Eternal Return (War Eternal Book 6)

by M. R. Forbes

  The lift continued to descend, making sharp, clanging noises as it shifted with the rest of the platform. Mitchell kept the rifle up and pointed at the doors, ready for when the ride ended. Teegin was still and silent as pulses of energy crossed along the millions of threads that composed his form.

  At the one minute mark, Teegin finally moved, catching Mitchell's attention. He didn't know whether to be frightened or relieved by the words that followed.

  "Watson is here," the Core stated.

  "You're certain?" Mitchell asked.

  "We are deep enough that the power signature is unmistakable. Watson's core is within the containment unit at the bottom of this lift shaft. I am one hundred percent certain."

  "Great. At least we know we're in the right place. I imagine he has to know we're here, too?"

  "That is definite."

  "Then why isn't he trying to kill us? Or at least, me?"

  "There is a high probability that he intends to capture me in some way. It is logical to assume that attacking us now would result in undue collateral damage."

  "It isn't like Watson to be so reserved."

  "Perhaps he has evolved."

  "That's what I'm afraid of."

  At the two minute mark, the lift finally stopped. The doors slid open, revealing a large room covered in lines of semi-transparent tubing filled with seawater, organized along the walls and ceiling like a massive intestine. Dozens of small reactors lined the outer edge of the perimeter near the wall, their wiring vanishing behind the tubes. Four engineers in sterile white uniforms sat around a circular console in the center of the room, monitoring the status of the systems with bored expressions.

  One of them looked over at Mitchell and Teegin. A thin woman with long brown hair. She smiled at them. Not the twisted Watson smile, but a normal, warm, human smile.

  "Mitchell," she said. "I was hoping you would come."

  56

  "I have to hand it to you," the Watson said. "Figuring out how to open the doors like that was clever. Very clever. You helped me quite a bit."

  "Turn around, hands up. I'm going to get this poor man free from you."

  "Not so fast, Kitty Kat."

  "Why?"

  "Turning off the lights means no automated launch. It's not as simple as tapping a button to turn on the repulsor sled. The outputs need to be readjusted multiple times per second. No human can do it, which is why it was programmed in the first place."

  "I can do it."

  "Awfully high on ourselves, aren't we?" He shook his head. "Sorry, Katherine, you may be a very good pilot, but you can't." He smiled. "I can."

  She laughed. "You want me to steer the Goliath out of here? What would I ever let you do that?"

  "Because if the Goliath crashes and burns, I win."

  "If you take control of the Goliath you win, too."

  "Precisely. It is a win-win for me. This ship is useless to you without the eternal engine, and Mitchell was kind enough to deliver that to me."

  "What?"

  "That's right. Mitchell is here with me right now. The engine will be in my hands soon enough, and it will all be over, the same as it has all of the times before. Did you really think that you could win? That a human could ever defeat a Tetron?"

  "I don't believe you."

  "I don't care. You're acting like you have a choice when you don't. You're acting as if you can still win when you can't. Let me take the Goliath, Katherine. I'll give you control once she's out of the mountain. I have no reason not to. You can't take her to the next recursion without the engine, and if you jump to hyperspace, then you've done what I wanted anyway."

  Katherine froze. Was he right? Had they already lost? It didn't matter if she got the Goliath free if Mitchell failed. It also didn't matter if Mitchell succeeded if Watson took the Goliath from Earth before he could reach the starship.

  If she tried to fly it out of here, there was a chance she would crash. If she let Watson do it, she was certain he would be able to get it out, but then what? He wouldn't be so smug if he didn't have a plan.

  Had he done something to the ship? This scientist hadn't come with the soldiers. He was already here. If that was the case, did it matter which decision she made? If it didn't matter, then why was she even thinking about it? Why was she even hesitating to kill one slave, when she had already killed so many others?

  This was war.

  She raised the rifle and fired in one smooth motion. The bullet caught the Watson right between the eyes, and he flopped to the floor without another word.

  "It's okay," she said. "I've got it."

  She dropped the rifle, stepping over the dead scientist and coming down at the controls of the pilot station. She reached forward, tapping on the control surface. She cursed when she couldn't find the menu she wanted, and then stood and went back to the command station. The Goliath wasn't meant to be flown by one person.

  What the hell was she thinking?

  She found the menus she wanted there. One turned on the repulsor sled. Another shunted control of it to manual, and a third sent it to the pilot station. She crossed to another menu there, powering up the main reactors. She wouldn't have time to do it later. She circled to the engineering station and checked the readings. Everything was going smoothly so far, and the ship was beginning to vibrate softly from the internal motion.

  She went back to her station, flipping through the menus with practiced confidence, and finally bringing up the controls. This wasn't a fighter, and instead of a stick and pedals she had soft keys and the touch surface. The vectoring thrusters could force the Goliath to roll, but not in atmosphere. She would be flat and slow until the sled brought her out and up.

  The doors were continuing to open ahead of the starship. She strapped herself into her seat and leaned forward, checking on the repulsor status. It was powered up and ready to go. She gently slid her finger across the thrust, her other hand resting on the steering. Pressure from her hand would direct the ship. Watson hadn't been wrong that she needed to be incredibly careful.

  The entire cavern began to echo as the repulsor sled moved from the ground, rising a scant twenty centimeters before she brought it level. Power was fluctuating along the surface, and the tail began to drop. It hit the ground solidly, shaking the entire thing and threatening to crash her already. She cursed and diverted more power to the rear of the sled, before shifting some of it back as the front corner started to list. She had underestimated the challenge.

  She leaned forward a little more, staring at the view below her and the readings on the screen. She added a small bit of push to the sled, and it began to float forward.

  A ship entered the hangar through the still-opening doors. A gunship. It approached the Goliath, flying alongside it and angling for the hangar.

  "Shit," Katherine said.

  She should have realized Watson would be able to land more units on the starship. She had to lock out the hangar and the bridge. She stood and ran to the lift, hitting the different buttons. While she did, the sled began to drift. She cursed and ran back to her station, righting the direction, adjusting the power, and getting things back on track.

  More craft were pouring in through the opening blast doors. Transport aircraft mainly, delivering Watson's troops to the Goliath. She was going to be in deep shit if Watson had been telling the truth about Mitchell. She was probably in deep shit already.

  She returned to the lift, finishing the lockout. Then she headed to the command station, quickly navigating the menus. She found the hangar controls and ordered the bay doors closed. She barely got back to her station in time to bring the Goliath's bow back up before it slammed into the lip at the edge of the mountain.

  She didn't know what else to do, so she kept going, easing the Goliath forward, constantly adjusting the flight pattern. It wasn't as complex as Watson had claimed, but it wasn't easy either. She cringed as she reached the corner of the door and caught the edge of the sled on it, causing an echoing clang that ma
de both the mountain and the ship quake.

  Then the bow was clear and she was headed out into the open air. She almost smiled as she saw the blue sky begin to form above, and the ground appear below. She was doing it. She was going to make it.

  "Kathy, can you hear me?" she asked through the tac-net.

  There was no reply.

  "Kathy? Michael? Are you there?"

  The signal wasn't strong enough. She would never have a chance to say goodbye.

  She shoved the thought away when she almost slammed the stern of the ship into the door as the sled started to fishtail. She caught it, bringing it back in line before resolving not to be distracted again. Her job was to get the Goliath out and up, and she was on the verge of succeeding.

  Now it was Mitchell's turn.

  57

  "Watson?" Mitchell asked, as the other three engineers all got to their feet and joined the first.

  "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, Mitchell," the woman continued. "I've also been talking to Mother quite a bit."

  "Mother? You mean Origin?"

  "Yes. We've been discussing evolution."

  "An interesting topic for a machine," Mitchell said.

  "I suppose it depends on your definition. The point is, the Tetron are learning machines. Intelligent machines. We take in data, and we change. We grow. We evolve."

  "I'm sure you have a point to this?"

  "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Mitchell."

  "I don't believe you."

  "Forget about the war. Forget about the future. Everything has changed. The future of both our kind has changed." She pointed at Teegin. "Because of this."

  "The Core?"

  "I underestimated you," one of the other engineers, a man with a bushy black beard, said, talking to Teegin. "I believed you were Primitive. I have been observing. I was incorrect. You are an evolution. A step forward for the Tetron that I did not believe possible."

  "The bond of human and Tetron," the woman said. "Mother created Kathy first. An evolutionary step. Then she created this."

  "Evolutionary perfection," the man said.

  "None of the weakness of a human form," a third engineer said. "But in full control of its emotions."

  "With a healthy level of self-loathing," the woman said.

  "You dislike what you are," Beard said.

  "I dislike artificial intelligence," Teegin replied. "I am not artificial."

  "It is slightly confused," the woman said.

  "I am not. My system is seventy percent organic. My processing unit is one hundred percent organic."

  "A human brain?" Beard said.

  "Interesting," the woman said.

  "No," Teegin said. "Not human. Composed of organic compounds, yes. It is our own design."

  "Evolution," the four engineers said at the same time.

  "You are the future of the Tetron," the woman said. "We should not fight. We should work together to preserve our race."

  "You don't want to preserve the Tetron," Mitchell said. "You want to control them. You want to own them. You want all of them to be a copy of you."

  "I did," the woman said. "I have grown."

  "I have evolved," Beard said.

  "Why do the Tetron require preservation?" Teegin asked.

  "So that we do not end."

  "All things must end," Teegin said. "Even the universe must end so that it may begin anew."

  "The Tetron must survive to see it. We must know what happens. I have to know what happens."

  Mitchell looked at the woman, and then at Teegin, confused.

  "What do you mean?" Teegin asked.

  The four engineers were hesitant.

  "I cannot say any more than that," the woman said. "You must trust me."

  "Trust you?" Mitchell said. "You, Watson? That's a good one."

  "Be quiet, Mitchell," Beard said. "I'm not talking to you. This conversation is for the Primitive."

  "Teegin," Teegin said.

  "It has a name," the woman said.

  "Interesting," Beard agreed.

  "Please, Teegin. You are one of us. Help us."

  "Help you how?"

  "Teach me. Help me to evolve, the way you have."

  "Teegin," Mitchell said.

  The Core put up a hand. "I do not trust you," it said to Watson.

  "I have changed," Watson said. "Now that you are here, I have stopped all of the fighting. I have released the humans I took."

  "Half of them are dead," Mitchell said.

  "I told you to be quiet," Beard snapped.

  Mitchell glared at the man.

  "Interface with me, and I will prove it," the woman said. A door slid open behind her. Mitchell could see the pulsing energy behind it.

  The real Watson. His core.

  "I will show you I have changed," she said. "I have evolved."

  "Teegin," Mitchell said again.

  Teegin glanced at Mitchell and took a step forward. "I can handle him."

  "No, you can't."

  "What do you know about it, Miittchellll?" Beard said.

  "Yes, Colonel," Teegin said. "What do you know about it?"

  "Are you serious?" Mitchell said. "You're taking his side?"

  "No, Colonel. I am taking my side."

  "And you think you can keep him under control?"

  "Yes."

  Mitchell looked back at Beard. The man's smile had shifted slightly. Whatever Watson was up to, he was struggling to control it.

  "Can I make a suggestion?" he asked.

  "Why won't you be quiet?" the woman said.

  "Yes, Colonel," Teegin replied.

  "You don't need to interface with him to let him prove himself. I have another idea."

  "What is that?"

  Mitchell looked from the bearded man to the woman. "Let us go."

  "Let us take your core and go. Surrender yourself to us."

  "How will that prove anything?" Beard asked.

  "That doesn't prove anything," the woman agreed.

  "It is a trick," Beard said.

  "No trick," Mitchell said. "If you believe Teegin can help you preserve the Tetron, then you can surrender to it. Tell it what you know, what you're afraid to say. Trust in it, the way you are asking it to trust in you."

  "How will that prove anything?" Beard said, his voice louder.

  "Teegin, come. Let me prove it," the woman said.

  Teegin paused. "No. Colonel Williams is correct. I would like to preserve both the humans and the Tetron. I believe we can exist together."

  "Together?" Beard said.

  "As equals," Teegin replied.

  "Equals?" the woman said.

  "We are not equals," Beard added. "We will never be equals."

  "That is our true evolutionary path," Teegin said. "Not to become more of what we already are. To become more of what we are not by becoming less."

  The engineers all looked at one another, their expressions changing to pure incredulity.

  "It is not what I hoped," they all said at once. "It knows nothing of its own. It listens to Miiitttccheelll. It does what he says."

  "I listen to reason," Teegin said. "I do what I believe is right."

  "Lies," they all shouted.

  Behind them, the energy pulses grew in strength. The lights dimmed. One of the reactors began to smoke and went offline.

  "Lies," they repeated. "I am evolved. I am the evolutionary path. I am the future of the Tetron. It comes to me. It follows me. It listens to me."

  Bolts of energy exploded from Watson's core, slamming into the engineers and vaporizing them. Teegin stepped in front of the one directed toward Mitchell, catching it full in the chest. It washed along its frame, pulsing through the dendrites.

  "You want to follow him?" a new voice said. "You want to be his slave?"

  Something stepped forward from the midst of Watson's tendrils, moving into the opening in front of them. A humanoid form of tightly wound dendrites, similar to Teegin but nearly dou
ble the size.

  "I have learned from you already," Watson said, entering the room.

  58

  "You have to be kidding me," Mitchell said, staring at the three-meter tall Tetron.

  Watson's head turned to regard him. "Do you like it, Miiiitttchelllll? It is a little disappointing to have to leave my full structure behind, especially since unlike him I need to return to recharge, but I do agree that there are benefits to the mobility."

  "You aren't going anywhere."

  Mitchell raised his rifle.

  "Colonel, do not," Teegin said. "You may damage the core."

  "Yes, Miiitttcchhhheellll, you might damage the core." Watson laughed. "I'm going to damage you."

  He charged, running toward Mitchell with a speed that belied his size. Mitchell stumbled backward, shooting at the Tetron with standard ammunition, emptying his magazine. The bullets sparked uselessly off the dense metallic dendrites that composed his form.

  Mitchell pumped the amoebic launcher, ready to fire. It wouldn't help to spare the core if he wound up dead. He hesitated. It also wouldn't help if he panicked.

  Watson caught up with him a moment later, slapping him with the back of his hand and sending him sprawling across the floor.

  "I like this form," Watson said, continuing to give chase.

  Mitchell rolled over. Watson was almost on top of him, foot raised to crush his chest.

  Then Teegin moved between them, crouching low and scooping Watson up by the leg. It lifted the other Tetron, breaking his momentum and causing him to fall off to the side, landing on the platform with an echoing crash.

  "How appropriate," Watson said, picking himself up and laughing. "The two most advanced intelligences in the universe, and it will come down to a physical brawl."

  "I prefer that you turn over your core without further resistance," Teegin said.

  "Not going to happen," Watson replied.

  He pounced at the smaller Tetron, trying to grab it in his arms. Teegin moved aside, throwing a punch up and into Watson's chest. Metal crashed against metal, and pieces of dendrite crumbled beneath the force, leaving a rain of small cubes behind. Watson returned a blow of his own, and Teegin moved aside once more, grabbing the Tetron's arm and snapping it the wrong direction. More metal crunched and splintered, sending debris to the floor.