Fury Of The Phoenix (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  “Uneventful,” replied John. “What’s our status?”

  “All departments have reported in,” replied Jacks. “Vish has confirmed all systems are ready for launch. As a precaution, I have requested all engineers and technicians working on the Interceptor tube conversions to retreat to the inner part of the ship in the event we encounter difficulties activating the interstellar drive.”

  John looked at Korifluxinina. “I thought your analysis showed no problems with the drive?”

  The Quix’s body vibrated as it spoke. “Indeed, John Roberts. However, the drive is interfaced with numerous systems that use different technology from all alliance worlds.”

  “So?” John wasn’t in the mood to hear excuses. Either they were ready or they weren’t.

  Korifluxinina stood by her statement. “I must remind you that the n’quadrin is a new power source that has not been tested under duress. Although my scientific knowledge is quite extensive, I cannot anticipate all variables.”

  “Fine,” said John. Through Ni science, the Onixin’s quadrin power source had been radically altered to a more powerful and efficient energy source, putting PHOENIX’s old plasma based network to shame. But n’quadrin had only been developed four months ago. Despite the Ni’s assurances, much of the crew was still nervous on how the new power source would work.

  “Let engineering know we’re ready to depart,” John said to Jacks. “Private Michaels, send a message to the Ni homeworld and inform them we’re ready to depart.”

  “Captain, the Ni were explicit that you contact them,” said Bret.

  John rolled his eyes. It was always something with the Ni. He was tired of their idiosyncrasies and was glad to finally leave. “Fine, open a channel.”

  Bret nodded to his counterpart, Rudov. The Onixin patched a signal to the planet below. “Channel open, captain.”

  “This is Captain John Roberts of the PHOENIX. We’re ready to depart and request permission to leave.” There was no response and John was quickly getting impatient. “Confirm they’ve received the message.”

  “They heard you, captain,” confirmed Bret.

  Julie caught something on the sensors. “Captain, the repair station.”

  John looked at her display and was surprised at what he saw. The repair station that had housed PHOENIX all these months slowly began to dissipate, as if being erased from existence. Less than a minute later, it was gone, and PHOENIX was floating in open space above the planet.

  John looked at Jacks. “Five months and I still can’t figure your people out.”

  “The whole do not speak if actions are sufficient,” replied Jacks. “You have your answer. We may depart.”

  “Power up the interstellar drive and take us out of the system,” ordered John.

  The staff got to work. Outside, the half globes on either side of the ship lit up a bright purple color and soon PHOENIX was moving away from the Ni homeworld.

  “All systems showing normal,” reported Jacks.

  “I’m reading a minor power fluctuation in the n’quadrin grid,” announced Julie as she monitored the ship’s energy network.

  “Is it serious?” asked John.

  Korifluxinina checked the readings. “The variance is within acceptable tolerances and is isolated to grid Beta 47, on deck twenty-two. There is no reason to be concerned.”

  “Continue monitoring that section,” ordered John. “Kevin, plot a course into open space and prepare to engage the interstellar drive at factor one.”

  “Course charted,” replied Kevin.

  “We’ve cleared the Ni system,” reported Julie.

  “Initiate jump,” said John.

  There was no sounds of increased power flow to indicate power was flowing out of the engines to the jump coils that were housed in the half globes. The jump was seamless as PHOENIX accelerated to faster than light travel.

  “Amazing,” commented Tim as he looked up at the windows to confirm they were indeed in the jump.

  “Engineering is reporting the drive is operating at peak efficiency,” said Jacks.

  Julie checked the power readings and was amazed at the numbers. “We’re only using a fifth of the power to jump the ship. The n’quadrin is living up to our expectations.”

  “As long as it does what we need to complete our mission,” said John. He showed no excitement that the ship was back in service. Julie had hoped getting back into space would break the dark cloud over him, but it didn’t appear to be the case.

  “Our queen will be pleased that another ship is in service of the protectorate,” said Korifluxinina. Since entering into an alliance, the Quix now considered the PHOENIX and its crew as part of their military, called the protectorate. When the first Quix arrived for their assignment to PHOENIX, they provided all the crew with their Quix equivalent titles. Unfortunately, the Onixins were offended, believing that the crew should take Onixin military titles. But John wasn’t about to be called a vori or a cadri. So to eliminate any hurt feelings he mandated that no one, alien or human, would be required to be addressed by their titles. The only exception was with the Quix; it was easier to call them by their short military titles than by their long names.

  John ignored the Quix’s science officer’s comment and got down to business. “Bring our long range sensors online.”

  Jacks activated the sensors, which had been replaced with Senfo technology. “Sensors online.”

  John brought up a holographic image of the local area of space and immediately highlighted an area. “Focus our sensors on this system.”

  Julie found it odd that John zoomed in on a particular area with no hesitation. She checked the preliminary readings and didn’t find anything remarkable about it. It was a dwarf system with only a few planetoids orbiting the sun. “Is there’s a reason you chose this location?”

  “Call it a hunch,” replied John, who didn’t look at her. He remained focused on the holographic map.

  The table beeped on Tim’s side. “Captain, sensors have picked up a Screen energy signature. Power output indicates it’s a ground based installation.”

  “Alter course to system,” ordered John. “Vish, what’s our ETA?”

  “Six days, eighteen hours,” replied Vish.

  Kevin’s counterpart, Jufo, ran the numbers on his console. “The assessment is correct.”

  “I want us there in a couple of hours,” said John.

  “We’ll need to increase speed to factor five,” replied Vish.

  John looked at Kevin. “Increase speed to five.”

  “Should we not gradually increase our speed as a precaution?” asked Jacks. “Engineering is running diagnostic tests of the drive.”

  Jacks was right, but Julie figured that wouldn’t matter to John, so she came up with another reason. “Captain, this is our first encounter with the Screen in five months. Shouldn’t we take a couple of days to prepare for battle? We haven’t tested any of our new weapons in actual combat.”

  “We’ve been delayed for months rebuilding the ship,” said a clearly impatient John. “I’m not wasting any more time. Kevin, do as I say. Jacks, notify engineering that we’ll be going into battle.”

  “Yes, John Roberts,” acknowledged Jacks as Kevin increased the ship’s speed.

  “Shouldn’t we notify one of our assault teams to prepare for a ground assault?” asked Julie.

  “Let’s see what we’re up against first,” said John as he focused his attention back on the holographic image.

  Julie stepped away from the table, bothered by what was happening. First, how did John know where to find the Screen? It was possible he got lucky, but something was telling her it was more than luck. But what? The long range sensors were the last system to be installed and tested. They were only cleared for use two days ago.

  Second, it seemed John was ready to dive into battle at the first chance. Even though PHOENIX was more powerful with its new technology, the ship was still untested in battle. Military training dictated
to be cautious, but John seemed to be ignoring that protocol.

  Julie looked at her friend. He was not acting like a seasoned ship commander, and she felt she should say something. But what if she was wrong? John had gone through a tough time, they all had. She convinced herself she needed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  “Forgive me if I am wrong, but you appear to be deep in thought.” Julie looked to see Rudov approaching her.

  “No, it’s nothing,” Julie said to her reptilian friend. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “I have heard from several human crew members that if something is bothering you, the best remedy is to discuss it with someone.”

  Julie smiled at Rudov to ease his concern. “That’s usually right, but sometimes an executive officer has to keep things to herself so as not to worry the crew.”

  “I understand,” said Rudov. “You are placing the welfare of the crew above your own.”

  “Yes,” said Julie, as she looked over at John. “I hope I am.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Raise shields, charge starbursts and ruialon emitters,” ordered John as PHOENIX arrived at their destination.

  “Shields have been raised,” reported Jacks. “Ruialon emitters are on standby. Starburst will be ready when we reach our target.”

  Starbursts were modified n’quadrin energy bursts designed to deplete a target’s shields and energy reserves. But the modifications to achieve this made the n’quadrin inefficient. It took a substantial amount of energy to create a starburst. As a result, PHOENIX could only fire a couple of them in battle before recharging the ports, which could take over five minutes.

  The ruialon beam weapons were of Quix origin and, after a couple of months of research, the Ni was able to successfully create converters that could process n’quadrin into ruialon energy.

  “I’m getting a reading on our target,” announced Tim. “It’s a Screen outpost, similar to one we encountered two years ago.”

  “Any indication that they’ve spotted us?” asked Julie.

  Tim checked the sensors. Suddenly, the display became distorted for a moment and he fiddled with the resolution to fix it.

  “Problems?” John asked.

  “The sensors winked out for a second,” replied the lieutenant. “There, got it now. I’m not picking up any transmissions, but I do show Screen fighters launching.”

  “Captain, we only have five fighter drones available to launch,” advised Jacks.

  “We don’t need the drones,” said John. “As soon as we’re in range, fire a starburst at the outpost. Take out the fighters with the particle beams.”

  Julie brought the targeting scanners online. “Ready, captain.”

  “We’re in range of the outpost,” said Tim.

  “Fire,” ordered John.

  PHOENIX fired its starburst at the outpost while particle beams fired on the fighters. The Screen fighters, adept in the past at avoiding the beams, were each hit and obliterated by the first shots, thanks to the targeting scanners being handled by Vish, who could anticipate their quick course changes in a nanosecond.

  “Fighters have been destroyed,” reported Tim. “Starburst has struck target and is draining the outpost’s shields.”

  “Their weapons are already offline,” said Julie. “Their shields are down twenty percent and should collapse in three minutes.”

  Julie assumed they would wait for the shields to go down before launching an assault shuttle to take over the facility. But she was surprised when John suddenly took over weapons control from her. He targeted the outpost, and fired all the ruialon emitters at once. The intense red lights streamed from PHOENIX and struck the outpost, collapsing its shields and obliterating the entire facility.

  “Structure has been destroyed,” reported Tim. “I’m showing no survivors.”

  Julie was in utter disbelief by John’s actions. They accomplished nothing by destroying the Screen. They needed prisoners to question to learn the location of the Screen homeworld and what motivated them to be hostile towards other races. With the outpost destroyed and the Screen in it killed, they were no closer in learning more about their enemy.

  Julie was ready to question John’s actions but held her tongue. She needed to talk to him in private, away from the command staff.

  Suddenly, the operations table beeped on Jacks’ side. “John Roberts, energy grid Beta 47 has ruptured on deck twenty-two. We are venting n’quadrin in that area.”

  “Seal off that grid section from the rest of the network,” ordered Julie, forgetting about John’s actions for the moment.

  “I have isolated the grid,” replied Jacks. “N’quadrin is no longer venting and the remaining energy have been absorbed by the maintenance bots already at the scene. I am reading structural damage to the area and twelve human life signs in that location.”

  “Deploy damage control teams and alert medical,” ordered John.

  Down in the damaged section of deck twenty-two, the ship’s only Gercol and an Onixin arrived at the scene first, ahead of the medical and damage control teams. The Onixin pressed his wrist and brought up his holographic DAT.

  “There are twelve humans trapped within the debris, but the area is shifting and unstable,” he said as his DAT scanned the area.

  “I can stabilize the area.” The green alien blob shot himself into the debris and spread himself out, holding the twisted metal and rubble from shifting. As he settled himself in, the medical team showed up, headed by Doctor Roth.

  “What’s the situation?” Roth asked the Onixin.

  “Twelve of your people are trapped behind the debris. Vun is using his body to prevent the debris from shifting.”

  “There’s a passage we can use to reach them,” said Nurse Plate, referring to her DAT that found a small pathway in the debris.

  Roth checked the readings on the nurse’s DAT. “It’s too small for any of us to crawl through.”

  “I can navigate the passage.” Roth looked down and had forgotten about the Senfo doctor with them.

  “Ranis, are you sure?” Roth asked him.

  Ranis nodded as the damage control team arrived. Suddenly, they heard a loud sound from above and looked to see a support beam break loose and fall. A Quix damage control member stretched his arm and precisely controlled sound waves shot from his hand and struck the support beam. The impact knocked the beam to the side and out of harm’s way.

  Everyone was impressed by the Quix’s display. “I didn’t know your people could do that,” said Roth.

  “We have the ability to generate sound waves at various levels,” replied the slug-like alien.

  “Nice,” said Roth, refocusing back on the task at hand. She motioned to Ranis, who proceeded through the tight passage as the Gercol kept the rubble from moving around. It took some time, but eventually they were able to treat and evacuate the victims.

  A few hours later, PHOENIX was holding position near the planetoid as repairs to the damaged section were being done. John was in his office reading some files when the door chime rang.

  “Come in.” Julie entered with her holographic DAT active. “What’s our status, commander?”

  “Repairs to the ruptured grid is proceeding,” replied Julie. “They have to replace most of the support beams in that section. They’ve rerouted power and it shouldn’t affect ship operations.”

  “Have they determined why it ruptured?”

  “Apparently, the grid had insufficient trillium casing and ruptured when the power flow increased.”

  John shook his head in disappointment. “I thought the Ni were highly advanced.”

  “They are, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect,” said Julie. “Even they said this was the fastest they ever fabricated new systems for a starship. There’s bound to be a few glitches.”

  “Have engineering recheck the n’quadrin network. I want to be sure the rest of the grid is intact.”

  “Yes sir.”

  John looked up at Ju
lie. “Anything else, commander?”

  Julie wanted to ask him why he destroyed the outpost rather than take prisoners, but she got cold feet. In the back of her mind, she didn’t want to know the answer. She didn’t want to hear that he did it as an act of revenge.

  Suddenly, the battle alarms blared. “Captain and commander to the bridge,” came the voice of Jacks over their pips. The pair headed out of John’s office and down to the pit. Thresha was there, having come to check on how the alien command deck staff were doing.

  “What do we got?” asked Julie.

  “A Screen cruiser just arrived and is approaching our position,” reported Tim.

  “I thought you said the outpost didn’t send out any transmissions?” said Julie.

  “That’s correct, commander,” replied Tim, rechecking the sensors. “They never sent out a distress call.”

  “I can confirm that,” said Bret from his station. “We never picked up any transmissions from the outpost or fighters.”

  “Perhaps they were scheduled to drop supplies or do a personnel swap,” said John in a calm voice. “Raise shields and power ruialon weapons.”

  “Captain!” Julie blurted out. “We have a chance to capture prisoners.”

  John gave her a quick look of anger, but it’s what Julie saw out of the corner of her eye that got her attention. She caught a glance at Thresha, who looked scared of John. She never saw the Aldarian leader look afraid before.

  “Fine, load a compliment of plasma torpedoes and prepare another starburst,” ordered John.

  Julie was relieved that he chose a course of action that tactically made sense. She turned to her display at the operations table and focused on the battle. “Starburst is primed and ready.”

  “Screen vessel has powered their weapons,” reported Tim.

  “Fire starburst and follow up with a spread of plasma torpedoes,” ordered John.

  Julie entered the firing commands and they watched on the holographic display as the starburst struck the cruiser dead on, followed up by a compliment of five plasma torpedoes. The cruiser shook and lost control, floating aimlessly in space.

  “Their engines have been disabled and their shields have collapsed,” reported Tim. “No ruptures to their hull.”