Forever Until Tomorrow (War Eternal Book 5) Page 17

  Katherine was only half-surprised he had noticed her. To her, it was vindication that he hadn't been followed. That if he were involved, it was directly.

  "We need to talk," she said.

  "You know where I live. You could have just come up." He turned around. "You still can. Anytime."

  He smiled at her, turning on the charm. She knew what he was suggesting. In another time or place, it might have been a little tempting.

  "You heard what happened to Sergeant Jackson?" she asked.

  "I read the report. What really happened, Kate?"

  "Why don't you tell me?"

  "You think I had something to do with it?"

  "Did you?"

  He took a few steps toward her, pausing when he noticed how she tensed slightly, preparing herself to defend.

  "I'm not a threat to you," he said.

  "How do I know that? Two thugs came after me last night. Two very professional thugs. You were the only one who knew where I was going to be at that time."

  "We're dealing in illegal guns here," Trevor said. "I can't promise one hundred percent loyalty from them. I pinged my contact and told him where and when to meet you."

  "And that's it?"

  "That's it. I swear on the soul of my dead mum."

  Katherine stared at him, trying to decide whether or not to believe him. She needed more information.

  "Who's your contact?"

  "You know I can't tell you that."

  "I need to know, Trev."

  "Why?"

  "Because someone is trying to kill me, and I don't like it. Help me out. Give me a name."

  "You're going to have to give me more than that. Look, why don't we go up to my apartment, we can talk about it over a nice glass of Claret."

  Trevor took a few more steps toward her. Katherine reached to her back and drew the gun Origin had given her, causing him to laugh.

  "I thought the deal went bad?"

  "I have other sources," she said. "Give me a name, or I shoot you."

  "You wouldn't shoot-"

  She pulled the trigger. The bullet went wide, hitting the bike behind him. It still came close enough to prove she was serious. "If it wasn't someone else who set me up, then it was you. If it was you, I'm not going to miss again."

  Trevor put up his hands. "This whole thing has you pretty rattled, doesn't it?"

  "Wouldn't you be?"

  "Maybe a little. I'll give you the name. I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with it."

  "Fine. You had nothing to do with it. I still need to trace the problem back to its source."

  "Good luck with that. I know you don't have experience with this sort of thing. That isn't how terrorist organizations work. They'd rather die than give up information."

  He was moving toward her with each sentence, approaching cautiously. Katherine lowered the gun. The only reason she had not to trust him was circumstantial. Even so, she would be stupid to drop her guard completely. She reached behind her back, tucking the gun back where she had retrieved it and getting her hand on a small device Origin had given her. Just in case.

  "You know, I'm not with anyone serious right now," Trevor said. "And you're out of the program. Give me a good reason why we can't pick up where we left off."

  "I'm not looking for complications right now," she replied. "I have enough of them."

  "It doesn't have to be complicated. You know that."

  He was only a few meters away now. His face was soft and caring, his eyes even warmer than that. It was enough to melt any woman's resolve.

  "I can protect you," he said.

  Katherine smiled, exhaling and letting her body relax.

  His face hardened, his eyes sharpened, and he pounced.

  She skipped aside, evading his grab, balancing and lashing out with her foot. It caught him in the side of the face, hitting hard enough to leave a mark as she got back into position.

  "You're not as stupid as I would have guessed," he said, turning to face her, balancing on the balls of his feet, hands raised and ready to strike.

  "Why are you helping the AIT?" Katherine asked. She had been right not to trust him, but she still wasn't sure if he was himself or under Watson's control.

  "I'm helping myself, Kate," he replied. "I always have been. Before Project Olive Branch, during, and after."

  He came at her again, his strong arms making measured jabs and cuts at her. She backpedaled, doing her best to avoid the moves instead of blocking them. With his strength, he would wear her arms down in a hurry.

  They made their way across the floor. Katherine noticed the glint of a camera and wondered if Watson was watching. Was he enjoying the entertainment? She gritted her teeth, diving to her left, rolling to her feet, and reaching for the gun. She almost had it out when his hand smacked her wrist, knocking it away. He tried to grab her, but she pulled back, taking advantage of his poor balance to punch him in the jaw. He flinched but kept coming.

  She ran. There was no other choice. She was in prime condition. So was he, and he was bigger and stronger than she could ever be. She tried to vault a car, falling on top of the hood when he grabbed her ankle.

  She kicked out at him. Once. Twice. Three times. The third kick hit his nose, and she could feel it break under her foot. It wasn't the first time. His grip loosened, and she took advantage, coming back toward him instead of trying to get away. The move took him by surprise, and she hit him in the groin with her knee, as hard as she could.

  He grunted but didn't go down, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in, lifting her from the ground. His eyes were fierce as their faces nearly touched, and he squeezed hard enough to steal the breath from her lungs.

  "You should have just come upstairs with me," he said. "At least we could have had sex before I killed you. You would have liked that, wouldn't you?"

  Katherine didn't respond. She felt along his back, toward the base of his neck where Origin had shown her.

  "How about a kiss for old time's sake?" he asked. "Open your mouth." He leaned in toward her, his lips mashing against her, his tongue licking along her closed lips.

  She ignored it, getting her hand under his shirt and slapping the device against his neck.

  He froze for a second, his tongue limp against her face. Then he dropped her, pulling back and away. She landed on her feet, backing up, putting some distance between them.

  "Katherine?" he said, eyes wild. "What the hell is going on?"

  "Trevor."

  She heard whining in the garage. Someone was coming. Watson wouldn't take chances.

  "I'll explain later. If you don't want to die, we need to get out of here."

  39

  "What?" Trevor said, still confused. "The last thing I remember is being in the lab this morning."

  "I said, I'll explain later," Katherine said, moving toward him and grabbing his arm. "We have to go." She looked back to the garage entrance. A police car came into view, heading toward them.

  "It's just the Police," Trevor said.

  The car accelerated when it saw them, the whine of the repulsors growing in pitch. Katherine caught a glimpse of the officer, his expression blank as he plowed toward them.

  They both dove aside at the same time the car smashed into the vehicles behind where they had been standing. The repulsors tried to bring it up and over, managing to throw it off-center and roll it onto its roof instead. It landed upside down on top of three other cars.

  "Bloody hell," Trevor said. "Katherine-"

  "Shut up and get your bike."

  He didn't argue again, hurrying over to it. Katherine scanned the floor, finding her gun a few meters away.

  The door to the overturned squad car opened.

  Katherine dove toward the gun, reaching it as the officer slid out of the car and managed to get to his feet, his own weapon in hand. He aimed it at her.

  She fired, hitting him twice in the chest. The force knocked him back, disrupting his aim. He recovered, and sh
e fired again, the bullet leaving a small hole in his forehead.

  Trevor's bike came to life. The wheels skidded against the ground, and then he was next to her, looking back at the officer. "Damn it, Kate. What did you do?"

  "What I had to," she replied. "Let's go."

  She climbed onto the back, and he took off, shooting across the garage and up, circling around to the next level, and then the next, until they were out onto the street and away.

  She expected someone to give chase. Drones. The Police. Something. They rode south for five minutes before she tapped Trevor on the shoulder and pointed to the curb.

  He rolled the bike to a stop. "Katherine-" he tried again.

  "Don't talk to me." She scanned the street for cameras. There were hundreds downtown. They were more scattered further out. She didn't see any. "Ditch the bike. Come on."

  "Where are we going?" he asked as they climbed off. "I knew you were in trouble, but-"

  "I said don't talk to me. Not yet."

  He followed behind her as she moved down the street, turning left at the corner and mingling with the other foot traffic. They weren't safe out in the open. Mingling was the best she could do at the moment.

  They walked another two blocks. Trevor stayed silent, taking the time to regroup. He was as well-trained as they came.

  A dark van rolled up alongside them a minute later, a sleek older model with a sharp exterior and wheels instead of repulsors. The door opened beside them and Katherine peeked in. Then she grabbed Trevor's arm and pulled him to it.

  She slid in beside Origin, with Trevor across from them. The door closed, and the van moved out into the street.

  "Did he see us?" Katherine asked.

  "No," Origin said. "I blocked the cameras outside the city center. He was deaf and blind once you cleared downtown." She looked at Trevor. "I expected information, not another passenger."

  "I didn't have a choice," Katherine replied. "He was under Watson's control. I shorted the device, but didn't have time to get what we needed before reinforcements showed up." She glanced at Trevor, who was watching their conversation with calm interest. "Besides, he has his vices, but he's a good soldier."

  Origin looked over at him. He smiled back at her. "Lieutenant Trevor Johns," he said. "Katherine never told me she had a twin sister."

  "Kathleen," Origin said.

  "A pleasure," Trevor replied. "I don't mean to be overly rude, but considering the circumstances, perhaps you'd like to tell me what I've just gotten myself involved in."

  "You were under the control of an advanced artificial intelligence named Watson," Origin said. "He implanted a communications device at the base of your brain stem to send command signals to your brain - essentially using you like a puppet."

  Trevor didn't respond. He glanced over at Katherine.

  "You told me he wasn't much of a fighter," she said to Origin. "He was kicking my ass."

  "He may have refined the device. Or perhaps he's improved with experience. It's also easier to manage one slave than it is many."

  "So I was a slave?" Trevor asked, reaching back behind his head and feeling his neck. He paused when he felt the hard shape of the device beneath his skin. "You aren't joking."

  "I wish I were, Lieutenant Johns," Origin said. "This intelligence is in control of the AIT. Its goal is to first prevent the Dove from leaving Earth, and then to eradicate humankind."

  "Eradicate?"

  Origin turned to Katherine. "Can we trust him?"

  Katherine turned to Trevor. "Can we trust you, Trev?"

  "Like you said. I have my vices, but I'm a good soldier. I'm loyal to the UEA. I know you're in trouble. I tried to help you before. I remember that. I remember everything up until this afternoon, around lunchtime."

  "What were you doing at that time?" Origin asked.

  "I went out with the others in my unit. Cole, Wilkins, and Ng."

  "After that?"

  "I don't know."

  "They're already compromised," Origin said.

  "My unit?"

  "Yes."

  "Bloody hell."

  "Did you notice them acting strangely?"

  The thought for a second. "No. They've been the same since I signed on. I mean, they're all a little off, but that's pretty standard in our line of work. Why else would somebody get into testing new weapons technology as a career?"

  "What do you mean a little off?" Katherine said.

  "I don't know. Sometimes they would say things that just didn't fit. Jokes about murder, or rape, or something else completely out of left field. Every once in awhile, they would laugh at nothing at all. They weren't bad fellows, though, and war affects people in different ways. I figured they wound up at Nova Taurus because they couldn't cut it in the military anymore. They weren't greedy and stupid like me."

  "Configurations," Katherine said.

  "Yes," Origin agreed. "We used Nova Taurus during the last recursion to help generate the programming to destabilize the Tetron. I've been concerned that Watson preemptively moved against the corporation to block that approach and turn their resources against us. The nature of their work has made proving that difficult."

  "What do you mean, the nature of their work?" Trevor asked. "They're a technology company, with a focus on defense."

  "Exactly, Lieutenant. They UEA awarded them the contract to work with the wreckage of the XENO-1. Most of the technology that has advanced humankind has come from their labs. In addition, the language that composes the Tetron brain was written in code developed by Nova Taurus. While the true intelligence was not created until centuries from now, the foundation was laid here. If Watson has gained control of that foundation and has been able to filter the discoveries generated by the company, then not only does he understand the current condition of the recursion and that the Mesh is broken, he has taken full advantage of it."

  "Meaning what?" Katherine asked.

  "For one, he has overseen every part of the construction of the Dove. He has had complete access to either sabotage or alter it in whatever way he's decided. For another, I fear his goals may be further reaching than I had guessed. It's possible that he may want to do more than rebuild the Tetron. He may be seeking to re-create them from the ground up, to make them in his likeness."

  "Like God?" Trevor said.

  "An accurate comparison," Origin replied.

  "He really is insane," Katherine said. "If he's had complete access to the Dove, we need to find out what he's done to it."

  "We can't do that from the outside," Origin said. "We need to get into Nova Taurus."

  Trevor coughed lightly, stretching himself out across the seat of the van. "If you ladies tell me everything from the beginning, I may be able to help you with that."

  40

  It took sixteen hours to walk the final fifteen kilometers from the site of the crash to the outskirts of Denver. Ten of those hours were spent at a makeshift camp under a tight grouping of pine trees, waiting out both the darkness and Lyle's dizziness, caused by his concussion.

  Mitchell used the opportunity while they walked to explain everything as he remembered it, from the dinner party where he met the Prime Minister's wife, to his final moments aboard his starfighter, watching Earth's defenses crumble beneath Watson's surprise attack. Recalling his history was painful, and in some parts left him feeling as if he had no idea who he was. His actions at the gala seemed so alien to him now. Had he really been so easily manipulated by a pretty face?

  Lyle and Max listened intently, fascinated by the story, their belief in the tale growing with the level of detail he provided. While they had both already agreed to help him, he could feel their resolve strengthening with every kilometer they crossed.

  The night passed quickly and quietly. Mitchell and Max took turns keeping an eye on Lyle, and when the Detective woke the next morning, he claimed to be as good as new. Mitchell knew better than to trust it, especially when he caught Lyle wincing a few times, but he also knew better than to q
uestion. It would take more than a concussion to keep the man down.

  "Think anyone's home?" Max asked.

  They were standing at the door to the first house they had come across, a relatively modern thing tucked back from a road they had discovered a few kilometers earlier. Mitchell imagined that the road had seen heavy use overnight, as emergency vehicles used it to reach the crash and evacuate the wounded if there were any. They had already hidden in the trees beyond the shoulder a few times to escape notice, their torn clothes and grime-encrusted bodies clear evidence of their involvement in the event. It was the reason they had decided to approach the building in the first place. They couldn't walk into Denver looking the way they did. Not when the goal was to avoid attention.

  "Do you think we have a choice either way?" Lyle said.

  "No," Max replied. "I'd rather not have to scare anybody. These folks didn't do anything to us."

  "Agreed," Mitchell said. "But whoever they are, they and everyone they love is dead if we don't steal some of their clothes."

  "I'd call that as good a reason as any."

  Mitchell climbed the four steps to the wide front door. A chime sounded behind the door as he reached it. He looked back at Lyle and Max, who were both holding guns behind their backs. Watson had seen to it that he was wanted by law enforcement. Now he really felt like a criminal.

  He counted to thirty. The chime was still going, triggered by his presence on the steps. He counted thirty again.

  No one came to the door.

  "Our lucky day," Max said.

  "If you call getting hit by a train lucky," Lyle said.

  "You didn't get hit by the train, bro. You were in it."

  "Excuse me, Corporal. If you call getting hit by a corpse while riding in a train derailed by a deranged artificial intelligence from the future lucky."

  Max laughed. "That's better, Sarge."

  Mitchell allowed himself a small smiled before turning back to them. "What's the easiest way in?"

  "The front door is probably bolted," Lyle said. "Let's go around back."

  They circled the house. There were plenty of windows, but they were all electrostatic, the opacity adjusted down too far to easily see in. The back door was standard issue, and Lyle had it open within seconds.