The Phoenix Project

by Kris Powers

  “An excellent strategy, Commander,” she said while the courtroom emptied of people.

  “Thank—you, Admiral. I’d like to meet tonight, if it’s convenient, to discuss the coming testimony of your crew. They start on the witness stand tomorrow at noon.”

  “Yes, that’s fine.”

  Her defense attorney grabbed his grey leather satchel. She was gathering her own attaché case when she heard a voice from behind her.

  “Admiral Peterson,” the greasy prosecutor said. She turned around to confront her interrogator.

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “I hope you understand that I am only doing my job. I admit I’m doing it well, but the court expects my best,” he raised his hand to salute her. She reciprocated the salute and watched his progress out of the room. Once the door closed behind him, Maria spoke to her attorney.

  “Slippery little bastard, isn’t he?”

  “More than you know. I’ve been at the opposite table in court from him at least a dozen times. He wins more than he loses,” Dixon replied.

  “He’s arrogant.”

  “I know. I thought of what it’d be like to work on his side of the room before as co—counsel.”

  “And?”

  “I’d probably end up punching him in the face.”

  “So would I,” she said.

  “Don’t let him cloud your judgment, Admiral. He’s the one with the ego, not you.”

  There was a great deal of support within the Coalition hierarchy to have Phillip Bell as their lead spokesman on the panels. He was former military and known for his fierce loyalty to his government. His current standing included him in the Coalition’s high profile, albeit powerless, cabinet of advisors to the Council of Twelve. Phillip Bell was also known for his xenophobia towards people born and bred on worlds other than Earth. He was seen as the perfect foil for the more sympathetic members of the panel.

  It was his suspicious nature that proved to be his own brand of hubris and precipitated many of the events that followed.

  Inquiry or Sham: Analysis of the Ferine Hearings

  by Penelope Rose

  Chapter XI

  Lathiel and Ranik once again sat in spindle—backed chairs with Elliot and Nadine on either side of them in the courtroom. The board had decided to close the proceedings citing the previous day’s outbursts as cause. A series of unmanned cameras in the room broadcast the hearing to the public.

  “First of all,” the speaker said, “I would like to apologize to the Ferine delegates for yesterday’s incident. As you can see, this will not happen again.”

  The two Ferine delegates nodded in acceptance of the appeasement.

  “I will pass the floor to Mister Bell.”

  Bell looked to his links to find references from the previous day before he spoke to the extraterrestrials.

  “Lathiel, we would like to continue with your testimony.”

  Lathiel nodded. “Yes Mister Bell, I would be happy to.”

  “You did in fact lead the expedition to the weapon, purportedly constructed by your ancestors?”

  “Yes, I volunteered,” Lathiel said.

  “You volunteered?” Bell asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You weren’t ordered to this duty?” Bell asked.

  “No, our social structure is different from yours.”

  “Even scientists have a hierarchy,” Bell said.

  “There is a structure to our culture Sir, but not in a hierarchal way.”

  “Please, explain this to us,” Mary said.

  “There is a board of scientists that give final consent to projects, but they never issue orders. Scientists act on their own and ask for resources as needed. In the case of the Nevargh fleet approaching, the board asked for volunteers to attempt to reactivate the weapon.”

  “Why did you lead the expedition?” Bell asked.

  “If no one else did, Cartise would be an occupied planet by now. I knew that someone had to volunteer. It might as well have been me.”

  “That’s it? Someone had to do it?” Bell demanded.

  “Yes Mister Bell, haven’t you ever volunteered for anything?” Ranik replied for Lathiel.

  A brief laugh came from a few Alliance members at the table. An expression of embarrassment crossed Bell’s face.

  “Delegate Ranik I am hearing from Lathiel at the moment. Please keep your comments to a minimum,” Bell said.

  “He won’t defend himself,” Ranik mumbled and fell silent.

  “Lathiel you volunteered for this assignment and what did you find?”

  “The base was in disrepair, but the primary furnace was still viable,” Lathiel replied.

  “What was it like, stepping into ancient history?” Mary asked.

  “Much like visiting a mausoleum, Ma’am. Everything was covered in dust. We had to use environmental suits for a full day before life support was restored.”

  “How was it like a mausoleum?”

  “It was an eerie feeling. The place was dark when we entered. Nothing there had been disturbed in centuries. Many of my colleagues stated they saw moving shadows cast by no living being. They said they had only fleeting glances but they swore they were there.”

  “Yes, that’s very disturbing Lathiel,” Bell interjected, “but I take it you were able to repair the weapon.”

  Jolted from his reverie, Lathiel responded to his statement. “Yes, we worked right until the end. I was hoping to eliminate the recoil from the weapon but it seemed it was never designed for that.”

  “This recoil was what caused the deaths you had mentioned?” Bell asked.

  “Life seemed to be viewed differently in ancient times. The cannon was constructed with our ancestor’s full knowledge of its flaws. Apparently, they viewed the loss of the people manning the weapon as acceptable. The cannon was functioning two hours before the Nevargh fleet arrived. I spent every effort to eliminate the recoil before the deadline, but it was irreconcilable with the use of such a destructive force.”

  “This recoil destroyed the base?” Bell asked.

  “Several of the upper levels of the complex collapsed when the weapon fired. The primary furnace overloaded and nearly all of its internal components burnt out. All of the lower levels experienced heavy damage but were still standing. Only about forty of us managed to escape.”

  “But the enemy fleet was destroyed?” Mary asked.

  “That fleet, yes.”

  “How many Nevargh fleets are there?” Bell asked.

  “The Nevargh fleet totals one hundred and twenty thousand ships at last count.”

  The board took in a collective breath at the news. An instant later, they were arguing among themselves. Bell took his part in it, listening to the emphatic whispers of a man seated next to him. After a moment, Bell extracted himself from the heated debate and returned to his verbal discourse with the Ferine.

  “Lathiel, have you ever considered the idea that you may have lead a ferocious enemy to our front door?” Bell demanded.

  “Lead them here?”

  “Mister Speaker, may I respond for Lathiel?” Ranik asked, standing up.

  Bell let out a sigh of exasperation, “Very well, Ranik may answer for Lathiel.”

  “Thank—you. I don’t believe that you or any of your colonies are in danger.”

  “And just why not?”

  “Even if the Nevargh knew of your existence, and I doubt they do, you are far too removed from their sphere of influence to bother with.”

  “You honestly believe that we aren’t important enough for them to conquer us?”

  “Oh, they would conquer you if they could, believe me,” Ranik said, “but I think you misunderstood me. The Nevargh’s maximum achievable superluminal speeds are one thousand c. It would take them ten years of constant travel just to reach you.”

  “But you reached us, according to submitted reports, in three and a half days,” Bell said.

  “Our fold technology is generations ahead of
their FTL technology. To date they have never managed to reverse engineer any of the fold drives they have captured.”

  “But they could.”

  “We offered them the technology before the war began. The Nevargh never understood it. They’ve always been so stupid,” Ranik said.

  The statement brought another flurry of mild laughter to the panel. Ranik sat down and allowed Lathiel to resume his testimony.

  “Fold drives,” Mary said. “The submissions also mention this but only in passing. What are they?”

  “They are a technology we discovered more than forty years ago at an archeological dig. Their approximate equivalent in FTL terms would be about one million times the speed of light.”

  “Are you serious?” Bell asked.

  “An archeological dig?” Mary asked at the same time.

  Lathiel stood silent in confusion, not knowing which question to answer first. Bell frowned down the table at Mary and then looked back to Ranik. “These drives can accomplish one million c?”

  “That is their only speed, Sir. They can not travel any faster or slower.”

  “You discovered them at an archeological dig?” Mary asked again.

  “We found the plans for the drives at an archeological dig,” Lathiel replied.

  “I thought you said your ancestors were no more advanced than you are today,” Bell said.

  “That is true, but we didn’t discover the plans at one of our ancestor’s ancient cities.”

  “Than where did you discover them?”

  “At the remains of a Pera settlement. They are the first race that existed in the galaxy,” Lathiel replied.

  “Where are they now?”

  “We don’t know. They vanished ages ago.”

  “What do you mean by the first race?” Mary asked.

  “There are remains or traces of other extinct races, but the Pera predate all of the others we have ever found. We’ve referred to them before as the Ancients.”

  “A first race. So have you discovered anything else at these sites?” Mary asked.

  “A few improvements to our sensors come from them and little else. There is very little left of them. We haven’t discovered one of their data rods in at least thirty years,” Lathiel replied.

  “Now Delegate Lathiel, if you’ll excuse me, why aren’t there any archeological digs for us to find in our space? We have never discovered evidence of any previous races. You seem to imply these sites are everywhere. If so, why are there none in our space?” Bell asked.

  “They don’t know?” Ranik whispered to Lathiel.

  “What was that, Delegate Ranik?”

  “Sorry Mister Bell, I was just surprised that you are unaware of your star system’s location,” Ranik said.

  “I am well aware of our location. Is there some significance to it?”

  “You are well within the Ancient’s space,” Lathiel said.

  “But you said there are no Pera anymore.”

  “No, but their space is desolate. Your system is an oasis in that desert. Only a few very young civilizations exist in this area,” Lathiel said.

  “Shouldn’t there be traces of this civilization for certain then, if we are in their old territory?” Mary asked.

  “The Pera core worlds were the subject of large scale bombardment to an extent that their colonies were reduced to balls of molten rock, even all this time later they still show no signs of life. Only their outlying colonies and outposts survived to any degree.”

  “Have no other advanced civilizations colonized the area since they left?” Mary asked.

  “There’s really nothing left to colonize. The only other habitable planets in this region are already occupied by intelligent species. Nearly all of them are on the fringes of the old Pera Empire and none of them have achieved your level of advancement yet.”

  “What of the Pera? Why were their worlds destroyed?” Bell asked.

  “We’re not sure. There may have been a civil war or possibly an outside influence. What survivors there were vanished soon afterwards. There are legends that they left this galaxy and traveled to the edge of the universe.”

  “Back to the subject, Lathiel. If these Nevargh are far enough away not to be a threat to us, why did you come here?” Bell asked.

  “After the beam fired, I grew concerned as to where the weapon may have gone. We never believed a wormhole would be created by the discharge although it was remotely possible. I hoped it would have simply continued through space until it dissipated or had disappeared into a star. We were deeply saddened to discover where it went,” Lathiel said.

  “So you do advocate that you never intentionally attacked us?” Bell asked.

  “No, certainly not,” Lathiel replied.

  “It does seem convenient that this weapon just happened to open a wormhole. This wormhole just happened to have an exit point near our system and it just happened to hit our planet.”

  “It was a chance of one in a billion,” Lathiel said. “Unfortunately, your race beat the odds.”

  “Yes, so it does seem far more likely that this was intentional. You constructed a temporary wormhole to our system and fired your doomsday weapon through it. Now that you crippled our race, we are ready for an invasion.”

  “No!”

  “Such advanced technology combined with a seemingly naive story. How stupid to you think we are?” Bell asked.

  “Mister Bell!” Mary exclaimed, “This is a hearing, not a trial.”

  “And I am asking a question. How stupid do you think we are?” Bell repeated.

  “I,” Lathiel sputtered, finding himself at a loss for words.

  “Mister Bell,” Ranik said rising from his chair.

  “I asked Lathiel!” Bell roared.

  “Sir,” Lathiel said, scurrying for a response, “we have told you the truth! We have no interest in conquest and haven’t for centuries.”

  “That’s your story, but I submit that you are attempting to deceive us,” Bell said.

  “Why?”

  “Exactly! Why? Are you the first scouts of an invasion force? It would make sense given the chaos you created with your weapon.”

  “We are pacifists!” Lathiel exclaimed.

  “Again, that is your story. First you place us in a state of chaos, and then you offer us peace to further our confusion. In the middle of peace talks the rest of your fleet arrives to conquer us.”

  “Mister Bell, this is all speculation,” Mary said.

  “But it is supported by the facts,” Bell said.

  “And could just as easily be erroneous.”

  “We have seen what they are capable of first hand. They have admitted the weapon was theirs,” Bell said.

  “It was ancient, it will never fire again,” Lathiel said.

  “That’s what you say. Where is your proof?” Bell asked.

  “I,” Lathiel said in defeat, “I have none. Only my word.”

  “Exactly,” Bell said in triumph.

  “Mister Bell, allow me to speak,” Ranik said.

  “Granted,” Bell said, eyeing Ranik suspiciously.

  “We can show you images of the planet that housed the weapon. You can easily see from those pictures that the weapon will never fire again.”

  “And how do we know that they are not forgeries?” Bell asked.

  “I can’t offer any more than that, Sir.”

  “Not good enough, I would require solid proof of this. How does that convince me that you aren’t planning an invasion?”

  “You have seen the sensor data on our ships,” Lathiel said, “Clearly they are not ships of war.”

  “Why bring ships of war if this is only a scout force to assess our resistance factor? It would make sense to present yourself as wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Bell said.

  “Sheep?”

  “Mister Bell,” Mary intervened, “I think it’s time for a recess. You’ve given everyone a lot to think on.”

  “Agreed, we’ll adjourn for one hour,�
�� Bell said. The panel exited the room, leaving Lathiel standing at the podium in shock.

  “Did you see the way she was smiling at him?” Catherine asked her entourage. The globe screen darkened and lowered into the floor having finished its job of broadcasting the last segment of the hearing.

  “I have to admit that I was paying more attention to what was said,” Elizabeth replied.

  “I noticed,” Victoria said, still looking at the place the globe had occupied only moments before.

  “And what did you gather?” Catherine asked.

  “I’d say she’s growing fond of Admiral Fredericks,” Victoria said.

  “Possibly. There is a difference in how they’re treating each other now.”

  “Do you think she has already conceived?” Alexander asked.

  “She would have reported to us if that was the case. I think she is proceeding apace to her goal,” Catherine said.

  “Do you think she’s growing an emotional attachment to him?” Alexander asked.

  “I would prefer not to engage in speculation. However, it would be easier for her if she had some level of emotional attachment.”

  “The inquiry is here as my visions predicted,” Alexander said.

  “And at the cost of a possible victory, but it couldn’t be avoided.”

  “What do we do with these inquiries?” Napoleon asked.

  “We need the Ferine out of the way. This is the way towards that goal.”

  “How so?” Victoria asked.

  “The findings are already decided. Once they are finished, we’ll be in the perfect position to render a judgment that will ensure the Ferine leave our system forever. Then we can deal with the Alliance.”

  “And what about their warhead? With it, we can’t touch them, not without destroying the planet,” Alexander said.

  “I want you to relay some new orders to Peter. There may be a way to use this warhead against the Alliance.”

  Maria grabbed a large decanter of fresh black coffee and poured herself a second cup. She took a couple of small containers of milk and dumped the contents into the earthenware mug followed by one packet of sugar. She absently stirred the cup while she watched her first officer testify.