“I didn’t know Cresorians had ships this big?” Shelly remarked.
“They don’t,” John said as he reviewed the sensor readings. “The ship is comprised of hundreds of smaller vessels.” John looked at Shelly. “Cresorian ships are modular in design. They can quickly hook up to one another to make larger ships.”
“Cool concept, but what’s the point of putting together such a large ship to come and pick up only thirty-eight Cresorians?” Bret wondered.
“It’s like they’re in a pissing contest with us, wanting their ship to be bigger than PHOENIX,” Tim remarked. “Sorry, captain.”
“I’m with you on that.” John found it strange that they Cresorians would send a ship so large to meet them. There was no reason to do such a thing. Were they trying to prove something?
The captain was up all night trying to come up with a plan to keep the Cresorians on board. He thought of every underhanded tactic he could to save them and make it appear he was trying to follow orders. His plan involved maneuvering PHOENIX in such an out of control manner that the DUDOS couldn’t get in front of the hangar.
But as he sat there with the navigational controls in front of him, he had second thoughts. He realized he couldn’t go through with it. He was the captain of the PHOENIX, not a rebel cadet anymore. TERRA captains faced the consequences of their actions, no matter what. If he went through with his plan, he would just be running away from this situation. He owed it to his friend Drix. He needed to take a stand for them.
John sighed. “Open a communications channel to the freighter…ship.”
“On it,” Bret said. “We’re getting a reply.”
Above the operations table, a holographic image of a Cresorian appeared. “Human vessel PHOENIX. This is Buinox of the Cresorian vessel DUDOS.”
“Buinox, I’m Captain Roberts of the PHOENIX.”
“What is the status of our citizens?”
“They’re being escorted to our hangar as we speak,” John replied. “However, some recent information was brought to my attention.”
“What information?” Buinox asked.
“That’s for our governments to disseminate. Until such time, I’ve decided the Cresorians will remain on PHOENIX as my guests.”
“Unacceptable!” Buinox blurted angrily. “They must be returned to homeworld for rebuilding efforts. Your government agreed to the transfer.”
“And I’m no longer honoring that agreement,” John stated. “They’re staying here.”
“No, we will be docking in front of your hangar as agreed,” Buinox countered. “Hold your position.”
John punched a few buttons on the navigation console. Suddenly, a beep sounded from the operations table. Shelly checked on it. “Captain, I’m showing our engine emitter ports have opened up. We’re venting drive plasma.”
“Engineering to command deck,” came the voice of Exquinidunadurana, the Quix chief engineer. “Are you aware we have started venting plasma?”
“I opened the ports,” John replied.
Jufo tried to help the captain. “Just restrict the flow here, and you can close the ports.”
John shot the Senfo a stern look. “Negative. Stand down, Jufo. Engineering, allow the plasma to vent.”
“Understood, captain,” Exquinidunadurana replied.
“Captain, sensor resolution is being affected by the discharge,” Shelly reported. “The DUDOS will have the same problem.”
“The DUDOS is attempting to contact us,” Bret said.
“It looks like they’re still trying to maneuver towards the hangar entrance,” Tim added.
“DUDOS, this is your final warning,” John said. “Halt your advance and maintain your distance from our ship.” He wasn’t about to give them a chance to comply, and he figured they wouldn’t. It was time to put his substandard piloting skills to good use. He hit a couple of buttons, which resulted in PHOENIX lurching sideways.
Jufo looked at the data screen. “You have put us in a slow tailspin.”
John didn’t say anything as he worked the navigation controls. He activated the shields from the station before speaking up. “DUDOS, I’ve raised our shields. With them up, and the ship randomly making maneuvers, you have no chance of docking with us. If you continue your advance, I’ll jump my ship, and you’ll never see us again.”
The staff looked at one another. None of them could understand why the captain was behaving this way.
Shelly whispered to Tim. “Is this normal?”
“Just roll with it,” Tim advised. Even though he had no idea what the captain was up to, he knew enough about John to be confident that he did have a plan.
“I’m getting a message from the DUDOS,” Bret reported.
“Let’s hear it,” John ordered.
“Roberts Captain. We are ceasing our docking attempts. But hear this, your actions today will be reported to our government. We will lodge a formal protest with your people. This is not over.”
“They’ve cut the signal,” Bret reported.
“I’m reading the DUDOS is jumping away from our location,” Tim added.
John sighed as he got up and relinquished the navigation station to Jufo. “Let it be noted that I have knowingly defied a direct order from TERRA to hand our Cresorian residents over to their government. I’ve done this on my own accord with no help from anyone. Roberts to security.”
“Go ahead,” Davers said.
“Are the Cresorians in the hangar?”
“Yes, sir. Waiting for the DUDOS to dock.”
“Please escort them back to the detention center,” John instructed.
“Captain?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Understood. Davers out.”
John looked at Tim. “Keep sensors peeled for the DUDOS. They may try to return.”
“Our sensors are going to be hampered until the plasma dissipates,” Tim reminded.
“Understood,” John said as he headed out of the pit. He had no regrets for what he had done. If it cost him his career, so be it. At least he’d be able to look at himself in the mirror.
********
Eight hours later, John was seated behind his desk in his office. He was looking at Admiral Vespia on the display monitor. She had just finished reading his report on what transpired with the DUDOS. She was not happy.
“I don’t know where to begin” she started. “This was a simple transfer, nothing more. What the hell were you thinking?”
John was stunned by the question. “What was I thinking? Didn’t you see the video feeds of what’s happening on their world?”
“I saw it,” Vespia confirmed. “As distasteful as it was to see, you still should have transferred them to the DUDOS.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this…” John rolled his eyes.
“There are protocols to adhere to,” Vespia reminded. “We could have logged a formal protest with the Cresorian government, demanded observers be sent to their world.”
“At the expense of their people’s suffering? No. It’s wrong. I couldn’t go through with it.”
“You’ve put me in a difficult position, captain. Most of our government officials want to replace me with an Earth Security officer. I’m barely able to convince them that I should lead TERRA. This complicates things for me.”
“I don’t care!” John shouted. The last thing he cared about was military politics. “If you’re so concerned about your ass, then blame me for everything. Tell the council and the government I acted alone and without your approval. If I lose my commission so you can remain head of TERRA, so be it. But I won’t hand the Cresorians over. Sending them home is sentencing them to a life of torture.”
Vespia was surprised by the intensity of John’s response. She studied him for a moment. She knew from reading PHOENIX’s logs during the Screen mission that their first alien encounter was with a Cresorian named Drix. He was held in high esteem by the crew. Whatever personal feelings John had regarding Drix, i
t seemed to have transferred to the Cresorians. He was willing to put his career on the line for them. It reminded Vespia of her ex-husband, Oliver Johnson. He oversaw the EXODUS Project that built the PHOENIX. He spent years living under the threat of being discovered for what he was really doing: building a ship to seek out the Screen rather than the project’s mission to build a vessel to take the best and brightest of humanity out into the stars.
“I thought I had a pretty good read on you from your Academy file and our brief interaction,” Vespia said. “You defied TERRA to do what’s right, but you didn’t do it with your own self-interest in mind. Would you really give up your career to save them and protect me? Just a few months ago we were at each other’s throats in my office.”
“Protecting them is worth losing my career,” John replied. “If you truly want TERRA to change, then saving you is worth it too.”
Vespia leaned into the monitor. “You surprise me. I thought I had you figured out, but you’ve thrown me for a loop. For what it’s worth, you just made an ally today. I’ll make sure the council and government recognize that what you did was right. Your commission is safe.”
“Thank you, admiral.”
“I do recommend that you hightail PHOENIX out of the area,” she advised. “The further you’re away, the less likely they’ll demand your head.”
“We’ll be underway this evening,” John promised.
“Then take care, captain. Safe travels.” Vespia ended the transmission abruptly before he could respond. John never expected that he and Admiral Vespia would come to an understanding. What was more remarkable was that they finally respected each other. John had viewed the admiral no differently than most officers in TERRA. She was an opportunist, doing whatever she could to advance her own career. But she was willing to jeopardize her tenuous position to support him. It was a pleasant surprise.
Before he could mull over his good fortune, the door chime rang. “Who is it?” he asked.
“It’s Julie.”
Now he had another person to answer to. John realized the conversation with Julie wouldn’t be pleasant. “Come in.”
The executive officer entered, came right up to the desk, and got in John’s face. She was clearly mad. “You really thought you were going to get away with it?”
“With what?” asked an innocent acting John. That was a mistake. It only incensed her.
“Don’t bullshit me, John!”
John realized he wasn’t going to pull the wool over her eyes. They had been through too much for him to hide the truth from her.
“I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out,” John said as he got up and made his way around the desk. “I needed you out of the loop, so you could have plausible deniability, in case I was removed from command.”
“So, you manipulated my husband to keep me off the command deck?” Julie asked.
“First question they would have asked was where my executive officer was. I used Mitchell to keep you out of it. He had no idea what I was up to. Blame me.”
Julie pointed her finger at him. “I don’t need your protection. You should have told me. We’re in this together.”
“I couldn’t risk it,” John admitted. “I was trying to come up with some way to save them and get away with it. I couldn’t do it. I realized I had to be responsible for my actions, no matter what. But I didn’t want you to get hurt. If I lost command, fine, but at least you would take over as ship commander.”
“We’re military officers, John. Things aren’t supposed to be easy for us. You can’t be protecting me when you think things will get tough. No more shielding me from things, okay? You’re not my protector.”
“Okay,” John promised. “I just didn’t see any way out of this. I couldn’t send them back.”
She knew he was referring to the videos of what was occurring on the Cresorian’s world. He had given her the heads up about it. “Is it really that bad?”
“It’s bad, Julie. Real bad,” he said as he slumped on the couch.
She took a seat next to him. “Can I see the videos?”
John shook his head. “No, I won’t tarnish Drix’s memory. I don’t want you to see what his people are capable of. After watching the videos, I couldn’t hand them over. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
Julie believed him, and a part of her didn’t want to see what Cresorians were capable of. John wouldn’t have risked his career so carelessly. “Is TERRA going to do anything?”
“Admiral Vespia’s on my side,” John revealed. “She’s promised she’ll convince our government that I did the right thing.”
Julie was relieved to hear that his position appeared safe. “We assumed that with the Screen defeated, all the alliance races could continue as nothing had happened. The Cresorians need to learn to live with freedom now. If we’re not going to send them back, what do we do with them?”
“They won’t go back to living on their small ships, so I see two options,” John explained. “We find them an uninhabited life-supporting planet for them or figure out a way to assimilate them to life on the ship.”
“It’ll take time to find a planet for them,” Julie said. “They’re going to have to learn to live on this ship, regardless if they stay or eventually go.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to keep them in the detention center until a solution comes up. It could be years before we find a suitable planet for them.”
“Maybe you can garner some goodwill from them now that you’ve spared them from going home,” Julie pointed out. “They may be willing to be more cooperative.”
“One way to find out,” John said. “We’ll need to come up with a plan for how to keep them on board while keeping the crew safe.”
********
Chief Davers and Ben Ravarius were waiting in the detention center for Captains Roberts and Olson. They were going to have a meeting with the Cresorians and wanted them present for it. Davers was already aware of what the captain did, but Ben only learned about what John did through ship gossip. Both met with Captains Roberts and Olson earlier to brainstorm how to keep the Cresorians on the ship. After coming up with a plan of action, they arranged to meet that evening to inform their guests in the detention center what would happen to them.
As the two captains entered the detention center, Roberts nodded to the chief and Ravarius before speaking to the Cresorians.
“Early this morning, a Cresorian ship rendezvoused with us so that you could be transferred off PHOENIX and sent back to your homeworld. However, after learning what’s going on your world, I’ve decided to keep you on this ship.”
The Cresorians broke out in celebration in their cells. Ben smiled and nodded to Limex, who was still in the corner cell by herself. She nodded back to Ben, grateful that the human followed through on his word.
John held his hands up to get their attention. When their jubilations died down, he continued. “What happens next is up to you. You can either choose to remain on PHOENIX indefinitely or stay until we come across a suitable planet for you to settle on.”
“You are an honorable twuqoc,” a male Cresorian said.
“You’re going be on this ship a while if you want us to find you a planet,” John continued. “Because I’m letting you stay doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about your past actions. The welfare of the crew is paramount to me. I won’t risk their safety, even for you.”
He nodded to Julie who stepped forward. “Until you’ve proven to us that you’re trustworthy, none of you will be allowed to roam the ship unattended. You’ll be relocated to a block of quarters together where you’ll remain under guard. Only a few of you will be allowed to explore a ship at a given time. Those of you out of your quarters will be under security escort. Each week you’ll meet with a legal representative who’ll evaluate your behavior and progress. Once you’ve proven you can be trusted, we’ll consider loosening up these restrictions.”
The proposal did not go over well with them.
/> “That’s not fair!”
“You’re treating us as prisoners!”
“Is this how you treat allies!?”
John’s patience was at an end. “Enough!” His outburst surprised the Cresorians, and they all fell silent. “This is not open for debate. This is the condition of you remaining on board. If you feel you can’t abide by these terms, then I’ll throw all of you back on your ships, and you can go back to living in open space.”
The Cresorians looked at one another nervously. It appeared that the notion of living as nomads once more didn’t appeal to them. None of them offered any further protests.
“We’ll give you until tomorrow to decide what you want to do,” John continued. “In the meantime, we’ll have one of you act as your collective representative. Limex, you’ll speak for your people.”
Davers unlocked the cell bars from the station console as Ben went to open them to let Limex out.
“Why choose her?” a Cresorian asked. “We should determine who should speak for us.”
“Because she’s the one of you who has behaved,” John replied. In reviewing all the security reports on the Cresorians, he found that Limex was the only one who hadn’t started an altercation with anyone. In fact, for some of the disturbances where she was present, witnesses reported she tried to defuse the situations.
John also had another reason to choose her. She and Ben had already cemented the beginnings of a working relationship, and the captain wanted to take advantage of it.
Limex was hesitant to leave the cell and needed some coaxing from Ben. “It’s okay, you can come out.”
Assured by his words, she exited the cell and approached the captains and security chief. She wasn’t sure what to say to them.
John studied her for a moment before speaking. “Mr. Ravarius, why don’t you and the chief escort Limex to her quarters. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Right this way,” Ben motioned. He and Limex walked together out of the detention center, with Davers following behind them.
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