The Phoenix Crisis (41 page)

“
Out of order, Lieutenant
Commander,” snapped Representative Tate. She gave him a harsh look
then turned back to Harkov. “Please continue, Admiral.”

Calvin tried to make sense of this. And he
immediately came to the conclusion that either the Vice Admiral was
being paid off, that she’d somehow been recruited by the Phoenix
Ring, or else the person who sat before him was in actuality a
replicant. He didn’t know how it was possible. But he couldn’t
fight the nagging suspicion that it was true. If only there were
some way for him to force a senior admiral to take a dose of
equarius… but there was none he could think of.

“
By the time the Andromeda
arrived on the scene, the flotilla was already destroyed—like I
said. We weren’t sure what to make of it, so we began investigating
the debris trying to determine what had happened. We followed a
series of alteredspace jump signatures and were able to identify
that the Nighthawk, the Harbinger, and several other ships—all of
which are identified in the report I submitted—had in fact been on
the scene. We followed the trail for jump signatures and debris
across Imperial space and into Polarian territory. Eventually the
trail ran cold and we returned to Capital System.”

“
You claim that the
Andromeda was missing for weeks and during that entire time you
were pursuing the Nighthawk and the Harbinger, according to
orders?” asked Representative Tate. She seemed to think it was
plausible, but seemed not entirely convinced.

“
That is correct. The
Andromeda was unable to jump to a depth exceeding seventy-percent
and we traversed a large swathe of space, it took a great deal of
time,” said Harkov.  

Calvin wasn’t sure what was motivating
Harkov to tell this lie to the Assembly. He clearly remembered
seeing a beaten and battered Andromeda leave Abia after fighting,
and destroying, its own escorting battleships.

“
Why did your ship fail to
respond to communiques and make no reports during that time? Is it
not standard procedure to maintain regular contact with the Fleet?”
asked Representative Tate.

“
It is standard procedure to
do so, that is correct,” said Harkov. “However we had been given
special orders to maintain complete radio and kataspace silence. At
the time it was believed that any transmissions sent from our ship
would lead to the Nighthawk or the Harbinger being able to
determine our position.”

Calvin had made a similar lie when he’d been
forced to justify his communications lockout to Major Jenkins.
According to Shen, whose technical expertise was unmatched, such a
threat was not plausible. A ship’s location could not be determined
in alteredspace from kataspace transmissions.

“
If you had been given
orders to maintain silence, Admiral, then why did the Fleet report
the Andromeda as missing?” asked Representative Tate.

“
There was a
miscommunication between different branches of the Fleet and the
one who gave us the order, Fleet Admiral Tiberon, did not
communicate our mission to the rest of the Fleet.”

Calvin doubted that was a believable story.
He knew the Fleet better than that—it didn’t make these kind of
massive mistakes and miscommunications. Losing track of the Fifth
Fleet’s flagship in such a way was far too sloppy to be believable.
Calvin was sure Representative Tate would see through the flimsy
lie… but she didn’t challenge it except to say that Admiral
Tiberon, once he returned from Atria Prime, would be called before
the Assembly to verify the story. This was only a formality,
however, since his office had already forwarded a statement that
corroborated Harkov’s ridiculous claim. Calvin made a mental note
to add Tiberon to his list of people to investigate.

“
What about Abia, Admiral?”
asked Calvin, interrupting Representative Tate as she thanked Vice
Admiral Harkov for her service.

“
Once again, you are out of
order, Lieuten—”

“
I
will
speak,” said Calvin, cutting in.
It was a breach of protocol but to hell with protocol. He couldn’t
let these lies go unchallenged. He glanced at Kalila, wanting to
make sure he had her support. She nodded.

“
Mister Cross, you may
not—”

“
What about Abia,
Admiral
?” asked Calvin, interrupting
Representative Tate again. He looked at Harkov, challenging her
with his eyes.

Harkov cleared her throat, then leaned into
the mic. “What Mister Cross is referring to is a system inside the
Empire—it’s the location where the Nighthawk, the Harbinger, and
the other rebel ships ambushed the Imperial flotilla and destroyed
it.”

“
That is
not
true,” said Calvin. “When my ship
arrived at Abia it was captured by a Rotham squadron.” He looked
away from Harkov and stared at each member of the Defense Committee
in sequence, making eye contact. “A
Rotham
squadron. Deep inside Imperial
space. The Andromeda arrived with the flotilla, as its command
ship, and prepared to engage the Rotham ships. Before they could
exchange fire with the alien vessels, however, the battleships from
the Imperial flotilla opened fire on the Andromeda and the
destroyers. The Andromeda returned fire. All ships, except for the
Andromeda, were destroyed. The Andromeda then fled the system
and
that
is when it
disappeared.”

There were murmurs throughout the room. No
doubt his claim was a bold one. It was, however, the unequivocal
truth.

“
If your ship was captured
by a Rotham squadron,” said Representative Lekovic, speaking up for
the first time during this session, “then how did it and you
escape? And why would such a force, which mysteriously evaded all
of our detection systems, be inside Imperial space?”

“
I cannot speculate as to
the motives of the Rotham squadron. However, I have some evidence
that high-ranking members in this government, including some inside
this very Assembly, are part of a large conspiracy and are
cooperating with foreign agents—including, most likely, the Rotham
squadron.”

His words created an uproar and the chamber
filled with noise. Representative Tate had to call the Assembly
Floor to order. Those in attendance sounded with such dissonance it
was as if Calvin had personally accused each and every one of them
of treason.

“
And you escaped this Rotham
force—which was never seen or heard from again—how exactly?”
pressed Lekovic.

“
The Harbinger and other
renegade ships did arrive on the scene and participate in the
battle, but only after the Andromeda had fled and the Imperial
flotilla was destroyed. The Harbinger and its squadron defeated the
Rotham squadron—of which only a few ships escaped, which is
probably why it wasn’t seen or heard from again—and then the
Harbinger sent troops aboard the ship we were imprisoned on and
liberated us.”

“
At which point the
Harbinger simply let you go?”

“
Yes,” said Calvin, though
that wasn’t entirely true. Raidan had asked Calvin to come to
Gemini—which Calvin had done willingly—but had he refused… it was
likely Raidan would have forced him to come to Gemini
anyway.

“
Quite the fanciful tale,”
said Lekovic and laughter filled the chamber.

“
It’s the truth,” said
Calvin. “I swear upon my sacred honor.”

“
The honor of a renegade,”
said Lekovic.

The chamber reacted with
“ooh’s” and curious intrigue. Was a member of the Defense
Committee, and the Internal Security Committee, accusing the
Executor of the Empire—whose name had been cleared by the King’s
authority—of sedition and disloyalty to the Crown?
Perhaps Lekovic was a member of the Phoenix
Ring
, Calvin thought.

“
Watch your tone,” said
Kalila, finally speaking up. Her words carried a commanding tone.
“I remind you that Mister Cross has been appointed by the Crown and
serves the Empire loyally. You would do well to remember
that.”

“
I apologize, Your Grace,”
said Lekovic in a speedy backpedal. “I meant only that, at the time
of this alleged incident with the Rotham squadron, Mister Cross was
a renegade. Officially being pursued by agents of the Fleet and
Intel Wing. That is an indisputable fact.”

“
He was being pursued under
false pretenses and for unjust reasons,” said Kalila, fire in her
voice. “Because of that his name has been cleared, not just for the
present but also the past.”

“
Of course, Your Grace,”
said Lekovic.

“
Admiral Harkov,” said
Representative Tate, “would you care to respond to Mister Cross’s
allegations? Did your ship exchange fire with the Imperial
flotilla?”

“
There is not a shred of
truth to these allegations,” said Vice Admiral Harkov. “The
flotilla was destroyed by the Nighthawk and the Harbinger and other
renegade warships. The flotilla had been given the assignment to
capture or destroy all of those vessels, so they had motive in
ambushing it. Certainly there was no friendly-fire. What would
possibly motivate commanders from my own fleet, the Fifth Fleet, to
fire on one another? It makes no sense. Surely this honored
Assembly can see that the truth—that the Nighthawk and Harbinger
destroyed the flotilla before the Andromeda arrived—is far more
plausible than Mister Cross’s claim that we destroyed ourselves, in
the presence of an alien, and probably hostile, force.”

This seemed to win a positive reaction from
the crowd. Calvin could tell from the timber of the noise that
people seemed to be assenting and sympathetic, and when put like
that—Harkov’s version of events did sound more believable. But that
didn’t change the fact that it was completely false. Calvin looked
at the Admiral, and remembered how he and other commanding
officers, including Harkov, had dined together while awaiting the
verdict of Raidan’s trial on Praxis One. Harkov had seemed so
normal then, certainly she hadn’t struck Calvin as a player in the
conspiracy. Yet here she was, spinning lies before the Assembly.
Attempting to discredit him—and through him Kalila, and through
her, the King himself.

“
Mister Nimoux,” said
Representative Tate, “your reputation is one of high-esteem in this
body and your record has proven you time and again to be a servant
of the Empire. I ask you now to weigh in on these claims. As a
representative of the intelligence community, but also as a trusted
friend of the Assembly and a proven servant of the
Empire.”

It sickened Calvin a little
to see that the Assembly held Nimoux and his reputation in such
light, while they were so suspicious of Calvin. His record had
proven him too to be a servant of the Empire. He had
two
silver stars. But even
Calvin had to admit that, when compared to Nimoux’s record, his was
nothing to talk about. And Nimoux was easily the most effective and
well-known operative in all of Intel Wing. It made sense that his
words would carry weight here.

“
My ship, the Desert Eagle,
arrived on the scene at Abia after the fact,” said Nimoux. “However
we did find a great deal of debris. All of it was from Imperial
ships. No debris was found of alien origins. The most likely
explanation is that the Harbinger and other renegade Imperial ships
fired on the Imperial flotilla, like the Admiral said.

The room listened in total silence. Hundreds
of people, and each hung onto Nimoux’s every word like some kind of
pure gospel.

“
I would also point out that
the Andromeda has no battle damage. And so, unless a very rapid
repair was done to restore the ship—which is unlikely—then the
Andromeda cannot have participated in a battle against our own
battleships, which surely would have scarred the Andromeda’s hull,
like Mister Cross claims. And finally, I would say that according
to the best knowledge of Intel Wing, there is not a Rotham military
squadron in Imperial space, nor has there ever been since the Great
War. Any large force of ships attempting to cross the DMZ would be
detected by our listening posts.”

His words were damning. And, as Calvin
glanced throughout the room, he knew the Assembly had decided.
Nimoux’s reputation was legendary and his word would be interpreted
as the unimpeachable truth. It sickened him that the greatest Intel
Wing agent would speak out against him like this. And deceive the
Assembly. Calvin stared at Nimoux, recognizing him from the many
thousands of times his image had appeared in Intel Wing files.
Everything was there, every flaw, it was exactly him. And yet…
Calvin wondered if the Nimoux before him was a replicant. He
already had his suspicions about the Admiral. It was a chilling
thought, that such high-profile and powerful people could be
replaced seemingly on a whim—if that was indeed what had
happened.  “I would add, however,” Nimoux continued, “that I
believe Mister Cross is operating with the best of intentions, and
I believe he is sincerely convinced of his version of events—but
perceiving something and having it be reality do not always align.
I believe that undue hardship, stress, and other factors are
affecting Mister Cross’s mental capacity.”

It was cold, vicious character
assassination. As Calvin looked once more throughout the room,
keenly attentive to the whispers and murmur of voices, he could
tell that their confidence in him was shaken. His colorful claims,
his conspiracy theories, his witch hunt… clearly, to them, he must
have seemed at least a little out of touch and paranoid.