The Phoenix Conspiracy (16 page)

"Lights," said Calvin and they snapped
on.

"Holy Pete's tap-dancing
sack of crap...
what in the name of a
Rotham's murderous red ass are you doing here at five in the
morning
?" his hoarse voice made him seem
even older than his fifty-five years.

"I see you're as charming as ever,
doctor," said Calvin.

"Is that Calvin?" Monte rubbed his
eyes and grabbed his glasses.

"The one and only."

"Well how about that...?" The doctor's
tone softened as his eyes adjusted and he went over to his tiny
kitchen. "You could have rang the chime, you know."

"You would've hated that even more."
Calvin noticed a stack of dirty magazines on the doctor's table. "I
see you've been keeping up on your reading."

The doctor came back with a steaming
coffee. "Oh give an old man a break."

"Old man? You're still in the prime of
your life."

"Tell that to my bad lung. I sucked
the prime of my life through a pipe long ago and now I'm an old
man," he wagged a finger at Calvin. "And it'll happen to
you."

Calvin nodded. "That's actually why
I'm here"

"You're finally seeing the light and
want to quit? Well thank god."

"Now, I didn't say that." Even the
thought of life without equarius gave him withdrawals.

"I should have known," the doctor
shook his head and sat down, motioning Calvin toward the other
chair which he declined.

"You know, Monte, I hope the Khans
don't catch you talking like that."

"Oh that reminds me, the Khans say the
price has gone up. I guess the police busted one of their rings so
it'll be harder to get stuff in."

"How much?"

"Up to 7q per gram."

"I'm good for the money." Calvin
shrugged.

"So I hear, bailed Miles out for what,
30,000?"

"You would've done the same thing for
me."

"But I couldn't afford it, not with my
debts. And not everyone makes a captain's paygrade, you
know."

"Yeah and not everyone gets a dealer's
paygrade. What are the Khans paying these days?"

"It's not as much as you might think
since the guys under me take more than their share without me to
keep an eye on ‘em. But... I could probably hook you up if you want
to deal."

"No chance. It's bad enough that I buy
the stuff."

"Whatever you say. So
why
are
you here?"
Monte took another sip.

"Oh right, ok, I had this bad
dream—"

"I'm fresh out of
nightlights."

"Very funny, mister desperate dirty
magazine."

"That's low, junior. I think the price
just went up to 11q per gram."

"
Anyway
... I woke up from this dream,
I don't even remember what it was, and I had this crazy feeling
that the whole world was spinning out of control. I don't know how
to describe it, like I knew I was in my room and everything was
fine but I couldn't block out the feeling that I was falling and
turning. It was horrible and I woke up all sweaty."

"Hmm..." the doctor rubbed his chin.
"How long before the feeling passed?"

"I don't know, thirty seconds
maybe."

"Was there any pain?"

"My head hurt really bad at first but
that went away."

"Any symptoms other than
dizziness?"

"Panic, I felt really panicked and all
my muscles were really stiff."

"Do you have any history with
vertigo?"

"No. Is that what it is?"

"Maybe. Or possibly an inner ear
infection. Did you use any equarius before bed?"

"Yes, but I've done that dozens of
times. Is there something I can take to counter it?"

"Drugs aren't that simple."

"Do you think that's what it
is?"

"Hard to say for now, but it's very
possible. I recommend you lay off it for awhile. Indefinitely if
possible."

"I'll tone it down."

"That stuff's gonna kill you, Calvin,"
he hesitated. "As your dealer I've always got more stuff for you...
but as your friend, I urge you to quit as soon as you
can."

Calvin nodded. "Thanks. And I will.
Just not yet."

"Now go see the medic out there and
have him check for an inner ear infection."

***

He'd almost reached deck five when a
scraping sound caught his attention. He let go of the ladder and
tracked it to the observation deck. From the other side of the door
the noise could be heard in intervals, softer now. Like tapping on
glass. He pressed his ear against the door but didn't hear it again
and wondered if it had been his imagination after all. He unlocked
the door with a command override on the panel and it whisked open
to show a dark empty room with huge windows showing off the black
void. Nothing stood out.

He stepped into the room anyway,
shouldering his rifle. "Lights," they snapped on and the door
closed behind him. In the far corner stood the missing lycan,
except now he looked perfectly human. Even the red of his eyes had
softened to a more normal grey and his brown hair and dark face
looked almost ordinary. But Calvin knew better.

"Ahh, captain, I hoped we could get a
chance to talk privately."

Calvin raised the rifle and pointed it
at the lycan, who bent—ready to spring. "Try it, captain, see what
happens."

Calvin hesitated. He doubted the
werewolf could dodge fast enough to prevent being hit—and Calvin
liked to think he was a pretty good shot, but what worried him was
that he couldn't fire enough bullets to drop the werewolf before
its claws were upon him. And if he didn't take him out, there'd be
no second chance.

So, with some regret, Calvin lowered
his rifle. "All right, let's talk."

The werewolf relaxed and stood up
straight like a common human. "Finally, some civility."

"What do you want?"

"I want to thank you for saving my
life," the werewolf said with a smile. Calvin wasn't sure what to
make of it. A ruse to throw him off guard? Or was his guest simply
crazy?

"You're welcome. Maybe you can
demonstrate your gratitude by going back to the brig. I know I'd
appreciate that."

"I didn't really care for those
accommodations, to tell you the truth."

"Escaping them was a mistake,
Lycan"

"How do you figure?"

"Every man and woman on this ship has
orders to shoot you on sight. Nowhere is safe for you."

"I don't know," he said coyly, "I've
been pretty safe so far." He flashed a bold smile. "The truth is,
you only found me because I wanted you to."

Calvin raised an eyebrow. "And why
would you want that?"

"I want a deal."

"You don't give me many reasons to
trust you, werewolf. Why'd you give me a fake name, for starters?
Mister John Johnson."

"I didn't want to come up on your
computers."

"Let me guess... shady history,
criminal background perhaps?" Calvin was not surprised.

"Something like that."

"Withholding information and lying to
me isn't a great start for someone who wants to cut a deal. So how
about we begin with your real name?"

"All right. It's
Tristan
."

"Tristan what?"

"That's it. Just Tristan."

"What are you wanted for,
Tristan?"

"Well it seems the municipal
government on Aros Five and I had something of a
disagreement."

"Aros... that's in Rotham
space?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't care about
that."

"What about the extradition
treaty?"

"What about it? I'm not going to pay
attention to that. Firstly because this is an intelligence ship,
secondly because Aros is a helluva long way from here, and lastly
because the treaty only applies to people."

"That's cold, captain. Why would you
say that?"

"I spent some time on the Trinity, the
details of which are none of your business."

"Oh the Strigoi attack," the werewolf
noted Calvin's surprise. "Yes I've heard of it. And your hatred for
Strigoi is justified, but I'm insulted that you hate me because
somehow you can't tell the difference between my people and theirs.
We're no more Strigoi than you are. Those blood-sucking, deceitful,
two-faced bastards. We share nothing in common with
them."

"Maybe," said Calvin, somewhat unsure
of himself. "But in a few hours it isn't going to
matter."

"And why is that?"

"I'm going to turn you over to either
the Imperial Fleet or the port authority, whichever is faster.
Whether or not they extradite you is up to them."

"Which brings us back to the deal I
want."

Calvin didn't trust the lycan enough
to make any kind of meaningful deal, but he would squeeze what he
could out of him. "OK, Tristan, you want a deal, I need a sign of
good faith. How about you tell me how you escaped the
brig."

"If you're good at cards, you know I
can't just tip my hand right away."

"Then why should I trust
you?"

"Because we have so much in
common."

"We have nothing in
common."

"Oh come on, captain, you think I
don't know you're a fatherless bastard just like me? I might not
know everything about you, but where I'm from the Cross clan is
well known. Lucky for you I don't care about petty
blood-feuds."

Calvin had no idea what
Tristan was talking about and he didn't want to think about it. He
didn't know much about his own father but it would fit his profile
to be involved in some
discreet
politics, even with werewolves. "Okay, you know my
family history. That still doesn't tell me who you are and what you
want out of this, Tristan."

"All in good time, captain,
that's our deal. I'll tell you anything you want to know,
quid-pro-quo
."

"And you get... what?"

"Freedom. I want to be set
free on Aleator, no questions asked, no records, no police
and
no
extradition."

Calvin's eyes narrowed. The werewolf
shouldn't know where they were going. "Why Aleator?"

"Isn't that where your ship is
ultimately headed? I think we both agree that the sooner I'm off
your ship the better."

"And no extradition? You know the
government on Aleator—if you can call it one—is neutral and they
don't have to honor the extradition treaty. They weren't even
invited to the signing."

"I'd rather not take that
chance."

"I see..." Calvin paused, then nodded
"Okay, we can work something out." It was a lie. There was no way
he would endanger that many lives by letting a werewolf run loose,
but he had to pretend he might—because he wanted the werewolf's
information. "But I want a few things up front."

"State your terms,
captain."

"I want you to go back to the brig
voluntarily, and I want your word you'll stay there until we
arrive. And that you'll not harm any more of my crew."

"Agreed," the werewolf
smiled. "And for the record,
I
didn't harm anyone."

Calvin felt a chill. "Hang on, I'm not
done," he said. "I want to know how you escaped, what happened to
the surveillance tape, and how the guards ended up in a containment
unit."

"Oh no, no, no, captain, that's asking
too much. All of that is my secret for now, but I promise you—the
moment you free me—I'll answer your questions. I'm a lycan not a
strigoi, my word is my bond. For now, though, I'll surrender
peacefully and go back to the brig, so long as I have your word
you'll let me go."

"Deal," said Calvin, making a mental
note to cancel the two-nineteen, "Now if you don't mind," he waved
his gun toward the door. "The brig is waiting."

***

"Approaching at sixty-thousand mc's
per second," said Sarah from the helm while adjusting her controls.
"Burners at five percent and holding."

The large red planet wasn't yet in
view through the windows and a projected image hovered over the
main display.

"That's good, thank you," said
Calvin.

"How long are we going to be at
Aleator?" asked Miles.

"Not a second longer than we have to."
Calvin turned to Sarah. "Contact the port authority, let them know
the package we discussed earlier has arrived."

"Yes, sir," she began speaking into
her headset.

Shen flipped his chair around from the
ops terminal. "Are you sure this is the best idea? I mean if he
could break free from our hold then he'll have no trouble giving
the Aleator people the slip. And this kind of betrayal might enrage
him, you know, provoke him into doing something deadly."