The Phoenix War (56 page)

They were plunging into a sector of space
that Alex hadn’t seen in a long time.
Too
long, if truth be
told. And now that he was finally returning to his dear Republic,
he wished more than anything that he could simply go home, and set
aside the war and the Rahajiim and everything else. Unfortunately
there was far too much work to do to even entertain such notions,
less yet act upon them.

We serve and sacrifice to protect our
glorious Republic
, he thought. Recalling the motto of the
Advent. The words had proven fitting.

“We’re going to need to get some more fuel
before we return to Imperial space,” said Rafael, the human
intelligence officer who’d been assigned to
assist
Alex but
really was there to spy on him—Alex was no fool, he knew what was
going on.

“Yes, we will need more fuel,” said Alex.
“There are any number of depots along the border, the smaller ones
won’t ask too many questions. I don’t anticipate any problems.”
What Alex did not say was that he had no intentions for them to
return to Imperial space. It was one thing for Calvin and his crew
to play at spy on behalf of their pathetic queen who tried
helplessly to hold together the shambled ruins of her shattered
Empire. But Alex’s work was far more important than that. And he
would see it done.

“I’ll bring it up to Calvin at the next shift
change,” said Rafael. He checked the ship’s timekeeper. “Which is
rather soon. In fact, Calvin and Miles should be in here to
takeover any minute now.”

“Yes, that will be a great relief. I’ve been
in dire need of sleep for the last few hours,” said Alex.

“You and me both,” said Rafael.

Alex was tired, that part was true, but he
really didn’t care about that. What mattered to him was that they’d
finally crossed the Zero-Two-Two plane. Which meant their ship’s
short-range could be heard by any number of the Republic’s
listening posts. Though there was one in particular that mattered.
One that could still be trusted, or so Alex desperately hoped.
It really has been too long, hasn’t it
, he thought.

“Could you please check a reading for me?”
asked Alex. “I’m wondering if the drive coils are improperly
aligned, I feel like there’s some drag affecting our alteredspace
stability.” It was a lie, of course, but a useful one.

“All right,” said Rafael. He moved away from
Alex and began running a diagnostic on the alteredspace system at
the ops control. Giving Alex just enough time to key a short
message and discreetly transmit it to Listening Post Vh’tor Rha
over short-range. The message consisted of only a few characters.
A6-711
.

Alex had wanted to send the message sooner
but their ship had been too far away. Of course he could have used
the kataspace transmitter, that was how ships and planets managed
to communicate across virtually any distance, but this ship—like
most vessels—had a protocol in place that logged whenever a
kataspace message was sent or received. Tampering with the computer
to disable the protocol was possible but obvious and time
consuming. So Alex had opted to use short-range, which wasn’t
logged at all.

“Looks like everything checks out,” said
Rafael. “The diagnostic doesn’t show anything wrong with the coils,
or any other part of the drive for that matter.”

“Strange, perhaps I imagined it,” said Alex.
“Probably a result of fatigue. Clearly I’m not thinking
straight.”

Rafael looked at him suspiciously, his one
eye seemed to comb thoroughly over every control and display
belonging to the pilot’s station. But found nothing. Because there
was nothing to find. “Yes perhaps,” said Rafael. “No doubt we could
all use more sleep than we’ve been getting.” He still looked wary
but it was obvious he couldn’t detect any wrongdoing even though he
suspected it.

The door slid open. It was the big human, the
one called Miles. “Beat it,
Lizard
,” he said, pointing his
thumb over his shoulder in a human gesture that meant leave.

“I will give up my station once another pilot
is here to take over,” said Alex. “Not before.”

“Calvin will be here in a second, so there’s
nothing to worry about,” said Miles. “Now beat it.”

“It’s all right, Miles,” said Rafael in a
calm tone. “Alex really shouldn’t leave his post until Calvin gets
here.”

“Whatever,” Miles shrugged. He leaned against
the bulkhead and folded his arms. A moment later Calvin
arrived.

“I’ll take it from here,” said Calvin. “Go
get some sleep, Alex. But I’ll need you back here for when we enter
Republic territory in… just over six hours.”

“As you say,” said Alex. He got up and left
the bridge. Thinking,
our plans have changed and only I know
it
.

In the silence of alteredspace, Hunter Four
glided unseen. Racing across the galaxy at maximum jump depth.
Blackmoth leaned over the ship’s flight controls and listened to
the seeming stillness. It was a kind of calm, he supposed, but a
false one.

Three of five
, he thought. The third
of five destructions had befallen the galaxy. A firestorm of
violence and chaos that had pulled thousands of souls into the void
like divine arms sweeping across the cosmos. Soaking the Apollo
System with blood and crippling the Empire’s mighty fleet. Once the
very bastion of humanity’s false sense of security and smug
superiority, now it was broken and divided—no longer able to
protect them. Just as the One True God had said.
The ravens and
crows will descend upon the smoldering ashes and feast upon the
festering corpses,
thought Blackmoth
, and they themselves
will fall prey
. Blackmoth knew the slaughter at Apollo was only
the beginning. A mere pinprick compared to the ocean of blood that
promised to flow unrestrained until the very stars themselves had
been purged clean.

Two more destructions there shall be. Two
shall make five. Five is the number of the One True God. His design
cannot be stopped, it shall be fulfilled. It is the very soul of
the universe itself.

Blackmoth traversed the galaxy with all
speed. Knowing it was his duty and divine mission to initiate the
fourth destruction.
The fourth must happen to make way for the
fifth, and only after the fifth and final destruction will all be
as it must
.
The slate will be swept clean. And the One most
worthy will re-forge the galaxy according to His will
.

Until then, there was work to do. A fool
named Zander believed he’d outsmarted the others. And perhaps he
had. But he could never outsmart the One True God. All actions,
even those that defied the plan, were merely steps along the ladder
of fulfilling the Grand Design.
It is inevitable, the One True
God sees all and commands all
.
I am His loyal servant. A
weapon in His hands.

“I’m coming for you, Zander,” said Blackmoth
to the empty cockpit. He gazed into the black void and imagined the
terror and chaos that would soon rise. Knowing that in the deepest,
darkest corner of the galaxy, the Dread Fleet stirred.

Five there shall be. Five destructions to
cleanse the galaxy. Five is his number. Blood is his price. All
glory to the One True God!

(End of Book 4)

The story continues in
The Phoenix
Darkness

For more details please visit:
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Dear Reader, thank you for reading The
Phoenix War, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. Please know that your
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Conspiracy Series:
The Phoenix Darkness
.

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. I may
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.
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This book is dedicated to Ruth and Brandon.
You two have stuck by me through thick and thin, read every version
of every manuscript of every book, and have always given me your
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series never would have gotten off the ground or amounted to
anything. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you both.

I would also like to express my deepest
thanks to all the readers, especially those of you who take the
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and friends to these books. You’re wonderful people and it’s a true
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