The Phoenix Conspiracy (52 page)

"This way, Lieutenant Commander," one
of Calvin's escorts said as he guided Calvin across the long
stretch of path toward the silhouetted figures. As they crossed,
Calvin felt in awe of the bridge's size. It felt as large as an
entire deck of the Nighthawk, and it was staffed by more than
twenty officers attending to many, many stations, whose functions
he could only speculate at.

For a moment he wondered what it would
be like to be in command, and responsible for, such a large crew,
and whether or not he would like it. And, for the second time, he
wondered how in this crazy, crazy universe Raidan had managed to
win the loyalty of all these people.

They neared the two silhouetted
figures and Calvin could hear them talking to each other. Most of
their words were lost to the noise of the bridge's staff, and
junior commanders relaying orders to minor divisions throughout the
ship. When Calvin's presence was noticed, the duo hushed their
conversation and turned to face him. In the dimness Calvin could
more-or-less make out the features of Raidan's face.

"Ah that must be Mister Cross," said
Raidan. "Welcome to my ship. You have no idea how glad I am to see
you."

"The feeling is mutual," said Calvin,
though he wasn't sure what Raidan wanted from him. Even though he
couldn't guess what it was, he was certain that Raidan wasn't the
type to do anything for free.

"Do you always keep your bridge this
dark?" asked Calvin.

Raidan chuckled. "No, not always. But
when I'm flying no colors I keep all decks with windows as dark as
possible, anything that makes us that much harder to see is an
advantage."

Calvin wondered if it were really
effective or not. Having the luxury of his advanced stealth system,
he'd never had to worry about internal lights giving him
away.

"But I think we're quite alone now,
wouldn't you say so, Mister Ivanov?" asked Radian.

"There's a lot of debris on the
scopes, but nothing that could hide a ship. We're safe for
now."

"All right then, bring up the main
lights."

In a snap, the bridge filled with
light from all angles. One light caught Calvin directly in the
eyes, forcing him to squint. When he opened them wide he saw Raidan
more clearly, looking neither happy nor unhappy, and the mysterious
person standing next to him, wearing a commander's uniform, was
none other than Tristan.

"You—?” asked Calvin, unsure what to
think. Immediately his mind struggled to connect the dots. Tristan
had been stranded in space, then he was taken aboard the
Nighthawk—and he got loose, then transferred to the port authority
on Aleator, then he'd shown up to help Calvin fight off his
attackers on Aleator One, and now... he was here.

"Surprised to see me?" Tristan asked
with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes," said Calvin, he
turned to Raidan, "what is
he
doing here?"

Raidan made a subtle grin. "I expect
you have more questions than I have time to answer," said Raidan.
"And right now we need to set course for Gemini and jump as soon as
possible."

Calvin saw a piece of debris float
past the window and his thoughts shifted. "Wait."

Raidan looked curious.

"What about the Nighthawk? Have you
seen it? Did it escape the Rotham ship?" Calvin almost didn't want
to know the answer. Any number of things could have prevented the
Nighthawk from escaping in time. And, unlike the mighty Harbinger,
it couldn't withstand a powerful shockwave or impacts with debris.
"Did my ship survive?" he asked, keeping his voice calm even though
his heart thundered.

"See for yourself," said
Raidan, pointing at the window. "Fifty degrees starboard." And,
much more lithely than Calvin would have expected, the Harbinger
rotated until a small glossy black ship was in view. Only visible
because of its white and blue identifier lights.
Of course Summers would turn those
on
,
it's the
law
.

Seeing the ship, in one piece, filled
him with relief. And his breathing became easier. "I'm glad to see
they're all right..." he said, almost laughing with relief, then he
paused. "They must think I'm dead. Contact my ship and inform them
I'm alive and aboard." He realized the last part sounded like a
command so he added, "please."

"We've already contacted your ship,"
said Raidan. "That's why they're holding position. But it might
mean a lot to hear your voice. If you'd like we can patch you
through a direct channel."

"I would like that."

"But, Calvin," Raidan
paused, "when we go to Gemini, we
all
go together."

Calvin wasn't sure what to think of
that.

"It is not safe here, trust me," added
Raidan.

"What’s at Gemini?" Calvin had nowhere
else to go. He was a criminal now, and Raidan was his best chance
at getting to the bottom of everything. But, on the other hand...
Gemini was across the border into Polarian space.

"You'll have to just trust me on this,
it's not safe here," said Raidan again, cautiously side-stepping
the question.

"I see," said Calvin. "In
that case,
who
is
at Gemini?" he pressed him.

"I promise I will tell you what I
can," said Raidan. "But we don't have time for that before we go.
We have to leave, and we have to leave right now." He was deadly
serious.

"All right," said Calvin, not sure
what other good options he had—if any. "I'll tell my ship to follow
your flotilla to Gemini."

"Excellent," said Raidan.

"But I want immediate access to your
medical facilities, and the transfer of all my injured
personnel."

"Agreed," said Raidan and he ordered
his officers to assist Calvin.

They ushered him over to one of the
comm stations and he put on the headset while the comms officer
hailed the ship. Calvin heard a beep and the comms officer gave him
a thumbs up; the Nighthawk had accepted the connection.

"Hello," said Calvin, not really sure
what was technically the proper thing to say.

"
Calvin
?" It was Sarah's voice and,
despite her usual calmness, she shrieked excitedly and yelled in
the background to the rest of the bridge. Calvin thought he heard
Miles' deep voice in the ambience, but wasn't sure over the
headset.

"Yeah, it's me," said Calvin. "I'm all
right. I escaped the blast by coming aboard the
Harbinger."

"I can't believe it…” said
Sarah.

"What’s your status?" asked Calvin.
"Did everyone make it?"

Sarah's voice became sober. "Not
everyone."

"I see," he wasn’t ready to ask who
didn't survive. "Do you have enough primary crew to operate the
ship?"

"Affirmative. We can crew the ship.
What are your orders?"

"Dock with the Harbinger to receive
medical supplies and transfer our wounded; their medical officers
are permitted aboard. Once that is complete, set course for Gemini,
exact heading will be sent from the Harbinger. You're to consider
it the flagship for the time being."

"Uh... yes, sir," said Sarah. She
didn't hide her confusion well. And Calvin knew his crew was
wondering if Calvin were giving these orders under duress, and all
he could do was hope Summers wouldn't countermand his orders and
have the ship do something else. He tried to think of something to
say, but knew nothing would convince her. Still... he had to
try.

"And tell Commander Summers," said
Calvin. He was going to try to pressure her but midsentence changed
tactics, knowing a firm hand didn't work on her if she thought she
out-ranked him, which she did. "Tell her... that I appreciate her
efforts. And that all will be explained to her satisfaction once we
arrive."

"
Okay
…” said Sarah, sounding even more
confused, but she passed along the message exactly.

"Did she get it?"

"Message received," said
Sarah.

"Good..." he paused. "Cross
out."

The comms officer terminated the
call.

"Summers Presley is on your ship?"
Radian asked as Calvin stood up.

"Yes," said Calvin, surprised at the
incredulous look on Raidan's face. Somehow he'd always assumed
Raidan knew this. After all, he seemed to know everything
else.

"What a small Empire this really
is..." he shook his head. "She's not still mad at me, is
she?"

"I think she is."

"That's unfortunate," he sighed. "But
I guess it can't be helped. She's fantastic. I'm sure you found her
to be an exceptional officer."

Calvin hesitated. "Something like
that."

Raidan chuckled then looked to his
helmsman, "Mister Watson, once our docking operation is complete,
get us underway."

"Yes, sir. Jump to eighty-five percent
potential?"

"That’ll do nicely," said Raidan then
he turned to another officer. "Mister Mason, you have the deck." He
looked back at Calvin. "Well then, shall we take this conversation
to the privacy of my office?"

***

Raidan's office was only slightly
larger than Calvin's office, and even more sparsely
decorated.

The blank walls and dull carpet were
clean and like-new, as were the basic amenities. Only Raidan’s desk
screamed for attention. It was large and made of a
beautifully-lacquered cedar in the style of centuries long gone,
and seemed profoundly out of place—certainly not warship standard.
On its surface were a bottle of whiskey and an old-fashioned
notebook with pens, there was no computer.

"Welcome to my home away from home,"
said Raidan as he took a seat behind his desk. Calvin sat opposite.
Tristan, who had followed them in, remained standing by the door,
which he closed and locked. Calvin wasn't comfortable with him
being there, especially directly behind him, but knew it would only
weaken his position to complain.

"Calvin," said Raidan. "It is very
important that you tell me everything about the battle before we
arrived. I want to know exactly what happened. Which ships attacked
which, in what order, what weapons were used. I want to know it
all."

Calvin was reluctant to give up what
was probably the only useful card he had. Instead he asked a
question of his own. "What happened after your ships arrived?" He
hoped to glean useful information about Raidan's fleet and
resources.

"We arrived. We took out as many
Rotham ships as we could. But our priority was to disable the ship
you were on and capture it. Because of that, about half the
squadron escaped. I have no idea where they're going to
regroup."

"Did you take any losses?" asked
Calvin.

"No. Some casualties and some damage,
of course. A few fighters. But no capital losses."

Raidan didn't tell him how many ships
he had. Calvin tried again. "You must have had quite a force to
chase off the squadron."

Raidan eyed him cautiously, his words
slow. "There are four of us here. The Harbinger, the Mary Gale, the
Aurora and the Liberty Sun."

"They must be powerful
ships."

Raidan's face betrayed no reaction. "I
suppose."

"Where did they come from?"

"Private owners."

Calvin raised an eyebrow. "Private
owners?"

"Yes."

"What about the Harbinger?"

"You know where that ship came from."
Raidan cleared his throat. "Now tell me about the first part of the
battle."

"My defense officer would be better
than me at describing it. I will order him to answer all of your
questions," Calvin paused. "Right after you answer all of
mine."

He doubted his little information was
a fair trade for Raidan's. But it was worth a try.

Raidan leaned back, tapping
his fingers together. He was nearly double Calvin's age but still
had a child-like glow in his eyes. "I might not be able to
answer
all
of your
questions," he said. "But I'll do what I can."

Calvin did not know where to begin.
Being able to interview the subject of his investigation was a rare
opportunity, but came with its own special considerations. For
instance, the questions he asked would reveal what information he
didn't have and what he was most interested in.

"Let's start at the beginning," said
Calvin. "Why did you throw your life away to destroy a few
commercial ships?"

Raidan looked amused. "Why do you
think I did it?"

"I think you did it knowing your life
was never really on the line. You knew you'd be set free," Calvin
guessed, eyeing Raidan keenly. "Did you do it for the
Harbinger?"

"Trade up, you mean?" Raidan
leaned forward. "No. No. No. I preferred the Phoenix and still do.
This is a beautiful ship, don't get me wrong, but the Phoenix..."
his gaze became forlorn, "the Phoenix was
mine
."