The Phoenix Crisis (39 page)

“
I’ll see that it’s done,”
said Tristan. “Now, what are your next orders for the Arcane
Storm?”

“
I have a feeling things are
about to get very hot near the DMZ. I need eyes over there. Go to
that region of space and keep tabs on things. Let me know if you
see any… unusual border crossings. But be careful not to engage any
incoming ships.”

Tristan saluted. “I’ll go immediately.”

“
Very good,” said Raidan and
he terminated the call.

Once the Arcane Storm had
uploaded all of its data to the Harbinger via kataspace, Raidan had
it sent to the Nighthawk and to White Rook. He included a note to
Summers Presley to begin investigating this new information
immediately, stating that it concerned isotome weapons that were
likely in enemy hands. He also included a note to White Rook
explaining the threat and requesting specific assistance in
analyzing the data. He also asked for another group to be
positioned near the DMZ. Their ships should be prepped and ready
for an interdiction operation just as soon as they could identify
the ships thought to be carrying the isotome weapons. The operation
would be of the
succeed-at-any-cost
variety
, and the captains of those ships
needed to be prepared to lose their lives if necessary to eliminate
those weapons.

Commander Presley
acknowledged him and said that the Nighthawk’s computer and
analysts would get to work on the data immediately. But she also
made the unusual request—no
demand
—to meet with Raidan in person.
Summers had her charms and Raidan welcomed the chance to see her
again, they had worked as a command team for a long time after all.
But he was suspicious of Summers’ motives.

“
Very well, I agree,” he
said, transmitting his reply to the Nighthawk.

While he awaited Summers’ arrival, he
received word back from White Rook. She acknowledged his request
and said that she would do everything she could. Raidan understood
that the Organization’s resources were pressed thin, and that their
reach had been significantly reduced, but he took White Rook’s
message as a positive sign. White Rook also provided him with an
update on what was happening on Cepheus. Raidan scanned through the
documents with some hesitation. It was like staring at a gruesome
accident, revolting to look at and yet too fascinating to avert
one’s eyes from—except made worse because Raidan knew he’d been the
catalyst behind all the destruction.

The death toll was high and rising, the
planet’s eco-system was struggling, and there were panicked riots
across the surface. The Rotham Republic was having to divert
considerable resources to deal with the problem. Relief ships by
the thousand, and even troop transports. The Republic was even
considering the logistics of a planet-wide evacuation, though
Raidan knew it wouldn’t come to that.

“
What have I done?” he
whispered as he read through the unapologetic, unflinching reports.
They were cold statements of fact about the suffering of very real
people—in numbers he could scarcely imagine. And still there
remained weapons to be fired. Hopefully… it wouldn’t come to that.
But if it did… he knew what he had to do. “May our children forgive
us,” he whispered.

The important details were all positive. The
Republic was not blaming the Empire for the attack, which was
good—Raidan’s greatest fear had been that he would accidentally
trigger a war between the Republic and the Empire—and by all
accounts the Rotham investigators had recovered the evidence the
Organization had planted to implicate the Phoenix Ring. All the
hushed talk was about MXR and its involvement in the attack, and
things looked very positive that the Rotham element of the
conspiracy was breaking ties with the human conspirators. If they
were very lucky, this would lead to the Phoenix Ring’s
collapse.

Eventually he closed the reports and tried
to clear his head. He took a sip of whiskey and waited for Summers
Presley to arrive. He considered greeting her the instant she came
aboard, for old time’s sake, but decided that she should come to
him instead.

***

When Summers boarded the
Harbinger, she did so with mixed feelings. Everything about it from
its haunted grim-grey walls to its cautiously-secretive staff—whose
voices all dropped to whispers around her—felt wrong and
out-of-place. This giant metal beast, this
behemoth
, was like a great statue that
soared the stars in tribute to Raidan, and his lies, and his
deceit, and everything that was wrong and illegitimate about the
galaxy.

But it also served a purpose. And, in so far
as Calvin believed that cooperating with Raidan would help them to
restore the Empire, Summers was willing to play nice and make
things work—but she had every intention of seeing Raidan brought to
justice when this was through. For that matter she was ready to
stand and account for her actions as well, and accept the
consequences.

Her escort took her through the ship and up
several decks until they arrived at the bridge. It was probably the
largest control center she’d ever seen, aside from a starbase, and
she was amazed by the number of people who attended to so many
terminals and coordinated with other staff throughout the ship.
There was so much foot traffic, and so many people coming and
going, that no one paid her any attention. Her escort led her to an
adjoining office and pressed a button, announcing her arrival. The
person on the other side of the door buzzed her in and Summers took
a moment to steel her nerves before entering.

She was greeted by a blank office with
almost no décor. On the far side was an old-fashioned cedar desk
with a whiskey bottle on top of it. Raidan sat in his chair, head
resting on his hands, and he watched her enter in silence—almost
studying her. She felt uncomfortable and seeing him, and his
striking eyes, sent a flurry of emotions through her.

“
Hello Captain,” she said,
in the most neutral voice she could. The door slid closed behind
her.

“
Commander,” said Raidan. “I
take it you have some kind of concern about the ongoing repair of
your ship?”

“
No, the repair and resupply
is going fine,” said Summers. “That is not why I’m
here.”

“
Well then, what can I do
for you, Commander?” He leaned back in his chair looking very
comfortable, very
in
control
. Summers wasn’t about to let him
phase her. She cleared her throat.

“
I’m here for one reason,
and one alone,” she said. Noting a look of curiosity come over
Raidan’s face. He did not interrupt her. “I know that you contacted
Calvin, back when we’d just taken control of the Arcane Storm,”
said Summers. “And I know that you told him you had something
urgent to tell him, something that you would not trust to
kataspace. Calvin sent Second Lieutenant Vargas in his place to
meet with you, as his representative. And Vargas had instructions
to hear what you had to say. I also know that you didn’t trust
Mister Vargas with knowledge of this
urgent
matter, for whatever reason. I
am here to find out what it is.” She folded her arms.

A slight, crooked grin spread across
Raidan’s lips. He looked humored, not threatened. Summers got the
impression Raidan wasn’t taking her seriously.

“
Well?
” pressed Summers.

“
Technically Calvin
contacted me, I didn’t contact him,” said Raidan.

“
And?”

Raidan stared at Summers for a moment,
meeting her eyes with his piercing, cunning orbs. Almost disarming
her. It took everything Summers had to meet his gaze and not look
away. She reminded herself why she was here, and what Raidan had
done—and what Raidan was capable of—and that helped her find her
innermost steel.

“
Mister Vargas wasn’t
Calvin. I see no reason why I should share classified information
with him that was meant for Calvin’s ears, and Calvin’s ears only,”
said Raidan at last. “Especially when Calvin specifically told me
that he would meet me, as arranged, and instead he sends a lesser
officer in his place. And breaks our arrangement.” Raidan allowed
no emotion to inflect his tone, he spoke so matter-of-factly it was
as if he were a robot, but Summers knew him better than that. She
could tell he was personally offended by Calvin’s decision to snub
him and meet with Kalila instead.

“
Calvin had other business
to attend to,” said Summers. “Otherwise he would have met with you
as agreed. He and I,
together
, made the decision that the
other matter was more urgent.”

“
And what was this other
matter, I wonder,” said Raidan. “Something that somehow resulted in
Calvin’s appointment as Executor of the Empire,” he said. “Clearly
Calvin met with the princess and made some kind of deal with the
Akira House,” said Raidan, as if it were as plain and simple to him
as a child’s puzzle. “But it does beg the question… why did Calvin
choose not to trust me with this information?”

“
Calvin was commanded not to
trust anyone with it,” said Summers automatically. “I’m sure he
would have told you if he had been at liberty to do so.”

“
And yet he told you,”
Raidan raised an eyebrow.

Summers wasn’t sure what to say. Raidan was
right, Calvin had violated his orders from Kalila to inform
Summers—for which Summers was grateful—but there was no denying
that it showed Calvin trusted Summers more than he trusted Raidan.
A wise choice, but a hard one to explain to Raidan himself.

“
It weakens an alliance for
trusted allies to withhold information from each other,” said
Raidan. “And to arrange secret deals under the table without the
other’s knowledge. Makes one question a man’s loyalty,” said
Raidan. Summers felt eerily like Raidan was playing a game with
her, as if testing her in some way. She shrugged it off.

“
The situation is what it
is,” said Summers. “We all want to see the Empire purged of
corruption and restored to its proper order. Calvin did what he had
to do to get into a position where he could combat the corruption
directly, and he is hard at work on Capital World going after the
most rotten core of the conspiracy. You, of all people, should be
able to respect and understand his motives.” Now it was her turn to
challenge him. Her eyes narrowed and she watched him
closely.

“
As it happens, Commander,”
said Raidan, “our interests do align, and so I am not upset with
Calvin. Nor do I see his actions as a personal betrayal. I’m proud
of what he’s doing; his efforts might be the thin line that
protects us from the darker elements of this conspiracy—which goes
far deeper than you can imagine. In fact, I intend to enable and
assist Calvin in every way that I possibly can. However, I cannot
tell you what I was going to tell him. I’m sorry.”

Summers wasn’t pleased. “I’ll have you know
that I have Calvin’s full trust and confidence. And I command his
ship, and his crew, in his absence. If there was something you
needed him to know, or something you wanted him to do, you should
tell me. And perhaps I will do it in his stead—so long as it’s in
the best interest of the Empire.”

Raidan shook his head. “I’m sorry,
Commander. It doesn’t work like that.”

“
I know it was something for
which you gave him a twenty-four hour timeframe,” said Summers,
recalling her conversation with Calvin. “A time period that now has
already lapsed. But I still want to know what it was, and whether
or not it’s a consideration that is still in play.”

“
The time period has
lapsed,” said Raidan. “The opportunity is not nearly what it was,
but it’s still in play.” He looked at her squarely. “And if Calvin
wants to know, he’ll have to come tell me that himself.” There was
no compromise in Raidan’s eyes, nor did he seem willing to
negotiate. Summers wasn’t sure whether this refusal was Raidan’s
way of punishing Calvin for breaking their rendezvous, or if he
simply did not trust Summers enough to tell her. Perhaps it was
both.

“
Fine,” said Summers,
realizing there was no longer a point in prolonging this
discussion. “But don’t take Calvin’s support—
or mine
—for granted. I’ll be watching
you.” Her eyes narrowed sharply.

Raidan grinned slightly. “I hope you
do.”

Chapter 28

All of the military channels were abuzz with
the news; Calvin followed the developments closely, wondering
whether it would prove beneficial or detrimental to his cause. He
couldn’t see how it was bad news, but on the other hand there was a
strangeness to the timing. Almost like this was part of some kind
of plan, some kind of design.

The Andromeda, which had been officially
missing since the action at Abia, had returned. Only hours ago it’d
dropped out of alteredspace in Capital System and docked with one
of the orbital outposts. From the images Calvin had found of it,
and the reports he unearthed, the ship was intact and undamaged.
With no scars or signs of the fierce battle it’d taken part in at
Abia. Calvin hoped Vice Admiral Harkov was still in command of the
mighty vessel, if she was she could testify to the Assembly of the
betrayal that’d happened in Abia—further strengthening Calvin’s
case that a conspiracy was afoot. During the fight the Andromeda’s
own flotilla had fired on itself, battleships turning against the
flagship and the destroyers. Within minutes the flotilla had been
shredded to space dust, all but the Andromeda. Which had narrowly
escaped destruction. If Harkov told the Representatives of the
Assembly, and everyone else, about the carnage that had happened in
Abia. About how human ships had fired upon other human ships, and
how brothers had slain brothers in a pointless bloody slaughter…it
might be enough to shake free some of Caerwyn Martel’s supporters.
And bring them over to Kalila’s side. Maybe then Calvin would have
more time to round up the conspiracy’s leaders and expose the
Phoenix Ring. And the Empire would be saved.