by M. R. Forbes
Teal's mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. He glanced over at Germaine. "Colonel, I'm totally honest when I say this: I've been with Tio for fifteen years. We have never gone after a civvie target. Never. I'd bet my life on it. Either your Admiral is confusing him with someone else, or her mother was no civilian."
Mitchell lowered his eyes, wondering if that could be true. Was she confused about the nature of Tio's actions? Or were Tio's men trying to justify theirs?
"Think about it, Colonel," Teal said. "The Alliance made you exactly what they wanted you to be. A hero, and then a fraud. I don't know if either of those is true. What I do know is that people in power can make us think anything they want us to think if we trust them enough. So we pick a side, and we stick with it because otherwise we'd be twisting in the solar winds our whole life. I know it didn't happen that way because I was with Tio. Can your Admiral say the same, or did the Alliance lie to her too?"
"I don't know what the truth is, Teal. I only know what both sides are saying, and that reality is most likely somewhere in between. It doesn't matter, though. None of that drama matters. The mission is simple. Go to Hell, grab what we can, and make the rendezvous. As of right now, that's all I want to talk about. You read me?" Mitchell turned his head, making eye contact with each of them in turn. "Teal, you copy?"
"Yes, sir," Teal said.
"Germaine?"
"Yes, sir."
"Firedog?"
"Yes, sir."
"Valkyrie?"
"Yes, sir."
The lift stopped, and the large doors began to slide open. Bright light began to filter in, silhouetting the soldiers organized behind it. They snapped to attention, the motion echoing across the space.
"That's more like it," Mitchell said.
24
"How long until the Avalon is finished being loaded?" Mitchell asked.
He was sitting in his temporary quarters in the barracks, looking through reports Tio's intelligence unit had been busy preparing up in operations. He had found the manual controls of the system confusing at first but was surprised at how quickly he had picked up their operation. It worked much like the holographic table on the Goliath.
"Three hours, Colonel," Teal said. He was standing on the other side of Mitchell's desk, holding a tablet against a huge bicep. "We shifted some of the equipment per your request."
"Thank you, Teal," Mitchell said.
He had asked them to unload one of the mechs and replace it with whatever mining equipment they had available. He had claimed it was because he wasn't sure what the state of the base on Hell would be, and they might need to dig into some areas to retrieve high-value ordnance. It was possible, he supposed, but the truth was he was doing his best to stall their departure while he came up a with a plan to get himself and Cormac to the array.
It had been more of a challenge than he had ever expected, both because his duties as commander of the mission left him little time to get away from the preparations and because he knew next to nothing about Asimov or how to navigate it. He had managed to partially solve the second part with the interface he had been provided, making his way to a public data store that contained a general map of the facility. Of course, that map was public and was missing things he knew were there, like the room he was sitting in. He had tried to get deeper into the system, but everything outside of the mission to Hell was spitting back an access denied message.
"Is there anything else I need to know right now?" he asked the soldier.
"No, sir."
"You're dismissed. Can you send Firedog in?"
"Of course, sir." He nodded instead of bowing, turning and leaving the room. Mitchell ran his hand through his short hair, trying to clear his mind enough to think. There was just too much spiraling around his thoughts to focus on any one thing.
He leaned back in his chair, trying to calm himself. Slow. Steady. Keep it simple.
Step one, get close to the array. They had passed it on their way to the dock. The public map had given him a decent idea of what was around it, so he had a vague notion of where he needed to go.
Step two, get past any security measures or guards. Mitchell couldn't believe he was finding himself wishing Watson was with him. He was certain the engineer could hack the biometric security with a screwdriver, given a chance. He was no engineer, and he knew nothing about systems like that. He doubted Cormac did either. That meant they would need someone inside to let them in.
Step three, get far enough into the array to send the message without anyone raising an alarm and manage to hide there long enough to receive a response. Since Cormac was the only one with a p-rat, that meant he would have to pose the question to Origin and distribute the answer. It was a frightening thought.
Step four, get back down to the Avalon in time to head for Hell. That was probably going to be the easiest part.
Cormac made his way into the room, snapping to crisp attention in front of Mitchell.
"At ease, soldier," Mitchell said. Cormac's ease was hard to discern.
"How can I help you, sir?" he asked.
Mitchell hit a button on the desk that closed the door behind Cormac. He waved him over to a chair. Cormac sat forward on the seat, leaning in.
"Sir?"
Mitchell turned his display so Cormac could see it. "This is a map of Asimov. At least, the part that Tio doesn't mind anyone seeing." He pointed to a corner. "This is as close to the array as the map goes. A small databank that as near as I can tell runs some of the non-essential systems. Apartment lighting and such. The entrance to the array is somewhere in here."
Cormac's eyes shifted as he examined it. "Yes, sir. That's how I remember it."
Mitchell raised an eyebrow. "You remember it?"
Cormac grinned. "I don't mean I remember it exactly, sir. Just that I have what the doctors called 'strong geospatial recognition,' whatever that means. I think it means I'm good at directions." He laughed. "I remember seeing the array out the window of the Valkyrie, and then passing the rooms once we entered through the dock. If I had to guess, there's a door somewhere over here." He leaned in and pointed at one of the back rooms. "It's going to be secure though, and we don't have any explosives."
Mitchell stared at Cormac, surprised again by the soldier. "Okay. Step two. How do we bypass the security measures when we don't even know what they are?"
"You're a Rigger, sir," Cormac said. "You lie, cheat, or steal. If that doesn't work, you force someone to do it. Like Germaine, maybe?"
"The problem with using force is that it isn't usually quiet. What happens after we reach the array and return to the Avalon? Do you think he's going to keep his mouth shut about us taking him at gunpoint?"
"We don't have guns, Colonel."
"That's not the point, Firedog. Let's say we grab Germaine. First, we have to hold him without him trying to get away, make a fuss, or raise an alarm. Then we have to get him to let us into the array and wait patiently while we send out our message. Even then, we have to release him to pilot the Avalon to Hell."
Cormac was silent for a moment. "Good point, sir. Germaine isn't expendable. It has to be someone who should have access, like Teal."
"You're suggesting we kill whoever we get to let us in?"
"As you said, sir, we can't have them blabbing."
"I'm not killing anyone. We're on the same side."
"Are we, Colonel? I ain't so sure from where I'm sitting."
It was true Tio was keeping things from them, and preventing them from communicating with the Goliath in the first place. Even so, killing the Knife's right-hand wouldn't go over well under any circumstances.
"We need another option. Someone else who has access."
"Who?"
Mitchell's mind trailed back to the mechs moving into the loading bay. "I think I know. Let's hope I'm right."
25
"Colonel," Teal said, entering the office with a second man in tow.
Mitchell got to his feet, moving ar
ound the desk and putting out his hand. "Colonel Mitchell Williams," he said.
The man they called Digger's eyes moved from the hand to Mitchell's face. For a moment, Mitchell was worried his idea was going to get him nowhere fast. Then the tech's eyes lit up, and a big smile creased his narrow face.
"Holy shit on a quasar," he said, grabbing Mitchell's hand in both of his, leaving a slick of grease on it. "Frigging Mitchell Williams, the Hero of Liberty. Teal told me it was you, but I thought he was full of shit, like he usually is. He actually thinks the Zombie can outclass a Federation Atom with the right load out." He glanced over at Teal, shaking his head.
The comment made Mitchell laugh, not because of the words, but because of how accurately Germaine had mimicked the engineer. He was tall and lanky, skeletal in structure with a balding scalp and a large nose. He wore a heavy work coat over a ratty t-shirt and pants held up by a bright red wire.
"Teal told me your go by Digger. Do you have a name to go with it?"
"I did, once, but they've been calling me Digger so long, I think I forgot what it is. You can call me Digger, too. Or Diggs, or whatever. Is that shit the Alliance says about you true?"
"About half," Mitchell said.
Digger's face fell. "Frigging a-holes. Always bending the truth, making shit up. You never know which way your butthole is facing, you know what I mean?"
"Not really."
"Digger," Teal said. "The Colonel has some questions about the Franks. He hasn't used a manual system like ours before."
Digger nodded. "Right. Right. You have the p-rat to do all the work for you. Me? I don't trust that shit. There's no such thing as a one hundred percent secure network, you know what I mean?"
"Unfortunately, I do. Teal, how long until departure?"
"Seventy minutes, Colonel. We're going through the operational checks right now."
"Great. That should be enough time for Digger to teach me the controls."
"It would be a frigging honor, Colonel," Digger said. "Mmmmmm... We can't use the Frank already on the Avalon, it will frig up the ops check. Teal, I'll bring him down to mechanical. I just finished installing the new converter on Tess."
"Tess?" Mitchell said.
Teal shook his head. "He names all the mechs."
"After girls I want to-"
"I get it," Mitch said, cutting him off.
"Yeah, so let me show you the way."
"Teal, I trust you can handle the rest of the details?"
"Yes, Colonel."
"Thank you."
Mitchell followed Digger out of the office and back to the loading bay. Most of the supplies had been cleared from the bay, loaded into the Avalon. Cormac was leaning against the rear of the ship with Germaine, whose eyes were scanning the inventory.
"Cormac," Mitchell said.
The grunt patted Germaine on the shoulder and joined Mitchell. Germaine didn't even look up.
"Nice bloke, that one," Cormac said.
"Cormac, meet Digger, Tio's lead mechanic."
"A pleasure," Cormac said.
Digger gave him the same expression as he had Mitchell, only this time his face stayed somewhere between angry and bewildered.
"You're going to love Tess," Digger said, not returning Cormac's greeting. "She's got my latest upgrades, including a heavy ion coilgun that I've been working on. It'll blow the shit out of anything the Alliance has, and can mess up most of the Federation's heavy armor pretty bad, too. Tio helped me with the power inversion algorithms and the reactor re-balancing."
"Impressive," Mitchell said, keeping the mechanic talking.
"Yeah. Beats the frig out of the idiots in Alliance RND. Hey, while you're here, maybe you can autograph her for me?"
"The mech?"
"Yeah. I'll give you a laser etcher, you can scratch your initials into her ass for me."
They reached a secondary, smaller lift that ran adjacent to the larger supply lift. It opened as he approached.
"The lift isn't secured?" Mitchell asked.
"Oh, it is," Digger said. "We've got crazy, crazy levels of security here. While I was walking up to the lift, sensors were checking my appearance, scanning my eyeballs, fingerprinting, and even vaping me."
"Vaping?"
"People have a fairly unique chemical signature that fluctuates based on diet. The system knows what I ate today, and is basically measuring my farts."
Cormac laughed at that. "Alliance ain't got nothing like that. I wish they did. Please fart into the orifice for entry," he said in a robotic voice, laughing harder at himself.
Digger glared at him for an instant before returning to ignoring him. "Asimov is the most secure facility in the galaxy. I guarantee it. I designed the system."
"You designed it?" Mitchell said.
"Yup. With some help from Tio. He's a wizard with math. Smartest frigging guy I've ever met."
"So you have access to pretty much the entire station?"
"I'd have to, in order to maintain the critical systems. I'm the head mechanic, after all. Why do you ask?"
Mitchell smiled calmly. "Just verifying my hunch."
He glanced at Cormac, who produced a small shiv he had hidden somewhere on his body, digging it into Digger's side.
"No sudden moves, no loud noises," Mitchell said.
"Huh? What the frig? Are you out of your frigging mind? Tio will have your ass for this, Colonel."
"Only if he finds out about it. Which he won't. Look, Digger, I don't want to hurt you. I don't even want to be doing this. The problem is that I need to send a message out to my ship, and Tio wouldn't give me permission. All I need you to do is take me to the communications array, let me transmit, and then keep your mouth shut."
"Or we can kill you," Cormac said.
Digger looked crestfallen. Mitchell hated to betray someone who so clearly idolized him, even if his trust was misplaced. "Tio will kill me if he finds out I helped you send an outgoing transmission."
"Is he like that? Killing people who do things he doesn't like?"
Digger shrugged. "Not usually, but there have been a few times. If you send a transmission and the Federation or the Alliance catch it and trace it back, the whole station will be compromised."
"The station is already compromised," Mitchell said. "The enemy knows where we are, and is probably headed here as we speak."
The lift stopped in mechanical, the door sliding open. The huge bay stretched out ahead of them, filled with all kinds of mobile equipment in various states of repair. Dozens of mechanics moved about, checking inventory, handling parts, and generally ignoring them.
"Stay quiet. Act natural," Cormac said.
Digger moved out into the bay with Mitchell, Cormac staying close to his side.
"Colonel, I don't get why the frig Tio would refuse to let you send a message if we're already compromised?"
"Leverage," Mitchell said. "Human civilization is being annihilated by advanced AI, and he's making power plays. I don't have time for games, Digger. You help me reach Goliath, and we can save millions of lives."
Digger turned his head, staring at him. "You aren't bullshitting me, are you?"
"I wish to God I was."
He blew a gust of air from his nose in a resigned sigh. "Damn. Frig me, Colonel. I know Tio can be a bit of a stubborn jackass sometimes, so I believe you. If you were anyone else, I wouldn't do it. If we get away with it, you have to sign Tess' ass for me."
"Deal. Are we good?"
"Shit. Yeah. You can take the pointy thing out of my ribs."
Cormac withdrew the shiv. Mitchell counted tense heartbeats, waiting for Digger to make a run for it, or call out an alarm, or something. He didn't.
"Just because I take you to the array and let you in doesn't mean we're going to get away with it," Digger whispered. "Tio's going to be suspicious about you being there, and we don't have time to disable the access logs. I can try to erase them after the fact, but he'll notice the discrepancy. I might still end up dead
for helping you."
"I'll protect you," Mitchell said.
"From Tio?" He laughed. "Good luck. Anyway, my life is his to end if that's what he chooses. He got me out of prison, gave me a new start here. I know by the fact that he let outsiders onto Asimov that something bad is happening out there, and if people are dying? I can't stand the thought of that shit going down because of his paranoia. If you think you can save them, great, but this still isn't easy for me."
Mitchell was curious about the mechanic's story and whatever insight he could lend into the mind of the Knife. He wished they had more time.
"Digger." A young woman approached them, holding a small tangle of wires in her hand. She was wearing heavy coveralls that hid her shape, and her face was streaked with some kind of liquid.
"Tess," Digger said, his face beginning to turn red. "What do you need?"
Mitchell glanced from Digger to Cormac. The soldier was eying the engineer, trying to make out the shape of her below the coveralls. When he noticed Mitchell looking at him, he clenched his jaw and looked away.
"This is the last coupling we have in stock, and look at it. We're screwed the next time one burns out."
Digger took the mess in his hands. "I can fix this," he said. "Can you drop it off in my workspace in a couple of hours?"
"I can leave it there for you, Digs."
"Can you drop it off?" He smiled weakly.
Tess looked at him with understanding. She sighed and nodded, wandering away.
"The mech is named after her?" Mitchell asked when she was gone.
"Yes."
"Have you?"
"No."
"How far to the array?"
"I need to wash down before we can head up there. You do, too. The equipment on the array is incredibly sensitive to dirt. Follow me."
Mitchell and Cormac followed the mechanic through the space. Digger waved to most of the techs as they passed, putting Mitchell at ease by staying quiet about what they were about to do. He hadn't expected to gain the man's trust so easily. He supposed his fame, or maybe infamy, did have some advantages.
