Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon (11 page)

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought or worried about it,” Jason said, getting up from his chair. “Get some sleep, buddy. I have a feeling the next few days are going to suck.”

*****

“Jason … how in the six hells do you get yourself wrapped up into these situations?” Kellea Colleren asked in a pained voice.

“You guys have six hells? We have one. Or nine, depending on who you ask,” Jason said. “Although—”

“I’m serious,” she said sternly. “Galvetic politics are dangerous. If they catch you meddling around, they’ll kill your entire crew without a second thought or any due process. We’d be powerless to stop them as they have no interest in outside interference.”

“I know, Kellea,” he said, the next sarcastic comment dying on his lips. “We’ll be careful. If we can get Fordix out of custody we may have a chance at seeing what we’re really up against. If it gets too wild I can always pull the plug.” She looked at him dubiously for a moment.

“You’ve mentioned that option many times, and yet I’ve never seen you walk away despite the numerous times you should have,” she said with a resigned sigh. “Crisstof will want a full debrief afterwards … assuming you survive.”

“Assuming that,” Jason agreed. “Anyway, I’m just giving you a heads up on what we’re doing and where we’re at. I’ll try to keep you apprised as we go along, but only if I have a secure connection.”

“Understood,” she said. “We’re a week away from your current position, but we’ll always have a strong com connection.”

“Sounds good,” Jason said. “We’ll talk again soon.”

“Be careful, Jason,” she said quickly before cutting the connection. He sat for a moment in the
Phoenix’s
com room, staring at the now-blank screen. The others were down in the cargo hold and armory gearing up for their upcoming mission. He was taking the time to reach out to Kellea and ensure the
Phoenix
was properly locked down once they were away. The plan they had tentatively agreed upon required they leave the gunship behind as they traveled to Galvetor, a prospect he wasn’t thrilled about, but could find no way around. His ship would likely not be given clearance to land, and an unaffiliated warship dropping in usually made security forces nervous and tightened up response times.

“Computer, lock out main memory core and prepare the ship for defensive posture alpha-one-one,” he said.

“Please confirm command code,” the computer said.

“One-eight-six-delta-four-four-one-seven.”

“Please confirm final command authorization.”

“Denver Broncos, 1969 Yenko Camaro,” Jason said. There were a few beeps and warbles from the console before he received confirmation.

“Confirmation accepted,” the computer said. “Defensive posture alpha-one-one will commence after final departure. Computer memory core is now secured and locked; any tampering will result in core destruction.”

Jason hopped out of the seat and walked out into the main corridor of the command deck, colliding with Connimon as he did.

“What are you doing up here?” he demanded harshly.

“My apologies, Captain,” she said with a nod. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You didn’t startle me,” Jason said, trying to soften his tone. “I just don’t like anyone wandering the command deck on my ship without my knowledge.”

“Of course,” she said. “I came to inform you that we’re ready to begin mission planning and briefing in the cargo bay.” She walked back down to the main deck as Jason watched from the doorway of the com room, a frown still creasing his face.

“Computer,” he said, “rotate command codes to secondary protocol.”

“Please confirm command authorization,” the computer said. Jason repeated his uniquely Earthling command authorization and shut off the consoles before heading to the cargo bay himself.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s get started,” Morakar said as Jason descended the steps from the crew hatch mezzanine to the cargo bay deck. Even with the secretive nature of the order, Crusher made it clear he wanted to let only essential personnel in on the plan to spring Fordix from Casguard. He also quickly put down the loud dissent that arose when he informed them that Jason, Lucky, and Kage would be joining the strike team. The leadership felt it should be an all-gelten operation and that outsiders would just get in the way. Crusher knew that the unique skills of his crew would be needed, but rather than explain that, he simply commanded their silence and obedience.

Jason knew that things worked differently on Restaria, in the Legions, and especially where the Archon was concerned, but he was becoming increasingly worried about the shift in Crusher’s demeanor. He was thrilled his friend was back among his people and shocked, as well as proud, to learn what he was to them, but he could feel the tight cohesion of his unit beginning to slip. Relationships and discipline that had been honed over years together and countless hours of live operations were shifting as Crusher’s tendency towards command began to reassert itself. It wasn’t that Jason’s ego was so big that he felt threatened, but he knew what happened when there was confusion about the chain of command. This was a worst case scenario: Lucky and Kage would follow Jason without question, while the gelten contingent would only listen to Crusher. He hoped their careful planning would negate this fundamental flaw in their team’s structure.

“Why are we meeting in here?” Zetarix said, looking around the
Phoenix’s
hold with undisguised disdain.

“This is the only truly secure location on all of Restaria,” Crusher said. “If word of this leaks out and compromises the mission, we’ll know it was one of you.”

“I’m not sure I appreciate the insinuation, Lord Felex,” Fostel said. “What’s to say it isn’t any of your people?”

“Because we have no motivation to betray you,” Jason said, looking the older warrior in the eye.

“And because the integrity of Omega Force is absolute,” Crusher finished forcefully. “The Archon’s Fist, however, is a huge question for us. While I may appreciate what its intention is, you cannot guarantee the order has not been infiltrated. The fact that I still have an unclear picture as to what the hell is going on between Galvetor and Restaria only heightens my distrust.”

“Let’s get back to the op,” Jason suggested. “Morakar?”

“Thank you, Captain Burke,” Morakar said with a nod. “In order to get close to Casguard Prison we will, of course, need to get to Galvetor undetected. This means we won’t be able to take something obvious like a legion shuttle or this fine warship. Instead, we’ve procured a standard supply shuttle and made the necessary modifications for a discreet infiltration.”

“What sort of mods?” Twingo asked.

“Scanner masks to hide how many lifeforms are aboard as well as any weaponry,” Mazer answered. “Upgraded engines and layered armor added to the inside of the hull.”

“Do you mind if I take a look at it?” the engineer asked.

“Of course not, but time is short,” Mazer said with a frown.

“I won’t need long,” Twingo mumbled, already making notes on his data pad.

“We also have a current transponder code that will allow us to land at Cessell Spaceport, which is only fifty kilometers away from the prison,” Morakar continued. “Our necessary, and more illicit, equipment is already on Galvetor with a sympathetic contingent on the homeworld.”

“What the hell?” Jason interrupted. “We’re parking our getaway ride right next to the scene of the crime?”

“We’ll get picked up for sure,” Kage piped up. “They’ll lock that spaceport down first thing.”

“If I may continue,” Morakar said in a pained voice, “we will not be using the shuttle for exfil, and it is meant to be found.

“We will move directly from Cessell City to the outlying settlement of Ketallis, which is near a lake to the north. There we have a fully operational tactical spacecraft that has been equipped with the best sensor-stealthing technology we could afford. That will get us, and Fordix, back to Restaria where the Archon’s Fist stands ready to keep us hidden as we plan the next phase of our operation based on what information Fordix gives us.”

“Why hasn’t Fordix briefed you on this information before now?” Crusher asked.

“Your mentor, while sympathetic to our cause, has never fully aligned himself with our order,” Morakar said. “He said it was for our own protection. His frequent travels to Galvetor and interaction with the government made him paranoid. He was sure he was being watched and feared that even casual contact with us could compromise the entire movement.”

“He was probably right about that,” Crusher conceded. “Although I can’t believe the relationship with Galvetor has become so contentious that they would have the intelligence service keep tabs on an elder statesman like Fordix.”

“We never believed they would have you exiled,” Mutabor said quietly, the first time he’d spoken during the entire brief. Crusher just nodded and gestured for Morakar to continue.

The briefing lasted for another hour as all the team members asked questions and committed the details to memory. Jason was not happy about the lack of time to rehearse or prepare, but the Praetores insisted that there was no time to delay. Their fear was that, even in a prison of mostly non-warrior geltens, Fordix’s life could be in danger. The same forces that were able to bypass the Galvetic justice system and have him imprisoned could no doubt reach out and have him quietly executed as he slept in his cell.

*****

“Looks like you’re good to go, Captain,” Twingo said as he pulled off a set of heavy work gloves. “They did a decent job of the upgrades and I was able to fix the issues they were having with the power generators and the flight stability systems. They put so much additional armor near the cockpit that it was a bit nose heavy.”

“Power generators?” Jason asked, eyeing the shuttle skeptically. “So you’re saying—”

“Yep,” the engineer confirmed. “This old bucket still uses the engines to provide system power to the rest of the ship. No standalone powerplant. Nothing to worry about though on a flight this short through such well-traveled spacelanes.”

“While true from a technical standpoint, I’m not sure being picked up by a Galvetic patrol ship will be helpful with three aliens and a political exile onboard,” Jason pointed out.

“True,” Twingo conceded. “So why are Doc and I stuck here?”

“Why would I need you along?”

“Well, if this Fordix character is hurt Doc would come in handy,” Twingo said.

“I didn’t just ask about Doc,” Jason said as he continued his walk around the small intrasystem shuttle.

“I’m a good luck charm,” Twingo said. “Things tend to go much more smoothly if I’m along.”

“Really? I’ve never noticed that,” Jason said. “In fact, I’d say the last two major screw ups were directly attributed to you.”

“Yes,” Twingo admitted, “but we were still able to successfully complete the mission. That’s where the luck comes in.”

“You’re not going,” Jason said. “I need you here.”

“Doing what?”

“Not being in the shuttle,” Jason said. “What do you have for me, Lucky?”

“I completed the gear inspection as you requested, Captain,” Lucky said as he walked up to the pair. “My own sensors were unable to detect anything that should not be there.”

“What’s this?” Twingo asked. “Distrustful of our new friends?”

“Distrustful is a strong word,” Jason said, “but no, I trust nobody that isn’t Omega Force at this point in the operation.”

“Which is a good thing I installed three different passive trackers on this bird that the
Phoenix
can activate remotely and track,” Twingo said.

“Clever,” Jason said approvingly.

“Like I said … lucky,” Twingo said, pointing at himself with his four thumbs.

“What?” Lucky asked as he walked up.

“No, I was saying … eh, never mind,” Twingo said.

“Did I miss something?” Lucky asked as the engineer walked away.

“Yes, but nothing important enough to repeat,” Jason said. “Let’s go get the others and get this show on the road.”

*****

The small transit shuttle was surprisingly nimble as it rocketed up through Restaria’s atmosphere, even with the additional weight the tech crews had added in armament and armor. Jason flew up and through the thermosphere towards their intersect point for one of Restaria’s standard transfer orbits. He accelerated along the designated vector before the computer picked up the planet’s nav system beacon and took over. This particular shuttle didn’t allow him to retain manual flight authority like the
Phoenix
did, so he just sat back to enjoy the ride.

There had been some heated debate about who would fly the shuttle. Crusher said Jason was the obvious choice and the most skilled pilot in the group, but Mazer thought Morakar should do it since he had been the mission planner and team leader up to the moment Crusher was brought back into the fold. In the end Jason presented it to the group in a manner that made it look like he was accepting piloting duties as a favor to Morakar so the latter wouldn’t have to deal with inconsequential details like babysitting the flight computer of a cargo shuttle. Morakar made a show of thanking Jason for his generous offer, thus saving face in front of the group that had gathered around the discussion.

“We were just accepted by the nav system so it looks like our credentials are still good,” Jason announced, kicking the seat release with his foot so he could back it away from the console and swivel around to see everybody. “Now it’s a long and hopefully boring flight until Gaveltor’s traffic system picks us up.”

“Any chance our credentials won’t pass scrutiny there?” Mazer asked.

“Practically none,” Jason said. “When I entered our destination of Cessell Spaceport, there was a handshake between the two systems before it was accepted. If there was an issue on that end it would have kicked us out of the pattern here and alerted your fleet.” Since Restaria and Galvetor shared such similar orbits, with the former’s apogee extending out several hundred thousand kilometers further than the latter’s, the usual procedure was to depart one and essentially begin decelerating immediately, slowing while the other came around Galvetor Prime and caught up. It was a bit more complicated than that, but the end result was that a flight that would take the
Phoenix
less than ten minutes was going to be the better part of fifteen hours.