The Phoenix Conspiracy (10 page)

"Lieutenant Commander," said Summers,
both liking and hating the fact she outranked him. "That's off
mission."

"I realize that, Commander. But thanks
for pointing it out," Calvin walked toward his office,
dismissively.

"Sir, with all due respect," said
Summers. "You owe us an explanation."

"No I don't, I'm the
captain."

How
dare
he dismiss her like she was just
some trophy 'officer' and not the XO! "We need to be hunting down
Raidan. If this trip is on mission then I need to know your latest
Intel, and you need to make a report. But if it's off mission then
it violates statute 36-C. Which more or less states,
nothing trumps the assigned
mission
."

"Almost nothing."

"Is this a life-or-death
emergency?"

"Maybe," Calvin shrugged. "I really
don't know."

"What do you mean you
don't
know
? Breaking mission like this is a
serious offense."

"Can't you put the rulebook away for
two minutes, Summers?" Miles spoke up.

"Stay out of this,
Second Lieutenant
," she
snapped at the defense officer. It was bad enough from the CO, but
she definitely wouldn't take sass from him.

Miles muttered something under his
breath that sounded like a pejorative. Very disrespectful. Calvin
really didn't know how to keep his crew on a leash.

"Lieutenant Commander," said
Summers. "We can't afford to give Raidan any more of a head start
than he already has." She wasn't about to let Raidan slip through
her fingers because Calvin wanted to make a tourist stop in the Tau
System. And if he had a good reason to go there, some kind of new
Intel—which he probably did—she wasn't about to be left in the
dark. Not again.
Never
again
.

"Summers, Raidan is long gone from
Aleator anyway. We'll go there and search for clues, hoping we get
lucky. But by now it makes almost no difference when we get there."
He shrugged and reached his office, pausing to turn around and
address the helmsman.

"Let me know the minute we arrive at
the station." Even though his words were directed at Sarah, his
eyes were locked with Summers’. "And, Sarah, don't let anything
less than rockets from an enemy warship slow us down or change our
course.” He smiled cautiously. "And from now on, all flight paths
must be approved by me. Standing orders."

"Understood," the helmsman said.
Calvin nodded and disappeared into his office.

Summers stored this away in her mind,
adding it to the running tally of things she would include in her
first report. Admiral Harkov would not be pleased.

Chapter 8

Calvin stepped through the jetway and
into Terminal B of the Tau outpost. He staved off thoughts of
breaking free and blowing into space but he didn't feel safe again
until his feet were firmly on the spaceport's ground and the
airlock had sealed behind him.

"Welcome aboard, sir," a worker said
and two guards saluted. Calvin wasn't in uniform but they knew a
military ship had docked.

"Thank you," Calvin saluted
back. "
Eric
," he
read the name on the worker's lapel. "What is the fastest way to
the main concourse?"

"It's all around you, but most
everything is down that corridor and to the right," he pointed.
"Can't miss the big room."

"Thanks," Calvin started walking away
but turned back for a second. "Say, have you had any VIP's on the
station in the last day or two?"

"Well there's the command staff and
some execs from a few corporations. But nothing too special. Why,
should we be expecting someone?"

"No," he paused. "I was just
wondering what kind of traffic you get out here in the Hyperion
Cluster." With a polite nod, Calvin walked away not surprised the
princess had kept her presence a secret. But again wondered
Why?

The security checkpoint was much
simpler than most starports. A mining colony this far out of the
way didn't see much traffic and rarely saw anyone outside of
routine visits from commercial freighters and the occasional
transport. The officers on duty were chatty and curious. Calvin
made up a story about how he was there on pleasure instead of
business, and how he was "in the neighborhood" and mostly wanted to
get a look at the place since his nephew was planning to move there
for a business venture. A lame story that could be easily
falsified, but it was the best he could invent on the spot. And the
officers seemed to believe it. Had he worn his black-and-silver
uniform they would’ve certainly had more questions.

The station's main corridor was
narrower than most and it felt more like a starship than an
outpost. When he reached the plaza, which had maybe a dozen people
in it, he took a seat in the center and waited, thinking that was
all he could do. He'd give it about ten minutes and if the princess
didn't contact him, he'd leave. Sitting around and waiting to be
surprised made him feel vulnerable. Especially since he was exposed
to the whole room.

Not more than two minutes later, he
felt something metal press against his back and a gravelly voice
whisper, "Stand up and don't make any sudden movements."

"
Okay
..,” said Calvin, feeling his
heart quicken. He rose slowly.

"And don't say anything," the stranger
said. "Just walk down the corridor to your left and turn right at
the first door. It will be locked. Knock four times. You will be
asked to give a password, the password is your name."

"The phrase 'your name', or my actual
name?"

The pressure against his back
disappeared. Calvin whirled to face the perpetrator but no one was
there, and no one could be seen running away. The plaza looked
normal and no one was within fifty feet of him. But a fresh scuff
on the polished floor proved someone had been there.

OK... down the corridor and to the
right. He cautiously made his way, checking only briefly to see if
anyone was watching him. A few people looked his way but they
seemed disinterested. Most people in the plaza were engaged in
conversation, going somewhere, or otherwise occupied. And none
seemed to have reacted to the mysterious person who'd spoken with
Calvin a moment before. Or, if they had noticed, they didn't show
any sign of interest.

Once he got to the door, he rapped on
it four times and waited.

A panel slid aside. "What do you
want?"

Calvin wondered if that was some
cryptic way of asking for a password. He decided it wouldn't hurt
to try. "Calvin Cross."

"You want Calvin Cross."

"Well who doesn't?” he asked. Not sure
what to do next.

The door slid open and he was hustled
inside. He resisted, out of instinct, but at least two pairs of
arms grabbed his biceps and pulled him in. He caught his balance
just as the door shut behind him. They patted him down for weapons
then let go and the lights snapped on, forcing him to
squint.

"Sorry to put you through all of this,
Calvin," Princess Kalila said. He looked at her, feeling
overwhelmed by her presence. She had to look up at him, since she
was about six inches shorter, but her aura of authority made him
feel like an ant before her. But, a little more prepared for this
encounter than the last one, he refused to be intimidated. Then he
remembered that on a whim she could do anything from grant him
titles and estates to have him secretly executed.

"I'm sure you understand, though, that
it was necessary," she continued. "We have a delicate situation
here. And one I expect your help with. The Empire needs you and so
do I."

"I'm flattered, your majesty. But I'm
also confused."

She flashed him a smile of pearly
teeth. She was vibrant. "I do not want to get into all the details
of why I am here and why I had to put you through such extreme
measures to speak with me. But understand I went through all this
effort for good reason."

He didn't interrupt her and
instead let his mind try to process this new information. Wondering
most of all
why him
? They'd never met before. And, aside from his medals, he was
just another pawn in the Imperial warmachine. She had commodores
and admirals in her delicate hands, what made him so
interesting?

"This is a matter of internal security
and the threat we're dealing with is, potentially, the deadliest
and most dangerous in our history."

Calvin raised his eyebrows.
"Well that sounds
wonderful
..."

"You tracked down Asari Raidan the
first time, when he and the Phoenix disappeared. And now they are
sending you to find him again. What you don't know is that when
Asari Raidan attacked the Rotham convoy, his motives went deeper
than the findings of the tribunal on Praxis One."

Calvin knew that already. But he
wasn't going to contradict her.

"Fleet Command is giving an unusual
amount of attention to this case, and they want Asari caught and
executed as soon as possible. They want him out of the way badly,
enough that tomorrow you'll be given the order to shoot him on
sight."

"What?" he couldn't help himself. "How
could you possibly know that?" He searched her eyes but she seemed
used to such probing and revealed nothing.

"The Admiralty is already discussing
that option," the princess said. "I'm certain they will approve it
when they meet again in twelve hours."

"A shoot on sight would be suicide.
The Nighthawk might be able to disable the Harbinger but that's a
best case scenario, there's no way we could take it on directly.
Even if we had the element of surprise and never missed a shot,
we’d be shredded to dust!"

"But if you did manage to
cripple the Harbinger's engines, Raidan would be a sitting duck.
And if the Harbinger destroyed an Imperial vessel, say
yours
, that would be good
enough to get other fleets involved and take it out, no questions
asked."

"I get the picture. And for some
reason you don't want that. You want Raidan to live."

"Maybe, maybe not. We want you to find
him, track him down, and figure out what his next move is. He's
part of something big and we need to know more about it. Finding
him is the key."

"I'm already trying to find
him."

"And when you do, we want you not to
shoot him. And delay reporting his whereabouts to the
Fleet."

"And, if you don't mind me
asking, just who is
we
?"

"I'm not at liberty to
say."

"So," said Calvin, trying to be
polite. "Why don't you put in an order with Intel Wing? Or give an
executive order to Fleet Command?"

"I can't get into that, Calvin. But
the threat I'm talking about goes deep into the Empire, and we're
still sorting out who can and can't be trusted."

"And apparently I'm on the
can-be-trusted list."

"Mostly because we have to
trust
someone
.
You're in a unique position; you can act where we cannot. You're
not being watched as closely, and you won't draw any suspicion.
You're
supposed
to
be hunting down Captain Asari, so pursuing him won't be seen as
unusual by anyone. And your ship has the kind of capabilities we
may need. All we're really asking is that when you find him, let us
know, and don't engage him. Find out what you can, who he’s working
for, what are his goals, anything, everything. Then we'll give you
further instructions."

Calvin let out a slow breath. "You
know other ships can do everything my ship can."

"But those ships don't have you." She
said softly, stepping closer, touching his hand very briefly. It
was enough to put him in shock and he felt his innards melt. Did
Princess Kalila really just touch his hand? Wait a minute... she
was manipulating him... she was using her beauty and status to
throw him off guard. Unfortunately, even though he was aware of it,
she had such an effect on him that he was helpless to avoid being
psychologically reeled in.

"You've spent your life out of sight
and out of reach of these threatening interests. And," she came
closer catching him by the wrist as he took an involuntary step
backwards. He looked at the floor but she lifted his chin so she
could stare into him with her dark eyes. "I think you are a loyal
subject of the Empire. Am I wrong about that?" She let him
go.

"No, you're right about
that."

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't
trust you?"

"No," said Calvin. "Is there any
reason why I shouldn't trust you?"

She smirked. "I like you. But I'm not
naive enough to think that's reason enough for you to do what I
want. I'll tell you what. Track down Asari, find out what he's up
to, and there just might be full citizenship in it for
you."