The Phoenix Project (21 page)

“Excellent.” The abilities of Catherine’s council
created a deeper vision than any one of them was capable of alone.

    
“What do we see?” Catherine asked her
comrades.

    
“An empty cradle,” Elizabeth replied.

    
“And a burning Coalition flag,” Napoleon
finished.

    
“Yes,” Catherine said. “Everyone return to
the present.”

    
All of the Twelve opened their eyes and the
cloud of ethereal fog disappeared from wherever it had come from.

    
“Your interpretation?” Catherine directed
to Alexander.

    
“We need a child because our nation is in
distress.”

    
“I agree. Perhaps you’re not an entirely wasted
intellect.”

    
“I agree as well,” Victoria said.

    
“And I,” Napoleon said.

    
“Good. Then it is done. Are we all speaking
of Nadine?” Catherine asked. Ten of them nodded in agreement. “Well then. We
need her.”

    
“Yes,” many of them said in unison.

    
“How will we get her to a room of
seduction?”

    
“First Contact,” Napoleon supplied.

    
“What would you propose?”

    
“She’s now a diplomat. We have our first
contact with an alien species. She is the prime choice as an ambassador.”

    
“How does that bring us closer?” Henry
asked.

    
“Nadine will be personally responsible for
our welfare within their walls. Elliot Fredericks will only be a few doors down
the hallway.”

    
“What is to guarantee that Admiral
Fredericks will remain there now that his initial mission in completed?”
Alexander inquired.

    
“That will be one of our many demands. The Alliance will believe
that it is out of a desire to keep a more experienced diplomat out of the way.
We will know better.”

    
“I agree,” Victoria said.

    
“I’ll add it to the contract immediately.”

    
Nadine waited in an anteroom outside of the
Council chambers.

    
She regarded her surroundings while she
waited to be called. Nadine looked to the wall—mounted dark iron fixtures
lighting the room. She had admired them many times while sitting in this room.
Nadine looked to them now as a way to pass the time. The Twelve had purposefully
kept her waiting for twenty minutes. They had done that as a passive way to
voice their displeasure with her. It ensured that transgressors knew their
place.

    
Nadine heard the tick of a door unlatching.
A thin man dressed in the traditional black uniform of MERA opened the outer
door to the chambers.

    
“The Council will see you know.”

    
“Thank—you,” Nadine said and got up from
her chair, calming herself with a deep breath, she clasped the copper door knob
and opened the heavy mahogany door into the twelve sided room.

    
Unlike the large arched set of main doors
to her right, this one was small and rectangular. Knowing her role of
subservience in this meeting, she crossed the floor and stood in the center of
the circle of high backed chairs as all submissive students do.

    
“Some respect for our position. I see you
remember your lessons now.”

    
“Yes, Catherine. I admit I may have been
hasty in my desire to contact you previously.”

    
“Admit your mistakes or don’t. Never make
your stand in gray areas. You are not a diplomat here,” Catherine said.

    
“I crossed a line in contacting you by
wireless rather then coming to the Council personally. I apologize.”

    
“Better. This diplomatic post is softening
you too much. I hope we didn’t make a mistake by posting you there.”

    
“It will not happen again,” Nadine said.

    
“Concise and direct; this is what I expect
from my students. It is good to see you are still in there.”

    
“I never left.”

    
“Your skills will be needed in the future.
You will be tried to a greater degree than before.”

    
“I’m ready.”

    
“Nadine, we are not going to demand our own
Ferine representatives.”

    
“I doubt they would be willing to issue
another pair or split up the ones they have already sent.”

    
“I didn’t think so either. What we will do
is accept the situation and ask that an ambassador be sent to ensure we have a
voice.”

    
“Yes, Catherine,” she said before the
realization of what they implied hit her. “Me?”

    
“You would be a prime choice. You are head
of diplomatic relations and First Contact is unique to you. The Ferine already
know you and it means you will be in close contact with Admiral Fredericks.”
  

    
“The Alliance
wouldn’t dare to protest this,” Nadine said.

    
“It is perfect, my child. The Alliance would not
protest a move which appears to benefit them. Even if they did, their whole
government would look foolish to sacrifice physical possession of the aliens.
They would be open to greater demands.”

    
“They can oppose a liaison,” Alexander
said.

    
“The Prime Ministers know we would then
demand our own Ferine representatives. That is something they can’t monitor. Be
my best student, Nadine. We will make our statement shortly. We require you to
return to the AWS
Endeavour
as our ambassador.”

    
“Yes, Catherine,” she replied. She proceeded
to exit through the side doors.
 

    
“Go through the main doors, Nadine. Your
penance is finished.”

    
Nadine obeyed and exited through the arched
way. The Twelve faced each other again in commons.

    
“Now, as to the loss of Outpost Fourteen,”
Catherine said.

    
“We lost forty—seven ships,” Napoleon said.

    
“As we expected.”

    
“We attempt to secure our future through
such losses. I don’t like it,” Elizabeth
commented.

    
“Neither do I, but, we did see the number
forty—seven surrounded in bright light. Our consensus seems to be accurate in
hindsight,” Catherine said.

    
The Twelve nodded in agreement of the
situation and continued on to the next subject.

    
Elliot returned to the Maria’s hospital
room during regular visiting hours. She already looked better from the previous
night. Her skin had a more lively color and dark locks of shoulder length hair
had been properly cared for. If not for the great regenerative device across
half of her face, she would have looked much like someone asleep in their own
bedroom. Elliot took a seat by her bed as he had the night before. He united
his hands around her right hand.

    
Elliot waited.

    
And waited.

    
Elliot wiped his eyes and covered his
friend’s hand again.

    
He felt her hand clasp his.

    
Elliot jerked his head up to look at
Maria’s face. She let out a mild breath and moved her head. Her features
twisted in confusion as she regained consciousness.

    
“Maria?”

    
In response to her name being called, she
moved her legs slightly and then turned to the sound of the voice to her right.
A single blue eye opened.

    
“Elliot, you should be on the
Endeavour
.
”

    
“Yes, Ma’am.”

    
“I think I was on my flagship. I’ve been
meaning to tell you how incredible it is.”

    
“Oh?”

    
“It’s pretty sturdy. I knew it would do the
job when I decided,” she paused once recent memories flashed across her mind’s
eye. “Oh God.”

    
“You’re okay now.”

    
“The last thing I remember is getting in
that blasted capsule.”

    
“You got off the ship.”

    
“Thank God!” she exclaimed in relief.
“There was something else.”

    
“Something else?”

    
“Right before that big coffin closed.”

    
“It can’t be important. You should get some
rest,” Elliot said.

    
“No, I remember seeing something.”

    
“You can think about it later. I wanted to
tell you that the Coalition backed off.”

    
“Just before it closed, I saw something
from the starboard side of the bridge. It was so bright.”

    
“Maria.”

    
“The monitors, I think. They went white.
All of the stations exploded. I felt,”

    
“Maria, just rest.”

    
“I felt,” she fought for the memory.

    
“Please rest.”

    
“Burning! My face was burning! The whole
right side of my face felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t see.”

    
“It’s alright now.”

    
“What happened? Why can’t I see out of my
right eye?”

    
“You were hurt.”

    
“Hurt? What the hell is that supposed to
mean?” Maria’s hands flew up to her face. Her left hand met skin, but the right
one met the obstruction of metal.

    
“What is this?” she demanded in a panicked
voice. Her left hand joined the right to feel the prosthetic. Trembling fingers
explored the smooth surface of steel.

    
“What happened to my face?”

    
“Stop! Maria
stop
!”

    
“Take it off!” she screamed. Maria began to
dig her fingers into the edges of her mask. Elliot slapped the quick response
button on her bed.

    
“Nurse to Room One Twelve!”

    
“Take this fucking thing off me!” she
screamed at Elliot. The mask began to come loose now that her fingers had found
purchase. Elliot grabbed for her hands. She tried to beat him away as she
fought the terror of what had happened to her. Two nurses broke into the room.
One teamed with Elliot to pin her arms to the bed while the other nurse slammed
a shot into her arm. Within seconds, the fighting stopped and Maria slid into unconsciousness.

    
Elliot disembarked from his shuttle having
returned to the
Endeavour
. He left the outpost and Maria once the
Admiralty issued him news orders.

    
“How’s Maria?” Madison asked, once Elliot stepped onto the
ship.

    
“I wish I could say that she’s alright.”

    
“What happened to her?”

    
“Head trauma. No brain damage, luckily. She
reacted badly when she woke up,” he said.

    
“How badly?” Lathiel asked.

    
“Bad enough. The nurses had to sedate her.”

    
“She will recover?” Lathiel asked.

    
“Yes I believe so, but not easily.”

    
“Can we do anything to help?” Madison asked.

    
“I don’t think so. I’ve received orders to
return to Earth tomorrow. Can I assume our new Ferine friends will accompany
us?”

    
“Yes, we were wondering when you wanted to
get underway,” Lathiel said.

    
“Right away,” Elliot replied.

    
“What about your Coalition friends?”
Lathiel said.

    
“Good question. We will plot a course and
turn our ships towards Earth, if they have a problem with it, I’m sure we’ll
hear from them,” Elliot replied.