The Phoenix War (15 page)

More isotome weapons?
One of the few
silver-linings of Shen’s disastrous mission to Remus Nine, where
he’d been bitten by a type-one Remorii and many Polarians had paid
the ultimate price—was the belief that he and the others had
sacrificed in order to protect the galaxy from weapons so lethal
that entire star systems could be obliterated. Murder by the
billions. But if the weapons survived… then what exactly had the
sacrifice been for?

“I thought we destroyed the isotome missiles
on Remus Nine,” said Shen. He remembered the deafening boom as the
structure holding the missiles was destroyed by the explosives
Calvin’s team had planted.

“We didn’t destroy them all,” said Sarah. “It
turns out there are more.”

“But not for long,” added Summers.

Shen recalled how the person they’d met with
on the surface of Remus Nine, a man who looked human but had proven
to be a replicant, had told them that half the isotome weapons were
safely away and only half were in the silo on Remus Nine. Shen had
assumed it was merely a bluff. But apparently that was too much to
hope for…

Just my luck
, he thought.
The
mission I go on, the mission that almost kills me, the mission that
steals my humanity from me—transforming me into a monster, turns
out to be less than completely successful. At least it wasn’t a
complete failure..
.

“Shouldn’t we be on our way to pick up
Calvin?” asked Shen. He hadn’t seen Calvin since the Remus Nine
mission and the last moments of that were blurry in his mind. He
tried to close his eyes and remember the details, but whenever he
did he couldn’t see Calvin. All he could see was Tristan. The
self-serving, secretive, slippery lycanthrope standing there, still
as silence, waiting just beyond. Watching. Red eyes glowing, almost
seeming to call to Shen. Beckoning. Urging him to approach. It made
Shen sick.

“Calvin gave us our orders and we shall carry
them out,” said Summers. “We are to follow any lead regarding the
isotome weapons and ensure their destruction. That is our
mandate.”

“And what about Calvin?” asked Shen.

“Calvin is with Princess Kalila aboard the
ISS Black Swan. As I’m sure you’re aware, the princess has declared
herself Queen of the Empire. No doubt she has put Calvin to use in
her effort to assert her claim,” said Summers. “I, for one, am
grateful not to have been pulled into the politics. We have bigger
fish to fry than worrying about who will sit the empty throne.
Whole planets are in our hands, depending on us to protect them. I
suggest you focus completely on that, Mister Iwate, and not worry
so much about Calvin.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, somewhat begrudgingly.
He missed Calvin. Even though he was afraid to see him, afraid to
show his face to his friend and be seen in this state, as the
monster he now was, he still wished Calvin were here. Summers had
proved herself to be a skilled-enough commander, and loyal on all
accounts. From what he’d heard, Summers had apparently saved the
Nighthawk while Shen had been on the surface of Remus Nine with
Calvin. And it
was
true that, so long as isotome weapons
remained at large, they were the most urgent threat. But none of
that reasoning, no matter how sound, would satisfy Shen. The plain
and simple fact was that Summers was no Calvin. And so long as
anyone else was sitting in the command chair, the universe felt
wrong.

Be safe
, thought Shen as he did his
duty and kept watch over the ops controls and all of the
Nighthawk’s systems.
Don’t die out there, Calvin, whatever you
do. Don’t die
.

“The ISS Radiant confirms jump,” reported the
Black Swan’s comms chief. “That’s all of them, Your Majesty.”

“Very good,” replied Kalila. She stood
resolute, her face unreadable, her expression iron.

Calvin watched her from across the bridge.
She was no longer the warm, enchanting, semi-seductive princess
that had charmed him back on Tau Station. Now she was something
else, something stronger. And something colder too. He’d noticed
the change when Kalila had declared herself Queen of the Empire,
but perhaps it hadn’t truly been a change. Perhaps the act had
revealed who she really was, and Calvin had simply failed to
realize it until now.

Even though Captain Adiger sat in the CO’s
chair, there was no mistaking who held the true command here. Not
just over the ship but also over the entire fleet now sailing
through alteredspace to their new destination, to rendezvous with
the rest of the ships rallying to Kalila’s banner by the dozens.
Taken together, they promised to be a terrific force.
But will
it be enough
? Calvin was skeptical.

Not long after Kalila had proclaimed herself
Queen of the Empire, the Assembly had proceeded to declare her an
Enemy of the State. The motion passed only narrowly, but pass it
did. And now all Imperial citizens were being urged by their
elected representatives to render Kalila no assistance, no support,
and abandon her. Calvin remembered seeing Caerwyn Martel’s fat face
as he was broadcast from the Assembly Floor to all the worlds and
ships of the Empire.

“Kalila Akira and anyone and everyone who is
rendering her assistance in any way, including Albert Adiger and
Calvin Cross, are hereby declared Enemies of the State! And all
citizens of this great nation, all followers of our rich Imperial
tradition, all humans
everywhere
, are charged with the duty
to do them harm whenever possible, and to
kill them
if they
are able!”

Calvin hadn’t been too surprised when his
name was read. He’d become a public figure the moment Kalila had
chosen to raise him to the position of Executor, and both he and
Captain Adiger had been in the frame with Kalila, at her
insistence, during the broadcast when Kalila declared herself
queen. Calvin understood then, even though Kalila gave different
reasons, that the purpose of including both of them in the
broadcast was to permanently tie them to her cause. Neither of them
could safely revoke her, or defect, since they were now irrevocably
anchored to her in the minds and memories of the entire Empire.

But there was no harm done, Calvin supposed.
Captain Adiger seemed completely loyal to Kalila, perhaps to a
fault. And as for Calvin himself, he threw in for Kalila as well.
Despite the meager whisper of a suspicion—a mere inkling,
really—that Kalila might have been complicit in the brutal
execution of the king and the other heirs, Calvin stood behind her.
At least he knew for a fact that Kalila was not part of the Phoenix
Ring conspiracy. And he couldn’t support the Assembly, they were
fast proving to be as inept as they were corrupt. Among other
things, they’d still failed to elect a “proper” successor to the
monarchy, while simultaneously denying Kalila’s claim. Helping them
only helped establish a vacuum of power at the summit of the
Imperial political structure. With inevitable war against the
Rotham Republic looming overhead, an empty throne seemed like an
even more terrible idea than usual. And to top it all off, Caerwyn
Martel and many others who Calvin was sure were connected to the
Phoenix Ring—whatever was left of it—seemed to have the most
influence and power in the Assembly. Which meant giving the
Assembly more power, especially the powers of the monarchy, meant
little else than a guarantee that the reins of humanity’s destiny
would be held by fat, corrupt fingers that cared little for the
wellbeing of humankind and much for the benefit of a small few.

And so the die is cast
, Calvin thought
as he stared at the many officers manning the vast bridge of the
mighty Black Swan. Comrades who shared his destiny, and his fate.
More and more it seemed that the forces of the once-mighty Imperial
war-machine were splitting into two factions, and those factions
would soon rip each other apart. And then the one still standing
when the dust settled, with whatever forces were left, would need
to face down the awesome power of the Republic Fleet, and maybe
even the hordes of starships comprising the Polarian Armada, and if
the universe was truly, terribly, overwhelmingly cruel… they might
have to face the insatiable maw of the Dread Fleet itself.

We’re dead
, thought Calvin.
We’re
all dead
. It no longer seemed like a matter of whether the wars
to come would kill him and everyone else, but rather
when
.
Forces everywhere were mobilizing. Starships, fighters, missiles,
trained killers, everyone and everything that could be called out
and organized and made ready for battle were sharpening their
swords. Numberless warships and warriors were gathering, shrouded
in the recesses of this deep, black galaxy. He could feel it in his
bones. And all the while, humanity, ignorant and stupid, was
readying for war against itself...
Perhaps it will be lucky if
we fall in the first battle
…

Calvin stared out the main windows and all he
could see was blackness, which he found oddly appropriate. The
officers of the bridge were busy with their various tasks and at
the center Kalila and Captain Adiger were discussing some of the
finer points of strategy. When and where to engage the Assembly’s
fleet, and how to minimize the loss of life while still achieving a
clear victory. It would normally have been a very intriguing
discussion for Calvin, and if circumstances were different he
certainly would’ve wanted to weigh in, but right now, the more he
thought about everything, the sicker he felt. Eventually he asked
to be dismissed so he could leave the bridge.
Perhaps if I got
some sleep
…

“You may be dismissed,” agreed Kalila. “But
before you go, there is something I would discuss with you.”

“Of course,” said Calvin, eager to escape the
bridge and find somewhere he could be alone with his thoughts.

“Not here,” said Kalila, looking around at
the many bridge officers scrambling about, managing every station.
“In my office.”

When they were both safely away from snooping
ears, Kalila opened up to him. “I will get right to the point,
Calvin,” she said. “We both know that I’m massing whatever forces I
can, any and all ships that remain loyal to the crown, and we both
understand that the size and strength of this fleet we are making
is what will decide this conflict. Now consider this: right now
Raidan and his ships and his Organization are an important part of
our fleet. The Harbinger and other ships are currently part of the
backbone of the force that, I hope, will restore peace and order to
our Empire. But… in light of everything else, do you think…” She
seemed uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a moment.

Calvin tried to help. “You want to know if
you can trust Raidan,” he said. “You want me to reassure you that
he is loyal to your cause.”

“What I want to know, Calvin, is if it’s wise
to trust Raidan and his allies so implicitly. And if it isn’t,
whether or not I have any other choice.”

It probably wasn’t wise to trust Raidan
implicitly. Summers had sternly warned him as much and Calvin knew
that Raidan seldom let his grander motives and designs into the
light of day. But the second question, as to whether or not Kalila
had any choice in trusting Raidan, was much harder to answer. So
Calvin gave it a moment’s thought before replying.

“Raidan is a dangerous man,” said Calvin at
last. “And his allies are dangerous too. I already told you about
Cepheus, about the slaughter there; you know what he’s capable of.
Raidan is clever, and he’s no stranger to guile and misdirection.
But I also know that when the chips are down, Raidan is willing to
fight, and kill, and do what it takes to get what he wants. He and
his forces saved my life, and those of my crew, when we were taken
captive by a Rotham squadron. Raidan rescued us and fought off our
enemies, tooth and nail, so we could live. But I don’t think he did
that out of the kindness of his heart, or for sympathy, or for
compassion. I think we were useful to him and his plan, and so he
was actually acting for his benefit, not ours. The two just
happened to coincide.”

Kalila’s eyes looked at him intently as she
hung on every word, listening carefully. He knew they were the same
beautiful brown irises he’d stared into before, the same ones that
had melted him before her very presence, but somehow they seemed
different now. More distant. More commanding. More intimidating…
The very thought that he had once longed to take her in his arms
and hold her and maybe one day call her wife, as impossible as he’d
known that to be, made him feel a thousand-times-over a fool.

“Raidan is a powerful ally and would surely
make a dangerous enemy,” Calvin went on. “And the way things stand,
at least right now, he wants you on the throne and not anyone from
the Assembly. His Organization has a history of opposing the very
conspiracy that you and I fought together down on Capital World. I
think Raidan, and the others too, will prove their worth in the
battles to come. But I would be careful with him. Don’t take his
loyalty for granted, and never take anything he says or does at
face value. But so long as he has a reason to want the same thing
you want, he’ll serve. And when the fighting heats up, you can bet
he won’t run.”

“And this White Rook who runs Raidan’s
Organization, do you know anything of her?”

“Probably not more than you,” Calvin
admitted. “Raidan told me that White Rook was in charge, and that
White Rook was a woman, but other than that I know nothing. For all
I know White Rook is an alias and Raidan himself runs everything; I
doubt it’s the case, but I can’t base that on anything other than
my gut intuition and Raidan’s word.”

“And do you have any idea what the relative
strength is of the Organization’s fleets?”