Read Online Point of Origin (War Eternal Book 4) by M. R. Forbes - Free Book Online Page A

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."
    There was a bang and a hiss, and then the ship began floating out from the side of the docking arm. Steven couldn't believe it had been so easy to get the ship away though he knew it would have been much harder with the jumpship.
    "She's going to chew me out in about five seconds," Germaine said, using the stick to fire vectoring thrusters, turning the Lanning to face the exit.
    "Germaine? What kind of game are you playing?" Fiona's voice was high-pitched and angry. "You cocky son of a whore, get the frig back in position."
    Germaine added forward thrust, maneuvering the smaller ship around larger vessels that were waiting in the cavern for a spot on the docks. He looked over at Steven, smiling.
    "Germaine? Where the frig do you think you're going?"
    "Sorry, Fi. I've got Admiral Steven Williams on board. He ordered me to leave Asimov." Steven glared at him. Germaine shrugged, still smiling. "Tell Colonel Williams that we're going to retrieve the prize. He'll know what that means."
    "Tell him to plan accordingly," Steven said. "We'll get a message back to these coordinates, tee ten at two point seven. He'll know what that means. Oh, and tell him I don't care what he thinks. Dawn was pretty." He felt his heart lurch as he realized he might not see his brother again. "And tell him I love him, and I'm proud of him, and to stay strong."
    "Riiigg-ahh," Cormac shouted from the back.
    "Riiigg-ahh," they all replied.
    Germaine pushed the thrusters harder, the ship accelerating into the narrow passage out into space.  
    "Coordinates?" he asked.
    Steven fed them to him, and he entered them into the computer. The system was manual, and Germaine had to do some of the calculations himself. He didn't miss a beat.
    "You okay back there, Firedog?" Germaine asked.
    "Frig you," Cormac replied.
    "I don't go that way."
    The Lanning kept accelerating, moving through the tunnels at a ridiculous velocity, Germaine deftly steering them around the rest of the traffic. Within minutes, they were out, blasting away from the rock into the blackness of space beyond.
    "Last chance to change your mind," Germaine said.
    "Not on your life," Steven replied. "Let's go."
    Germaine froze the thrusters, switching to the hyperspace engine. It whined slightly behind them. He hit the cockpit's control panel.
    Black collapsed into white, and the Lanning disappeared.

13

    "I think that's it," Digger said.
    "This was a lot more work than I expected," Mitchell replied. He was wearing light exo, having gone back up to mechanical to retrieve it and using it to lift and load the heavy equipment onto a Mule.
    It had been almost four hours since he had left Steven in Tio's house. He had been distracted by the work he was doing with Digger, the simple manual nature of it a much-needed distraction from recent events. He lost himself in the step-by-step deconstruction of the pieces Digger wanted to bring with them, and hadn't even noticed how much time had passed until they had gotten the DNA sequencer onto the Mule.
    He knew he needed to get back and check in. Steven would be wondering what had happened to him.
    Of course, now that he was finished with the work and his mind wasn't so distracted, all he felt was exhausted. He had originally intended to get an hour or two of rest, but that hadn't worked out. It was too hard for him to let go when there was so much to be done, and so little time to do it.
    "You really think this will help?" Mitchell asked.
    "Jameson told me this was what he would grab if he were me," Digger said. "I'll need to talk to your brother about his doctor, too."
    "He's over at Tio's. I need to run