The Phoenix Conspiracy (45 page)

"New position reached, answering all
stop," said Sarah.

"What are the ships doing?" asked
Calvin.

"Holding pattern. No one is moving
except for the ship in standard orbit."

"Now that we have a better view,
project everything we can see."

The projector lit up with simple
three-dimensional models of a basic planet, an orbiting outpost, a
ship in orbit, and five other ships all around the Nighthawk,
sitting idle.

"An entire alien squadron…” said
Calvin.

"Looks like it."

"Tell me about the unusual ship." He
rubbed his hands together.

"It's a cruiser," said Miles.
"Polarian..."

Calvin felt a potent wave of
both intrigue and dread. "The
Polarians
are here?"

"Or a ship that once belonged to
them," said Shen.

"Could they be cooperating?" Calvin
asked. "Polarians and Rotham."

"They were at war five years ago,"
said Summers.

"It sounds more likely to me that the
Rotham captured or purchased a Polarian ship, maybe as far back as
during the war, and are using it here," said Shen.

"That would fit," said Miles. "The
Polarian ship looks like a Kesner type three cruiser, making it at
least ten years old. It could have easily been captured during the
war."

"Yeah that has to be it. The Rotham
acquired a Polarian ship. You know probability, the simpler the
explanation the more likely it is to be correct," said
Shen.

Calvin agreed, but wasn't closing the
book on it.

"Look at this," said Shen, staring at
his scanner. The projected display of the ships' positions blinked
once and then they all noticed one of the ships—the closest
one—move slowly their way.

"Do they see us?" asked
Sarah.

"I guess we'll find out in a minute,"
said Shen.

Calvin knew everyone was
thinking the same thing. If they
had
been detected, was escape even
possible?

"Should I raise the shields?" asked
Miles.

"No," said Calvin. "Then they'll see
us for sure."

"Maybe they already do," said
Sarah.

"I think we should leave this system,
immediately," said Summers. "If we still can."

Calvin didn't like these options.
"Shen," he said, deferring to his technology expert. "Is it
possible for them to see us?"

"I suppose anything's possible," he
said, "but I have no idea how. We're not leaking, we're not giving
off heat, the stealth system is activated... I don't
know."

"Not to mention they didn't seem to
notice us before," said Sarah.

"Or they ignored us until we moved
right in the middle of them, like a mouse going for the cheese,"
said Summers.

"Calm down, everyone," said Calvin.
"There is only one ship moving right now. And since we're in the
same direction as the planet, it's most likely the Rotham ship is
just performing whatever regular task it's been assigned to do.
Let's move out of its way, very carefully, and see what happens.
Sarah, ninety-degrees pitch and give us a gentle push."

"Aye, aye," she said. The planet moved
across the window as the ship turned and moved away. But, to their
horror, the approaching Rotham ship matched their maneuver, though
it did not accelerate and no other ships moved.

"Are their shields up?" asked
Calvin.

"Impossible to tell," said Shen.
"They're still confusing our scanners pretty well. I could barely
get a reading on the station."

"Raise the shields now?" asked
Miles.

"No," said Calvin. "Increase our speed
by double and turn another fifteen degrees. Let's see what they
do."

"Yes, sir," said Sarah and she
complied. All eyes were glued to the projected display, watching
as—at first—the Rotham ship continued on its course, but then
changed direction and matched their maneuver exactly. Closer now
than ever.

"Shields up, now, please, please,
please?" asked Miles.

"I don't understand…” said Calvin,
ignoring him. "They shouldn't be able to see us."

"They're sure acting like they see
us!" said Miles.

"For once I agree with the buffoonish
defense officer," said Summers.

"Hey I resent that—"

Summers talked over him. "We
should clear for action and try to escape,
now
."

Calvin didn't want to leave and he
didn't want to raise the shields. If he did, the Rotham ships would
be on him like a flock of vultures and even though the Nighthawk
packed a mean punch, it couldn't take much abuse. They would all
die, and everything they'd discovered would die with
them.

"I don't like this at all," said
Shen.

"Rotham ship's approach vector is set
and closing," said Sarah.

"We need a decision," said Shen,
looking at him.

"Rotham ship will totally block all
possibility of escape in seven seconds."

"If they haven't already," said
Miles.

"Six, five, four—"

"Okay, okay," said Calvin. "Get us the
hell out of here! Shields up and clear for action."

"You got it."

"Two, one—"

"And Sarah," said Calvin.

"Rotham ship has completely blocked
our escape path," she said.

"Do your magic."

"I’ll do my best," she jammed the
controls and accelerated the Nighthawk to the peak of its
short-range ability. They couldn't flee via alteredspace jump from
here, but, if they could get around the warship without dying or
losing any major systems, they'd be all right. If anyone could pull
off such an incredible feat of flying, it was Sarah, the cleverest
pilot Calvin knew. Much better than he ever was.

"They see us now," said Miles. "Enemy
ships moving to intercept. If they clear another hundred thousand
mc's they'll be in firing range."

"Let's not let them," said Calvin. "We
should be fast enough to keep that distance."

"There's still the ship dead ahead,"
said Shen, he was scrambling to make sure all primary weapons and
defense systems had adequate power and priority.

Calvin watched the model of the
Nighthawk soar to meet the enemy ship, which matched Sarah's
maneuvers.

"Thorpian Attack Cruiser coming about
and bringing weapons to bear, launchers primed and beams are
charging," said Miles. In the window they could see their metal
adversary like a grey phantom in the distance, growing larger and
larger. Then a surge of energy flashed their way as beams of
charged particles crashed into them, superheating their
shields.

"How are we holding up?" asked
Calvin.

"Shields are steady," said Miles. "I'm
more worried about missiles."

Calvin nodded. If even one missile
bypassed their shields and scored a direct hit on them, it could
knock out a critical system. Ship armor was meant to deflect such
attacks, but a stealth ship had little of it.

"How many launchers can it lock onto
us?" asked Calvin.

"Ten," said Miles. Calvin's heart sank
a little.

"We'll clear the enemy ship in thirty
seconds," said Sarah.

"Or collide with them," said Summers.
Her wide eyes were locked on the projected display. "They're
matching us exactly. We can't get around them."

"You underestimate me," said Sarah,
banking the ship at a new, steeper angle. But the enemy ship still
managed to match the maneuver.

"Missile range in three seconds," said
Miles.

Calvin wished there was something more
he could do. There was no sense ordering Miles to do what he was
already doing, preparing to shoot down incoming missiles. And the
last thing Sarah needed was a CO distracting her with needless
commentary.

"I won’t let any of the explosions
detonate within our shield radius," said Miles boldly, perhaps more
to himself than anyone else. Then he tensed and started pressing
buttons very quickly. "Six incoming missiles."

"Magnify," said Calvin to Shen, who
adjusted the secondary display to project images of the incoming
missiles.

"They can launch about five
missiles per three seconds," said Miles. "
If
they're willing to dump that kind
of payload." While he spoke, several missiles collided with energy
beams and gunfire too small to see. One by one they exploded
harmlessly outside the Nighthawk's shield radius doing no damage.
But before Miles eradicated the last one, more appeared. And three
seconds later another wave came.

"We're dead," said Summers.

"Readjusting," said Sarah.
"We'll clear in thirty five seconds now...
hopefully
..."

"Thirty-five seconds, that's what...
forty missiles?" asked Miles.

"Much closer to sixty," said
Summers.

"Shut up," Miles barked.

The model of their ship jerked into an
evasive pattern, still aiming to out-maneuver and get past the
attack cruiser—which tried to delay them long enough for its allied
ships to arrive.

Sarah was an expert with such
masterful control of the Nighthawk, it was like the ship was an
extremity of her own body. Between her incredible skill and Miles'
targeting ability, they managed to survive the next wave. But more
missiles were fast in coming, progressively closer to their mark
before Miles managed to shoot them down. Now they were at the edge
of the Nighthawk's shields and Miles' face was red and sweaty as he
struggled to compensate.

"Give me more space!" he
yelled.

"I'm trying!" said Sarah.

Calvin thought only of what he could
do to assist them. Which seemed like nothing.

Of the newest five missiles, Miles
managed to detonate three outside the Nighthawk's shields, but the
fourth and fifth slipped through. One exploded inside, blowing off
a chunk of the Nighthawk's armor.

"No critical damage," said
Shen.

"You let another one get through!"
said Summers, unable to contain herself as the fifth missile soared
unhindered. But Miles was too busy targeting the next wave to care
about the missile he missed. "Relax," he said. "It won't hit
us."

The fifth missile glided past them, a
narrow miss. Miles flashed a grin and masterfully took down the
next wave.

"Miles, did I ever tell you how much
we love you," said Calvin. "And how glad I am I bought your release
from Praxis."

"Yeah, you know how I said I'd pay you
back?” asked Miles. "This counts. Worth every damn q and then
some." He stiffened. "But if we don't clear this fast we won't make
it. Our guns are starting to overheat and the beams are losing
power."

"I'm working on it," said Shen. "I'm
draining all secondary systems."

"It won't do any good," said Miles. "I
need our guns. The two energy beams won't stop five missiles in
time."

"Come on," said Sarah, twisting the
ship into an even more complex pattern of movements that the attack
cruiser, which was so close it completely filled their window,
could not hope to match.

"Yes!" Sarah shouted. "We're above and
going around them. I'm opening this all the way up," she
accelerated the ship to its maximum and shot them forward like a
deranged arrow. "Retreat vector calculated. We'll be clear for an
alteredspace jump in five seconds."

A cheer filled the bridge. But it was
short lived. As soon as they moved past the attack cruiser, and it
vanished from view, the sight was replaced by another ship exactly
as large. It sat there, weapons primed, like it had been waiting
the whole time.

"What the hell?" asked
Sarah.

"How did we not see that before?"
asked Calvin.

"Jammed sensors," said Shen with a
shrug of despair.

"Can we still jump?"

"No. Their gravity and proximity will
mess us up."

Miles let out an enormously loud
string of profanities then said "—we'll be in range of their
missiles in ten seconds."

"Can you get us around it?" Calvin
looked to Sarah, but knew their ship would never be able to
out-maneuver both attack cruisers working together. And the other
Rotham ships weren't far away. They were more trapped than
ever.

"I can try," said Sarah, but she
didn't sound hopeful and cursed under her breath.

The new ship unleashed a barrage of
energy that slammed into the Nighthawk's shields, threatening to
overpower them and bring them offline. It was such a brilliant
display that Calvin had to look away from the window.

"We can't take many more of those,"
said Shen. The bridge lights blinked as he switched them to
tertiary power.

Calvin knew they would never be able
to outrun or outfight these adversaries. He removed his restraints
and stood up, catching their attention. "Sarah," he said. "Tell
them we surrender."