Phoenix In Chaos (Exodus)
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That caught the captain’s attention. “Computer, pause.” He took a seat on the couch. “Resume and display video.”
“He’s made quite a name for himself in his first year,” said Johnson as his image appeared on the wall monitor. “Although he’s become infamous with the staff, there’s something remarkable about him. I can’t pinpoint it yet, but my gut’s telling me he’s the one. I’ve checked his background and both his parents are dead. He has one living sister, Nicole, who’s living off the grid. Despite that, it didn’t take much effort to locate her. I found her living on the streets of Tacoma, addicted to pixi.”
John’s hands shook hearing that news. “Computer, pause.” Admiral Johnson knew where Nicole was? Why didn’t he ever say anything to John about her?
“Computer, how many logs contain references to Nicole Roberts?”
“Three entries.”
John wasted no time. He had to know what the admiral knew about his sister. “Play them in sequence.”
The second log played. “I’ve been monitoring Nicole’s activities. Despite the odds, she’s managed to kick her drug habit. This complicates matters. I met with her, and she confirmed my worst fears. She knows John is at the Academy and plans on going to New York to see him. I tried to convince her to wait until he graduates, that her reappearance may distract him with his studies. I even offered her money, but I couldn’t sway her. She is letting her love for her brother cloud her thinking. She’ll destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to build. I can’t let that happen.”
“Final entry,” said the computer.
An unkempt Johnson appeared on the screen. “It’s done. I couldn’t stand by and let her threaten the project. She put up quite a struggle for someone so small. I weighted the body and dumped it in the ocean. My plans for John are safe. Nicole is no longer a threat.”
John shook violently as his entire world shattered. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a mistake. “Computer, re…replay the log.”
He approached the wall display as the log played again. He hope the phrases would come out differently, but Admiral Johnson repeated the same words. John clenched his hands into fists and pounded the display, shattering it. He wanted to inflict pain on the admiral, but the image vanished as the monitor broke. With only silence in the room, the admiral’s words sunk in, and John lost all control. He screamed and yelled with the realization that his sister was dead, killed by the very man who brought him to this ship.
Julie was in her quarters listening to the admiral’s logs. So far it was rudimentary issues regarding problems that popped up in the EXODUS Project. Occasionally, Admiral Johnson talked about devils and saving a kingdom. It didn’t make sense until she listened to the log where Johnson talked about his worsening dementia. That revelation shocked her and she had the computer play all logs referencing his medical condition.
“Doctor Myers has altered my medication again,” said Johnson. “But he’s telling me it’s only a matter of time before it becomes useless. I have to hold out until I can get EXODUS launched.”
There was a loud pound at the door that startled Julie. “Computer, pause log. Who is it?”
“Julie!” cried John. The desperate sound of his voice made Julie run to the door. “Enter.” His face was bright red and tears were streaming down his cheeks.
“He killed her!” John said as he stumbled in her quarters.
“John! What?!” said Julie as she tried to catch him.
“That son of a bitch killed her!” he screamed as he fell to his knees.
“John! What happened?”
“She was coming to see me,” sputtered John. “She wanted back in my life.”
“Who? Your sister?”
John nodded. “He thought I wouldn’t command the ship if she came back into my life. He killed her.” Those words were too much for him and the emotions screamed out of him. “The admiral killed my sister!”
“Oh my god!” Julie wrapped her arms around him, but there was no comforting her friend. John cried uncontrollably.
“Why did he have to do it?” he wailed. “She was all I had left. Why? Why?”
Julie couldn’t hold back her own tears as she held John. How could they have not seen Admiral Johnson for the monster he had become? Were they so blind with the offer of commanding this ship?
Julie pushed those guilty thoughts out of her mind. Her only focus was helping her captain. John cried until he was too exhausted to even do that, and Julie helped him to the couch where he eventually fell asleep.
Julie went to her bedroom where she listened to all the logs mentioning John’s sister. She was dumbfounded, hardly able to believe the admiral’s admission. Although feeling guilty for not recognizing the admiral’s condition, she was angry. They had asked the admiral to remain on PHOENIX when it launched. Fortunately for him he declined that offer. Julie would not have been able to restrain herself from hurting him.
The following day Julie found John still sleeping on the couch. She couldn’t bring herself to waking him. At least asleep he could escape the reality that his sister was gone. The executive officer went to the command deck and promptly informed the senior staff the captain was taking some time off and was not to be disturbed by anyone.
“Is he sick?” asked Alex’sis, finding it odd that Julie instructed them not to bother him.
“No,” replied Julie. “He just needs to take a few days off.”
“He never mentioned he was getting burned out,” said Chris.
“Is he skipping the festival tonight?” asked Bret.
“I don’t understand what’s so hard about this,” said Julie angrily. “He’s taken some time off and asked not to be disturbed. You think you all can follow those simple instructions?”
Everyone was shocked by her anger and nodded their heads. Julie headed to John’s office, but someone followed right behind her. As soon as they were inside Chris confronted her.
“I don’t know what your problem is laying into us like that,” said Chris. “But I’m not buying your little story. You’re going to tell me what’s going on otherwise you and I are going to have a problem.”
“Chris…,” started Julie, ready to chase him out, but she couldn’t. Instead, she buried her head in his chest and started sobbing.
“Sweetie,” said Chris, caught off-guard by her breakdown. “What’s happened?”
“The worst thing’s happened,” said Julie.
She told Chris about Nicole’s death, but she didn’t reveal that Admiral Johnson murdered her. She only said that they had discovered she had died a few years ago. Julie didn’t think it was a good idea if the crew discovered what the admiral had done. Everyone held him in such high regards, she didn’t want to deal with the fallout if the truth was revealed.
The festival that evening in Central was a joyous occasion, but it went on without the captain and first officer. Their absence did not go unnoticed, and people wondered why they weren’t participating in the celebration. Although difficult, Chris performed that evening at The Lounge. When Julie returned to her quarters, she found John was gone. A check with the computer showed he was in his quarters. Although she was tempted to go see him, she knew that he would want to be alone.
The next morning Julie checked with the computer again and found that John was in his office on the command deck. Julie quickly cleaned up and got into her uniform so she could check on him. She wasn’t sure if him being back at work was good or bad.
“Come in,” said John as the door chime rang. Julie entered to find him going through reports.
“Captain, I thought you were taking a few days off?” said Julie.
“I need to get back to work,” said John. There was no hint of emotion in his voice. He came across as cold.
Julie wanted to encourage him to take another day off, but she decided not to argue with him. She sat across from him and picked up a DAT. “What can I do?”
“By the way, I transferred all of the admiral’s l
ogs to my personal database and restricted access to myself only,” said John.
“John…,” started Julie.
“Hear me out. If I find anything relating to you, I’ll let you know. But I don’t want you to find anything in the logs about you. It would be too cruel to be alone and hear something unpleasant.”
“I understand,” said Julie.
“One more thing,” said John. “When we get back to Earth, I’m killing Admiral Johnson. Once we’ve completed this mission, all I have left in my life is revenge.”
The way he phrased his statement as a simple fact scared Julie. She looked at his eyes and could see the hatred in them. She didn’t know what to say.
“Uh, engineering will be starting up the hyper drive in an hour,” said Julie, looking at the DAT.
They went over the reports for twenty minutes. It was difficult for her to concentrate, but somehow she was able to get through them. When they were done, Julie got up to leave the office.
“Julie,” said John. It took a moment for him to muster the words. His emotions were still raw. “I wish you could have known her.”
Julie nodded. “I would have liked that very much.”
John remained in his office for the rest of the day so to avoid seeing anyone. Julie, knowing him best, made sure he was left alone. People suspected something had happened, but she wasn’t giving them any answers.
John didn’t leave his office until 2345 hours. Somehow, the walk through the ship seemed empty. He felt that some of the life coursing through the vessel was gone, that he was walking though a hollow shell.
John arrived at his quarters to find Chris Anne lighting the last of the candles he had placed around the living room area. Chris was dressed in a black gown, sparkling with small diamonds.
“I wasn’t aware your position gave you access to crew quarters,” said John.
“A girl’s gotta do what’s necessary when a friend’s in trouble.” Chris went over to John and took hold of his hands. “Julie told me what happened. I am so sorry, captain.”
“Did she tell you how…? But he couldn’t muster the words. He didn’t want to imagine what the last seconds of Nicole’s life might have been for her.
Chris shook his head. “It’s not important, sweetie. The person she was is.”
John looked on the coffee table and saw a picture of Nicole nestled in a silver frame. His heart ached seeing his sister. “Where’d you get that?”
“I found it in the main computer,” replied Chris.
Seeing her picture, John realized that he had forgotten what she looked like: her dark brown eyes, her warm smile.
“How do I mourn for someone who’s been dead three years?” asked John.
“You don’t,” said Chris. “You celebrate their life and remember the time you spent together.”
“I thought my sister was perfect, but she had her faults. But she always put my needs above hers. She left me so I could have a chance at my dreams.”
“That sounds like her,” said Chris. “I see those same qualities in you.”
“I miss her,” said John. “I thought I would see her again when we got back to Earth. But that's not going to happen now.
“I know, but a part of her will always be with you,” said Chris. “As long as you remember her, she’ll never be gone.”
The pair moved over to the couch. John picked up the picture frame as memories of his sister popped in his mind. He smiled, remembering the times they had together.
“One time, I wanted to go off-roading. But instead of buying a grav-bike, Nicole got the bright idea of putting me on X’s head and made him go off-roading with me on top.” John started to laugh. “You should have heard X. He kept saying it was a violation of his programming to harm a person. But I begged him to keep going, and he did.”
The stories kept coming out of John, one after the other. It was as if he was reliving his past and all the fun he had with Nicole. Chris never laughed so hard as he listened to the captain’s tales.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Good evening and welcome to ELM News. I’m Martha Howard. Tonight, we’ll be broadcasting the latest video transmission from the starship PHOENIX received by our network this morning. However, tonight we want to start with a message that’s part of the latest transmission. The message is from Julie Olson, acting executive officer of the PHOENIX. This is the first time Ms. Olson has included a personal message in the transmissions. Is she a rebel as TERRA claims, or a patriot as many of you believe? You decide.”
An image of Julie appeared on the screen in homes on all three planets.
“Hello, I’m Julie Olson, executive officer of the PHOENIX. Although I’m sure I’m still consider a cadet as I never officially graduated from the Academy. I felt it’s important to finally tell you why I’m here. I’m sure many of you who know me have questioned why I would throw away a promising future in TERRA to serve on this ship. A lot of you probably think this is a suicide mission. Well, it’s been over a year and PHOENIX is still out here exploring space. We’ve defeated the Screen at every encounter, met numerous new races, and even have aliens living with us.
“That’s why I joined this crew, because I believe in their mission. PHOENIX isn’t just an advanced starship, it represents hope that we can stand against the Screen. This ship and its crew have proven themselves. That also goes for John Roberts. I’m sure TERRA has branded him a traitor. They couldn’t be more wrong. He’s out here for the same reason we are, because he’s tired of living in fear of the Screen.
“Finally, to my father. I love you and miss you terribly. Never doubt that you’re little girl is doing what she thinks is right. PHOENIX will return home someday and I can’t wait for the day when we see each other again.”
“End display,” said Mary, the president’s administrator. There had been a lot of buzz going around about PHOENIX’s latest transmission. Mary wasn’t able to see it last night as she didn’t get home until midnight. Once President Butu left for her meeting, the administrator took the opportunity to watch a replay of last night’s news.
“Excuse me,” said a man as he approached Mary’s desk.
She recognized his uniform and knew he was the technician she called for. “Oh good, you showed up at the right time. The president’s in a meeting.”
Mary got up and led the technician into the president’s office. “I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”
“I was just assigned to my position a couple of months ago,” replied the technician.
“I don’t think it’s too big a problem,” said Mary. “The console’s still working.” She punched the activation code on the desk, but the panel didn’t pop up. “Or maybe not.”
“It could be a burned relay or interruption in the power feed,” said the technician.
“Do what you can,” said Mary. “I need to get back out to meet the president before her next engagement.”
The technician nodded as Mary left him. He waited for her to close the door before he went to work, but he didn’t notice the black round bot sitting in the corner.
X’s upper body slowly rotated so its ocular lens focused on the technician. The bot watched as he opened his case and assembled a small square device. It took careful precision for the technician to handle it. Once it was assembled, he placed it underneath the president’s desk before proceeding to fix the desk terminal.
It took only a few minutes for him to identify and fix the problem, which turned out to be a faulty power relay. With the problem fixed, he quickly packed up his case and left the office, still unaware of X.
The bot was curious at the technician’s actions, as he seemed to conduct an operation separate from fixing the president’s console. X tried to scan the device, but was having difficulty figuring out what it could be. The president had X’s hardware upgraded to the latest specs found on a government security bot. The bot found it strange that, despite the upgrades, it couldn’t ascertain what the device could be.
“Have the shuttle ready to go, I’ll just be a minute.”
She couldn’t be allowed inside. X rolled to the door and reached it just as Butu opened it.
“President Butu, you must not enter here.” X extended its arms out to prevent her from passing by it.
“What’s going on?” said Mary from behind the president.
“A bomb has been planted and is set to go off upon detection of a life form,” said X.
“Evacuate the wing!” ordered Butu to Mary. “Get everyone to the bunker!”
Mary activated the alarm from her desk, which rang throughout the residence. The staff was quickly ushered out of the area to the bunker, including the president and X, who remained by her side. The bot communicated the bomb’s schematics to Earth Security, who wasted no time fortifying the building.
“I’m glad we had you upgraded,” said Butu to X as they waited in the bunker.
“This unit is in agreement with that statement,” said X. “I observed the technician who was requested to fix your desk terminal place the device underneath the desk.”
“Did you get a good look at him?” asked Butu.
“Affirmative,” replied X. “I have accessed the staff database to identify the individual.” The bot projected an image of the technician onto the wall.
“That’s him,” said Mary.
“He is identified as Henry Balfield,” said X. “He is a class A computer technician assigned to the president’s staff seventy-two days ago.”
“How did someone like that manage to get pass the vetting process?” said Mary. Just then, a beep on the bunker door’s console sounded.
“We’re all clear,” said one of the president’s security escorts. Butu nodded and he opened the door.
“Commander,” said Butu as the Earth Security officer entered. “What’s our status?”
“Our swat bot managed to remove the device and detonate it within itself,” said the commander. “The explosion was consistent with a class twelve bomb. It would have taken out both your office and most of the wing. You’re lucky your security bot found it.”