by M. R. Forbes
"No, it won't. They won't be able to fly it."
"You sound confident."
"I am. Do you think I'm that stupid that I would turn it over if I didn't think I could get it back? We might have had a relationship once, but I would have let them kill you before I gave up the Dove."
"You're so sweet," Millie deadpanned.
"I do my best. I came here to get the Federation into the war. That part didn't work so well. I also came here to get you into the war. I think my odds are getting better on that end."
"You should have known the Federation wouldn't listen to anything you said."
"I was hopeful."
"That was stupid," Shank said.
"In hindsight, maybe it was. Or maybe I just need to find the right people to convince."
Mitchell felt the slight pull as the Schism entered hyperspace. They were only in it for a few seconds, dropping back out a fair distance from Calypso.
Millie stood then, turning to face him. He was surprised to see that her formerly bionic hand was whole.
"Your hand," he said.
"What about it?"
"In my timeline, it was a replacement."
"That's the second time you said 'my timeline,'" Millie said. "Now that we're away from the Federation, I want to know who you are, how you know anything my breasts, and what the hell that statement means."
"Of course, Captain," Mitchell said.
"Follow me," Millie said. "Shank, you have the bridge."
"Where's Anderson?" Mitchell asked.
"That asshole? I airlocked him two weeks ago."
Mitchell couldn't help but laugh.
"You think that's funny, Colonel?"
"I knew Anderson. I can't say he'll be missed."
Millie softened slightly at the remark, returning a small smirk. "This way."
He brought her to her quarters, the poshest space on the small ship. They passed a few of the crew members on the way, including Cormac and Ilanka. Mitchell wanted to speak to both of them. There would be time later.
She led him to her gel couch and beckoned him to sit. Then she sat beside him, turning to face him, close enough that he could have kissed her if he wanted to.
"Give it your best shot, Colonel," she said.
Mitchell did, explaining how he was from the past, how he had come to know here there, how they had helped him discover the first Goliath, and even how she had died. It was an abbreviated version of events, but it still took nearly an hour for him to explain.
When he was done, Millie sat there and stared at him for a few minutes. Then she stood up.
"I wouldn't believe a word of that if I hadn't seen what I saw," she said.
"Fair enough," Mitchell replied.
"If we help you get your ship back, you can disable the triggers?"
"Yes."
"We would be free."
"In a sense. I need your help to stop the Tetron."
"And you'll have it. I'm not about to let them destroy our civilization."
"We need to do something about Watson," Mitchell said.
It turned out the New Terran engineer was in fact on board, having joined the crew at the same time and in the same place as before, leaving Mitchell more than a little angry and confused. How could a Watson configuration still be on the Schism? Kathy hadn't found evidence of the configurations for two centuries after he had left, so where had they been hiding all that time? The fact that Watson was with the Riggers concerned him, but the good news was that having access to the configuration might actually get him some answers.
"I'll have him brought to a room so we can speak to him," Millie said.
"He might resist."
"I'll send Shank and Cormac. He won't be able to resist."
Millie's eyes twitched as she used her p-rat to contact the two grunts. Then she pointed toward the door. "We'll meet them there."
Mitchell followed Millie out the door and down the corridor, and then up and back towards the bridge. The took a hard left before they reached it, going into a more narrow corridor, up a ladder, and then down and to the right. There was a heavy iron hatch there, leading into a small, empty room.
"I've never come this way before," Mitchell said, unfamiliar with the area.
"We don't use it much. Only when I need to talk to someone and don't want the others to hear the screams."
She opened the hatch and stepped inside with him. They waited a few minutes like that, until Mitchell could hear Shank and Cormac moving down the hall, almost literally dragging Watson with them.
"We have him, ma'am," Shank said, appearing in front of the hatch.
"Toss him in, and then close the door."
"Yes, ma'am."
Shank vanished for a moment, and then returned, holding a thin arm in his iron grip. "Go on in. Don't make me push you."
Watson came around the corner and into the room. Mitchell furrowed his brow in greater confusion.
"Captain, are you sure about this?"
The person standing in front of him wasn't Watson. At least, not the Watson he had known. This man was thin and tall, with long brown hair that made him look almost feminine.
"This is Corporal Watson, Colonel," Millie replied. "Is there a problem?"
"My Watson was heavy. Greasy."
"Is there a problem, ma'am?" Watson asked.
Millie looked at Mitchell. "This is the only Watson we've ever had."
"Are you New Terran?" Mitchell asked.
Watson looked at Millie.
"It's okay. Answer his questions."
"Yes, sir," Watson said.
"And you're here because you were caught with pornography?"
"Yes, sir. Among other computer hacking relating crimes, sir."
"I was on the Federation's space station an hour ago. I had a chat with Chancellor Ken. He said he knew the Schism was coming because someone sent him the mission report. A mission report that was transferred securely and directly to the Captain's p-rat. Do you know anything about that?"
"Why would I turn in my fellow crew members? Of course not."
"Somebody did, Corporal. Someone with enough skill and knowledge to hack a person's p-rat without them knowing."
"Oh. I see why you think I was involved. I wasn't, Captain. I swear."
"Are you a Tetron configuration?" Mitchell asked.
"A what?"
Mitchell stared at the man. What the hell was going on here? "You have a storage chip implanted in your skull."
"Yes."
"I need to see it."
"Why?"
"Examination under a microscope will prove whether or not the chip is manmade, or something else."
"No," Watson said.
"Excuse me?" Millie said.
"No. You can't see it. You can't examine it. I don't know who you are or what you want with me, but you have no right."
"Corporal Watson, you will turn over your implant immediately," Millie said.
"Oh, Captain, please don't make me. I didn't do anything, I swear. I'm a good soldier. A good Rigger."
"What are you trying to hide?" Mitchell asked. "The extra stash of porn, or the fact that the chip isn't human made?"
"I'm not hiding anything. It's personal. It's private. That's all. Leave me alone."
Watson turned toward the closed door and then turned back.
"We can take it by force if we have to, Corporal," Millie said.
"No!" Watson shouted.
Then he charged, faster than Mitchell could believe. He swung at Millie, catching her in the jaw and knocking her backward against the wall.
Mitchell was on him in an instant, grabbing him in a chokehold from behind. Watson elbowed him in the gut once, twice, three times, forcing him to let go. Then he charged, still moving inhumanly quick, throwing a quick hook that left his arm a blur.
Mitchell reacted without thinking, bringing his arm up to block, surprising himself when it moved nearly as quickly as Watson. He caught the punch, turning the man'
s wrist and breaking it. Watson howled in pain but didn't quit, driving toward Mitchell, grabbing him and shoving him back against the wall.
They tangled there for a moment, until Mitchell brought a heavy fist down on Watson's temple, knocking him out cold.
"What the frig?" Millie said, getting to her feet. Her jaw was already swelling, but she was ignoring it. "How did he move so fast? How did you move so fast?"
Mitchell shook his head. What had Teegin done to him during the reconstitution? Had he done the same to the others?
"I want that chip," Mitchell said.
"We don't have a doctor on board."
"We can leave him in here for now. Once we get the Dove back, Origin can take a look at him."
"Origin?" a pained voice said. Watson was awake, and he lifted his head. "Did you say Origin?"
Mitchell took a couple of steps towards him. "Yes."
"I didn't get your name," Watson said.
"Colonel Mitchell Williams," Mitchell replied.
Watson smiled. "Miiiiitttccchheeeellll," he said, the familiar enunciation sending a shiver across Mitchell's spine. "Have you figured it out yet?"
"Figured what out?" Mitchell asked.
"The surprise. I didn't get to give it to you the last time around."
"How are you here? Teegin took your core. Kathy never found your configurations."
"That's part of the surprise, Miiitttccheeellll. You haven't figured it out because you didn't know the whole story. Neither did Teegin. Neither did Kathy. Neither did Origin. You think you're all so smart. You think you're all so prepared. Nope." He shook his head. "Too bad. I was looking forward to dying with the Riggers near Calypso, but now is as good a time as any."
Watson got on his hands and knees, looking up at Mitchell. "Bye bye."
Mitchell didn't hesitate, throwing himself back toward Millie, grabbing her and pulling her toward the floor as Watson's head exploded with a force that went beyond the UPA's kill switch. He felt the heat of it against his back as he smothered her, covering her up as bits of flesh and bone smacked into them.
He stayed there for a few seconds, leaning over Millie. She looked up at him.
"You have brain on your cheek," she said, somehow managing to stay calm.
"Disgusting," he replied, pushing himself to his feet. He held out his arm and helped her up before looking around the room. It was coated with human debris. He felt sick. "Really disgusting."
"I'd say you were right about Watson," Millie said.
"I'd say I was too right. Any surprise the Tetron have in store is a surprise I don't want. I need to get the Dove back, and I need to convince the Federation to help me, one way or another."
"First you need a shower," Millie said.
He looked down at himself. His front was fairly clean, but he could feel the wetness through his dress blues. "And a change of clothes."
"I'll take care of it. Meet me back in my quarters when you're done with the shower. We can talk about how to rescue your ship."
"Yes, ma'am," Mitchell said.
Millie went over to the door and signaled Shank to open it.
"Ewww," Cormac said as the door swung aside. "That is the sickest thing I have ever seen. I swear it."
"Can it, Firedog," Shank said.
"Reminds me of this time back in Liverpool. There was this dog, you know, and-"
"I said stow it, Firedog," Shank said.
"Oh. Right, mate. I was just saying-"
"Firedog, shut up."
Cormac stopped talking, remaining silent as Mitchell and Millie walked past.
As Mitchell headed down to the showers, he couldn't stop himself from shaking. Not just because he was cold and wet. Not just because Teegin's strange enhancement had left him jittery. For the first time in a long time, he was truly afraid.
21
The Goliath fell from hyperspace, materializing at a safe distance from the UPA battle group that was in the sector on a routine combat drill.
"There they are," Ella said, her eyes focusing on the ships in the viewscreen. "I would recognize the Carver anywhere. The newest battleship in the fleet. How shiny it is from here, reflecting that star."
Kate turned her head slightly to look at her, Teegin's tendril following to stay properly inserted.
"Have you ever met the Admiral?"
"No. Greylock usually worked alone. Too many ships to get in our way."
"Incredible," Katherine said in response to the view.
She was one of the only Dove crewmembers on the bridge, along with Yousefi. The others were still having difficulty with the reconstitution, struggling to accept what they had gone through to be there. Ella empathized with their situation. She couldn't imagine what she would feel like knowing her body had been broken down into base parts and then recreated, her consciousness turned into computer code. When Kate had told her what they had done to reach so far into the future, she had cringed.
"It looks like they're in the middle of an exercise," Yousefi said, watching the scene unfold ahead of them with intense interest.
The cruisers running alongside the battleship had launched six squadrons of starfighters; sleek, pod-like designs that Teegin had called morays. They were heading toward a small satellite floating nearer to the star, breaking apart and taking different angles toward the target.
"It isn't live fire," Ella said. "The satellite will mimic whatever it's programmed to. A Federation destroyer, for example. It'll fire pulses of light that will be recorded as laser and projectile fire by the CAP-NN systems in the fighters, which will also assess damage. When you see a fighter heading back home, it means they were knocked out. From the pilot's point of view, they'll get a nice fat destroyer in their overlay, as real as can be. This is a basic drill. They'll move on to drone fighters later, and eventually real targets and real munitions."
"It looks like fun," Katherine said.
"It can be," Ella replied, turning her attention to Katherine. She had accepted that there were two of the same individual on the ship, but it was still weird to see it. "It can also be boring as hell."
"Captain North," Kate said. "Mitchell sent you with us to be the main contact with the Alliance. A good idea, since none of us know all that much about this timeline. What do you suggest we do?"
"Open a channel and say hello," Ella replied. "But I suggest waiting until the drills are done."
"Roger that," Kate replied.
The Goliath remained stationary while the Alliance forces continued their drill. Ella monitored the action, watching the pilots to determine who was the best of them. It was more interesting when you had someone to root for.
The starfighters dove in and around the satellite, while quick flashes of light signaled the offense for both sides. Fighters began to return to the battle group, reaching the larger starships and vanishing into their hangars. Every once in awhile, the satellite would emit a red glow around itself.
"What does the red mean?" Yousefi asked.
"The target is destroyed. It seems they're running the drill as last-man-standing, meaning the target will reset and become active again until all of the fighters are done. That's how you separate the wheat from the chaff."
"I suppose the pilots are pretty competitive," Katherine said.
"All of the drills are evaluated, and everyone knows everyone else's overall score," Ella replied.
Her eyes found her choice to be the last to die. The moray was one of a few to have a yellow stripe on the bottom, identifying its squadron. It was the only yellow still out there, and it moved with a fluid grace that she admired.
The combat continued for another hour, until at last yellow was in fact the only fighter left out there. It dove and circled, rotated and flipped as it moved in on the satellite, trying to avoid fire and get some hits of its own.
"He won't destroy it," Ella said. "Single starfighters never destroy a target alone, unless it's another starfighter."
Sure enough, a few minutes later the exe
rcise was over, the starfighter heading back toward the Carver. They waited after it had vanished to see if another drill was going to begin.
"Teegin," Kate said a few minutes later. "Open a channel to the Carver. Captain North, you're on."
Ella nodded, straightening up slightly. She wasn't nervous about speaking to the Admiral. She had seen too many good people die to be afraid of words. She was eager to see how the Admiral reacted to her, and to the news she was bringing.
"This is the United Planetary Alliance starship Carver," a voice said a moment later. "Our records are showing no results for the identification codes you are broadcasting. Please identify."
"Captain Ella North, formerly of the Greylock, now aboard the starship Goliath," Ella said. "I'd like to speak with Admiral Steven Williams. It's a matter of some urgency."
There was a pause at the other end, replaced a moment later by an older, male voice.
"This is Admiral Williams. Did you say Captain Ella North?"
"Yes, sir," Ella replied.
"You're a long way from Liberty, Captain," Steven said.
"I know, sir. I've been reassigned. My orders were to find you and speak to you."
"Orders? From who? I heard Liberty was attacked again. The Federation?"
"That's why I'm here, sir. Liberty was attacked, but not by the Federation. Like I said, my orders were to find you and speak to you. I need your help."
"I wasn't told to expect you."
"No, sir."
There was a long pause. Were they checking their data transfers? Looking for a change of orders, or other high priority information from command? Had command figured out she was gone, and sent a communique to be on the lookout for her?
"Where are you broadcasting from?" Steven said. "Our sensors aren't reading anything nearby."
Ella bit her lip. Either she was going to be in deep shit, or she was going to get the audience she had promised Mitchell she would get. She glanced at Kate and nodded. A moment later, the Goliath began to move.
"The United Earth Alliance starship Dove, sir," she said. "Also known as the Goliath. We're heading your way now."
"United Earth Alliance? Did I fall into a black hole or something? That term went out of use three centuries ago."
"If you have a historical archive on board, feed it the codes, sir," Ella said.
