The Phoenix Project (17 page)

    
“And? This attack is,” she began.

    
“An accident,” Elliot finished. “The Alliance believed this
was the case from the beginning.”

    
“The Alliance
believed?” Nadine repeated.

    
“Thank—you,” Lathiel said to Elliot.

    
“There are nonetheless concerns of your
intentions towards our culture,” Nadine said.

    
“Yes, we wish to apologize. Our act against
our enemies was never meant to have any effect on you or your people.”

    
“Will you join us for a meal in celebration
of this fortunate meeting?”

    
“We’d be happy to,” Lathiel said.

    
“If you’ll give us a moment, we have to
make our shuttle ready for departure,” Elliot said.

    
“We need to extend the deadline,” Nadine
said within the confines of the shuttle.

    
“Agreed.”

    
“I wouldn’t say that under normal circumstances,
but those upright cats out there are definitely not normal.”

    
“Then postpone the deadline,” Elliot said.

    
“I can try. My superiors may have different
objectives.”

    
“Same with me, we can agree on that at the
very least,” he said as he primped a flight seat. Nadine gave him a withering
look and continued to ready the tan interior of the shuttle. “Ready?”

    
“As much as possible for aliens.”

    
“I’ll communicate our dinner invitation to
my ship. Please bring in our passengers,” he said.

    
“Your ship?”

    
“Yes. Would you prefer yours?”

    
“If you want the cats onboard your ship,
fine have them,” she said and turned towards the hatch.

    
“We would be pleased to have you join us,”
Nadine said with a compulsory smile.

    
“Thank—you General,” Lathiel said.

    
“Please, call me Nadine.”

    
“Thank—you, Nadine,” Lathiel said and
crossed into the shuttle’s interior.

    
Ranik placed an ostentatious smile on his
face.
 
“Thank—you, Nadine.”

    
She looked back at his smile of bright
fangs and responded with ingratiating warmth. “You’re welcome.”

    
Nadine and Elliot sat in the pair of chairs
at the front of the shuttle while Ranik and Lathiel took the seats behind them.
Once they were underway, Lathiel looked to the looming warship in the forward
window. He leaned forward in his seat to speak with Elliot.

    
“Is that your ship?”

    
“Only for the moment. I’ve taken temporary
command of this battle group,” Elliot replied.

    
“As have I. The ships you see further in
the background are my command for this mission. My normal posting is on our
home planet as head of our diplomatic corps. That is why I was chosen for this
first contact situation,” Nadine said.

    
The tiny shuttle wove under a gargantuan
wing and flew behind the ship. Nadine activated her earpiece and whispered to
someone for a moment. Elliot fired a small burst from a directional jet and
spun the shuttle around to face a hangar located at the back of the ship. With
practiced ease, he guided it in to the bright bay. The foursome rose from their
seats and moved to the shuttle’s exit at the side.

    
“Please,” Elliot gestured towards the
opening door.

    
“Please what?” Lathiel asked. His bright
slit eyes regarded Elliot in confusion. Elliot smiled at one of the many
idiosyncrasies of Human culture.

    
“I’m sorry Lathiel, what I meant was please
exit the shuttle first. It’s a way of showing consideration in our culture.”

    
“Thank—you,” Lathiel said and stepped onto
the hangar deck. Every man and woman stopped to take notice of the two tall
Ferine standing in the open area.

    
“This way, please,” Elliot said, gesturing to
the hangar’s exit.

    
They nodded and began walking along the
suggested course. Both Lathiel and Ranik glanced nervously about them at the
drawn out stares.

    
“You must forgive them gentlemen. They have
never seen a non—Human before,” Elliot said.

    
“We can understand their reactions. Our
race had the same response when we met the Nevargh,” he said.

    
“The Nevargh? Who are they?” Nadine asked.

    
“The species we’re at war with.” Ranik replied.
“They have annexed close to three hundred systems in the past year.”

    
They exited the shuttle bay and moved into
a narrow hallway.

    
“They’re that aggressive?”

    
“Their species are dark scaly bastards,”
Ranik said. “They have two legs and two arms as you and I, but their eyes and
skin are cold. We stared at them in shock when our people met them a century
ago.”

    
“You are a fair sight better,” Lathiel said,
changing the subject.

    
“So are your people,” Elliot said. He
turned to his left and walked through a wide door parting at forty—five degree
angles. The other three members of the group followed him into a small but
elegant dining room. Here the walls were a bright burgundy with a slightly
higher ceiling and wood flooring. A long table of cherry and six high backed
chairs sat in the center of the cozy room. Joshua and Madison were already in
attendance standing behind the chairs on the far side of the table.

    
“Gentlepeople, these are my friends: Joshua
and Madison Hubbard. Josh, Madi, this is Ranik and Lathiel,” he said indicating
the Ferine. “And this is Lieutenant General Nadine Hanover of the Diplomatic
Corps for the Coalition.”

    
Elliot strode towards the head of the
table. Ranik and Lathiel took the opposite side facing the couple. Nadine took
the remaining position behind the chair facing Elliot. Once everyone was in
place, the dinner party took their seats. Nadine was the first to speak.

    
“I have to admit that we would not greet
you with such luxury on any of our ships. We have no need of this level of extravagance.”

    
“We only keep one or two such rooms on our
ship for VIP occasions such as this one. Some diplomats can be very demanding.
With your past experiences in such matters you undoubtedly agree, General.”

    
She offered only a thin smile in response.

    
“Yes,” Lathiel agreed as a half dozen
attendants came in with the first course. Six bowls of French Onion soup were
placed in front of them. “We have had similar experiences but don’t worry; we won’t
complain. I can only speak for myself but I appreciate my surroundings and
your hospitality.”

    
“Thank—you, Lathiel,” Elliot said.

    
“Incidentally, what is this? It smells
wonderful.”

    
“It’s a soup made with onions, cheese, and
bread. I hope you enjoy it,” Elliot replied.

    
Lathiel and Ranik inhaled a deep breath of
the soup’s aroma and lifted their spoons to dig in. Ranik stopped for a moment.

    
“This is the correct utensil?”

    
“Yes,” Nadine replied.

    
Both of the Ferine put their spoons through
the topping and into to the soup. They brought a spoonful of soup their mouths.
They ruminated on the food for a moment and then nodded appreciatively.

    
“I take that you like it?” Elliot asked his
two Ferine guests.

    
“It has an interesting taste to it. Is this
the cheese?” Ranik asked, indicating a bit of Gruyere on his spoon.

    
“Yes it is.”

    
“It’s very good, we have something like it
but yours is much,” he paused for a moment as he sought the correct word,
“creamier. It is a nice compliment to the soup.”

    
“Does it meet with your expectations,
General?”

    
“Yes,” she said, quietly. Before she could
continue, her earpiece chirped. “Excuse me for a moment. I imagine this is in
regards to certain extensions for a deadline.”

    
Nadine got up from her chair and took a
corner of the room. She conducted a hushed conversation with her communications
device while dividing her attention between it and the conversation going on at
the table.

    
“I hope you like the next course as much as
this one. It’s called lasagna. It has more cheeses in it,” Elliot said to his
two guests.

    
“I’m starting to like you Elliot,” Ranik
said.

    
“Admiral, I appreciate your hospitality,
given what we have done, however unintentional it was,” Lathiel said.

    
“We can speak on that later. In the
meantime we have more local concerns. Lathiel our two nations are under a great
deal of stress right now. We,” he was cut off by his, Joshua, and Madison’s earpieces going
off. All three stopped eating and thumbed them on. They listened for a moment
while Ranik and Lathiel waited patiently. They acknowledged the officer on the
other end and turned the devices off.

    
“Joshua, you know what to do,” Elliot said.

    
“I’m on it,” he said and turned to the
aliens. “It was good to meet you.”

    
Lathiel and Ranik smiled at Joshua in
thanks as he exited.

    
“Do you need any help here?” Madison asked Elliot.

    
“No, go with Joshua. Convince them to send
the recall order.”

    
Madison
nodded and got up to leave. She walked to a place that put her between the two aliens
and placed an arm on each of their shoulders.

    
“Thank—you,” she said.

    
“For?” Lathiel inquired.

    
“For giving me hope,” Madison responded and left the room. The two Ferine
looked at each other in confusion. Before they could ask Elliot what she
meant, Nadine returned to the dining table.

    
“Excuse me, gentlemen. I have urgent
business to attend to. Admiral Fredericks, I need a shuttle immediately.”

    
“An officer will escort you to the nearest
one.”

    
“Thank—you,” Nadine said with a somber
disposition. “It was a pleasure to meet you Lathiel and you as well Ranik.
Please accept my apologies for my departure.”

    
“Accepted,” the two Ferine replied.

    
“Admiral, I would have liked to have stayed
but circumstances have changed. I’m sure you understand.”

    
“All too well,” he nodded to her with an
empathetic smile. She turned and left the room.

    
“Fast dinner we had,” Ranik observed.

    
“I’m sorry, Ranik. There are things going
on here that you are unaware of. If you like, I will continue as your host and
fill you in on some of them.”

    
Three attendants entered with large dishes
of lasagna, filling the room with its inviting smell.

    
“We’d like that,” Lathiel said.

    
Nadine fell into the seat next to her
escort as he activated the shuttle for launch. She relaxed in the humming ship
as it rose from the deck and exited the shuttle bay. It followed its course out
into the night and towards the center of the cloud of Coalition warships.

    
Elliot was a formidable person. He had cut
through her barriers and barbs to the heart of the situation. Now she would
have to contact MERA in order to extend a fixed deadline. The Alliance shuttle sped through numerous
obstacles and arrived to her flagship. She thanked her courier and disembarked
from the shuttle.

    
Nadine marched through corridors to General Park’s private office. She sat down at
his small desk, surrounded by claustrophobic walls. She punched in her private
code to the Twelve. Catherine’s face of surprise and disapproval met hers.