The Phoenix Conspiracy (9 page)

After a few seconds the feeling passed
and his environment normalized. Leaving him where he'd always been,
atop his bed, and the icy sense of panic dissipated.

The lights were on and
burning hot, forcing him to squint. He rubbed at his eyes, trying
to collect himself before standing up. Strange, he didn't remember
falling asleep.
How long was I
out?

Another loud knock came and when he
didn't answer right away, the chime rang.

"Come," Calvin croaked, standing up
and feeling dizzy.

The door slid open and Summers Presley
stepped inside. As she did, Calvin spotted the equarius bottle on
his desk. He snatched it, panicking that he'd left it in plain
sight. He turned his back to her long enough to smuggle the bottle
back into his safe and lock it.

"Hello, Commander, what can I do for
you?" His voice was scratchy and dry. He looked around for a
water-bottle while putting a shirt on as quickly as he
could.

She pointed to the blinking light on
his viewer. "The bridge has been trying to contact you. Are you all
right?"

The effects of the narcotic must have
put him into such a deep sleep he'd missed it. He downed most of
the water and wiped his mouth. "Yes, I'm fine." He set the bottle
down and looked into Summers' eyes. "Shouldn't you be on the
bridge?"

"We were concerned about you,
Lieutenant Commander."

"Call me Calvin. And isn't
it a breach in protocol for the XO to leave the bridge when she
could easily send a team to check on the unresponsive captain?" Of
course, he didn't care about protocol. But
she
did.

"No, First Lieutenant Shen Iwate has
the deck. And I thought, under the circumstances, that this would
be best."

"It's Iwate Shen. In his culture the
first name goes last, kind of weird I know," he smiled. "But we
just call him Shen."

"But that's not the point," she
said.

He saw some color in her face. Was she
embarrassed?

"So what is the point?" he
asked.

"I thought it would be best if I came
to check on you myself."

"That's very thoughtful of you, glad
to know you care."

She frowned. "Don't flatter yourself,
I'm here because you have a priority one message coming in from an
unknown location."

"What do you mean unknown?"

"I mean you're being hailed, sir. By
name. The sender is using one of the most secure channels possible,
encrypted, and with maximum priority. Someone wants to get ahold of
you really bad, really fast."

"If that's not an excuse to be
flattered I don't know what is." He felt his heart and mind race.
"I'll take it in here."

Summers didn't budge. "Because this
message may be related to the case, and quite likely involves
ship's security, I thought it would be best if we heard it
together."

Calvin laughed. "You're
joking?"

Her face was blank.

"You thought wrong, sister." And with
a jovial smile he motioned for her to leave. "I'll take it in here,
Commander. Thanks, that'll be all."

She didn't look happy but she
complied. Once the door slid shut Calvin locked it and tapped the
intercom. "Shen, send it in here. I'm ready. Give me visual too, if
you can."

"You got it, Calvin."

The screen flickered to life and he
saw the silhouette of a woman in front of a grey wall. The source
of the light behind her was hard to discern. He couldn't make out
her face or any details, except that she appeared to be
alone.

"Lieutenant Commander Calvin Cross?"
the woman asked. Her voice sounded young twenties and oddly
familiar.

"Yes that's me," he said. "Who are
you?"

"Are you pursuing former captain Asari
Raidan?"

"Who's asking?"

"It is very important that you are
alone, are you?"

"Yes."

"And are you receiving this message in
a secure place where no one can listen in?" Despite her youth, her
voice carried a stunning amount of authority, yet it was still
pleasant, smooth, and crisp, every syllable cleanly enunciated. She
had no trace of accent and he guessed she was also from Capital
World.

"Yes," he said. "Now do you
mind telling me who
you
are?"

The woman stepped from the darkness
and a light snapped on. Her olive skin, green eyes, raven hair, and
elegant face would have been recognized on any of a hundred
worlds.

Calvin was too stunned to bow.
"Princess Kalila Akira?" She was from the Akira House, the most
powerful of the noble Houses, and more importantly she was the
third daughter of the royal family and fourth in line for the
throne. The Akiras had held the throne for over a hundred years
and, like all Akiras, her influence was tremendous and few Imperial
worlds were outside her reach. Her commanding presence extended
over the camera, despite the great distance between them, and it
was the first time Calvin had ever spoken directly with a member of
the royal family.

"Yes, I am Kalila. But please do not
say my name out loud."

"I'm sorry," said Calvin, focused now
on her unusual clothes. She was dressed like a commoner and wore no
makeup of any kind, and her flowing hair was tied back. She still
looked cleaner and more well-cared for than those of the peasant
caste—non or minimally fractional citizens—but otherwise she'd gone
to every effort to blend in. He found himself mumbling clumsily,
"if you don't mind my asking..."

She cut him off. "I'm sorry, Calvin,
but I have to keep this brief. I can't tell you anything over
kataspace except to say that this is extremely important. And
urgent. I need you to meet me in person. Can you do
this?"

He felt a tingle. "Probably," he said
weakly, curiosity burning inside him. "Where?"

"Meet me in Tau System. You'll see a
fleet of freighters and a small outpost. Dock with the outpost and
come aboard, alone and unarmed. Go to the main concourse and wait.
I'll get in touch with you there. How soon can you do
this?"

Tau System was only a little out of
the way to Aleator.

"That’s over a click from my present
course," he said cautiously. He didn't like the way this was going.
Why would a princess of the crown be taking such extreme and
unusual measures to protect herself? Not to mention sidetrack him
from his mission, which she'd already admitted she knew about.
"It’ll take a couple of hours."

"Be as a fast as you can. This is
urgent."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Thank you,
Calvin
." Hearing
her
say his name made him
feel warm and important.

"Is that everything?" he
asked.

"There is one more thing. And I cannot
emphasize this enough. It is absolutely imperative that you not
tell anyone about this message or our meeting. I can't go into
details here but you must keep this completely between us. Don't
inform any of your crew and definitely do not transmit any details
to anyone about your heading, purpose, or destination. Do you
understand?"

"Yes. Though my superiors may demand
an explanation for my course change."

"Especially avoid telling your
commanding officers."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's easier
said than done."

She smiled. "Your record makes you out
to be a clever officer. I'm sure you’ll come up with something.
Just do not transmit your destination until after we've met and
you're back on your way to Aleator."

"Yes, I understand."

"Thank you, Calvin."

The transmission ended and the picture
dissipated, leaving him alone to wonder. "This just gets weirder
and weirder," he scratched his head.

She'd seemed threatened,
maybe on the run. With whole fleets at her fingertips what could
possibly be a danger to her? And why did she choose to
contact
him
? He
couldn't help her. Unless... The obvious conclusion. Her situation
tied back to Raidan and the missing Harbinger.

"So Raidan, you're the link
somehow."

***

Summers sat in the CO's chair watching
the bridge crew work, keeping tabs on the ship's systems.
Everything seemed orderly and under control, now that she'd
lectured them on proper conduct. A military starship was meant to
be an efficient machine, and in the navy such casual inappropriate
behavior was enormously wrong. She'd always assumed the
Intelligence Wing held even higher standards, after all it was
harder to get into, but now she knew better. The Nighthawk was a
disaster. More disorderly than a pirate ship.

The most insufferable of
them all was the egomaniacal commanding officer. A rash, careless
young boy who lacked the experience and wisdom of a professional
captain. His cocky recklessness was exactly the kind of attitude
that would put them all in danger, and his methodology was
questionable
at best
.

How he'd won two Silver Stars and two
merit medals was beyond her. Luck, or maybe he'd taken credit for
someone else's work. Too bad she'd never know for certain. Most of
the details of Calvin's missions were classified beyond classified,
leaving her unable to reconcile the on-paper genius with the brash
arrogant youth she saw in the flesh. Whatever he was, he was a real
brat. And, unfortunately, a pleasant looking brat.

Strong jaw, bright blue eyes, sandy
loose hair, she was even jealous of how it looked so perfect
with—no doubt—no effort. He wasn't pretty enough to be a model, but
the slight roughness to him made him seem even more appealing. And
something in his eyes glowed. He wasn't large or significantly
muscular, but still firm, well-toned, and athletic. Enough to look
good with a shirt off. Someone who kept himself in shape but didn't
have to prove anything to anyone. He also had good height and
hygiene. And he had this pleasant smell about him. To her, every
man had a unique smell, and his was a good one. And she hated that.
Because he didn't deserve to be attractive. She could imagine him
stealing the hearts of young women because he was deceptively nice
looking. And then turn around and break them. Why is it the jerks
were always the good-looking ones?

She wasn't going to let Calvin charm
her. If anything, she'd be even harder on him. Because Calvin knew
he was attractive. And he let it, and everything else, get to his
head. He was a spoiled young boy who'd been given everything on a
silver platter, including this ship, his medals, and his good
looks.

No, no, no. She
would
stop thinking about
him. Calvin was three years younger than her. A child. And she
wasn't going to let a child manipulate her, or take advantage of
her, or use her. Not after Asari Raidan's betrayal. Oh no, Summers
would never allow a CO to keep her in the dark again. If only she'd
been more vigilant, maybe she could have prevented the whole
disaster. But she'd let her feelings cloud her better judgment, and
now she bore the penalty... a guilty conscience... because she
hadn't recognized Raidan for the snake he’d turned out to
be.

And maybe that's what bothered her
most about Calvin—he was too similar to Raidan. Both began their
careers as young prodigies, shooting up the ranks with medals and
awards heaped upon them. Neither were willing to compromise, and
they both had egos the size of planets.

But they had their differences too.
Raidan was older and more seasoned than Calvin, and more clever.
He'd managed to keep his thoughts and plans far enough below the
radar that even Summers had been completely blindsided by his
betrayal. Calvin, however, seemed impulsive and not very subtle. He
was like a younger stupider version of Raidan. But enough like him
to make Summers feel on her guard whenever he was around. Like his
blue irises could cut through her armor and read her thoughts. He
was smart. But, she reminded herself, she was smarter. And despite
having to work alongside this Calvin Cross, she would find Raidan
and see that he got what he deserved. She was the swift merciless
sword of justice.

The elevator door slid open and Calvin
came onto the bridge. He didn't even have regulation attire on, for
goodness sake! Instead of his uniform he wore a T-shirt and jeans,
and looked disheveled, having made no effort to clean up his
appearance since last she'd seen him. And he looked distracted.
Whatever the message had been, it'd shaken him up quite a bit. She
wished she'd heard it, and wanted to find out what it was. In a
way, she considered it her duty to find out.

When Calvin reached her, she gave up
the command position but he didn't sit there. Instead, he called
out to the helmsman. A woman about Calvin's same age whose cropped
uniform and relaxed posture implied she was as irresponsible as the
rest.

"Sarah," said Calvin. "Change course,
new heading Tau System. Deepest safe jump."

The crew was surprised but they
complied without question. "Sure thing, Cal," the helmsman said as
she plotted the new course. It was like fingernails scraping slate
to hear such casual chatter on the bridge.