Phoenix In Chaos (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  The head of security sealed herself in her office and activated various security screens to ensure she wasn’t being monitored. She pulled up a list of the deceased crew members of the PHOENIX. The ship had been providing the names of those crew members who had died during the vessel’s travels in the transmissions being sent to Earth. Vespia was impressed that the causalities were low. John Roberts was apparently faring well commanding the starship with no experience.

  One of the last transmissions had the name of Marcus Sandoval listed as one of deceased. That immediately got her attention. Sandoval was the spy she sent into the EXODUS Project years ago to monitor Admiral Johnson’s activities. Seeing his name brought back long buried memories.

  It was the only trip Vespia made to the Tormented Valley. She was a commodore at the time and she spent many hours touring various military installations. But this trip wasn’t to tour the EXODUS Project, but to see someone dear to her heart.

  The desolate-looking valley was littered with housing modules surrounding the construction arena that contained the frame of the experimental starship. It wasn’t yet ready for habitation, so the project members lived in the housing modules. It was bitter cold, even with wearing thermal clothes. Vespia darted from her shuttle to the module that was her destination.

  “Come in,” said Admiral Johnson when he heard a knock on the door. He showed little reaction to seeing Vespia. “Pulled some strings to come here, did you? Even rules governing classified projects mean nothing to you, Karla.”

  “The council gave me permission to see you, given that we were married,” said Vespia.

  “Were married,” emphasized Johnson. “You’re no longer afforded special privileges in that regard. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no different than any other officer.”

  “We lost a son,” said Vespia. “I’ve been worried about you. You haven’t shown any emotion about his death and refused to give a eulogy at his funeral.”

  Johnson poured a glass of brandy and took a drink. “I wasn’t going to pretend that I was proud of what he did.”

  “You should be,” said Vespia. “He gave his life in the service of TERRA.”

  Oliver blew up. He threw the glass against the wall and it shattered. “He threw his life away for nothing! And what’s worse is you encouraged him!”

  “I tried talking him out of it,” explained Vespia. “But he was committed to going through with it. For him, it was the ultimate sacrifice to give TERRA. When I realized I couldn’t dissuade him I chose to support him.”

  “And who’s decision was it to keep it from me?” demanded Johnson.

  “Kory asked the council not to tell you,” said Vespia. “I had to respect his wishes.”

  “Bullshit! You knew I’d be against it,” countered Johnson. “It was bad enough the council concealed it from me, but for my own wife not to come to me…”

  “I wanted to tell you, but Kory made me promise,” said Vespia. “He was an officer and I was duty-bound.”

  “TERRA, TERRA, TERRA. That’s all you care about,” said Johnson.

  “You know how hard it was sitting there and watching him fly to Mars?” said Vespia. “I wanted to scream for him to stop, to turn around and come home. But I couldn’t. How could I face him if I would have shattered his dream?”

  “It wasn’t as hard as getting the news of his death a day later,” said Johnson.

  “Oliver, please…

  But Johnson had enough of her explanations. “Oh to hell with TERRA and to hell with you! You let your own ambition blind you to the fact that Kory threw his life away! His death is just another notch on your belt as you climb the ladder.”

  “Then why don’t you tell that to the council,” said Vespia, who was now yelling back. “Tell them what you think and they’ll drum you out of the service.”

  “I’m not going to give them the satisfaction,” said Johnson. “But mark my words, before I leave TERRA I’ll make sure it changes. I won’t allow them to continue to sacrifice the lives of good men and women.” Johnson marched past Vespia to the door. “I expect you to be gone when I get back. I never want to see you again!”

  He slammed the door, leaving Vespia alone. She had hoped to come to some sort of reconciliation with Oliver, but seeing him was a mistake. Her presence only served to anger him more about their son’s death.

  As Vespia looked around Johnson’s home, she spotted a familiar sight on the bookshelf. She went over and pulled a weathered brown leather book off the bookcase. It was Oliver’s journal, one he started when he first entered TERRA. Reading it would be a huge invasion of privacy, but Vespia justified her action because of her concern for her ex-husband.

  Vespia opened the book and turned to the last entry and read the following:

  “The funeral was nothing more than a show. I could only sit and listen as each council member spoke, extolling Kory’s virtues. They didn’t even know him, yet they stood there acting like they were involved in his life. But what hurt more was watching Karla following their footsteps and acting as if what Kory did was honorable. But I’m no better. How many funerals did I speak at where I praised the pilot for choosing to fly past Mars. I’m just as guilty as the council, and it took the death of my son to open my eyes.

  “No more. I won’t continue to go along with this charade. TERRA is convinced that staying within the solar system won’t aggravate the Screen. I think we’re just buying time. Eventually, they will act against us. As much as I want to I can’t move against the council now. But this EXODUS Project will give me the means to carry out my plans against them, but it’s going to take years. My only regret is that more pilots will die before I am ready to launch this ship. But when I do, this ship will have the capability to fight back against the Screen. I’ll make sure of it.”

  It was at that moment Vespia realized what her husband was planning, and it was at that moment she did everything she could to ensure he carried out his plan. She couldn’t return to the project to check his progress, the council would have forbidden it. She did what she could to monitor Johnson’s activities, but when she was promoted to head of security she finally had the means to conduct proper covert surveillance.

  Marcus Sandoval was not only one of the finest intelligence officer but a devote TERRA patriot. She needed his skills to penetrate the EXODUS Project, but his patriotism was a problem. The solution was simple. All she had to do was feed into his loyalty. She told him that Johnson had planned to turn the EXODUS starship from a refuge for humanity’s best and brightest to a warship to fight the Screen. It was his job to monitor and report Johnson’s activities to her so she could communicate to the council what was really going on down there, which she never did. The council was unaware that she even had an operative in the project. And Marcus was so loyal he never once questioned Vespia’s motives.

  When PHOENIX left Earth, she worried that Sandoval might try to sabotage the ship. He sent a coded transmission alerting her of the launch, and she was able to reply one last time and told him not to do anything until he heard from her. She had hoped to pull him from the ship before it launched, but the project went on lockdown and she couldn’t get him out. After the ship left Earth, TERRA reacted so quickly she couldn’t risk communicating with her agent while PHOENIX was leaving the system.

  So what happened to cause Sandoval’s death? She found it odd that he was the only one with no explanation as to how he died included in the transmission. Had he been uncovered as a spy? Or did something happen to him that John Roberts determined should remain classified? If his identity was uncovered, Vespia wasn’t concerned that he revealed his orders. Again, he was her best agent. No amount of torture would have compelled him to talk. For now, it would remain a mystery until PHOENIX returned…, if the ship would ever return.

  Her computer beeped and the display automatically rose up from the desk. Her security sensors had picked up a faint energy emission. The signal was odd, something she had never seen before. It seemed to be
coming from somewhere in North America.

  She fiddled with the sensors to get a more accurate reading. “Well, look what we have here,” she said smiling. Another opportunity presented itself.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  “This may not be the right time,” said Jack, almost pleading. “The ship’s at battle alert status.”

  “The captain will want to know about this right away,” said Chris Anne, who was escorting Jack and his Aldarian maintenance technician partner, Dilvis, to the command deck.

  “I thought standard procedure prohibited us from entering the command deck during battle condition,” said Dilvis.

  “He’s right,” said Jack, grateful that Dilvis had memorized the entire operations manual. “We should wait.”

  “Senior officers can enter the command deck during alert condition,” said Chris. “I know the dress is confusing, but I am a senior officer.”

  “I just don’t want us to be blamed for anything,” Jack said nervously. He had a hard time dealing with anyone of authority. Although he heard the captain was an easy going individual, the technician was still afraid of him.

  “I do not understand what we would be blamed for,” said Dilvis. “We simply came upon a hidden compartment.”

  “He’s right,” said Chris. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  The trio stepped off the lift and onto the catwalk. They saw the staff at their stations, working diligently at the task at hand.

  “We’re approaching the station,” announced Kevin.

  “Exit jump and raise shields,” ordered John from his command chair. “Bret, anything from the station?”

  “There’s still no response to our hails,” said the communications officer. Three days ago PHOENIX received a distress call from the alien trading outpost, claiming they were under attack. The call came from Malnygun, but he didn’t identify the attacker. Twelve hours after picking up the call the transmissions stopped. PHOENIX had been trying to raise the station ever since they altered course, but there was no response.

  “Sensors are showing no ships in the vicinity,” reported Alex’sis as she checked the sensors.

  “The station’s intact, but I read multiple impacts to the hull,” said Julie. “Looks like they took hits from some energy blasts. The residual energy signatures conform to Screen weapons. I’m also picking up residual energy emissions from several Screen vessels.”

  “Any idea how long ago they were here?” asked John.

  Julie analyzed the readings. “Decay rate indicates it’s been a few days. It doesn’t appear any other ship has been here in the last twenty-four hours.”

  “Sensors show no vessels on long range scanners,” said Alex’sis. “Whatever happened here, we missed it.”

  “Stand down battle alert,” said John as he jumped down from his chair. “Are there any ships docked at the station?”

  “No,” replied Alex’sis. “I’m also not picking up any life signs, but life support is still functioning over there.”

  “Captain,” said Drix. “Malnygun would not have abandoned the station unless it was no longer habitable. None of the station’s hull impacts show the Screen intended to destroy it.”

  “Then we’ll need to go over there and verify if Malnygun is still there and ascertain the station’s status,” said John. “Command deck to Aries and Virgo squadrons. Deploy fighters and begin patrol of the local space.” John looked at Alex’sis. “You’ve been over to the station before, so I want you and Drix to take two separate teams there. Bring a doctor on each team in case you find anyone alive.”

  “John Captain,” said Drix. “What if we find survivors?”

  “It’s obvious the station is no longer safe from the Screen, so you’ll have to bring them back to PHOENIX,” said John.

  “Understood,” said Alex’sis. Her and Drix left to begin assembling their teams.

  “Julie, you have the command deck. I’ll be in my office.”

  “Yes, captain.” John headed out of the pit and was promptly intercepted by Chris.

  “Captain, I know it’s a really bad time, but we need to talk,” said Chris. “Actually, we need to show you something.”

  John saw the two maintenance technicians over by the lift. “Chris, we’re in the middle of a mission,” said John. “Can’t you take care of it?”

  “Sweetie, it took everything I could to convince Jack to come up here. And what he and Dilvis found is a doozy.”

  The word ‘found’ gave John a flashback about the secret nuclear bomb that was uncovered by a couple of the ship’s farmers last year. “If they found something about the ship…”

  “You’re catching on, captain,” said Chris.

  That was what John didn’t want to hear. “Julie, I’ll be with Chris attending to another matter. Notify me of any update from the station teams.”

  Chris and the two technicians led John down to deck eighteen. On the way, Chris called Doctor Roth and asked her to meet them at the rear of the ship on that deck. Jack explained the situation as they headed to their destination.

  “We were conducting routine maintenance of the area,” he explained. “Dilvis picked up a small energy signature that was fluctuating. We traced it to a malfunctioning masking device.” He showed John the miniscule device that was used to conceal energy or life form readings. From what John read from Marcus Sandoval’s files, it was commonly used in the intelligence community. “Once we deactivated it we picked up a large empty room behind the bulkhead. We cut the bulkhead open and…, well…”

  “Well what?” asked John.

  “It’s probably best you see it for yourself,” said Chris.

  “You’ve already seen it?”

  “I’m way too curious for my own good, sweetie.”

  They reached the rear of the ship and the entrance to the opened bulkhead. Waiting for them there was Doctor Roth.

  “Was someone hurt cutting this wall open?” asked Roth.

  “No,” said Chris. “What you need to see is inside. Captain…”

  John peered inside the room and saw they were standard quarters. He was looking at the living room area. He stepped in and looked around. It was no different than any other crew quarters. “Crew quarters sealed behind a bulkhead. Why?”

  “Probably to hide what’s in the bedroom,” said Chris.

  John proceeded there and immediately saw what Chris was referring to. There, laying on the bed, was a corpse. John stared at it as Doctor Roth pulled her medical scanner.

  “I’m pretty sure she’s dead,” John said in a bad attempt of humor to cope with the situation.

  “And from my readings she’s been dead for some time,” said Roth.

  “How long?” asked John.

  “I’m sure it’s been years.”

  “We did not know who to contact about this,” said Dilvis. “So we contacted Chris Anne.”

  “That was the right call,” said John.

  “None of us have touched the body,” said Chris. “As soon as they showed it to me we left.”

  “Any idea what killed her?” John asked Roth.

  “Her neck’s broken. A couple of her fingernails are broken and there’s some skin cells underneath some of her nails that don’t belong to her. I’d speculate based on that and the broken neck she was murdered. There’s evidence she struggled during the encounter.”

  “Can you say who she was?” asked John.

  “I’m scanning her DNA profile so the computer can tell us who she was. I’m also feeding the foreign DNA in as well.” A few moments later her scanner beeped. “DNA profile matches a Gertrin Miner, a geologist. That’s strange, according to the computer she was reassigned to the ground station staff twelve years ago.”

  “Then how’d she wind up here?” said Chris.

  “What about the foreign DNA?” asked John.

  Roth referred to her scanner and was stunned by the computer’s response. “Captain, the DNA profile matches Admiral Oliver Johnson.” John’
s heart sank hearing his name. It appeared Nicole wasn’t Johnson’s only victim.

  “Admiral Johnson killed her?” said Jack. “That can’t be. Your scanner must be malfunctioning.”

  “You telling me I don’t know how to do my job?” said an annoyed Roth.

  “Computer, place the findings from Doctor Roth’s scanner into an investigative file and restrict access to Doctor Roth and myself.” John looked at the doctor. “I want only you to conduct the autopsy on this body. I need you to be discreet and discuss this with no one.”

  “What about Doctor Myers?” asked Roth.

  “Not even him,” replied John. “If he asks what you’re doing you send him to me.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  John turned to the technicians. “Same goes for you. You are not to discuss this with anyone. That’s a direct order.”

  “I swear I won’t say anything,” said Jack.

  “I will remain silent on this matter,” said Dilvis.

  “I want you two to begin checking the rest of the ship for anymore hidden rooms,” said John.

  “Just us?” said Jack. “That would take years.”

  “I know, but I need you to be the only ones doing the searching,” explained John “I’ll talk to your supervisor and let him or her know that you’re working on a special project for me. Once the doctor has the body removed, reseal the bulkhead.” Both techs nodded. “I’ll be back up on the command deck if you need me.”