The Phoenix Darkness (42 page)

Mira looked back at him and then, to his
surprise, smiled. “As you wish, Captain,” she said, in her
sweetest, most obedient tone. Then she left.

Dangerous bitch
…he thought, pouring
himself a third shot. He had to be careful with that one, had to
remain vigilant. Above all, she could not be allowed to gain
knowledge of the isotome weapon. Such a weapon in her hands would
be almost as dangerous as one in the hands of the Rahajiim.

Chapter 17

They stood together, each with their arms in
shackles in front of them. They wore their normal clothes; the
Rotham had no suitable prison garb for them. Clustered together,
near the main hatch, they waited. Out the small windows that lined
the wall, stars could be seen, apparently in motion, as the
destroyer itself moved, maneuvering them deep inside the heart of
the Rahajiim fleet.

“How are they going to be sure we dock with
the supercruiser and not some other ship?” asked Calvin to
Alex.

“We will pass the supercruiser and, when we
do, we’ll have engine trouble, necessitating that we dock with the
nearest starship. Because we have valuable prisoners, the
supercruiser will happily accept us,” said Alex.

“That’s the plan, anyway,” said Calvin,
thinking a number of things could go wrong with it.

“That’s right.” Alex and the fifteen other
Rotham who were with them, each elite Advent soldiers, were clad in
the dull grey uniforms of the Rotham Dendari soldiers. Unlike the
Teldari, who were considered a respected fighting class among
Rotham culture, the Dendari ranks consisted of ex-convicts, the
poor, and others who'd been pressed into service. As such, they
were looked at disdainfully and tended to be given little notice,
aside from ridicule. The Nau had thought this disguise was best for
his people on this mission, partly because it was strategically
useful to be underestimated, and because it would help the humans,
and Rez’nac, to distinguish between friendly and non-friendly
Rotham.

Calvin remembered briefing his people on this
aspect of the plan. Rain had asked “Which are the good Rotham,
again?” and Miles had replied, “There are no good Rotham.” It had
elicited a smirk from Calvin then, but now, as he saw Miles, who
looked very angry—Calvin worried Miles might, in the heat of
passion, fire on their allies. The mission required that he did
not. If he did, they’d all be killed.

“Whatever you do,” said Calvin to his
teammates, but most particularly to Miles, “keep your cool and
follow the plan.”

They acknowledged him.

The ship turned and there was some discussion
between the Rotham. “What is it?” asked Calvin, once they’d gone
quiet.

“It looks like the ruse worked,” said Alex.
“They've ordered us to dock with the supercruiser. The way we’re
aiming, it looks like we’re to land in Hangar A, just like we
hoped.”

So far so good
, thought Calvin, eager
to be rid of his shackles. As the view from the small windows was
gradually replaced by bright yellow bulkhead, he knew their ship
was about to land.

“Rafael, here,” said Calvin. He opened his
palm which had been squeezing the data disc Alex had supplied him
and handed it to Rafael. “Hide it. When we get to the AIC, you know
what to do.”

Rafael nodded, taking the disc.

The ship came to a stop and the hatch before
them started to depressurize.
Here goes nothing
.

***

Rafael marched out of the ship and down the
ramp into the vast hangar of the supercruiser, following along with
the others. The prisoners were made to exit the destroyer in single
file with a Dendari soldier on either side. They were met on the
ground by a similarly sized Teldari force, sixteen soldiers instead
of the Advent’s fifteen. The lead Dendari officer began to approach
the lead Teldari officer. When he’d apparently gotten too close,
there was some angry hissing.

“Stay where you are, scum,” said the Teldari
officer as best as Rafael could translate it.

The Dendari officer stopped and stood in his
place, just like he’d been told. He opened his mouth to speak, but
was interrupted by a great many comments from the host of Teldari
soldiers. Most of it was jeers and mockery. There were many
derogatory remarks aimed at the Dendari for simply being Dendari.
Fascinating
, thought Rafael. Among the Rotham, it was almost
like the Dendari were such a subclass they were almost a different,
lesser species. Curiously enough, many of the derogatory remarks
aimed at the Dendari, who stood and took them in silence with heads
bowed, as if ashamed of themselves, compared them to humans.
Well, I guess that shows what they think of us
, thought
Rafael.

Eventually, the Teldari officer called an end
to the mocking, and his soldiers quieted down. Then the Teldari
officer addressed the Dendari officer. “You bring us gifts, I see,”
he said, looking at the prisoners, one at a time. Rafael tried to
look as ignorant as the others, even though he understood nearly
every word. “The Great Nau is pleased to accept them; you may
go.”

The Dendari officer did not move.

“Are you deaf?” asked the Teldari officer.
“Or just stupid? I told you to get your filthy feet off this ship
and back into your destroyer. The repair will be completed in short
order, and then you and your kind may leave.”

The Dendari officer still did not move. This
seemed to enrage the Teldari officer.

“Speak, then. Why are you still standing
here?” asked the Teldari officer.

“I am ordered not to return,” said the
Dendari officer.

“
Outrageous
, who gives this
order?”

“Nau T’orrna.”

“A
Nau
?” asked the Teldari officer,
partly disbelieving and partly seeming afraid to question if it
were true.

“What are we to do with you, then?” asked the
Teldari officer, after thinking it over. His question was met by
murmurs among the Teldari soldiers, who obviously didn’t want any
Dendari on their ship. The Teldari officer swiftly silenced his
men, then listened to the Dendari officer recite his instructions
from Nau T’orrna.

“We are to assist in delivering these
prisoners to your detention block,” said the Dendari officer.

“We need no assistance,” said the Teldari
officer, insulted.

“It is the Nau’s wish.”

“
Fine
; what else? Then you return to
your ship?”

“No. We are to be left here,” said the
Dendari officer. “To be put to whatever use your Great Nau would
have of us.”

“He would have you licking the toilets,” said
the Teldari officer, looking disgraced to have to have this
conversation with such a lowly being.

“If that is what the Great Nau wishes,” said
the Dendari officer, deadpan.

“So be it,” said the Teldari officer, much to
his obvious chagrin. “Keep our new prisoners in hand and come with
us.”

***

The Rotham had silenced their dissonant
hissing back and forth, and Rez’nac knew their conversation had
ended. Whatever they’d discussed, it had reached a resolution, and
by all appearances the plan was working. The group of them was told
to advance, still single file, with guards aplenty on either side.
They walked toward the exit of the hangar.

As Rez’nac thought back on the exchange he’d
just witnessed, he’d found it somewhat illuminating. While he was
no expert in the Rotham tongue, and knew it often could sound
sharper than it truly was, it had nevertheless seemed these Rotham
soldiers had spoken of the others in a way which sounded much less
friendly than brothers-in-arms ought to address one another.

It is true what they say of the
Rotham
, he thought: all that they value is the individual. They
have no sense of oneness. It is no surprise that their kind had no
Essence to return to; they had clearly not come from any.

They rounded a corner and entered a large
corridor. The group of them continued to march in formation; other
staff and officers got out of their way. The farther they went, the
more certain Rez’nac was that the sign would be given. It must be
any moment now.

Rez’nac knew the plan, and he would do his
part obediently, just as Calvin had asked of him, even though, as a
fallen one, obedience should mean nothing to him anymore, Rez’nac
knew. Certainly obedience and honor could avail him nothing now. He
was cursed. He was damned. But he refused to accept he’d become a
dark one. Not yet. Not fully. And that, he supposed, was why he
still clung to his old ways, to the rituals, to giving honor to the
Essences, which, he knew, would only reject them. He knew of no
other way to be, and wished to be no other way. He'd once been of
Khalahar and honored the duties of that coveted Essence. Part of
that duty had been obedience when obedience was required. Rez’nac
clung to that, even though he knew that, for him, it was nothing
but air.

They rounded another corner and entered a
large, round room. Here, the three elevator pylons were in plain
sight.
This must surely be the place
, he thought.

Sure enough, the instant they’d arrived, the
Dendari officer closed his right hand into a tight fist, the subtle
signal, and then the Dendari rushed the unsuspecting Teldari,
virtually pouncing upon them. In a blur of martial strikes, snapped
necks, and knife slashes while hands cupped mouths to stifle
screams, it was a massacre. The heat of the battle around him
overtook him and, without thinking, Rez’nac charged the Teldari
officer who was still standing and pulled his shackles around the
man’s neck. Then Rez’nac pulled tightly, toward his muscular chest
with all the force he could muster, intending to suffocate the
Teldari officer by closing his windpipe.

But Rotham bodies are frailer than Polarian
bodies, even frailer than humans, and without meaning to, Rez’nac
completely decapitated the Teldari officer with his shackles. The
head dropped to the floor and rolled to a stop next to the
collapsed body.

The Dendari looked at him, their golden eyes
wide with surprise; then they rushed to eliminate the mess as fast
as they could before more personnel arrived. In all, the battle
lasted mere seconds, and the Dendari had successfully managed to
eliminate the Teldari without firing a shot or allowing a single
scream. Silent and swift, just as the plan had called for.

The Dendari tossed bodies down the garbage
chute and did what they could about the mess. Unfortunately, the
splatter of blood from the decapitation was a stain they could not
eliminate. They spent a few seconds soaking up the blood with their
own uniforms, as much of it as they could, until it was a small,
dry stain on the floor. Only then did they begin unshackling the
prisoners, despite Calvin’s repeated pleas that they unshackle the
prisoners first so they could help.

The Dendari came to unshackle Rez’nac last.
The soldier who brought the key over and clicked it into the lock
seemed nervous and, as soon as Rez’nac was free, the man made sure
to scurry away from him. The Dendari themselves were already armed,
but they selected for themselves the superior weapons from among
the Teldari’s leavings. Then they distributed the remaining weapons
to the newly freed prisoners. Rez’nac was handed a large rifle.

This…this I can use
,” he thought. They
boarded the central elevator and gave it the command to move up two
decks to the Action Information Center. Rez’nac recalled the plan
and remembered Calvin’s precise instructions for what to do the
instant they got there.

***

The Teldari had been wrong to mock
these
Dendari; that much was clear! The Advent Elite had
proven their skill and, in what could only be described as a
massacre, slaughtered the entire Teldari squad in a matter of
seconds with hardly a sound. Perfectly coordinated, each soldier
went for his predetermined target. It had been one of the most
violent displays Calvin had ever seen, yet he'd been impressed by
it. Even Rez’nac had gotten the chance to take out a great deal of
his fury by getting his shackles around the neck of the last
standing Teldari and swiftly decapitating him. Much earlier, Calvin
had instructed his people to duck for cover the minute the fighting
broke out, and they did. But it had proven entirely unnecessary.
He'd never seen a more efficient display of killing in all his
life, and he prayed he’d never have to face the Advent Elite in
hand-to-hand combat.

Now they stood in the elevator as it whirred,
shooting them upward one deck and then two. It stopped them
suddenly and an ominous pause lingered in that moment just before
the door would open. Calvin used the tiny relief to steel himself
and remind himself exactly what he needed to do. The Advent
expected the humans, who now carried arms, Calvin had some kind of
energy pistol, to engage in the firefight in the AIC. Calvin had
given his team other instructions; they were to stay back as much
as possible and, once out of the elevator, dive for cover, letting
the Advent do most of the fighting and, more importantly, take most
of the casualties. Calvin glanced at Rain and she nodded as if
understanding his unspoken question.
Yes, she would stay behind
Calvin so he could keep her safe
.

The door slid open. Immediately, the Advent
Elite began to pour through it. About five made it through before
the enemy realized they were under attack. The sound of beam
weapons could be heard, and the room ahead lit up, almost
blindingly with so many flashes. The elevator now was a deathtrap,
so Calvin ordered his people through. One by one they rushed out
and dove for cover behind consoles, terminals, stairs, anything
they could find. Calvin led Rain out last, and the two of them dove
to the left and found some cover behind a communications panel.