The Phoenix Project (58 page)

    
“You’re welcome. Why did you say you were
glad you caught us in time?”

    
“Yes, why did you?” Maria interrupted.
“Because we were supposed to leave in ten minutes for New York and now we’re cut off from the rest
of the Brass. So how did you know?”

    
“I didn’t know about that,” Nadine replied.

    
“I believe you. Now, why were you trying to
reach us Nadine?” Elliot asked.

    
“You’ve got a MERA agent here,” Nadine
said.

    
“What?” Maria asked.

    
“Do you know who it is?” Elliot asked
Nadine.

    
“No, Catherine didn’t tell me.”

    
“How convenient,” Maria said.

    
“Maria, stop it. I’ll have security put at
all access points for the warhead and place added security to the command
center.”

    
“Switch to the backup codes on the computer
system. Yours may have been compromised,” Maria said to Elliot.

    
“I’m doing it now.” He input a series of
commands into a nearby station.

    
“Do you have any personnel lists I can go
through?” Nadine asked.

    
“You wouldn’t have the time. There are
literally thousands of people here,” Elliot said.

    
“I don’t get it. Why would the Council
activate the warhead? They would kill billions of their own people,” Maria
asked.

    
“They’re nothing if not pragmatists,”
Nadine said. “They’re only concerned with bringing all of the colonies under
their jurisdiction no matter the cost to either side.”

    
“We’ve got other problems on top of that: the
Coalition Fleet has begun to attack and I’ve received reports that their new
fleet has just launched,” Elliot said.

    
“I know. I wanted to get back and warn you
but I couldn’t get here in time.”

    
“You did your best.”

    
Joshua and Madison entered the command
center looking disheveled. Their uniforms and faces were covered in soot from
the fires that had ravaged the
Endeavour
.

    
“Are you alright?” Elliot asked as they
approached his chair.

    
“Never mind us. What’s the situation?”
Joshua asked.

    
“We’ve already lost a quarter of the fleet.
Many of our ships were caught by surprise by the early attack but all our battle
groups are responding now in full force,” Elliot said.

    
“Can we get the new ships launched in
time?” Madison
asked.

    
“Ranik and Lathiel are on schedule, but
it’s still another ten minutes,” Elliot said.

    
“Can we last that long?” Nadine asked.

    
“Who’s we?” Joshua asked.

    
“Nadine has requested asylum and I’m
granting it,” Elliot replied.

    
 
Nadine noticed Joshua’s stare ending at her
olive uniform. She pulled the three gold stars off each side of her collar.

    
“If these are so important to you, you can
have them,” Nadine said, presenting them to Joshua.

    
Joshua took the stars, each with five
points, in his hands.

    
“You mean it?”

    
“Yes,” Nadine replied and removed her duty
tunic with the Coalition coat of arms at its breast. She let it fall to the
floor. “I’m with you now.”

    
Madison
smiled and embraced her warmly. “I told Eli you’d figure it out.”

    
“Thanks, for that and for the rescue. I
wouldn’t have made it back without you two.”

    
Joshua put the gold stars into his pocket
and extended his hand, which Nadine firmly grasped.

    
“I guess I can’t call you a bitch anymore.”

    
“Well, I usually called you a smartass
behind your back. I guess I can’t do that anymore either.”

    
“Of course you can,” Madison said. “I always do.”

    
“I’d hate to break up your bonding session,
but I’m just wondering if we’re staying or getting out of here at some point,”
Joshua said to deflect any continued conversation at his expense.

    
“The Coalition has already surrounded us
with heavy fighters and frigates. Anything that leaves will get shot down the
minute it exits our weapons range,” Elliot said.

    
“That’s it? Don’t you have a backup plan?”
Joshua asked.

    
“There is a shuttle. It can enter into FTL
speeds for a limited time and circumvent the enemy ships.”

    
“Than that’s our plan,” Joshua said. “What
about everyone else?”

    
“They may be able to evacuate once those
ships attack.”

    
“How do we know they’re going to attack?” Madison asked. “The
Coalition already has a saboteur here.”
    

    
“The Twelve know that, but I doubt anyone
else does,” Elliot said.

    
“No, they wouldn’t,” Nadine confirmed.

    
“Then the rest of the Coalition forces are
going to attempt to disable our defenses and seize control of the base.”

    
“You’re right. While they’re attacking,
your people can escape,” Nadine said.

    
“In the meantime, I’m directing as many
ships as I can to defend our new fleet at Mars until they can launch,” Elliot
said and returned to directing the battle while the rest of the Admiralty
evacuated to the
Hood
.

    
All three cruisers of the First Battle
Group rested in the ocean near the docks of New York. They had been waiting for over an
hour while the last Senators arrived to leave for Mars.

    
“Are the
Achilles
and the
Orion
ready to leave?” Nelson asked his first officer on the bridge of the
Hood
.

    
“The other two ships have reported in. The
last Senator has just arrived.” With all of the brass aboard, the regular first
officer had temporarily been relieved by a tall, lanky woman with the rank of
full Admiral.

    
“Is everyone aboard?” Nelson asked.

    
“Everyone except Admirals Fredericks and
Peterson. They’ve sent a message informing us that they’re surrounded and
unable to leave, but their escape shuttle is still operational. They will rendezvous
with us at Mars.”

    
“Lift off.”

    
The three cruisers some eight hundred yards
long lifted out of the ocean and achieved orbit within a minute. The rest of
the group surrounded the three ships and the battle group’s carrier launched
all of its fighters to protect them.

    
“Take us to Mars, maximum FTL speeds,”
Nelson said.

    
It was at the midway point to Mars that the
Fleet Admiral saw a cluster of distant objects on the main screen.

    
“What is that?”

    
“Enemy ships Sir,” the weapons officer
reported from behind him. “Three Coalition Battle Groups.”

    
“Why didn’t we see them before?”

    
“They’re jamming us. Long range sensors
couldn’t detect them.”

    
“Go to Battle Stations,” Nelson ordered.

    
Once the Coalition ships entered weapons
range, a hail of torpedoes left the forward lines bound for the frigates at the
front of the single Alliance
battle group.

    
“All fighters engage their forward lines.
Have our frigates fire their primaries to pave the way,” Nelson said.

    
The dozen Alliance frigates at the front line fired the
single plasma cannons mounted at the bows of their ships. They fired bright
beams from their emitters and managed to destroy several fighters before
blasting the bows of the olive colored Coalition frigates.

    
The five hundred Alliance fighters plunged into the fray and
engaged the enemy fighters. They were smaller than their olive counterparts,
but had greater firepower.

    
“Can we escape to Mars?” Nelson asked.

    
“I doubt it, not if we continue to hold our
cruisers from the fight. Even then, we’re outnumbered three to one.”

    
“Can we at least buy some time for our
cruisers?”

    
“There are too many enemy ships. They’re already
beginning to box us in,” his first officer replied.

    
“What if we charge their lines? We can at
least get a few ships through.”

    
“With fighter escort, we might be able to
break through.”

    
“We have got to get the Prime Ministers and
the Senate to Mars. Order all ships to full sub—light and run for the center of
their lines,” Nelson commanded.

    
The Alliance
ships surprised their enemy by suddenly racing into the core of the Coalition
forces even as it thinned in numbers in an attempt to surround the charging Alliance ships. The Alliance warships fired
every cannon they had into the enemy force. Their fighters emptied their racks
of torpedoes into the enemy fighters and ships as they vied for freedom from
the Coalition forces.

    
The Alliance
fighters began to dissolve in multiple firestorms as they sacrificed themselves
for the government they were sworn to protect. Multiple beams began to find
their targets within the Alliance
battle group. The Coalition knew the Senate, the Prime Ministers, and the
Admiralty were aboard the cruisers but did not know what group was on which
vessel.

    
“The
Orion
is beginning to take
damage.”

    
“Damn,” Nelson said. “Can we get the
cruisers through?”

    
“We still have another minute before we can
clear the enemy lines and they’re beginning to move back into their former
positions. None of our ships will make it through at this rate.”

    
“We need to throw them off balance,” Nelson
said, eyeing the three Coalition carriers at the core of the enemy fleet. “Have
the
Achilles
and the
Orion
prepare to break right when I give the
word. Have all of our other ships head for that carrier!”

    
The Alliance
battle group had already lost ten ships, but gathered its remaining forces and
headed for a Coalition carrier that hadn’t been able to launch all of its
fighters.

    
“Sir, all three of our cruisers can’t leave
during a charge like this. Without at least one or two of our cruisers leading
the charge it won’t distract the enemy sufficiently.”

    
“Yes, I know,” Nelson said. He continued to
examine the events taking place on the screen. Many enemy ships were abandoning
their positions to protect the carrier. “We’re staying to buy the
Orion
and
the
Achilles
the time they need to leave the battle zone.”

    
“Yes, Sir.”

    
“They might get the Admiralty, but the
government will survive,” Nelson said. “Tell the
Achilles
and the
Orion
to break off now and make a run for Mars. Tactical fire the primaries at
those Coalition cruisers protecting the carrier.”

    
All involved followed his orders and the
two cruisers carrying the Senate and the Prime Ministers broke from the group
just as the
Hood
fired all three of its primary cannons. The enemy
replied by bolstering their numbers around the carrier as more fire converged
on the diminishing numbers of the First Battle Group. Three frigates broke up
under concentrated fire from the Coalition fleet but the remaining Alliance ships continued
their assault on the carrier at the center of enemy lines.

    
The two cruisers carrying the Senate and
Prime Ministers managed to find a soft spot in the enemy defenses. With a
series of blasts from their Primary cannons they successfully breached the
enemy lines and moved at flank speed to Mars. Nelson watched their escape on
one of the screens over the main monitor. His attention was brought back to
his situation once he felt a ripple through the deck plates from an explosion.