The Phoenix Darkness (36 page)

“Very well,” the centermost officer relented.
He waved toward a side door and Alex approached it. Calvin felt a
push in that direction and understood he was meant to follow. A few
seconds later, the two of them were behind closed doors in what
appeared to be a tiny crewman’s cabin. The bed, which was
Rotham-sized, looked to Calvin like it was meant for a tall
child.

“What is it you would have of me?” asked
Alex. Adding quickly, “I know you think I have betrayed you, and I
am sorry for the treatment you received upon your arrival; that was
out of my control, but I knew we needed to get in touch with the
Advent if our mission could succeed and if any one of us could
survive.”

Yes, indeed
, thought Calvin,
if any
one of us could survive. No doubt you mean yourself
. He was
sorely tempted to argue, to point out to Alex that if he’d really
had their best intentions in mind he could have brought it up with
Calvin and, if he’d agreed, they could've contacted the Advent
together. Not have Alex do it unilaterally, behind Calvin’s back,
and feign ignorance when a destroyer takes interest in them from
out of nowhere. But Calvin knew such a conversation would only
waste his time, so he got right to it.

“First, tell me truly, are we being recorded
in here?” asked Calvin. Expecting every inch of a Rotham ship,
especially an Advent one, to be layered in hidden cameras and
discreet microphones.

“No, they cannot see us nor hear us in here,”
said Alex. “This is the Nau’s private quarters.”

This tiny cabin belonged to the highest
ranking officer on the ship?
thought Calvin. It was barren and
devoid of any sense of luxury, including space.
Very well
,
he thought, deciding to trust Alex’s assertion they weren’t being
recorded since, ultimately, he had no choice.

“I need something from you,” whispered
Calvin, still not convinced they couldn’t hear him on the other
side of the door.

“What?” asked Alex.

“I need a data disc, one which can hold a lot
of data and can plug into the computer terminals aboard the
supercruiser,” he looked Alex directly in the eyes, searching for
any indication of insincerity when he replied.

“I believe I understand,” said Alex, who knew
about the human’s mission. They were here to collect intelligence
from the Rahajiim and return it to their side of the DMZ. The only
way they could do that, both of them knew, would be to mine the
data from the supercruiser once they took control of the Action
Information Center.

“And I need it to be physically small,” said
Calvin. “Something very discreet; something a prisoner can
hide.”

Alex nodded. “I know of just the thing and
yes, I will get it to you before the mission begins.”

Calvin couldn't tell for certain if Alex was
being honest with him, but he doubted the Rotham was lying. If it
was a lie, it would become clear to Calvin before the mission began
when Alex never delivered him the disc. So, because Alex had added
that detail, Calvin trusted him.

“Is there anything else?” asked Alex.

“No,” said Calvin. “That’s the only
thing.”

“Then I have a request for you,” said Alex,
much to Calvin’s surprise. “I’m sure you have ascertained by now
that this mission does not have escape built into it,” he said. Had
Calvin not already figured that out, it would have been quite the
dangerous reveal, but clearly Alex had worked with Calvin long
enough to know he had not been fooled by the Nau’s promise of
escape as a reward condition.

“Yes, I know. This is clearly a suicide
mission.”

“The Advent have often deployed in this
manner. To participate in such a mission and sacrifice yourself for
the Republic, that is a noble and an honorable thing,” said
Alex.

“You sound almost Polarian when you put it
like that.”

Alex didn’t look pleased by the remark, but
he let it slide. “However, I don’t see any reason in dying when
there’s some chance for escape. If you can live to fight another
day, especially if you achieve your objective on top of it, isn’t
that something to respected in itself?”

Calvin treated it as a rhetorical
question.

“I know you humans and your sense of self
preservation,” said Alex. “It rivals that of ours, of
most
Rotham anyway. I also know
you
.” His golden eyes seemed to
pierce Calvin. “I know you’re cooking something up, some kind of
escape plan. I doubt it’s got good chances of success, and I’m sure
it’s half-cocked and riskier than Polarian pistol roulette, but I’d
take a slim chance over no chance any day, especially when my life
is at stake.”

“You want in?” asked Calvin, almost not
believing the Rotham traitor. The man who had sold them up the
river to these Advent who, aside from sharing a common enemy with
Calvin, had proven themselves to be sadistic and cruel on their own
merit.

“Yes. And I know what you’re thinking,” said
Alex. “Why should you allow me to escape with you after I got you
into this mess?”

Calvin said nothing, but it was clear he'd
been thinking just that.

“But I can help you,” said Alex. “Not only
does having one more person working for your goal improve your
chances, I can be your advocate if the team thinks to terminate you
all.”

“They said we could help with the plan.”

“They say a lot of things,” said Alex. “And
they probably will let you. But, should the slightest thing go
wrong, an off-remark by Miles or a bit of unruly resistance from
Rez’nac, it could be anything, then you and everyone else will be
put to a swift, painful death. Including
Rain
.” No doubt,
he’d added that last part as a way of stating he’d noticed Calvin’s
growing affections for the lovely doctor.

“And if you’re on our side, then you can
guarantee that will not happen?” asked Calvin. “I’m a Proxitor,”
said Alex. “Not the highest rank around here, but higher than most.
And my word will carry weight on this mission. Trust me. And
besides, you need me beyond just that.”

“And why would that be?” asked Calvin, having
a hard time imagining it was true.

“I've been briefed on the decryption codes; I
doubt you have,” said Alex. “So if you want to start mining the
good data once we get plugged into the computers in the Action
Information Center, you’ll want me to decrypt the terminal you
use.”

That much, Calvin supposed, might be true.
Unfortunately, he was no computer security expert. If Shen were
here, he could ascertain the truth of such a claim. But without
him, or anyone else’s advice, Calvin was forced to either take Alex
at his word, or disbelieve him.

“And that’s not all,” said Alex.

“What
now
?” Calvin almost couldn’t
believe the Rotham could concoct another reason why he should be
brought along and spared, be it true or not.

“I expect your plan involves stealing a ship
from one of the hangars. I saw the way your eyes checked for paths
leading to each of them,” said Alex, to Calvin’s chagrin. He’d
thought he’d been subtle. “Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone else
noticed,” said Alex. “And I won’t give away your secret. But
understand this, many of those ships require a Rotham handprint
along with a standard authorization code before you can open the
doors.”

“Why would you have such a code?” asked
Calvin, vaguely recalling he’d heard something about this during
flight school. But it had been little more than a footnote and
didn’t apply to all Rotham craft, many of which were controlled
remotely or were autonomous. “I doubt your Advent friends cracked
the codes for the ships in the supercruiser’s hangar and then
shared that intel with you.”

“They didn’t have to,” said Alex. “The
handprint is generic, as is the code. It’s not meant to restrict
access to Rotham technology from other Rotham; it's to frustrate
access to it by Polarians, humans, or anyone else who might capture
or otherwise come upon possession of a Rotham ship.”

“The
Wanderer
didn’t have anything of
the sort.”

“The
Wanderer
was a civilian craft,
and a bucket of shit besides. This kind of tech applies to military
vessels only. And guess what kind of ships will be filling the
inside the hangars of that supercruiser?”

Calvin took his meaning. “Very well,” he
said. “You may come along. Just don’t slow us down and or get in
the way. Keep a sharp eye out and, whatever you do,
keep up
.
We’re not waiting for you.”

“Then, it’s agreed,” said Alex, he reached
out a hand and held it there. Calvin wasn’t sure what the Rotham
was doing at first, and then he realized he wanted to seal this
pact with a handshake. A very human thing to do, and no doubt Alex
believed if Calvin shook his hand it made it that much likelier
Calvin would uphold his end of the bargain.

Fine, whatever
he thought, and he
shook Alex’s hand.

“Now, it is best we return, lest they send
someone to check on my safety,” said Alex.

“I agree,” said Calvin, but he stopped the
Rotham before he could open the door, momentarily startling him.
“Wait, one last thing.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t doubt the Nau will ask you about the
contents of our discussion. I don’t think I have to tell you you’ll
need to come up with something
convincing
for him to
believe,” said Calvin.

“Don’t you worry,” said Alex confidently.
“Leave that to me.”

With that, he opened the door and the two of
them returned to the chamber where the three Rotham Military
Command officers still sat in their chairs. The soldiers stood at
attention in roughly the same positions they’d been in before.

“Well?” asked the centermost officer, the one
Alex referred to as the
Nau
.

“Our differences are resolved, I have
assuaged the human’s concerns, and he is fully committed to the
mission,” said Alex, looking from the Nau to Calvin as if cueing
him to speak.

“Yes,” said Calvin. “Since I would prefer
life over death, I say again I am fully committed to the success of
this mission and I shall see it through, even at the risk of life
or limb. I despise the Rahajiim as much as any of you and, for the
chance to strike a serious blow against them, I am happy to do all
I can for this effort. Now, I still must convince my teammates to
agree to take part, but you have my word I will be able to do
so.”

“Excellent,” said the Nau. “That is very wise
of you, human captain. Just be certain to convince your officers
quickly. Time is of the essence.”

“I understand. And in the interest of time
and wanting to brief my officers on the details of the plan as I
convince them, I request permission to take those blueprints back
with me to show them.”

That way Rafael can read the text and let
Calvin know which hangars held which ships
, he thought.

The Nau looked at him shrewdly, squinting his
golden eyes for a moment, as if trying to read Calvin’s mind and
discover what, if any, ill-intention Calvin might have which could
conceivably be executed by allowing him access to the blueprints.
Apparently, he could think of none.

“I’ll allow it,” he said, much to Calvin’s
relief.

***

Even though he’d betrayed them, and in the
eyes of the humans such was the most unforgivable crime one could
commit, Alex had Calvin practically eating out of his hand by the
time their meeting had finished. Alex already had been trying to
think of a way to get Calvin alone to have such a negotiation, and
wondered how to do so without attracting the notice of the other
members of Advent, most especially the Nau. So, when Calvin
requested to speak with Alex in private, that created the perfect
opportunity for Alex to demonstrate to Calvin his continued
usefulness and allow him the chance to survive this mission.

It wasn’t that he was less committed to the
cause than these other Advent officers. Indeed, as a full Proxitor
of the Advent he'd proven himself repeatedly as one willing to
accept risks and endure danger in the service of the greater cause
and the Republic overall. But he was also a prudent man and did not
see the need to sacrifice himself here, especially when others were
willing to do so, and were as capable as him at fulfilling the
objective. His choosing to remain behind would only be a further
waste of Advent resources and talent.

No
, he needed to survive, if he could,
in order to continue the fight against the Rahajiim. To expose the
corrupted senators, shut down whatever networks of coercion the
Rahajiim had put in place at the highest echelons of Republican
government, and to ultimately restore the Republic to its true
glory, serving its original purpose. To promote the peace, safety,
and wellbeing of her citizens and not to interfere with the affairs
of the other species and nations.
We were never meant to be a
war-machine
, thought Alex. Yet recent history had,
unquestionably, painted the Rotham military as that of
opportunistic military aggressors willing to seize territory in
order to expand the Republic and senators willing to condone their
unlawful actions. It was despicable, and Alex would be damned if he
didn’t help return the Republic’s reputation to its original,
noninterventionist purpose. He owed it not only to his people, but
to his species. And that purpose was best served, he remained
convinced, by his continued survival.

Calvin and the humans were unlikely to come
up with a convincingly probable plan of escape. And Alex knew his
likeliest fate was sealed with them in a hopeless firefight,
trapped in some corridor of the supercruiser, and probably being
shot in the back by one of the humans as retribution for his
betrayal, just before the humans themselves are overwhelmed by
Teldari. But as he’d told Calvin, he preferred slim chances to
none. These particular humans had shown a penchant for turning even
overwhelming odds upside down and through some trick, or stroke of
luck, managed to survive this far. Why not a little further?