The Phoenix Project

by Kris Powers

  “He said the results were inconclusive.”

  “So is my future!” Maria exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

  Myers finished his preparation for closing arguments at his desk while giving a glance to her tortured face. They all stood a moment later when the presiding judge entered from an oak door of rich engravings and sat at his large, elevated desk.

  “You may be seated.”

  They took their chairs and the judge continued.

  “Closing arguments,” he said. “For this trial, I have decided the defense will go first.”

  “Shit!” Maria exclaimed under her breath. Dixon got up from his seat and walked to the center of the floor.

  “Your Honor, there is no conclusive evidence against Admiral Maria Peterson. Every witness has corroborated her testimony. Admiral Peterson has a long standing record of excellent service with our fleet and no one has been able to call that fact into question. She had no reason to compromise that outstanding record in the Battle at Outpost Fourteen. The loss of her ship was necessary, given the circumstances, and her concern for her crew was exemplary.

  “The prosecution’s case rests on primitive instincts below anyone’s comprehension and speculation on evidence that has not been established. Reasonable doubt is not only here it is residing at my desk and at yours, Your Honor. Thank—you,” Dixon said and resumed his seat next to Maria.

  Commander Myers rose from his chair and took the place his counterpart had just vacated.

  “No conclusive evidence? I say motive,” he said raising a finger. “Every witness corroborates the Admiral’s testimony? Wrong. Several witnesses could not confirm her testimony. Some have even shown her recounting of events to be in considerable doubt.

  “She does have a long service with our fleet, but excellent?” he turned and looked to the Admiral. “She has a penchant for juvenile remarks with her superiors, never showing them due respect. By extension, neither has she shown proper respect for her superior’s orders. She had every reason to compromise that record because it doesn’t exist.

  “She may have spared her crew, but the loss of her ship was necessary? There I will agree with the defense. It was absolutely necessary for her reckless ambition.

  “Primitive instincts? We all have them, and so does the Admiral. I doubt her ability to get away with the selfish sacrifice of a multi—billion dollar vessel. Thank—you, Your Honor,” Myers said and sat back at his desk.

  “We will adjourn,” the Judge declared. “You will be notified when I have reached a decision.” He stood followed by the rest of the people in the room, and left through the same door that he had entered.

  “I feel so much better now,” Maria said, slamming her coffee down on the table. Little waves of its creamy filling lapped onto the table as she fled from the courtroom.

  The panel allowed a flock of reporters and members of high society to attend the last testimony in the large courtroom. A near hysteria pervaded the room as Ranik was asked to the podium to issue his closing televised testimony.

  “I am aware of many rumors as to our purpose here,” Ranik began. “I would like to assure you that these rumors are false, but I can’t.”

  A hum of derision came from behind him.

  “I can’t because I have no hard proof that we are telling you the truth. I have only my word.”

  Another derisive murmur answered Lathiel.

  “What I can show you is this,” he said, pointing an index finger to the wall behind the panel members. The room grew dark as the overhead lights dimmed and the windows changed tint to prevent outside light from coming in.

  An image of a blasted, huge planet sprung to life on the wall as the panel members swiveled their chairs to view the slideshow.

  “This is the planet our home world of Cartise orbits. The weapon that hit your world is there on Helas,” he said, indicating a blackened crater on the dead planet.

  “It caused so many secondary explosions upon discharge that it killed over three hundred of the volunteers at the base.” Another picture flashed onto the wall showing a shot of the interior of the base. Fallen supports and charred walls littered a hallway without power.

  “It can never fire again.” Another picture flashed across the wall. The exterior of the base was shown. It was a charcoal colored vista of destroyed buildings, walls, and land.

  “This is the enemy fleet we fought.” The image changed to one of starlit space. Tens of thousands of warships littered the photograph. A collective inhalation of breath was heard across the room.

  Dark grey warships of vicious natures crowded the projected image. The smaller ships in the fleet looked like grey stingrays, missing their tails. Instead of a mouth, their was a pincer like indentation at the front of the hull. The heavier warships shared the same appendage, but were several times larger and had great battle modules on their wings. Each module was barbed with torpedo batteries and other weapons emplacements.

  “And this is a Nevargh. This is why we chose to repair and activate the weapon.” The image changed again to a humanoid being with dark olive scales and eyes sporting unusual red irises.

  “This is our home world,” The projection changed to show a green world with a violet hue.

  “This is why we used the weapon our Ancestors had left behind. I will now turn this over to my associate and cousin, Lathiel,” Ranik said and sat down.

  Lathiel left his seat and replaced his relative at the stand. Light returned to the courtroom.

  “We are not your enemies. We have come to make amends for committing a grievous error on behalf of our race,” Lathiel began. “In spite of our mistake that has caused this misunderstanding, we are a peaceful people.”

  Lathiel turned from the board of inquiry and faced the audience.

  “We ask your forgiveness for our transgressions against you. We can supply you with whatever technology we have to enhance your culture and we will gladly lend any aid we are capable of to assist you in disaster relief. Our ways of the past have been violent, but we chose to learn from our history and become a peaceful race. Though our recent actions have suggested otherwise, I assure you that they were made under the most extreme circumstances and under the greatest threat we have ever faced.”

  “We have learned from our past and I humbly ask you, all of you, to trust our sincerity. Thank—you.”

  A long murmur of conversation lingered throughout the room while Lathiel left the podium and returned to his seat. The Alliance speaker for the panel leaned towards his microphone.

  “I now will allow for closing summaries from our Coalition Representative, Lieutenant General Nadine Hanover.”

  Nadine got up from her seat, a link in hand, and walked to the podium. Billions of Coalition watchers across the known worlds watched her and waited for the personal reflection of their comrade. She placed a link on the podium and occasionally looked to it for reference during her speech.

  “Upon first seeing the Ferine ships outside our solar system, I was suspicious. I was unsure of the validity of such an alien vessel. To be honest, I believed it to be an Alliance deception of some kind.

  “Until I met these two creatures,” she said and gestured with her right hand to the Ferine seated nearby. “My suspicions only graduated to concern, even fear, of these new beings that threatened our race.

  “And to me, they were a threat. From these people came terror, violence, destruction, and death. Why shouldn’t I hate and fear them?” Nadine asked and paused to look at her link. “Those were my thoughts on the first day of contact.

  “When I met them I was more disquieted. They were alien beings of a malicious nature as far as I was concerned, but I had a job to do. They seemed cowardly and rude to me, but I continued my role of diplomat and recommended to our Council that we cease our military aggressions against the Alliance. I suffered a further setback when I was told that I would be the sole Coalition representative on a ship populated by Alliance officers with my only company being a couple
of extraterrestrials.

  “As I stand here today, I can tell you I will never regret the decision to stay there and obey my orders.

  “That evening on what I initially perceived to be a feeble attempt to gain my trust I met two incredible members of another race. I found that evening that my suspicions were unfounded, that my fear was biased, and that what I thought may be future conquerors were as docile as,” she smiled for a moment, “as cats.”

  Laughter erupted from the courtroom and was quickly quelled by a bang from the speaker’s gavel.

  “I can tell you from my past weeks with them that these Ferine you see accused of malevolent acts of slaughter are gentlemen. They have been nothing but honest, sincere, and kind. If these proceedings are to escalate into a trial, then I will be the first in the witness stand to defend them.

  “To my Human peers and comrades: Fear and hatred are in our nature, but so are compassion and understanding. Our God, our Creator, our Maker would be the first to say that forgiveness is a virtue.

  “This is not only true of our attitude towards the Ferine but of our brothers, regardless of what banner they follow.”

  Nadine left the podium amidst stunned silence and resumed her seat next to Ranik.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to her striped friend.

  “Don’t you dare be,” Ranik whispered back. “What you said has dug deeper and has more of an impact than anything I could’ve told them. Today, I know you are a true friend.”

  Ranik took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze which she reciprocated as Elliot took the stand.

  “I have to thank you,” Nadine whispered.

  “For what?”

  “For making me feel like myself again.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “I don’t remember,” she said.

  “Thank—you General,” Elliot said at the podium. “I can’t give a better summary of the past few months than my counterpart, so I won’t try. All I can say is what I hope this meeting with a new species will bring.

  “I don’t hope for war. I don’t hope for imprisonment for these two Ferine or any others. I hope for a continuing truth and parlance,” he said and turned towards Nadine, “with our brothers no matter what banner they follow.”

  Elliot turned back towards the panel.

  “This incident followed by the phenomenal First Contact we have been treated to could be referred to as a form of divine intervention, telling us not to fight but to forgive. I agree with my counterpart in this.

  “We have been in a state of war, albeit passive, for generations, and I do not look on First Contact as an interruption but as a savior to our regretful routines of distrust and outright aggression. All of Humanity is proud. Each individual rightfully takes pride in their heritage, culture, and nation. I only see fit that our tradition should continue and expand to the other cultures regardless of their planet of origin.

  “Honesty is to say that when General Hanover came to our ship I was more distrustful of her than of our new arrivals. Why not? We have decades of distrust between our two governments.

  “Many of my Alliance officers, including me, had thought of her as an interloper, a purposefully malfunctioning cog installed in our otherwise smoothly running machine. That is what we always believed any Coalition soldier would be. She was only there to sabotage our efforts and hinder our progress. That is what I thought on the first day of contact.

  “For sometime I continued to believe that. It was through my experiences aboard the Excalibur with the Ferine that, by extension, I saw and understood what a member of the Coalition stood for.

  “If General Nadine Hanover is a typical example of the Coalition than I have underestimated your entire nation. She is a loyal member of your government and she is a formidable person. I have seen an intelligent and compassionate person of redoubtable makeup. To this end I do not see why we can’t take this opportunity to make amends. General,” he said and left the podium with a proffered hand outstretched to her. Nadine got up from her seat and met him in full view of the panel as well as the chamber. They grasped each other’s right hands in agreement. Elliot turned back to the podium amid applause.

  “My compatriots and my opposition on the panel: these Ferine delegates have, by their very nature, shown that two people on opposite sides could put aside their differences and become friends. I do not understand how they can not show the rest of us a peaceful resolution by their example.”

  He looked to the two Ferine in their chairs.

  “These individuals, these people, are our friends. It is time to let the past become part of history. We can, in the face of First Contact see it as a momentary pause in our fighting or we can view it as an opportunity to set forth into a truce and even make it a first step towards peace between our proud nations.

  “To do otherwise can only have a destructive end for the Human race. We can see peace and a mutually beneficial treaty between us or lasting and devastating war for both of us.

  “I imagine that many of you out there believe that I have gone off topic but ask yourself what the central issue has always been?

  “The Ferine have done nothing more than we have done to ourselves. The Romans conquered. The Ottoman Empire conquered. The Nazis conquered. The EIA conquered. For the first time we have a people who came to sincerely apologize, not conquer. We can move forward or continue the oversights of our ancestors, who were far more violent than the Ferine’s.

  “Thank—you.”

  A multi—faceted globe descended into the floor of a twelve sided room. A dozen black—garbed people regally dressed with the golden insignia of MERA on their right breasts looked on in shock.

  “Comments?” Catherine demanded.

  “Is there some sort of ulterior motive here?” Elizabeth asked.

  “None that I’m aware of. Certainly nothing that I had assigned her to do.”

  “She’s certainly grown very fond of Admiral Fredericks,” Alexander said.

  “Fond is a speculative word in this case. She may only be building up a friendly and loving relationship with him in order to ensure his seduction.”

  “Her priorities then take precedence to the exclusion of all else? She may have unduly influenced the panel,” Alexander said.

  “Perhaps she has influenced the Alliance panel members but they are in the minority, and I assure you the Coalition vote has already been decided.”

  “But what about the public perception? We don’t need riots in the streets,” Alexander said.

  “I agree,” Napoleon said.

  “I will issue additional troops to our streets. The Alliance civilian population is the responsibility of another government.”

  “Nadine has been given her usually generous amount of leeway,” Alexander said.

  “She will not escape this unscathed. I can assure all Council members here that she will be dealt with and properly chastised,” Catherine said.

  “We are still left to deal with damage control.”

  “Yes, but I think you exaggerate the extent of damage done by this. Her actions may be beneficial to us,” Catherine said.

  “It would be dangerous to ask for extradition now. That could very well result in a rebellion. We can execute convicted traitors, but we can’t execute martyrs,” Napoleon said.

  “So we won’t.”

  “That was crucial to our plans. They could easily have been dealt with outside of Alliance jurisdiction,” Theresa said.

  “We change our plans appropriately.”

  “How?” Victoria asked.

  “We don’t have time for everyone to participate in foresight. What do you see, Alexander?” Catherine asked. Alexander’s eyes glazed over as he stared into nowhere.

  “I see three hawks, one of them is in the sky, and two are in a nest. The nest is on a Coalition flag,” he said after a long pause in the future.

  “Three hawks?” Catherine asked.

  “There are three Ferine starships,” Alexand
er said.

  “That could cause a war,” Napoleon said, understanding the meaning of the symbols.

  “Exactly,” Catherine said with a smile.

  Many have wondered as to why there was such an intensive persecution of Admiral Maria Peterson. By this time she was revered within the annals of the Allied forces as an astute and brilliant commander. The general response from polite questions after the inquiry was that it was their duty to prosecute the admiral for the loss of one of their vessels. However, they hired their best prosecutor to take the cast.

  The results have created more questions as to why he was hired in the first place. There are rumors that rivals of Fleet Admiral Nelson were trying to get rid of Admiral Peterson but no conclusive evidence has ever come to light.

  Martial Law and its Consequences

  by Wilfred Hanson

  Chapter XIII

  Maria returned to the courtroom after being disturbed from her barely touched lunch. The judge had deliberated for three hours, which had brought uncertainty as to what his decision might be. She had a passing familiarity with court martial proceedings and had no idea if a longer deliberation would have been a bad or good signal for her case. Her lawyer had said only that it was case specific and hadn’t speculated as to the findings other than that they had a strong case.

  She sat impatiently as she heard the heavy wooden doors behind her open and close. Maria expected to see the despised prosecutor, but instead was surprised to see the tall Fleet Admiral Nelson enter. The five stars of his office gleamed on each side of his collar while he found a seat at the back of the sparsely populated courtroom. The prosecutor entered a minute later and hastily sat at his desk. The crumbs of his dinner clung to his dark navy duty tunic despite a momentary effort to dislodge them with a quick swipe of his hand. She saw the surprise of the quick recall on his face and thought it a good indication.

  The judge entered through the elegant door at the back of the courtroom. All stood at attention for his entrance and seated themselves once he had given his permission.