Operation Phoenix

by Susan Hayes

  “I’m pushing, aren’t I? I apologize.”

  “Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but there’s a lot I need to consider.”

  “Of course.” He took a step back. “I’ve kept you from your duties long enough. I’d be happy to meet with you at any time to discuss any questions you might have about my offer.” He gave her a warm smile. “Either one of them.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ve always thought we would make an excellent team. We understand each other so well.”

  “We’ve certainly worked well together since I came here.” Her comm device chimed, giving her a welcome excuse to break away and wrap her head around everything she’d been hit with in the last half hour. “We’ll talk again soon.”

  She answered the incoming call as she made her way out of the atrium. It was Cleo, and she did not look happy. “Hey, Lieutenant. Do you know anything about our supply transports being re-routed? According to HQ, this month’s supply of fresh fruits and vegetables isn’t coming until the end of the week. The kitchen staff are in a panic, and I had no advanced warning of the change. We’ve got enough of the basics to make do for now if we use the food dispensers, but by the end of the week we’re going to be out of everything but protein paste and algae gel.”

  “Ugh.”

  Cleo bobbed her graying head. “Exactly. One of the things that makes living in isolation tolerable is the food that’s served here. Our chicks are going to threaten to fly the coop if we don’t get this fixed.”

  “I didn’t receive any information about it, either. I’m on my way back to my office right now. I’ll make some calls, find out what’s going on, and get back to you.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll let everyone know you’re looking into it. They’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got on hand for now.”

  “Tell them to think of it as a test of their culinary skills.”

  Cleo brightened. “I’ll see if I can sell them on that idea.”

  On the way to her office, Trinity kept mulling over her list of possible suspects. Despite the DNA evidence in the vault, she was convinced there was no way that Cleo could be the thief. The sergeant considered this place her home, and the people who worked here were her family. It had to be someone else. Once she was back in her office and had the supply issue dealt with she’d go over Cleo’s files and see if she could eliminate her as a suspect.

  Then, she was going to go to Dax and tell him she knew she was under investigation. As her last act before he confirmed she was off the team, she wanted to tell him that he was wasting his time. She wasn’t the damned thief, and neither was Cleo. It wouldn’t change anything, but she was tired of being kept in the dark about things that affected her ability to do her job…for as long as she had one.

  The sun had only been up a few hours, and her day had already gone to hell. What else could go wrong?

  13

  Dax stalked down the ramp of the Malora and headed back toward Victor Base. The bright sunlight on the lake and the dazzling blue sky overhead were in direct contrast with his stormy mood.

  An hour ago, Eric had asked for him to come out to the ship, and he had spent most of the time since learning more than he ever wanted to about V.I.D.A.’s programming. The kid was in awe of the AI’s design, and more than a little enamored with the program herself. What he’d found buried in her programming, though, wasn’t endearing at all.

  Someone had tampered with V.I.D.A.’s memory, erasing parts of it and locking other sections behind firewalls not even Eric had been able to tear down completely. Worse, whoever was behind the hack had left safeguards in place that continuously responded to Eric’s attempts to break through.

  The only answers V.I.D.A provided were that her system was being affected by override commands that were not part of her normal operations. When asked who had programmed them, she answered that only her creators had access to her source code.

  Either Abaslom was remotely controlling his creation a decade after leaving, or someone else, someone like his apprentice, Clarke, had taken control of V.I.D.A.

  Many of the data files that Eric had been able to look at pertained to surveillance footage and audio recordings from all over the base. At least, that’s what Magi had tried to show him. But without data ports like Eric’s that would allow him to virtually step inside V.I.D.A.’s mind; it was hard to understand the streams of data that flowed across the monitors.

  One of the few bits of data Eric had been able to unencrypt were a set of pictures showing Dax in the floral print cleanroom garb. More proof that whoever was using V.I.D.A. to spy on them could override any command the AI was given. It was also proof the universe was out to get him. He’d threatened to send the ensign to guard an empty asteroid field for the rest of his career if any of those pictures ever saw the light of day again.

  The other discovery Magi had made was just as damning. The files protected by the heaviest firewalls all seemed to be related to Clarke and Absalom. Their research, personal journals, and other information were all hidden away, and every time Magi got close, the files were shifted to another part of the system. It was a game of cat and mouse that had been going on for hours now.

  Before leaving the ship, he had ordered Eric to take a break, but he wasn’t sure those orders would be obeyed. Eric had once been a formidable cyber-jockey and hacker, and he was clearly relishing the chance to play the role again.

  As he approached the main building, he took out his comm device and sent out a broadcast message to his entire team. “This is Commander Rossi. Everyone switch over to channel forty-two, immediately. Repeat. Channel forty-two.” Forty-two was a code word. It meant that from now on they would operate as if they were under enemy surveillance at all times.

  He made the others aware of what Eric had uncovered via their most secure comm channels, but he still needed to let Trinity know. Unlike his team, her comm device didn’t have access to the Nova Force specialized channels. He needed to tell her in person. It was her base that had been compromised. She would want to know right away.

  “V.I.D.A., where is Lieutenant West right now?”

  “The lieutenant is in the atrium, Commander Rossi.”

  That was only a short walk from his current location. Perfect.

  It wasn’t long before he was close enough to spot Trinity through the transparent walls of the atrium. She was partially obscured by the lush greenery, and it took him several more seconds to realize that she wasn’t alone.

  She was with Clarke. Alone. What were they talking about? He stopped moving and watched, trying and failing to keep his feelings locked down when the bastard took her hand and gave her a long, meaningful look that made Dax want to deck him. He might have, too, but then Trinity pulled away.

  Good.

  The conversation ended shortly afterward. Trinity was already on her comm by the time she reached the doors, and Dax opted not to interrupt her. From what he could see, her day hadn’t gone any better than his. He followed her back to her office, intending to talk to her right away, but an incoming message from Colonel Bahl on their encrypted channel brought him to a halt.

  Apparently, Dr. Clarke had sent an informal message to the Colonel in charge of the R&D department yesterday, letting him know he intended to resign once the investigation was over. He cited the Nova Force’s investigation as his main reason, expressing his discontent over their tactics, invasive behavior, etc. etc. He skimmed the rest of the message. Dax didn’t care about Clarke’s petty attempts at revenge. His focus was on Clarke’s decision to leave.

  Something significant must have changed for Clarke to be leaving his post after all these years. Why now? What was his motivation, and did it have anything to do with the deleted data Eric had tracked back to him and his mentor?

  Armed with this new information, it was even more imperative that he talk to Trinity and warn her not to trust the head scientist. Dax covered the remaining distance to her office and activat
ed the door chime.

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s me. We need to talk.” He hadn’t intended to sound quite so grim.

  “Come in.”

  Her response was terse, and her words might have been dipped in liquid nitrogen for all the warmth in her voice.

  He opened the door and walked in. Trinity was at her desk, tight-lipped and watching him with narrowed eyes.

  “I was wondering how long it would take you to come talk to me.”

  “You were?”

  “You should have told me the moment you made the decision. I deserved that much. Hell, I deserved a lot more than that, but I’ve finally accepted that’s never going happen.”

  “What are you talking about? I came to tell you we had another break in the case.”

  Her hands hit the desktop as she rose to her feet. “Why would you do that? I’m not part of the investigation anymore. I’m a fraxxing suspect!”

  “What? No. You’re not a suspect.”

  “Don’t lie to me. I saw it with my own eyes. Caldwell has been investigating me. My service record, school transcripts, even my bank account. You’re not going to try and tell me he did all that on his own?”

  Fraxx. ”I had him going over your records to validate my findings. I know you’re not a suspect. I never thought you were, but since headquarters knows we’re involved, I needed someone else to verify what I already knew.”

  “You should have told me.”

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal. You’ve got enough to deal with right now. As you keep reminding me, our presence here is making your job harder.”

  “What job? Or are you going to try and tell me that I’m not about to lose my position, too?” She folded her arms over her chest. “I am so tired of you making decisions for me. Everybody seems to think they know what I need better than I do.”

  “Is that what you were discussing with Clarke while he was holding your hand?”

  He knew he’d made a mistake the second he spoke, but by then, the damage was done.

  “You were spying on me? How long has this been going on?”

  He started to answer, then closed his mouth and reached into his pocket instead. “I’ll answer all your questions in a moment.”

  He took out the privacy-shield generator he’d picked up before leaving the Malora.

  The handheld device would create a short-term force field that blocked soundwaves.

  He moved closer to her, holding up for her to see before activating it. The air around him shimmered, indicating it was active.

  “Now we can talk without being overheard.”

  “Neat gadget. Why do we need it?”

  “Because someone is using V.I.D.A. to spy on all of us.”

  “The pictures your Colonel received?”

  He nodded. “Exactly.”

  “So, if you think that’s the case, why were you spying on me? Do you think I’d tank my own career just to ruin yours?”

  “Not you. Clarke.”

  She raised her brows. “So, you were spying on him and I just happened to be there?”

  “Yes. I mean no. I mean I wasn’t spying on either of you.” He really needed to recruit Trin to the team. She had him tripping over himself and she hadn’t even been trained in interrogation techniques, yet.

  “If you weren’t spying on us, then what were you doing?” she demanded.

  “I came to tell you we had a break in the case and V.I.D.A. told me you were in the atrium. I saw you through the glass, but you weren’t alone. Clarke was there, and he was holding your damned hand. I wasn’t aware you two were so close.”

  She gave a sharp shake of her head. “We’re not. He’d like that to change, though. What’s the break in the case?”

  “Magi called me out to the ship this morning and showed me what he’d found so far. Someone has been using V.I.D.A. to watch all of us, but whoever it is they’re good enough that not even our Magi has been able to verify who it is. Not yet. So far, all the evidence points to your friend, Dr. Clarke, or his mentor, Dr. Jules Absalom. You need to watch yourself around Clarke, Trin. We don’t know yet if he’s working with Master Sergeant Gottfried or not, but she’s the most obvious option. Blink uncovered some hidden bank accounts affiliated to Gottfried. There’s a lot of money in there. More than a career sergeant could make in a lifetime.”

  Trinity sighed, and for a moment he saw past her mask to the exhausted, unhappy woman underneath. He’d give anything to be able to take on some of her burdens, but at the moment, he only seemed to be adding to them.

  “I think you’re wrong, Dax. Master Sergeant Gottfried wouldn’t do anything to harm this base or the people in it. I was looking at her too, and I realized I was off track. This is her home, and the people here are her family. I think you can take her off the list.”

  “You know that’s not how this works. I can’t drop her from the list based on your gut. “

  “I know that you’re under pressure to name a suspect, any suspect. Me, Tony, and now Dr. Absalom, who hasn’t even worked here in a decade. You don’t have any proof, but that isn’t stopping you. Tony told me he’s leaving after this investigation is over, and I don’t blame him. This base will never be the same, and neither will his career, or mine. He offered me a job, by the way. Something in the private sector. It might be the best offer I get, considering I’m about to lose everything.”

  “I told you, you’re not—“

  She cut him off. “I don’t believe you! Did you know that I wasn’t even informed that we’ve been ordered to shut down several research projects? This is my base, and I had to find out from him. It’s already happening, Dax.”

  “He told you he’s leaving? And you didn’t think the timing was suspicious?” He didn’t dare comment on the fact he’d offered her a job. Anything he said about that would only get him in more trouble, and he couldn’t fit another foot in his mouth.

  “I think it’s questionable but understandable. Apparently getting investigated by Nova Force is a career killer, even if you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Damn it, Trinity. I did it to protect you!”

  “No, you did it to protect yourself. You haven’t changed, Dax. I should have known better than to trust you.”

  He reached for her, but she moved back to the shimmering edge of the field.

  He dropped his hand back to his side. “You have to trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you, Butterfly.”

  “See, that’s the trouble. I know that’s not true. We’ve been here before, and I get the sinking feeling that history is repeating itself.”

  “It’s not. This time is different. Can’t you see that?”

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Trinity, please. You need to—“

  She slashed her hand in the air between them and shook her head. “Don’t tell me what I need to be doing or thinking right now. What I need is for you to go. You’ve got a thief to catch, and I need to find a way to get a supply shuttle here before the kitchen staff stage a protest. It might be the last thing I do as the commander of this base, so I’d like to get one thing to go right today.”

  He deactivated the shield, and the moment it dissipated, she moved even farther out of reach.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She gestured to the door. “I am, too, Dax.”

  The look she gave him slashed his heart into tiny pieces. It wasn’t rejection or even anger. Those, he could deal with. What he couldn’t stand was to see her looking at him with her beautiful eyes full of disappointment and regret. She had looked at him like that once before, and it had taken five years to make amends. Losing her again her wasn’t an option. Not this time.

  “This isn’t over. We’ll talk again, soon.” He left before she said anything else.

  The second the door closed, Trinity dropped into her chair and fought the urge to scream, or cry, or both. Her bruised and battered heart was aching, and it felt like all the light in her life had suddenly fled, l
eaving her alone in the dark.

  How was she supposed to trust Dax when it was clear that he didn’t trust her? He had admitted to keeping things from her – again. She was expendable to him.

  Once she was calmer, she ordered a protein shake from the food dispenser and got back to the job of running the base, while it was still hers. She hoped she could resolve their supply problem with a call to her counterpart on the only other base nearby, the training camp on the southern continent. Until very recently the two bases were supplied by the same shuttle. When the team had figured out that the supply runs could be used to get classified material off-base, the system had changed. And, as always, with change came problems.

  She transferred communications from her comm to a wall monitor and turned her chair to face it. Taking a few cleansing breaths, she forced herself to calmness.

  “V.I.D.A., please contact Lieutenant Tarkov at Tango Base.”

  It was only a few seconds before the smiling face of her counterpart appeared on the screen. As the two highest ranking officers on the planet, they had developed a friendly relationship, sharing problems and supporting each other through the challenges of running such isolated bases.

  “Hello, Lieutenant.”

  “Greetings from the warm and balmy south. What can I do for you? I’m up to my elbows in avocados, here. Some idiot ordered double our usual amount of perishable foodstuffs, and I need to figure out where to put it all.”

  Her mood brightened a little. “I think I can help you with that. Our supply shuttle never appeared, and now we’re being told it’ll be days before they can get our perishables to us.”

  Tarkov’s brows lifted and he started to chuckle. “Welcome to the IAF. Every day a new adventure and a new screw-up.”

  “Uh huh. I don’t suppose you’ve got a bored pilot who would like to make a run north as soon as possible?”

  “You willing to let them stay there for the night? Sort of a mini-vacation?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you’ve got yourself a deal. When I tell my pilots one of them gets to fly up to Victor Base, eat a galaxy class meal prepared by a trained chef, lounge around in your pool, and sleep in a fluffy VIP bed for the night, I’ll probably have to stop them killing each other to get the gig.”