by M. R. Forbes
"You were right," Mitchell said.
"So you aren't mad I didn't listen to you?"
"I never was. I was more impressed you made a move on your own."
"It wasn't an easy decision to make. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving a stone unturned."
"I know. I understand."
"Colonel," Germaine said, appearing behind Steven.
Mitchell grasped his hand. "Germaine. You're fired."
"You can't fire me. I don't even get paid."
Mitchell laughed. He was feeling giddy about the whole thing. A wormhole. A frigging wormhole! They had the means to beat the Tetron to Earth. It was more than he could have hoped for.
"When we dropped near Asimov, the first thing I saw was the Goliath, and I was like, oh shit." Germaine shook his head, still laughing. "How did you manage to get her back?"
"It's a long story, which I'm sure I'll have time to tell you later."
"Pulin?" Steven asked.
Mitchell shook his head. "He wasn't what we were expecting. I'll explain that later, too. Right now, I need information."
"Come on," Steven said. "I'll bring you to the Control Room. Yousefi is waiting there."
Steven started walking towards the exit. Mitchell trailed behind him with Germaine.
"When you say Yousefi, you're talking about-"
"The same one who was in Command of Goliath's inaugural voyage. Yes. Except he isn't the original Yousefi. Origin digitized his consciousness and created a configuration of him when we arrived here."
"You mean Origin is here?" Mitchell asked, feeling excited. He had always wanted to meet the complete version of Kathy's mother. Christine might have died on Liberty, but since he had learned the Tetron could duplicate themselves, it left open the possibility of that happening.
"No," Steven replied, killing that line of thinking. "I should have said a machine Origin left here configured him when we arrived."
The journey to the control room consisted of a long walk through identical corridors that left Mitchell completely confused regarding their location, while Steven seemed to have a firm handle on the station's layout. Steven used the time to brief Mitchell on their arrival in the system and their initial interactions with Yousefi. He was in the middle of explaining how they had successfully recalibrated the wormhole generator when they finally arrived.
The hatch slid open, revealing the Control Room to Mitchell. Cormac and John were there, hunched over a large screen. Yousefi was standing in front of the transparent wall; his eyes fixed on the Goliath. Mitchell had to admit that it was an impressive sight, especially with the fleet gathered around the ancient starship.
"Yousefi," Steven said as the hatch closed behind them.
Yousefi turned. His eyes lit up when he saw Mitchell.
"Captain Williams," he said, hurrying over to them and taking Mitchell's hand in his own, shaking it fervently. "It is an honor to meet you, sir."
"The honor is mine," Mitchell said. It felt so odd for him to be shaking hands with a man who had been born over four-hundred years earlier. A man who had known Katherine Asher personally. "You're going to save billions of lives."
"Yes, that is the idea," Yousefi said, smiling. "The culmination of an eternity of planning. You should thank your brother also. He convinced me not to give up, and to consider the potential of making adjustments to the space fold algorithm to get you here in the first place."
Mitchell glanced over to Steven, who shrugged.
"Just a little pep talk," Steven said. "We all need them sometimes."
"Colonel," Cormac said. Both he and Captain Rock were approaching him. "It's damn good to see you, sir."
"Firedog. I could have used you back with me," Mitchell said.
"My apologies, sir. Someone had to keep an eye out for the Admiral."
"Accepted. John, how are you?"
"I'll be better once we've sent the Tetron packing," John replied. "Yousefi, I've finished entering the updated coordinates you provided."
"Good," Yousefi said. "The ring will need to be repositioned, and the station refueled, to send the fleet to Earth."
"How long will that take?" Mitchell asked.
"Two days."
"That should be plenty of time to get to Earth ahead of the Tetron, right? Wormholes are instantaneous."
"Not exactly," Yousefi said. "I know that is the common conception of human science, but it isn't accurate. Travel through a wormhole feels immediate to the traveler, but there is still a time effect inside the tunnel."
"Oh. Will we have enough time?"
"I won't lie," Steven said. "It's going to be close. We would never have made it if we hadn't taken it back to Asimov."
"How close?" Mitchell asked, feeling his earlier hope beginning to slip.
"Our calculations have you arriving a day before the Tetron," Yousefi said.
"One day?" Mitchell said. "Steven, we can't get Earth's defenses organized in one day."
"I know, Mitch. It was the best we could do. Recalculating the travel cost us time in the transfer, but it was the only chance we had. We need to hold the line and repel the first wave on our own."
Mitchell didn't like it, but he nodded. He had suffered from his doubts on the trip from FD-09 to Asimov. He wasn't going to let himself fall into that trap again. "Okay. Then we will. We have Goliath, and we've already started outfitting some of the ships with updated equipment. It will have to be enough."
"We've been busy, too," John said. "The station has four hundred drone fighters spread across four hangars. Yousefi showed me how to update their AI brains so that we can take advantage of them."
"It was intended that they would join the fight," Yousefi said. "We don't need them to defend the station anymore."
"Great. Does this place have anything else that we can use?"
"Besides the wormhole, no," Yousefi said.
Mitchell's eyes crossed over each of them. "Then let's not waste any more time. If we have two days to prep the fleet for the attack, we need to take advantage of every second. Steven, I assume you'll be regaining command of the Carver?"
"Unless you have another idea?" Steven replied.
"No. I want you up there coordinating the attack. Teal is good, but he isn't you. John, I expect you'll go with him?"
"Yes, sir."
"Cormac, I want you back on the Goliath. I have a plan to make use of the grunts in the fleet."
"Of course, Colonel."
"What about me, Mitch?" Germaine asked.
"I have another idea for you," Mitchell said. "Yousefi, how exactly do those drones work?"
70
Within hours the space around Station W became a furious hub of activity, as every capable person aboard every ship in the fleet lent themselves to the cause. Repair timelines were adjusted, starfighters were prepped for action, and the mechs were armed and had their munitions bays reloaded.
Mitchell stood with Steve in the Control Room, both standing side-by-side and watching all the action beyond. Germaine had already left the station with Cormac in tow, returning the two of them to the Goliath. John was outside the hangar, awaiting the transport from the Carver that would return him and Steven to the battleship.
They had already spoken at length about everything that had happened since they parted ways. Mitchell had explained everything to him, from Yokohama to FD-09, and from Watson to Kathy. Steven had been surprised by the emergence of another Tetron, and even more surprised by her lineage. He had also been incredibly supportive, suggesting to Mitchell that he savor any gift that God delivered, no matter what form it took. While Mitchell wasn't a religious man, he appreciated the thought all the same.
A lull in the conversation had followed, leaving them staring out the window in silent, personal contemplation. Mitchell broke that silence a moment later.
"I want you to finish this," Mitchell said, glancing over at his brother.
"What do you mean?" Steven asked.
"I mean I want you
to take command of the fleet."
"Mitch, I know my rank is-"
"This isn't about rank, Steve. It's about giving ourselves the best chance to win. I'm not a fleet commander. I've never strategized anything on this scale before. Sure, I read the books in the Academy but you know this isn't close to the same thing."
"Yeah, I know, but Mitch, you said that M told you that you're the chosen one."
"He did. That's the thing. I spent the last two weeks trying to figure out what that really means. The first time I boarded Goliath, after I destroyed the Tetron, I heard Katherine's voice in my head, and she told me that I couldn't do this alone. I thought that meant that I would need allies like the Riggers or the Knife, and that was true. It also wasn't the whole story. I made the drop to capture Pulin, and you know what? I shouldn't have. I could have done more for the fleet if I had stayed behind and flown the S-17. Who knows, if I had stayed behind maybe Liun Pulin would be alive, and we wouldn't have to do this at all.
"Saving them doesn't mean holding onto control to the detriment of everything. It means knowing when to let it go and just be the arrogant starfighter pilot. Because that's what we need me to be right now. You're the best Admiral we have. I'm the best pilot we have. It makes sense."
Steven turned toward him, his face serious.
Mitchell hated when his brother looked at him that way. "What? You don't agree."
"You've changed, Mitch. I mean, you're still full of yourself, obviously, but you've matured. Knowing when to give up power and how to wring the most out of every asset is the top trait a leader should have. General Cornelius' reputation wasn't built on the battles he fought in. It was grown on the decisions he made. We loved him because he trusted us in a way that made us want to be the best. You do that too, even if you don't realize it."
"I do?"
"Yes."
"So you'll do it?"
"Yes."
Mitchell smiled. "Thanks."
"I'm proud of you, Mitch."
"I'm proud of you, too. You should get going. John's probably waiting for you, and you've got a lot of work to do."
Steven laughed. "Okay. Give your older brother a hug."
Mitchell embraced his brother. "I know this isn't very manly, but in case I die, I love you, Steve."
"I love you, too, Mitch. You aren't going to die. And if you do, don't worry. You'll get another chance."
"You need to work on your goodbyes," Mitchell said, breaking the embrace.
"I know. Laura's told me the same thing. You think I'll be able to get in touch with her before the Tetron arrive?"
"I hope so. Mom and Pop, too."
"Yeah." Steven stood there for a moment and then bowed. "By your leave, Colonel."
"Dismissed, Admiral," Mitchell said. "I'll meet you back at your place when this is over."
"Sounds like a plan."
Steven headed for the exit, going out the hatch at the same time Yousefi came in.
"Good hunting, Admiral," Yousefi said.
"Thank you," Steven replied.
"Yousefi," Mitchell said. "Is everything okay?"
The astronaut had excused himself to go and check on the battery cells, after receiving an alert from the sensors there.
Yousefi nodded. "We've been storing the energy for over a hundred years. This was the first time we utilized the storage and needed to refill it. One of the nodes was defective and had to be destroyed. It's nothing to worry about. We'll have plenty of power to keep the wormhole open while the fleet goes through it."
"Great," Mitchell said. "To be honest, I figured you would get it sorted out. I waited behind because I wanted to talk to you about something else."
"Let me guess," Yousefi said. "Captain Katherine Asher."
Mitchell's heart began to race to hear him say her name. "How did you know?"
"There are some things that always find a way to cross the boundaries of time. This is one of them."
"I don't understand?"
"I can't tell you what the past futures are, Mitchell. I don't know them. What I do know is that Katherine spoke of you often in the days after we arrived in this recursion. She knew who you were, despite the years that separate the two of you. How? Why? I don't know. She longed to meet you. To touch you. To hear your voice alive, as she had in her mind. The two of you are connected one to the other, an entwined thread that stretches across all of time and space."
Mitchell stared at Yousefi. He had felt the connection since M had shot him, and it had only grown stronger over the weeks that followed. He had never expected that Katherine might have felt the same thing. It had never crossed his mind that she loved him in the same inexplicable way that he loved her. Was that why she had agreed to sacrifice her life to bring the Goliath to him?
The truth of it left him stunned.
"What was she like?" he asked breathlessly.
"The way I knew her?" Yousefi said. "She was a pain in the ass. She didn't like to follow orders she didn't agree with, and she had a bad habit of ignoring curfews and schedules. To be honest, if she had pulled the same garbage with any other CO, she would have been out of the program. Luckily for her, I knew she was the best pilot out there, and I knew when the mission started she would be prepared. You don't become a highly decorated veteran of the Xeno War by slouching on your duties."
Mitchell laughed. Major Christine Arapo had been rigid and by the book, and since she was based on Katherine he had thought Katherine would be the same. "Did you know her well, or only professionally?"
"I knew her better after we arrived in this recursion. She never questioned herself. She never hesitated. Did you know Pathi was a Tetron? He would have ruined everything if she hadn't stopped him. She blew up part of Goliath's hull and almost got sucked into space herself to get him out. She said the thought that she might die too had never crossed her mind. Only that the mission was in trouble."
Mitchell didn't tell Yousefi that Pathi hadn't died. The astronaut had managed to get back onto the Goliath undetected, stowing away until they planted the mainframe on Hell. He had almost cost them the entire war.
"Anyway, to be truthful, Mitchell, I believe you know her better than me. She certainly seemed to know you quite well."
"She did? In what way?"
"How do any two lovers know one another? That is the best way I can describe it. In any case, you should return to the Goliath. I believe there is much for everyone to do, yourself included."
Mitchell nodded, deciding to drop the subject even though Yousefi's answers had left him unsatisfied. He wasn't sure that was the astronaut's fault. There was nothing short of meeting Katherine in person that could sate his desire to know her better.
"What will you do once we're gone?" Mitchell asked.
"I will set the station to self-destruct. It won't be needed again in this recursion."
"What about you?"
"I'll die, but do not concern yourself with that. I will end my time a happy man, knowing that I have completed my mission and that I will be joining my family in the world beyond our own, where there is no war, no suffering, and no Tetron."
"Thank you for everything you've done," Mitchell said.
"You are very welcome, Mitchell. Good hunting."
Yousefi saluted Mitchell in the old military style. Mitchell returned the salute, feeling awkward about it. He followed that with a more comfortable bow before leaving the Control Room, and Station W, behind.
71
"Everything is ready," Yousefi said over the comm channel. "I'm initiating the generation sequence now."
"Roger, Station W," Steven said. "All hands, prepare for departure on my mark."
Mitchell focused on keeping his breathing calm as he stood next to Kathy on the bridge of the Goliath. She was plugged into her Secondary, giving her faster access to the systems of the core.
The wormhole ring began to pulse with energy ahead of them, stationary at first and them starting to turn in rhythm to the pulses. Mitchell checked
the view around them, noting each of the ships lined up in formation, the Goliath at the vanguard. A dozen of the more damaged starships floated on the opposite side of the station. They had been decommissioned and filled with Asimov's non-combatants, their orders to return their passengers to the asteroid and await further information.
They would be coming out the other end near the far side of Mars. The planets were currently near opposition, and the distance would give them time to assess the situation around the planet, and also allow Steven time to communicate both with the Council, who they were going into this assuming was compromised by the Tetron, and the commander of Earth's defense forces, Admiral Bixby. According to Steven, he and Bixby were good friends, and as long as the Admiral was still himself he would at least be open to listening to Steven's warning.
If that went according to design, they would then take up a position close enough to Earth to defend it in a hurry, and far enough away that the Tetron would be taken by surprise. The plan was further broken down into specific ship organization, formation, and tactics that Steven and John had come up with, and that Mitchell hadn't bothered to learn. He would be leading the starfighter squadrons in the S-17.
The ring continued to accelerate, the energy pulses growing stronger. The whorl began to grow in the circle, pushing back in space from the middle, the puncture in space created and the tunnel being built.
It was a good plan, but it would need to be executed perfectly to be carried out in time. Arriving only hours ahead of the Tetron wouldn't give Earth any time to recall any additional defenses, no matter how close they might be.
"Have you made any progress on Watson's work?" Mitchell asked, breaking the silence to help calm his nerves.
"A little," Kathy said. "I've been working with Singh on it. She's very intelligent, and she's helped me approach the problem in a new way. It's still going to take some time."
"She understands the source?"
"Not like Tio did. She understands the concept, which is more important."
"Do you have an updated ETA?"
"No. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I know you're doing your best. I was just asking."
