The Phoenix Darkness (52 page)

“Yeah,” chimed in Jackson Abel, yet another
Group Leader. “You fought in that battle, you helped to shed that
blood. How dare you come before us and decry your own actions?”

“I come before you to plead that we join our
forces and take swift and decisive action that will
save
the
Empire!” he said. “I did destroy the Yards to prevent the usurper
Caerwyn Martel from using them to crush the queen. It was a
regrettable action, and one that will cost us in our war against
the Rotham, and in our war against the Dread Fleet, should rumors
across the Polarian border be believed.” He paused briefly for
effect. “Yes, I tell you the Dread Fleet is on the move. Even now
it is scourging and destroying Polarian systems and forces in a
vile effort to purify their species and uphold their religion. They
would fire on their own, slaughtering entire worlds full of
innocents, including children, women, and the weak and disabled who
are unable to defend themselves. They who have committed no crime
but to show a lack of faith in their own religion.”

“These are just rumors,” shouted Beniah.
“There is no evidence to substantiate them.”

“How could there be?” challenged Raidan. “As
entire words fall to the deathly Dread Fleet, beginning with
Polarian worlds far from us, how would we know for certain? How
would we see the devastation? Have you, sir, been so deep inside
Polarian space that you know there is no Dread Fleet and no
slaughter?”

“No, I haven’t,” the man admitted.

“Then we must rely on the intelligence of our
spies and trust there may be credibility to these unfortunate
rumors,” said Raidan. “Trusting that the Dread Fleet will not come
for us is to be
fools
and to choose death.”

“And if they do come for us, what then?”
asked Maria Zaman, a third Group Leader. Raidan had anticipated
objections and challenges from all three, though he believed the
other two were solidly in agreement with his thinking. “We cannot
hope to stop them. They'll put us and our worlds to the torch and
that will be the end of the Empire.”

“We have a chance to stop them,” said Raidan.
“To give up now is to lose by default. Whatever may come for us,
whatever dangers are lurking, we must do all we can to stand
against them.”

“We are but seventy-one ships of war,” said
Beniah. “The Dread Fleet commands thousands. How are we to stand
against such a force?”

“We must be more than seventy-one ships,”
said Raidan. “We must unite the Empire and end this Civil War
before more Imperial blood is spilt. We have to combine our forces
with the Imperial fleets, which must be brought together and, under
Queen Kalila’s undisputed reign, the Apollo Yards may be rebuilt,
we can have every shipyard across the Empire producing ships, and
we can make our stand against the enemies which threaten us.”

“You speak of these things as though they be
trivial matters, as though we have the power to enact them.
Clearly, we do not,” said Jackson. There were murmurs of assent
from the gathered officers who stood below.

“We are not so powerless as you would
believe,” said Raidan.

“And what of the Rotham fleet that bears down
against the queen even as we speak?” asked Beniah. “The queen and
her force may be entirely devastated against them and we will not
be there to help her survive, because you have imposed this Forum
and now all of us are here, away from the battle.” More
murmuring.

“There will be a battle in Thetican System,”
said Raidan. “But the queen has the best intelligence available to
her, intelligence of what the Rotham fleet is, how they intend to
deploy, and where exactly they shall strike. Believe me when I tell
you the queen will be ready, her forces prepared to ambush the
enemy. The Rotham will be driven back or obliterated and, though we
shall endure more losses, I promise you the queen will survive, as
will the greater part of her fleet.”

“But they say the queen stands to lose
Ophiuchus System any day now,” objected Jackson. “How can she hope
to prevail against Caerwyn Martel when his force shall be larger
than hers after she fights the Rotham, and he will hold her most
valuable system? How can she hope to repair and rebuild her ships
without the vast resources of Ophiuchus? It seems clear to me we
must switch sides in this war.” Now it was his turn to be the
subject of murmurs and even booing from the officers below.
Whatever they were, however fickle, their loyalty remained with the
Akiras, that much Raidan knew and was grateful for.

“Hear me out,” Jackson spoke over them.
“Kalila has made the decision to divide her forces, just as she has
decided to engage the Rotham. By the end of it, she cannot hope to
stand against Caerwyn Martel. Should we add our power to his and
arrange for the queen’s capture or elimination, we can end this
war. We can take the strong action you yourself are urging us to
take,” he looked at Raidan from across the distance. “Then and only
then can we be united and ready to oppose the Dread Fleet, or
another Rotham invasion, or whatever other hell is meant to come
our way.”

Now a few of the officers below agreed with
him, granting him some applause and cheers. But it proved to be a
minority, as they were quickly overpowered by louder murmurs and
booing.

“We all know,” said Raidan. “That Caerwyn
Martel is an incompetent leader, a self-serving man, and one who
does not value the best interests of the Empire and her people.
Should we give him the war and allow him to reign undisputed, if we
even have such power, he shall run us into the ground. Yes, we may
stand united and yes, that may buy us some weeks or years of
survival as we desperately defend ourselves. But he and his selfish
politics, his unwillingness to defend the Empire’s people, choosing
instead his own gain, will prove to be our downfall. If the Empire
does not have competent leadership, a monarch who will rule for the
people and defend them, one who can rally the hope of Imperial
citizens everywhere, then the Empire’s fate is already sealed. And
we, gentlemen and ladies, are here to waste our breath and our
time.”

Raidan was met with cheers from below. Even
shouts of “Queen Akira, Queen Akira, Queen Akira,” until White Rook
called for silence.

“There is only one person who can save our
Empire. Only one with the right name, from the right legacy, with
the right talent to unify our people and lead us to victory,” said
Raidan. “And it falls upon us to see to it she has that
chance.”

“What would you have us do?” asked Maria.
“Assassinate Caerwyn Martel? He is too well guarded and most of our
spies on Capital World have been discovered and slaughtered. The
majority of the rest have fled the planet. The few which remain
have gone dark and into hiding, or else have been taken by the
enemy without our knowledge. Only a small group remains, nothing
that can oppose Caerwyn and his many layers of guards and soldiers
who defend him.”

“We cannot touch Caerwyn Martel directly,”
said Raidan in agreement. “That is unfortunate, but it is the
truth. However, we can touch him indirectly.”

He was met with a curious silence as the rest
of the Organization seemed confused by what he was suggesting.

“We can put fear into the hearts of those who
are closest to him,” said Raidan with great conviction. “We can
convince them, through diplomacy or through threat of violence, to
serve up Caerwyn Martel upon a silver platter. He can be taken
prisoner, or killed, and in his absence there is no one to
challenge Kalila’s claim to the throne. She may take her rightful
place upon her grandfather’s throne, the chair of her great-great
grandfather, the hero of the Empire that united humanity together
for the first time and sent our alien enemies far away through our
tenacious resistance. Nothing can defeat a humanity that stands
united. And Kalila is the successor, by blood, birthright, and
spirit, to her great-great grandfather’s legacy. Once again,
humanity is in peril, and once again it has fallen upon the Akira
family to save us. Or rather, to force us to band together and save
ourselves.”

“You would have us serve up Caerwyn Martel
upon a silver platter,” said Beniah. “And yet you speak these words
as if the task be a simple thing. The queen and all her armies, her
fleets, her funds, and all her spies, which greatly outnumber the
resources at our disposal, have proven unequal to the task. How are
we to be any different?”

“We are different because we are not
monarchs,” said Raidan. “We have no reputation to maintain. We may
fight dirty, using guile and cunning, we are free to act in any way
we so choose, and it will not put Kalila’s legacy and reputation at
risk in the eyes of the people.”

“The people know many of our ships to be
among the numbers that supported Kalila in the Battle of Apollo,”
said Maria. “They would associate us, and any such dirty tactics,
with her and we would be a stain upon her reputation.”

“Any such people who pay such attention to
lists of starships in battle, and who might piece together that our
particular ships are in cooperation together, will also note with
their keen eyes that our ships are absent from Kalila’s fleet now,”
said Raidan. “That we chose not to defend Thetican System. In their
eyes, we will have been disaffected and separated from Kalila’s
cause and her forces. We are rebels now, renegade, just as cowardly
as Caerwyn himself to not have joined in the defense of the Empire
against our enemies abroad. Our actions will not fall upon the
queen to harm her reputation.”

“I would remind you that it is because of
you
none of us are there, defending our fellow Humans,” said
Beniah.

“Already answered and explained,” said
Raidan. “Our seventy-one ships will not be a force strong enough to
turn the tides of battle either in Thetican System or Ophiuchus
System. We could make some difference, but not more than we have
the chance to make here, today, when we decide to take strong
action against Caerwyn Martel. We can end this civil war!”

“So you say,” said Jackson. “Yet you have not
given us any such plan to do so except a vague hope Caerwyn’s own
allies will betray him, should we somehow frighten them enough, or
bribe them, into cooperation. I would say to you we do not have
ships enough. We cannot hope to stand against Caerwyn’s mighty
fleet, nor do we have funds enough to buy out his supporters, since
he is one of the wealthiest men in the Empire
and
he has
access to the Royal Treasury.”

“There
is
a way,” said Raidan, eager
to explain his plan.

“There are many ways,” shouted Mira,
interrupting him. “I too have a plan for our success. A plan which
will force the Empire into cooperation and reunification behind the
Akiran banner.”

Raidan was annoyed; the Organization should
not hear of her plan first. It was despicable and unfit for any
decent human beings to pursue. Even if the plan might work, it
would do so at precious cost, and Raidan would not stand idly by
and allow it. He would interrupt her at the first opportunity and
explain his plan, and then it would be up to White Rook to choose;
action or inaction; Plan A or Plan B. Raidan prayed White Rook
would choose wisely. If she didn’t, then he and Mira would have to
exercise the
option
. And after that, it would be war between
them.

Raidan was determined to prevail in such a
conflict and had made every effort to ensure his success, but there
were whispers of betrayal amongst his own crew, and he was not
completely certain he would defeat Mira, even though he absolutely
had to. The Empire depended upon it.

Chapter 21

Calvin blinked. All he could see was a
blinding white light. He squinted most of it out as his eyes
rapidly adjusted. He spent a few seconds trying to get a sense of
his bearings.

I’m sitting up in a bed
, he realized.
And there’s a mask on my face
. The wall ahead of him was
metallic and austere. Around him he heard noises, people walking
around, several voices. He couldn’t really tell what they were
saying. And beeping, lots of beeping.

He reached up and pulled the mask off of his
face, it had been covering his nose and mouth and was attached to a
tube which ran back into a machine he could not identify. Free of
the mask, he inhaled a breath of normal, stale, starship air. He
dropped the mask; it fell to his side.

I know where I am
, Calvin realized,
feeling both startled and excited, but above all confused.
This
is the
Nighthawk
. I’m in the infirmary
.

The place seemed far busier than usual, and
heavily staffed. He counted no fewer than six doctors and medics
attending to everyone, and each of the infirmary beds was occupied.
Other than himself there were five patients. Rez’nac lay on his
bed, mask over his face; he showed no signs of consciousness. Miles
was there too, sitting up on his own bed, wide awake, but unlike
Calvin he’d kept his mask on. He gave Calvin a nod when Calvin
looked over. Calvin nodded back. Rafael was there too. He, like
Rez’nac, was just lying there, mask over his face, plugged into
several machines, looking either unconscious
or dead
…Calvin
sincerely hoped the former, for both of his people. There was a
fourth patient, one he couldn’t make out from here. The person was
male, based on his body shape, but his face was almost completely
covered. He appeared to be receiving the greatest medical
intervention, with at least three of the six medics and doctors
standing around his bed.

Finally, Calvin’s eyes fell upon the last
patient.
Rain
. She too had a mask over her face and seemed
unconscious. He felt something stir within him and, without knowing
why, he found himself removing the oxygen monitor from his finger,
unstrapping himself from everything else, and then rushing over to
Rain’s side.