The Phoenix Rising (40 page)

“
Lt. Winters, begin
maneuvers, let’s see if we can lose them.”

“
Yes, sir,” said Sarah. The
view shifted as the Nighthawk rotated hard to starboard and fired
up its thrusters.

“
Move us to a hundred
thousand mc’s from our previous position,” said Summers.

“
Imperial squadron is
changing approach. They have a fix on our new heading and are still
on an intercept course,” said Cassidy.

“
Begin erratic flight
pattern,” said Summers. Time to see for sure if the approaching
squadron could get a really clear fix on the Nighthawk despite its
advanced stealth technology.

“
Aye, aye,” said Sarah.
Summers looked at her, saw lines of stress appear on her face as
she wrestled with the ship’s controls, seeming intensely
focused.

“
They are matching our
maneuvers,” said Cassidy.

“
Mister O’Conner,” said
Summers, now turning to see Miles’ replacement at the defense post.
The red-haired midshipman was probably the youngest officer on the
ship. “Is our stealth system engaged?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Like I said, I don’t know
how they see us. But they definitely see us,” said
Cassidy.

“
It’s Abia all over again,”
said Sarah.

“
Time to intercept?” asked
Summers.

“
Most of the squadron will
achieve weapons lock on us in about three minutes.”

Summers knew she had to do something. If
necessary they would jump the ship away—if that was possible—but
only as a last resort. Despite how mixed her feelings were for
Calvin, she had no intention of abandoning him and the others down
on the planet. However, Calvin’s party wouldn’t be able to return
to space for at least half-an hour. And the Nighthawk probably
wouldn’t last more than a few minutes in a chase or firefight. She
needed to think of a third option.

“
Are there any planets,
moons, asteroids, or other objects we could use for our tactical
benefit?” asked Summers. “Something we could hide behind
perhaps?”

“
There are several inner
rocky planets and stellar debris fields but no major asteroid
groupings, most were cleared away to allow the mine
field—”

That’s it!
“The mines. Maneuver us into the minefield, but
keep us clear of striking any of them,” said Summers. “Hopefully
most of their ships are too big to follow.”

“
Aye, aye,” said Sarah,
turning the ship about once again.

“
It looks like two of the
seven ships are small enough to pursue us into the mine
field.”

“
Which ships?”

“
The IWS Desert Eagle and
the IWS Rhea.”

“
Mister O’Conner, give me a
tactical appraisal. How long could we hold off both
ships?”

“
Hard to say,” said Patrick,
spinning his chair away from the defense post to face her. “The
Desert Eagle is identically equipped to us and the Rhea is probably
of similar fighting capability. I think we should consider
surrender, for the safety of the ship.”

“
Not an option,” said
Summers.

The Nighthawk slowed drastically. “We’re in
the mine field now,” said Sarah. “We can’t maneuver as quickly.
I’ll go as fast as I dare to but I don’t want to hit any
mines.”

“
How many mine impacts can
we survive?” asked Summers.

“
None,” said
Patrick.

Summers grimaced. She’d expected the ship’s
armor to buy them a little leniency. “Definitely be careful then,
Lieutenant.”

“
They’ve broken off
pursuit,” said Cassidy.

“
Move us deeper into the
mine field, let’s see if the smaller ships follow us.”

“
So far no,” said Cassidy.
“Two of the ships are skirting the edge of the mine field, doing
some kind of scan. I think they lost sight of us
somehow.”

Summers moved over to look at Cassidy’s
console. Indeed the Imperial ships had backed off and seemed
clueless as to the Nighthawk’s position. “How can that be?”

“
I have a theory,” said
Cassidy. “It could be that the primitive cloaking technology of the
mines is obscuring us. I think whatever part of our stealth system
that is deficient—allowing them to track us—is being compensated
for by the mines.”

“
So we’re invisible?” asked
Summers.

“
Looks that way.”

“
Good. Hopefully that will
buy us the time we need.” Summers returned to the command
position.
Hurry up, Calvin.

***

“
And... that completes our
perfect landing,” said Calvin. He’d set the gunship down on an
outdoor landing platform adjacent to the large facility where the
meeting was scheduled to happen. The craft’s bright lights cut
through the dark rainstorm revealing a short walk to a large,
ominous grey door.

“
Not the friendliest looking
place I’ve ever seen,” said Pellew.

“
Shutting down primary
systems,” said Calvin as he adjusted the switches. The loud hum of
the gunship’s engine faded and they could hear the smattering of
heavy rain as it beat against the hull and windows. “I’m going to
leave the secondary systems powered on, in particular the weapons.
That shouldn’t drain too much power. Miles, I want you to remain on
the gunship to cover our escape. As soon as you see us come through
that door, or hear from us over the radio, fire up all systems and
prep for launch. Can you do that?”

A look of intense relief spread over the
larger man’s face and he tried to contain a smile. “Yeah! I mean...
I guess so. If I have to.” He folded his arms in an effort to look
tough. “I mean, I wanted to go with you but yeah, I’d better stay
here. No one can run these guns better than me.”

Calvin smirked. He then looked at Shen. “I
want you to stay too. I need—”

“
No
,” said Shen.

Calvin was taken by surprise. Shen wasn’t
the type to interrupt him, less yet countermand his orders. “I need
someone to help keep these systems ready for a quick evac. You’re
most useful to me here.”

Shen shook his head. He clutched the firearm
in his hands tightly and, through the face screen of his climate
helmet, gave Calvin a look of severe intensity. “I’m going with
you, Calvin. I have to.”

“
It’s okay,” said Miles.
“This bird is simple. I can handle the systems by myself no
problem.”

“
The more people we take
with us, the better,” said Pellew.

“
Yes,” said Shen. “Plus this
is something I have to do.”

Calvin was confused but in no mood to argue.
“Fine. Stay close, then.” He didn’t have a lot of confidence in
Shen’s fighting ability and would hate to lose such a talented
officer and good friend in the crossfire if things got ugly.
“Tristan, check the atmospheric conditions and temperature. If we
can leave these climate suits behind on the gunship, I’d like to.”
They were bulky enough to slow their group down and wouldn’t
provide much protection against small arms fire or type one
Remorii.

“
Sixteen degrees centigrade
and atmospheric conditions are stable,” said Tristan after checking
the co-pilot’s console. “The climate suits won’t be
needed.”

“
Good, let’s ditch
them.”

Alex, who wouldn’t have been a very
convincing Rotham Republic agent inside an ill-fitting Imperial
climate suit, seemed the most relieved. They took a moment to pack
up their tactical gear and fit a concealed listening device to
Alex’s clothes. Calvin knew Alex would have to go into the meeting
alone, which shouldn’t be a problem for the former Advent
operative, but Calvin still wanted to keep tabs on the meeting any
way he could.

Calvin put on a tactical earpiece and
checked to make sure it was receiving the audio feed from Alex’s
listening device—it was. He again strapped on his IR goggles and
picked up his firearm. “Rez’nac, open the hatch and lower the
ladder. It’s time to move out.”

***

“
Have you found them yet?”
Nimoux asked, staring at the blank 3d display that’d been tracking
the Nighthawk.

“
No, sir,” said the ops
officer. “Their last known position was inside the mine field. It
could be that a stealth field created by the mines is masking heat
emissions from the Nighthawk.”

“
Can you scan for
gravitational discrepancy?” Nimoux wasn’t overly familiar with the
capabilities of his starship but knew they could track the
gravitational effect of larger ships on other objects as they
passed by.

“
Not reliably, sir. The
Nighthawk is too small and there are too many objects within too
close of a proximity to distinguish them.”

Nimoux pressed his fingers
together.
Too bad...

“
Sir,” said the pilot. “The
Rhea is requesting further instructions.”

“
Tell them to continue
sweeping the minefield; we’ll do the same.”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Then order the rest of the
squadron to reorganize into a larger containment pattern. Block all
possibility of alteredspace withdrawal from any ship exiting any
point of the minefield. It ends here. The Nighthawk can’t hide
forever.”

Chapter 24

Calvin shielded his face from the heavy
downpour, thinking perhaps he’d abandoned the climate suit too
hastily. The trek from the gunship to the facility’s entrance was
probably not more than fifty meters but his uniform and tactical
gear were soaked within seconds.

“
Keep that tablet dry,”
Calvin shouted over the noise of the driving rain. A deep thunder
crash rolled and lightning split the sky, lighting up the clouds.
“We need those instructions.”

“
I left it on the gunship,”
said Tristan. “I memorized the route.”

“
I hope so,” said
Calvin.

Their boots sloshed through deep puddles
that covered the black, torn pavement. On either side of them,
large, ominous urban buildings loomed darkly. None was lit up or
showed any sign of recent use. Many of the windows were shattered
and claw and scratch marks could be seen on doors and walls. Other
than the rain and thunder, the world seemed quiet, and Calvin saw
no indication that type one Remorii had been here recently.

“
Looks like our host cleared
the area for us,” said Pellew.

“
More likely they hunted
this place to death and the horde moved on,” said
Tristan.

“
Whatever the case, keep
your guard up,” said Calvin.

They reached the facility’s large grey door
and found the automated switch broken. Shen got to work on the
manual override and Calvin waited, clutching his firearm tightly,
shivering as water streamed down his face.

“
Got it,” said Shen. The
large door unlocked with a snap-hiss. Pellew, Calvin, and two of
the Polarians worked together to pry the door open and push it
aside. Darkness and stale air awaited them. Calvin entered the
facility, followed closely by the rest of the group, and switched
on his IR goggles.

He raised his carbine, ready for anything.
What he saw was a long stretch of tiled corridor with several doors
on both sides. There was some machinery strewn about—whose function
he could only guess at—and old computer parts had been shattered
and tossed onto the floor. No one seemed to be waiting for them,
and there were no obvious hiding places.

“
Looks clear,” said
Calvin.

“
Let’s move,” said Pellew,
taking the lead. Rez’nac fell in behind.

“
Go through the fourth door
on the left, then down the long hallway,” said Tristan.

They moved quickly but quietly, speaking
only in hushed tones. Calvin hoped they were not under
surveillance. He couldn’t spot any lookouts or cameras, but for all
he knew they’d been under surveillance since they’d arrived.

The door was unlocked and led them through a
long, narrow corridor that connected to another building. The
passage was just over a meter wide and its walls were made of thick
glass—like massive windows that showcased the stormy outside.
Calvin was still thoroughly drenched, but, as he peered through the
glass out into the storming darkness—which looked alien and
beautiful in infrared green—he was grateful to be indoors.

“
Are you ready for this,
Alex?” asked Calvin. They reached the end of the corridor and
entered the next building.

“
I am,” said the Rotham,
looking resilient.

“
We’ll be as close as we
can,” said Calvin, “listening to every word. But—”

“
For all intents and
purposes I’m on my own,” said Alex, interrupting him. “I’m not
worried. I have Advent training. I’ll be fine.”

Calvin nodded. He wanted to
emphasize how important the Rotham’s mission was—it was up to him
to find out where the isotome weapons were—but he knew Alex
understood the consequences. There was a fierceness on his face and
deliberateness shone in his eyes. He was ready. The plan would
work. It
had
to.

“
The closest position we can
set up in,” said Tristan, “is going to be about a hundred feet
away. So when you call for help—
if
you call for help—it will take us a few seconds to
get there.”