The Phoenix Rising (27 page)

“
You don’t suppose this is
about cultural differences?” asked Rain.

“
I’m sure that’s part of it.
But I really can’t say for sure.”

“
If the humans started it,
maybe it’s because they feel threatened by the Polarians. That they
are encroaching or something. If the Polarian started it, perhaps
it’s because they feel left out and untrusted?”

Calvin knew Rain was only speculating, but
it got him thinking. He had never bothered to involve Rez’nac or
any Polarians in his intelligence meetings, or the decision-making
process. Knowing the little he did of Rez’nac, he doubted the old
Polarian commander minded. However some of the younger ones,
including Rez’nac’s son, didn’t seem as committed to making things
work smoothly with the humans. Calvin took a good look at the
Polarian in the infirmary, who silently awaited Rez’nac’s arrival
and punishment—whatever it was. This Polarian was undoubtedly one
of the younger ones, as his blue skin was richer and more saturated
with color than many of the others.

“
I think I’m going to let
the Polarians be more involved,” said Calvin, more to himself than
to Rain. Perhaps if he invited Rez’nac to his intel meetings, and
it was known that the Polarians had a say in what they chose to do,
they would be less likely to feel enmity or participate in
hostilities. “Thank you, Rain,” Calvin smiled at her.

She smiled back. “Sure thing.” Clearly
unsure what he was thanking her for.

Chapter 17

Calvin stood on the bridge in casual clothes
that the quartermaster had supplied. He had light jeans, flexible
tactical boots—which concealed a holstered subcompact pistol—and
wore a pullover hooded sweatshirt. The rest of the shore party was
similarly dressed and was gathered at airlock three. Out of
necessity, all of them were humans—except Tristan, who at least
looked human. Calvin didn’t like leaving such a strong force of
Polarians behind on the Nighthawk but there was no possible way the
large aliens could blend into the crowds of Tybur.

Calvin would meet up with the team later. He
wanted to remain on the bridge until the last possible moment, so
he could command the capture operation. No one else aboard had more
experience.

“
We have arrived in Tybur
System,” announced Sarah. The luminescent yellow star was barely
visible out the window.

“
There is a huge presence of
military starships here,” said Shen. “The system is swollen with
patrols.”

Calvin was not surprised. “Defense status,
Miles?”

“
The stealth system is
running like a champ,” said Miles. “Should it fail, all the mounted
guns are loaded and ready.”

“
And the beam
weapon?”

He was loath to have the beam weapon
charged, it increased the chances of their being seen, however,
Shen had adjusted the system to fire an adjusted particle beam that
was meant to overload the target ship’s communications array. Or so
Calvin had understood it. He doubted he’d intuited the science
correctly but the overarching point was simple—target the array and
fire. So long as the energy weapon was in effect, the other ship’s
communication array would fail. Apparently this was a more sure bet
than jamming transmitted frequencies like Calvin had first
suggested.

“
The beam weapon is ready,”
said Miles. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t do anything
at all. I’ll be ready to switch to something with some actual teeth
if things get dicey.”

“
It’ll work,” insisted
Shen.

“
Scan and analyze the local
flight patterns and see how the Tybur authorities are directing
traffic in and out of the system,” said Calvin to Shen. “Then
identify the ideal place to ambush a solitary ship and send those
coordinates to Sarah.”

“
Already narrowed it down,”
said Shen. “Sending the coordinates.”

“
Got them,” said
Sarah.

“
Move us to that position,”
said Calvin. “Then answer all stop.”

“
Moving now. Accelerating to
fifty-two thousand mc’s per second. ETA two minutes.”

“
Miles, keep an eye on that
stealth system. Make sure it’s powered and stable.”

“
Yeah, yeah.”

“
Shen, keep checking our
stealth integrity, see if you can identify any heat or energy leaks
that would give us away.”

“
Will do, so far so
good.”

As the ship moved, the 3d display showed a
dark volcanic planet with several tiny bases and ships orbiting
around it—no larger than tiny specks. The Tybur colony was unlike
any other colony in the galaxy because it existed on a planet that
was totally inhospitable to life. The atmosphere was choked with
extremely dense, deadly gases and there wasn’t so much as a microbe
of bacteria that survived the harsh environment. The people lived
in floating cantons, air-tight, climate-controlled cities that
hovered in the sky and rode the air currents like balloons. The
relatively lighter gases of oxygen and nitrogen that formed the
human habitats allowed the cantons to bob up and down in the sky,
far above the deadly surface.

None of the cantons were visible on the 3d
display, but they had powerful beacons that could guide planetary
shuttles to their various landing bays. The cantons floated
independently of each other, and didn’t stay in any fixed place,
and traffic between them was a delicate enterprise of shuttles
constantly coming and going. Despite the inherent dangers, the
Tyburian people had perfected the process—or so the Intel Wing
spies on the planet reported. The Tyburian colony was often cited
in articles as one of the most mind-blowing artificial creations of
humanity, and Calvin had always wanted to see the marvelous
airborne cantons with his own eyes. None of his previous missions
in the DMZ had taken him here.

“
Answering all stop,” said
Sarah. “We’re in position.”

“
Shen, keep an eye out for
an appropriate target ship. Something that will be cleared to dock
with the primary station, but doesn’t have enough crew to mount a
protracted resistance to our boarding party.”

“
Right, like we talked
about. There are a few options. Though they seem to be travelling
in groups of two or more.”

“
Patience. Let’s get one by
itself.”

“
Aye, sir.”

The vast military presence in the system was
impressive. The 3d display alone revealed over a dozen warships in
some kind of patrol—and Calvin knew the Nighthawk’s scopes picked
up dozens more. Most of which were more powerful and
battle-hardened than the typical sentry ship. This was a dangerous
part of the galaxy, saturated with raiders and very near Rotham
space. These humans, who managed to survive without any assistance
from the Empire for over a hundred years, and kept some of the most
coveted resources in their possession, had done so through fierce
measures and the development of an exceptionally lethal
military.

“
Here’s one,” said Shen.
“Small freighter that’s just jumped into the system. It’s en route
to dock with the primary station. Based on its current approach
vector and speed, we have about six minutes.”

“
Do it,” said
Calvin.

“
Intercept course plotted,”
said Sarah. “We’ll be on top of the ship in a few
seconds.”

“
When we attach ourselves,
they will be able to see us,” said Shen.

“
Miles, is that beam
ready?”

“
Yep. I’ve targeted their
comms array.”

“
Fire, and sustain
fire.”

“
You got it. Beam is hot.
They can’t talk to nobody now,” said Miles.

“
Shen, confirm their comm
system is disabled.”

“
Confirmed.”

“
Good. Sarah, move us on top
of that ship and match their speed. When she’s in position, Shen,
attach the seals.”

The seconds ticked by and Sarah, looking
extremely flustered, forced the ship into a more aggressive set of
maneuvers than expected. Eating away some of their precious
time.

“
What’s the delay?” asked
Calvin.

“
They’re going into an
evasive maneuver,” said Sarah.

“
They must have realized
their communications are down and gotten suspicious,” said Shen.
“Any moment their erratic flight pattern will be noticed by the
system controllers and the military will go on alert.”

“
Can you lock down their
maneuver or do we have to abort?” asked Calvin.

“
No, no, I got this,” said
Sarah, biting her lip. “
Come
on
...”

“
Two Patrol ships have
broken pattern and are on an intercept course. ETA Three
minutes.”

“
Looks like we won’t have
time to move the captured crew onto the Nighthawk,” said Calvin,
wondering how they could hide them. There must be a
way...

“
Got it!” said Sarah. “Seals
and clamps are in place.”

“
Execute
,” said Calvin. He ran for the elevator. “Tell the shore party
to begin capture operations. As soon as we’re clear, get the hell
away from that ship. And whatever you do, stay stealthed! Summers
has the deck.”

The elevator door closed and he punched the
button for the lower floor.

***

“
Clear! All hands aboard,”
said a soldier as Calvin ran onto the Alliance ship. Once he was
through the hatch, another soldier sealed it and sent word to the
Nighthawk. Signaling them to pull away. Hopefully before the
Alliance military ships spotted them.

“
Take me to the bridge,”
said Calvin. One of the soldiers led; they jogged through the long
corridor that, no doubt, ran adjacent to the storage bay. As they
ran, Calvin saw no signs of any resistance. True to his word,
Pellew seemed to have taken the ship by swift surprise.

“
We have control of the
bridge,” Pellew’s voice crackled over the soldier’s
radio.

“
Let me see that,” said
Calvin. The soldier handed him the radio. He pushed the transmit
button. “What’s your status? Any casualties?”

“
Negative. No casualties,
all our people are safe. We have flight control and we’ve
stabilized the ship’s flight path. But the Alliance warships demand
an explanation for our erratic approach.”

“
Tell them we experienced a
systems failure,” said Calvin.

“
Roger that.”

They reached the end of the hall. “The
bridge is through that hatch and to the right,” said the
soldier.

“
Thank you.”

He followed the man’s instructions and
arrived at the freighter’s surprisingly small bridge. Pellew was
there, as was Tristan, and a soldier who had some minor flight
training. There was also a man sitting on the floor, wrists ziptied
together—Calvin guessed he was the ship’s captain.

“
Welcome to the bridge,”
said Pellew.

Calvin didn’t waste time greeting him and
instead relieved the soldier at the helm and took the controls. He
was nowhere near as skilled as Sarah, but he’d begun his career as
a pilot and still knew a thing or two. “Did they buy our story?” he
asked.

“
Not sure,” said
Pellew.

Calvin realized his console doubled as ops.
He did a quick scan and noted that the two warships were still
nearby, and had taken up escort positions.

“
They’re going to make sure
we get to the station safely,” said Pellew.

“
What does that mean?” asked
Calvin. “Did they believe us or not?”

“
It could be standard
procedure,” said Pellew. “I guess we’ll find out when we
arrive.”

They received instructions from the
patrolling Alliance warships and Calvin adjusted course
accordingly. It put them into orbit around the planet while they
awaited clearance to dock.

“
I bet they’re checking out
our story now,” said Calvin.

“
I hope you submitted a
flight-plan before you left,” said Calvin, now looking at the man
who sat cross-legged on the floor, hands tied together. He wasn’t
gagged but looked far too terrified to respond.

They were now in orbit and the immense, dark
planet was visible out the window. From here it looked like a
raging volcanic swirl of deadly dark clouds with temperatures hot
enough to melt a person’s flesh right off his bones. Hard to
imagine it was home to millions of people.

“
I’ve explained to our new
friend,” said Pellew, “what happens when we dock with that station.
The authorities will ask him questions and he’ll vouch for each and
every one of us. We are his hired crew. Isn’t that right?” Pellew
looked down at their captive who shuddered.

“
Yes,” he said, quivering a
little. His anxiety was so obvious that Calvin feared it would give
them away.

“
Just... please... don’t
sell me into slavery,” the man said, his voice trembling. His eyes
went red and he burst into tears. “I want to see my family
again!”

“
Get it
together
,” said Pellew forcefully. The man
shut up at once.

Calvin got up from his station and walked
over to their captive. He drew a knife from where it had been
concealed against his left calf. The captive looked horrified.