Phoenix Rising: The Covenant (Phoenix Rising Infinitology Book 1)

by Angela Timms

  Later Rennon looked over at Kel who was back sitting by the window. “It is good news, she’s a brilliant pilot and I can’t fault her as a medic either though we know who gets her fullest attention.”

  Kel flushed a little red as Rennon smiled broadly at him. He almost grunted. “She will get over it.”

  Rennon frowned. “I’m not so sure. I looked up her race on the expanded Elofoalak database. They are long lived and form firm attachments. Especially after your little union the other month. You really didn’t help your arguments there did you?”

  Kel growled. “Last thing I need to hear. Well she will have to un-form them. It was stupid, I accept that. I told her that. The more she annoys me the less likely I am to want her anyway. And no, no matter how much we celebrate I’m going to be a lot more careful about how much I drink and what I do this time. I thought she felt the same way. I thought it was just a bit of fun.”

  Rennon pressed a button and the screen changed. “Do you want me to talk to her again?”

  Rowland looked up momentarily.

  Kel took a mouthful of coffee and swallowed. “It didn’t do much good last time. Why should it be any better now?”

  Rowland looked up. “You could always date her and ditch her. Then she’d have to get over you. At the moment you are throwing excuses in her way. To a woman that is going to look like she’s got a challenge to fix the broken man and be the one who saves you from your enforced bachelorhood.” Rennon glared. “If he dated her as well that would make it worse. Akashonians mate for life. If he takes that place in her life he will never get her to take a step back.”

  Rowland shook his head and sighed. “Sounds a bit clingy to me. What was her psych evaluation like?”

  Rennon looked shocked. “I haven’t looked.”

  Rowland smiled. “Well perhaps you should. You could be playing with fire here. She’s a woman after all. They are dangerous by nature.”

  Kel grunted. “Don’t remind me. Actually that’s not such a bad idea. Rennon, can you access her file?”

  Rennon looked up for a moment. “Not officially but that has never stopped me before.”

  Kel looked from him to Rowland. “It’s in all of our interests to know if she is going to take this to another level and turn psycho on us.”

  Rennon was staring intently at his laptop. “On “us”? That’s an interesting way of putting it. Erm, perhaps not a bad idea considering what I’ve just read here. It says that despite a generally rational outlook it is necessary to keep a close eye on her in view of previous mental instability triggered by traumatic events in her life.”

  Rowland laughed. “Kel, you had better remember to lock your door at night.”

  Kel stared out of the window at the stars and blackness of space. “I don’t want to hurt or upset her. I just don’t want her in the way she wants me to. That night showed me that. Now I have to live with it.”

  Rennon shut his laptop. “Well we had better come up with a way to gently convince her that she doesn’t stand a chance. If you are sure you don’t want her.”

  Kel’s glare silenced Rennon.

  After about an hour Kel got up and went off to the gym to spar and train. Rennon returned to his laboratory and managed to shake Rowland off, sending him to the hanger bay to check on a faulty Hopper.

  Kel was the first to get a message, it came over his personal pager and he laid down his weapons and picked it up. “Report to the Commander”. He bowed to his sparring partner, a tall, blonde haired man with regular features dressed in a regulation issue track suit and left for the showers.

  Rennon got the message next. He was eagerly pouring over his computer screen analyzing a list of data when his pager went off. He reached for it without looking down, clicked on the read button and raised it so he could see it and the screen then hit “save” and shut off the laptop before heading for the Commander’s office.

  Rowland was in the hanger bay reading a novel. The Hopper he was supposed to be working on was in the bay in front of him, its components spread across the floor in untidy heaps. He heard the bleep of his pager and finished his chapter before lifting it from his pocket to read his message. Hastily he rammed the bits of the Hopper back into place and screwed the panel back. Finding a spare piece he unscrewed the panel again and reinstated the missing piece before screwing the panel back again. As he was hastily leaving he met a trainee engineer on the way in. The trainee stood to attention and Rowland smiled as he spoke in his best authority voice. “Hawkins, run a full diagnostic on Hopper seven, I think there’s a problem in the basal wiring. I have set it up as a test for you. I trust I will find it properly wired by the time I get back.” Too right there is a problem he thought as he strode off down the corridor, leaving Hawkins to redo his shoddy handiwork.

  Rennon arrived at the Commander’s room first. There was a young Marine on the door who knocked for him, opened the door and let him in. The Commander was standing looking at the painting behind his desk and turned to face him. “Ah Rennon, good, take a seat son.”

  There was a knock on the door and Kel came in. They then had to wait nearly a quarter of an hour for Rowland who stepped through the door, flustered and red faced.

  The Commander cleared his throat and looked at them sincerely. “Now this is not good news. Shantara’s shuttle hasn’t returned after the evac run. She and five marines are three hours overdue and I want to send a recon mission. As you are her usual crew I want you on this as soon as possible. I’ve allocated five Marines to go with you. There is a possibility that the planet was over-run. Our Intel told us we had days before the Followers arrived, there’s a possibility this information was flawed or it was a trap.

  The last report we had from our ship was that they were approaching the planet and everything looked normal. They were on final descent and due to report in within the next hour. They missed that report and they are now three hours overdue. We have reason to believe that we may have been compromised. Intel has reached me today that we may have a spy on the base. As you know everyone here is screened before entering and you all have regular evaluations. We thought we were clean but apparently not.

  The shuttle came down and its transponder is still beaming a signal but they are not responding to the radio. I’m afraid I could be sending you into a trap and I want you to be aware of that.

  Kel, I’m making you senior officer on this one as it’s more your expertise. Your tracking skills should be very handy.

  When we scanned the planet about a month ago we didn’t see anything other than the settlement we have been trading with. It is not impossible that there are people living in the mountains but the people of the village denied any other occupation and we questioned them fairly extensively. We’ve also lost contact with the village. They are a primitive people but they did keep a radio there for communicating with us. There is no signal from this now.”

  Rowland looked annoyed. “Don’t we have a long range scanner? Surely that would be safer than committing more people.”

  Kel looked at him in horror. “What do you mean Rowland? Shantara is a team member and the marines are crew.”

  Rowland looked up at him. Their difference in height was very noticeable. “I meant that it is best to check if they are alive before we risk more resources. We don’t know what is happening there.”

  Kel grunted. “No, that is why we need to find out. If you don’t want to go I’m sure the Commander will find someone else.”

  Rowland smiled. “Well there is bound to be another engineer who will fill in. I’m not sure what use I’d be to you anyway.”

  Rennon piped up. “Rowland, you have to be kidding me. You were keen to be part of this team, now you want someone else to step in. Either you are with us or you are not.”

  Rowland didn’t look too happy. “Don’t be ridiculous, she wasn’t on a mission with us when it happened. We’re not joined at the hip. Well some of us aren’t.” He looked from Rennon to Kel. “I’ll go, alright, you w
in.”

  Kel shook his head and cast a glance at Rennon. The Commander closed his file. “Gentlemen, you have a go. You have permission to go off base.” He picked up a pen and noted Rowland’s comments and attitude on his file. Kel and Rennon were walking down a corridor. Rowland had gone another way to return to his room after mumbling that he needed to sort something out first.

  Kel turned to the right and Rennon followed close on his heels. “Rennon, what the hell is it with that guy? Either he’s a member of this team or he’s not.”

  Rennon shook his head. “When we were taking him on, before you joined I read his file. He’s just like that, he’s not a team player but his references were good and his qualifications astounding. Well according to his file anyway.”

  Kel grunted.

  An hour later their Hopper hovered over the planet and the smoke from the wreckage of the shuttle rose in a plume into the air. Debris was spread over a clearing and from the air they could see bodies strewn amongst it. They used their scanners but they could find no life signs in the area. Rennon held his new scanner cautiously and pointed it toward the ground. He pressed the on button and the machine began to beep and bleep. The screen flickered into action and a map of the ground appeared.

  Rennon tapped it. “No bio signs, there’s nobody alive down there and there’s no sign of her subcutaneous implant. I’ve extended our scan to the village. No life signs there either. This is not looking good. There are bodies everywhere. Look at that pattern; it looks like they didn’t get a chance to get to cover. I’d say they were ambushed.”

  Kel took the Hopper down and gently landed it next to the damaged shuttle. He used the ship’s scanner to scan from the ground but found nothing. The ramp slowly rolled down and the clear spring air rushed inside filling the inside of the Hopper with a fresh clean aroma of the countryside. Birds were singing and everything seemed peaceful and the perfect country scene other than the downed shuttle and the dead crew. The smoke was being blown by the breeze away from them and there was only the feint aroma of the burning ship.

  Cautiously Kel took the lead, followed by Rennon. Rowland hung back and waited for the other two to step outside. Weapons were at the ready, safety catches off and they were ready to fire. Bodies tensed, pulses racing, looking around over the barrels of their guns they moved slowly, watching for any sign of trouble. Back to back they made their way forward while Rowland made his way backwards into the shuttle and checked the preflight protocols. The Marines fanned out, covering the area and soon half were back in the Hopper wondering what to do next.

  Rennon sent an encoded message back to Mission Command.

  Kel was still outside searching around the debris with the rest of the Marines. Rowland was sitting in the passenger seat in the back of the shuttle reading his book. None of them saw or heard the cloaked ship as it hovered above them and then glided to land over the ridge. The scanners were unable to detect it. The only clue was a feint movement in the trees.

  Kel was looking at the ground so he missed it. He spotted some tracks and an indentation which had bothered him from the moment he saw it. He looked at it again and again but could not work out what it was. He checked around the area and followed the tracks as they went to and from what he assumed was a shuttle or some sort of craft. He went over it and over it until he found the track he wanted. One set of returning boot marks was slightly heavier than the rest and he hadn’t detected a heavier one going out. Kel stood at the bottom of the ramp. “I’ve found some tracks on the east side of the wreck. It looks like a Hover Shuttle may have rested there and another group have been in the area. They have left very little trace, they are very good. We haven’t been the first to this crash site. There are signs that one person may have been carrying something back.”

  There was a sound outside and Kel turned as three figures strode from the tree line. All were six foot tall, muscular and identically dressed in long black robes. The attached hoods were pulled up but where he would have expected to have seen something of their faces there was only darkness. He didn’t have time for much more than this as he was immediately hit by a stunner from the closest one before he could react. He reeled but was hit by two more before he sank to the ground. The others were firing at the Hopper and blasts hit the inside, one very close to Rowland’s head. Rowland did not hesitate, he jumped into the cockpit and hit the emergency button and the Hopper shut its doors. Rennon made a leap to catch Kel’s unconscious body which slid over the edge of the closing ramp. His fingers touched material but he couldn’t get a grip and the body fell. The hopper took off leaving Kel at the feet of the Followers as they approached blasting at the retreating craft.

  Rennon leapt into the cockpit and tried to override the controls but it was too late. The system was automatic. Once the button was depressed the ship would only return to its hanger bay. Rennon screamed at Rowland who looked stunned at his response. Rennon then punched him, knocking him back against the control panel before he slid unconscious to the floor. Rennon fumbled with the controls in a vain hope that he could override the auto-return. Then he fell back hopelessly into the pilot’s chair and grabbed the radio.

  Rennon’s voice was broken. “Rennon, S4542, Recon Mission. Rowland aborted mission with auto return when Kel got stunned. Kel has been abandoned on the planet. Three Followers in attendance so immediate assistance is requested.”

  Kel woke up somewhere cold and dark and tried to move. It felt like every part of him hurt. He was not restrained but that didn’t help his limbs which seemed determined not to move. He sat up and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim light and took in the stale, damp and slightly metallic aroma. As his eyes focused the only illumination was coming from a small window located high up in a bare metal wall. It cast a bright square on the floor and gave off an eerie glow which illuminated just a small part of the room.

  Once he was accustomed to the dim light he could see that the room appeared to have solid metal walls on three sides although the back of the room was difficult to see. The fourth was constructed from sturdy bars behind which he could just make out a dark corridor and a blank wall beyond. There was an old light fitting high above him but the bulb was broken. He could see that there were items of furniture near the back wall and these cast dark shadows.

  Immediately he sprang to his feet. Nothing seemed broken but he staggered a little. He ran to the bars and cautiously tested them to make sure there wasn’t a current running through them. He then rattled them wildly with all his strength but they held firm. In desperation he threw himself at them but all he got was a badly bruised shoulder as the bars vibrated but held firm.

  As he slid to the floor clutching his bruised shoulder he noticed something move in the shadows. It was only a slight flicker out of the corner of his eye. He moved across the floor with lightning speed and grasped into the darkness. His hands met warm soft skin. He grasped what turned out to be an arm and pulled a woman out from her hiding place behind a pallet bed. He could feel her trying to resist him, and then she stopped and let him pull her from the shadows. He tried to see what she looked like in the fading embers of the sun but it was almost impossible. He could see that she was dressed in a thin white dress which was covered in dirt and blood.

  She looked fragile but he felt muscles like iron in that delicate arm. Her voice was silky and gentle. “Easy Tiger, I am a prisoner too, they brought you in yesterday morning unconscious. I am no threat to you. I have medical training and I’ve checked you over. You are in pretty good shape; they must have just stunned you and brought you here. You were lucky.”

  He released his grip and she relaxed. He offered her a hand, she took it and he helped her over to a bench and they both sat down. He spoke as gently as he could. “Sorry. You spooked me. I’m not in the habit of grabbing women that way.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. It is truly a spooky place though, you are forgiven. I am Kyla Deralis of the Eltalashi. May I ask who you are?” Her voice was a little more
assured now and she rubbed her arm where he had grabbed her.

  “I am Kel Elyn of Eldoria.” He bowed his head slightly and smiled at her.

  “I have known quite a few of your race over the years, many have been good friends.” Her voice was sincere and her expression gentle.

  “So, what can you tell me about this place? How did you get here?”

  “I don’t know how long I’ve been here. I was stunned a lot when I first came here so I don’t know how long I spent unconscious. I was on a pilgrimage to Ha’Ka’Tash when the village I was staying in was attacked. I have taken a vow of non-violence until I attain the final order of enlightenment as a healer. So I was taken without a fight. There were four of the villagers in here with me but one by one they have been taken away and they weren’t brought back. They took them down the corridor dragged unconscious.

  This cell is sound locked by what I can guess as I have tried various ways to call out or get someone’s attention but I haven’t managed it. There is no echo and as the place is silent where I would have expected to have heard at least sounds from the building or dripping water or something. I would guess there is something going on like that. So even if there are others in this building we wouldn’t hear them. I would assume there must be others but I can’t tell how many. I have seen many carried past the bars by the soldiers though.

  The guards are the Soltari Death Knights, the genetic creations of the Followers.”

  Kel had heard the name but was struggling to think what he knew about them.

  Kyla smiled. “You look puzzled. They are the same usual skeletal faced warriors but they have been mutated or manipulated in some way. They use them as guards and for basic tasks. They aren’t particularly bright but they don’t need to be. They fulfil a function and they can be very nasty.” She involuntarily rubbed her shoulder and he could see the black bruise which covered much of her neck and chest.

  “The walls are metal as you can see and they can run a charge through them so you were right to be cautious. The charge is high voltage but obviously not lethal. It will give you a serious jolt and knocks you out. I don’t know how long I was out for when I first tried it.