Point of Origin (War Eternal Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

Tio and Millie had created were floating in front of them. Mitchell navigated to the "Yes" folder and played the videos he found in there.
    "That's Katherine?" Steven asked.
    "Yes," Mitchell said, feeling a chill at the sight of her and Christine together. "And Christine. Origin."
    "She's very pretty. Not as pretty as Laura, but I can see why you're attracted to her."
    "It's not that kind of attraction," Mitchell said. "I mean, it is in part, but there's more to it than that. A lot more. Ever since M shot me, I've felt this connection to her, as though I know her intimately even though we've never met. It's like there's this thread that binds us across eternity."
    "I'm not used to you sounding so poetic," Steven said.
    "I'm still not used to feeling like this. When I met her representation in the Construct, I could barely think straight. I was so filled with excitement and joy and passion at the sight of her, even though I knew she wasn't real. All I wanted to do was put my arms around her, kiss her-"
    "I get it," Steven said. "You've always wanted to sleep with women you thought were attractive."
    Mitchell shook his head. "Stop being shallow, Steve. I told you this was different. A feeling I've never had before. I cared about Ella. I cared about Millie. I told them both I loved them. This was something else."
    "And all you wanted to do was have sex with her?"
    Mitchell clenched his fists in frustration. "I wanted to be close to her, to be near her, to just have her be right here." He held his arms tight across his chest. "It wasn't about sex; it was about that connection. As if I could make sense of it if we were together."
    Steven shrugged. "Okay, Super-casanova. The video shows the two of them together, buying a corporate access badge."
    "I assume the badge says Kathleen Amway on it," Mitchell said. "That's why Millie told me to remember the name."
    "So how do we search the system for the name?"
    "Tell the computer, I guess. Computer, search for Kathleen Amway."
    "Querying Kathleen Amway," the computer said.
    "This may take a while," Mitchell said. "I would guess this thing can multitask?"
    "It doesn't hurt to try."
    "Computer, plot the coordinates 16-28-47, 18-52-9," Mitchell said, the position a memory forever burned into his mind. "Estimate distance from Asimov."
    "Plotting coordinates," the system said. "Action complete."
    The star map appeared in front of them, showing Asimov on the left and the point in space on the right.
    "Ouch," Steven said. "Three weeks."
    "It's past the Rim, well into unexplored space," Mitchell said. "If it takes us that long to get something on Pulin, we've already lost. It's also going to put you almost three months behind the Tetron. What do you think Earth will look like by then?"
    Steven shook his head. He had been hopeful the location wouldn't be so far out. "We can't beat the Tetron as we are now. Does it matter what home will look like in that case?"
    "It's too far, Steven, and you know it. We should try to get a jump on Pulin and see if there's anything he can do. If we're still shit out of luck and totally out of options we can head out there."
    "You don't know how far getting to Pulin will carry you. We could end up doubling the travel time or more."
    "I know. I appreciate that you want to go there, but no. If you head that way, for that long, you'll never catch up. If you never catch up, it doesn't matter what you find because we won't be able to use it."
    Steven and Mitchell stared at one another. Steven knew he was right. There was no way they could stay in communication at that distance. Whatever was out there, it would have to wait.
    "Yeah, okay," Steven said. "Damn it."
    "Agreed." Mitchell squeezed Steven's shoulder. "Don't get down on me."
    "I'm okay."
    "Query complete," the computer said. "No results found."
    Mitchell felt his heart fall. That couldn't be right. Tio had one of the most complete data archives in the universe, and it didn't contain a single reference to Kathleen