“Who do you have in mind?” asked Summers. Thinking that few individuals were truly mission critical, so long as Calvin didn’t leave her too understaffed. She still needed to maintain three watches, and would like to have enough people to keep her officers from becoming fatigued and overworked. But otherwise not many stood out from the rest.
“So far I’m taking Rafael and Rain.”
“The chief physician?” Summers was surprised. She had no particular love for Dr. Poynter, but she was a department head, and her absence would mean a lot more re-organization than if Calvin took one of the other medics.
“Yes,” said Calvin. “I need a medic on this away mission and Rain volunteered to go. I asked her if she was essential to the Nighthawk and she told me that she wasn’t, that one of the other doctors could do her job adequately. However, if you think otherwise, I can find someone else.”
“No,” said Summers, feeling the need to be honest even though it was inconvenient for her to lose a department head and would mean additional paperwork. “I have no reason to think Dr. Poynter is irreplaceable. Although word is she is the person who managed to cure Mr. Iwate. I doubt very much that anyone else in our medical staff could have done that.”
“She cured Shen?” Calvin’s eyes lit with interest. “She must be some kind of genius.” He seemed so happy that Shen was alive that Summers didn’t bother telling him of her suspicions, her concern that Shen wasn’t quite himself and hadn’t been since waking up in the medical bay. Though so far she had no hard evidence, only suspicions.
“That’s what I’m given to understand,” said Summers. “That Shen owes his recovery to her quick thinking.”
Calvin nodded. “Well then I owe her a great deal of thanks. Do you think she ought to remain here then, to continue attending to Shen and his needs?”
“No, not particularly,” said Summers. “Since recovery and a few checkups, Shen has only reported to the infirmary once and that was to have a laceration bandaged and cleaned. I don’t believe he is receiving any ongoing medical treatment regarding his… experience on Remus Nine. I’m told there’s nothing wrong with him physically so I’ve returned him to duty.” She wanted to add that there probably was something wrong with him psychologically and he was in need of psychiatric care or counseling or some kind of help, but she remained quiet. Thinking that, if she were completely honest, every person who’d ever served aboard the Nighthawk, or otherwise found themselves entangled in the horrors they’d been forced to contend with, was probably in need of some kind of professional psychological help. Perhaps Shen was no different.
“Very good,” said Calvin. “Then Rain will go with me as planned. I’m also going to be taking Alex.”
Summers was happy to hear that. She’d told Pellew to keep a sharp, careful eye on the Rotham, who, aside from wandering the ship occasionally and sometimes observing the goings-on of the bridge, seemed reclusive and usually stayed in his quarters. Summers was glad not to see him, but out of sight wasn’t the same thing as out of mind. And she was constantly worried, to one degree or another, that the Rotham was up to some kind mischief, and would ultimately betray them all. Sooner or later. Perhaps he already had. Sending him away seemed like a breath of fresh air, although it made her a little concerned for Calvin’s sake.
“What has he been up to?” asked Calvin. “Has he given you any trouble?”
“No. Since you left he’s mostly kept to himself. He says he likes to read and that’s what he spends most of his time doing. According to reports, he uses the computer terminal in his quarters a great deal and has been keeping himself informed about current events. I haven’t seen the harm in that.”
“All the same, I’m sure you’ll be glad to have him out of your hair. And his knowledge of the DMZ, Rotham space, and Republic codes will be invaluable.”
Summers could see the wisdom in that but remained skeptical of their Rotham tagalong. Even though he’d proven himself of some use so far, his origins were still mysterious and they’d picked him up from the prison block of an enemy warship. Not the most reputable of establishments… “Are you sure you can trust him?” she asked Calvin, point blank.
Calvin seemed to think hard before answering. “No. I can’t be sure. But I don’t have much choice. I need his expertise for this mission to have any hope of success.”
“The more inside knowledge of the Rotham Republic, the better your chances of slipping into their space without drawing attention.”
“Exactly.”
“So I take it that means you’ll also want to take Captain Pellew,” said Summers. She remembered how, back when they’d been prisoners aboard the Rotham ship at Abia, Pellew had used his ability to understand the Rotham language to help free their captured crew. He was also extremely capable with a firearm.
Calvin looked surprisingly squeamish at the suggestion. Perhaps he was thinking of how the last time they’d gone into Alliance space, they’d needed to capture a civilian freighter and Pellew had blown its crew out into space without hesitation. He’d called it necessary. Summers had never been convinced, but even she had to admit that in his own ruthless way Pellew did seem to always get the job done.
“Actually, I think I’ll leave Mister Pellew here with you,” said Calvin. “Rafael knows the Rotham language about as well as Pellew and, since I’m already taking your medical department head, I don’t think it would be very nice to steal away your security department head too.”
“Are you going to keep your crew small and not bring any soldiers with you?” asked Summers. The fact that some of the soldiers on the Nighthawk were unprofessional mercenaries caused her more anxiety than she would’ve liked to admit. And, although she didn’t trust them to go with Calvin, she didn’t really trust them to remain either, and wouldn’t have minded offloading a few. She wondered if she should dump some of them off on Aleator just to leave them there. No doubt the den of crooks and scumbags was a more fitting habitat for them than a military frigate.
“I’d like to take someone,” said Calvin. “In the event we get boarded by an Alliance convoy or a Rotham squadron it won’t make much difference whether I have one soldier or one-hundred, but it would be useful to have a tactical point of view in the event that we try some sort of boots-on-the-ground operation of our own.”
“In that case, I strongly advise you to take Rez’nac.” So far she’d let Pellew handle the situation, and he’d done a reasonably good job of keeping his men as far away from the alien soldier as possible, but there was still a great deal of tension. And she regarded it as inevitable that another unfortunate incident would occur. Perhaps one with a more fatal outcome.
“Rez’nac is aboard?” Calvin looked surprised, excited even. Summers took that to mean Calvin and the old, battle-scarred Polarian had built some kind of rapport during the harrowing events of Remus Nine, events that’d managed to kill off a significant portion of the Polarian detachment.
“Yes. He’s the only Polarian that returned to the ship, word is the rest of the detachment have gone their separate way and we’re not likely to see them again. But for some reason Rez’nac did not go with them.”
“That’s wonderful news,” said Calvin. He looked eager to put the Polarian soldier to work. Summers regretted that she had to burst his bubble of enthusiasm somewhat.
“Yes, well, it is and it isn’t,” she said.
“What do you mean?” he looked confused. “Has he done something?” Calvin started to look worried.
“No, not as such,” said Summers. Wondering if she ought to tip-toe around the details. She rarely did, preferring instead to plunge into issues face-first and get everything out on the table. “He came back to us in a state that can only be described as depressed. Pellew told me the Polarian soldier literally knelt before him the minute he returned to the Nighthawk.”
“Well, the Polarians have a lot of strange customs. They love the power of symbols and rituals and—”
“Pellew said Rez’nac
offered his throat to him, asking him to end his life.”
Calvin looked unsure what to say. He clearly wanted to defend Rez’nac, to believe in him. But he also looked very uncomfortable with this information. “Well,” Calvin began. “The last I heard from Rez’nac, I had just told him that his son was indeed the murderer of Staff Sergeant Patterson. No one wants to hear news like that, least of all a Polarian. I don’t claim to comprehend their culture, but I know it well enough to understand Rez’nac had to punish Grimka, perhaps even take his life. Can you imagine that, Summers? Having to kill your own son? Your only child?”
She frowned. Of course she couldn’t imagine that. She had no children. And for that matter neither did Calvin. “I don’t think he killed his son,” said Summers.
“I wouldn’t put it past him, Polarians take these sort of things very seriously. Religiously, even.”
“According to Pellew, by Rez’nac’s own admission he did not make Grimka ‘pay the price.”
“Oh,” Calvin looked speechless.
“I’m telling you all of this so you have fair warning,” said Summers. “So you can use your judgment regarding Rez’nac. However, the best thing for the Nighthawk is for him to leave. So if you decide to take him with you, that’s wonderful, but if not then I request permission to leave him off at Aleator.”
“Why are you so eager to get rid of him?” Calvin looked at her with more curiosity than suspicion. He evidently knew her well enough to understand she was not being racist by wanting the only Polarian on the ship gone, clearly she was motivated by something else.
“There was an incident in the mess hall awhile back.”
“What kind of incident?” asked Calvin.
“Rez’nac was taking a meal and he was confronted by some members of the special forces. Men who’d been friends with the late Sergeant Patterson. They wanted revenge so they attacked him.”
“Did he kill them?” asked Calvin, looking suddenly worried. No doubt thinking this was something he should have been informed of much sooner. Summers could also tell that Calvin had an almost exaggerated level of respect for Rez’nac’s fighting ability. He no doubt assumed automatically that Rez’nac would prevail over his human attackers, even though she hadn’t told him how many there’d been or what weapons they’d used.
“No he didn’t kill them,” said Summers. Calvin looked palpably relieved. “In fact he didn’t participate in the fight at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they attacked him, beat him within an inch of his life, and he refused to defend himself. Simply allowed his attackers to do to him harm as they pleased.”
“And they didn’t kill him?”
“No, Pellew got there and broke it up before they could. Since then we’ve kept the soldiers and Rez’nac completely apart. But I fear that is only a stall, not an effective remedy.”
Calvin seemed to consider this for a moment. And then he looked at her candidly, like he’d reached a decision. “Summon Rez’nac here, I’d like to speak with him. Depending on what his wishes are, he’ll either be coming with me or else remaining behind on Aleator. Either way, I agree that he should leave the Nighthawk. It’s not safe for him.”
Summers nodded. Grateful that Calvin could see sense. She tapped her line to HQ.
“Pellew here,” the voice answered over the speaker.
“Mister Pellew, please notify Rez’nac that he should report to the CO’s office immediately. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that it would be best for your soldiers not to be involved.”
“Understood. I’ll see to it personally.”
“Thank you, CO out.”
She looked back at Calvin. “Do you plan on taking anyone else with you? Any ops staff, or analysts, or defense?” She meant the last suggestion as a not-so-subtle hint. But Calvin seemed not to pick up on it.
“No, there’s not really any need,” said Calvin. “I can fly the ship and Rafael is a top analyst. The vessel we’re taking isn’t very sophisticated, so no ops expert is necessary—besides I wouldn’t want to take one away from the Nighthawk, you still need them. And as for defense, the ship won’t have any weapons. And it doesn’t take a specialist to raise and lower shields. Besides, if we get in a battle, it means we made a fatal mistake and we’re already dead anyway.”
Summers looked at him earnestly. A little annoyed that Calvin didn’t pick up on what she was really asking him, so she decided to be completely blunt. “Calvin, please, for the love of god, take Miles Brown with you.”
Calvin raised an eyebrow, looking more surprised than he rightly should have.
“He’s beyond worthless to me here,” said Summers quickly. “I don’t need him at the defense post, I can manage that myself, and we have promoted a new defense officer to the position for White Shift anyway—a Mister Donaldson. And as for XO… Mister Brown makes it so I have to do three jobs instead of one. I have to be the CO, I then have to be the XO and do his job for him, and on top of it all I have to be a janitor and clean up any mess he makes of things whenever he tries to do his job. I have neither the time nor the energy to look over his shoulder and keep undoing the pathetically stupid things he does. Did you know that he tried to instate a policy of beer-drinking for the on-duty bridge officers?”
Calvin seemed to be fighting a smirk. Summers didn’t like the unbelievably forgiving attitude Calvin had always taken with Miles, he was altogether far too willing to look past the idiot’s mistakes. She’d long suspected that fully half of Miles’ incompetence was directly due to Calvin’s willingness to tolerate—and even encourage—the oaf’s ridiculous antics. Though, in fairness, Miles’ wanton stupidity was, in equal measure, his own natural fault.
“Well?” pressed Summers when Calvin didn’t say anything right away.
Just then the door slid open and Rez’nac entered. No, I’m not letting you use this interruption as an excuse to dodge the issue, she thought, keeping her eyes attentively on Calvin.
“Hello, Rez’nac, it’s great to see you,” said Calvin. He visibly flinched at the many bruises and bandages Rez’nac wore, but despite the injuries the Polarian warrior seemed to stand as firm and unbreakable as ever, like a statue wrought in steel.
“It is a true honor to again be in your presence, Human Commander,” said Rez’nac. They approached one another and, as Calvin saluted Rez’nac, Rez’nac got down on his knees rather than saluting back and bowed his head in an ostentatious gesture of submission and respect.
“Thanks,” said Calvin, looking uncomfortable. “Stand up,” he said when Rez’nac didn’t rise immediately.
Rez’nac raised his head high, exposing his muscular neck. “I regret that Grimka has not paid the price, and has not tasted of any justice. Therefore I am here in his place. Human Commander, my life is in your hands. I offer my throat to you. That justice might be served upon the universe. The Essences are good.”
“Rez’nac… stand up,” said Calvin. Obviously not wanting to deal with this kind of thing. The whole display was quite strange to Summers, though she still expected an answer from Calvin regarding Miles. And used the brief pause, while Rez’nac was climbing to his feet, to press the issue.
“Calvin,” said Summers. “I need an answer from you. Will you take Miles or not?”
He looked at her, seeming almost to have forgotten she was there, and that they’d been having an independent discussion prior to the Polarian’s dramatic arrival.
“Very well, Summers,” said Calvin. “I’ll take Miles with me. I need another crewman and now that Shen is up and about I admit he’d make a better Acting XO than Miles anyway.”
“I was actually thinking of Lieutenant Winters,” said Summers, remembering her suspicions that Shen was not enough of his old self yet to take on such a level of responsibility. Although I will have to talk to her about that very unprofessional, cropped uniform of hers, thought Summers.
“Yes, she’d do a good job too,” admitted Calvin. “Sarah and S
hen would both be excellent candidates so either one.” Calvin then looked immediately back to Rez’nac, who was now towering over him. “Rez’nac, I’m leaving on another away mission. One into the DMZ and then afterward into Rotham space. Our mission is to collect intelligence which, I hope, will be used to prevent a war. It promises to be a dangerous mission and I’m not requiring you to come with me. However, if you feel you are up to the task, and you’re willing, then I’d be honored to have you along.”
Rez’nac gave Calvin the Polarian salute. “It would be my great honor to serve you.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” said Calvin. “Now go and get your things ready, we’re meeting at the main hatch at oh-six-hundred.”
Rez’nac bowed his head and departed. For some reason Summers expected Calvin to go with him, but instead he remained. To Summers’ greater surprise, Calvin’s lingering presence made her happy. More than she would’ve liked to admit, especially to herself.
“Was there something else, Lieutenant?” she asked, keeping her tone all-business; she didn’t want to sound too pleased that he was still there. Considering he was still that same insolent boy that’d defied her advice countless times before, and seemed not to understand the value of discipline and protocol.
“Just one more thing,” said Calvin. “I want a quick update on your mission. Not a whole report, just the basics. I know you’re hunting after the isotome weapons, and that means interdicting some Zander person, but I haven’t yet been told why you’re going after him in particular.”
“We’re almost completely sure that he has the isotome weapons,” said Summers. “At least until we relieve him of them.”
“Yes, you told me that much before. But you didn’t mention why you think he has the weapons, instead of someone else.”
“It’s all in this report that you claim not to want or need,” she said, a little irritated. “But the short version is this, all of the jump signature of ships known and suspected to be involved with the isotome weapons coalesced at the Kynar Asteroid Belt. We went and searched the belt. There we found a small ship in hiding. We captured it and took two prisoners. We interrogated those prisoners separately and their stories agreed that they were waiting to deliver a message to the Enclave on behalf of someone named Zander. And that Zander is going to transfer the isotome weapons to the Enclave. We have some details of his ship and where he makes port. We’ve put the word out and now we’re desperately hoping to catch some sign of him and intercept him before he can deliver the weapons to the Enclave.”
The Phoenix War Page 23
