Phoenix In Chaos (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  “I…I don’t know.” Jeremy wasn’t expecting John to cave in so soon. He thought he’d get a lecture from the captain and warned against any further protests or disruptions. Instead, this young kid was sitting here wanting to be friends.

  “Maybe you need to talk to some of your companions,” said John. “I’m willing to meet with them, alone if necessary. Whatever it takes to make it easier.”

  “I’ll check with them,” said Jeremy. “They may agree to have a group meeting with you.”

  “Good,” said John. “Talk to them, and get back to me with the time and place to meet. I won’t tell the senior staff. I want to build a foundation of trust with you and prove you can rely on me. We’ll keep this between me and your group.”

  “That sounds fine,” said Jeremy.

  “Good,” said John smiling. “You’re dismissed. I’m sure you’ll want to get back out to the ship after being confined for a couple of days.”

  Jeremy nodded and left, making sure not to make his exit too hasty. But he could hardly contain himself. This is what they had been waiting for, an opportunity to get rid of the captain. And he was going to make it easy by meeting with the group alone.

  Jeremy waited to be contacted for the next meeting with the mysterious host, whom he was sure was aware of the situation. The miner was anxious, as he wanted to move onto the next step.

  Three days later Jeremy received the contact notice. He and the core group of fifteen assembled together in the maintenance shaft on the lower level of the ship. They all related their meeting with the captain.

  “This is perfect,” said the host. “I knew the captain’s inexperience and nativity would be his downfall.”

  “So we’re going to meet with him?” asked Larry.

  “This will be our only opportunity to get the captain alone with no one aware of his location,” said the host.

  “How?” asked a group member. “They can track his pip.”

  “I’ll take care of that,” replied the host. “We’ll terminate him at the meeting, which will create an upheaval on the ship and a power vacuum. With him gone, we’ll be able to remove the Aldarians and Cresorian from the ship.”

  “Who’s going to replace the captain as leader?” asked Donavin. “If this is to work, we need a high level person to take the captain’s place.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” said the host as he deactivated his camouflage device. As he stepped forward and into the light, the group was stunned to see Chief Thomas Sandoval.

  “With John Roberts out of the way, we’ll only have to worry about Julie Olson,” said Sandoval. “I’ve already made plans how to dispose of her. By the end of the day tomorrow, PHOENIX will be ours.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  John received a visit from Jeremy Hakins at his quarters early in the morning. The miner informed him that the meeting was set for 2130 hours that evening, the same time as Chris Anne’s performance at The Lounge. The meeting was to be held in maintenance corridor sixteen beta, on deck thirty-four. John reiterated to Jeremy that he would not inform anyone about the meeting.

  As the meeting time approached, John returned to his quarters and changed into a fresh TERRA uniform. He went over everything he wanted to say to the group, which Jeremy said would be fifteen individuals. The captain noted how they picked the most ideal spot for the meeting. The area was mostly equipment stations, only visited by the maintenance technicians doing routine checks.

  Ready to meet with the disgruntled crew members, John made his way down to deck thirty-four. No one was around to see John open the door to the maintenance corridor and he quickly slipped inside. The corridor was dimly lit, and John didn’t see anybody. All he could do was walk. About halfway down he heard a noise and stopped.

  “Hello?” He looked behind him, but saw no one. As he turned back around he saw a group of people emerge from the darkness. Fifteen people, including Jeremy Hakins, Larry Cleveland, and Professor Donavin appeared. Half of the group were holding pulse guns. In front of the pack, also holding a weapon, was Chief Sandoval.

  “Chief, what are you doing here?” asked John.

  “A little slow to connect the dots, are we?” said the chief. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

  John motioned to the chief’s gun. “You might want to point that away. It could go off accidently.”

  “Humor isn’t going to save you now,” said Sandoval. “With you out of the way, we’ll be able to finish the mission against the Screen and get back to Earth.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” said John.

  Sandoval laughed. “Look around you captain. You’re all alone. We didn’t agree to meet you to discuss terms. The only outcome of this meeting is you stepping down as captain.”

  “I have no intention of giving up command,” said John, folding his arms.

  “Who said you have a choice?” said Sandoval as clicked the safety off his pulse gun. “Good-bye, cadet.”

  Sandoval pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He pulled it again, but nothing discharged.

  John cracked a smile. “Oh, I forgot to mention that Drix was in here earlier putting in a generator that emits a dampening pulse. As soon as you came in it went off, rendering all your weapons useless.”

  Suddenly, out of the shadows, an armed security detail emerged and surrounded the group of fifteen. Behind John, stepping out of the shadows, was Julie, Alex’sis, Drix, Doctor Myers, and officer Davers.

  “The field also manipulated your scanners into thinking no one but your group was here,” said John. “Oh, and their weapons do work,” pointing to Davers security team. “So I wouldn’t make any sudden moves.”

  Sandoval couldn’t believe what was happening. “How the hell?”

  “Simple,” said John, nodding to someone in the group. Professor Donavin stepped away from the group and joined John and his people.

  “You?” said Jeremy, shocked to see the former head of engineering stand by the captain.

  “Professor Donavin has been feeding me information about your activities for months,” said John. “I believe in the spy business it’s called working as a double agent.”

  “How could you after the way the captain treated you?” asked a stunned Larry.

  “Our initial meeting on the command deck was unpleasant,” admitted Donavin, recalling how Roberts chastised him in front of the command deck staff the first time they met. “But he did something that changed my mind about him. He came and talked to me, wanting to establish a genuine working relationship and work out any differences we had. This cadet, who had a reputation for arrogance, was willing to concede to me that he would make mistakes on this journey and wanted my help to minimize those mistakes. He respected the love I had for this ship and what it meant to me spending years building it. I knew then that Admiral Johnson made the right choice for this young man to command PHOENIX.”

  “Keeping up our hostile relationship was my idea,” said John. “I hoped that whoever was sabotaging the ship would reach out to the professor, and you did.”

  “The public arguments, your demotion, all a ruse,” said Sandoval angrily.

  “Right now we’re rounding up your co-conspirators,” said Julie. “It’s over.”

  “Once the professor told us you were the leader, it wasn’t difficult to figure out you’re the spy who was sent to the EXODUS Project,” said Alex’sis.

  “We kept you out of the loop regarding legitimate security as much as we could,” said John. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep you out too much or risk alerting you. Because of that, the Volux died.”

  “What?!” said Larry. “What’s he saying?”

  “I know about the echo burst you bounced off the Cruo shuttle,” said John. “That’s how the Mirimiss detected the shuttle and were able to lock onto it.”

  “You said the captain instigated the Volux against each other,” said Jeremy to Sandoval.

  “You wanted the captain gone,” said Sandoval. “You were
willing to believe anything I said about him. Using you to fulfill my mission was all that mattered.”

  “What was it?” asked Julie. “What was your mission here?”

  “You think since I’ve been caught I’ll tell you?” said Sandoval.

  “We’re going through your personal effects and logs,” said Alex’sis.

  “Good luck finding anything,” replied Sandoval. John suspected that the chief didn’t have anything useful in his quarters for them to go through.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Myers. “You can’t sabotage the ship anymore.”

  Sandoval emitted a sick laugh. “You were never supposed to launch the ship. We were never supposed to be out here.”

  “What happened? Why didn’t you try to stop the ship’s launch?” asked John.

  But Sandoval didn’t hear him. The realization that he had been bested by an inexperienced cadet struck him. How could this smug, arrogant, child outsmart a man who spent his entire life in the intelligence community?

  “Officer Davers, I want these people taken to the brig,” ordered John.

  Suddenly, Sandoval lunged for John, something snapping in his head as he lost all sense of reason. Davers quickly raised his gun and fired at the chief, hitting him twice before the chief collapsed in front of John.

  “No!” said John as Myers checked on the chief. He rolled him over on his back and checked for a pulse. The doctor looked up at John and shook his head.

  “I’m sorry, captain,” said Davers.

  “It’s ok,” said John. “You did what had to be done.” But he was disappointed. With Sandoval dead, they would never learn who at TERRA dispatched Sandoval to the EXODUS Project, what his mission objective was, and how come he never tried to stop the ship’s launch by alerting TERRA ahead of time. There was still a possibility they could find something in the chief’s logs, but John suspected it was slim.

  “Take them to the brig,” Julie said to Davers.

  “Hey, you alright?” Alex’sis asked John as security ushered the conspirators out of the corridor.

  “I’ll be ok,” said John. “There’s a bottle of bourbon up in my office I think I want to crack open.”

  “I think we could all use a drink,” said Myers.

  An hour later, Julie, Alex’sis, Kevin, Bret, and Myers were gathered in John’s office. Each had a glass of bourbon in their hands. John had recently found it in the cabinet, a bottle that Admiral Johnson had left behind. No one said anything, as they waited for one more person to arrive.

  “Come in,” said John when the door chimed.

  “Drix just told me what happened,” said Chris Anne, rushing in the office. “Are you ok?”

  “I’m fine. We’re all fine,” said John as he handed Chris a glass.

  “Oh, sweetie, I’m going to need more than one of these,” said Chris as he gulped his drink in one shot.

  John handed him the bottle. “In hindsight, I guess I’m not surprised that it was Sandoval.”

  “You had your suspicions about him?” said Myers.

  “A gut instinct,” said John. Actually, the captain knew that Sandoval was the spy. What tipped him off was how the Aldarian telepathy was leaked to the crew. Thresha told John about her race’s ability when they were alone in the lift. After learning it had gotten out throughout the ship, John went back that night and went over every inch of the lift with a scanner and found a nano-listening device. It took over a month, but John was able to identify the frequency and trace it to a relay in Sandoval’s quarters. He chose not to share this information with anyone, to minimize the risk of the fact that John was onto the chief.

  “Well, I hate to say it,” said Alex’sis. “But he had me completely fooled.”

  “It’s a shame we’ll never know why he was sent to the project,” said Julie.

  “If he was sent to spy on the EXODUS Project, TERRA would have known about our plans,” said Kevin. “Why didn’t they stop us before the launch?”

  “Maybe Sandoval never sent reports to his superiors,” said Bret. “Communications outside the project was forbidden.”

  “Maybe,” said Alex’sis. “But if he knew how to send transmissions without a communications dish, I think he would’ve figured a way to contact TERRA without being detected.”

  “He could have been reporting to someone who supported our mission,” said Myers.

  “I have a hard time believing anyone in TERRA would have supported our mission,” said John.

  “With the chief dead, we may never know the answers to any of these questions,” said Julie.

  “Maybe we’ll find out when we get back to the solar system,” said Bret. “The chief’s superior is bound to look for him.”

  “Sweetie, I’m no spy expert, but don’t hold your breath.” Chris looked at John. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with Sandoval’s band of rebels?”

  “If they stay on the ship they’ll have to remain in the brig,” said John. “I can’t trust confining them to quarters or giving them limited access to the ship. It’s too risky. But keeping them locked up indefinitely doesn’t seem realistic either.”

  “You’re thinking of putting them off the ship,” said Alex’sis. John reluctantly nodded, and no one protested. Everyone felt, given the circumstances, it was the safest course of action.

  “What about sending them to the trading outpost?” suggested Bret.

  John shook his head. “They don’t represent who we are. I don’t want them interacting with other aliens and giving humans a bad name.”

  “We can send them to the Io planet,” said Alex’sis.

  “Lieutenant,” said John, shaking his head.

  “Sorry,” said Alex’sis. “But it’d serve them right.”

  “Captain, there’s a life-supporting planet in the star charts the Onixins gave us that’s not too far from our current position,” said Kevin. “The charts show the planet was surveyed and no sentient life-forms found.”

  “Sounds good, look into it,” said John as the door chimed again. “Come in.”

  The door opened and Officer Davers entered, holding a DAT. “Captain, here’s the list of everyone we’ve taken into custody.”

  “Give it to Commander Olson,” said John. “I’m not interested in looking at it tonight.”

  “Twenty-eight names,” said Julie. As she read the list she saw a name that caught her off-guard.

  “But wasn’t there forty protestors in Central?” said Alex’sis.

  “There may be people who were swayed by the conspirators, but never participated in any of their subversive activities,” said Myers.

  “Nevertheless, this is something I’ll need to address to the crew,” said John. “I’ll offer anyone who doesn’t want to continue on board to be put off the ship along with the conspirators. If they don’t like the way I command, they can bail out.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The following morning, despite having a sleepless night, John got up early and made a public announcement to the crew, telling them of the conspiracy on the ship and what had happened in the maintenance corridor last night. PHOENIX was en route to the planet Kevin found in the Onixin star charts and was scheduled to arrive in four hours. At 1500 hours, anyone who wanted to leave the ship was to report to the hangar bay with their belongings. It was going to be a long day and John wondered how many people would choose to disembark.

  Julie also had a restless night. The name she found on the list of detainees profoundly shook her. She thought she had a good read on people, but that name on the list of conspirators was making her question her own judgment. She felt like she had been played for a fool.

  At 0700, the executive officer headed to deck forty to the detention center. The area consisted of holding cells located on each side as one walked in. Prison bars were the primary means for holding prisoners; however, each entryway had emitters to deploy a force field in the event the prison bars were insufficient to contain detainees. The use of bars was done
for energy conservation.

  Julie found two security guards at the desk in the center when she came in.

  “I need to speak to Professor Nimix,” said Julie.

  “He’s in cell B-1,” said the guard. “But he’s with two others.”

  “That’s ok, it doesn’t need to be a private conversation,” said Julie. Professor Nimix was a man Julie considered a friend. No, she was lying to herself. She wanted to be more than friends. She developed feelings for him and wanted to pursue a relationship with him, but she could never bring herself to broach the subject when they went out. How could she had fallen for a man who had aligned himself with the conspirators? Was she that blind?

  “Hello, professor,” said Julie as she approached the cell.

  Nimix scrambled to his feet off the bed when he saw her. His two cell mates remained in the back, giving hateful glares to the commander. “Julie. I’m…, I’m glad to see you.”

  “I’m not here for a social call,” said Julie, trying to hide the anger and hurt welling up inside of her. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing the effect his choices had on her. “When I saw your name on the detainee list I had to come down. I want to hear from you why you joined them.”

  “You have to understand, I spent ten years of my life devoted to this ship,” said Nimix. “When I saw the captain making one mistake after another, I couldn’t stand by. Don’t you realize he wants to keep us out here forever? He doesn’t want to find the Screen.”

  “You couldn’t be more wrong,” said Julie. “The captain has every intention of completing our mission.”

  “Are you sure? It’s no secret that you two were enemies at the Academy. Why back him now?”

  “Because he’s proven himself to me,” said Julie, confident in her words. “I know him better than anyone else because of our time at the Academy.”

  “How can you be so blind?” said Nimix. “Why would Roberts want to go back home? All he has to look forward to is a life in prison. Here, he can do whatever he wants, and none of you are willing to stand up to him.”

  Julie shook her head. “You know, a year ago I would have believed him capable of such self-serving behavior, but not anymore. He’s put the welfare of this crew above all else and is trying his best to complete our mission.”