The Phoenix Project (39 page)

    
Pulses of jade colored energy shot out from
the ends of the black rifles and hit all three in the center of the chest. They
slumped to the floor, paralyzed by the blasts. All they could do was stare at
the floor as they glimpsed military boots and camouflage fatigues bound past
them.

    
The third deck was captured by the
Coalition in a matter of minutes. The soldiers split into two groups and
proceeded to the upper and lower decks of the ship looking for any signs of
movement.

    
People cheered, applauded, or remained
silent as Bell
paused for reactions.

    
“To all my brothers across this planet and
our colonies, we will have justice. Every Ferine Being involved in this
abominable act will be punished to an extent appropriate to their level of
involvement. We expect full cooperation on the Alliance’s part. When we require testimony
from a member of the Ferine race in their custody, they will be required to
produce that witness.”

    
Danniack locked the doors to the bridge
himself.

    
“That won’t hold them long,” his science
office said.

    
“It will give me some time to think. How
far have they gotten?”

    
Danniack’s Head of Science, Brendle, bent
over the Ferine’s shoulder at the communications station and found the
information.

    
“They’ve got decks two through five and have
taken most of this one. They should be here any minute.”

    
“God Above, what do I do?” he wondered
aloud. The double doors to the bridge shifted as blasts from a PBR emptied into
it.

    
“Brendle, shut down the main computer and
lock it out.”

    
Brendle nodded and entered a flurry of
commands into a panel at the communications station. The doors crumpled under
another blast. The consoles on the bridge went dark as the first Coalition
soldier stepped in.

    
 
“Stop
what you’re doing!” the man barked at the science head. His work done, Brendle
backed away from the console with an obedient nod. “Everybody stand up and move
away from the stations.”

    
The half a dozen Ferine on the bridge
immediately obliged.

    
“Hands up!” the soldier said as more troops
poured onto the bridge. The Ferine looked at each other in confusion. The
soldier let out an exasperated sigh at the uncomprehending, wide eyed stares.
“Raise your arms up. Hands above your heads.”

    
The six Ferine on the bridge complied.
Soldiers pushed them to the center of the room, while other troops took over
their stations.

    
“This is a warship?” the senior officer of
the group asked as he entered behind the man issuing orders. The officer
deferred to his authority and shrugged at the comment. “Who is the Captain?”

    
“I am,” Danniack replied after a moment’s
hesitation.

    
“You, your crew, and your ship are under
Coalition supervision until your involvement in the recent destruction of
Earth’s moon can be determined. You are all to be tried in a court of law. An
attorney will be appointed to represent you.”

    
“I understand,” Danniack said with his arms
raised.

    
“Get them out of here,” the officer said to
one of his subordinates. A dozen of his troops escorted the Ferine off the
bridge.

    
“Sir,” a soldier said from the helm.

    
“Yes Corporal?” The senior officer crisply
walked to the free—standing console.

    
“Nothing’s working. There’s power to the
station, but the screens are all blank.”

    
“They shut off the computer.
Communications!” he exclaimed to a woman nearby.

    
“Yes, Sir?”

    
“Contact the
Hamburg
. Tell them to get an engineer
over here to try and bring the computer back up and tell them that we need a
tow.”

    
Moments later the free—floating Ferine
science ships were grabbed by grav beams emanating from a couple of large
cruisers. They were pulled towards the Coalition warships until they were close
to their bellies. With the cruisers clasping the small Ferine ships in the
artificial gravity they had created, the battle group jumped past the speed of
light towards an unknown location.

    
“Thank—you for your attention. I will now
pass the floor over to the Speaker,” Bell
said.

    
“This inquiry has completed its
investigation. These proceedings are finished. We are now adjourned,” the
speaker said. The twelve panel members rose to leave the room. The five Alliance members shared disappointed
looks while the Coalition members had stony faces intent on tasks to come in
their near futures.

    
“What are we going to do?” Ranik asked
Nadine.

    
“I’ll look into this and see what I can do.
Believe me, I didn’t know they were going to take your people or your ships.”

    
“I believe you Nadine, but that doesn’t
change our situation.”

    
“I know, I promise I will do whatever I can
on your people’s behalf.”

    
“Thank—you,” Ranik said.

    
“I’ll get you to Phoenix right away,” Elliot said to his
Ferine associates. He leaned forward in his chair to speak to his counterpart
at the end of the table. “Nadine, I’ll see you to your shuttle.”

    
“No, Elliot. I need to look into what’s
going on here. I’ll contact you when I’m ready to join you.”

    
“Be careful.”

    
“You too, and keep these two safe.”

    
All four of them rose from their chairs.
Nadine hurried off through a set of double doors at the right of the courtroom,
giving one last glance to Elliot, Lathiel, and Ranik.

    
Elliot motioned to a line of Alliance naval personnel
along one side of the crowded courtroom. Four men armed with PBPs detached from
their positions along the wall and gathered around the Ferine.

    
“Get them to Black Hills Island.”
The officers nodded and formed a protective formation around the two Ferine.

    
“You’re not coming?” Lathiel asked with a
worried wrinkle of his spotted forehead.

    
“I have to consult with my superior. I’m
sure he’ll want to meet with both of you. This isn’t over yet, Lathiel.”

    
The four officers saluted the Admiral and
marched out of a side door at the left of the courtroom with their charges.

    
Peter waited until after midnight before he
left his bed to sneak through dark corridors. He knew of the minimum patrols
conducted at this time and stealthily avoided them. He used a device he had
assembled to allow him access to the warhead room and slipped in.

    
All work on the warhead had been finished
and it was coming online tomorrow. He had only this one chance to bring the
weapon under his control before the computer was brought online.

    
Peter went to a large station against one
wall of the cavernous room and pushed the short series of activation buttons which
powered the computer. He immediately put the computer into a diagnostic mode before
it could load any of its software. With a series of brilliant commands he went
into one program and manipulated it into allowing him access to the main
directory. Once there, he jumped from directory to directory and program to
program. Finally, he planted a lock command that would deny everyone access
except for him. Peter changed the closed system to allow him access to any of
the communications stations throughout the base.

    
“Sir?”

    
Peter nearly jumped out of his skin at the
voice coming from behind him. He slowly turned towards the intruder. His mind raced
for a cover story for a superior officer and a second if the interloper was a
subordinate. He was relieved to see a naive young man in front of him. His navy
blue tunic had a single silver bar on each side of a high collar.

    
“Ensign,” Peter said.

    
“Forgive me Sir, but what are you doing
here at this time of night?”

    
He couldn’t have been a day over twenty—one.
The last remainders of baby fat still hung from his cheeks. His weak chin
nearly trembled at the suspicion that he may have stumbled onto something he
shouldn’t have.

    
“Just a bit of late night work, Ensign.
Exactly what are you doing here?”

    
“Night shift, Sir. I’m on patrol.”

    
“I’ve never seen you before Ensign, and
patrols usually don’t go through here,” Peter said, managing to sound
contemptuous of any non—regulation behavior.

    
“I’m new Sir, I’m Ensign Murphy. I was a
few minutes behind on my rounds and I thought I heard something in here.”

    
“I see,” Peter said, quietly.

    
“Sir, it is my duty to ask what you are
doing in a restricted area after hours and report you to my superiors.”

    
“Yes, I know. We’ll both report to the duty
officer and clear this up. As per regulations, I will walk in front of you and
you will escort me to the duty office,” Peter said to the young man.

    
“Yes, Sir.”

    
“Oh,” Peter said, feigning a lapse of
memory, “you should take my sidearm.”

    
“Sir, I don’t think that will be
necessary.”

    
“No, I insist,” Peter said removing the PBP
from its holster at his hip.

    
“Sir, it’s really not—,”

    
“I didn’t get your first name.”

    
“It’s Nathaniel,” Murphy got out before he
heard a crackle of energy. A shock of pain contorted his face. His
consciousness left his body before he could think to look down at the source of
the agony. A smoking black spot the size of a baseball marred the front of his
tunic. The lifeless Ensign fell to the floor. Peter increased the setting of
his pistol to the necessary intensity and fired another shot at the body. The
young Nathaniel Murphy was vaporized, leaving no evidence behind as to what had
happened to him.

    
Peter removed the power clip from the PBP.
It showed a glowing emerald stripe on one side of it. The line nearly reached
the top, indicating it had been fired as some of its charge was gone. Peter would
dispose of it in the morning. The American
Sea was an unlikely
candidate to reveal this particular secret. In the meantime, he slapped a
fully charged power clip into the handle of the weapon.

    
Peter hurried back to his quarters and
climbed into his bunk after quickly tearing himself out of his uniform and
placing the PBP on his night table.

    
He knew the officer would be reported
missing within minutes. They may even question him, but there would be another
thousand officers whose alibi would also be that they were asleep in their beds
at the time.

    
Like them, there was no reason or motive
for murder and he had been careful to ensure that he had left no traces of his
identity in that room. The case would be another unsolved murder. The naval
authorities may even come to believe that he had simply gone AWOL.

    
Peter closed his eyes and fell into a deep
sleep.

    
Maria stepped out of a shuttle at the dry—docks
above Mars. She walked along a broad corridor with a wall of grey metal
climbing up thirty feet to a curved ceiling that joined the left wall at its
apex. The great curved right side of the corridor gave an incredible view of a
red planet through tall windows which stretched from the floor to the interior
bulkhead. Having arrived early, she took her time to get to Dock Three.

    
While she strolled down the long corridor,
Dock Three began to come into view through the grand windows to her right. The
beginning of an enormous skeleton of titanium peaked into view. To her
surprise, she didn’t see the grey colored hull of a typical cruiser, but the
beginnings of a pearlescent one. Her feet followed the natural inward curve of
the station. The windows in the station stopped for several feet, obscuring her
view. Maria found her pace increasing in anticipation. Once the next set of
windows began, Maria stopped to gather herself.