The Phoenix War (9 page)

Kalila seemed to consider this for a moment.
“And how solid is your evidence?”

“I have good intelligence that Raidan
acquired the kind of materials used in the attack not long before
it took place,” said Calvin. As shady as the Roscos were, Calvin
believed the intelligence they gave him.

“Thank you,” said Kalila. She turned away
from him.

“Wait,” said Calvin, stopping her before she
had the chance to walk away. She turned back and looked at him
curiously. “I do have one recommendation,” he said.

“Yes?”

He hesitated for a moment, a little worried
that the idea might affect him badly but also knowing it needed to
be done. There were replicants out there, replicants who needed to
be stopped, such as the ones posing as Nimoux and Harkov, who’d
fooled the Assembly and testified against him on the Assembly
Floor. If any were working for Kalila, they would sabotage every
effort to restore the Empire. And Calvin knew he couldn’t let that
happen. “Princess,” he cleared his throat. “This is going to sound
strange, but, you need to have everyone in your operation, everyone
you trust, all of your commanders, your royal knights, your
advisors, everyone in every position of importance… they must all
be given a standard dose of Xinocodone right away. And they need to
have witnesses watch them take it, and verify that the doses were
administered correctly.” He looked into her beautiful dark eyes and
wondered if she was a replicant herself. Raidan had said that none
of the royal family had been replaced with replicants yet, but his
information could be wrong. It was best to take no chances. “And
Princess,” Calvin added. “You’ll have to take it too.”

Kalila looked understandably baffled. Calvin
continued before she could interrupt. “Do you recall how Captain
Lafayette Nimoux and Vice Admiral Harkov spoke up on the Assembly
Floor, against us, trying to discredit me?”

“Yes,” she said.

“They were not the true Vice Admiral and
Captain, they were duplicates. Like how the enemy managed to
produce a duplicate Black Swan. They can also, apparently, produce
duplicate people. These duplicates are called replicants. Zane and
the Phoenix Ring managed to replace people in key positions with
these very convincing look-alikes. But we now know what the
replicants are, they’re Polarians!—S
ort of
.” He thought of
what Rain had told him and knew he didn’t completely understand the
science of it, but he
did
understand what mattered most.
“Xinocodone, a standard pain medication for human beings, will kill
them. Exposing any replicants. And anyone who takes Xinocodone and
lives, you can be confident he hasn’t been replaced.” Calvin
realized how insane he must sound, but everything he said was
factual. And it was of critical importance that any remaining
replicants be purged at once. Had he been more aggressive about
such a policy back when he’d still been the Executor—despite how
insane it would have made him appear—and if he’d somehow managed to
pull it off, he might still be the Executor today, and the king
might still be among the living...

Kalila looked at him shrewdly, with some
obvious skepticism. But Calvin was sure he’d proven himself enough
to her since their first meeting at Tau Station—and the reality
they’d both witnessed had proven dangerous and deeply strange,
surely Kalila would believe this new information. She couldn’t
possibly dismiss such a threat.

“And how long have you had this
intelligence?” she asked him. Despite her gentle tone, Calvin knew
what she was actually asking—
how long have you kept this secret
from me, and why?

“Raidan showed me a replicant back when I was
on the Harbinger, after his forces—many of the same ships that are
here in this system—saved my crew and myself from captivity to the
Rotham. Knowledge that the replicants themselves are a
Polarian-like species is new; my own physician determined that just
before you came aboard the Nighthawk. Even Raidan doesn’t know
that. And the knowledge that Xinocodone kills replicants was found
out about the same time, though I did share that detail with
Raidan.”

Calvin tried to make his tone sound
apologetic. He had kept this information from her, he realized, but
not deliberately. When she’d come aboard the Nighthawk all thoughts
had been about Renora and exonerating the princess. The replicant
matter simply hadn’t come up.

Whether Kalila would hold this omission
against him, Calvin couldn’t be sure. Whatever her true thoughts,
she revealed no hint on her face or in the tone of her reply.
“Thank you, Lieutenant Commander,” she said. “I will see to it that
such a policy is executed at once.”

Calvin nodded. Understanding that meant he
too would be expected to participate and take his dose of
Xinocodone—a fact he so dreaded he’d nearly considered not bringing
up the replicants and the need for a replicant purge at all. He was
a recovering equarius addict and he feared what effect another dose
of the dark medicine would have on him. Sadly, his personal
weakness was no excuse to avoid the Xinocodone test and he knew it.
He had to demonstrate he was who he said he was just as surely as
everyone else would have to, even Kalila, otherwise suspicion and
distrust would pervade everything. So he’d have to grit his teeth
and take the drug one last time.
But after that, I swear, never
again!
On Capital World he’d broken the habit of his drug
dependency forever; he wouldn’t let a one-time exception, required
of him for the security of the Empire, to cause him to relapse.
I won’t. I just won’t!

“Princess, what would you have us do now?”
asked Calvin as Kalila started to walk away. She stopped and turned
and as she did Calvin caught a glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes,
but to her credit she masked it extremely well—so effectively that
he almost doubted he’d even seen it.

“I must seek the counsel of my loyal Knights
and advisors. I shall be in the privacy of my office.”

“And what about Raidan?”

“You may entertain him for now,” she said.
Then she turned and addressed Captain Adiger. “Captain,” she said,
raising her voice so he could hear. “Allow Mister Cross to answer
the hail from the ISS Harbinger,
on speakers
.”

Calvin understood. The caveat
on
speakers
meant she didn’t trust him enough to let him
communicate with Raidan privately, perhaps worried he’d strike some
kind of bargain with the deadly renegade.
I didn’t tell her
about the replicants earlier, like I should have, so she trusts me
a little less
, he thought. He knew he would be kept on a
somewhat shorter leash until he was back in her good graces.
So
be it
.

“Answer the hail,” he said, once Kalila
disappeared into her office.

“Answering hail,” reported the communication
chief. “Connection active.”

“Calvin Cross here,” he said aloud. A
familiar voice crackled over the speakers in reply.

“I’m happy to see the ship still in one
piece,” said Raidan. “You cut it a little close back there in
Capital System.”

Indeed, they’d only escaped the system with
seconds to spare, narrowly avoiding entrapment by the Ninth
Fleet.

“We’re happy to be in one piece,” replied
Calvin. “Now that we’ve established that we’re all here and still
alive, what do you propose we do?” Of course it wouldn’t be up to
Raidan, Calvin knew, at least not directly—who knew what sort of
unseen strings he could yet pull to steer events in whatever
direction he wanted—but Calvin respected Raidan as an intelligent
person, and if the older captain had some sort of a plan that could
save the Empire, Calvin was all ears.

“Is the Princess safe and healthy?” asked
Raidan, perhaps evading the question.

“Yes,” Calvin confirmed. His eyes darted
automatically to the office door, it was shut tight.

“Is she there now? May I address her?”

“She’s otherwise occupied,” said Calvin. “But
you may address me. And I will relay any message you wish.”

“But she
is
all right, yes?”

“Yes,” insisted Calvin. “She’s perfectly
fine.”

“Excellent. I’m relieved to hear that,” said
Raidan. “For a moment there it seemed no Akira was safe anywhere,
and then when she didn’t answer my hail… you can see how I feared
the worst.”

It had been terrifying for a moment there,
Calvin admitted. When the king and his heirs seemed to be dropping
like flies. Calvin and probably everyone else on the Black Swan had
wondered then,
are we next? Is the Black Swan rigged to destroy
itself, killing Kalila—the last of the Akira line—in the same kind
of accident that took her siblings so swiftly?

“You may rest assured,” said Calvin,
remaining cool. “She survived, she is perfectly healthy, the Black
Swan escaped, and now we are all here, at these coordinates you
provided.” He then decided to turn things back around and press his
own questions, rather than answer Raidan’s. “Which begs the
question. Why here, Raidan? Why did you bring us here?”

“These coordinates, near the White Dwarf Star
TH 347, is a natural place to gather. The Organization has
resources here.”

Calvin glanced at the scan reports. “There is
no planet here. No base. Nothing. Just a lone star.”

“True, no planet, and no settlement. And no
base. However there are small asteroids upon which, if you scan
carefully enough, you will find titanium capsules containing
weapons, fuel, food, and other supplies. The Organization has
several such caches throughout the Empire, TH 347 just happened to
be the closest one to Capital System.”

“We will be tracked here,” said Calvin,
certain the Eighth and Ninth Fleets, once given directives by the
Assembly to do so—provided the Assembly managed to assert their
control—would commence pursuit of the Black Swan.

“Yes, I agree that’s likely. Which is why I
am gathering all my strength here. All my ships, all my allies,
everything
. I strongly advise the Princess do the same. If
she does not, we will not be able to withstand attack. And retreat
will again be necessary. I hope you convey that message to her. And
soon
.”

“I will,” promised Calvin, we would inform
Kalila as soon as she re-emerged from her office. No doubt she’d
already come to the same conclusion and was already issuing orders
to every ship commander she still trusted. “I have a suggestion for
you as well,” said Calvin.

“Yes?” Raidan sounded curious, even
amused.

“It’s vital that you purge your Organization
and all of your associates, allies, and everyone you deal with of
any replicants. I don’t know if you got the message, but Xinocodone
kills replicants.
Administer it to everyone
.” As Calvin
spoke, he was perfectly aware that Captain Adiger and the rest of
the bridge crew, and anyone else who might be listening in,
wouldn’t have the slightest idea what he was talking about. And he
probably sounded crazy. But to hell with what they thought.

“I did get the message from your Mister
Vargas,
although it wasn’t him I wanted to meet with
, and I
have already begun such a purge. I trust you are ensuring the
Princess does the same?”

“I’ve discussed it with her and will
personally make certain it is done.”

“Very good. Please let me know once she is no
longer in-disposed and decides she’s willing to speak with me.”

“
Wait
,” said Calvin, before Raidan
could disconnect. A thousand thoughts flicked through his mind,
accusations he wanted to make—
how dare you attack Cepheus the
way you did!
—and questions he wanted to ask;
what was it you
wanted to tell me? Back when I failed to meet with you as you
directed, something you would only trust telling me in person?
But Calvin held his tongue on those matters.
Now isn’t the
time
.

He didn’t want to put Raidan on the spot,
especially over public broadcast between the ships where dozens of
people were listening. And even more importantly, the way
everything was crumbling to pieces, if there was any hope of
restoring the Empire—or even salvaging it—Kalila needed Raidan and
his Organization’s help. For better or worse. And demanding an
immediate explanation for Cepheus would serve nothing.
Maybe he
wasn’t even behind it
, Calvin tried to reassure himself,
unsuccessfully.

Realizing the battles to come were more
pressing than the deeds of yesterday, no matter how vile, Calvin
asked about something else. “You never answered my question. What
do you propose we do now?” asked Calvin. If Raidan made no answer,
Calvin would take that as a sign that Raidan was just as short on
ideas as he was. “Especially considering the Rotham threat,” added
Calvin. He remembered that Republic had just declared Renora one of
their planets. It was no longer a question of
whether
Rotham
fleets and soldiers would invade Imperial space, it was a matter of
when
.

“Interesting you should bring that up,” said
Raidan after a short pause. “The deadliest threat the Rotham pose
would be if they somehow got their hands on one or more of the
isotome weapons. I have people in place trying very hard to make
certain they don’t, as do you.”

Calvin thought of Summers and the Nighthawk,
and wished he was with them.
I belong there
, he thought.
If I belong anywhere, I belong on my ship. Someone else should
have been Executor.

“However, there is no doubt in my mind,”
continued Raidan, “even if they don’t have the isotome weapons,
that the Rotham Republic is marshaling its forces. And the Rotham
Senate is slicing up Imperial space, debating on what and how much
they dare to claim. War with the Rotham is now, sadly, inevitable.
And such war might easily lead to war with the Polarians.”