The Phoenix Project (32 page)

    
“That is their only speed, Sir. They can
not travel any faster or slower.”

    
“You discovered them at an archeological
dig?” Mary asked again.

    
“We found the plans for the drives at an
archeological dig,” Lathiel replied.

    
“I thought you said your ancestors were no
more advanced than you are today,” Bell
said.

    
“That is true, but we didn’t discover the
plans at one of our ancestor’s ancient cities.”

    
“Than where did you discover them?”

    
“At the remains of a Pera settlement. They
are the first race that existed in the galaxy,” Lathiel replied.

    
“Where are they now?”

    
“We don’t know. They vanished ages ago.”

    
“What do you mean by the first race?” Mary asked.

    
“There are remains or traces of other
extinct races, but the Pera predate all of the others we have ever found. We’ve
referred to them before as the Ancients.”

    
“A first race. So have you discovered
anything else at these sites?” Mary asked.

    
“A few improvements to our sensors come
from them and little else. There is very little left of them. We haven’t
discovered one of their data rods in at least thirty years,” Lathiel replied.

    
“Now Delegate Lathiel, if you’ll excuse me,
why aren’t there any archeological digs for us to find in our space? We have
never discovered evidence of any previous races. You seem to imply these sites
are everywhere. If so, why are there none in our space?” Bell asked.

    
“They don’t know?” Ranik whispered to
Lathiel.

    
“What was that, Delegate Ranik?”

    
“Sorry Mister Bell, I was just surprised
that you are unaware of your star system’s location,” Ranik said.

    
“I am well aware of our location. Is there
some significance to it?”

    
“You are well within the Ancient’s space,”
Lathiel said.

    
“But you said there are no Pera anymore.”

    
“No, but their space is desolate. Your
system is an oasis in that desert. Only a few very young civilizations exist in
this area,” Lathiel said.

    
“Shouldn’t there be traces of this
civilization for certain then, if we are in their old territory?” Mary asked.

    
“The Pera core worlds were the subject of
large scale bombardment to an extent that their colonies were reduced to balls
of molten rock, even all this time later they still show no signs of life. Only
their outlying colonies and outposts survived to any degree.”

    
“Have no other advanced civilizations
colonized the area since they left?” Mary asked.

    
“There’s really nothing left to colonize.
The only other habitable planets in this region are already occupied by
intelligent species. Nearly all of them are on the fringes of the old Pera
Empire and none of them have achieved your level of advancement yet.”

    
“What of the Pera? Why were their worlds
destroyed?” Bell
asked.

    
“We’re not sure. There may have been a
civil war or possibly an outside influence. What survivors there were vanished
soon afterwards. There are legends that they left this galaxy and traveled to
the edge of the universe.”

    
“Back to the subject, Lathiel. If these
Nevargh are far enough away not to be a threat to us, why did you come here?” Bell asked.

    
“After the beam fired, I grew concerned as
to where the weapon may have gone. We never believed a wormhole would be
created by the discharge although it was remotely possible. I hoped it would
have simply continued through space until it dissipated or had disappeared into
a star. We were deeply saddened to discover where it went,” Lathiel said.

    
“So you do advocate that you never
intentionally attacked us?” Bell
asked.

    
“No, certainly not,” Lathiel replied.

    
“It does seem convenient that this weapon
just happened to open a wormhole. This wormhole just happened to have an exit
point near our system and it just happened to hit our planet.”

    
“It was a chance of one in a billion,”
Lathiel said. “Unfortunately, your race beat the odds.”

    
“Yes, so it does seem far more likely that
this was intentional. You constructed a temporary wormhole to our system and
fired your doomsday weapon through it. Now that you crippled our race, we are
ready for an invasion.”

    
“No!”

    
“Such advanced technology combined with a seemingly
naive story. How stupid to you think we are?” Bell asked.

    
“Mister Bell!” Mary exclaimed, “This is a
hearing, not a trial.”

    
“And I am asking a question. How stupid do
you think we are?” Bell
repeated.

    
“I,” Lathiel sputtered, finding himself at
a loss for words.

    
“Mister Bell,” Ranik said rising from his
chair.

    
“I asked Lathiel!” Bell roared.

    
“Sir,” Lathiel said, scurrying for a
response, “we have told you the truth! We have no interest in conquest and
haven’t for centuries.”

    
“That’s your story, but I submit that you
are attempting to deceive us,” Bell
said.

    
“Why?”

    
“Exactly! Why? Are you the first scouts of
an invasion force? It would make sense given the chaos you created with your
weapon.”

    
“We are pacifists!” Lathiel exclaimed.

    
“Again, that is your story. First you place
us in a state of chaos, and then you offer us peace to further our confusion.
In the middle of peace talks the rest of your fleet arrives to conquer us.”

    
“Mister Bell, this is all speculation,”
Mary said.

    
“But it is supported by the facts,” Bell said.

    
“And could just as easily be erroneous.”

    
“We have seen what they are capable of
first hand. They have admitted the weapon was theirs,” Bell said.

    
“It was ancient, it will never fire again,”
Lathiel said.

    
“That’s what you say. Where is your proof?”
Bell asked.

    
“I,” Lathiel said in defeat, “I have none.
Only my word.”

    
“Exactly,” Bell said in triumph.

    
“Mister Bell, allow me to speak,” Ranik
said.

    
“Granted,” Bell said, eyeing Ranik suspiciously.

    
“We can show you images of the planet that
housed the weapon. You can easily see from those pictures that the weapon will
never fire again.”

    
“And how do we know that they are not
forgeries?” Bell
asked.

    
“I can’t offer any more than that, Sir.”

    
“Not good enough, I would require solid
proof of this. How does that convince me that you aren’t planning an invasion?”

    
“You have seen the sensor data on our
ships,” Lathiel said, “Clearly they are not ships of war.”

    
“Why bring ships of war if this is only a
scout force to assess our resistance factor? It would make sense to present
yourself as wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Bell
said.

    
“Sheep?”

    
“Mister Bell,” Mary intervened, “I think
it’s time for a recess. You’ve given everyone a lot to think on.”

    
“Agreed, we’ll adjourn for one hour,” Bell said. The panel exited
the room, leaving Lathiel standing at the podium in shock.

    
“Did you see the way she was smiling at
him?” Catherine asked her entourage. The globe screen darkened and lowered into
the floor having finished its job of broadcasting the last segment of the
hearing.

    
“I have to admit that I was paying more
attention to what was said,” Elizabeth
replied.

    
“I noticed,” Victoria said, still looking at the place
the globe had occupied only moments before.

    
“And what did you gather?” Catherine asked.

    
“I’d say she’s growing fond of Admiral
Fredericks,” Victoria
said.

    
“Possibly. There is a difference in how
they’re treating each other now.”

    
“Do you think she has already conceived?”
Alexander asked.

    
“She would have reported to us if that was
the case. I think she is proceeding apace to her goal,” Catherine said.

    
“Do you think she’s growing an emotional
attachment to him?” Alexander asked.

    
“I would prefer not to engage in
speculation. However, it would be easier for her if she had some level of
emotional attachment.”

    
“The inquiry is here as my visions
predicted,” Alexander said.

    
“And at the cost of a possible victory, but
it couldn’t be avoided.”

    
“What do we do with these inquiries?”
Napoleon asked.

    
“We need the Ferine out of the way. This is
the way towards that goal.”

    
“How so?” Victoria asked.

    
“The findings are already decided. Once
they are finished, we’ll be in the perfect position to render a judgment that
will ensure the Ferine leave our system forever. Then we can deal with the Alliance.”

    
“And what about their warhead? With it, we
can’t touch them, not without destroying the planet,” Alexander said.

    
“I want you to relay some new orders to
Peter. There may be a way to use this warhead against the Alliance.”

   
Maria grabbed a large decanter of fresh black coffee and
poured herself a second cup. She took a couple of small containers of milk and
dumped the contents into the earthenware mug followed by one packet of sugar.
She absently stirred the cup while she watched her first officer testify.

    
“You were present on the bridge when it was
reported that the enemy force numbered one hundred and twenty ships?” Maria’s
lawyer asked.

    
“Yes,” Ben Phelps replied.

    
“Had she made a decision as to her battle
plan at that time?”

    
“No, at that point we were at a stand—off. Our
orders were to ensure the Coalition battle group did not attempt to run the
blockade.”

    
“And if the deadline passed?” Dixon asked.

    
“We were told to wait for instructions.”

    
“When did you receive your orders?” Dixon asked, while he paced
the bright oak walled room.

    
“It was just as the deadline passed.”

    
“These orders instructed you to do what
exactly?”

    
“Our orders were to protect the outpost at
all costs.”

    
“Did Maria give the order to fire?”

    
“No,” Dixon
replied.

    
“Did she wait for them to fire first?”

    
“Yes.”

    
“Then she gave the order to fire?”

    
“Correct.”

    
Maria looked to her right at the prosecutor
and waited for his first objection.

    
“By this time had she formulated a battle
plan?” Dixon
asked.

    
“Yes, she had.”

    
“Objection: Speculative,” Myers said,
pretending to keep his attention on a fan of links in front of him.

    
“Your Honor, some leeway?” Dixon asked.

    
“Depends, Counsel, will this all be just
speculative?”