Phoenix Rising: The Covenant (Phoenix Rising Infinitology Book 1)

by Angela Timms

  Kyla looked at the floor. “What happened to him?”

  Nai looked slightly sad. “He met with her true lover in spirit and he has never quite been the same again. Anyway, you had better go now.”

  They walked back down the corridor towards the metal plate as Nai continued to tell them stories of when his people had visited Earth. “I don’t know what you were hoping to find on Lundy but I hope that the alliance that we may be able to forge will be something positive you can take back to your superiors. I would trust in your discretion in what you talk about on the island and on your way back to your respective homes. The war is being fought on many levels and by many people of races you may never have heard of. The Followers are spreading through the dimensions, not just the galaxies and worlds. We could have walked away but we didn’t, it may be too late for us already, it may not. For now, we will talk and we will see what the future holds. I would give you this pretty lady.” He handed Kyla a small silver ring engraved with leaves. “Beware faerie giving, this is a gift freely given. Never accept a gift from my people unless they say that it is given in that way or you will owe them a gift back. There are some very dark folk amongst my subjects, you would call them evil but evil and good have no meaning here. They have their ways of living and doing things that may well not agree with what you believe to be right. Now please enter the device and I will send you back to the cave.”

  Rennon turned to face him. “Thank you for what you have shown us. I hope that when you speak with our people that we will reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We do appreciate the gravity of what you have shown us.”

  Nai smiled and it was as if a warm glow had wrapped around them. “Farewell my new friends, I trust that we will one day meet again.”

  They were back in the cave, a little disorientated as it was night and pitch black. Their equipment was where they had left it and Rennon managed to pull out a torch from the side of his laptop bag. It was only a tiny pencil light but it gave them the opportunity to pack up and have a little bit of light as they made their way up the path to the Castle.

  The courtyard was still and in darkness. Their feet echoed on the stone cobbles as they made their way in silence to the kitchen, comforted that the door was still locked.

  Kyla put the kettle on. “So Rennon, how about you boot up your laptop and we can find out the date and time. I’d like to know if a hundred years has passed.”

  Rennon took out his laptop. “Under the circumstances that isn’t funny. Thankfully only hours have passed, not years. It’s now half eleven and the down side of that is that we’ve missed lunch and dinner in the Tavern. I hope that someone got to the shops today so we have something to eat tonight.”

  Kyla got the mugs out. “Well you are in luck, Kel and I went earlier and there’s a whole cupboard full of snacks, bread, cheese and other things. So, shall we put them on the table and help ourselves?”

  Kel tipped back on his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. “That would be great. I’m just wondering when Damien is going to join us. We didn’t get to see him, for all we know they could have murdered him.” Rennon looked worried. “We did take rather a lot on trust. I’m going back to the cave.”

  Kyla turned to face him. “I wouldn’t. Nai said that Damien had to heal, even with their technology that may take a while. I don’t think they have him hostage.”

  There was a knock on the door and a muffled voice outside. “Thanks for waiting for me that was a dark walk in my condition.”

  Rennon leapt to the door and opened it. “Damien, good to see you mate.” Damien stepped inside. He was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers and looked very healthy. “They looked after me well and I’m almost as good as new, few scars but can’t complain. A very naughty doggie, did you see it, it was massive. I have no idea how that tiny girl controls it, then again she didn’t, did she. Still, quite a place and the Infirmary, that was a real experience but I’m not sure what was caused by the drugs and what was actually there. I guess I’ll never know. But I’m back now, safe and sound.” Rennon was running a scanner over Damien. “Everything checks out but you seem different, certainly chattier.”

  Damien had a wry smile on his face. “Just happy, I met a young lady while I was there, that was why it took me a bit longer to heal and leave the Infirmary. She was one of the nurses.”

  Rennon chuckled. “You old dog, good for you. A bit of Fairy skirt.” Damien went white. “Sorry, what did you say? Blimey so it wasn’t the drugs, are you telling me she really did have hooves?”

  Kyla set the drinks on the table and they were passed around. She picked hers up and took a mouthful. Then she started handing the contents of the cupboard to Rennon who put them on the table. Connor got the plates and gave everyone one and Eric got the cutlery. Very soon they were ripping chunks off the bread and buttering it with local butter and stacking it high with the cheese they had bought earlier. Kyla put a bottle of wine on the table and Kel got the opener, opened it and poured it into the glasses that Eric had put on the table.

  Kel lifted his glass. “To those of the Realm, may they prove the sort of allies that we really need to tip the balance in this war.”

  They all lifted their glasses. “To the Realm.”

  Kel then put his glass down and looked thoughtful. Rennon caught his eye. “What is worrying you?”

  Kel smiled. “Well, I’m wondering how we’re going to fill in the mission reports. I hope they can arrange a diplomatic meeting soon as reporting that we went into a cave, jumped dimensions and met a bunch of Faeries is not going to read well. Is it actually worth investigating the church and other places?”

  Daniel looked up and put down his chunk of bread. “I was going to propose that we contact our respective superiors and report in and ask what they want us to do. I would suggest in the initial report we refrain from referring to our new found friends as fairies.”

  Kel took a big bite from his chunk of bread. “We can report in the morning. It has been a hard two years and if we can set an electronic guard let us have one night with the hope that things might turn a corner.”

  Daniel got up from the table and went to the window. He had seen a light at the window. It was quiet outside in the courtyard but he was sure he saw a tiny light floating off towards the stairway. “Looks like our new friends are still around.”

  Kyla spread some butter on a crust. “Well, it is the witching hour, which is supposedly their time by your folklore isn’t it?”

  Rennon got up and went to the window. “I would still like to set up the sensors so we have some advance warning if any of their dogs get out again. I’ll be back. Damien, are you coming with me? We can get this place rigged up and then we can relax properly.”

  Damien took a bite, put his bread down and headed out of the door after Rennon, laptop under his arm.

  10

  The Commander stared blankly at the files in front of him. He slowly closed the one he had been looking at and put it carefully aside on a pile of others and straightened his pens. He picked up a notepad and flipped it open. He picked up his pen and thought for a while and then began to write. He thought and wrote. At the end of it he hardly had anything written on the paper, but he had a lot of crossings out and enough words left without a line through them.

  He turned to the intercom and pressed the “speak” button. It clicked and he took a deep breath. “People of Mission Command, this is your Commander speaking. This is a Code Red Information Bulletin, all channels. I am sorry to have to inform you that as of 0400 this morning we lost contact with all other Mission Commands in the other galaxies. Reports that we have received from our allies have informed us that these bases have been destroyed. I am also sorry to have to inform you that the Followers have now got major control in every galaxy, including this one. They have declared us as outlaws and I have to inform you that each one of us now has a price on our head.

  It is not known how much information they have on specific memb
ers of staff other than our field operatives.

  I would like to send my sympathies to those of you who had family or friends on the other bases. Today has been designated a day of mourning and we have set up a wall of remembrance in the annex to the galley.”

  Kel, Rennon and Kyla were sitting by the window in their usual seat eating their breakfast. Kyla had been caught mid bite and she slowly put her fork down onto the plate and looked at the other two as she slowly chewed her bacon. A favorite addition to the menu since their alliance with Earth had been confirmed.

  Rennon shook his head and looked down into his food. Kel was staring out of the window and clenched his fist so hard he bent his fork.

  Rennon took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That’s it then. So what happens now?”

  Kel unclenched his fist. “We carry on. We fight and we do what we can. It is probably going to be harder going and I suppose we may have to raid to get our equipment from now on but life goes on. I’m wondering if the Commander will move us all out of here. If the other MCs are destroyed I’d put money on this one being in the firing line soon enough.”

  They finished their meal in silence. The whole room had also fallen into an eerie silence other than the clatter of knives and forks. Many had walked out, their meals half eaten. Their meal done they walked out together. They hardly got to the door when their pagers went off. “Report to the Commander.”

  They went directly there, passing blank faced people walking in a dream. It all seemed surreal, nothing seemed real. It was the same corridor they had walked a thousand times but it looked different somehow, it smelt different and it certainly felt different. The feeling that nothing would ever be the same again was written on everyone’s face.

  They hardly stopped at the Commander’s door, just long enough to knock and for him to answer before they strode in and stood in a line in front of his desk. All of them stood, feet apart, hands behind their backs. The Commander tried to smile. He now had even more files in front of him. “I have called you here as you may have already realized things are going to have to change here. We cannot withstand a full scale attack by the Followers now that they have control of the fleets of all the galaxies they have conquered. I have decided that rather than sit here and wait to be destroyed we are going to abandon the base. Being able to skirmish fight and move quickly may be the only hope that we have of survival. I have contacted Baron Joniel of the Prince’s Watch and King Naiarlindris and they have agreed to help us move our non-essential staff to places of safety.

  King Naiarlindris has problems of his own. He has been forced to remove the devices from most of his gateways to prevent the Followers from entering his realm. The gateways that remain are very heavily guarded and he has warned us not to attempt to use them as the devices he has put in place are truly deadly. In his communiqué he was able to give us the location of a research establishment where the Followers are producing something new.

  I’ve allocated you a combat class Zephyr with cloaking ability. It is in the hanger, fully fuelled and stocked with your share of provisions. Rennon you will take the Research and Development slot on the ship of course, Kyla you are going as the medic. Kel as weapons specialist but you are going to have to pick more crew than that if you are going to be effective. Do you have any suggestions or shall I choose them for you?” Rennon shifted his feet. “Can we have some time to talk this over?”

  The Commander smiled slightly. “Of course, but don’t take too long, I’ve authorized the evacuation. Once evacuated King Naiarlindris’ people are going to shift the base into a dimensional space where it will remain until we need it again. As he is shifting it out of phase and time nothing living would survive so we cannot leave anyone behind.

  I would suggest that you do your thinking and discussing while packing up your things and moving to your ship. I expect the ships to disembark as soon as possible. I have drawn up a list of possible names of people you might like on your team, take a look and get back to me. Thank you.”

  They left the room in silence and walked down the corridor which was now full of people carrying equipment and personal effects. They walked in single file, letting the people flow around them. Kel was in front and they went to his room first.

  It was a small and plain room with very few furnishings, a bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. There were no decorations or pictures. A stack of weapons by the door were swiftly thrust into a large bag and his clothes fitted into a barrel shaped kit bag which drawstring closed at the top. He slung it over his back and they moved on to Rennon’s room.

  Rennon’s room was a light blue and decorated with prints he had acquired after his trip to Earth. He had almost a complete set of Waterhouse, Pre- Raphaelite Artworks, framed in ornate gold wood. They stacked easily on their sides in one of the cardboard boxes that had been left for him. He threw his clothes into one of the boxes and began stacking his equipment and scanners into a box. There was a note pinned to the inside of his door. It read “Don’t worry about the contents of your laboratory. It has already been moved to the Zephyr.” He read it, screwed it up and threw it into the wastepaper bin before continuing with stacking his personal possessions into boxes.

  As he stacked he talked. “So who do we suggest?”

  Kel looked up from helping him by stacking books. “Is there anyone specifically that we would like on the ship with us? “

  Kyla was also stacking books into the boxes. “I don’t really know anyone, everyone I’d choose other than the doctor is in this room.”

  Rennon hesitated. “We could ask for Samson. I doubt we’d get him but we can try. Anyone else?”

  Kyla smiled to Kel. “What about that nurse you were eyeing up?”

  Rennon froze on the spot and nearly dropped the box he was carefully lifting into a packing case. “No point, I would expect she will be on the ship with her long term partner. She kept that one quiet.”

  Kyla’s smile faded. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know.”

  Rennon smiled. “Not to worry. No, there’s nobody I would choose, what do we need?”

  Kel grunted. “More firepower is always useful.”

  Kyla thought for a moment. “A mechanic might be a good idea. If the ship breaks down there’s nothing any of us could do about it.”

  Rennon nodded his approval. “Can you cook?” He was looking at Kyla. Kyla thought about that one. “Well, I can manage the basics if I have to. How many crew does the ship need? Perhaps a dedicated pilot would be a good idea. What about Angus Larkin?”

  Kel put the stack of books he was carrying into a box. “That sounds like a good idea. I know you can fly most things Rennon but we do need someone with specialist skills, I’ve heard those Zephyrs are hard to fly. The ship has twelve crew rooms so it’s up to the Commander how many he wants to send with us. Shall we leave it to him?”

  Rennon picked up an ornament of a polar bear and wrapped it in a shirt. “Other than requesting Samson, why not?”

  They finished packing Rennon’s room and moved on to Kyla’s. Her room was virtually empty of anything. She had the basic furniture and one or two pieces of clothing and washing accessories but other than that she had nothing personal to pack. They had left her a backpack and she filled it while the other two sat on her bed. She buckled the straps and threw it over her shoulder. “So, time to go then. Let’s report back to the Commander and take a look at our new home.”

  Rennon flipped open his laptop and wrote a message to the Commander with the result of their discussion and then hit send.

  They approached the Hanger Bay. The door was permanently open as people were coming and going and all security and quarantine protocols had been suspended. There were bits of rubbish strewn in the corridor that nobody seemed to be worrying about. Its usual pristine clinical tidiness was a thing of the past.

  Their ship rose above them. Its silver shell had seen at least one battle and was very slightly pock marked but in general it was in a great
condition and definitely space worthy. Rennon walked around it casting a critical eye over it and recalling its specifications on his handheld scanner and info dock. The entrance ramp was down and they were able to stride straight in. The ship seemed huge and clinically industrial inside. It was battle ready rather than a troop transport and had been built to be functional rather than comfortable. It had the basic rooms of Galley kitchen and dining area, a large communal area and separate private quarters entered by climbing down ladders. The quarters were all identical with a pull down bed, washing and toilet facilities, a wardrobe and places to store things.

  Kyla looked around the room she had chosen and put her backpack down on the bed. Rennon slid down the ladder and landed beside her. She looked around and he watched her. She smiled and whispered to him. “Don’t you think these dull silver metal walls are impersonal? It certainly has that military feel; you know that tidy precision that the base must have had once. I wonder how long it will take for this place to feel like home.”

  Rennon shrugged. “I don’t know, the base must have changed over the years and generations have made their mark. This room is a blank canvas, straight off the production line, just like mine. It is ready for you to make your mark on.”