Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon (35 page)

“It seems she simply vanished,” Jason said. “No mean trick on a planet as locked down as Restaria was. I can’t even find any definitive proof she went to Galvetor with the Legions, so I have to assume she’s either hiding on the other world or had an escape plan.”

“What do you think her role was? Besides incapacitating Crusher.”

“I don’t think that was part of her plan. After debriefing everyone involved, I’m beginning to thing she was acting towards her own goals while playing along with Fordix,” Jason said, taking another sip. “She had been feeding information out to both sides in what seems like a clumsy attempt to move people the direction she needed them.

“This leaves a few more loose ends than I care to think about. She could have been working for another player we haven’t been able to identify, she could have been trying to warn Crusher about Fordix’s plan, or she could have been part of an unrelated scheme. If we think about the theft of the
Phoenix
and the attacks on my crew, the third option seems to be the most likely.”

“I thought you felt the incidents involving your crew and ship were related to the machinations of the Order,” Crisstof said.

“I did say that,” Jason admitted, “but now I’m not completely certain.”

“I’m sure everything will come to light in due time,” Crisstof said with a small shrug. “You can drive yourself insane trying to chase around ghosts that may not even mean anything.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know already,” Jason said with a laugh.

“Now, I heard a nasty, unfounded rumor that when we meshed into the system a peculiar weapon signature was detected on the
Phoenix
,” Crisstof said, setting his glass down. “I assumed there must have been some sort of anomaly with our sensors.”

“Sounds like it,” Jason said, also setting his glass down and standing up. “I’d get a tech team on that pretty soon. Inaccurate sensor readings are bad news on a starship. Anyway, I’m going to check on Twingo and then I’m due for dinner with the captain. Goodnight.”

Jason hustled out of the lounge as fast as decorum would allow, missing the older man smirking at his back.

*****

“You’re looking good as new, buddy,” Jason said expansively. “If anything, the new ear looks even better than the original one.”

Twingo actually laughed, holding his chest in pain as he did. He was walking on his own with the aid of a low-tech solution Jason had fabricated for him: a cane.

“It feels good to be up and about,” Twingo admitted. “A little more rest and I’ll be ready to undo all the damage you’ve done to my engines.”

“It’s going to take you a while,” Jason admitted.

It had been three weeks aboard the
Defiant
and now his friend was ready to go; Mazer’s warriors had just come aboard and were settling in. Mazer had been promoted to captain and made the company commander in a ceremony performed by Kellea. Jason had pinned his rank insignia on at the younger warrior’s request. They all had new uniforms to reinforce the fact that they were no longer Legionnaires, but Marines on a battlecruiser and under the command of Captain Colleren.

“I heard we’re a man light,” Twingo said sadly.

“I wasn’t able to get a hold of him,” Jason said. “I know he’s busy, so I guess that’s our answer. We’ll get by.”

“We always do,” Twingo said and shuffled off into the cargo bay with Lucky helping him along. Doc and Kage were already aboard and there was really no reason they couldn’t depart. Jason thought about going to see Kellea one more time, but they’d already said goodbye after spending an entire day together, and she was up on the bridge anyway. Even though she had relaxed a bit since he’d met her, he wouldn’t compromise her authority by making an unannounced personal visit while she was on the bridge of her ship as its commanding officer.

He looked out over the hangar deck at all the starfighters, shuttles, and tenders the battlecruiser was carrying, thinking back on waking up with Kellea that morning in her quarters. It had been their first time experimenting with any sort of real intimacy, and it turned out his fears of incompatibility, both physically and emotionally, were unfounded. With her dark complexion and dark, upturned eyes, she could have passed for an exotically beautiful human woman with her hair down. The slight differences in the shape of her ears and the ridge that ran up the back of her neck were the only obvious giveaways. Jason discovered it was the differences he found most endearing. He shook his head with a smile and walked back into the cargo bay. His hand hovered over the controls to close the ship up when he heard footsteps coming up the ramp.

“What the hell?! You were going to leave without me?”

“I thought you were staying here,” Jason said with a shrug, hiding his surprise at the other’s appearance on the
Defiant
. “We couldn’t get a hold of you and I didn’t want to put you on the spot.”

“I see how it is,” Crusher said, looking visibly angry. “You’ll move planets to find Twingo but can’t take a shuttle ride down to the surface to check for me.”

“You know that isn’t true,” Jason shot back, his own anger rising. He forced himself to calm down before he continued. “What about your own people? Don’t they need you?”

“I’m exactly what they don’t need. Not anymore,” Crusher said, his temper also deflating. “I’ll be the last of the Archons. Galvetor is moving into a new age and normal geltens and warriors will have to find their own way and new traditions.”

“So you’ll just leave them to it? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“My last act as Archon was to appoint Morakar as the warrior class’s representative in the Senate,” Crusher said.

“I bet he wasn’t happy about that,” Jason said with a laugh.

“Which is exactly why it was always going to be him,” Crusher said.

Jason looked at the bag he had with him as well as the well-worn body armor leaning against it. He’d obviously come with every intention of staying with the crew.

“You sure it can go back to the way it was?” he asked. “There’s only one captain on this ship.”

“My job here is done,” Crusher said as he picked up his belongings. “I’m ready to come home.”

Jason slapped him on the shoulder and hit the controls to close up the ship. The pair made their way to the stairs leading to the crew entry hatch.

“I can’t believe you were going to leave me behind.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you big baby … all you would have had to do was call, the ship can fly both ways.”

“So tell me what you found.”

“When we arrived, we had to dig down through an apparent cave-in, but the ship wasn’t there. All we found were scraps of other Jepsen spacecraft. Some were the same model, others just of similar design.”

“Very interesting. What else?”

“We confirmed the ship was in the area and was involved in some sort of political upheaval on the planet.”

“That follows a certain pattern, so at least we know it was the right ship.”

“So what does it all mean? Why steal and scrap all those Jepsens?”

“Isn’t it obvious? There’s another player in the game. Someone else has learned of what makes that ship so special, but they’re not so well-informed that they know exactly which ship it is. Where are they now?”

“They were last seen flying away from the Galvetor System. We lost them soon after.”

“I assume you know what to do then?”

“Yes. We have already dispatched teams to track them down. It shouldn’t be long.”

*****

“Please! I did everything you asked!”

“And yet here I sit without the thing I want most in the universe. You understood the deal when we approached you.”

“But it wasn’t my fault! I couldn’t have known the crew would be so hard to control.”

“Ah … but we warned you, Connimon. I believe I was quite explicit in that you should be very careful around them. But I do take solace in the fact that neither of us is getting what we wanted in this bargain: Galvetor and Restaria are even now signing new accords and forging a new relationship. Your little revolution is over, so you’ll have no need for our fleet in any case.”

“Since we both lost, can I just leave and we can put this whole unpleasant incident behind us?”

“Oh, no,” the voice chuckled mirthlessly. “I am sorry, my dear, but this is just business.”

A shot flared from a blaster pistol in the darkened cargo hold and the Caretaker’s body slumped to the ground.

“Dreadful beasts,” the assailant muttered before walking over to the intercom. “Send someone down to clean this mess up and let me know when we’re clear to leave. I wish to be off of Restaria as soon as possible.”

“The battlecruiser and the gunship both made the transition to slip-space an hour ago. There is no indication they were able to penetrate our cloaking field.”

“As soon as the hold is cleaned up, you are clear to launch. I will be in my quarters trying to think of a way to break the bad news to
him.”

*****

Thank you for reading
Omega Force: Return of the Archon.

If you enjoyed the story, Captain Burke and the guys will be back in:

Omega Force: Secret of the Phoenix

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