells you to do, you do. Got it?"
"Yes, Colonel."
Mitchell glanced over to Katherine, still monitoring the situation out the window. He would have to tell her what was going down, and she wasn't going to like it. She was incredibly protective of her friend, and regardless of the wheres and whens and hows of her parenthood, she had formed an immediate bond with Kathy that would cause her to worry more than she probably should.
He tapped the mic without saying goodbye, returning to Bravo's channel.
"Bravo, this is Alfa," he said.
"This is Bravo," Max replied. "I thought you were done with us for a while, sir?"
"Not quite. I need an ETA for you to make a run back to base."
"What for?"
"Just ask Verma," he snapped.
"Yes, sir."
There was a period of silence while Max talked to the pilot.
"Three hours, fifty-eight minutes, sir."
"Good. I want you skids up ASAP. Watson's tracking for the Core, and right now it and the engine are a lot more important than the three of us. I need you to grab the team and get the hell out of there before the shit hits the thrusters."
"What if the shit's already hit the thrusters by the time we get there?"
"Bring a mop."
"Yes, sir. We're on our way. I'll ping you when we're closing in."
"Affirmative. Alfa, out."
Mitchell closed the channel. He had a new decision to make. Should they hole up here and try to survive the next twenty-four hours until the Riggers might be able to reach them, or should they try to get out of the city and back to North America on their own?
He put his hand on the mic one more time, tempted to reach out to Admiral Yousefi directly. The option was meant for emergencies only, but didn't this qualify?
He froze there for a few heartbeats, and then lowered his hand. They might still need the extra resources the Admiral could bring to bear, but it was too soon to call in the cavalry. He didn't want to risk blowing the lid off the operation, or getting more people killed than he had to.
Besides, he had an idea. It was risky as hell and would probably fail, but if it didn't, they might be able to get out of Jakarta after all.
10
The underground bunker the Riggers had spent the last few weeks operating from wasn't especially deep. It also wasn't especially large. A staircase led from the secret door behind the fireplace to the facility, ten meters below ground and shielded against most types of detection equipment under most circumstances. Since giving the engine to the Core wasn't most circumstances, and would bring Watson to them sooner or later, it had become a race against time to prepare to evacuate the facility while awaiting the outcome of the Core's search.
Kathy had gotten the race underway by heading to the bunker's small armory, opening the heavy steel door and quickly taking inventory of the equipment. A large portion of it was already out in the hands of Mitchell, Katherine, Max, and the rest of the Riggers. What was left wasn't overly impressive, but it would have to do.
She grabbed two of the NX-600s from their racks, quickly checking their condition before opening a chest on the floor and pulling two extended, two hundred round magazines from the box. They were heavy mags for heavy rifles, and she hoped Michael would be able to manage the weapon. They had a few of the lighter NX-200s in the inventory, but logic suggested Watson wouldn't be satisfied to send basic infantry after the Core. He would use the best of what he had in range, and the 600s had the best chance of stopping whatever that turned out to be.
Even so, when she grabbed a weapons bag from the corner, she dropped two of the 200s into it. A weaker weapon was better than no weapon. She also threw in two handguns, and four magazines for each of the firearms. Then she located half a dozen fragment grenades and tossed them in.
The bag full, she hefted it, checking its weight before slinging it over her shoulder with the two NX-600s. It was nearly fifty kilos, but the petite female appearance of her external flesh wasn't indicative of her hybrid strength.
She carried the bag up the stairs to the small cabin. The log construction was nearly empty inside, the sparse furniture positioned near the windows to trick passing hikers in
to thinking it was occupied. Not that any hikers had passed in the six weeks they had been here, or the months since the facility had been constructed. The Olympic National Park was big, and they were in a difficult area to reach on foot.
She laid the arms at the door and then headed outside. The air was cool, the weather wet. She paused to enjoy the feel of the rain on her skin. It reminded her of Liberty and the parents who had raised her as a normal human child. She hoped she would have the chance to save them in this recursion and prevent them from becoming slaves to the Tetron.
She started moving again, heading out into the woods, a quarter of a mile away from the cabin. A pile of branches and leaves was spilled across the slope of a hill, and she reached into it, finding the hidden handle and pulling the entire false debris up and away, moving it aside and revealing a small tunnel dug into the slope. She walked in, ignoring the damp and the water dripping onto her head. She grabbed a simple camouflage tarp and pulled it off a pair of ATVs. They weren't normal civilian vehicles, but military-grade, powered by an extra-dense battery and electric motor, armor-plated and fully enclosed. The four large, knobby tires were airless and bulletproof, and a small repulsor ring in the center provided a little extra lift when needed, while a heavy-caliber chaingun sat lazy on a swivel mount against the roof.
Kathy circled to the driver's side, pulling the winged door up and sliding into the seat. She powered the vehicle up for only a few moments, running diagnostics and making sure it wasn't going to fail on them. She set the ATV to standby mode before abandoning the tunnel and putting the door back in place. She returned to the cabin, opening the bag and removing the two rifles, setting them near the windows on either side. With the exception of the windows, the entire structure was made with reinforced metal between the half-logs of felled trees. It was built to withstand an invasion in the event of an emergency like this one, and she was thankful the military had the foresight to consider the possibility.
With that done, she headed back to the bunker to her private quarters. She stripped off her damp clothes, stepping into the shower and quickly washing herself down. She redressed in a pair of camo fatigues before returning to the small CIC, where Michael was sitting with the Core.
"Any news?" she asked as she entered.
Michael looked up at her, surprised to see her in the fatigues. "Uh. No. They're holed up in downtown Jakarta, in the Reconstruction Zone. Safe for now. Mitchell is sending the rest of the team back to us."
Kathy considered for a moment. The move was logical. She did a quick calculation. "They might not make it back here in time."
"It all depends on the Core," Michael said.
"We need to be ready to take care of ourselves, regardless," she replied. "Go back to your quarters and change into fatigues. It may or may not help us escape, but it will definitely blend in easier than a Star Heroes t-shirt."
Michael looked down at the shirt. "What's wrong with Star Heroes? They're a good band."
"They aren't bad, but that has nothing to do with the shirt's ability to keep you alive. I assume Mitchell told you to follow my orders?"
Michael gained a sheepish smile. "Yes."
"Then go," she said, pointing to the door.
He slid out of the chair. He had lost some weight in the last month, but he was still a big man. "I'll be right back."
She could see he was worried. "We aren't going to die here, Michael."
"Do you promise?"
"Yes."
He smiled. "Okay."
Then he was gone.
11
"How are you holding up?" Mitchell said, kneeling down beside Katherine.
He scanned the street beyond the window. It ran down the center of the demolition zone, and the fading sunlight had cast it, and the fronts of the condemned buildings that lined it, into an eerie brown hue. The light poles lining the road had long since lost power, and it would vanish completely once the sun had finished setting.
"I hate waiting," she replied, not shifting her gaze from the street.
There were signs of life at the end of it, where the damaged region of the city rejoined the portions that had already been renovated or rebuilt. Mitchell noticed the movement of the people further away, walking past the condemned zone without turning their heads or taking any notice of the destruction. They were used to the area and had all but forgotten about its presence in the midst of their rebirth.
"Me, too," Mitchell said, turning to sit against the wall beneath the window, facing Katherine so he could see her face.
He had noticed the way she tensed when he told her and Trevor about Kathy and Michael's predicament. While she had also relaxed noticeably at his mention that the Riggers were en route to reinforce them, he could tell she was still worried.
"It'll be dark soon," he said.
He had already explained his plan to them. Of course, Trevor thought he was out of his mind. Of course, he thought he was out of his mind, too.
"I can wait for that," she replied, a small smile leaking into the corner of her mouth.
"Unfortunately, it isn't a choice we get to make."
"Any word from Bravo?" she asked, changing the subject.
Mitchell shook his head. Three hours had passed since he had last spoken to Max. It would be nearly another hour before the Riggers reached the Olympics. "No, but they'll make it. We didn't travel an eternity to go down that easy."
"I know I shouldn't worry about her. I barely even know her, and she's technically not even mine. She's from a version of me that doesn't exist anymore. A version of me I can't seem to connect with as if I never existed before."
"I found out about the war after getting shot in the head by a configuration of Origin that was a duplicate of myself. It took time for me to begin unwinding the thread of past recursions, and even now I barely understand it. It's like a feather slipping along the back of my mind."
"I got shot, too. That's when I started hearing the voices. I heard them a few times, and since then, nothing. You would think I'd be happy to have healed so well, but sometimes I think I'm missing out on something. I feel flat."
"This is a lot for anyone to handle."
"It isn't that. I'm a soldier, just like you are, Mitch. A decorated pilot, just like you. Maybe I don't have your ground training, but I'm not afraid of a fight, and I've killed people before."
"I don't mean that side of it," Mitchell said, correcting himself. "I mean the calmer side. The moments in between the adrenaline rushes when you have time to think about the fact that there's a crazy artificial intelligence out there, aiming to enslave or destroy all of humanity. That's fodder for a stream, not reality, and it's tough to wrap your mind around. I watched Watson and the Tetron destroy a planet. I watched them kill my brother and all of my friends, right before they turned on Earth. I know that in the instant after I used the eternal engine, the place we're standing right now was turned to dust."
"I don't know how you do it."
"I don't know how I do it either, except that I'm not about to let that bastard win."
"That'll have to be good enough for both of us." She smiled, reaching out and putting her hand on his. "You aren't worried about her?"
Mitchell put his other hand on top of hers, clasping it for a moment before letting go. "I've seen what she's capable of, so maybe not as much. But yeah, of course I am. Beyond our familial connection, she's got the engine and the Core in her possession, and I know how badly Watson wants both. We'll get to her as quickly as we can, I promise."
"I believe you."
Katherine's head turned, and she put her eyes back out of the window. They shifted a moment later, and she reached out, grabbing Mitchell by the shoulders and pulling him down.
A red beam pierced the window, stabbing into the space where they had just been. It swept over the interior of the building, crossing over the cubes and making its way toward the stairwell. Trevor saw it coming, and he ducked away before it spotted him.
"Too close,"
Mitchell whispered. Katherine's face was close to his as she laid across his chest.
"Drone?" she asked.
"Yeah. Probably trying to eliminate some of the buildings before the real backup arrives. Let's hope that whatever Watson sends, it's human."
If it wasn't, his plan was going to be shot to hell in a hurry.
The beam continued its sweep for another dozen seconds and then lifted away. They could still see the glow of it as it moved around the corner, circling the third floor before moving to the fourth.
Katherine rolled off him, getting back to her knees and returning to the window. Mitchell joined her there, looking up at the drone. It was small and round, with an array of antennae jutting out from the bottom within the center of a repulsor ring. They could see more of them spread down the street, scanning the other buildings.
"It's time to move," Mitchell said, opening a channel to Trevor and repeating the statement.
They made their way back to the stairs. The plan hinged on accurate threat recognition more than anything else. They needed to identify how Watson was going to handle them as soon as possible, so they could adjust their response to match. As much as Mitchell didn't like the idea, it meant they needed to split up and spread out so they could get multiple vantage points of the area. He would have felt more comfortable if they at least still had the assault rifles rather than pop guns, but it would have to do.
"Just like we discussed," he said through the mic.
"Roger," Trevor and Katherine replied.
They all went into the stairwell. Mitchell started going up, making his way toward the rooftop, while Trevor and Katherine went to the street. Trevor would try to cross to the next block over to get a view of the south and east perimeter, while Katherine would monitor the north and west, both at ground level.
He raced up the steps, taking two at a time, his boots echoing in the empty building. This one was sixty floors high, tiny compared to the mega-scrapers that surrounded them but one of the tallest in the reconstruction zone. He was breathing hard by the time he reached the rooftop access door, and Trevor and Katherine had already moved into monitoring positions.