The Phoenix Rising

The Phoenix
Rising

Book Two in the Phoenix Conspiracy Series

Richard L. Sanders

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Richard L. Sanders

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment. It may not be re-sold for profit, however
I (the author) don’t really care if you share it with others. Just
keep in mind that at the time of publication I am an indebted
student and every purchase is greatly appreciated. Thank you for
your support and understanding.

Note to the reader: this is
Book Two in an ongoing series. If you have not read the first
book
The Phoenix Conspiracy
it may be found elsewhere in the download store
and on other devices including Kindle.

Chapter 1

“
The threat is growing,
Raidan. And I can barely make heads or tails of these new rumors.
We need you here.
I
need you here. Renora can wait. The people there don’t need
you as much as we do right now.”

“
Mira, this isn’t about the
people of Renora. This is much, much bigger than that. Can’t you
see? They want King Akira to fail. They want the Akiran throne to
fall. And out of the chaos, as our government re-shuffles itself,
something new and terrible will emerge. The safety and security of
the Empire will be no more. And humanity will once again be the
weak, struggling, disunited colonies of yester century. I can’t
just sit by idly, doing nothing, when I know what their target is.
The next notes of this dark symphony will be played at Renora.
Whatever their design is, whatever their next move is, it will
happen there.
Today
. My spy is certain of that. I only hope the Harbinger won’t
arrive too late.”

“
Even if you do get there in
time, do you really think you can stop them?”

“
I... don’t know. But I have
to try.”

“
And what of this young
intelligence captain you’ve brought me? What am I to do with
him?”

“
Mister Cross is an asset of
mine. Treat him as a friend. Give him all the materials I have
listed and any other resources or personnel he may require. As soon
as he’s able, we need him to hunt down the Arcane
Storm.”

“
The Arcane Storm? That
means you believe the rumors, then?”

“
I do not know. But if
anyone can get to the bottom of the matter, and find out for sure
what happened, it’s Mister Cross. I trust no one more to do the
job.”

“
Are you sure it’s wise to
trust him so completely?”

“
For now, yes. He’s put much
on the line to uncover the truth, and he’s made many powerful
enemies in the process—enemies we share. Besides, Tristan is going
with him.”

“
And is he to know about
the—?”

“
No
.
Not yet. That knowledge would do him, and our cause, more harm than
good. If we’re lucky, we won’t have to resort to such extreme
measures.”

“
And if we’re
unlucky?”

“
Then may our children
forgive us.”

***

Pieter sat in his office aboard Control One
and stared out the window. He traced a lazy finger around the rim
of his coffee mug and felt depressed. Something was missing.

When he’d first been stationed here, the
view had seemed majestic. The blue and white magnificence of planet
Renora just below was breathtaking. But now, after ten thousand
orbits and five years of being stuck in one place, it was a tired
novelty. Almost an eyesore. A reminder that he should be tasting
fresh air and feeling grass between his toes, and he wasn’t.

“
What’s the matter?” asked
Adrienne. Slightly overweight with curly brown hair and wide blue
eyes, she was one of the more pleasant controllers on the station.
“You seem even more glum than usual today.”

He rolled his eyes, only a little annoyed at
her slighting remark. She didn’t know better. She’d only been on
the station a few months; he couldn’t expect her to understand the
misery of five prison-like years.

“
This is my last year,” he
said. “I’m transferring. Retiring. Anything. I can’t take it
anymore.”

“
You say that
every
day. So why don’t
you just, y’know, leave already?”

It was a fair question. The truth was, he
didn’t have anywhere else to go. He had no stomach for alteredspace
travel and the thought of living on Renora again—the birthplace of
all his bad memories—wasn’t exactly appealing. Sure, it was a big
place. An urban sprawl that boasted a population of over nine
billion people, but still, despite all its continents and square
miles, there wasn’t any place for him.

“
Do you know why I came here
in the first place?” he asked.

Adrienne didn’t reply. She simply took her
seat and put on her headset. It only covered one ear so she could
still hear him, even if she didn’t want to. “Because,” he
continued, “this is the only place in the system that is peaceful.
Here, in the heavens, above all the noise, and the corruption, and
the confusion...” He gazed again out the window at the planet
below. It glowed in the light of the local sun, almost seeming to
sparkle. And yet, to him, it seemed empty. Even here, in this
sanctuary in the sky, Renora had lost its majesty. It was…

His thoughts were interrupted by an
indicator light on his panel. He flipped a switch and began
tracking an alteredspace exit point that had just appeared in the
system. Based on spatial displacement, a very large ship had
arrived.

“
Tracking an alpha-class
ship that has just entered the system,” said Adrienne. “Looks like
an unscheduled jump.”

“
Alpha-class?” asked Pieter.
“What would an alpha-class be doing way out here?” There were fewer
than twenty alpha-class ships in all of the Empire.

“
No idea, I can’t find
anything here in the traffic schedule…”

“
Can you I.D. that
ship?”

“
Not yet. The ship is coming
closer and I’ll be able to get a scan of it in a few
seconds.”

“
Better call upstairs about
this,” Pieter sent a message to the rest of the station and got his
superior on the line. “Commander,” he said, “we have an alpha-class
ship entering the system. Haven’t gotten an I.D. on it
yet.”

“
Is it one of ours?” The
commander’s question didn’t surprise Pieter. The Polarians had a
generally peaceful relationship with the Empire, but being this
close to their border made one a little nervous.

“
Unable to tell.”

“
Scan complete,” said
Adrienne. “It’s the ISS Black Swan. Princess Kalila Akira’s
ship.”

Pieter relayed the information to his
commander, who ordered him to handle the situation until he
arrived.

“
What’s the ship doing now?”
asked Pieter.

“
Fast approaching Renoran
space. Direct heading with the planet. It’s starting to make a mess
of intra-system traffic. A lot of the transports and freighters
seem spooked by it and are altering course to stay out of its way.
The Black Swan is now cutting through the shipping lanes—disrupting
them.”

“
Probably an innocent
mistake, contact the ship and order them to divert course and await
their turn to dock.”

Adrienne spoke into her headset. “ISS Black
Swan, this is Control One, you are ordered to change heading and
begin a long orbit until cleared for docking. I repeat, you are
ordered to alter course and begin a long orbit around the planet.
You have drifted into active shipping lanes. Please
acknowledge.”

Pieter watched the Black Swan, now visible
on his grid, as the 3d image of it continued to approach the planet
unfazed.

“
ISS Black Swan, this is
Control One, please respond.”

No response came. The ship held its
course.

“
ISS Black Swan, this is
Control One,
you are ordered to
respond
.”

Pieter started to get a very bad feeling.
“Something is definitely wrong. Order the patrol ships to pick up
the Black Swan.” Even if they launched every fighter and patrol
ship they had, it wouldn’t be a sufficient force to disable or
destroy an alpha-class ship. But the pretense of force, at least,
might force the Black Swan to acknowledge them.

Adrienne complied and Pieter used his own
headset to address the shipping traffic. The board was now lit
up—two ships had collided. No casualties reported. “This is Control
One to all shuttles, transports, and other traffic within the
system, you are ordered to power down your engines and hold
position until further instructions are given.”

“
Control One to Black
Swan
,” Adrienne’s voice revealed a level of
panic. “You are ordered to follow the flight-path given to you by
sentry group Bravo. I repeat, you are required to accept escort
away from the planet, over.”

No reaction.

She repeated the order. Still nothing. The
Black Swan continued toward the planet, no change in speed or
course.

“
Black Swan, you are not
cleared to approach. I repeat, power down your engines, you are not
cleared to approach. If you do not comply, you will be fired upon.”
Adrienne looked up at Pieter, obviously unsure what to
do.

“
Clear the sentry ships to
intercept the Black Swan, something’s not right here.”

“
Sentry group Bravo,”
Adrienne spoke into her headset. “You are cleared to intercept the
Black Swan. I repeat, you are cleared to intercept the Black
Swan.”

Pieter watched on the display as the group
of sentry ships tightened their formation around the Black Swan.
One of the small sentry ships moved directly into the Black Swan’s
path, trying to force it to alter course.

“
The Black Swan is closing
in on the sentry ship, bearing one zero one point two mark three.
No change in course or speed,” said Adrienne.

“
Sentry Three to Control
One,” a voice crackled over the radio, “we intend to hold position.
ISS Black Swan will
have
to alter course.”

“
Roger that, Sentry Three,
Control One is monitoring the situation,” said Pieter. “Be advised,
holding position is not recommended should Black Swan maintain
current heading.”

“
Acknowledged, Control One.
But we’re not going anywhere. The Black Swan
will
move.”

It was an unnecessary—and deadly—game of
chicken as the sentry ship held position and the Black Swan
continued toward it, unabated. It was like watching an unstoppable
force meet an immovable object.

The Black Swan fast approached the sentry
ship.

“
Black Swan, this is Control
One,
please respond
,” Pieter spoke in vain. No reply came. “Is it possible the
ship is unmanned or out of control?”

“
All scans are normal,” said
Adrienne. “The ship is fully powered, even the running lights are
on. No outward damage to the hull or systems. Also I don’t think
they could have executed an alteredspace jump without someone on—”
Adrienne paused suddenly.

“
What is it?”

“
The Black Swan has powered
its weapons and shields!”

Pieter felt a wave of panic rush through
him.

“
Sentry Three to Black
Swan,” they heard over the comm, “divert course or—”

Pieter watched in horror as
the mighty vessel plowed through the sentry ship, as if it wasn’t
there. One moment a blinking light on the display and then…
nothing
.

“
Sentry Three has been
destroyed,” said an alarmed Adrienne. “No survivors...”

The other sentry ships opened fire on the
Black Swan. Releasing a barrage of missiles and an intense storm of
fire from their mounted guns.

Pieter hit the switch
bringing the entire station to condition one. A loud klaxon
sounded. The elevator opened and the commander raced out onto the
command deck. “
What the hell is going
on
?” he demanded.

Pieter jumped up, happy to relinquish his
position. “The Black Swan is not communicating with us. And it just
destroyed Sentry Three!” He looked down at the projector to see the
small sentry ships were fast disappearing as the Black Swan
vanquished them one by one. The powerful warship was very near the
planet now—and the station—so near, in fact, that the station’s
defense batteries auto-engaged.