The Phoenix Conspiracy Page 27

  She gave Shen a menacing glare. "There's no way that message came from Intel Wing."

  He shrugged. "Could have fooled me," he glanced briefly at Calvin. "Cassidy, did the computer verify the message’s authenticity stamp?”

  “Yes—” she said, unconvinced.

  "There you see!" said Miles. "Now move over ex-bosslady." He moved closer to Summers and she shifted her attention from Calvin to him, taking up a defensive posture, as if thinking Miles would strike her. But Miles stopped a few feet away and they just glared at each other.

  "And we can't call Intel Wing to confirm this because, conveniently, outside communication is offline," said Cassidy.

  "That's technology for you,” said Calvin.

  "Right, now move over," said Miles again, inching closer. Summers looked like a cat trapped in an alleyway full of dogs.

  "What I find interesting," said Summers, refusing to back down, "is that we haven't heard anything from Special Forces yet," she dared a quick glance at Calvin.

  Calvin ignored her comment. “As CO of this ship, I order you to go to my office and remain there until I say otherwise."

  "Since you are not legitimately the CO of this ship and I am," said Summers, "I refuse."

  "Well you heard her," said Miles. "You all heard her."

  "For disobeying a direct order from your superior officer," said Calvin. "I arrest you for insubordination and you are now a prisoner on this ship until we make port and you are transferred to the proper authority." He stood up.

  "Insubordination?” she said the word like she’d never heard it before

  "Lock her in my office," he waved to Miles.

  "With pleasure." He closed in.

  She took up a defensive stance.

  He charged her but relied too much on size and brute strength and Summers used his momentum against him. She deflected his hands and darted aside as he passed, giving him a firm shove in the direction he was headed. Unable to stop, he crashed into the CO's chair. Calvin darted aside in the nick of time.

  Before anyone could stop her, Summers ran for the elevator.

  Miles scrambled to his feet and charged her way, almost overtaking her, but the door closed before he could snatch her. He slammed his hands flat against the elevator door to keep his head from crashing into it.

  "That slippery witch!" he said, looking more embarrassed than angry. He turned to face Calvin. "I'm sorry."

  Calvin said nothing for a few seconds. "This does present a problem."

  Shen moved to the center of the bridge, looking nervous. "We needed to keep her here so she wouldn't contact the Major. I was going to disable the office's comm and everything."

  "I said I was sorry."

  "That's not our only problem," said Calvin. "The beacon."

  "Oh right," said Shen.

  "Is there anything we can do about that?" Calvin asked. "Block it somehow?"

  "No. Not unless you have a room with tungsten walls a hundred feet thick. We'd do better to capture it. If we had it, we could keep it from being turned on."

  "What are you talking about?" asked Miles.

  "The emergency beacon. A silent signal that can only be picked up by Imperial Military starships," said Shen. "It's a Fleet standard, it came aboard when Summers did. And she’s the only one here who’s been trained how to use it. How do you not know this stuff?"

  Miles shrugged. "I dunno. I'm a government employee. I don't have to know everything."

  “Even when your business is all about acquiring information?”

  While they discussed it, Rose's eyes moved from them to the other Red Shift members, who seemed equally confused and quiet. They too weren't sure what to make of it all.

  "So what do we do?" asked Shen.

  "We have to seal off the bridge and engineering.”

  The whole thing felt suspicious to Rose who saw that feeling in the eyes of his fellow Red Shift officers. But none of them spoke. Calvin seemed to pick up on this.

  "I have command," Calvin insisted. "Legitimately. But I'm afraid there really is a fight going on between Intel Wing and Fleet Command. And Summers, an agent of the Fleet, will try and trick the Major into thinking the Fleet has control of the ship and not Intel Wing."

  "How could they be fighting?" asked Patrick. "They're on the same side!"

  "You have a lot to learn now that you're in Intel Wing," said Calvin. "But let's just say, it's no secret the Fleet and Intel Wing don't see eye to eye on this investigation. Now the Fleet is making a play for control of the ship, but it isn't going to work. Because we won’t let it. Set a new heading—Abia System. Let's do a deep jump, maybe ninety-five percent potential. Miles take your station. Sarah, give engineering the order to seal themselves off. Red Shift, you're relieved. Shen, put up those defense walls once Red Shift is gone."

  Chapter 23

  When Summers explained to him—in full—everything that'd happened on the bridge, the Major's first instinct was to try and contact Intel Wing.

  It was plausible, he thought, that Intel Wing—who had jurisdiction over the Nighthawk—might contradict and override an order from Fleet Command. But what bothered him was that all communications had gone offline again, somehow, and that Intel Wing, if they did return Calvin's command, didn't seem very concerned over his proven equarius habit.

  Command Failure: Network is busy. Try again. If the problem persists please contact the operations administrator.

  He did as the computer asked and tried again, with the same result. "The Network is busy? I don't understand." The Major felt he had extensive knowledge of a great many subjects but computers wasn't one of them.

  "Calvin somehow sabotaged our outside communications, now nothing can get in or out," said Summers. "That way we can't verify if he has command of the ship or not." She looked impatient.

  The Major frowned; the situation wasn't as clear to him as that. She might be right. But she might not be. "So why would he do this? That doesn't sound like Calvin."

  "But it does sound like someone who wants to get his command back."

  He considered this quietly. When he didn't say anything, Summers leaned forward and looked him in the eyes. "If someone knew he could have his command revoked again by just one word from the outside, what do you suppose he might do?"

  Good point. If Calvin were going to war to take back his ship, the obvious first strategy, like in any war, would be to disrupt communications. Being able to put words in Intel Wing’s mouth, knowing they couldn’t be reached to refute his claim, would be an incredible advantage. One anyone might take in his situation.

  The Major opened his internal comm-line, adjusting it for all decks.

  ***

  A broadcast filtered over the bridge speakers.

  "Attention all hands, this is Major Jenkins of Special Forces. You are to disregard the message from Intel Wing restoring command to Mister Cross. That message is likely a fabrication. Until Intel Wing can be reached, Commander Presley is the CO of this ship. Her orders are to be followed to the letter. And she has the full support of Special Forces. Jenkins out."

  Calvin wasn’t surprised by the ship-wide announcement, but it was still a crushing blow. Hopefully the crew in engineering wouldn’t be swayed by it. As long as they stayed loyal, and engineering was sealed off, they could at least get to Abia. Probably…

  Calvin tapped his direct line to the Major. "Major, this is Calvin."

  "Calvin. I advise you to surrender yourself and the bridge immediately."

  "Major, I have command of the ship. I've always had it. There is information in Abia," he said, "and people in the Fleet don't want me to see it. They'll sacrifice me and you and the whole ship to keep it hidden. But it's there. And as long as it's there I have a job to do. And so do you. Your job is to enable me."

  "I don't know what you're talking about, Mister Cross, but I have orders to follow. And I see no evidence of any kind of conspiracy. Only evidence of your substance abuse."

  "This isn�
�t about equarius! Give me time and I’ll prove it to you. I can get you all the evidence you need," said Calvin. "I guarantee I can make you believe me."

  "Maybe you can, maybe you can't. Frankly, I don't care. You lied to the ship, you lied to the crew, and I don't trust you. Surrender or we'll take you down. Jenkins out." The comm clicked off.

  "Well I see he's not a man to be reasoned with," said Calvin.

  "Lied to the ship?" Miles scratched his head. "That doesn't even make sense.”

  "I could have told you he wouldn’t listen,” said Shen.

  Calvin ignored them and set the comm for a ship-wide broadcast of his own. "Attention all hands. This is Calvin Cross. And I’m speaking to you not just as your commander, but as your friend. I’ve had the honor of being your CO for some time now, I even handpicked many of you because I knew we could trust each other. I am asking for that trust now.

  “We are flying to Abia to continue our investigation, but Fleet Command has tried to take over our ship—even though this is an Intel Wing ship. Obviously, we cannot let them.” He hated lying to his crew like that, pretending that Intel Wing really wasn't part of the maneuver to remove his command—though the Intel Wing he knew would never have been party to such a thing. It was sickening to think they’d been as corrupted as the Fleet. But his crew had to believe otherwise for now.

  "The Fleet thinks it can control us and keep us from uncovering the truth. But we have a job to do and dammit, we’re going to do it! Because we’re Intel Wing and we’ve sworn an oath to protect the Empire—even from itself. An oath that requires us to do whatever it takes to complete our mission. And right now that means standing together, as one, to defend this ship!"

  He clicked off the comm, thinking charismatic speeches were not his forte. But if his words didn’t rally the crew, they at least helped him rally his own nerves and desire to fight. Ultimately, he knew, their success depended less on the crew’s opinion of him than it did on the Nighthawk’s defense walls.

  ***

  A young soldier with the name “Erdene” stitched to his lapel marched into the Major's office. "Report from ODA, sir." He saluted then stood perfectly still, resolute, and attentive. Summers was glad to see the discipline.

  "Go ahead, private," said the Major, still sitting.

  "Unit One was unable to reach engineering because the defense walls are in place. Unit Two reports the same about the bridge. And elevator two is disabled."

  Dammit, Calvin. Must you make everything so difficult? Despite her annoyance, Summers kept silent since the Major had command with regard to security matters.

  "Thank you, private. Dismissed," The Major waved him off. The young man saluted and left. Once the door closed Summers returned to her seat.

  "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," said the Major.

  "But we can get past those defenses can't we?" Summers asked. "I mean, your men are trained to breach defenses like that in order to capture hostile ships, right?"

  “Yes there are breaching protocols, however our equipment and training is more suited to smaller ships with less advanced defenses. ODB will lead our response.”

  “ODB?”

  “Operational Detachment Bravo, they are more specialized than ODA for this kind of maneuver.“ He tapped his comm panel. "Jackson, tell ODA to lockdown all access points to both engineering and the bridge. Then tell ODB to prep for a code six response."

  ***

  Andre paced back and forth in main engineering, constantly glancing between the various computer displays and the main entrance. The great grey doors were sealed shut and behind them a defense wall had been raised. He was safe for now. He knew that. But it didn't in any way lessen his anxiety about this whole ordeal.

  Calvin, who before today he would have considered a great friend, had finally asked too much. And now Andre was sweating bullets, telling thinly veiled lies to his subordinates, and had tossed his career completely in the toilet. Sure Calvin said he would take the fall for them all, and he and his puppet Shen had made it seem like Intel Wing legitimized Calvin's mutiny, but... given how poorly the deception had worked on the Major, Andre wasn't about to believe the Fleet would be satisfied with just Calvin. They were all on the chopping block now. Easier for some than others. They were mostly single with almost nothing to lose—even the old doc had no family to speak of—but Andre had a wife and three children waiting for him on Capital World. What would their lives be if he were imprisoned? And all because his friends twisted his arm enough to get him to participate in what was clearly mutiny.

  His thoughts of a dark future haunted him as he fidgeted, moving about, checking screens that didn't need checking, trying in vain to distract himself.

  But the damage had been done. Even if he surrendered engineering now, which was tempting, and admitted the whole message from Intel Wing was a sham, he couldn't avoid consequences. He'd still be punished in addition to going to bed every night thinking about how he’d betrayed his friends. No, he couldn't do that—or so he kept telling himself.

  They'd been en route to Abia for about half an hour now, traveling much faster than what he'd normally recommend, and all that was left to do was wait.

  "Any word from the outside?" he asked Inaya, his second. The young woman was walking around with a clipboard giving minor orders to the five other engineers keeping tabs on the systems. She stopped what she was doing and came over to his side.

  "The bridge made a course correction that might save us an hour," she said. "But otherwise we've had no contact from the outside.”

  Andre turned his attention elsewhere and resumed his pacing. It bothered him that things had been this quiet. Not even a peep from Special Forces, or the rest of the ship—aside from the bridge—in half an hour. He couldn't decide which was worse: hearing nothing and waiting in silent hellish anticipation for something bad to happen, or else seeing that something happen and getting it over with.

  "What is that?" One of the engineers said and everyone's eyes jumped to the main door. It was sealed tight but the tiniest sparks could be seen glowing in a round pattern no larger than a hand.

  "I don't know," said Andre, afraid to go closer. "Everyone get down," he ordered, not sure where to take cover or how they could possibly defend engineering. They had no weapons and no hand to hand combat experience outside of basic training.

  A round piece of dark metal, part of the door, collapsed to the floor. Not large enough for a person to move through, not even close, but it broke him into a panic knowing there was a chink in their armor now. "It must have been a laser drill," said Andre.

  He wondered how long it would take them to carve a hole the size of a door, probably awhile. They were safe for now... he tried to tell himself. But seeing the hole in front of them forced them all to realize there was nothing they could do. If the defense wall and locked door couldn't stop Special Forces, it was all over. He wished he were on the bridge which was much harder to breach.

  "Now everybody just stay calm," he waved to get their attention but everyone’s eyes were glued to a silver canister that slid through the hole and dropped to the ground. Instantly an enormous shriek filled the air. Andre tried to cover his eyes but not in time. An incredible blinding whiteness filled his vision and he stumbled to his knees, completely disoriented.

  It wasn't until he felt firm hands grip him and pull him to his feet that he began to regain his bearings. He couldn't walk straight but sound started coming back. What should have been loud noises were like whispers. And his vision was blurry. Even the outline of his own feet looked strange.

  "Move along," a soldier said from his side. Andre watched the man's lips and knew he was shouting but he could barely make out the words. They were quiet to him, almost lost in the buzzing, ringing ambience.

  They pulled him along toward where the door used to be. It lay flat on the ground in several pieces. The angle and condition of the remains, and a few unfired caps, made Andre suspect plastique explosives. As they cu
ffed his sluggish arms into restraints, he realized the answer to his question.

  Watching something bad happen was much worse than the silent anticipation.

  ***

  "We've captured engineering," Erdene reported over the comm.

  "Good," said the Major. "Send in the replacement officers and shutdown the engines. When you've overseen that, leave some soldiers from ODB to stand watch. Once we have control of the bridge we'll correct the course to... what was it?" He looked to Summers.

  "Xerxes System."

  "Right, Xerxes System. Then we'll power up the engines again but not before."

  "Yes, sir," the soldier said.

  The Major closed the comm and let out a sigh. "Am I correct in assuming the ship's course cannot be changed from engineering directly?"

  "You are," said Summers from the other side of the desk. "As for these replacement engineers, how do you know they won't sympathize with Calvin?"

  "They won't because the soldiers with guns won't let them."

  "And the captives?" asked Summers.

  "They'll be processed here at HQ. Where we'll decide which to detain and which to return to duty."

  ***

  "Our engines have shut down," Sarah looked up from the helm station. "And I can't contact engineering. I think we lost it."

  "That's probably a safe assumption," said Calvin, tapping his armrest.

  "Our current position is six point one light-years from Abia, six point two from Xerxes, sitting in open space, all stop. Not even a rock on our scopes."

  "I wonder how they breached engineering…” said Calvin.

  "Does that mean we're next?" asked Sarah.

  "Over my dead body," said Miles.

  "I don't think they'll have any trouble with that," Sarah shot him a look.