The Phoenix Crisis (54 page)

“
Also, don’t look now,” said
Rafael, interrupting Calvin’s train of thought, “but our oxygen
supply is critical. The secondary tank is no longer feeding the
cockpit for some reason.”

Calvin glanced down and saw the tiny alert
flashing red on one of his screens. “Which ship is closer, the
Harbinger or the Black Swan?”

“
The Black Swan.”

“
Open channel to
them.”

“
Open.”

“
Mayday. Mayday. Mayday,”
said Calvin, not sure if anyone on the Black Swan would actually
care about a single fighter in distress. “I’m disabled and running
out of air. Request immediate assistance and covering fire. I need
to dock. I repeat Mayday, Mayday—”

“
Acknowledged,” said a voice
over the speakers. And, amazingly, the Black Swan changed course
and headed their way. Moving to intercept. Two of its main
batteries lit up, firing volleys that shot past Calvin’s
fighter—narrowly missing it—and slammed into the Desert Eagle.
Forcing it to abort its attack.

“
Looks like someone made
quite the impression on the princess,” said Rafael. “Apparently Her
Grace doesn’t want you dead.”

Calvin felt warm in the face. Now that
Kalila’s shuttle had safely docked with the Black Swan and she’d
gone aboard, Calvin had no doubt that Kalila had gone to the bridge
of her ship and, most likely, had given the order for the Black
Swan to save him.

Not because she likes
me
, he reminded himself. Not wanting his
annoyingly irrational emotions to get carried away.
I’m still useful to her.
Yet he couldn’t help but think of the wedding band prop he’d
worn for their cover story, and how he still kept it with him in
his pocket.

When they were within fifty mc’s, Calvin
complied with instructions and fired his braking thrusters.
Maneuvering the fighter to a full stop. The Black Swan did the rest
of the work and towed his vessel onto one of the many flight decks.
Once his craft was anchored in place, the airlock sealed and
pressure was restored. Attendants on the flight deck immediately
started combing over the starfighter, beginning repairs. And an
officer wearing a navy Lieutenant Commander’s uniform, along with
two marines, stood by waiting for Calvin and Rafael as they climbed
down.

“
Mister Cross,” said the
officer, offering a quick salute. Calvin returned it. “Please come
with me.”

Calvin and Rafael followed
the man, flanked by the two marines, through long stretching
corridors and up several decks. The massive feel of the Black Swan,
which dwarfed even most battleships, reminded Calvin of his visit
to the Harbinger. Both powerful dreadnoughts seemed to have more
interior space and more crew than Calvin would have any idea what
to do with. There was, however, one major difference between the
Harbinger and this place. Onboard the Harbinger everything had felt
grim, and harsh, and severe. It was a military warship and made no
effort to hide that fact. Everything was grey, and hard, and
minimal. But not here. This ship was filled with color, and rich,
vibrant décor. There were lacquered wooden inlays and plush
burgundy carpets, and portraits and paintings seeming to line every
wall. The furniture in various rooms that they passed looked both
inviting and expensive. Calvin found it interesting. On the
outside, the Black Swan was a fearsome black skeleton, a warship
that dared any other ship to give it trouble, but on the inside it
was a palace. Fit for a king. Or, at the very least,
a princess
.

Eventually they arrived on the bridge. It
was similar in size, and design, to the Harbinger, though its
furnishings were clearly more expensive, and more thought had gone
into the color scheme and décor. A large window swept across the
far wall, treating them with a view of stars, and all around
several crews worked to manage the many stations. Their escort
brought them to the center of the bridge where a man in a captain’s
uniform sat at the command position; Kalila was there too,
occupying the seat next to him. They both stood when they saw
Calvin.

The captain saluted. “Mister Executor,” he
said.

Calvin saluted back. “It’s just Mister Cross
now,” he said.

“
I’m Captain Adiger,” the
captain said. He then looked at Rafael, noting the man’s eye-patch
and missing fingers. “And you?”

“
Rafael Te
Santos.”

“
I am pleased to see you are
safe,” said Kalila, looking at Calvin. “We have much to discuss.
But not now; now there are more urgent matters.”

“
Indeed,” said Calvin. Out
the window he saw flashes and knew the battle was still raging. A
man in a commander’s uniform, presumably the XO, was shouting
commands to the bridge staff and directing their combat efforts.
Adiger kept an eye on things, and seemed ready to step in and take
charge on a moment’s notice, but for now he seemed more interested
in giving the princess the better part of his attention.

“
They say it will happen any
time now,” Adiger said, continuing his conversation with
Kalila.

“
Hard to
port
,” Calvin heard the XO yell. As the
ship yawed to the left, the view at the window changed and he could
see the phantom glowing hulls of two massive starships, only
kilometers away, unleashing full broadsides on each other. One ship
looked splendid and white as the lights bounced off her hull, the
other a dark, fearsome grey. The Andromeda and the Harbinger were
still beating against each other ferociously, filling the window
with some of the most spectacular fireworks Calvin had ever seen.
And now the Black Swan added its own teeth to the melee, its main
guns alight. Calvin knew this would force the Andromeda to withdraw
or be destroyed.

“
We have to contact the
Harbinger,” said Calvin, interrupting Kalila and Adiger.

She pointed to a nearby terminal. Then
ordered the man occupying it to establish a communication link with
the Harbinger. Calvin was then handed a headset and invited to take
a seat.

“
To Raidan and ISS
Harbinger, this is Calvin Cross aboard the ISS Black Swan. Please
respond.”

There was a short pause and then a familiar
voice replied. “Calvin? You made it off the planet?”

“
Barely.”

“
Excellent,” said Raidan.
“Now tell the Princess to jump her ship away from the system. I’ll
supply coordinates. We need to leave immediately and regroup
somewhere safe, before enemy reinforcements arrive.”

“
I agree,” said Calvin. He
looked at the princess and Captain Adiger. “Raidan suggests we flee
the system while we still can. He’s sending us coordinates of a
safe location to regroup.”

Kalila gave him a suspicious look. “We’re
not going anywhere,” she said.

Calvin relayed the message.

“
Tell her we have to jump.
We cannot stay in Capital System. None of us can. It isn’t
safe.”

“
He says it isn’t safe,”
said Calvin.

“
Capital System is the seat
of government and power. I cannot abandon it,” she said. “Not while
my father is still on the surface.”

“
The king is supposed to
come before the Assembly and address the Empire any time now,” said
Captain Adiger.

Only then, Calvin knew, could they be sure
whether the king meant to resist or cooperate. But the fact that
the ISS Victory hadn’t been deployed made Calvin suspect the
latter.

“
There are a lot of ships on
these scopes,” said Rafael. He’d drifted over to the terminal next
to Calvin and was looking through the latest scan reports. “A lot
of ships, and I mean
a
lot
, are inbound for Capital
System.”

“
The Eighth and Ninth Fleets
are on their way,” explained Captain Adiger. “They will be here
soon.”

“
And it’s anyone’s guess
whose side they’re on…” said Rafael. He looked at Calvin. “We need
to leave.”

“
Not
yet
,” said Kalila. “Not before my
father addresses the Empire.”

Calvin felt torn. Part of him recognized the
danger they were in, even on this mighty vessel, and wanted to race
down to the flight deck, take off in his fighter, and go aboard the
Harbinger. Raidan, no doubt, had no plans to be cornered by the
Eighth and Ninth Fleets. Even though those fleets had yet to
declare their side, Raidan certainly wasn’t going to take any
chances. Calvin understood that; he considered it prudent. And part
of him wanted to flee as well. But another part of him needed to be
near Kalila, and refused to abandon her. Accepting that he shared
her fate.

“
We’re going to wait for the
King to address the Empire,” said Calvin into the headset.
“Depending how things go… he might need our military
support.”

“
I understand,” said Raidan.
“But be careful, Calvin. And don’t wait too long. If you’re still
here when the inbound fleets arrive… you won’t be
leaving.”

“
I know,” said Calvin.
Almost afraid to even consider it. As he imagined the Black Swan
being ruptured and torn by fire from all sides, he thought of the
Nighthawk and his friends. And worried for them.
“
Raidan
,” he said
abruptly, “where is the Nighthawk?” When the Harbinger had dropped
out of alteredspace Calvin had been excited and hopeful that he
would also see the Nighthawk. But now he hoped it was anywhere but
here. Kalila wouldn’t leave the system, and Calvin wouldn’t leave
Kalila, and he knew that for as long as he remained, the Nighthawk
and his friends wouldn’t leave him either.

“
Summers Presley decided to
take the ship to go after the isotome weapons that are still at
large,” said Raidan.

Calvin felt an inward sigh of relief. No
matter what happened to him here, his friends were still out there.
Alive and safe.

“
I’ll give you support for
as long as I can,” said Raidan. “But once those fleets are close,
I’ll have to jump. And I
strongly
suggest you do the same. I’m sending you
coordinates. Hopefully… I’ll see you there.”

“
Coordinates received,” said
Calvin, seeing them appear on his computer display. He removed the
headset and stood up, looking at Rafael, Captain Adiger, and
Princess Kalila in turn. Rafael looked back at Calvin. He seemed
anxious, but also willing to march into the jaws of hell with
Calvin if that was what duty required. As for Captain Adiger, his
bony, stone-like face was hard for Calvin to read. But he, no
doubt, would do whatever Kalila told him to. And, as for her, as
Calvin drank in her rich brown eyes—eyes that were resolute—he saw
that she meant what she said. She wouldn’t abandon Capital System,
not for any reason, not while her father’s fate remained
unclear.

So here we
remain
, he thought.
Mere leaves in the whirlwind
. Waiting.
Calvin did not know what the king would say or do. But no matter
the outcome, Calvin was certain there would be war. He could feel
it in his bones.
And all because I
failed
, he realized.
I didn’t capture the Phoenix Ring leaders and expose the
conspiracy. I was too slow and too late
.
And now the whole galaxy would run red with blood.

Chapter 37

Blackmoth stood in the middle of a vacant
street, staring up. Watching the fireworks light the night sky.

It was the fires of chaos and destruction,
as angels of death swept from the void and stole the souls of the
living. Gunships and fighters tore up the heavens. And beyond them,
in the great black ocean, too distant to be seen, starships
crippled one another.

The time of reckoning had begun. A glorious
moment that had been foretold to him in visions. It was the will of
the One True God—everything was. Nothing could ever happen that
wasn’t. And though His ways were often mysterious to Blackmoth, he
never ceased to marvel at their elegance and beauty.

The wheels were in motion. But there was
more for Blackmoth to do. Indeed, the One True God demanded more
from him than ever before. And Blackmoth was ever the willing
servant. A weapon. A tool. Whatever the One True God demanded.

His mobile vibrated with an
incoming call. He answered it. It was his other false master. This
false master congratulated him on the success of his work.
Promising him riches and rewards for
doing
what was necessary
. These promises meant
nothing to Blackmoth.

One false master is no safer
than another when the Day of God cometh
.

(End of Book 3)

The story continues in The Phoenix War

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