Phoenix Among The Stars (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  “And now that we’ve taken him away from your home, you’re worried about a permanent disruption in your spirituality,” said John.

  “You understand the heart of my concern,” said Thresha. “I communicated my thoughts to the Yearden. His reply was the coilquin is not rooted in one place, but can be found where our hearts reside. I believe if we build one on PHOENIX, it would settle the ripples in our spiritual energy.”

  “A coilquin…, temple, on the ship?” John wasn’t a fan of spirituality or religious practices, and the idea seemed odd to him. But he understood where she was coming from. There was nothing for Thresha and her people on PHOENIX to remind them of their homeworld.

  “Does the coilquin have to be built somewhere specific?” said John. “Because I was thinking we could put it here in Central.”

  “That is a gracious offer on your part,” said Thresha.

  “We have plenty of open space we can look at,” said John. Because the crew compliment was so small in comparison to the size of the PHOENIX, only a small part of Central was currently in use. Many of the buildings were empty.

  The pair passed the Stardust Café, and its neighbor, Smitty’s Pub. Inside the pub, miner Jeremy Hakins was sitting with his co-worker Larry, enjoying a pint of beer. Out of the corner of his eye Jeremy caught the captain walking past with the Aldarian female leader.

  “Well, will you look at that,” said Jeremy, nudging Larry. “Looks like our good captain is enjoying some quality time with one of those aliens.”

  “Wonder what they’re talking about?” said Larry. “They look pretty cozy together.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s talking about the bomb with her,” said Jeremy. “You know I heard he’s actually thinking about getting rid of it.”

  “Why would he do that?” said Larry. “We might need a weapon like that against the Screen.”

  “Maybe the captain doesn’t want to find the Screen,” said Jeremy.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look at him. He enjoys hanging out with the aliens. I think he would rather spend his life wandering through space than find the Screen.”

  “You really think so?”

  “Think about it. He’s made that alien Drix head of the computer tech department and has those Aldarians working throughout the ship. But he treats the rest of us like second class workers. I heard he’s still riding Professor Donavin’s ass in engineering. No matter what Donavin does, it doesn’t please the captain.”

  “I heard they haven’t gotten along,” said Larry.

  “Seems to me the captain prefers the company of aliens over his own kind. As long as we’re out here, he’s leader of this entire ship and can do as he pleases. But once we find the Screen, we either get obliterated or defeat them and go back home, where TERRA will remove him from command of this ship.”

  “I’ve never thought about it like that,” said Larry, watching the captain and Thresha disappear around the bend. “It does make sense. We’ve only encountered the Screen once since leaving the solar system. You would think we would have found a lot more of them by now.”

  “Maybe we have,” said Jeremy. “Maybe the captain is avoiding them. You see how the military keep to themselves when it comes to business?”

  Larry had tried to ignore his friend’s concerns about the captain, wanting to give the young captain the benefit of the doubt. But Jeremy was pointing out some obvious facts, which indicated the captain did not want to complete their primary mission. Larry believed in the EXODUS Project, but he always assumed that once they found the Screen and uncovered their motives PHOENIX would return home. Could it be that the captain had other plans for them?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  PHOENIX continued to hover over the desolate planetoid. The crew kept themselves busy: performing ship maintenance, conducting scientific surveys, or helping with the mining operation that was extracting ore from the planetoid. But everyone’s mind was on the nuclear bomb, and what the captain would do with it.

  John continued to make himself scarce from the crew, staying in his quarters. As expected, debate about the weapon was split into two camps: those who wanted to keep it and those who wanted it off the ship. The crew argued about it during work, their meals, even at social engagements. Some even tried to draw the aliens into the debate, but neither Drix nor the Aldarians would offer their opinions on it. They recognized that the humans’ history was weighing heavily on their emotions, making this a passionate debate. It wasn’t the place for outsiders to get involved.

  Several of the senior staff had made discreet inquires with the crew as to how the weapon was installed, but no one volunteered any information. Either no one was aware it was on board, or they were too scared to admit anything.

  Up on the command deck, Julie and Alex’sis were monitoring ship activity from the operations table. Both had been bombarded with questions about what the captain was going to do and they remained on the command deck to avoid the constant barrage of questions.

  “Have you spoken to him today?” Alex’sis asked Julie as they worked.

  “About the weapon? No,” said Julie. “I talked to him briefly this morning, but it was on another matter.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes right now.”

  The comment struck Julie as odd. “Really? I thought you would have no problem making such a decision.”

  “If we were in the heat of battle, yes. But there are too many unknown variables. We haven’t learned anything more about the Screen since leaving Earth. This weapon may be our only hope against them, or we may not need it.”

  “We’ve already defeated the Screen in two encounters with the weapons we have,” reminded Julie.

  “I’m just saying it would be easier if we knew more about them.” Alex’sis took a deep breath. “You know what my position is on the weapon. I just want to let you know that whatever the captain decides, I’ll support him one hundred percent.”

  “Thanks,” said Julie. “I hope everyone else will feel the same way.”

  “It’s a good crew,” said Alex’sis. “It may take some time, but they’ll understand whatever choice he makes.”

  Alex’sis spotted John emerging from the lift and nudged Julie to look over. Several of the command deck staff looked at the captain, but no one said a word. John had a somber look on his face, the spark that seemed ever present in his eyes gone. To Julie, he looked older, run down, tired. John made his way across the catwalk and down to the pit.

  “Lieutenant Brandus. What’s the status of the weapon?”

  “All tests of the weapon’s primary and auxiliary systems have been completed with no problems found.”

  “And the status of outside ship operations?”

  Alex’sis checked her display on the operations table. “The mining teams just came in with another shipment of ore and are planning another run in 20 minutes. Fighter group Theta is conducting maneuvers around the system.”

  John nodded his head, appearing to debate his next decision. “Notify the miners to cease all procurement operations and come back in. Recall Theta group as well. Have security and the engineers on deck seventy-six evacuate the deck immediately. Notify me when everything is done.”

  “Yes, captain.”

  “Commander Olson,” said John as he motioned her to follow. They headed to his office, where the captain sat at his desk and Julie stood on the other side. She wanted to say something, to ask him if he was alright. But he clearly wasn’t and she felt it would be stupid to ask.

  “Computer,” said John. “Transfer all controls for the nuclear bomb to my office, voice authorization.”

  “Voice authorization recognized,” said the computer. “Transfer complete. Weapon control now under the command of Captain John Roberts.”

  “Have a seat, commander,” said John.

  Julie sat down and the two waited in silence for ten long minutes. Not once did John look at his executive officer. Julie could tell that, what
ever decision he had made, he was still wrestling with it.

  “Brandus to captain,” said Alex’sis over their pips. ”Everyone is back on board and deck seventy-six is vacant of all personnel.”

  “Move the ship 100,000 kilometers away from the planetoid. I’m activating monitoring controls to you so you can see what I’m doing.”

  “Yes, sir. Brandus out.”

  Julie watched as John pressed some buttons on his desk panel.

  “Launch doors opened,” announced the computer. Thirty seconds later, another announcement. “Firing sequence ready, docking clamps disengaged.” John entered his access code and five seconds later the bomb emerged from PHOENIX’s belly and headed away to its final destination.

  A few minutes later. “Brandus to captain.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “The bomb has impacted the planetoid. Should I have a science team monitor the event?”

  “Negative, set a course out of the system. You have discretion to select our heading.”

  “Yes, sir. Brandus out.”

  John didn’t say anything for a few moments. He tried to find the appropriate words to explain his decision. When he finally spoke, his tone was subdued. “The choice I made wasn’t an easy one…”

  “You don’t have to explain yourself,” said Julie. “We both agreed this was a decision a ship commander had to make alone.”

  “I still owe you an explanation. Not as your captain, but as a friend.”

  John took a deep breath. “I went around and around trying to justify keeping it. There were a lot of good reasons to hold onto it, the main one being we still haven’t learned anything new about the Screen. But I was trying to avoid the reasons not to keep it.

  “Julie, this is going to sound petty and you’re going to think I’m selfish, but I couldn’t go down in history as the first person to use a nuclear weapon since the holocaust. I can accept being called a lot of things, but I can’t accept being remembered as that sort of monster. Our people suffered so much, and I couldn’t do that to another race, even if they are our enemy.”

  John leaned back in his chair. “So there you have it. It wasn’t a tactical decision. I just couldn’t accept what I might be remembered for.” He waited for Julie to explode at him, for pointing out that after all these months, he still only cared for himself.

  Julie leaned forward on the desk. “I can’t imagine the heartache you must have gone through making that choice, and I don’t think your reason is self-serving. That’s why you’re the captain, because you’re able to make the hard choices when needed.”

  “I thought for sure you would be mad.”

  “Only if you treated this issue as an inconvenience, but you didn’t. You tried to look at all perspectives, and despite you saying your choice was personal, I think you considered the crew’s best interest. A few months ago you would have never confided in me like you did now. Just remember, this is only a bump in the road. We’ll get past it.”

  John realized how lucky he was to have Julie as a first officer. “Thanks, Julie.” The young woman got up to leave. “Julie, what would you have done?”

  “Like I said before, my opinion doesn’t matter.”

  “What’s done is done. I can’t undo my actions, but I need to know what you would have decided.”

  “John…”

  “Please, it’s important to me.”

  She hesitated to answer. They had worked so hard in closing the rift between them since leaving Earth. She didn’t want to jeopardize their friendship. But she realized John wasn’t the same person who left Earth. He had been honest with her and she had to do the same.

  “I would have kept it. Like you said, we haven’t learned anything new about the Screen. From a tactical standpoint, it only makes sense to have held onto it.” John looked deflated. “I’m sorry, John.”

  He didn’t say anything, just barely nodding his head. Julie left him alone, there was nothing more she could say to ease his pain. PHOENIX had over five thousand souls aboard and John never felt more alone in his life.

  It didn’t take much time for his decision to get around the ship. Down in Central, a female fighter pilot burst into The Lounge.

  “The captain launched the bomb on the planetoid,” she announced to those sitting at the bar. Chris, who was working behind the bar alongside Max, slowly shook his head. He could only imagine how the captain was feeling.

  “Captain’s going to get us all killed,” said one of the bar patrons who was not pleased by the announcement. As he took a drink, Chris grabbed the man’s glass and threw it against the wall, shattering it.

  “No one talks bad about the captain in my bar,” said Chris angrily.

  “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

  “You are. Get the hell out of my bar.”

  “What?”

  “I said get out!” yelled Chris. The man tried to put his finger on the bar’s payment kiosk, but Chris smacked his hand away. “I don’t want you money, get out!”

  The man retreated quickly out of The Lounge. Everyone looked at Chris, none of them had ever seen him angry.

  “That goes for the rest of you,” said Chris. “If you want to bad mouth the captain, do it somewhere else.”

  “Boss, calm down,” said Max, putting his arm on Chris’ shoulder.

  “Don’t you have drinks to fill?” said Chris as he pulled away from the bartender. He grabbed a wine glass and a bottle of merlot and sat down at a table.

  Martin Everold got up from his bar stool and went over to Chris. “Now I know what to do next time I want free drinks.”

  “Sweetie, you do not want to tumble with me. I’m wearing high heels and I’m not afraid to use them.”

  Martin put his hands up. “It was a joke. Hey, I’m on the captain’s side.”

  “Hmph! Well, for that you get to sit your ass down and have a drink with me.” Chris snapped his finger at Max. “We need another glass here.”

  “I’ve never had red wine before,” said Martin as Max brought over a wine glass and set it on the table.

  Chris smiled. “It’s an acquired taste, sweetie. But, given the sordid details on how you wound up on PHOENIX, I think you’ll do just fine.”

  “I wasn’t aware you knew who I was.”

  “Lieutenant Martin Everold, assigned as leader of Virgo Fighter Squadron, former fighter pilot for the TCS AURORA.” Chris saw the surprised look on Martin’s face. “I take my job as morale officer very seriously.”

  Martin smiled and opened the wine bottle. He filled their glasses and held his up. “What should we toast?”

  Chris lifted his glass up. “To the captain, for the difficult choices he’s made, and the long road ahead.”

  “The captain,” said Martin as their glasses clinked together.

  An hour after PHOENIX jumped away from the star system a large Screen vessel arrived at the system, drawn by the intense energy burst that it picked up on its scanners. Several probe-like devices were launched to pick up samples of the area where the nuclear bomb had detonated.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Jeremy was in his bedroom stripping off his dirty work clothes. It had not been a good day for him. The mining operation had kept him occupied until they got word to cease working. Jeremy knew that the captain had made his decision and was certain he decided to get rid of the weapon. But his accurate guess didn’t reduce his anger when he learned the bomb had been detonated. The tactical advantage it provided was lost forever.

  He tried to focus on his work, but he was too angry at the captain. He hadn’t known Admiral Johnson that well, but he accepted his decision in appointing a cadet to command this ship. But it seemed the admiral had misread John. Jeremy was convinced that the captain had his own personal agenda. He had no intention of finding the Screen, he would just keep PHOENIX out in space indefinitely.

  Jeremy splashed some cold water on his face when he heard the wall monitor beeping in the living room.

  “I�
�ve got a goddamn pip,” he muttered as he went over to the monitor. He hit the button, but nothing visual came up on the display. He thought for a moment it was experiencing a glitch.

  “Hello, Jeremy,” came the sound of an electronically distorted voice.

  “What? Who is this?”

  “Someone who has a common interest to discuss with you.”

  “How come I can’t see you?”

  “Who I am must remain anonymous, for now. But I, along with others on this ship, share your concern about the captain’s actions these past few months. It appears that seeking out the Screen is no longer his priority.”

  “Look,” said Jeremy. “For all I know this is some sort of trick. Unless I know who I’m talking to, I’m not saying anything.”

  “That is your choice,” said the mysterious voice. “But you are a man of action. You will not be able to sit by and watch the captain steer this ship aimlessly through the stars. This may be your only opportunity to align yourself with those who want a change of leadership. I will be at maintenance corridor A1, junction twelve at midnight. I have extended the invitation to several others. Come, or don’t. It’s up to you.”

  The transmission ended, leaving Jeremy to wonder. He knew there were others who were beginning to doubt the captain, but he didn’t think anyone was serious enough to want to do something about it. It seemed there was more discontent brewing with the crew than he thought.

  Jeremy was hesitant about taking this unknown individual’s word as genuine, but the person was right. Jeremy couldn’t sit by if he could change the leadership on PHOENIX. He returned to his bedroom to clean up for the midnight rendezvous.

  The maintenance corridor location was an ideal spot for a clandestine meeting. He didn’t have to worry about going through Central to reach it, not that the area was brimming with activity. Chris Anne had cancelled his evening performance, and no one seemed to be in the mood for any fun tonight.

  Despite the lack of people walking around, Jeremy was careful to ensure he wasn’t followed. Even when he arrived at the door of the maintenance corridor, he waited a few minutes to ensure no one was watching him. When he was comfortable that he was alone, he entered the corridor.