Exodus Of The Phoenix

by Robert Stadnik

  "Thank you," said Kevin in a low voice to avoid the professor overhearing him. "Once he gets going it's almost impossible to get him to stop."

  "Is he always this charming?"

  "The professor is highly intelligent. Unfortunately, that doesn't include knowing any of the social graces. He's really harmless, just a bit of a klutz when dealing with people. But when it comes to his work, he can be passionate."

  "I hope he wasn't serious about Lieutenant Brandus. And what was all that talk of the hyper-drive being delicate?"

  "The professor tends to have a dramatic flare. Despite what he says the hyper-drive is one tough engine. It's been tested and reworked so many times over the years, it's one of the most reliable pieces of equipment we have." Kevin's reassurance gave Julie some piece of mind. "You handled the professor just right. Make him feel that he's running the show and he'll be easier to handle."

  "Only easier?"

  "The professor is a difficult man. It's just a matter of lowering the degree of difficulty."

  "Thanks for the tip." Julie looked over at the professor. "By the way, what were those glass things on his face?"

  "Oh, those are called bifocals. It's an old tool people used to wear to compensate for diminished vision."

  "He's not a mute is he," she asked. A 'mute' was short for mutant. It was a nickname for someone who descended from a Nuclear Holocaust victim and suffered from genetic disorders resulting from their ancestors' radiation exposure. Mutes weren't permitted to serve in TERRA and were not allowed live on Luna and Mars as their conditions were deemed a drain on the limited resources of both planets. Genetic profiling was required by the government to ensure no mute left Earth so that they could receive all the necessary medical treatment they required. It was the goal of the government to eventually eliminate the genetic defects that still plagued a significant portion of the population.

  "Oh no, his genes are good," replied Kevin. "The professor just doesn't like doctors and refuses any treatment, no matter how minor. Doctor Myers has tried numerous times to get the professor to have his eyes fixed, but he has a hard enough time getting him through a routine physical."

  After her initial experience with Professor Donavin, Julie was not surprised to hear this. She hoped that her interactions with the professor during their trip would be few and far between.

  The rest of the day's events exhausted the two newly minted commanders. John and Julie each met what seemed to be hundreds of crew members and were given comprehensive reviews of many of the ship’s systems. The launch was looming tomorrow and both tried to prepare themselves as best they could for the impending event. Trying to retain all the information thrown at them and becoming better familiar with the vessel had taken its toll on the former cadets. Despite her fatigue Julie wanted to spend a few more hours in her quarters reading over the technical manuals of the ship. After everything she had seen on board she was beginning to feel inadequate and wanted to eliminate that disadvantage by digging into as much information as possible before tomorrow.

  One of more unique systems Julie read about was the ECON system. The ECON was a computer system independent of the main computer and the rest of the ship's networked systems. It was the method developed to regulate and distribute the limited resources the ship carried to the crew. ECON monitored resources such as food, water, and clothing and assigned monetary amounts to them based on availability and usage. Crew members were given credits each week based on their position to spend buying goods or services offered on EXODUS. The system was highly secured; only the ship commander had the authority to alter its parameters. The merchants of Central, initially skeptical of ECON, had fully embraced the system after living with its operation the past few years. Julie thought it was an ingenious way to moderate ship resources.

  Unlike Julie, John had his fill of schematics and procedures and just wanted to go to bed. Twenty-four hours was too short a time to absorb all the information thrown at him about EXODUS and he wasn't about to kill himself trying to keep it all straight in his head. A good night sleep was what he needed to get refreshed and be alert for tomorrow's launch, but Admiral Johnson had invited him and Julie to his quarters for dinner. John felt obligated to attend and reluctantly agreed even though he was tired. He wanted plenty of rest to ensure his reflexes were sharp to handle the resistance he was expecting to encounter from TERRA once EXODUS was in orbit.

  This farewell dinner was John's final opportunity to confront the admiral and learn the real reason he chose him and Julie for this command. His whole speech about the cadets' personalities making them a perfect fit for this assignment wasn’t sitting well with John. The admiral's explanation reeked of bullshit and John wasn't going to be played as a pawn by anybody. John chose not to call out the admiral right away. He wanted to give him the opportunity to come clean without any cajoling from John.

  “To the EXODUS,” said the admiral, raising his wine glass at the dinner table. John and Julie joined him in the toast.

  “To the mission,” said Julie.

  “The mission,” echoed John as they each sipped from their glasses. John didn’t have much of a taste for wine as he pretty much limited his alcohol to whatever hard liquor was available. The wine had a dry taste that did not appeal to him. He liked his drinks sweet and the wine wasn't helping to get him into a celebratory mood.

  “So, admiral," said John, not wanting to wait any longer to address the one issue that had plagued his mind all day. "There’s something that’s been bothering me. You had ample opportunity to find an experienced commander for this ship. Hell, you've had years." The tone in his voice did a poor job of hiding his suspicion and the admiral could sense it. "You chose two cadets with no experience to helm this vessel and explained your decision by claiming that no TERRA officer would jeopardize their career to take on this mission, but I'm having a hard time believing it.”

  “You personally know the sacrifices and years of hard work required to make it to the Academy and earn a commission in the fleet," replied the admiral. He maintained a calm demeanor so as not to raise John's suspicion any further. "No officer would be willing to throw away their career for this mission."

  “So you choose two people who have nothing to lose?"

  "John," said Julie, seeing the inevitable confrontation that was about to take place, but he held his hand up to silence her.

  "No Julie, we need to know." Despite the admiral offering the opportunity to keep his dream alive, John wasn't about to look the other way and be used as a pawn. He looked at the admiral with a penetrating glare. "We have no promising careers if we graduated from the Academy and you just swoop in and offer us a job that, of course we'd take, as we have no other alternative. We worked hard to get into TERRA and we're not about to accept a civilian or dead end job.” John eyes didn't waver as he kept his gaze on the admiral, waiting for an answer. Admiral Johnson continued to eat his dinner as John spoke. Now he pushed his plate away and wiped his mouth with his dinner napkin. John took his silence as confirmation.

  “So it wasn’t our great skills that attracted you to us," said John. "You knew we would jump on the chance to work on a starship. You played us.”

  Julie could only sit there in silence. Everything John said had a sickening ring of truth to it. She couldn't ignore what he said despite her disdain for John even bringing it up.

  “You have to understand," said the admiral. "I couldn’t risk approaching a commissioned officer to take this assignment. TERRA officers are fiercely loyal and there was a chance of an officer reporting my proposal to the council. We all know what would happened if this mission failed and EXODUS didn’t make it out of the system. The commanding officers would be court martial and stripped of their ranks, barring them from ever serving in TERRA. No officer would take that chance."

  “But you figured we might,” interrupted John. “Because we have no careers and no loyalty to TERRA.”

  “I anticipated you would be more receptive to my proposal.
” The admiral carefully tempered his words, attempting to sound diplomatic. The entire mission hinged on John and Julie staying on board. “As you said, you were not going to let a lifetime of training go to waste.”

  John got up and threw his napkin on the table. He recognized the admiral was treading carefully in his explanation. “Don’t try to sugarcoat this. You're only using us as a matter of convenience.” He got up and went to the window, looking out at the stars hanging motionless in the sky. He felt stupid thinking it was his intelligence or independence that got him here.

  “I firmly believe you are the only ones who can make this mission a success,” said the admiral. "I wasn't lying when I said that."

  “Yeah, we’re just not your first choice,” replied John sarcastically.

  “Is your pride so wounded that you would consider leaving?" Damn him. As upset John was, the admiral had him there.

  “No, I guess it wouldn’t matter,” admitted John in a low tone. Despite how they were selected, it wouldn’t have changed John’s mind about taking this mission. It was his only chance to serve on a ship.

  Julie, who had been absorbing everything that had been said, finally spoke up. “Isn’t there any chance we can have a legitimate career in the fleet? Maybe I could talk to the placement board."

  “I made inquires before I even approached you," said the admiral. "I knew there was no recourse for John. His reputation was simply too undesirable. No department or squadron would want him serving in their ranks. As for you Julie, you would make an excellent officer. But the fleet is not what it once was. TERRA has gone from being a military institution to an elitist organization. Unless you have a high ranking officer looking out for you, your career will only go so far.”

  “No surprise there,” quipped John.

  “No, I don’t think you understand the extent to which it has gone. Individuals are no longer judged on their merits. What happened to Julie reflects what TERRA has turned into.” He looked at Julie with a sincere look. “You come from a middle-class farming community in Nebraska. You are the first member of your family to go to the Academy and thus your family holds no influence in TERRA. You could have been number one in your class and still would have been relegated to the museum assignment. The most desired positions are being given to the Freemans, the Mortinos, the Daleys, the Blocks; families that hold powerful positions in TERRA. The future of the fleet is one where these ‘royal’ families will control TERRA and they will make choices that benefit themselves, not humanity. It is more important to them to maintain the status quo rather than protect the interests of the human race.”

  “Is that why you’re doing this?” said John. “To fight corruption in TERRA? Fighting elitist snobs doesn’t sound very personal, and I don’t think something so vague would motivate a high ranking admiral to risk his own career. Julie and I have our reasons for going into this. What about you?”

  The admiral did not immediately respond. He slowly stood up and walked over to John by the window. He looked at the young man with an expression of sorrow. John was caught off guard. He realized by the admiral's immediate lack of response that he had said something that touched a nerve. Seeing the expression on the admiral's face, John regretted coming across so harshly.

  “You remind me so much of my son,” said the admiral. John didn’t know how to respond to that statement. His regret changed to a feeling of being uncomfortable having the admiral gaze at him with such intensity.

  “I didn’t know you had children,” said Julie. She had read the biographies of all the command council members and didn't recall the admiral's biography listing any family members.

  “My son was an Interceptor pilot in the fleet. I lost him fifteen years ago.” The admiral looked at John once more, his eyes red as they welled up with tears. He went back to the table and sat down, staring at the table as memories of his son flooded his mind. He did not want to reopen old wounds and tried to shut out the memories. But he would have to relive the past if he was to convince Julie and John that his intentions were honorable.

  Julie looked to John, who only shrugged his shoulders slightly. He was as perplexed as she was by the admiral's behavior. John only stood by the window, not inclined to pursue an obvious uncomfortable subject with the admiral.

  Julie took the initiative and took the seat next to the admiral, putting her hand on his arm. “What happened?” she asked as she took the seat next to him.

  The admiral looked at Julie and smiled weakly. He appreciated the comfort she was trying to provide him. He hadn't spoken about his son in years and had hoped to avoid discussing it. “The fleet holds many secrets. One of them is tightly guarded, a routine mission only the council members are privy to. Not even the president or anyone in the civilian government is aware of it." The admiral cleared his throat before continuing.

  "Every year the council has the sensor net shut down under the guise of upgrading it. The real reason is to conceal a clandestine mission. Each year a pilot is sent out in an unarmed Interceptor beyond the Mars orbital boundary to gauge the Screen's reaction.”

  Both Julie and John were equally appalled hearing this. “TERRA has always been so adamant that no one does anything to antagonize the Screen,” said Julie. “Why would they do such a thing?”

  “It is the only way for the council to monitor the Screen, to see if their hostility towards us has changed. This has been done for decades, but no record is kept of the activity. By conducting this reconnaissance the council can be confident in their long running stance that no one leaves the solar system.”

  John was less restrained in his opinion. “The hell with the Screen! What about the pilots they send to their deaths!?”

  “The pilots volunteer willingly to go out,” replied the admiral.

  “What half-brained lunatic would agree to fly out on a suicide mission?” asked John. He couldn’t comprehend anyone willing to throw away their lives for such a foolhardy task.

  “John, there are officers who are so loyal to TERRA they are willing to do anything the council asks them. They’re willing to sacrifice their lives to maintain the status quo. That is why the council will never approve an interstellar mission. They have thousands of loyal officers who have bought into the council's passive philosophy that has been passed down for generations. They are so devoted to protecting TERRA that they are willing to give up their lives to see that nothing changes.”

  "Sounds like a cult," said John. "TERRA's nothing but a goddamn cult." He looked at Julie. "I hope you see now what kind of underhanded operation TERRA is."

  "So the council just picks the most willing officer to fly this mission?" asked Julie, ignoring John's comments.

  The admiral nodded. "It is not difficult for the council to identify the most willing candidate. They never had an officer say no."

  “And your son was one of the pilots?” asked Julie.

  The admiral looked at Julie with an expression of pain on his face, as if a knife had been plunged and twisted inside of him. “My Kory was so devoted to TERRA. There wasn't anything he would not do and I was proud that he chose to serve in the same institution I spent my life in. But I didn’t realize how deep his commitment was to the organization. I told him privately about the secret operation the council conducted. The next day he was volunteering to test the Screen. He knew I would never permit him to go out so he convinced the council to keep me in the dark. It was the only reconnaissance mission I never observed. It took three days for the council to inform me...” Recounting the tale was too much for the admiral. He got up and walked to the other end of the room. John felt horrible for making him recount that part of his life. John’s personal problems with TERRA seemed insignificant to the lost the admiral suffered.

  “I knew things could not go on as they were,” continued the admiral, who had gotten enough control of his emotions to resume his tale. “I promised myself that no one else’s son or daughter would die needlessly. When I returned to the EXODUS Project I bega
n bringing in people who shared my vision that we needed to change TERRA. EXODUS was transformed from a test bed of technology to a ship of exploration.”

  There was a long silence in the room. There were no more secrets between them now, everything was out in the open. Julie felt a great deal of sympathy for the admiral. She imagined her father must have felt the same when Julie's mother died.

  "Thank you for telling us," said John. "I understand why you weren't up front about it."

  "I suppose if I'm asking you to risk your lives you should know my motives," replied the admiral.

  Despite the difficulty in hearing the admiral's story Julie decided it was time to bring up an issue she discovered inadvertently during the day.

  “Admiral, if you believe what the EXODUS stands for, why are you not staying on board when it launches?” John looked at the admiral with a surprised look. He naturally assumed he would be part of the crew.

  “My role has been only to prepare the ship to leave the solar system. If I remain on board I would be expected to command the ship and I don’t have the heart in me anymore. I lost my faith in the military when my son died. Once EXODUS is launched, it doesn’t matter what happens to me.”

  “It matters to me,” said John. “If you remain on Earth TERRA will capture you and I hate to think what they would do to you."

  "It doesn't matter."

  "Admiral, you’re the first person who’s stuck their neck out for me," said John in a passionate tone. "Please stay on board. The crew knows and respects you. I don’t even have to command this ship. Just being here for the chance to explore space is enough for me.”

  Julie was surprise to hear such selfless words coming from John. The only other time she witnessed such behavior was when John stayed up all night helping Julie prepare for her battle tactics final their junior year. It was a move that cost John himself a good grade in the class. To this day Julie never understood why John helped her.