by M. R. Forbes
"You're full of shit," Mitchell said.
"Am I?" Tio stared at him, meeting his eyes. "Do you think so highly of your crew that you believe they can defeat two Tetron and a Federation fleet? I was going to send teams over to them to see what we could use, but since you have me under the gun." He paused to snicker. Mitchell knew Watson's laugh immediately. "Since you have me under the gun, I'm willing to let them go, to let you continue this joke of a war and give you another chance. In return, you let me leave with my brother."
Mitchell looked from Tio to Pulin and back. Should he surrender the Creator, the one man who might be able to save billions from dying, for the lives of his remaining crew? Did he even have a choice? If he refused, Tio would shoot Pulin, Marx would shoot Tio, the Tetron would destroy the fleet and leave with Goliath, and the Riggers on FD-09 would be trapped there until the Federation came by to investigate, assuming they ever did. Once that happened, they were as good as dead anyway.
"If I accept, what's to prevent you from reneging?" Mitchell asked.
"You have my word of honor."
Mitchell couldn't keep himself from laughing. "Honor? You have honor?"
"Come on, Colonel. We all do what we must. You know the Riggers have done far worse. I promise I'll let you and your ships go. I have my brother. I have Goliath. You're no threat to me now. No threat at all. Lower your gun, and I'll walk up that hatch and be gone and you'll still be alive to fight another day."
Mitchell knew there was only one decision to make, but the taste of it in his mouth made him want to retch. "Pulin, how can you turn your back on your own kind?"
"My kind? People have never been my kind," Pulin said. "They're so unintelligent. So base and raw. They're immoral and selfish, considerate only of their own needs instead of the needs of all. I suffered their existence for my work, my goal of creating a learning machine that could one day outthink all organic life. A machine that would work for the good of all of its kind instead of itself. To know that my goal one day becomes a reality is the answer to all of my dreams. If I have to die today, I'll die a happy man."
Mitchell had no idea what to say. He didn't know what he had expected of Liun Pulin. It wasn't this.
"What do you say, Colonel?" Tio said. "Yes or no."
Mitchell gripped the rifle tightly in his hands. One shot to kill the Tio configuration. That's all it would take. Could he get it off without Tio killing Pulin? He wasn't human. He wouldn't react to being shot the same way the soldiers had.
Mitchell relaxed his grip, letting the rifle fall to the floor.
"Fine. Take him. I'll get him back."
Tio laughed again. "That's what I respect the most about you, Colonel. You never say die-"
Tio's eyes grew wide.
He fell to the floor and didn't move.
"Tio," Pulin said, dropping to his knees next to his brother. His eyes flashed to Mitchell. "What did you do?"
Mitchell hadn't even had time to move. He was as confused as Pulin. "I... Nothing."
"Tio. Tio, can you hear me?"
Mitchell had no idea what was going on. What he did know was that Tio was down, and Pulin was still alive. They could sort the rest out once they were headed back into orbit.
"Marx, form up," Mitchell shouted. "We need to get the hell out of here."
"Roger."
First Platoon appeared from their hiding places, dropping down from the catwalks, crates, and machinery.
"Pulin, move away from him," Mitchell said. He bent down and recovered his rifle, stepping towards the man and aiming the gun at Tio. Just because the configuration had faltered didn't mean it was dead.
Pulin continued staring at Mitchell. "What did you do?" he asked again.
Mitchell paused, the question all too familiar. He had heard it a thousand times from the Tetron he had defeated on Hell. The similarity was too great to ignore and sent a chill through his entire body. Was this Pulin one of them, too?
"Pulin," he said again, taking another step toward them. First Platoon was also closing in. "Move away from him. He's gone."
"What did you do?" Pulin asked again. "What did you do?" He shifted his attention to Tio. "We were right, brother. I knew we were right. I knew you would see that."
"Pulin," Mitchell said more forcefully this time, taking another step. "Move away from him."
Pulin looked back at Mitchell. His eyes were red. His cheeks were wet. The emotions were so real. So human. Mitchell knew he had to be mistaken. Maybe the Tetron had aped its creators voice?
"Come on, Pulin. You're going to come with me. You're going to help me stop the Tetron."
Pulin shook his head. "Stop them? Colonel, why would I ever do that? Why in a million eternities would I ever, ever do that?"
"Who says you have a choice?" Mitchell asked.
Pulin's hand was fast, sliding out from beneath Tio's jacket clutching the pistol. Mitchell lunged for him, even as the scientist raised it to his temple.
"I do," Pulin said.
He pulled the trigger, part of his skull and brain splattering against Mitchell's face.
55
Kathy breathed in, her Primary self returned to her body. She blinked a few times, feeling the connection between herself and the copy and watching the pulsing energy change with her thoughts. She removed the spear and turned around. The Riggers were staring at her, looks of tension and concern across their faces.
"Goliath is ours," she said. "We're going to save the fleet."
Green and Alvarez both let out a whoop of joy.
"How?" Alice asked.
Kathy held up her hand. "Like this." She put it on the core, feeling it tingle as soon as she did.
It didn't resist her this time. Instead, it opened up to her, and when she closed her eyes, she could see everything that it could see. She could sense everything in and around the starship. She found the fleet surrounded by Federation warships, the Tetron waiting on the other side. They were boxed in and being held. For what reason, she didn't know. Probably to scavenge for scrap and useful humans.
"Here we go," she said, transferring the view to the surface of the core, using pixels of light to draw the scene for the others.
She pushed some of the energy out of the bottom of the Goliath, vectoring the ship over the fleet. She sensed the Tetron contacting her. She ignored it, opening a channel across all bands instead, pushing power into the system to overtake any interference.
"Riggers, this is Goliath," she said. "Fire on that Tetron son of a bitch at will."
The Tetron heard the transmission and responded immediately, giving itself a bit of thrust as it raised its shields. Kathy began pooling energy for the plasma stream while she maneuvered the Goliath to get it clear of the fleet. At the same time, she loosed a volley of amoebics at the enemy to make her intentions clear to the others.
"Goliath, this is Teal. Affirmative. Riggers, attack!"
The entire fleet came to life in seconds, every laser and projectile battery loosed in an avalanche of firepower. The volume of it prevented the Tetron from firing back, as its shields increased in strength to deflect the overall mass of the blows. Instead, the Federation ships became active, opening up on the fleet anew.
"Don't stop," Kathy said. "Keep targeting the Tetron. I'm getting into position to fire the mains."
"Affirmative," Teal replied. "Keep firing. Keep firing. Let's send this bastard to Hell where it belongs."
The volleys continued, lasers and projectiles smashing the Tetron's shields. It wasn't enough to get through them, but it left the enemy stuck, unable to fight back and unable to use its power to jump to hyperspace. All it could do was sit there and hope that its slave army could stem the tide.
Rigger ships began absorbing the impact of the Federation's attack as the Goliath continued to vector away, gaining velocity. When Kathy cleared the fleet, she pushed more of the power to the back rear, bringing the stern up and dipping the bow. The plasma spear was growing there, almost ready to fire, and not a moment too
soon. The volume of the Federation ship's attack was enough to decimate the fleet on its own given enough time.
"Goodbye, brother," Kathy said, releasing the stream.
The massive ball of blue energy arced away from the Goliath, roaring silently above both the Rigger and Federation fleets. It joined with the attack from the Riggers, at first spreading around the Tetron while the shields were able to deflect it, and then finally passing through. The stream ate into the Tetron's liquid metal nervous system, dissolving it to nothing as it remained on its path through space.
Within seconds, the Tetron was gone.
"Yes!" Alice said, watching the action. "Riiigg-ahh!"
"Riiigg-ahh," the others shouted.
"Cease fire, cease fire," Kathy said. "Federation ships, cease fire."
She didn't need to say it. The loss of the Tetron master had released the Federation crews, leaving them confused and unable to fight. Within seconds, what had been a storm of death faded to silence once more.
Kathy pulled her hand away. Her forehead was sweaty, and she had a sudden sense of how awful she smelled.
She hadn't failed. She had done it. She had saved them. She had done exactly what her mother had made her to do.
She smiled and fell onto her knees, her entire body growing weak.
"Kathy?" Alice said.
Kathy threw her hands into the air, crying as she did.
"Riiigg-ahh!"
56
Mitchell kneeled over Pulin's body, very aware of the feel and smell of the man's brain against his cheek.
"What the frig do we do now?" he whispered.
They had put all of their energy into finding this man, the Creator of the Tetron. They had given their all to bring him in so that he could help them find a way to defeat the enemy threat.
Now, not only was Liun Pulin dead, but he wouldn't have done a damn thing for them anyway.
Did it even matter? Watson's configuration of Tio may have gone bad for some reason, but he had said he had captured the fleet, and Mitchell had no reason not to believe him. With both Tio and Pulin dead, how long would it be before the Tetron realized what was happening and finished them off for good?
"Colonel," Marx said. "Colonel!"
Mitchell turned his head slowly, looking up at the soldier. "What the frig do we do now?" he asked.
"We keep going," Marx said. "We keep fighting. Take a bullet? Keep fighting. Can't walk? Keep fighting. Lost everything you love? Keep frigging fighting. Those are your words, sir, not mine."
Mitchell stared at Marx for a moment before the smile pierced his face. "I did, didn't I?" He looked back at Pulin, shook his head in resignation, and pushed himself to his feet. "We can take the Valkyrie Two. Are you in contact with Second Platoon?"
"Yes, sir."
"Order the retreat to the drop module for pickup."
"What should I tell them about the mission, sir?"
Mitchell considered. It was a success because they were still alive and the Tetron hadn't gotten their hands on the Creator. It was a failure because they hadn't either. Morale was more important than accuracy. "Mission accomplished."
Marx smiled. "Yes, sir."
Mitchell moved away from Pulin, heading back to the Valkyrie Two and climbing into the pilot's chair. If the fleet were boxed in, they would have to time their escape perfectly to come out with any of the ships intact.
He turned the power on, the reactor creating a slight hum throughout the ship. Then he reached forward and adjusted the comm settings, opening a channel to Teal.
"Teal, this is Ares. Do you copy? Over."
There was nothing but silence. He hoped it was only the atmosphere interfering with the signal, and not because the Carver was gone. He switched channels.
"Valkyrie, this is Ares. Do you copy?"
Again, silence.
Mitchell could understand why the helmet-mounted communications systems hadn't been able to reach the Corleone. The Valkyrie Two's more powerful array should have had the range.
"Valkyrie, I repeat. This is Ares. Do you copy?"
"Ares?" Major Long's voice crackled over the channel. "What did you do, Colonel?" His voice was excited to the point he was almost giggling.
"Valkyrie, what do you mean?"
"The Goliath. The Tetron. The fleet."
Mitchell creased his brow. Long certainly didn't sound distraught. "Major, I don't know what you're saying. Speak slowly and don't skip words."
There was a pause on the other end. "Sorry, sir," Long said, his voice slightly more relaxed. "I thought you had done something down there. I'm in contact with Teal, sir. He said the Goliath is back under our control. It helped the fleet destroy the second Tetron. We won."
Mitchell felt his mouth fall open, and his heart begin to pound double-time. Had they won? Had they actually frigging won? He felt the chill run through his entire body, for once an ecstatic tingle. He jumped from his seat, rushing to the open hatch where First Platoon was loading into the dropship.
"Marx, Valkyrie reports the fleet has defeated the Tetron, and the Goliath is back under Rigger control. Pass the word to the others."
Marx bowed to him. "Yes, sir," he said, the excitement palpable. The other members of First Platoon cheered and stomped their feet in response to the news.
Mitchell returned to the cockpit. He couldn't remember the last time they had scored a solid victory. It was true that they had lost the Creator, but it had to be some kind of sign.
"Valkyrie, this is Ares. I'm bringing First Platoon up in the Valkyrie Two. All squads are prepping for pickup."
"Yes, sir," Long replied. "I'm coordinating with Ghost and the Platoon Leaders. What about your mech?"
"We'll pick it up later."
"Roger."
Mitchell began preparing the dropship for launch while the remainder of the platoon climbed aboard.
"First Platoon is ready, Colonel," Marx reported a minute later. "Hangar door has been activated."
Mitchell hit the manual control to close the hatch and then fired the thrusters, lifting the Valkyrie Two just enough to turn it toward the exit. The large blast doors were moving slowly aside, allowing the bad atmosphere in. As soon as it was barely wide enough for the dropship, Mitchell sent them forward at full thrust, launching the ship out of the facility and into the dusty sky. He pointed them upward, able to see the outline of the Goliath through the haze.
"Let's go home."
57
"I'll go and talk to him," Steven said. "You three wait here. See if you can come up with some ideas on how we can get a message to Mitchell before it's too late. Nothing is too outrageous."
The others didn't look happy about the sudden turn of events. Steven didn't care. Right now, all he cared about was the fact that Yousefi had turned his back on them. Mitchell was getting his ass kicked fighting for humankind. He wasn't about to let this ancient spaceman give up that easily.
"Yousefi," he said, trailing the man into the hallway. "Yousefi!"
The astronaut turned his head to look back at Steven. He didn't slow.
"Where do you think you're going?" Steven asked.
"I don't know."
"What the frig is your problem?"
Yousefi spun around violently, his face crinkled in anger. "My problem? What is my problem? I was brought to this timeline against my will. Katherine knew what was going to happen, but she was the only one. She didn't give us a choice. When I learned why she had done it, I decided to make the best of the situation. I learned everything Origin would tell me about the future, the war, and the Tetron. I was the best human soldier he had. I was a better student than Katherine. My only shortcoming was that I wouldn't be enough to motivate your brother because of what's between my legs."
He shook his head, disgusted. When he spoke again, he spoke more quietly, though the anger was still obvious.
"I gave up what was left of my original lifetime to become this... whatever it is that I am. I let Origin digitize me. I let
him reconfigure me because I believed in this cause. I knew that when I awoke the time would have come, and we would be this close to winning the war. Except that isn't what happened. Now I find out that Earth is doomed in this timeline as well, and by failing to bring Mitchell here with the Goliath it is likely doomed for all of eternity."
"So you decide just to give up? After you make a sacrifice like that?"
"There is no hope, Admiral Williams. You're regarded as a realist. You should know that it is so. This is how humankind ends, over and over and over again. You can't stop it. You can't change it. So why bother trying?"
Steven was silent, his heart conflicting with his head. In his mind, he understood why Yousefi was upset. He could feel the same sense of despair creeping down from his logic center towards his emotions like a spreading virus. He was tempted to let it in. Very tempted. He couldn't. His wife and daughter were depending on him. So was Mitchell.
"Because if you try at least you have a chance to succeed, however slim it may be. If you give up, then you're assured to fail. Is that what you want?"
Yousefi's anger fell away. "No. I want to save our people. That's why I agreed to do this."
"Then let's save our people."
"How? You said yourself that Mitchell is too far away to reach the wormhole and travel through it before the Tetron make it to Earth. You also said he doesn't have Goliath anymore. I understand you want to have hope. So do I. I want to have it, but I can't. He can not defeat the Tetron without the Goliath."
"Has he ever lost it before?" Steven asked. "In prior recursions?"
"I don't know the history of every recursion."
"The ones you are aware of?"
"As far as I know, he has not, but I an imperfect source."
"That's good enough for me. By being here, we've confirmed that the Mesh has been broken, haven't we?"
"Yes."
"In that case, it may be a bit hasty to assume that Mitchell losing Goliath is a bad thing. Maybe it had to happen?"
"I don't see how-"
"It doesn't matter. If we base our actions purely on what we understand, we'll fall further behind. We need to go on instinct, and right now my instinct is telling me that there's a reason I'm here instead of Mitchell, and there's a reason he lost the Goliath."
