“I already told them I need pulse rifles, not the standard guns. We have plenty of those.” Davers flicked off his DAT in frustration. “I swear things would have been so much easier if we were still in space fighting the Screen.”
His assistant smiled. “We’re the most popular ship in the fleet. Everyone is clamoring to join the crew.”
“I know. I also have the regional heads of security asking me to give a lecture on starship security. I’m a security officer, not a professor. If I wanted to teach I’d have accepted the teaching position at the Academy.”
Suddenly, the chief’s pip beeped. “Franklin to Davers.”
“What is it?”
“I need you to come down to Smitty’s. There’s something I need you to see.”
“Can it wait? I’m pretty swamped up here.”
“It can’t. It’s not an emergency, but it’s urgent.”
Davers rolled his eyes. “Alright, on my way.”
The trip down to Central was certainly different now. The chief walked past a lot more people in the hallways, and even the lift was jammed pack with people. He was looking forward to things settling down once PHOENIX departed the solar system.
Davers found Franklin waiting outside in front of Smitty’s. It was already 0900 hours but the pub was still closed.
“Thanks for coming down,” said Franklin in a somber tone. “I know you’re busy and wouldn’t have called if needed.” The pub owner unlocked the doors and led the chief inside. “I was getting the place ready to open and went to check inventory in the kitchen.” They entered the kitchen and rounded a corner where Davers saw what Franklin was referring to. There on the floor laid the body of a dead man.
“As soon as I saw him I left and called you,” explained Franklin.
Davers slowly approached the body. There was no need to rush to the man’s aid. It was quite apparent he was dead. His clothes were shredded and his body was littered with claw marks, as is he had been put through a cheese grater.
“Do you know him?” Davers asked Franklin.
“No, but I had Vish ID him from his pip. His name is Geoff Sauners, a maintenance tech.”
Davers looked around the area. Nothing seemed disturbed or out of place, and no pools of blood. It was obvious to the chief that the man had been killed elsewhere and his body dumped here.
“I’ll call medical and have them pick up the body,” explained Davers. “I’ll need to conduct a full forensic examination of the pub. I’m afraid I’ll need to keep the place shut down for at least a day.”
“Fine by me,” said Franklin. “I just can’t believe someone was murdered.”
“Sure looks that way.” Several crewmembers had difficulty adjusting to life in space, but none of the psychologists ever indicated any of them were prone to act out in violence.
Davers looked at the body once more. Hopefully, the body’s physical marks would yield some genetic material that might lead them to the killer.
Up on the command deck, John was in his office going over his own batch of reports. Requisitions and meeting requests were flooding his inbox, but he was in no hurry to get through them. He took his time reviewing each memo. After saving the human race from the Screen, he was entitled to make people wait on him.
“Michaels to Roberts,” came Bret over the office speakers. “I have Chief-Of-Staff Charles on the line for you.”
“Put him through,” requested John. He activated the desk’ holographic display and the image of Charles appeared over the table. “Charles, thanks for getting back to me.”
“What can I do for you, captain?” asked Butu’s right hand man.
“It’s about the report I sent you detailing my personal impressions of the alliance leaders,” said John. He had detailed his interactions in the report for the president’s office so they could use it to begin the process of establishing diplomatic relations with their alien allies. “But I noticed in your office’s response you made no mention of the Ni.”
“As you know, our diplomatic office reached out to the Onixins, Quix, Senfo, and Ni. We received positive responses from three of them. However, the Ni replied they did not wish to engage in any diplomatic dialogue with us.”
That didn’t sound right. The Ni were suspicious of aliens, but John thought they had gotten past all that. After all, it was the Ni who were heavily involved in rebuilding PHOENIX. Why snub humans now?
“Did they give any reasons why they don’t want to establish relations?” asked John.
Charles shook his head. “They simply said they have no interest in relations with any alien race. I know you have a Ni working on your ship. Has he mentioned why his people don’t want to talk to us?”
“No, but I’ll ask him.” Jacks hadn’t indicated that its race had a change in heart in dealing with humans. Then again, Jacks wasn’t connected with the whole. It would have no idea what they were thinking.
“If you learn anything, please let me know,” said Charles.
“I will. Roberts out.” That was interesting. Were the Ni having second thoughts about involving themselves in interstellar affairs? Maybe now that the Screen were defeated the Ni wanted to go back to being xenophobic.
It was one more thing John would have to deal with, but first he needed take care of other business. He pulled up Kevin’s resignation letter on the desk’s display. Julie had already given him the heads up about it, but it didn’t make it easier seeing the letter. After all they went though these past three years, John expected everyone would remain on board. None of them ever talked about voluntarily leaving PHOENIX after completing their primary mission.
“Vish, where’s Kevin at?”
“Lieutenant Jacobson is at The Stardust Cafe.”
“Thanks.” John left his office to speak with Julie, who was discussing ship operations with Tim. Jacks wasn’t on the command deck, so John couldn’t pull the alien aside and find out why the Ni had withdrawn from contact with the tri-planetary government.
“I’ll be in Central talking to Kevin,” John informed Julie.
Julie knew it would be to discuss Kevin’s resignation. “Good luck.”
“Captain Roberts,” called Bret from his station. “We’re getting a message from the Onixin cruiser EDUFEA.” That was the cruiser the Onixins dispatched to pick up the former PHOENIX crew members who were put off the ship after Thomas Sandoval’s conspiracy was discovered.
“Can you handle it?” John asked Julie.
“Sure. Go take care of Kevin.”
After a long trek to get to Central, John found his navigation officer sitting at one of the porch tables at the café.
“Mind some company?” John asked.
Kevin was glad to see the captain, but his face did not reflect it. He had a lot on his mind, a lot of decisions to make. He motioned for John to sit down. “I’m sure you’re here to ask why I’m resigning my position.”
“Not just your position on PHOENIX, but you’re commission in TERRA,” said John. “A lot of things have changed, but you still have a place on this ship.”
“It’s not that,” said Kevin. “Have you told TERRA about the mutes who’ve been serving on board?”
“That’s medical information that can only be released by the chief medical officer,” replied John. “I don’t see any reason that TERRA should know.”
“Why?” asked Kevin. “Is it because you know TERRA would expel us from the fleet if they learned about us?” It was a longstanding policy that no one with genetic deformities, no matter how mild, could serve in TERRA.
“You and the others proved your conditions had no bearing on your abilities,” said John.
“You didn’t answer my question,” countered Kevin, who was getting upset.
John couldn’t dance around the issue. “Yes, I’m afraid that’s exactly what they would do. I don’t even think my high standing with the public would be enough to prevent TERRA from booting all of you from the fleet. So why risk it? There’s no need for
them to ever know about you.”
Kevin shook his head. “I can’t live like that. I’d rather resign my commission on my own terms than have it taken away. And someone has to speak up for all those people who want a life away from Earth. And it’s even more important to speak out knowing the human race is on the path to extinction.”
“Kevin, the Population Bureau will be receiving the data on the study done during the EXODUS Project,” reassured John.
“You really think the bureau doesn’t already know what’s going on?” asked Kevin. “They’re in charge of monitoring human population growth. They have to already know.”
“So what do you propose?” asked John. “Tell the public? You know what sort of upheaval that’ll cause?”
“You rather keep quiet?”
“I’m not about to take any action that’ll have a detrimental effect on our people,” said John. “This isn’t a black and white issue.”
“And I can’t sit by and do nothing,” replied Kevin. “I understand your position, but you have to understand mine.”
They were at a stalemate and John needed to come up with a compromise. “What about this? What if we present this to the president together? Let her decide what’s the best course of action.”
“You think you can get an audience with her?”
John smiled. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I can.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
John followed through on his word, something Kevin always respected about him. The captain got a meeting scheduled with President Butu and transmitted the population report for her to review prior to John and Kevin’s arrival. Once the shuttle landed on the lawn, the pair was escorted directly to the president’s office. They found the president in the company of two other individuals.
“Captain Roberts, it’s a privilege to see you again so soon,” said Butu as they shook hands.
“Thanks for meeting with us,” said John. “I don’t mean to take advantage of your hospitality. This is my navigation officer, Kevin Jacobson.”
“Madame President,” said Kevin as he shook her hand.
“May I present my Population Cabinet Minister, Wu Seung, and his attaché Margaret Wilson.”
John nodded to them. “Minister. Ms. Wilson.”
“Have you had a chance to review the study we sent you?” Kevin asked them.
I must say the data was very complex,” said Minister Seung. “But we did find the information very interesting.”
“Then you believe us,” said an elated Kevin.
“I’m not ready to accept the data wholeheartedly,” Seung clarified. “We need to do a follow up analysis on the report and conduct our own independent study.”
“Minister Seung has explained to me the importance of taking certain steps if we’re to tackle this properly,” Butu informed Kevin and John.
“We don’t have time to be careful,” said Kevin. “The human race has only a few hundred years left. If we don’t take action now we risk extinction.” Kevin gave John a pleading look.
“The scientists on PHOENIX confirmed the study’s conclusions were sound,” John said to Seung.
“And we’ll be consulting with them on this,” explained Seung. “But it’ll take time to disseminate the data.”
“You’re not going to do anything,” accused Kevin. “The people deserve to know about this. Let them decide what you should do.”
“Alerting the people now will create needless panic,” advised Butu. “Once we have a better handle on this we can present the information to the public along with a plan of action.”
“And how long is that going to take?” asked Kevin. “Years? They need to know now.” Kevin looked to John for support.
“Kevin, I agreed to present this to the president. But we have to defer to her decision.”
“I can’t believe you‘re agreeing with them,” said Kevin in shock.
“No, but I can accept they have the public’s best interest in mind,” said John. “There’s a reason why this information was kept quiet. It’s volatile. If the government’s to come up with a viable plan to solve this problem, they first need to have a good grasp on the data.”
Kevin folded his arms. He had nothing more to say. It was obvious no one was going to listen to him.
John patted him on the shoulder. “I know it’s not what you wanted to hear.” He looked at Butu. “Thank you for letting us present this to you. I only have one request.”
“What’s that?” asked Butu.
“Our alien allies may have the scientific knowledge to solve this problem. I ask that you consult with them about this.”
“Do they know about this yet?” asked Butu.
“No,” replied John.
“Then I’ll take it under advisement.” Butu had no intention of letting any of the alliance races know about this. It would put humanity at a disadvantage in the event relations soured with one or more of them. This would have to be a problem the human race would have to solve alone.
John and Kevin left the president’s office.
“You really think they’ll act?” Kevin asked John.
“I think so,” replied John. “Humanity has gone through too much these past hundred years. Now’s not the time to give up.”
“I’ve got some things to take care on Earth,” Kevin said to John as they reached the shuttle. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
John looked at his former officer for a moment. “I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, but you’re not going to do something foolish, are you?”
“I just got some personal business to attend to.” Kevin put his hand out. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.”
John realized Kevin was saying good-bye. The captain was tempted to call him on it, but chose not to. Kevin had to follow his own path and do what was right for himself. It was the same choice John made when he agreed to command the PHOENIX.
John took Kevin’s hand and shook it. “Take care of yourself.”
Kevin nodded and watched the captain board the shuttle. He watched it ascend and disappear in the clouds. Looking around one last time, Kevin realized there was a lot he needed to do.
He caught a taxi shuttle and headed to his first destination: Toronto, Canada. It had been years since he’d been here. The shuttle landed not too far from the downtown area. After paying the driver and stepping out of the shuttle, he looked up at the brownstone house that he grew up in. Nothing had changed except for the plants in the flowerbeds.
Kevin always hated returning home, but this time was different. He was looking forward to this visit. He walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell, expecting a house bot to answer. He was momentarily taken aback when his dad answered the door.
“Kevin?” It took a second for his father to realize his son, the hero, was standing in front of him. He grabbed Kevin and gave him a powerful hug. “I can’t believe it’s you. Martha, get out here. Kevin’s home!”
Kevin’s mother came out of the kitchen and hardly seemed to react to her son standing in front of her. “Kevin, you look well.”
“Well? Hell, he looks great! My boy helped defeat the Screen. I can only imagine the promotions coming your way.”
It was too much for Kevin. The anger in him boiled over. “Enough! Just stop it!” He pushed his dad’s arm off of him. “I didn’t come here so you could gloat over me. I know what you did.”
“What do you mean what we did?” asked a confused father.
“About the sneak you implanted in me. I’m a mute.”
Kevin’s father demeanor quickly changed.
“That’s right, dad. I know all about my heritage. I’m guessing I have you to thank for this, seeing how you never got into TERRA.” His father’s silence was confirmation of Kevin’s suspicion. “Do you have any idea what I went through when I found out? It devastated me. If it wasn’t for the captain, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Your ship commander didn’t remove you from service?” a
sked Kevin’s father.
“No, he looked past my condition. He’s a good man,” said Kevin.
“Then he obviously didn’t think it was an issue,” replied his father.
“Of course not, that’s the type of person he is,” said Kevin. “But the rest of TERRA doesn’t feel that way. If they found out about me, they’d remove me from my post. That’s why I resigned my commission.”
“What!? You can’t do that.” Kevin’s father grabbed him by the arm.
“Get your hands off of me!” shouted Kevin. “You don’t get to tell me what to do ever again. TERRA was your dream, not mine. I’m going to do what makes me happy. You don’t control me anymore and neither of you ever have to bother with me again.”
Kevin didn’t wait for a response from either of them. He left the house, leaving behind a devastated father. His mother returned to the kitchen, seemingly unaffected by her son’s outburst.
Back on the PHOENIX, John was summoned to the board room where he found his senior staff waiting. Julie alerted him en route about some disturbing news they received from the EDUFEA.
“What’s going on?” John asked as he entered the board room and sat down.
“The EDUFEA vori informed us that they found none of our people on the planet we left them on,” explained Julie. She punched up visual images of the planet’s surface over the table, which showed a pretty extensive encampment. “It’s evident they settled on the planet, but the Onixins found no one.”
John studied the images. It appeared no effort was made to pack any essential or personal belongings. “Any evidence of an attack?”
“None,” replied Myers. “The Onixin boarding party didn’t find so much as a drop of blood anywhere.”
“The encampment doesn’t look like it was raided,” pointed out Bret.
“And the shuttles we left behind?” asked John.
“None of the shuttles were found,” explained Jacks. “The Onixins did find some ionic trails that are consistent with human shuttle emissions leaving the planet. However, they were unable to locate any craft in the system and the trails dissipated only a few thousand kilometers from the planet.”
Fury Of The Phoenix (Exodus) Page 15
