The Phoenix Conspiracy

by Richard L. Sanders

  ***

  With both the bridge and engineering secure, Calvin gave the order to go to Abia. It felt good to have his command again, even illegitimately, and he was able to ignore the consequences of his actions by guessing what he might find in Abia.

  "ETA?" he asked for what must have been the twentieth time.

  "Two hours and fifty-three minutes," said Sarah. With the Major’s force in ruins, Calvin had ordered his White Shift officers to the bridge and relieved the Red Shift, which was sent below. Fortunately the exchange of personnel had happened before more Special Forces soldiers appeared—who were now drilling futilely into the defense walls.

  Only Summers had been kept against her will, she was cable-tied in the CO’s office where, presumably, she could do no further harm. Miles had taken a break earlier to go and surprise her with a beanbag round from a shotgun—enough to knock her unconscious. Only he would think to do such a thing to an unarmed prisoner. Calvin scolded him and forced him to resume his station, but deep inside he was a little bit pleased. Not enough to condone the action, but he also hadn’t forgotten the jagged wound she’d given him earlier. How she’d slipped into his heart and crushed it from the inside.

  “Is everything still fine in engineering?"

  "As of last report... one minute ago," said Sarah.

  "Good, good," said Calvin. He stood up and started pacing around the bridge.

  "Are you okay?" asked Sarah.

  "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He hovered over Miles' screen and examined the defense systems.

  "All's good here, Cal," said Miles.

  Calvin nodded and wound his way over to Shen's station.

  "Everything's fine over here too," said Shen.

  "And is the Andromeda and its flotilla in sight?" he asked.

  "Negative. Nothing on our scopes bigger than random space debris."

  He breathed a sigh of relief. His biggest concern now, aside from the perpetual threat that he'd somehow lose control of the ship... again, was that the Fleet would overtake him. The Nighthawk had spent a lot of fuel and taxed its engines heavily; as a result, they couldn't do as deep of a jump as Calvin wanted. Their present depth still translated into a fast speed, but whether it was fast enough was difficult to say. Not without Andre's input, and the poor guy was still locked away in HQ.

  ***

  Summers was in a confused state. She was sitting on the ground, it was cold, and her hands were tightly restrained, cinching her wrists. She felt a throbbing localized pain and her muscles were tight.

  She wiggled, trying to get comfortable, and looked through foggy eyes at the vaguely familiar shapes of the CO's office. She held out hope the Major would retake the ship, and restore proper order, but as the time went by, her hopes dimmed. But not her zeal to fight.

  She tried to curse under her gag, despite her self-discipline. She was no longer able to contain the swirl of boiling frustration eating her insides. She let out a string of swears with the word Calvin tossed in intermittently. It sounded incoherent with the gag in place. Eventually she calmed down but couldn’t hold back a stream of silent tears as she waited for what felt like an interminable amount of time.

  Chapter 27

  "Coming up on Abia," said Sarah.

  "Is our stealth system still engaged?" asked Calvin. He wanted to make sure that, whatever was out there, the Nighthawk got to see it first.

  "You know it is," said Miles. "All defensive systems are operational and standing by."

  "Good. Sarah, drop us deep into the system. About three million mc's from the outpost. I want a good look at what out there."

  "You got it. Entering Abia System in five minutes."

  Calvin tapped his armrest nervously. He couldn't believe they were actually going to arrive. They finally were past the many obstacles that'd stood between them and Abia... between Calvin and Raidan. Abia was the key, it had to be. He wouldn't let himself wonder what he'd do if there was nothing there.

  Anticipation filled the room, thick enough that even Sarah, who was always so relaxed, sat on the edge of her seat. "I've got something on the scopes," she said.

  "What is it?"

  "I... can't tell, it's all scrambled."

  Calvin felt his heart quicken. There was definitely something out there, something that didn't want to be seen. "How come you didn't see it until just now? We're practically there!"

  "I did, but I thought it was the planet. Now that we're this close... I can tell it's a scrambled reading. Very impressive. I didn't know this kind of technology existed."

  "It doesn't," said Shen grimly.

  "Standby condition one."

  "Standing by."

  "You'd better strap in," said Calvin; his crew looked surprised. He'd never given the order to strap in before. But he'd also never had to lead the Nighthawk into a serious combat engagement before. And since he didn't know what to expect, he thought a battle was quite possible. "I'm serious," he continued. "If we have to shift power from gravity, or if the system is blown, I don't want my bridge officers floating around the bridge."

  "Good thinking," said Shen.

  "Oh very well," said Miles as they all strapped in. Calvin did too, taking a moment to figure out how the restraints worked. It really had been a long time. Then he tapped the intercom control and set the broadcast to ship-wide.

  "This is your captain and I want you to listen very closely to what I have to say," he paused. "I know there has been tension and even violence among us on this ship. And that we are divided. But we must unite ourselves right now to survive. Our ship is fast approaching Abia System and something is scrambling our scanners. Something that will probably want to kill us.

  "So now I'm asking you... no, I'm begging you to look past our differences and cooperate once more. When this is over, if it turns out I led us here without good justification, I will resign my command…"

  Miles shot him a glare but Calvin continued unabated. "You have my word. But for now, let us be one."

  He pointed at Sarah who sounded General Quarters.

  "All hands to battle stations and strap in, CO out." He clicked it off.

  "What? Resign your command?" Miles looked like he was about to burst.

  Calvin nodded. "Yes, if that's what it takes. If I led us here for nothing then I don't deserve command. But don't worry about it," he said. "Because something is here."

  "Okay... whatever you say."

  "Dropping out of alteredspace into Abia System in four, three, two, one," said Sarah. "And... here we are."

  If Calvin hadn’t been tied to his chair he would have jumped up. "What do we see?"

  The view from the window was dark and empty, despite how deep in the system they were. As the ship rolled starboard the bright glow of the lonely sun filtered in.

  "Large objects," said Sarah. "Two are directly adjacent to the station, three hundred thousand mc's away. One is orbiting the dwarf planet and three others are holding position one point five million mc's out."

  "I confirm that," said Miles from his console.

  "Ships?" asked Calvin.

  "I think so," said Sarah. "But I can't be sure. Our sensors are still mostly confused, but based on their relative gravities I'd say the objects are equivalent in mass to... heavy cruisers."

  "She's right," said Miles. "But, if they are ships, I don't think they're ours. The mass of each individual ship puts them between a Telarian Cruiser and a Whitefire Battleship. We don't have any ships in that range."

  "Not military ships, anyway," said Shen. "They could be commercial vessels. Heavy freighters?"

  Miles shrugged. "They could be, I suppose."

  "Can we confirm that there are exactly six objects?" asked Calvin.

  "Negative," said Sarah. "Two smaller objects close together might look like one larger object, plus if they have anything on the other side of the planet we wouldn’t be able to see that—"

  "And," Miles talked over her. "If they have anything a lot smaller than these it'll b
e too small to get any idea of its gravity so we wouldn't see it, unless we move closer."

  "How is our stealth system doing?"

  "Operating normally."

  "Good. Let's move in for a closer look, nice and easy. I don't want to get noticed."

  Now it was time for a peace offering. He tapped his line to the CO's office.

  "Commander Presley," he said, trying to appeal to Summers' formal nature. "I'm requesting your presence on the bridge. Your insight at this moment would be most valuable. Our position is deep inside Abia System and we're approaching several unknown objects that are not yet identifiable. We're guessing ships, maybe alien ships. We both know the XO's position at a time like this is on the bridge. I'm going to release you. I ask that you help us, but I will not compel you."

  ***

  Summers listened carefully to what Calvin had to say. Nothing lessened her resentment for him and what he'd done to her and her ship. But, for the first time, she wondered if he'd blundered his way into something important. If there really were unregistered alien ships this deep inside the Empire, that had serious implications.

  Or perhaps Calvin "suspected" alien ships simply to try and grab some validation for his illegal takeover of the ship. It might turn out that these objects were asteroids. Or space junk. Or maybe even nothing at all. When Calvin finished speaking, Shen came in and unlocked Summers' restraints. As he did, Summers remained silent, still wondering at Calvin's ulterior motive. Even when Shen returned to the bridge, Summers remained in place, thoughtful. Wondering why Calvin should want her advice now. After disregarding it at every turn since she’d come aboard.

  Most likely Calvin thought the image of them cooperating would help secure his hold over the ship. Make the crew think his actions were legitimate. She couldn't allow that.

  But then again... if there was a danger to the ship, duty was very clear, her place was on the bridge. For now she’d have to swallow her pride and see what Calvin had put everything on the line for.

  ***

  "Incredible," said Shen, staring out the window.

  "That makes four of them," said Miles as another large grey object became visible through the window, gliding almost invisibly in the darkness.

  "Emitting very little heat and flying no identifier lights and giving off no signals," said Shen after conducting a short scan. "Just like the others."

  "They're definitely ships," said Calvin. "But what kind?" The fast distant glances they caught, while carefully maneuvering around the strange objects, made it impossible to get a good view. Most of the hulls were still shrouded in darkness. And the projector didn’t have enough information to display them.

  "If we move even closer," said Shen. "We'd be able to get a pretty good scan. The scrambling device wouldn't be as effective."

  "I say we go for it," said Miles.

  "It's risky," said Sarah.

  "Relax," said Miles. "They can't see us. We have the best stealth system in the galaxy."

  Despite Miles' confidence, or perhaps because of it, Sarah looked unconvinced. She glanced at Calvin for instructions and he hesitated before giving any.

  On the one hand, the Nighthawk was no match for any of these ships. But on the other hand, if he didn't take a chance, he might lose out on what could be vital intelligence. He needed to ID those ships to make this worth it. And the stealth device seemed to be working so far.

  "Let's do it," said Calvin.

  "Okay," replied Sarah.

  The ship closed in, silently and swiftly.

  "What I'm still surprised by," said Shen. "Is how the station is fully lit up but not reacting to any of these ships. Its shields are down, weapons powerless, communications array inactive…"

  "Do you think they can even see the ships with their sensor jamming device?" asked Sarah.

  "Probably. All these deep space outposts have large, powerful sensors."

  "Too bad we can't hail them," said Sarah. "Without giving ourselves away."

  “Their comm array is down anyway,” said Shen.

  "I bet they've been boarded," said Miles. "Even though no distress signal was ever sent to the Fleet."

  "Or a distress call was sent to the Fleet and the Fleet ignored it," said Calvin.

  "If they did board it," said Shen. "The staff would have had no chance to defend themselves. There are only a handful of scientists and technicians. There are no sophisticated defenses at tiny outposts like this so deep inside the Empire."

  Sarah interrupted them. "Approaching nearest object at twenty-five thousand mc's per second, zero range in twenty-eight seconds."

  As the ship swung around, the object came into view and gradually filled the window. "It's a Rotham ship," said Miles. "No doubt about it. Thorpian Attack Cruiser." Calvin knew better than to doubt Miles' knowledge of starships and their defenses.

  "I suspected this," said Calvin. "But it still surprises me."

  "I know…” said Shen. "Rotham warships this far inside the Empire. It's crazy. How did they even get here? They should have been spotted by at least a dozen of our listening posts along the DMZ, unless they came from Polarian space…"

  Sarah was intently focused on her display and controls, ready to go into a defensive maneuver at any moment.

  "Do all the ships match the design of this one?" asked Calvin.

  "Hard to know," said Miles. "Most of them seem to. But not all."

  Just then the CO's office opened and everyone looked to see Summers stride to the center of the bridge.

  "Welcome, Commander," said Calvin. "Take your seat and strap in."

  "What for?" she asked, her eyes flicked to the ship out the window. "Is that a...?"

  "Rotham ship," said Miles.

  "But how can you tell? There are no identifier lights."

  "Trust me," said Miles. "It's a Rotham warship—Thorpian Attack Cruiser."

  "I don't—" Summers was almost speechless. "What is it doing way out here?"

  "That's what we need to find out," said Calvin. Then, while Summers sat down and strapped herself in—with some hesitation—Calvin turned to Miles. "Tell me about those ships."

  "They are full-on warships. Superior to any destroyer, larger than our battleships but not as much bite, and nothing compared to one of our dreadnoughts. Though they could squish us like a bug."

  "And what about the ships that are not Thorpian Attack Cruisers?"

  "There are four that don't match the design. Three ships are light cruisers. The fourth is totally different."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It's hard to explain... " Miles looked flustered. "It's the one orbiting the planet. There’s some kind of weird energy band or something, it’s in flux, increasing and decreasing like clockwork. Not sure what to make of it."

  Shen did a quick scan. "I see what you mean, Miles," he said. "There's some kind of field its main accelerator is giving off. My best guess is that its propulsion technology is distinctly different than Rotham or Imperial standards."

  "Bring us in closer," said Calvin. "Focus on that ship."

  "Yes, sir," said Sarah. "Moving to new position.”

  "Do you think that's wise?" asked Summers. She was now eyeing the XO's personal display.

  "What do you mean?" Calvin turned to her.

  "If we move to that position, we'll be right in the center of those ships. If they are hostile, and they see us, we won't be able to escape. Their proximity will physically prevent an alteredspace retreat."

  "She's right," said Shen.

  "That's only if they see us," said Miles. "And if we do move to that position that will give us the best view of everything here."

  "He's right about that," said Sarah. "And there is no other really good position to scan from without dealing with distortion from the planet. Should I proceed as directed or not?"

  "Proceed as directed," said Calvin. He knew the risks and decided they were worth taking. He had to know more.

  The attack cruiser disappeared from view, qui
ckly replaced by the dwarf planet. It was dark grey and only partially lit by the star. It looked like a barren lifeless husk of a world. A floating rock in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing of interest or value upon it.

  "New position reached, answering all stop," said Sarah.

  "What are the ships doing?" asked Calvin.

  "Holding pattern. No one is moving except for the ship in standard orbit."

  "Now that we have a better view, project everything we can see."

  The projector lit up with simple three-dimensional models of a basic planet, an orbiting outpost, a ship in orbit, and five other ships all around the Nighthawk, sitting idle.

  "An entire alien squadron…” said Calvin.

  "Looks like it."

  "Tell me about the unusual ship." He rubbed his hands together.

  "It's a cruiser," said Miles. "Polarian..."

  Calvin felt a potent wave of both intrigue and dread. "The Polarians are here?"

  "Or a ship that once belonged to them," said Shen.

  "Could they be cooperating?" Calvin asked. "Polarians and Rotham."

  "They were at war five years ago," said Summers.

  "It sounds more likely to me that the Rotham captured or purchased a Polarian ship, maybe as far back as during the war, and are using it here," said Shen.

  "That would fit," said Miles. "The Polarian ship looks like a Kesner type three cruiser, making it at least ten years old. It could have easily been captured during the war."

  "Yeah that has to be it. The Rotham acquired a Polarian ship. You know probability, the simpler the explanation the more likely it is to be correct," said Shen.

  Calvin agreed, but wasn't closing the book on it.

  "Look at this," said Shen, staring at his scanner. The projected display of the ships' positions blinked once and then they all noticed one of the ships—the closest one—move slowly their way.