The Phoenix Rising (20 page)

“
Hello, Afton,”said Tristan.
He sat down cross-legged and faced the other Remorii. Calvin felt
awkward looming over them so he too sat down.

“
So you have finally
returned,” said Afton. “There are many who thought you’d never walk
among us again.”

“
What can I say? I’m full of
surprises,” replied Tristan.

“
Tell me why you are
here.”

“
I need to know everything
you know about the Arcane Storm. It docked with Echo Three and then
left. Never to be heard from again.”

“
This is not news,” said
Afton. “Your friend’s ship docked here months ago. Why did you wait
until now to follow up on that?”

Tristan looked uncomfortable.
“Irrelevant.”

“
No, not irrelevant,” said
the older Remorii.

“
There were other, more
pressing things to worry about,” again Tristan tried to
dodge.

Curiously, Afton wouldn’t let him. “Like
what?” Calvin wanted to know too. Why had the Organization waited
until now to mount some kind of useful pursuit of their lost
ship?

Tristan bit his lip.
“Alright, at the time, the ship’s disappearance was...
serendipitous
. Now,
however, I realize I was mistaken.”

“
What’s changed?”

“
We know more about the
isotome your men found on the ship while loading cargo. We now know
that it can be weaponized into something severely
dangerous.”

Calvin knew this wasn’t the answer—at least
not the complete answer. Raidan had made it clear to Calvin that he
wanted him to go after the Arcane Storm well in advance of Calvin’s
team finding that the isotome could be used to destroy a star.

Afton raised a curious eyebrow. “How did you
learn of this?”

“
Enough
,” said Tristan, losing patience. “I came here to get answers,
not give them.”

“
Patience,” said Afton, his
voice was supremely calm. He closed his eyes, as if
meditating.

After a few seconds of silence, Tristan
interrupted. “Will you help me or not?”

“
What have you brought as
tribute?” asked Afton.

“
I have brought no tribute.
Please forgive me. I could not afford the delay.”

“
Ahh, Tristan... always in a
hurry, but never knowing where he is going, and never finding what
he is looking for.”

“
Why should we take interest
in the problems of others?” asked Afton. “Others who would
eradicate us if they could.” As he spoke that last part he opened
his eyes and looked directly at Calvin.

“
Because if such a weapon
does exist, and it spreads, every civilization is in danger.
Including yours,” said Calvin. He needed to paint for Afton the
picture that all civilized life hung on this issue together—and for
any kind of lasting peace and order to be sustained, a weapon of
this magnitude had to be eliminated before it could be
used.

“
The weapon can destroy
entire star systems,” said Tristan. “Imagine if it fell into the
hands of the strigoi.” His eyes lit up as he spoke.

“
The hated ones,” said
Afton. His aura of calm dissipated and he flashed his teeth. “Very
well, I will tell you what I know.”

“
Thank you, wise one,” said
Tristan.

“
The ship is being sold on
the black market. It currently sits in the Vulture Nebula, awaiting
the buyer.”

“
Who’s the buyer? And who is
selling it? Surely not Zander…”

“
I do not know who is in
possession of the ship now, or how they took it from Zander—if it
is not Zander himself—but I know the buyer.”

“
Who?” Calvin asked, unable
to contain himself.

“
The Rotham
Republic.”

This was the answer he’d expected to hear.
It correlated perfectly with his prior findings—that isotome had
been carried by Rotham ships inside the Empire. Such a weapon in
their hands would shift the balance of power, and probably result
in the deaths of tens of billions of people. Perhaps even the total
genocide of the human race.

“
Thank you,” said Tristan.
“We will go now. And next time, I shall bring tribute tenfold.” He
stood up. Calvin didn’t.

“
Wait a second,” he said.
Then, looking into Afton’s eyes, “how do you know this?”

Afton didn’t reply. Perhaps because Calvin
had overstepped some kind of cultural boundary, or perhaps because
he didn’t know.

“
I said,
how do you know this
?” Calvin’s tone
was more forceful this time. He didn’t want to be rude or
ungrateful, but he couldn’t just take the intelligence at face
value without determining if it was even reliable.

“
I hear rumors at times,”
said Afton. His eyes glowed for a moment but then dimmed and his
face remained calm. “I am the chieftain of this people, and master
of this place. Traders, smugglers, merchants, pirates, those who
know of us and come here must do so with my blessing. To gain my
trust they tell me things.”

“
And who told you that the
Arcane Storm is in the Vulture Nebula?”

“
The one who told me, told
me in confidence. I cannot tell you, nor will I.”

Calvin found that to be an odd, suspicious
response. He looked at Tristan, as if expecting his lycan
counterpart to agree. But saw only disapproval.

“
You may not speak to our
chieftain in such a manner,” said Tristan.

“
And... you don’t feel like
we should know more about this information?”

Tristan didn’t miss the implication. “Afton
is a Remorii type three, like I am. Our word is our bond. We cannot
deceive. It isn’t in us. All of those genes went to the
strigoi.”

“
It is alright,” said Afton.
“Your friend does not understand us or our ways. I forgive him his
distrust. He comes from a distrustful people. He is as much a
product of what he is as we are of our kind.”

Calvin decided to let that insult slide.
And, sensing that he wouldn’t get an answer to his question,
decided it was better for them to leave without wearing out their
welcome further. After all, Afton had no obvious motive to deceive
them and Tristan seemed to sincerely trust him. It was the best he
could do, and at least he had a lead to follow.

“
Thank you, Afton. You’ve
been most helpful.”

***

“
Anyone else think it’s
strange the chieftain didn’t seem to care that the son of Samil
Cross was sitting right in front of him?” Calvin couldn’t stop
thinking about the incident with the deranged Remorii on their way
in. He’d told Alex and Pellew the summarized version of their
meeting with Afton.

“
I was thinking about that
too,” said Pellew. “You apparently look like him, and smell like
him, how could the chieftain overlook the obvious
connection?”

“
Because he chose to
overlook it,” said Tristan.

They continued walking and
Calvin replayed the encounter in his mind. Trying to remember the
chieftain’s facial expressions, and the tone in his voice. “It was
more than
that
,” he
said thoughtfully. “Not only was he not upset to see me, he didn’t
even seem surprised. Like he expected me.”

“
No doubt others sent word
ahead that we were coming,” said Tristan. “But do not be shocked by
his understanding and forgiving nature. We lycanthropes aren’t
nearly the monsters you make us out to be. We are an honorable and
agreeable people, and Afton is the best among us—that is why he is
our leader.”

“
Hold on, what’s this?”
asked Pellew. He pointed out a hooded figure walking toward them at
a brisk pace.

By this point they’d nearly reached the
pressurization chamber leading to their docked ship. Calvin looked
around, checking to see if a group of Remorii was sneaking up on
them—thinking perhaps this runner was a diversion. He didn’t see
anyone else.

The Polarian guards and Pellew drew their
weapons, but didn’t raise them yet. They took up a defensive
posture around Calvin, clearly prepared for the worst.

“
Do you know him?” asked
Calvin to Tristan.

“
Yes, I think that is
Calum.”

“
Is he
dangerous?”

“
Not usually. Though he can
be unpredictable.”

“
Let’s see what he wants,”
said Calvin.

The hooded Remorii slowed when he reached
them, but did not stop. A few locks of blond hair were visible
hanging down the sides of his face and his brown eyes were probing,
though he only looked at Calvin for a brief moment.

“
The ship you’re looking
for,” he said in a hushed tone as he passed, “is in the possession
of the Enclave on Tybur.”

“
Wait,” said Calvin, but
Calum didn’t acknowledge him. Instead he continued walking until he
was gone. Calvin considered going after him, but clearly Calum had
said all he was willing to. And trying to extort more information
from him might create an unwanted conflict.

“
What was that about?” asked
Pellew.

They all instinctively looked to Tristan for
an explanation.

***

“
So there you have it; we
have two leads,” said Calvin after briefing the others on the
latest intelligence. He stood at the front of the bridge facing
Tristan, Alex, Pellew, and the White Shift bridge crew. “The
chieftain of the Remorii’s lead that the Arcane Storm is in the
Vulture Nebula. And then Calum’s lead that ‘the ship we are looking
for is in the possession of the Enclave on Tybur’—I didn’t even
know about the Enclave before today.”

“
What is it?” asked
Sarah.

Calvin gestured for Tristan to explain it
once more.

“
There is a civilization of
strigoi that lives secretly among the humans of Tybur. They are
called the Enclave.”

The thought of those vile creatures living
among humans, probably slaughtering them discretely, gave Calvin
the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach. The whole Tybur
civilization, it turned out, was just the Trinity in slow
motion.

“
Those two leads aren’t
necessarily exclusive,” Shen pointed out. “It could be that the
Enclave is in possession of the ship, and they have hidden it in
the Vulture Nebula where it sits pending sale. Did the Remorii
chieftain say who the buyer was?”

“
Yes.” Calvin had omitted
that part earlier for fear of unleashing a firestorm from Alex. But
the intelligence was what it was. “Yes. He implicated the Rotham
Republic.”

“
Preposterous,” said Alex.
“My people would never be a party to the acquisition of such
weapons.”

“
You were Advent—think about
it,” said Calvin. “Your government might not be involved, but that
doesn’t mean someone claiming to represent them isn’t. Perhaps
invoking their name to imply a sense of authority, wealth, and
validation.”

Alex seemed to consider this. “Perhaps. Or
perhaps it is a lie.”

“
I
hope
it’s a lie,” admitted Calvin,
genuinely believing the Rotham Republic would be likeliest of all
the major powers to utilize such an extreme weapon—despite Alex’s
assertions to the contrary. Calvin got the feeling Alex was a very
unusual Rotham.

“
The Enclave is not known to
have operations outside of Tybur,” said Tristan. “If they are
involved and they do control the Arcane Storm, it is unclear how
they took the ship and why. Could they somehow have known about the
isotome weapons?”

“
All of those are questions
we can ask them when we capture them and pound their faces in,”
said Miles. “We should leave immediately.”

“
I’m not satisfied that
we’ve reconciled our two leads,” said Calvin. “If Afton knew the
ship was being sold by the Enclave he would have said so, instead
he claimed not to know the seller. So does Calum know something
Afton doesn’t? Or is one of them trying to deceive us?”

“
Tell us more about this
Calum,” said Summers. “What do we know about him?”

“
He is a reclusive
wanderer,” said Tristan. “He is one of the only Remorii to leave
Echo Three since we settled it. He buys passage from the traders
and has been all over the DMZ. No one particularly likes him or
knows him and he keeps to himself most of the time.”

“
Why didn’t you go after him
and ask him more questions?” asked Summers.

“
I wanted to,” said Calvin,
“but I was afraid doing so would be interpreted as hostile
behavior.”

“
Assuming for a moment that
his information is right, why would he tell us anything?” asked
Summers.

“
Calum hates the strigoi
more than anyone,” said Tristan. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if he
invented the information he gave us just in the hope that it might
lead the Empire to war with the Enclave.”

“
That still doesn’t explain
how he knew we were looking for a ship,” said Calvin.

“
So what’s your theory?”
asked Summers.

“
I think he found something
out in his exploits through the DMZ. Something that he shouldn’t
have stumbled onto. Either that or he’s deceiving us for some kind
of ulterior purpose. But I do not believe Calum and Afton are both
telling the truth. I think either the Arcane Storm is in the
Vulture Nebula or it is being controlled by the Enclave. I’d bet a
million q someone is lying to us.”