The Phoenix Crisis (47 page)

“
Is he
responding?”

“
Look, a rapid change in
blood pressure—”

The sensation of the waves faded from his
mind and the ocean itself seemed to disappear. The sky turned black
and he found he was standing on the ground. A hardened, cracked,
broken earth that was covered in broken buildings and littered with
rotted corpses. The stench of the place was foul and sickening, yet
there was a strange, subtle sweetness too.

Shen walked forward, looking around, seeing
no one else around him. The only faces he found belonged to the
dead. Many of them were mutilated and ruined, as if destroyed by
claws, or teeth, or shrapnel. Some even looked riddled with
bullets. The blood that stained the ground wasn’t red. It was
black. Like oil. And, as Shen strode across the cracked and broken
earth, he eventually saw a faint white glow.

It was Calvin, he realized. Calvin was
there, in the distance, visible through glass. He held a carbine in
his hands and was swinging it madly, thrusting the bayonet on its
end through several Remorii who clawed at him. He wasn’t alone,
Shen realized. There were others with him. Pellew, Rez’nac, Alex,
and more. All of them surrounded in a wide, open courtyard.
Desperately fighting back a horde of dark figures. Creatures whose
details could not be seen clearly, for they did not glow like
Calvin and his people did, but they were there—like black
shadows.

Remus Nine… thought Shen. He looked at the
faces of those he knew, glowing like ghosts, and he did not see his
face. He tried to go to them, but could not find a way. He was
stopped by a wall of glass. He reached for them, but the glass
stopped him. He touched its surface with the palm of his hand, it
was cold and impenetrable.

“…
cardiac
arrest.”

“
Prepping defib
unit…”

“
No, his heart can’t take
the electric shock. Begin chest compressions—now!”

The images before him faded, replaced with
blackness. And then a white, blinding light. He recoiled from it.
When it subsided, he again saw Remus Nine. But the buildings before
him weren’t broken, they gleamed like polished silver and freshly
cut stone. The ground was neither cracked nor broken, but filled
with green flowing gardens. Life abounded everywhere. It was not a
grim place, but a place of birth. A place of destiny.

“
He’s responding. Heartbeat
has returned…”

Tristan followed a cobblestone path which
led him into one of the gardens. There, between the trees, standing
in the sun, was a familiar face. Tristan stood, palms outspread,
soaking in the warm rays. A smile on his face.

“
Welcome, brother,” said
Tristan once he noticed Shen. Shen stopped his approach and felt a
dark, sick feeling.

“
Here,” said Tristan,
reaching out a human-like hand for Shen. “Go ahead, take
it.”

Shen balked at the offer and shied away,
distrustful.

“
We’re losing him
again…”

As he averted himself from Tristan, the
world seemed to darken ever so slightly.

“
You must take my hand,”
said Tristan. “Come with me. Trust me.”

“
Again! Do it
again!”

Shen wasn’t sure what to do. A part of him,
deep inside, urged him to reach out. To accept Tristan, and this
place, and everything as it was. But another part, which seemed
equally strong, was repulsed and revolted and seemed to rebel
against everything here. Hating it. Preferring to close his eyes
and wish it all away.

“…
he’ll be gone any
second.”

“
No he won’t!”

“
I’m sorry,
Doctor.”

“
Do NOT give up on him. More
pressure. We need to stabilize his—”

Shen looked back at Tristan. His eyes
pleading for help in deciding what to do. What to think. What to
feel. His every ounce and every fiber ached and twisted and felt
confused. Lost in an ethereal whirlwind. Tristan took a step closer
and again offered his hand. “Take it,” he said, his voice friendly.
“Trust me. I am your only hope.”

Shen hesitated. And then he did as Tristan
bid. Reached out and took the werewolf’s hand. Feeling the
confusion and the chaos and the dizziness seem to slip away as he
did. As he accepted what he was, and where he was, and all that
was. Tristan smiled at him. “I will guide you through the tempest,”
he said.

***

“
It’s got to be
here
,” said Rafael. He was
still in his hospital bed but Calvin had ordered a computer
terminal brought in and they were privately going over his
intelligence files. Several guards watched the door from the other
side.

Calvin looked at the file Rafael indicated.
It was a property in one of the industrial districts in the capital
city. Ostensibly it was a secure underground unit for safe-keeping
of hazardous materials, but as Calvin’s eyes combed through the
specific details, it was fairly obvious the unit had been prepped
as a place to house and protect a large number of people for an
extended period of time. For instance there was no reason why it
needed to have electricity, gas, and water hookups if it was just a
storage unit.

“
How did you notice this?”
asked Calvin. The property wasn’t directly owned by Zane Martel, it
was owned by a man named Boris Denisov—an alias—who owned a small
company that was owned by another company, which was owned by
another company, which was owned by another alias, who was
allegedly on the board for MXR. Which meant this property was a
Phoenix Ring property, and most likely owned by Zane Martel
himself.

“
I kind of have a knack for
this,” said Rafael. “Follow the money. It will always tell you the
truth,
eventually
.”

“
I’d wager a thousand q that
Zane and the others are there,” Calvin wagged a finger at the
terminal. He had long suspected that the Martels were involved with
the Phoenix Ring at a high level, however he hadn’t had previously
had anything concrete to justify moving against the
billionaire.

Calvin had placed Zane under surveillance
and had his financial accounts tracked. But Zane always managed to
throw every tail and his financial transactions, which were
numerous, were so thoroughly obscured and complex that none of
Calvin’s analysts had been able to prove that anything shady was
going on. Calvin would’ve loved to have Zane hauled out of his
estate and tossed into an interrogation cell, but he knew that
wasn’t in the cards.

Even under the King’s authority, Calvin knew
he couldn’t subject one of the Empire’s most influential
billionaires to such treatment—especially considering that the
man’s brother was a Representative in the Assembly for Capital
World itself. Now, however, the game had changed. Rafael gave
Calvin his own personal witness that Zane had been present several
times when the Phoenix Ring had tortured and questioned him. In
fact, Zane had clearly been the one giving the orders. Perhaps Zane
did not expect Rafael to recognize him, but Rafael had. And now
Calvin had legitimacy in ordering the billionaire brought into
custody.

Unfortunately Calvin’s people had swept
Zane’s estate looking for him and found him absent. A general order
had been sent to police agencies across the planet to arrest him if
he was spotted, and all means of traffic off-world were being
watched, but Zane had vanished like a ghost. And though Calvin had
people searching all of the billionaire’s properties, so far
nothing had turned up. Rafael had identified a few other people and
Calvin’s captives managed to give him names of other people who
were high-ranking members of the Phoenix Ring. Calvin had put out a
similar order for all of them to be rounded up but, like Zane, they
seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

“
I think Zane is probably
hiding there,” said Rafael. “But I’m not so sure about the others,
what makes you think they would be there too? For them all to be
together, that seems like an unnecessary risk to me.”

“
It’s a tremendous risk,”
said Calvin. “But I have information that says that the Phoenix
Ring Council has always planned to meet together when the Ascension
comes.” He’d heard this from Rosemarie. She hadn’t been able to
identify any of the Council’s members. But she did know that there
was something happening called Ascension, and that—when the time
was right—the leadership would all meet together. And, as a united
group, observe the flames of Ascension. Calvin assumed Ascension
referred to the transfer of the throne from the Akira House to
another House, possibly the Martels.

“
Then assuming Ascension is
happening now, or about to happen,” said Rafael, “then yes, you’re
likely correct.”

“
There is a vote scheduled
which will directly challenge the king,” said Calvin. “I’d bet
anything
that’s
what Ascension is.”

“
In that case we don’t have
much time,” said Rafael. He sat up and started climbing out of the
medical bed.

“
You’re right,” said Calvin.
“We need to act
now
.” He sprinted from the room, needing to contact Kalila
immediately and organize his forces. They had a target. Now all
they had to do was swoop in and capture the Phoenix Ring leaders
before the Assembly finished the vote.

***

There was a moment of darkness. And, for as
long as it lasted, everything was as silent as it was black. Empty.
Vacuous. Like an eternal stretch of space absent of any stars. It
was neither bleak, nor full of despair. Nor was it pleasant, nor
warm, nor peaceful. Simply, it was nothing.

Nothing
—for millions of centuries. Or millionths of a second. There
was no way to tell. But eventually, in the very far distance, a
tiny light appeared. Splitting the blackness like a ray of sunlight
through an open curtain. The light grew, peeling away the darkness
until it had vanished.

Shen blinked. Feeling the sting of light
just above shining down into his eyes. His eyes watered and as he
blinked again, to clear away the moisture, much of the blurriness
he saw dissipated and everything became much clearer.

He was staring up at the ceiling of the
infirmary; he recognized the white ceiling. But had no memory of
how he got there, or what was going on. He tried to sit up but
could not. Several firm restraints were wrapped around his arms and
legs, pinning him tightly against the medical bed.

As he moved, he felt cold gloved hands touch
his head on either side, helping to support his neck. And a woman’s
masked face leaned over him shining a tiny bright light into his
eyes. He squinted and tried to speak. He didn’t hear the words come
out, though he could feel his jaws move. For that matter he
couldn’t hear anything, he realized.

The doctor leaning over him
must have heard something though. Her brilliant blue eyes lit up
with excitement and she looked up, ostensibly saying something to
others who were around. A tangle of red hair was partially visible
under her surgical cap. In a flash Shen remembered who she was.
Rain, the physician who’d replaced Monte Blair.
That meant he was on the Nighthawk
.

She moved her hands down to his straps and
began loosening them. A man rushed to her side to help; he wore
camouflage fatigues and had broad shoulders. His big square hands
were far better than Rain’s at undoing the restraints. Shen did not
recognize him, though. If he knew the man, he no longer remembered
him.

Once the final restraint was taken away,
Shen managed to sit up. It proved more difficult than he’d
expected. His limbs were sore and weak and he felt a throbbing ache
across his entire body. When he moved, his muscles would seize up
randomly, screaming at him in pain. And all the while a feeling of
dizziness and nausea haunted him. But, as soon as he was sitting
up—and could see the others in the room, now rushing to his
side—none of his agony mattered.

Two big, beautiful brown eyes met his. Hers
were red and glistening with tears. An expression of joy was
painted on her sweet, delicate face and she brushed her lovely flow
of brown hair aside as she came to him. Light shone from her eyes
and she smiled. It was the sweetest, tenderest, most glorious sight
he had ever seen. She spoke quickly, animatedly, flashing her
beautiful pearl-white teeth. But Shen could not hear her. That
didn’t seem to matter though. Soaking in the sight of Sarah, and
seeing how much she cared—it was the greatest feeling he had ever
felt. She took his stiff hand in hers. He could barely feel her,
but he imagined how warm and soft her skin was. Seeing her, and
feeling her—as little as he could—gave him the greatest feeling of
peace he ever remembered feeling. And, somehow, the pain, and the
dizziness, and the nausea, all seemed to subside.

The others came to his bedside too. Shen
looked at them. Seeing faces he knew and faces he didn’t. A big
round, red face that beamed down at him was Miles. He seemed almost
as happy as Sarah. Another woman was there too. She kept her
distance and watched without expression but he knew her porcelain
face, emerald eyes, and flowing golden hair. Summers Presley…

The other two Shen did not recognize. They
both wore camouflage and carried weapons for some reason—Shen
couldn’t imagine why they were needed in the infirmary. They
watched him with hawk eyes. Almost seeming suspicious of him. Shen
didn’t care though. They were both a couple of muscle-headed idiots
like the rest of special forces, he was sure. What mattered to Shen
was his friends and they were all here. All but one…