Forever Until Tomorrow (War Eternal Book 5) (33 page)

Katherine stared at him. Then a smile began creeping across her face.
 

"May I come in?"

Yousefi took off his AR glasses and handed them to Katherine. "I've removed the device security so you can see what I was sent."

Katherine put Yousefi's glasses on. A translucent overlay appeared in the corner, and a thought turned the lenses opaque and moved it to the front of both eyes, enlarging it. Her message was at the top of a list of military communique that had been sent to the commander of the Dove. She couldn't help but notice that the one preceding it was from the General.

She focused on her message and opened it with a thought.
 

"Rear-Admiral Yousefi. I am called Origin. I do not have time to explain the fullness of my identity, and for that, I apologize. I am sending you this message because Major Katherine Asher is in need of your immediate assistance. I am including a data file stolen from the mainframe of the Nova Taurus Corporation. It contains evidence of a plot to sabotage the Dove on the day of her launch, as well as proof that Nova Taurus has been subverted by the head of the AIT. Please, Admiral, bring this information directly to Katherine. I have provided the coordinates. Do not trust anyone in the UEA with this information. The AIT's spies are everywhere. I understand you are risking your career if you do this. I also know the man that you are, as we have met before in a time that has not yet occurred. Your daughter's name will be Jala, and she will truly be a brightness."

Katherine reached up and lowered the glasses. Yousefi was staring at her with a look of concern. She raised them back to view the file.

It was a schematic, as Yousefi had said. A three-dimensional blueprint. The shape was vaguely that of a pyramid, though it was smaller than the ones she had seen in her dreams. Inside of it was a maze of wiring and pipes and other machinery, the makeup and purpose of which she didn't understand. The viewpoint began to shift, floating through the marks and lines, moving toward the center. There was an energy source there, a core that branched out into the structure like it were the center of a nervous system. A small, empty space sat beside it.

"Eternal engine," the label read, popping up and pointing to the space. More text appeared above it. "There are no Tetron energy condensers in this timeline. Watson requires the power of the eternal engine to begin true reproduction. He has yet to find where it was hidden on the Goliath. Mitchell has unlocked the secured message I left for him twenty years ago with your friend Michael's assistance. He will be there. Be cautious. Watson will follow one or both of you. You must protect one another, claim the engine, and keep it from his hands. It must be on the Dove when she launches, along with you and Mitchell."

"The war is not over, Katherine," Origin's voice said, following the text. "The Mesh has been broken. It is beginning anew."

The file closed, pushing her back to the list of messages. She took off the glasses. Michael was alive and with Mitchell? Maybe they had a chance after all.

"She didn't say how he's planning to sabotage the Dove," Katherine said, looking at Trevor. "She did confirm what he wants."

"To be God?" Trevor asked.

"Essentially." She looked at Yousefi. "Jala?"

He nodded. "Yes. We haven't told anyone the name, and yet this Origin knew it. She also mentioned a timeline. A time traveler?" He seemed more curious about the idea than fearful of it.

"In a sense, but not exactly. The important part is that she wasn't the only one, and the other is the head of the AIT, and pulling the strings within Nova Taurus."

"Nova Taurus? They have had access to all of our research for the last ten years."

"I know. I'm sorry you were dragged into this, sir, but Origin trusted you. She knows you'll do the right thing. So do I. She gave herself up to get this information to us. To get you to me, so that you can get me to the crash site."

"Watson is the leader of the AIT?"

"Yes."

"She said he will follow."

"He hasn't been able to locate the eternal engine inside the wreckage, whatever it is. He also knows that Origin wants us to put it on the Dove. He's counting on us finding it for him."

"And what happens when we do?"

"One of us will leave with the engine," Trevor said.

"And the other one will die," Katherine finished.

Yousefi pursed his lips and breathed out heavily. "I could be court-martialed for this."

"Sir, if we don't get the engine and keep it out of Watson's possession, if we don't ensure the Dove makes her launch, your little girl will never be born."

"Neither will billions of others," Trevor said, driving home the stakes.

Yousefi looked at both of them before nodding. "Okay. I can organize an emergency flight to Antarctica, but I can't keep it under the radar. If the AIT is as deep into the UEA as you think, they'll know our plans."

"Watson already knows our plans," Katherine said, finally beginning to pull the pieces together. "Except we won't be the only ones there."

"Mitchell?" Yousefi asked.

"Yes."

"Who is he?"

"The cat," Katherine said.

"What does that make us?"
 

"The cheese."

Katherine, Trevor, and Admiral Yousefi were back at Naval Station Norfolk inside of two hours. Her return to the base was being kept top secret, her civilian status in a restricted area impossible for even Yousefi to clear or resolve with Command. If General Petrov discovered she had been returned to the base, or to service, he would be sure to disband all of the Dove's inaugural flight crew in favor of one of the backup teams. Having Trevor with her would make things doubly worse.

She knew Yousefi was taking a massive risk in helping them. She was grateful for her superior's trust, and for his willingness to go against any number of rules and ordinances to make the trip happen. It had taken some work to get the base's only high-velocity delivery unit procured and ready for travel, and Yousefi had been forced to lie at a level she had never even known existed.
 

Landing at NSN, he had taken them from the runway in a tarp-covered transport, hiding them away in the back while asking the driver what he had seen.

"Nothing, sir," the Private had replied.
 

"Make sure it stays that way if you ever want to reach Sergeant," Yousefi had warned.
 

Then they had been led on foot through the bowels of the base, through passages buried below ground where the utility lines were run. It was cold and damp under there and left Katherine feeling cold and uncertain.
 

At least until they arrived inside the barracks proper.

A squad of five soldiers was waiting for them as they emerged, already suited up in winter fatigues and camouflaged powered armor. They snapped to attention at Yousefi's arrival, saluting as Katherine and Trevor entered behind him.

"Atten-shun," the soldier on the forward left said. "Admiral on the floor."

Katherine recognized each and every one of them. They were members of Project Olive Branch, each from a different nation and armed service. They were her friends and enemies, her competition for the spot on the Dove, the people that Yousefi trusted the most to follow his orders and otherwise say nothing.

"At ease," Yousefi said.
 

The armors shifted, the noise of it echoing in the room.
 

"I thought you would need backup," Yousefi said to her.

"We might, sir." She lowered her voice. "There's a good chance all of these people are going to die."

"That's part of being a soldier," Yousefi replied. "They're all volunteers, and I told them the odds are against us."

"Do they know what they're fighting?"

"Not completely. They know they're defending our future. That's what matters."

"Sir," a woman's voice said from behind them.
 

"Bonnie," Katherine said at the sight of her friend. She approached her, giving her a short hug. "It's good to see you.

"Katherine," Bonnie replied. "It hasn't been that long. Only a few days."

"It feels like forever," Katherine replied.
 

"Bonnie, what's our status?" Yousefi asked.

"I managed to get everything you asked for, and everyone I pulled it from swore to keep everything secret. No one is happy with the way the UEA bowed out to the terrorists, and they were all pretty willing to stick it to the AIT."

"Good. Captain Jackson, get the team onto the HVU. Katherine, Trevor, come with me."

"Yes, sir," Jackson said, spinning in his armor. "You heard the man."

The armors made the floor vibrate as they moved across the floor toward the exit. Bonnie brought them back to an empty secondary corridor to a small armory. Everything they needed to prepare for the cold Antarctic climate had already been arranged, including two suits of power armor.

"Where's yours?" Katherine asked Yousefi as she quickly changed from her simple black shirt and pants and into the insulated underclothes that would sit beneath her fatigues.

"Wow, Katherine," Trevor said. "What happened to your neck?"

Katherine had forgotten about the injury. She ran her hand across the wound. "Watson," she replied.

"I'll be piloting the HVU," Yousefi said. "I've never done power armor training, anyway."

That wasn't a surprise. The armor was relatively new, the artificial musculature a result of technology salvaged from XENO-1. Human technology, Katherine remembered. Everything started somewhere. She was glad she had done the training course. It hadn't been required, but she believed every skill she gained would find a use. Now that one had.

She finished with the fatigues, fitted and impervious to the cold. Then she stepped forward, turning and pushing herself up and back into the armor. Clasps closed over her wrists, ankles, chest and stomach, holding her in place. The reactor on her back pulsed softly. A helmet rounded out the uniform, but she left it sitting on the armor's left shoulder. She turned her wrists, checking the machine guns mounted against them. Two ammunition feeds trailed from the sides of the unit.

"What's the ETA on the site?" Trevor asked, already strapped into his own armor.

"Three hours," Yousefi replied. "Weather's a little testy down there right now, though. I'm not sure how close we'll be able to drop you."

"Did you say drop?" Katherine said, feeling a pit grow in her stomach. Half the reason she had never been shot down was because she hated the idea of falling.

"Sorry, Major. I know that's your weak spot. There's no other way."

"Don't worry, Kate," Trevor said. "It's not the fall that will kill you, you know."

"Do we have any idea what to expect from Watson?" Yousefi asked.

Katherine shook her head. "No. I imagine he'll keep his surprises to himself unless we find the engine."

"Don't you mean, until?" Trevor said. "You've got a long-term part to play in this little space opera."

"Funny, Trev," Katherine said. "We should hope we find it."

"If you two are dressed and ready?" Yousefi said.

"Sorry, sir," Katherine said. "I'm ready to go."

"Me too," Trevor said, shifting to flex the armor like a pro. "This is an older config, isn't it?"

"These are alternate manufacturer models," Yousefi said. "Standard suits are made by a Nova Taurus subsidiary. We had to pull these suits out of mothballs to get them ready. Unfortunately, we can't do much about the HVU. I had Clemens disable anything that would allow remote communication. As soon as we take off, it's the eight of us against whatever the AIT sends our way."

"Mitchell and Michael make ten," Katherine said.

"If they make it," Trevor said.
 

"They'll make it."

Ten against who knew how many.
 

Nobody said it was going to be easy.