Phoenix Among The Stars (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  “Nothing,” said John. “According to the schematics this area shouldn’t exist.”

  “Captain,” called Alex’sis from the control room. “Drix found something.”

  John and Julie headed back up to the control room as Drix was crawling out from underneath the console panel.

  “John Captain,” said the alien. “I have located a computer core in the panel.”

  “Is it networked to the ship?” asked Julie.

  “No, there is no transmission node attached to the core. It is isolated from the rest of the ship.”

  “How come the display panel is still off?” asked Alex’sis.

  “The core is encrypted,” said Drix. “I had to use one of my own scanning tools to determine how to unlock it. It will only unlock upon the ship commander entering his access code.”

  “My team’s completed their initial survey of the deck,” said Sandoval, joining the group in the control room. “There’s only one entry in and out of this deck, and scans indicate the bulkheads between here and the farm deck is heavily fortified. We had a hard time trying to penetrate our scanners through the structure. There are numerous dampening fields throughout the deck designed to hamper sensors from above.”

  “Someone’s gone through a lot of effort to hide this place,” said Julie.

  “One more thing,” said Sandoval. “We found a large hatch structure on the floor of the deck. The entire floor is a door that can open up to space.”

  “It is a weapon,” said John. “That’s the only logical explanation.”

  “If it is, why hide it?” said Sandoval. “We need all the help we can get against the Screen.”

  “Let’s find out.” John entered his access code into the computer terminal. Suddenly, the display lit up and immediately began showing details of the object in front of them.

  “These look like a list of schematics to review,” said Julie. “Door mechanisms, firing protocols…”

  “Let’s see what that cylinder is,” said John. He accessed the weapon’s menu to learn what sort of artillery was sitting in the belly of the ship. What came up was something he never expected. “No…”

  “It can’t be,” said Julie, looking over his shoulder.

  “What is it?” asked Sandoval.

  “Readings show highly refined plutonium in the structure, weapons grade,” said John. “It’s a nuclear bomb.”

  “Nuclear?” asked Drix, not recognizing the word.

  “It’s a highly destructive energy source,” explained Alex’sis. “As a weapon, it can destroy anything.”

  John looked at the bomb through the control room window, a pit developing in his stomach. The thought of such a weapon on PHOENIX scared him.

  “Why didn’t Admiral Johnson tell us about this?” said Julie. She turned and looked at Alex’sis.

  “Commander, I’m just as confused as you are,” said Alex’sis, being defensive. “I had no idea this was here.”

  Julie looked at Sandoval, who shook his head. “Sorry, this is all new to me.”

  “Commander Olson,” said John. She could tell he was upset. “I want a full security detail down here to secure this deck. Get an engineering team to scrutinize ever inch of this place. In one hour, the command staff will convene in the board room to discuss this.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Julie.

  “Drix,” said John. “I need to call on your expertise and get this system networked to the main computer as fast as you can.”

  “Of course, John Captain.”

  John looked at Julie. “One hour, and someone better have some answers.”

  A little over an hour later the command staff gathered in the board room. John didn’t immediately say anything, merely tapping his finger on the table as everyone watched him. No one was sure how he would react. Even John didn’t know how to react. As captain, he had to temper his anger, but it was hard. His instincts told him to rant and rave about the hidden nuclear weapon, but he could hear Julie’s voice in his mind telling him he had to act as a ship commander would, not as Cadet John Roberts.

  John’s voice was calm and as he spoke. “I want to know why neither Commander Olson nor I were apprised that PHOENIX was equipped with a nuclear bomb.” The staff just looked at each other, but no one spoke up. “Come on, someone has to know something about this.”

  “Captain,” said Alex’sis. “I speak for everyone here; none of us knew this weapon was on PHOENIX.”

  John looked at everyone, who nodded in agreement with Alex’sis’ statement. “You’re telling me that an entire deck was built, and a nuclear bomb put in it, without the knowledge of any of you?”

  “Someone on this ship has to know about it,” said Julie.

  “Admiral Johnson would have known as head of the EXODUS Project,” said Kevin. “But he never confided in us about this, and we never saw anything on the construction schedule.”

  “There’s no way this was built without anyone knowing about it,” said John, growing frustrated with the lack of answers.

  “Captain,” said Bret. “The project’s activities were numerous. It was difficult to keep track of who was doing what at any given time. I know it sounds like a poor excuse, but it may have been possible for the weapon to be installed without anyone knowing about it.”

  “Your right, it does sound like an excuse,” said John. “An excuse I don’t buy.”

  “Captain,” said Alex’sis. “I was responsible for monitoring all projects. I reviewed everything to ensure we were on track and that no conflicts occurred in the ship’s construction. As shameful as it is to admit, I never saw anything regarding the installation of a nuclear weapon. If I didn’t know, I can assure you no one else had knowledge of it.”

  There was sincerity in Alex’sis voice that made John believe her. As improbable as it seemed, somehow a nuclear weapon had been secretly installed on PHOENIX without the knowledge of the command staff. John had no doubt Admiral Johnson was involved, and the thought disturbed him that the admiral had elected not to share this information with him or Julie. Did he conceal this from them out of fear they would have declined joining the crew?

  “Thank you, lieutenant,” said John. “But that still leaves us with a mystery. The admiral had to enlist personnel to build the weapon, and they should be on the ship. The admiral said no one ever left the EXODUS Project.”

  “Maybe the individuals who were involved with the weapon were reassigned to the ground station,” said Myers.

  Julie looked at Alex’sis. “Is it possible that some people did leave the EXODUS Project?”

  “Admiral Johnson was meticulous to ensure that those he brought into the project would not leave for any reason,” said Alex’sis. “But, after what’s just been discovered, I can’t stand behind that statement with confidence.”

  “How was Admiral Johnson able to arrange weapons grade plutonium to be made?” said Kevin. “It’s illegal and punishable by death. Even TERRA doesn’t have the means or authorization to pull it off.”

  “I don’t know why we’re fussing over this,” said Sandoval. “A weapon of this magnitude will give us a huge advantage over the Screen.”

  “You can’t be serious about keeping it,” said Doctor Myers.

  “You have a problem with it?” said Sandoval.

  “It’s a weapon of genocide,” said Myers. “It’s only purpose is to kill millions. We have to destroy it.”

  “Hey, we’re at war, doc,” countered Sandoval.

  “There’s never been a declaration of war,” said Chris Anne.

  “The Screen keeping us trapped in the solar system for decades is declaration enough,” said Sandoval.

  “We don’t know the capabilities of the Screen,” said Alex’sis. “We may need this weapon to defeat them.”

  “We’re still recovering from the effects of the Nuclear Holocaust,” said Kevin. “You want to inflict that same horror on another species?”

  “It may come down to us or them,” said Alex’
sis.

  “War isn’t pretty,” said Sandoval. “As military officers, you should know that.”

  “That doesn’t justify us turning into feral dogs,” said Chris.

  “No one asked you, princess,” said Sandoval.

  Soon the meeting dissolved into arguments and escalated into shouting matches. John reached his breaking point and slammed his fist on the table.

  “Enough!” he yelled. The room went silent as everyone’s attention was back on him. “It’s apparent that we’re divided on this issue, but for now, no decision will be made about the weapon. Our first priority is to ensure all safety protocols are in place and that there’s no danger to the ship.” John looked at Julie. “Where’s Drix at in connecting the main computer and the status of the engineering crew?”

  “Last check he said he would be done by the time we finished out meeting. Engineering estimates it’ll take another three or four hours to completely examine the area.”

  “Fine,” said John. “Kevin, locate the nearest star system and alter our course. We’ll hold up traveling until I’ve decided what to do. And let me be clear, I’ll be the one to decide whether to keep this weapon.”

  “You seriously can’t be thinking of getting rid of it,” said Sandoval.

  “As you were, chief,” said John. “Security is to remain down there until further notice, got it?”

  “Yes, captain,” said Sandoval, choosing not to argue any further.

  “Once engineering is done with their analysis no one else is to enter deck seventy-six,” said John.

  “Yes, sir,” muttered some of the staff, others nodding their heads.

  “Dismissed.” The staff, except for Julie, slowly got up from their seats and left the board room. John waited until he and Julie were alone before speaking again.

  “I noticed you remained silent while everyone argued.”

  “Throwing my two cents in wouldn’t have accomplished anything. I’m afraid what you witnessed here will mirror the opinions of the crew. There are convincing arguments on both sides.”

  “I know there are times when a ship commander has to make a decision alone and suffer the consequences for his or her choice. I never thought such a situation would come up so soon.”

  “I…,” Julie wanted to find some words to comfort him, but she was lost. She was as much thrown off by this unexpected situation as he was. “I’m sorry, John. I wish there was something I could say to make this easier.”

  “What do you think I should do?”

  “My opinion isn’t going to help in your decision. All I can do is provide the pros and cons of either choice.”

  “Like a good executive officer should do,” said John. He meant to be sarcastic, but he came off sounding depressed. “Fair enough, Julie.”

  “I can’t believe Admiral Johnson kept this hidden from the entire senior staff,” said Julie.

  “He knew what a volatile issue this would be,” said John. “He probably wanted to ensure no one would leave the project over this bomb, and the best way to do it was to keep it under wraps. Nevertheless, make some inquires, see if any of the crew knew about this.”

  “You don’t want to keep this quiet?”

  “Too many people already know and, as we learned with the Aldarian telepathy fiasco, it’s hard to keep a secret on this ship.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Twelve hours had passed since PHOENIX entered a star system and orbited a lone planetoid circling the star. Engineering had completed their analysis of deck seventy-six and John was relieved to hear there was no radiation leakage from the weapon. It appeared the xeranium casing was doing its job and keeping the plutonium contained.

  John spent most of the past twelve hours in his quarters, reading the weapons schematics. He blocked access to the information from everyone, even Julie. Since it was John who had to decide whether to keep it, he didn’t want anyone learning of the weapon’s capabilities and using that knowledge to justify keeping or getting rid of it.

  The weapon was designed as John had suspected, to eradicate life from an entire planet. The sheer destructive nature of the bomb would make their primary mission easier to complete. All they had to do was find the Screen homeworld, drop the bomb, and humanity’s threat would be over. But if the Screen lived on multiple planets, destroying their homeworld would only incense them to go to war with humanity. Hell, for all he knew the Screen were immune to nuclear radiation. They had no information on their biology.

  John’s head was spinning from all the what-if scenarios and he couldn’t maintain his concentration any longer. He tossed his DAT on the coffee table and left his quarters, hoping that a walk around the ship might clear his mind.

  John wandered around several corridors for awhile, but eventually he made his way down to Central. As he stood on the lift, he tried to think about something else, but his mind was rooted firmly on the weapon. He remembered the conversation he had with Doctor Myers when he came on board, the argument they had about committing genocide against the Screen if it came down to it. At the time, John was so certain of his position that he would do anything to stop the Screen. Now that he had the means to carry out such an act, he wasn’t so sure. As a military officer, this should be a clear cut issue, but John was frustrated that he seemed to be having a moral crisis over it.

  People walking through Central said hello to the captain and, thankfully, none of them stopped to voice their opinion about the bomb. He felt he had already gone over all the possible arguments in his head and no one could add anything meaningful to the debate.

  “Captain Roberts.” John turned from his walk down the cobblestone street to see Thresha approaching.

  “Thresha, is there something I can help you with?”

  “It was I who wanted to ask you that question.” The two continued their walk down the street. “I heard about the discovery at the bottom of the ship and wanted to offer myself as a listener to your thoughts.”

  “You want to read my mind?”

  “My apologies, I did not phrase that correctly.”

  “It’s ok, I know what you meant. I guess it’s no surprise that the whole ship knows about it.” Thresha put her arm around John’s as they walked. He wanted to pull away so as not to display any notion of impropriety between them, but it felt comforting, and right now John could care less what others thought.

  “It seems many of your people are disturbed at the thought of such a weapon being on board,” said Thresha. “Their fear is strong.”

  “They’re scared, and justifiably so. Our world suffered from the use of nuclear weapons a century ago.”

  “I was not aware of that part of your history.”

  “It’s something we’re not proud of,” said John. “Our world used to be composed of multiple nations, each competing for the resources of Earth. For hundreds of years nations fought with one another. As our technology developed, we found new ways to cause destruction. The creation of nuclear weapons was probably the most horrific invention humans ever made.

  “The weapons were supposed to be a symbol of deterrence, but so many nations acquired them that it was only a matter of time before one of them used them. It started with one, then another, until suddenly our entire world watched as millions died in an instant and millions more suffered the fallout. Even today, the descendants of those who were exposed to nuclear radiation suffer from genetic defects.”

  “It’s a shame such an accomplished race had to endure such tragedy,” said Thresha with a hint of sadness.

  “I guess the one good thing that came out of it was it united our world,” said John. “Everyone agreed that such rampant destruction would never happen again on Earth and the government banned the production of all nuclear weapons.”

  “And now you have found one of those weapons hidden on this ship.”

  “A weapon that gives me the ability to inflict the same horrible destruction on another race, the Screen.”

  “A race you consider an
enemy.”

  “Is that’s supposed to be a reminder?” said John. “Because if you think I should keep the bomb, save your breath. There are enough people on board more than willing to tell me that.”

  “My apologies, captain,” said Thresha. “But I can sense the conflict within you. I did not mean to influence your decision.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” said John, realizing he had reacted so quickly. “I know you only want to help. You’re right, I am having trouble making a decision. I thought I knew what I would do, but I’m second guessing myself.”

  “Sometimes we don’t truly know ourselves until we’re tested,” said Thresha.

  “Yeah,” said John. “I’m beginning to figure that out. Maybe I need a distraction, work on another problem.”

  “I may be able to assist you,” said Thresha. “I was going to speak with Lieutenant Brandus, but I would be willing to explain the issue to you.”

  John was eager to focus his attention on something else. “Whatever it takes to forget about deck seventy-six. What’s the problem?”

  Thresha smiled, happy to be able to offer the captain a brief distraction. “As you know, our Yearden is our spiritual guide.”

  “He’s not uncomfortable, is he?” asked John. He was worried that space travel might be too much for the elder Aldarian, even though Doctor Myers repeatedly said he was healthy.

  “He has been comfortable in his quarters,” said Thresha. “The issue is that it is not where he belongs. Back on our homeworld, the Yearden resided in the coilquin.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The closest word of your language is temple.”

  “Ah, something of a spiritual center,” said John. “Where you go to meditate or pray.”

  “You are familiar with them.”

  “Not personally,” explained John. “Earth used to have thousands of different types: churches, mosques, temples, synagogues. But after the holocaust my people didn’t have much desire or need for religion. We still have some, but very few.”

  “Our Yearden has always resided in the coilquin,” said Thresha. “It is said that the Yearden must remain in the coilquin to ensure the spiritual harmony of my people.”