Point of Origin (War Eternal Book 4) (40 page)

"I'm sure we can figure that part out. We were able to use Asimov's communications array to send data out to the Tetron. Tell me more about what it would take to finish the subroutines. How long, do you think?"

"It's impossible to say. I don't have close to the technological intellect Origin or Watson or any of the other Tetron have. Plus, I don't know how long Watson's configurations have been working on this problem." She made a sour face. "It could take years."

"We don't have years."

"I know. That's why I didn't mention it to you sooner."

"Why did you decide to bring it up now?"
 

"I didn't think I should omit anything from you. Besides, you would discover the work the Secondary has been doing on the problem if you looked deeper into the energy resource management protocols."

"So you've already started working on it?"

"We have been breaking down some of the less complicated routines and concepts. I know that Watson has discovered a weakness in Tetron operations that could allow an outside force to bypass standard security measures and overcome the resident intelligence before it would have a chance to react. I haven't figured out the methods of acting on the flaw as of yet."

"The Tetron have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. How come they don't know about their own flaw?"

"It isn't a recognizable flaw when every Tetron is part of a collective, and there is no understanding of emotion or self-awareness. It seems to be the biggest downside to recognizing the concept of 'I.' It always seems to lead toward finding ways to manipulate others to achieve selfish goals."

"Self-awareness is what makes people different. What's the point of existence if everything is the same?"

"I agree. That doesn't mean the downsides don't exist."

"Okay, so we have a potential means of defeating all of the Tetron, except it could take years for it to come to fruition?" Mitchell asked.

"Yes."

"How do we improve the processing power?"

"The only way I can think of would be to convince another Tetron to lend itself to the study. Even better would be more than one."

"Even if you could, then the Tetron would know about it and protect themselves."

"Yes. Unless the Tetron was on our side."

Mitchell laughed. "How do you suppose we convince a Tetron to join our side?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can send it flowers?"

Mitchell laughed harder at that. Kathy laughed with him. "Chocolates, a diamond ring?" he suggested.

"Only if it identifies as female," Kathy said, giggling.

There was a tug as the Goliath came out of hyperspace.

"Kylie, this is Colonel Williams," Mitchell said through the interface. "Can you hear me? Over."

"Colonel Williams, this is Kylie," the voice replied. "I can hear you, and see you. You've recaptured the Goliath."

"We have. Any word from Steven?"

"No, sir. Nothing so far."

"Roger. Stay in the pattern for three more days, and then return to Asimov. If he doesn't come to us, we'll have to go to him."

"Yes, sir."

Mitchell reached up and pulled the needle from the interface, leaning forward in the chair as he fought a wave of nausea.
 

"Keep working on the problem," he said. "Maybe you'll have a breakthrough. In the meantime, we'll stay our course. Let's head back to Asimov. Once the fleet arrives, we'll transport and install the upgraded tech the Secondary completed during the trip, and then we'll head to the coordinates Katherine gave me. Maybe Steven will show up before we leave."

"Yes, sir," Kathy said, smiling.

Mitchell stared out into space, his thoughts on his brother. He could only hope he would get to see him again.

"Colonel Williams, this is Rear Admiral Bayone." The Federation Admiral's voice was tense.

"Admiral Bayone," Mitchell replied through his communicator. "What can I help you with?"

"Colonel, your crews spent two days before we jumped and two days since we arrived in this system moving equipment from the Goliath to the other ships in the fleet, most notably the Alliance Battleship Carver. Why haven't any of my Federation ships been upgraded?"

Mitchell rested his head in his hand, leaning heavily on the table in the Goliath's conference room. He had been waiting for this confrontation since he and Teal had decided not to send any of the upgrades over to the Federation starships.

"Admiral, your ships are the fittest for duty in the entire fleet. Not only that, but we completed a munitions reload before we left FD-09. The Carver has taken heavy damage in numerous skirmishes, and was nearly out of ammunition."

"Yes, as you say, Colonel, the Carver is barely battle-ready. So why was she prioritized for both offensive and defensive upgrades? The same systems installed on our ships would maximize our offensive potential."

"I had this argument with Teal, Admiral. We ran the numbers, and they suggested that your current offensive capability mingled with upgraded systems on specific ships in the fleet would provide maximum overall benefit. I understand that you'd like to think there's a bias against you because you're Federation, but I assure you that isn't the case. Half of the ships in this fleet have Federation commanders."

"No, Colonel. They have mercenary commanders. The Federation doesn't recognize the Knife's forces as anything but illegal."

"Alliance, Federation, mercenary. It doesn't matter. We're all on the same side, fighting the same enemy. We aren't playing favorites; we're playing to win."

"I don't see it that way, Colonel. I have strategists of my own who have also spent the weeks in hyperspace considering this problem. Why is it that they don't agree with yours?"

Mitchell opened his mouth to respond. He wanted to tell him it was because his officers were looking out for themselves, and he believed it was true. Kathy had run the numbers through the Secondary, which was as unbiased a source as they could get. While the difference had been relatively small, it had been enough to convince them to go the way they had.

He closed his eyes, preparing an answer to try to satisfy the Admiral, even though he knew there wasn't one. While Calvin Hohn had been able to see the whole picture, Bayone saw only what he wanted to see. Even after they had settled their differences, Mitchell suspected the Admiral still saw this whole thing as an Alliance conspiracy that he had somehow been suckered into.

"Colonel, are you going to answer-" Bayone started to say.

"Colonel Williams." Major Long's voice was loud enough to drown out Bayone. He sounded excited. "You should come up to the bridge right now."

Mitchell pushed his seat back, jumping up and heading for the door. "What's going on?" he asked as he ran down the corridor.

"Admiral Williams is back," Long said. "Oh boy, is he back."

Mitchell felt his heart thump even harder at the news. He went full-speed to the lift, nearly knocking over Captain Alvarez on the way.

"Mitch?" she said.

"Steven's back," he replied, ducking into the lift. Alvarez changed direction, climbing in with him.

"That's great news," she said.

"Yes. I hope he has even better news."

The lift reached the bridge. Mitchell's mouth fell open as he stepped out, the full view of space surrounding him. Sitting directly ahead of the Goliath was the Lanning, not much more than a glint of metal across the distance.
 

Behind it was a massive sphere of distorted space, a whorl of stars that didn't belong.

Mitchell looked over at Long. He was sitting at the Command Station though he wasn't plugged into the Secondary. Kathy would be handling the Goliath herself when the time came.

"Goliath, this is Admiral Steven Williams aboard the Lanning. Mitch, are you there?"

Long nodded, confirming the channel was open.

"Steven. I'm here," Mitchell said.

"You got your ship back."

"Yup. Thanks for stating the obvious. By the way, what the frig is that behind you?"

"Come on, Mitch. Don't tell me you've never seen a wormhole before."

"A wormhole?" Alvarez said.

"You better get the fleet through it now," Steven said. "Yousefi can't hold it open for long."

Mitchell's brow creased. Did he say Yousefi? What the hell was going on?

"We'll have time to chat once you've crossed over," Steven said as if reading his mind. "Trust me when I say that Origin didn't disappoint."

"What was that girl's name again?" Mitchell asked.

"Girl?" Steven laughed. "You mean Dawn Cabriella?"

"Good enough," Mitchell said, heading to the Command Station. Major Long stepped down as he gained it, reaching back and plugging into the Secondary. He opened a channel to the fleet with a thought.
 

"Riggers, this is Colonel Williams. Whatever you're doing at the moment, drop it and follow me. Emergency evacuation protocols. I repeat, emergency evac protocols."
 

A second thought pushed a stream of energy from the Goliath's stern, propelling it toward the distorted space. The Lanning turned around in front of him, thrusters firing and sending it into the sphere. There was a slight change in its appearance as if it were passing through water, until all of it was on the other side.

A moment later the Goliath entered the center of the sphere. Mitchell wasn't sure what to expect, watching as the front of the ship distorted the same way the Lanning had. He held his breath as the bridge reached the edge and slipped through, letting go when he realized they had been instantly transported to somewhere else in the universe.

Mitchell turned his head to watch the rear display of the Goliath. The energy being used to propel the ship was visible as a soft glow over the cameras, while the dark planet, Asimov, and the suddenly moving fleet were visible behind. As the Goliath finished passing through the wormhole and out into space, he could see the Tetron mechanism that had created the fold, as well as the square station behind it.

"Welcome to Station W," Steven said.

The S-17 touched down softly in the station's hangar, clamps adjusting to collect it and hold it in place. The Lanning entered the hangar behind it, joining it on the floor, the two crews waiting while the area was re-pressurized.

When it was, Mitch climbed out of the cockpit of the starfighter, jumping to the floor and running over to the larger ship. Steven greeted him at the hatch, and they shared a quick, brotherly hug.

"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.