The Phoenix Project (51 page)

    
“Secondary explosion at the superluminal
engines,” the damage control officer said. “They’re offline.”

    
“Fire fore and aft cannons: all batteries,”
Elliot said, getting back to his feet. He turned from the weapons station and
watched the results on the main monitor. The olive painted Coalition warship
absorbed several hits and responded with more rounds of torpedoes and PBCs.
Green and orange fire glowed across the screen as it hit the
Norfolk
’s
shields. The smaller
monitor above it showed the results of the ship directly behind them absorbing
fire from the aft batteries.

    
“Are the Primary Cannons charged?” Elliot
asked.

    
“Both are ready,” his weapons officer replied.

    
“Even the odds Commander.”

    
Nadine watched as two wing mounted cannons
spewed starlight at the enemy ship. Its shields collapsed from a massive
overload. The plasma beams continued on to hole the ship through in two places
before it was vaporized.

    
“The first Coalition ship has been
destroyed,” the officer reported.

    
“And the second?”

    
“They’ve sustained some damage, but our
shields will fail before theirs do.”

    
“Ready torpedoes and detonate them fifty
miles from their hull. Set a course for that ship.”

    
Nadine looked on while the past replayed
itself as a volley of torpedoes flew out from the ship and detonated in the
space between the warring ships creating a firestorm.

    
“Go. Stop two hundred feet from that ship.”

    
The ship flew through the cloud of flame.
The maneuver was risky and could result in both vessels being destroyed if the
Coalition ship advanced. The flame disappeared from the screen only to have the
boxy olive colored destroyer dozens of feet from the ship.

    
“Fire at will!” Elliot barked. Weapons fire
ripped through the Coalition ship’s shields and impacted against its hull. More
weapons fire erupted from both ships now as the Coalition destroyer had
recovered sufficiently to return fire. She could almost feel the shock wave
from the enemy ship as it exploded in a spectacular display only a short
distance away. It was a moment later that Elliot fell from his command chair. She
saw Elliot’s eyes close from a deafening roar.

    
The wreckage!

    
His body felt the secondary ruptures of the
hull sending shivers through the deck. The massive pieces of debris had flown from
the Coalition destroyer and impacted against the
Norfolk
’s
hull. She heard
 
it was decommissioned a month or so later.

    
Eyelids moved out of the way again as
Elliot regained consciousness. He got to his feet with a rush to his head. She
realized he must have had a concussion. Elliot demanded a damage report and was
given a list that included the entire port wing being nearly sheared off by a
piece of wreckage from the enemy warship.

    
She noticed the same thing that he had so
many years ago. Much of the left side of the room had crumpled from an internal
explosion.

    
And there at the Science Station was Lily’s
limp body still seated at the console that had exploded from an overload.

    
Elliot rushed to her the moment he saw her
there.

    
“Half of our systems are offline,” his
weapons officer reported after having regained his footing.

    
“Activate all damage control parties. Take
care of it Commander,” he ordered. He strode in haste for her chair.

    
The officer briefly looked between the two
in compassion before taking over command and issuing the appropriate
directives.

    
Elliot gently turned the chair towards him.
Nadine felt the same overwhelming fear he had. Lily was unconscious with small
lacerations to her face and body. At first, Nadine realized that she may be
alright and may only need minor medical attention.

    
Then, just as Elliot had, she saw the first
trickle of blood from the top of Lily’s forehead. A deep gash made itself
evident just above her hairline. In a panic that Nadine shared, Elliot looked
for a pulse at her wrist and found none. Elliot grabbed her body in his arms
and collapsed to the floor. Her lifeless head lolled back unto his arm.

    
His weapons master and first officer allowed
for a time of mourning. Elliot whispered things to Lillian that he had shared
only with her until now. Nadine could hear them in the stillness of the moment.

    
“I’ll make sure you’re buried next to your
mother. I always knew you wanted to be there in the end.”

    
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.”

    
“We would’ve stayed in tonight. Josh and
Madi wouldn’t have minded.”

    
“You always said that Lieutenant Phillips
was a good man. He’d be honored to fill in for you.”

    
Everything he said was in a low whisper
between tears that streaked his face and wet his duty uniform. The last thing
he said before he clutched her closely was: “You’re my wife and you always will
be.”

    
He let go of her body and gently placed her
on the floor. Nadine watched as he carefully placed both of her hands across
her chest. He stood up from Lily and walked back to his command chair.

    
“Commander, I’m relieving you.”

    
“Yes, Sir.”

    
“Please remove the fatalities to the
morgue.”

    
“Yes Sir,” his first officer replied and
moved to take Lily’s body from the bridge.

    
“Commander?”

    
“Yes, Sir?”

    
“Treat her with the respect she’s due,”
Elliot said without taking his gaze from the main screen.

    
Nadine was ripped from the memory when both
of their bodies climaxed. She felt his ecstasy for a moment and both of them
felt the release. Nadine lowered her head in sorrow for what she had just
witnessed. Elliot looked up to her sagging head and put a forefinger under her
chin. He lifted her head to find tears flowing down her face mirroring his own.

    
“No,” he said with a smile, “it was a long
time ago. I’ve let it go.”

    
“How?”

    
“Just now, with you.”

    
She embraced him as tightly as he had Lily
all those years ago feeling as though she had just lost a loved one. Elliot felt
her guilt at what had happened with her father.

    
“I’m so sorry for what happened.”

    
“It’s like you said, it was a long time ago
and I’ve let it go now,” Nadine said.

    
Elliot got up for a minute to bring the
light on at a dimmed setting reminiscent of candlelight. They relaxed in the
afterglow of their shared experiences in each other’s arms.

    
“What do we do now?” Nadine asked after a
long and exquisite silence.

    
“We can decide on that later. Want some Ruby
Brandy in bed?”

    
“Warmth in warmth,” Nadine replied.
“Absolutely.”

    
Many have asked what contributed to the Norfolk incident. Both
the Norfolk and the Coalition warships were
involved in standard patrols of the established border between Alliance and Coalition space when the event
occurred. Both sides diverge when it comes to recounting actual events. The
Coalition describes the unsolicited invasion of their space by the Norfolk, while the Alliance
recounts an unwarranted attack on their ship.

    
The only evidence we have
indicates that the CWS Warsaw
may have fired first. What is certain is that the Coalition lost seven hundred
and eighty soldiers that day and the Alliance
lost four hundred and fifty—four.

    
The Potemkin and the Warsaw were destroyed.
The Norfolk
would never see service again.

    
What is the truth?

    
Does it matter?

The Second Cold War

by Trey Parks

Chapter XVII

“You were
supposed to ensure the Ferine never left your station,” Catherine said to
Colonel Daniels.

    
“I apologize, Prime Counsel.”

    
“Do you have anything more to offer than
apologies?”

    
“We followed your instructions to the
letter, Prime Counsel. I don’t understand how the Alliance could have found the Ferine,”
Daniels replied.

    
“But they did and don’t try to blame this
failure on others.”

    
“Yes, Prime Counsel.”

    
“The better question is how they knew to go
to the correct deck after going to the wrong one,” Catherine said.

    
“The information must have been leaked, but
I don’t know
 
who the leak is.”

    
“I wasn’t asking you. You are demoted to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Leave before I change my mind on your
punishment.”

    
“Yes, Prime Counsel,” Daniels said before
he fled from the room.

    
“Alexander, have him commanding a listening
post in Antarctica by tomorrow.”

    
“He would be on Earth when the warhead is
used.”

    
“I’m aware of that.”

    
“Yes, Catherine. Is there any way of
discovering who told the Alliance
where the Ferine were being held?” Alexander asked.

    
“I asked Nadine,” Catherine replied, “and
no. She had no idea who leaked the information and there are too many people on
that station who knew where they were being held.”

    
“Surely MERA could conduct some mind
scans.”

    
“I already have some of our people doing
them, but I doubt it will result in anything. Whoever this was, they knew how
to cover their tracks.”

    
“It’s a pity that Nadine didn’t get
anything out of them,” Napoleon said.

    
“That’s true, but I knew there was a
possibility that there wouldn’t be time.”

    
“And Nadine suffers no further penalties?”
Alexander asked.

    
“She knew what was being asked of her. The
emotional turmoil was the most important part of her punishment. I’m sure she
has already suffered enough.”

    
“But,” Alexander began.

    
“That’s enough. We have more important
matters to attend to.”

    
“Yes, can we go to war while the Ferine are
still here?” Victoria
asked.

    
“Two of their ships are gone. We may not
have accomplished our full goal, but we did accomplish part of it.”

    
“Is it enough, though?”

    
“The UN has acknowledged our complaint, and
I’m ensuring that the entire Colonized Sphere has in—depth knowledge of our
complaint. The Ferine application is being held in review,” Catherine replied.

    
“We still have Ferine in the solar system,”
Alexander said.

    
“We have an illegal seizure of the Ferine
under our control. We may not have gotten rid of all of them, but we now have
cause to go to war. It’s time to make use of this.

    
“Alexander, make sure that Peter is
standing by. It’s time to make preparations for what is coming. Our first move
is to recall all of our ambassadors. Napoleon, when will the new fleet be ready?”

    
“Sixty hours.”

    
“And what is the status of the Alliance fleet?”

    
“Forty—eight hours until it is space
worthy.”

    
“In spite of our attempts, they’re still
just hours ahead of us,” Catherine said.

    
“There may be a way,” Henry said.

    
“Yes?”

    
“Many of the last hours of work involve the
superluminal drives being brought online,” Henry replied.