The Phoenix Rising (50 page)

He still didn’t know for
sure why CERKO had tried to have him killed on Aleator, something
else that kept him awake at night. Plus there was the matter of the
stolen weapons materials from Aleator, ostensibly by Raidan. And
finally, but not of least importance, what had happened to Rafael?
Why wouldn’t he report in? If his association with Calvin had been
discovered—resulting in his arrest—he could be anywhere by now.
Perhaps even secretly executed. But so long as there was a chance
Rafael was alive, Calvin wasn’t going to abandon him. He’d find out
where he was and save him...
somehow
. That meant taking a trip to
Capital World in the near future. A place he’d once called
home.

Eventually he heard back. Sweep complete.
Nothing unusual found. No notable cargo. No life aboard. No hazards
or booby-traps. All essential systems operable within normal
parameters.

“
Thank you,” he replied,
using the transmitter at his desk. “The skeleton crew is cleared
for transfer to the Arcane Storm.”

“
Acknowledged,” said Jay
from the bridge. He’d replaced Sarah at the helm so she could go
check on Shen. Calvin had thought of advising her not to see
him—since his condition was so severe and prognosis so negative—but
thought it might be her last opportunity to see her friend
alive.

“
And tell Andre Cowen that
current orders stand,” said Calvin. “The Arcane Storm and the
Nighthawk are both to remain in holding pattern until I say
otherwise.”

“
Understood.”

Now the question remained, where should they
take the Arcane Storm? After some consideration, Calvin decided to
return it to the Organization, like he’d been asked, believing that
if anyone had the resources to scrutinize the ship in detail and
uncover its mysteries, it was them. Calvin pressed the transmitter
one more time. “And, Jay.”

“
Yes, sir?”

“
Send in
Tristan.”

“
Aye, aye.”

Moments later the door opened and the
werewolf entered. He still looked thrashed and drained from the
battle but no weakness showed in his face or steely eyes. He folded
his arms and looked at Calvin curiously. The door slid closed
behind him.

“
I think you know why I
called you here,” said Calvin.

Tristan nodded. “It’s time.”

Calvin motioned toward his transmitter
controls and Tristan slowly approached. He came around to Calvin’s
side of the desk and, as he was about to enter his commands on the
panel, he glanced over at Calvin. “Do you mind?” he asked.

“
Fine.” Calvin stood up and
walked away, far enough that he couldn’t see exactly what Tristan
entered. The ship’s computer was designed not to log the specific
details of transmissions to and from the CO’s office, so
unfortunately Calvin wouldn’t be able to extrapolate what Tristan
entered.

“
There,” said Tristan,
entering the final input. The transmitter sent out a secure message
via kataspace and Calvin returned to his desk. He and Tristan stood
over the speaker. Waiting.

With a click, the connection was
established.

“
Go ahead,” said Raidan’s
familiar voice over the speaker.

“
Calvin and I have completed
the mission you gave us,” said Tristan. “We are in possession of
the Arcane Storm.”

“
That is the first good news
I’ve heard in a long time,” came Raidan’s reply. “Do you have the
crew and cargo?”

“
Unfortunately... no,” said
Tristan. “We found the ship abandoned in deep space. It’s
functional and undamaged, and there is no indication that it was
boarded. Or that there was a mutiny.”

“
Has Calvin determined what
happened to the crew?”

“
No, I haven’t,” said
Calvin. “The escape pods are all visually accounted for and only
one of the shuttles is missing. If the ship docked somewhere to
unload the crew, it wasn’t a forced operation. And no record of it
was left behind in the ship’s log.”

“
Very odd...” said
Raidan.

“
There’s more,” said Calvin.
“We determined that the ship was last possessed by the Enclave
hidden on Tybur. They were in fact using it to ferry isotome
missiles, which were to be sold to the Rotham Republic. The Enclave
facilitated a process that allowed the isotome to be extracted,
stably transported, refined, and manufactured into the
weapons.”

“
What were they hoping to
get out of it?” asked Raidan.

“
Citizenship in the Republic
among other things,” said Calvin.

“
We believe they wanted to
help shift the balance of power away from the Empire,” added
Tristan.

“
You said the ship has no
cargo aboard, I take it that means you failed to find and destroy
the isotome weapons,” said Raidan.

“
Yes and no,” said Calvin.
“We found some of the weapons, they’d been hidden on Remus Nine
awaiting sale—and we destroyed those. But the contact we met
with—who we now have in our custody and will extract more
information from—indicated that another stockpile of isotome
weapons exists.”

“
But we don’t know if it
does or not,” said Tristan. “He told us the weapons were on the
Arcane Storm. But, when we took the ship, we found nothing of the
kind.”

“
They could have been
moved,” said Raidan. “Or they could have been fictional. Either
way, I think our best lead is to do a full investigation on the
Arcane Storm itself and determine exactly what happened to it, and
where it’s been.”

“
Agreed,” said Calvin. “I’m
prepared to turn the ship over to your command. I just need to know
where to rendezvous.”

“
Proceed to Lyra Minor right
away. I’ll meet you there.”

That was an interesting choice of venue,
Calvin thought. Since, if he recalled his star charts correctly,
Lyra Minor was near Renora. Perhaps that was where Raidan and the
Harbinger had been this whole time, monitoring—and possibly
influencing—the dire situation there.

“
Why not Gemini?” asked
Tristan. “It’s closer and we have more resources there.”

“
Gemini is no longer safe.
The Organization had to completely withdraw from the system. Right
now it is under heavy investigation by Intel Wing. Apparently
someone figured out that we had an operation there. Mira Pellew
barely got out in time.”

“
I see,” said Tristan. “Lyra
Minor it is.”

“
Proceed there immediately.
I’ll be in that system in twelve hours and remain for thirty-six.
It’s critical you do
not
miss that window,” said Raidan.

“
One more thing,” said
Calvin. He considered confronting Raidan about the stolen weapon
materials missing from Aleator but decided that was a question
better asked in person, where he could read Raidan’s body language.
“I lost a lot of Polarian soldiers during the action on Remus
Nine... I will need replacements.” He decided not to burden Raidan
with the information about the murder and the mole. Believing those
two mysteries would be solved before they reached Lyra
Minor.

“
I have replacement
personnel and supplies. The Harbinger’s resources are available to
facilitate your every need. Just
don’t
miss the timeframe I gave you. I
can’t stay in the system any longer than that, and I have something
important to tell you, but I will only do it in person. I don’t
trust kataspace for something like this. So do
not
miss that window.”

Calvin was intrigued. “Don’t worry, we’ll be
there.”

Chapter 29

After ordering both ships to set course for
Lyra Minor, and making sure everything else was in order, Calvin
went below decks to check up on the wounded. He really ought to be
in the infirmary himself, he knew. Some of his scratches and
bruises should to be examined and his wrist ached if he twisted
it—but he didn’t want to take up any of the Nighthawk’s already
stretched medical resources, especially when so many others were in
greater need.

When Calvin entered the infirmary, he was
unprepared for the level of chaos he found. Crowded together, five
Polarians—all that remained—sat or lay on the floor. Most of them
had bandages, and all of them showed signs of injury. Lacerations
and cuts had been treated. Broken bones set, three of them had
casts on their arms, and a few were unconscious. Some were being
attended to, others remained idle. Waiting. Calvin noted that all
of the surviving Polarians, except for Rez’nac, had the brilliant
blue pigment and were of the younger generation. Calvin wondered if
that would adversely change how the Polarians collectively acted
toward him and the other humans. The older Polarians, who’d seemed
more tolerant and forgiving of cultural and racial differences, had
been almost completely wiped out. But, despite any misgivings they
had, every last one of these Polarians had fought with supreme
valor when the need had arisen. He took that as a hopeful sign.

On the far bed lay a figure
strapped down tight. A medic, Sarah, and two soldiers stood over
him. Calvin knew it was Shen. He felt an icy spear of pain cut
through him, and couldn’t suppress a flashback of that moment,
running through the glass corridor—almost to the gunship, when Shen
had proven willing to sacrifice himself to save Calvin. Considering
how valuable and unique Shen was, it seemed like such a
waste.
Why did I allow him to tag along on
the away mission?

The Nighthawk’s entire medical staff had
been activated and put to work to deal with the influx of injuries,
but on a ship this small that consisted of only six people—all of
whom were now scrambling about the infirmary like bees in a hive.
Most active of all was Rain, who practically jogged around the
room, giving orders with an aura of command Calvin wouldn’t have
expected from her. Her brilliant red hair stood out brightly
against the drab white and grey of the infirmary and, as Calvin
looked at her, and saw the passion with which she worked, he felt
something. There was something compelling about this uniquely
compassionate and admittedly rather attractive woman.

Calvin walked deeper into the room, not
surprised that his presence went unnoticed and unacknowledged. The
staff was wildly busy, and obviously frustrated—the humans’
knowledge of Polarian physiology was limited and the Polarian’s
field medic had been slain. At least treating lacerations and
setting bones couldn’t be too different across species, Calvin
hoped.

The infirmary felt crowded with all the
equipment, the many patients—most of whom weren’t exactly small—the
staff, and the armed guards all taking up space, it was difficult
to avoid bumping into people. Two patients had SF soldiers standing
over them, the captive they took on Remus Nine and Shen. Both
occupied cots on the far side of the room and wore restraints.
Neither stirred.

Calvin spotted Rez’nac in the near corner.
He was leaning against the wall, clearly trying to stay out of the
way while still keeping a watch over his men. Calvin needed to
discuss the murder investigation with him, and share the new
intelligence that a Polarian had been at the scene of the crime at
some point—but decided that now, in the face of such grief and
suffering, was not the appropriate time. He took a deep breath and
walked up to the Polarian leader, not quite sure what to say.

“
It is an honor to see you,
Captain,” said Rez’nac.

“
The honor is mine,” Calvin
replied, uncomfortable with the level of respect Rez’nac gave him.
As he looked up at the much taller and broader figure of the aged
Polarian, Calvin could see many deep bruises. The injuries
blackened his mostly grey skin. And around his leg and stomach were
bandages that had nearly bled through. Calvin looked Rez’nac in the
eyes and saw both pain and fatigue, but the Polarian leader masked
his agony and did not complain. Even though he was far more beaten
than Calvin had previously realized. “Are you alright?” asked
Calvin.

“
I am buoyed by the
Essences. For that I am grateful. Clearly my work is not yet
done.”

Calvin didn’t quite know what that meant,
but interpreted it as resilient optimism. “I want to thank you
personally,” said Calvin, as the images flowed in his mind of
Rez’nac and the other Polarians faithfully defending the rest of
the shore party. How they’d put themselves purposefully out on the
perimeter where they’d taken the most savage beating, and paid the
dearest price. “You and your men gave up much for us and this
mission. I...” Calvin struggled to find adequate words. “Never
before have I seen such valor.”

“
I am grateful for your
words, Human captain,” said Rez’nac. “But I assure you we did no
more than our sacred duty. No thanks is required.”

“
Still
, required or not, you have my sincerest thanks. If there is
anything I can do to make things better for you, please say the
word.”

A calm expression passed over Rez’nac’s face
and though he did not smile—if he even could—he did seem pleased by
Calvin’s sincere and inadequate tribute. “You must continue doing
your sacred duty,” said Rez’nac. “And so will we. There is nothing
more to ask.”

Calvin nodded. “I would like to have a
memorial service on the observation deck with most of the crew to
honor your fallen. Your people paid a heavier price than anyone and
it’s only right that we honor their sacrifice. I’d like to do the
service according to your traditions—I feel that would be the most
appropriate. But, since I don’t know them, I’ll need your help
making the arrangements. If you’re willing.”