Point of Origin (War Eternal Book 4) (8 page)

"That one?" John offered a jumpship. It was small, but it was also one of only three the fleet possessed.

"They might need it."

John sighed. "There are only two others on the docks right now."

Steven checked them both, his heart sinking. He should have guessed his best intentions would be stymied by a lack of resources. No. He wouldn't allow the to happen.

"Yeah, you're right. The jumpship."

John nodded, and they began retreating from the room.

"Don't forget about us," the gray-haired woman said as they left.

Now came the hardest part. Steven could feel his heart beating harder with every step they took, his resolve starting to crack a little. He knew what came next, and he didn't like it, even if it did need to be done.

"Having second thoughts?" John asked while they made their way down to the jumpship's docking arm.

"No. I just don't like this part."

"Well try to not like it a little less, because we're getting looks."

Steven noticed the people around them, their eyes glancing his way as they passed. He had always been guilty of wearing his heart on his sleeve. It was survivable on the bridge of a starship where only your officers would see it. It was going to get them caught if he didn't do something about it now.

He pictured Admiral Hohn in his mind, working to mimic the man's near-constant outward calm. It wasn't about removing the fear; it was about hiding it.

"Better," John said.
 

Steven wondered how his friend was staying so cool under the pressure.

They reached the hatch to the docking arm. It slid open ahead of them, leaving them along in the long cylinder of clear carbonate and metal flooring that stretched hundreds of meters out into empty space. Steven shifted the duffel to his chest, unzipping it slowly as they walked. The ship was tenth in line for loading, which meant it should be unoccupied.

He found the gun in his bag, taking it in his hand and moving it behind the duffel. If it weren't clear, he would have to hijack it and hope whoever was inside didn't fight back. That was the thing that scared him the most. He didn't want to hurt anybody.

"I can take it if you want," John offered.

"Here," Steven said, handing John the other gun. "You might need one too."

They reached the airlock. It was open, and when Steven looked in he didn't see any sign of occupants.

"We'll sweep it quick to make sure it's empty, and then we'll go," he said.

"Roger."

They entered the ship. John moved to the right toward the rear of the ship while Steven turned left and headed forward to the cockpit. The ship was silent; its engines powered down and most of the electronics off.

He paused a few times, listening for John, as he was sure his friend was listening for him as well. He stopped one last time before he made it to the hatch of the cockpit, making sure that John hadn't stumbled into trouble. When he didn't hear anything, he reached forward and hit the panel to open the hatch.

He stepped in. His heart was racing, his hand tight and clammy on the gun. If there were going to be anyone on the ship, they would likely be here, waiting for confirmation to move into position for loading.

"Admiral Williams?" Germaine said, swiveling in his seat at the sight of Steven.

Steven's eyes grew wide, and he raised the gun from behind the duffel. He had been so damn close.

"Put your hands up," he said, his whole body shaking.

"What are you doing?" Germaine asked. "Are you a Tetron?" He didn't look concerned about the pistol aimed at his face.

"I need the ship."

"Why don't you just ask Mitchell for one? I'm sure he'd let you borrow it."

Germaine wasn't taking his threat seriously. Then again, why would he? He doubted he looked much like a threat either.
 

"I already asked him," he said, lowering the weapon. "He said no."

"Why?"

"I need to jump to unexplored space to check something out. It's going to split us up in a bad way."

"Check something out? Are you sure you aren't a Tetron?"

"Do I look like a Tetron?"

Germaine laughed. "Everyone looks like a Tetron. You aren't acting like one, though. You're acting like yourself."

"What does that mean?"

"I spent a couple of weeks in the cockpit of the Avalon with your brother. He told me stories. All I kept hearing about is how nice you are, how upstanding and successful and settled. You can't even keep the gun on me. He's jealous of you, you know."

That took Steven off guard. "He is?"

"Yup. No joke. So what about this something in unexplored space? Clearly, Mitch doesn't want you to go, and you think you should. Considering that you're such a nice guy and yet you're willing to try to steal a jumpship, there has to be a good reason for it."

"Origin gave Mitchell the coordinates on Hell."

"You mean the Construct?"

Steven nodded.

"And he doesn't want to go?"

"He wants to go, but not yet. He wants to stop Watson first."

Germaine laughed again. "I get it."

The conversation paused as they heard boots moving towards them. Not one pair like Steven expected. There were at least two people coming.

John appeared a moment later, a bruise next to his eye and an apologetic look on his face. Cormac followed behind him, holding the gun Steven had given John to John's back.

"What the frig is going on here?" Cormac asked.
 

His voice had a strange, echoing lisp to it, caused by the half-mask he had over the destroyed side of his face. It was made of a solid black carbonate and looked to be screwed into his skull to hold it on.

"Cormac?" Steven said.

"Yeah, I know," the grunt replied, running his hand over the mask. "Diggs made it for me. Simple, yet sophisticated. He said he would work on the laser for the eye."

"Sorry, Steve. He caught me off-guard."

"I was standing right next to the bloody fool," Cormac said. "He nearly got himself killed. What are you doing here, Admiral?"

"Stealing the ship," Germaine said, still laughing at the whole thing.

"You're doing a bang-up job, sir," Cormac said.

Steven shrugged. "From what I gather, this is more your kind of mission."

"Riiigg-ahh," Cormac said. "Yes, sir. Why are we stealing a starship?"

"To help Mitchell," John said.

"Without Mitchell knowing," Steven said.

Cormac did his best to smile. "Now that's something I can get behind."

"You don't want to take the Corleone," Germaine said. "We only have three jumpships in the fleet, and this is the only one with a mech drop module."

"It was the best I could spot from Control," Steven said. "What were you two doing in here, anyway?"

"I told you; this is the only jumpship with a mech drop module. If you took this one, you might have left us with no ship to go planetside if we need to bring the heavy guns. I was inspecting the flying parts, and Cormac was in the back inspecting the explosive parts. Qualified hands are tight, and we all need to do our part. Anyway, don't sweat it, Admiral. I've got the ship for you. We can head on over and be out of here before anyone knows we're missing."

Steven was confused. "We?"

"Hell, yes, Admiral," Germaine said. "Mitchell's my friend, and if he's doing something stupid, it's my responsibility to make it less stupid."

"You think he's making the wrong call?"

"I don't know, but you're his brother and an Admiral. That makes you way smarter than I am. If you think he is, I trust you."

"You ain't leaving without me," Cormac said. "Let me just grab my grenades from the back."

Germaine stood waving to them from the far edge of the uppermost corner docking arm, near the final airlock that would join ship to shore. He was far enough away that Steven couldn't see the starship he had brought him to from his position further down. All he could see was the side of a larger salvage ship, one that had taken a fair amount of damage during the battle against the Tetron, and had somehow managed to make it back to port alive. There were crews in exo-suits hovering around the outside of it, welding metal plates back on and working to re-pressurize parts of the ship punctured during the fighting.

"That's our signal," Cormac said, shouldering the pack he had organized in the ten minutes since he had insisted on joining Steven on the mission.
 

Steven wasn't sure what was in it. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Guns, grenades, and what else? Mitchell had told him enough about the one he called Firedog that he was a little uncomfortable in the man's presence. The mask had made him even less comfortable.

Cormac started forward. Steven and John trailed behind him, keeping their heads down and trying to look inconspicuous to the few technicians coming and going from the salvager. They had their own work to do, so they didn't pay the three of them too much mind.

As they moved down the corridor, the sight of the salvager gave way to another ship, the one that Germaine wanted them to take. The first thing Steven noticed about it was the overall size. It was tiny. He couldn't believe someone had slipped hyperspace engines onto something so small. The second thing he noticed was that it was ugly. Fins and short wings poked out from all over the place, as though it had been stapled together from a hundred different atmospheric fighters.

"The Lanning," Germaine said as Steven reached him. "Mr. Tio's personal starship."

"You want us to go in this?" John asked.

Germaine laughed. "Look, it has a couple of guns hidden in the belly, and it's maneuverable as hell, but it isn't much use to the overall war effort. Isn't that what you were looking for, Admiral?"

Steven nodded. "Yes. I just wasn't expecting something this size. I didn't even know you could make a hyperspace capable ship like this. Well, other than Mitchell's fighter, but that was built by a Tetron."

"It's a little cozy, I agree. We'll just have to become good friends."

"I've got some porno streams we can watch," Cormac said. "Digger had a portable player and a partition on the data store. What's your flavor, Admiral?"

Steven glanced over at Cormac. The soldier shrank back.

"Oh, damn. You have the same evil eye as your brother. It must run in the family. I take it you're married, sir?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't watch that trash if I wasn't," Steven said.

Cormac put up his hand. "Okay, no worries, sir. I brought a pair of goggles." He looked at the others. "Just let me know if you want to borrow. Or you can share one side. I can't use it anyway." He laughed at himself.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Steven said. "It's a wonder Mitch hasn't figured out I'm gone yet."

"Right this way, Admiral," Germaine said, leading them onto the Lanning. Besides the two pilot seats, there was room for two more, along with a pisspot and small sleeping area in the back.

"This isn't cozy," Firedog said. "This is a frigging coffin."

Steven looked at him. His face had gone pale, and he was looking towards the airlock.

"Are you okay, Cormac?" he asked.

Cormac was shaking now. "I don't like small spaces, sir."

"You can back out," Germaine said. "Just keep your mouth shut."

Cormac took a step towards the hatch. Then he paused, clenching his eye shut. "Frig it all. No. I'm staying. Mitchell would want me to keep you alive, sir."

"You sure, Firedog?" Germaine asked.

"Yeah. Just close me in. I'll be over here." He sat in the second row of seats and closed his eye. His hands clenched the strap of his duffel, knuckles white.

Germaine took the pilot seat, while Steven sat next to him, leaving John with Cormac.
 

"I wish I'd brought a change of clothes," Steven said. "I didn't realize I'd be on a ship without any laundering."

"Been a while since you roughed it, Admiral?" Germaine said.

"I never piloted a drop. My Academy scores were at the top of my class, and I got bumped to commanding a cruiser six months out. I've never seen a fight from anything smaller than that."

Germaine laughed. "You're a lucky son of a bitch, aren't you?"

"I worked my ass off."

"Didn't mean to offend, Admiral."

"Call me Steven. I'm pretty much due for a court-martial if I go back to the Alliance before the Tetron are gone, and the rank doesn't mean a thing out here."

"True enough, Steven," Germaine said. "Let's get the show on the road." He pressed a button on the cockpit, opening a channel to Control. "Control, this is Germaine. I'm in the Lanning. Going to move it into the secondary Hangar for a retrofit. Digger thinks he can sling a laser cannon to the top of her."

"Germaine, this is Fiona. You know Mr. Tio wouldn't be happy with you messing with the Lanning."

"Mr. Tio isn't here, and we need all the firepower we can get. Come on, Fi."

Steven assumed he was speaking to the woman with the gray hair. She sounded tired.

"Fine," she said, sighing. "If he makes it back, this is on you."

"Roger."