The Phoenix Darkness (10 page)

“Yes, My Lord. How much, My Lord?”

“For a common Representative two-hundred
thousand Q, for a lord or lady of noble standing…one
million
Q.” Caerwyn would be damned if he'd let Kalila raise an
anti-Assembly with enough numbers, power, and prestige to challenge
the true Imperial Assembly.

“Yes, My Lord. And now, what are we to do
with any who have not declared for the rebels, but who are found to
be leaving the planet under suspicious circumstances?”

“Have I not made myself clear?” asked
Caerwyn, feeling his blood boil.

“Pardon me, My Lord,” said the Minister of
State. “Perhaps I have not fully understood. You wish bounties and
sentences of death upon traitors who have left our services and
joined and declared for the rebels, but what of those who merely
are discovered to be absent? Perhaps on their way to join the rebel
queen, but perhaps not. What are we to do with those
representatives, My Lord?”

Caerwyn looked his Minister of State directly
in the eyes. “Minister, if you could not see with your eyes, yet
you happened upon something under your shoe and it smelt of shit,
felt of shit, and tasted of shit, what do you suppose you might
have stepped on?”

“Shit, My Lord.”

Caerwyn nodded. “I trust you take my meaning,
then?”

“I do, My Lord.”

“Good. Now what are you waiting for? Off with
you!”

Chapter 4

“Yes, but the thing you have to understand
about Camdale, though,” said Calvin, chuckling midsentence, “is
that it wasn’t exactly known for its…
piloting expertise
. The
program existed, to be honest, as a way for the school to get more
funding. So when I made that run, just after three book lessons and
a half a day of practice with the instructor, I really was being
quite the idiot.”

Rain laughed with him. There was something
about her smile. It wasn’t flashy or sensual or spectacular in any
way Calvin could put his finger on; it wasn’t the smile of a vixen,
or a film star, or someone who belonged hanging on a poster
larger-than-life, it was just a smile. A friendly, normal,
imperfect smile, and somehow it made Calvin feel just so warm to
see it.

“That does put quite the spin on things,
then,” said Rain, still smiling, her eyes locked on his. “I’m
amazed you made it out alive.”

“So am I,” said Calvin, shaking his head.
Laughing, this time inwardly, as he thought of the truly stupidest
things he’d done back during his academy days.
I was just a
kid
, he thought.
And now here I am…in the middle of all
this
.

“I have to admit, it does make me rethink the
standards Intel Wing sets for their recruits,” said Rain, teasing
him.

Calvin nodded. “Well, things changed after
that. A lot of things changed.” He liked this. He hadn’t felt so
relaxed in longer than he could remember, and there was something
just so simple and pleasant about reminiscing with Rain he even
forgot about the pain in his left hand. “But, what about you?
Surely you had one or two things go horribly, comically wrong in
your early days of medicine.” After a pause, he regretted his
phrasing. “I don’t mean funny as in, oh no my patient died, or he’s
ruined for life; I’m not
that
kind of person,” he felt his
face flush and was surprised by the rush of embarrassment which had
suddenly seized him. “More like…”

“—The time I transposed the room number in my
head and actually walked in on an ongoing surgery of the magistrate
of Euripedes Three!” she said, clearly trying to help him out.

“Yes, exactly,” said Calvin, thankful for the
rescue. “Something that turned out okay, but got you into some real
trouble…” He paused, interrupted by the sound of an alarm buzzer
switching on and off. “What the hell is that?”

Rain shrugged. “It sounds like—”

“I have to go,” Calvin said abruptly.
“Sorry.” He sprinted out of the cargo bay-turned-infirmary and made
his way to the
Wanderer
’s bridge. Because it was a small
civilian craft, and a Rotham one at that, it didn’t have a proper
alert system with klaxon and emergency lights. Instead, someone was
using the fire alert buzzer and switching it on and off, as if
simulating a starship’s klaxon alarm pattern.

“What is it?” asked Calvin, the moment he
pushed his way onto the Bridge, squeezing past Rez’nac who, like
him, must have deduced something was wrong and rushed to see if he
could help in any way. He only managed to fit because Miles had
left. “Is it the scans? Tell me what we see,” he reached the
pilot’s station and peered over Alex’s shoulder to get a look at
the readout displays.

“It’s not that,” said Rafael from the
co-pilot’s station, not looking away from the various ops displays
as he spoke.

It looked like his suspicions about Rotham
belligerency had proven true. Calvin glanced over the scan reports
and noted that, despite the
Wanderer
’s limited equipment and
the disadvantage of their distance, they’d successfully identified
several Rotham warships gathered between the star clusters and
managed to number them at a minimum of three-hundred ships. A light
flashed and suddenly something else, much more pressing, caught his
eye just as Rafael spoke.

“We’ve been spotted,” said Rafael, his tone
neutral, but Calvin understood that this news was potentially
incredibly bad. A lightly armed destroyer was moving along the
Wanderer
’s same flight vector, ostensibly patrolling what
was supposed to be a well-trafficked shipping lane.

“It’s all right,” said Calvin, digging deep
and finding some optimism. “They’re just doing their job. We got
most of what we came here for.” He glanced at the intel they’d
gathered on the Rotham fleet; it was limited, but nonetheless
useful. “We’ll tell them we’ve had a minor systems failure, but
we’ve resolved it and then get back under way. We’ll jump for
deeper into Rotham space and then, when we’re clear of them, we can
turn around.”

“It’s not that simple,” said Rafael.

“They’ve already hailed us,” added Alex. “I
told them of our situation. I even used a very similar excuse to
what you just suggested. I explained we dropped from alteredspace
to consult our navigational database and make a course correction.
But it didn't work, and nothing I said made any difference after
that.”

“What do you mean it didn’t work?” asked
Calvin, feeling his heart start to race. “What does that mean?”

“It means they’ve given us an order to hold
position,” said Rafael. “I believe they’re preparing to board us to
verify our story.”

“We can’t allow that,” said Calvin, “we have
four humans and a Polarian aboard!” he looked over his shoulder at
Rez’nac. The Polarian warrior remained silent and expressionless as
he loomed large in the tiny cockpit, but Calvin noted the man
looked ready for a fight to the death if it came down to it.
Calvin, on the other hand, was not ready to die. His mind raced as
he tried to come up with any solution he could think of, meanwhile
the blinking light of the destroyer moved ever closer to them on
the 3D display.

“Obviously we can’t allow it,” said Rafael.
“But I don’t know if we have much other choice.”

“Can we jump?” asked Calvin, starting with
the obvious first solution, and possibly the only one.

“We can try to jump,” said Rafael, “but that
ship is faster than we are. It can jump deeper and has the
capability of forcing us back into normal space.”

“Only if they chase us…” said Calvin, but
even he knew it was unrealistic to expect them not to, especially
after performing such a suspicious action as jumping away when
they’d been ordered by a military patrol ship to hold position.

“There is nothing we can do,” said Alex.
“This charade is over.” Calvin noted the Rotham didn’t seem quite
as upset as he should have, considering the very real likelihood
that none of them would live to see tomorrow.
Maybe he wants to
die…?

“No, we have to do
something
,” said
Calvin. “We’re not about to just give up and die just like
that.”

“There is no dishonor in death,” said
Rez’nac, finally speaking up. “Nor is there any cause for fear. We
can ambush them at the hatch, slaughter them as they come aboard,
and give them a fight worthy of Khalahar.”

“No, I think I’d like another option,” said
Calvin. “Hiding. Can we hide anywhere they wouldn’t find us…?”

“Not to interrupt,” said Rafael, “but I have
all the intel we gathered collected and ready to send to the queen
via kataspace. I just need the order from you.”

Calvin knew that was what they should do.
They’d come here for that purpose, to gather the intel and send it
back to the queen so she could mount a defense, and each of them
had known the risks when they’d signed onto the mission, including
himself. Yet, as he opened his mouth to give the order, he found
the words just wouldn’t come out. For as brave and noble as he
liked to consider himself to be, he found it surprisingly
difficult, even impossible, to give an order he knew would doom
him. Even though, by all appearances, he was already doomed.

“If we send that packet,” said Calvin.
“They’ll intercept a copy of it and figure out what we’re up
to.”

“It’s encrypted,” said Rafael.

“We both know they’ll crack the code, and
sooner rather than later,” said Calvin. “They’ll kill us as spies,
probably very brutally…”

“That’s for certain,” said Alex. Again, not
as terrified sounding as he should have been. If Calvin didn’t know
better, he would almost have suspected Alex wanted them to be
found, that he’d told the patrol ship what they were up to. Except
that made no sense; Alex was a non-interventionist and a member of
Advent, a sworn enemy of the Rahajiim and their belligerent ways,
not a supporter. Besides, Rafael had been here to listen to every
word Alex could have said over the comm.

“I’m not ready to give that order,” said
Calvin. “Not until we’ve exhausted every possible option.”

“Sir, with respect,” said Rafael, now turning
to look at him. His face was somber and his eye-patch stood as
tribute to the sacrifices he'd already personally made for this
effort to save the Empire. “This is our duty, this is what we came
here to do, and this is the only option remaining to us.”

“We can send it and then we die on
our
terms,” said Rez’nac. “And together enter the abyss that is the
oblivion for all who lack souls.”

As his crew spoke so grimly, and Calvin
watched the destroyer draw ever nearer, and his mind continued to
fail to provide him with a solution, a part of him knew they were
right. He should not hesitate to do his duty, or else he may as
well rip off his Lt. Commander insignia and throw it away now. He
was a member of Intel Wing and had an oath to protect and preserve
the Empire, including at the risk of death. “All right,” said
Calvin, knowing he had to give the order and then meet his fate. He
cleared his throat.

“We will—” just as the words formed, he
thought of Rain, of her smile, and in a flash he felt an
overwhelming desire to live, to find the solution in the no-win
scenario even if death meant the chance to solve mankind’s greatest
mystery. Calvin could not leave now with so much left unfinished.
“—hide in the tertiary cargohold,” he said, feeling just as
surprised at his words as the others looked.

“They
will
find us there,” said
Rafael.

“Not if they don’t want to go in there,” said
Calvin.

“What do you mean?” asked Rafael.

“Okay, here’s the plan…”

***

“Commander, we have arrived at Izar Ceti,”
announced Sarah the instant stars filled the window, replacing the
pure blackness. She wore a proper uniform, not her usually cropped
version, and Summers was pleased to see that the discipline she’d
tried so hard to instill in the crew, a discipline Calvin had
wantonly disregarded, was finally taking root.

“Very good, Lieutenant,” said Summers,
sitting in the command position. “Defense, what is the status of
our stealth system?”

“Engaged and operating within expected
parameters,” said Mr. Roy. “No lights, no emissions leaks, no
energy dissipation, no transponder, all shrouding systems going at
full capacity…Sir, we are completely undetectable.”

“
Probably
undetectable,” said Nimoux,
“by the outpost and starships here, but we shouldn’t rule it
out.”

“Indeed, we shouldn’t,” said Summers in full
agreement, remembering Nimoux’s ship, the
Desert Eagle
, had
been able to detect the
Nighthawk
, as had one or more of the
alien ships in Abia. “Ops, given the behavior of the outpost and
any ships we can see, is there any indication our presence has been
noted.”

“No indication,” said Shen. “Orbital ships
have not changed their orbits, stationary ships remain stationary,
docked ships remain docked, and—I’m sorry, Commander, I just can’t
do this. Not right now.” To everyone’s surprise, Shen stood up and
faced the command position. He glanced fleetingly at Sarah, his
expression a mixture of what looked like grief and anger, and then
he raised his hands to his head and grimaced, as if reacting to
intense pain in his head.

“Shen, are you all right?” asked Summers, her
immediate sense of concern making her forget even her own protocols
regarding use of names.

Shen looked her directly in the eyes, still
grimacing, and said slowly, “I don’t know.”

“Very well, then, you’re dismissed,” said
Summers, motioning for him to leave. “Captain Nimoux, are you able
to take his station?”

“Yes, Commander,” said Nimoux. He rose
immediately and took Shen’s place and Summers felt glad she’d made
Nimoux study the various stations of the Bridge, even if he likely
already knew them; a refresher couldn’t have hurt.