The Phoenix Darkness (54 page)

So
that
was why the sentry ship had
exploded when it had…he’d been wondering. “Thank you for that,” he
said.

“Well, all in a day’s work, I suppose,” she
replied.

“No, I mean it,” said Calvin, looking into
her eyes. “
Thank you
. You saved my life. You saved all of
our lives. That was damned amazing of you, and I appreciate
it.”

Summers’s face turned beet red. “So,” she
said, looking like she wanted to change subjects and get down to
business. “The queen asked me to pass along her compliments for
retrieving that intelligence.”

“Oh, good! So you did send the queen all
those files we transmitted to you?”

“I did,” said Summers. “And I most recently
notified her to tell her of your safe return. She wished for me to
convey to you her gratitude and, how did she put it:
it is my
extreme pleasure to learn of the safe return of Mr. Cross and his
team. They are heroes of the Empire and I look forward to thanking
them in person
.”

“You memorized what she said?” asked
Calvin.

“Well, you know,” said Summers, looking at
him, then looking away. “I didn’t want to misquote our monarch or
anything.”

“No, I suppose that wouldn’t be good,” Calvin
chuckled. “Did the queen understand from the intelligence we sent
that there is a Rotham fleet on its way to Thetican System even as
we speak?”

“Yes, that much she made clear,” said
Summers. “She'd detected the movement of the Rotham fleet, but been
unable to pinpoint their target. Now, thanks to you, she can have
her fleets arrive before the enemy and organize a proper
defense.”

“I’m happy to help.”

“Actually, to that point,” said Summers.
“That is our current heading: Thetican System. The queen has asked
us to join her in the battle to come.”

“Well, as much as I love battles…” said
Calvin, thinking he’d seen quite enough combat engagements to last
him a while. “There is something far more important for us to do
than go to Thetican System.”

Summers looked intrigued.

“Tell the Bridge to set course for The
Charred Worlds. We’re headed into Polarian space. And make sure the
stealth system is up to par and activated.”

Summers didn’t budge. “You can’t just drop
news like that on me and expect me to walk away without hearing the
details.”

“I’ll tell you all about it, I swear,” said
Calvin. “But first go and order that course correction. We don’t
have any time to waste.”

“What about the queen’s orders?”

“I’ll apologize to the queen myself, right
now. But trust me, she’ll understand.”

“All right,
then
you’ll tell me?”
Summers eyed him warily.

“Cross my heart.”

***

“You will not be joining us in Thetican
System?” asked the queen.

She was simultaneously surprised to hear of
this news and stunned by Calvin’s audacity to
inform
her he
would not be there, rather than ask humbly for her permission. Had
it been anyone else, she likely would have rebuked him, but
considering the value Calvin had proven himself to be lately, and
all that he'd risked for the cause, she couldn't find it within
herself to be harsh with him.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Calvin over the
speakers. He’d contacted her using an audio channel only, which
implied a greater security sensitivity, since the audio
transmissions to and from her ship tended to be shorter and
commoner and therefore less likely targets for the enemy’s message
interception and decryption efforts.

“I would ask of you, why?” she said, stating
the obvious.

“Of course, Your Grace,” he said. It was the
wrong form of address, but she chose to ignore this slight also.
“The intelligence we stole, from the parts we have translated,
we've reason to believe this conspiracy is deeply connected with
something happening inside Polarian Deep Space. Specifically
Polarian Forbidden Space.”

“And you realize the inherent dangers in
going there?” asked Kalila. “Remember, no mission to penetrate
Polarian Forbidden Space has ever succeeded, or returned with
survivors for that matter.”

“I know that,” said Calvin. “But it’s where
the arrow points, and so it’s where we have to go.”

“In that case, I give you my blessing. If
anyone can survive a visit to Polarian Forbidden Space, it is you
and your people. I wish you all the luck in the galaxy, and hope
you prevail in your quest to uncover the truth for us all.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he said. “And I
wish you all the luck in the galaxy defending us all from the
Rotham invasion. And may I say, you are noble for doing so,
considering Caerwyn Martel has shown himself too cowardly to do the
same.”

Kalila felt anger at even the mention of
that
name. He'd cost her much and she would take from him
everything in time. “No true monarch can stand idly by and watch as
their people are attacked.”

***

“What the
hell
are you thinking!”
asked Brinton Martel, his face red with anger. It wasn’t a
flattering look, the man’s grey hair and wrinkles showed his age in
crisp detail over the viewer, and worst of all, his fatness had
seemed to go all to his face. His cheeks were so puffy Caerwyn half
thought his father was a squirrel saving nuts for winter.

God, I hope I have mother’s genes
,
Caerwyn thought, even though he knew that, unlike his late brother
Zane, Caerwyn did in fact take after his father in the department
of physical appearance.
I must remember to take care of myself
if I am to look kingly
as he allowed his father’s insult to
roll off his back.

“Hello to you too, Father,” said Caerwyn. “I
must say that is a rather unconventional way to address one’s
liege.”

“A pathetic excuse for a liege if ever there
was one,” said Brinton, still looking furious. “And an even more
pathetic excuse for a son. Strike that; I
have
no son!”

The words stung, but they'd not been
unexpected. He knew it would invoke his father’s ire when he’d
chosen not to send any forces to defend Thetican System against the
Rotham…that was the place his father called home.

“Everything I have done has been calculated
to serve the best interests of my Empire,” said Caerwyn in an
explanatory tone. He did not wish to get into a shouting match with
his father. Especially since the man, despite all his immediate
rage, was still useful to Caerwyn, and he knew all of this nonsense
would blow over soon enough. After all, Caerwyn was Brinton’s only
family and heir. And what kind of father would not be proud his son
had taken the throne of the Empire and ascended to that stately and
most prestigious office of king?

“More like calculated to serve your own best
interests,” said Brinton. “You know, I don’t know what I expected;
you’ve always been like that.”

“Like what?”

“A terrible, selfish son.”

“But, Father, I am only following your
example.” This didn't go over well with Brinton, who looked on the
verge of shouting or screaming. For an instant, Caerwyn thought the
man might punch the camera with his bare fist.

“Some amount of self-interest is good, wise
even. It promotes our survival, helps us to live the kind of lives
we wish to while we have the privilege of being alive,” said
Brinton. “But you have always missed the point. There is a limit to
that privilege, and abandoning your father to be slaughtered by
aliens
crosses
that line.”

“Oh, come now, Father, you know I would never
do that. Even now, the rebel queen and all her armed forces are
racing to protect you from what is clearly a feint by the Rotham
military. Take it from me, there will be
no
battle.”

“You don’t know that, you fool,” said
Brinton. “You’re not a man of war, a man of strategy. You’re a man
of politics, greased wheels, and climbing the ladder of power. You
know nothing of battle.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, my forces, at my
command, were correctly deployed in Apollo System before the rebel
queen’s fleets arrived, even though she'd used a strategy of her
own to try and trick me into believing that she was after Olympia.
I saw through the ruse and, in the end, defeated her in
battle.”

Brinton squinted, as if annoyed by these
facts and wanting to see in his son some lie, some clue Caerwyn had
no involvement in the success at Apollo, but he clearly could think
of nothing.

“So, you see, Father, I am a man of strategy
after all. And I tell you, this strategy of the Rotham, they do not
mean to actually attack. They are merely probing our defenses. Once
they discover the rebel queen’s forces there standing guard, they
shall withdraw. You have my word.” Of course, Caerwyn did not
actually believe this, and he hoped such was not the case; he
desperately wanted the rebel queen and the Rotham to clash
violently and wipe one another out, eliminating two birds without
throwing a single stone. It was perfect!

Still, he needed his father to believe he'd
not chosen to abandon him. His father remained useful and, now that
Representative Tate had fled Capital World denouncing Caerwyn as a
coward as she left for choosing not to defend her homeworld,
Thetican System, Caerwyn would need his father to leverage her
again, to force her back into the fold. She was too valuable an
asset to the Assembly to lose.

When Representative Tate left the planet in
such a public way, Caerwyn’s ministers had asked if they should
arrange for her elimination, but Caerwyn had instructed them to let
her go because he knew, deep down, he could get his father to lean
on her and make her return. Just as he’d leaned on her before for
Caerwyn’s benefit. He need only wait for his father’s temper
tantrum to blow over and for the Rotham fleet to either withdraw or
be destroyed, proving to Brinton Caerwyn that he had been right:
that there existed no credible threat to Thetican System.

“You are a damned liar,” said Brinton.

“Well, I must say, that accusation is rather
out of the blue.”

“You swore to me, with your word of honor,
you would defend Thetican System above all,” said Brinton. And
Caerwyn did vaguely remember making such a meaningless promise.

“And so I shall,” he replied.

“Bollocks! You have left us here to fend for
ourselves and die for all you care. If Thetican System is lost and
I die here, let these be my last words to you:
Rot in Hell, you
bastard. You’re no son of mine
.”

The call terminated.

Chapter 22

Captain Valentine was one of Mira Pellew’s
most stalwart allies and she held a very high rank inside the
woman’s clandestine network. Yet her truest allegiances had been
bought by another. One far more persuasive, both in words and, more
importantly in money than Mira and her cohorts had ever been. Even
though Captain Valentine had begun her clandestine activities with
full loyalty to Mira and the promises she made, once Captain
Valentine had been approached with the counteroffer, it had been
impossible to refuse.

Captain Valentine did not know the identity
of her new Master, and whenever they spoke, he or she masked his or
her voice with some kind of software. Captain Valentine could
understand the words just fine and communication had never been a
problem, but it did make her wonder just who had the power to keep
depositing those large sums into her accounts on such a regular
basis. So far, her primary task had been to collect and share
information, simple enough for someone in her position, but now, as
she stood on the ground level at the imposed Forum of the
Organization and heard the shouting voices and competing plans of
those Group Leaders who called for action, she knew it was time to
send another message to her Master and discover what his wishes
were regarding all of this. The last thing Captain Valentine wanted
to do was ruin a good thing and wind up on the wrong side of her
Master, someone she did not doubt powerful enough to have her
killed at any time.

Captain Valentine excused herself from her
delegation, making the appropriate apologies, and wormed her way
through the crowded concourse and out to the docking port. The
others likely believed she needed to go relieve herself in the head
or take a drink, and it was better for all of them to assume
such.

She dismissed the technicians working on her
shuttle as well as the guards which had stood vigilantly watching
it, marines from her own ship, and went inside. The shuttle was
empty, as everyone who had taken the shuttle with her, her
delegation, remained inside the concourse listening to the debate
raging there. A debate which included Mira Pellew, whose voice had
become as loud and frequent as that of the arguing Group Leaders.
Captain Valentine knew her duty was to behave as a loyal supporter
of Mira Pellew, and as such she knew all the plans that had been
made and what actions were to be set in motion, but she also could
not help but wonder if, by so doing, she would upset the
Master.

Once inside the cockpit, she sealed the door
and made certain it was locked. The shuttle was empty of other
people, but she wanted to be doubly certain she was in a secure,
soundproof environment and anyone who might come looking for her
would be unable to disturb her. From there, she activated the comms
system and began the long process of connecting to the appropriate
channel and applying the many layers of encryption protocol which
were used to secure any and all communication between her and the
Master.

She did not know if the Master would even
answer the call; no doubt the Master was often busy with much to
manage and could not always be sitting there waiting to listen to
Captain Valentine’s every whim and question. Still, sending the
message felt like the right thing to do, so, once the channel was
appropriately connected, she transmitted.