by M. R. Forbes
Pulin. Liun Tio's brother was out there, hidden away on a Federation planet, working on some kind of secret research project. Did he know what was happening in the universe outside of his lab? Was he really the Creator? And if he was, did he have any capability to stop what was happening? Along the same lines, since he had escaped with the data chip from the Black Hole, was it possible they had outmaneuvered Watson and left him unable to follow? Or had they simply bought themselves more time? If Pulin was the Creator and could affect the Tetron in some way, did it make sense to wait for Watson to arrive and make a play for the Goliath?
And what about Earth? The Tetron would be arriving at the inner part of the Alpha Quadrant within weeks, ready and able to lay waste to humankind's home world. Was it possible that Pulin could stop it or would billions more, including his parents and Steven's family, because of the intelligence?
The thoughts swirled through Mitchell's head, twisting and contorting from one to another in a dizzying dance of uncertainty and threatened hope. So many questions and so few answers. They had suffered loss after loss, and Mitchell had soldiered on, forcing himself to stay hopeful.
Why was it that when they had finally won a battle was when he felt that hope was slipping away?
He laid back on the bed. He couldn't give up. Too many people depended on him. He had said that to Aiko, too. The strong kept going, kept fighting, so the weak didn't have to.
He had to be strong.
Slow.
Steady.
46
"Colonel on the bridge," Lewis said as Mitchell gained the bridge of the Carver. The six people who manned the stations on the bridge turned in their seats and stood.
"At ease," Mitchell said, returning them to their stations. "Status report, Lieutenant Lewis."
"We've continued working to repair the shields and gun batteries while you've been gone, sir. We've got two more of the heavy railguns operational. They weren't damaged in the fighting, but the electrical nodes to route power to them were shorted out. We've also improved shield coverage across the lower port side."
"All that in a little over a day? Impressive."
"We borrowed some crew from a few of Mr. Tio's ships, sir, and Digger is a genius with electrical systems."
Mitchell knew the mechanic's capabilities from experience. "Excellent news."
"Will we be under way soon?" Lieutenant Atakan said.
"As soon as Aiko and her team have deciphered the data chip we recovered from the Black Hole. It should be any minute now."
The three hours on board the Kemushi had passed quickly. Mitchell had fallen asleep in the middle of his dark thoughts, waking refreshed and more motivated than ever to win this war. He had met Aiko and Joon in the hangar and then boarded the Haizi for the return trip to the Carver. From there he had gone with Aiko to the battleship's makeshift Intelligence Operations Center and spent a little while watching her and her team begin breaking down the security on the data chip they had recovered. A few hours into the session he had decided he would be more useful making an appearance on the bridge, and so he had gone back to his quarters to change into a slightly more formal Navy working uniform. He would have preferred Marine, but the Carver didn't have them.
Now he mounted the platform that put the command chair above the task stations and sat down, gazing out into space through the viewport. Distant stars were barely visible past the density of the fleet arranged around the battleship, an impressive sight that he hoped would make retrieving Pulin from wherever he was a little bit easier.
He settled into the chair, closing his eyes and trying to imagine himself issuing commands to the bridge crew. Running a battleship was enough work through the CAP-N where the Commanding Officer could handle eighty-percent of the heavy lifting with the help of the onboard AI. Running a battleship under manual control was much, much harder than that. The crew had to manage everything from thrust to navigation, to maneuvering, to weapon systems, while the CO had to issue orders at various times for each. He would also be responsible for keeping track of shield status, damage reports, and up to ten squadrons of starfighters, not to mention a fleet of other starships.
There was a reason Steven's rise to the position of Admiral at a relatively young age was so impressive.
Mitchell had never commanded an Alliance starship before, and he had no intention of even trying for real. With Steven and John gone, it would fall to Teal to manage the ships of the fleet and Lieutenant Lewis to take charge of the Carver. In truth, his presence on the bridge was more symbolic than anything. He was their de facto leader, and he felt he needed to be in the most visible spot in the fleet when they made the next jump.
Mitchell looked out the viewport again, letting the thought sink in. He had never wanted to be in charge, and he still didn't. The fact that he was responsible for every ship he could see out there, along with the ones he couldn't see, only made him feel the weight of that responsibility even more. At that moment he wished Millie were still around so he could go back to being just a Marine.
"Colonel Williams." Aiko's voice cut into his ear through his communicator, yanking him out of his head. How long had he been sitting there staring out into space?
"Go ahead, Aiko," he replied.
"We have it, sir. Alliance designation FD-09. According to the data we retrieved, Liun Pulin is participating in a research project to develop an adaptive automated weapons control system."
"Did you say adaptive automated weapons?" Mitchell asked.
"Yes, Colonel," Aiko replied. "Both the Federation and the Alliance have done research into such automated systems before, the results of which led both nations to determine-"
"You're talking about predictable chaos?"
"You've heard of it, sir?"
"Yes. The phenomena of automated systems winding up in perfect synchronization as a result of randomization algorithms. They taught us about it in the Academy."
"Oh. Okay. So Pulin's research is on adaptive systems. Not machines that react based on algorithms, but machines that learn how to manage weapons systems through observation and experience."
"You mean like people?"
"Yes, exactly like people. Only without the weakness of emotion and with much, much faster response times."
"It sounds like the perfect starter application for the artificial intelligence that might one day evolve into a Tetron."
"Yes, sir." Aiko's voice quivered slightly when she said it, her nervous fear obvious.
"Lieutenant Atakan," Mitchell said, getting the Lieutenant's attention.
"Yes, sir."
"Can you check jump time to a Federation planet, Alliance designation FD-09?"
Atakan began to turn back to his station. He paused and looked back at Mitchell. "Did you say FD-09, sir?"
"Yes, why?"
"The Carver's already been there, sir. Five weeks ago on the way out to the rendezvous point you sent Admiral Williams."
"What?" Mitchell couldn't believe that Steven had been right at Pulin's doorstep and hadn't known it.
"We took heavy damage there, sir. The planet is on the Right to Defense list, and it's heavily defended. We lost the Taj during the escape."
"Were you able to get a full reading on their defenses?"
"Their orbital defenses, yes, sir. I would venture to guess that they have ground defenses in place as well considering the response we received there."
"Thank you for the information Lieutenant. Can you give me an ETA on arrival?"
"Yes, sir." Atakan turned back to his station, entering something on the touchscreen. He turned around again. "Four days, Colonel."
"Four days? We're that close?"
"Yes, sir. FD-09 is lateral to Yokohama."
"Which means it's also close enough to have been hit by the Tetron already."
"It hadn't been five weeks ago, sir, though planets further in were already compromised."
Mitchell paced the command platform. He wished Origin was there to sho
w him the projected positions of the Tetron forces. He tried to remember the map the configuration had showed him before they had arrived near Asimov. From what he could recall, the Tetron weren't spreading out and capturing every planet along the Rim before moving inward. They were hitting the colonized planets, the ones with the highest populations, along with large military installations like Hell and anything that was already in their direct path, except for the farming planet Steven and Calvin had been ordered to. That attack had been intended to consolidate two disparate fleets. Hadn't it?
"Lieutenant, what can you tell me about FD-09?" Mitchell asked.
"According to the data we have on board, it's a mining colony, population four hundred. It's a rock, sir. Zero-point-seven-g. No breathable atmosphere. Lots of sandstorms."
"Not a very juicy target for the Tetron," Mitchell said.
What about Watson and the Goliath? If the Tetron configuration already knew what and where FD-09 was and why it was suddenly the most important rock in the universe, he would beat them there by two full days. It was plenty of time to take or kill Pulin.
Except they had escaped with the data chip. For once, they knew something the Tetron didn't know.
"Lewis, open a channel to the fleet," he said.
They had to pull together a plan in a hurry.
There was no time to waste.
47
"Go back, go back," Kathy said, waving the rest of the fire team back.
Alice didn't look happy to get the order to retreat, but she helped Kathy push the others further down the corridor, moving in two-by-two formation around the next intersection.
Kathy cursed when the team on the left side began shooting.
"We're cut off from the starboard route," Alvarez shouted above the echoing gunfire.
"Port is clear," Geren said.
"Frigging son of a bitch," Manly said. He was one of the few pilots on Major Long's team that had survived the mission to Liberty. His counterpart, Cavanaugh, was with Alice, Kathy, and Geren still making their way down the first corridor.
Four. That was the number of Riggers Alice and Kathy had been able to free before the Primary had regained control of them from the human configuration. In the forty-something hours since, the six of them had been in constant motion, working to both find and free the others, and to get Kathy back to the core.
Forty-something hours had shown them that both tasks were damn near to impossible. The only time they saw a member of the crew was when they were being shot at, and they had already been forced to kill a few of their own. Outside of that, the Primary was delivering a steady stream of machines it was building somewhere near the core, machines created from a diet of starfighters, dropships, and mechs that had been hand-delivered by Federation crews under the second Tetron's control.
Kathy had gotten a momentary glimpse into the hangar of the Goliath thirty hours earlier, and had seen the hundreds of limbs taking the ships apart before carrying them high to the top of the hangar. There, a process similar to electrolysis broke the resources down even further, reducing them to specks of dust that were transported through the dendrites to a reformulation system in the former engine compartment of the ancient starship. The Tetron wasted nothing, claiming every part of the ships and the crew and reusing them to make the spider-like machines that attacked them without pause.
The good news was that it meant they were getting close.
The human Watson had been certain that Kathy was powerless to stop their plans to capture Liun Pulin and destroy Mitchell once and for all. She was going out of her way to prove him wrong, letting all of her anger and frustration come out in each confrontation. The Riggers had battled their way from the lower port side of the ship all the way toward the center rear directly behind the Tetron's massive core. It was where thousands and thousands of appendages would be at work creating the machines they were fighting even now, while millions and millions of cell bodies pulsed with the energy collected from the stars, harvesting it for even more power.
Kathy stepped back, spinning the spear that had become her weapon of choice and stabbing it hard into one of the machines. She threw the spear out, using the momentum to dislodge the spider and send it tumbling into the dozens behind it, knocking them down. A bullet hit the second robot in the small sensor at its center, and it stopped moving. It was an excellent shot. She stepped back again and smashed a third spider in the side, breaking it against the wall, before stabbing downward into a spider that had neared her feet.
"Kathy, let's go," Alice said, grabbing her by the arm. The spiders were closing in from the starboard route, trying to box them in.
"They're leading us," Kathy said, letting Alice pull her. She struck out with the spear one-handed, breaking through another of the machines. "That's why there are so many small ones. That's why they're so fragile."
"Leading us where?"
"Away from the core. We need to go that way two corridors, and then towards the aft, and then up a deck."
"We can't go that way."
"I know. That's what I said."
They continued backing away. The others were taking single shots with their rifles now to conserve ammo while Kathy speared at any of the machines that drew too close. The Tetron's plan was simple and effective. Keep them away from the engine compartment. That was all that it would ever need to do to prevent them from stopping it.
The clock was running out. Kathy was sure of it. The Goliath had gone into hyperspace only hours after she had killed Watson, and she knew it was heading to wherever it had determined Pulin would be found.
The same location Mitchell had gotten from the Black Hole.
Kathy didn't know who would arrive first, Mitchell or Watson. She doubted it mattered either way. Whatever forces Mitchell had managed to assemble, they wouldn't stand a chance against two Tetron ships and a Federation slave army. The only chance any of them had would be for her to get back to the core and do what she should have done in the first place.
If she could.
"We need to split up," Kathy shouted back at the others.
"What?" Alvarez said. "Are you crazy?"
"There's no other option. I have to get back that way. There's another intersection up ahead. One team goes left; the other goes right. I'll duck into a compartment there while you lead them away. Then I'll head back the way we came."
"By yourself?" Alice asked.
"Yes."
"That will never work," Manly said. "They'll know you're gone, and they'll stop following."
"If they stop moving, you take them out. If we can destroy enough of them, I can get back anyway."
"It's as good a plan as any," Cavanaugh said. "And you've kept us alive this far. Let's do it."
"Agreed," Alice said.
They kept moving back until they reached the intersection. Kathy stayed with Alice, Alvarez, and Manly, heading down the left passage, while Geren and Cavanaugh went to the right. As expected, the army of spiders behind them split to follow each group.
"I'm going to run ahead," Kathy said. "Once I'm headed back that way, break off and try to get back to the hangar."
"Affirmative," Alice said, not taking her focus off her aim. She squeezed off a round and one of the machines exploded.
Kathy sprinted forward. She quickly reached a compartment, pressing the panel to open it and ducking inside. She shoved the tip of her spear into the bottom of the door as it slid closed, dropping onto her stomach and peering through the tiny crack she had created with the obstruction. She could hear the occasional gunshots and the skittering of the sharp, metallic legs along the metal floors.
Alvarez's legs appeared first, backing down the corridor in a hurry, with Alice and Manly right behind her. The spiders were gaining. Alice fired again.
"I'm out," she said. "Anyone have an extra mag?"
"Negative," Manly said.
"Negative," Alvarez replied. "I've got three rounds."
"I've got six," Manly said. "Good thin
g I carry a knife."
"Shit," Alice cursed. "I guess it's time to run."
"Not too fast. We need to keep them coming together."
Kathy watched their feet vanish beyond her range of vision. It was replaced with hundreds of blade-like appendages moving fast along the floor. She tried to get a count of them as they passed. At least one hundred of the machines remained.
She waited until they had been gone for a dozen seconds before she opened the hatch again. She slipped out, looking down the corridor to see the spiders still giving chase to the others, who had rounded another bend and vanished. The turned back the other way and ran, returning to the intersection. She felt a chill when she saw Cavanaugh's body fifty meters distant, his entire corpse cut open and bleeding. She hadn't even heard him scream.
Part of her was tempted to follow that path, to find Geren and make sure the Sergeant had escaped. She didn't. Saving one wouldn't help if that one was going to die regardless. She headed back the way they had come, crossing the empty intersection towards the core.
She made it down the corridor and then turned and raced to the emergency access stairwell. She could hear the small legs on metal that signaled the creatures approach, and she looked up to see the pulsing dendrite pressed against the top of the compartment. Of course, the Primary could see her. Now that it was fully active it could sense them wherever it had a dendrite, which is why there had been no break for them in hours. It could have stopped giving chase to the others and gone after her, but had chosen not to.
It didn't fear her. Not really. She had tried to overpower it once before and failed. What reason did it have to think she wouldn't fail again, especially now that it was even more powerful? Keeping them away from the core was an added layer of security with the benefit of possibly ridding itself of them. It was a logical maneuver.
She climbed the narrow stairs, coming out as close to the core as she had been since the first day. She could feel the energy of it from here, tingling against the skin and raising the fine hairs on her arms. She was almost there.
