The Phoenix Crisis

by Richard L. Sanders

  “This session of the Assembly has been called to investigate the disappearance of the Imperial Military Starship Andromeda, and to consider sworn statements and testimony of Vice Admiral Harkov, Captain Lafayette Nimoux, and Lieutenant Commander Calvin Cross who is also the Executor of the Empire,” said Representative Tate, presiding. She sat on the centermost platform with the two other members of the Defense Committee at her sides, Representatives Lekovic and O’Neil—both of whom also sat on the committee on Internal Security. Calvin wondered why his name was being included, and what the Assembly wished to glean from him. He was more than happy to cooperate, but the amalgamation of his testimony along with Harkov’s and Nimoux’s seemed like a strange, almost suspicious combination.

  “The Members of the Assembly have been provided with copies of the sworn statements,” continued Representative Tate. “And everyone here should have had ample time to review them.” Calvin wasn’t sure what she was referring to.

  He gave Kalila a confused look and the princess tapped the table, using its electronic interface to pull up pictures of several documents. Calvin gave them a cursory scan and found what appeared to be affidavits by the senior officers of the Desert Eagle and the Andromeda. They confirmed that the Desert Eagle had been hunting the Nighthawk, mostly unsuccessfully, the details were sketchy. There was no mention—that Calvin could see—of anything that’d happened at Remus System. Nor was there any mention that the Desert Eagle had followed the Nighthawk into the DMZ. As for the Andromeda, the documents relating to it were more interesting. They went into depth and were quite long but, after skimming through several of them, Calvin gleaned that they were a report of events leading up to the Andromeda’s disappearance and a record of what had happened during its mysterious absence. Calvin was sure it would make fascinating reading.

  “The Committee on Defense, representing the interests and authority of the Assembly, call Vice Admiral Harkov as a special witness to the matter at hand,” said Representative Tate.

  Harkov bent the microphone in front of her and moved it closer to her lips.

  “Admiral,” said Representative Tate. “You have already risen and taken the oath, so you should consider yourself under oath until these proceedings are complete. Do you understand?”

  “I do,” said Harkov. Calvin recognized her voice. And remembered how the Vice Admiral had refused to speak up on his behalf during Raidan’s trial on Praxis One.

  “You may take five minutes at this time for an opening statement if you so choose, Admiral. You may also submit a longer opening statement for the record if you wish.”

  “I would like the Assembly to consider the materials I have already provided to be my official statement,” said Vice Admiral Harkov.

  “Duly noted,” said Representative Tate. “The Committee on Defense also recognizes Captain Lafayette Nimoux on the witness stand. Additionally the Committee recognizes the presence of Lieutenant Command Calvin Cross who is also serving in the capacity of Executor of the Empire. However the matter before us today is not regarding his work as Executor but rather his record as the commander of the Intelligence Wing starship Nighthawk. Mister Cross he will henceforth be referred to as Lieutenant Commander or Mister Cross and not Mister Executor for the duration of these proceedings. Do you understand, Mister Cross?” Tate looked at him.

  “Yes,” said Calvin. In truth he didn’t understand why he was here, or why his record as an Intel Wing CO was at issue, but perhaps this would mean an opportunity to expose some of the darker parts of the conspiracy rotting away the soul of their government, dark things that he and his crew had witnessed. As had Harkov and Nimoux.

  “Both of you have also been sworn in and read the oath, so you should both consider yourselves under oath until the conclusion of these proceedings, do you understand?”

  “Yes,” said Calvin and Nimoux in sequence.

  “Do either of you have a prepared opening statement you would like to give or else submit for the record?” asked Representative Tate.

  “I would like the documents I have already submitted to be considered my official statement,” said Nimoux.

  Calvin wondered why Nimoux and Harkov had had advance-enough knowledge of this meeting to prepare official statements while Calvin hadn’t known a thing until he’d been summoned. “I do not have a prepared statement,” he said, once he realized all eyes were on him.

  “So noted,” said Representative Tate. “I will now proceed directly into questioning.” She cleared her throat. “Admiral, please give us your account of events leading up to the disappearance of your vessel, the ISS Andromeda.”

  “It’s all in the record,” said Harkov. “I have nothing to add.”

  “I see. And you maintain that your ship was hunting the IWS Nighthawk on special orders when everything happened?”

  “Yes, that’s correct,” said Harkov. Calvin looked at her, wondering if she would go into details about what had happened at Abia or if he’d have to bring it up. “The Andromeda was part of three separately assigned taskforces that were given orders to capture the IWS Nighthawk,” said Harkov. “There was a flotilla of ships pursuing the Nighthawk, led by the ISS Avenger, and the Andromeda was of course pursuing the Nighthawk, and lastly the IWS Desert Eagle led by Captain Nimoux was pursuing the Nighthawk.”

  That wasn’t true. Calvin knew for a fact that the Desert Eagle hadn’t been assigned to chase after him until later—Rafael had sent him a warning once it was fed through Intel Wing channels that Nimoux had been assigned to take on the Nighthawk, which had been after the Andromeda disappeared. Also, there had been no mysterious other flotilla of ships assigned to capture the Nighthawk; the only flotilla has been under the Andromeda’s direct command. And they’d flown as a group.

  “The Nighthawk was coordinating with the rogue vessel ISS Harbinger—which is still at large,” said Harkov. “Along with several other ships. The flotilla chasing the Nighthawk was led into an ambush and destroyed by the Nighthawk, the Harbinger, and other vessels—”

  “WHAT?” shouted Calvin, unable to believe what he was hearing. Did the Vice Admiral just accuse him of destroying the flotilla? Firing on Imperial starships and slaughtering thousands of people? The same starships that had, in fact, fired on the Andromeda while Calvin and his crew were prisoners on a Rotham battleship.

  “Out of order, Lieutenant Commander,” snapped Representative Tate. She gave him a harsh look then turned back to Harkov. “Please continue, Admiral.”

  Calvin tried to make sense of this. And he immediately came to the conclusion that either the Vice Admiral was being paid off, that she’d somehow been recruited by the Phoenix Ring, or else the person who sat before him was in actuality a replicant. He didn’t know how it was possible. But he couldn’t fight the nagging suspicion that it was true. If only there were some way for him to force a senior admiral to take a dose of equarius… but there was none he could think of.

  “By the time the Andromeda arrived on the scene, the flotilla was already destroyed—like I said. We weren’t sure what to make of it, so we began investigating the debris trying to determine what had happened. We followed a series of alteredspace jump signatures and were able to identify that the Nighthawk, the Harbinger, and several other ships—all of which are identified in the report I submitted—had in fact been on the scene. We followed the trail for jump signatures and debris across Imperial space and into Polarian territory. Eventually the trail ran cold and we returned to Capital System.”

  “You claim that the Andromeda was missing for weeks and during that entire time you were pursuing the Nighthawk and the Harbinger, according to orders?” asked Representative Tate. She seemed to think it was plausible, but seemed not entirely convinced.

  “That is correct. The Andromeda was unable to jump to a depth exceeding seventy-percent and we traversed a large swathe of space, it took a great deal of time,” said Harkov.

  Calvin wasn’t sure what was motivating Harkov to tell this lie to
the Assembly. He clearly remembered seeing a beaten and battered Andromeda leave Abia after fighting, and destroying, its own escorting battleships.

  “Why did your ship fail to respond to communiques and make no reports during that time? Is it not standard procedure to maintain regular contact with the Fleet?” asked Representative Tate.

  “It is standard procedure to do so, that is correct,” said Harkov. “However we had been given special orders to maintain complete radio and kataspace silence. At the time it was believed that any transmissions sent from our ship would lead to the Nighthawk or the Harbinger being able to determine our position.”

  Calvin had made a similar lie when he’d been forced to justify his communications lockout to Major Jenkins. According to Shen, whose technical expertise was unmatched, such a threat was not plausible. A ship’s location could not be determined in alteredspace from kataspace transmissions.

  “If you had been given orders to maintain silence, Admiral, then why did the Fleet report the Andromeda as missing?” asked Representative Tate.

  “There was a miscommunication between different branches of the Fleet and the one who gave us the order, Fleet Admiral Tiberon, did not communicate our mission to the rest of the Fleet.”

  Calvin doubted that was a believable story. He knew the Fleet better than that—it didn’t make these kind of massive mistakes and miscommunications. Losing track of the Fifth Fleet’s flagship in such a way was far too sloppy to be believable. Calvin was sure Representative Tate would see through the flimsy lie… but she didn’t challenge it except to say that Admiral Tiberon, once he returned from Atria Prime, would be called before the Assembly to verify the story. This was only a formality, however, since his office had already forwarded a statement that corroborated Harkov’s ridiculous claim. Calvin made a mental note to add Tiberon to his list of people to investigate.

  “What about Abia, Admiral?” asked Calvin, interrupting Representative Tate as she thanked Vice Admiral Harkov for her service.

  “Once again, you are out of order, Lieuten—”

  “I will speak,” said Calvin, cutting in. It was a breach of protocol but to hell with protocol. He couldn’t let these lies go unchallenged. He glanced at Kalila, wanting to make sure he had her support. She nodded.

  “Mister Cross, you may not—”

  “What about Abia, Admiral?” asked Calvin, interrupting Representative Tate again. He looked at Harkov, challenging her with his eyes.

  Harkov cleared her throat, then leaned into the mic. “What Mister Cross is referring to is a system inside the Empire—it’s the location where the Nighthawk, the Harbinger, and the other rebel ships ambushed the Imperial flotilla and destroyed it.”

  “That is not true,” said Calvin. “When my ship arrived at Abia it was captured by a Rotham squadron.” He looked away from Harkov and stared at each member of the Defense Committee in sequence, making eye contact. “A Rotham squadron. Deep inside Imperial space. The Andromeda arrived with the flotilla, as its command ship, and prepared to engage the Rotham ships. Before they could exchange fire with the alien vessels, however, the battleships from the Imperial flotilla opened fire on the Andromeda and the destroyers. The Andromeda returned fire. All ships, except for the Andromeda, were destroyed. The Andromeda then fled the system and that is when it disappeared.”

  There were murmurs throughout the room. No doubt his claim was a bold one. It was, however, the unequivocal truth.

  “If your ship was captured by a Rotham squadron,” said Representative Lekovic, speaking up for the first time during this session, “then how did it and you escape? And why would such a force, which mysteriously evaded all of our detection systems, be inside Imperial space?”

  “I cannot speculate as to the motives of the Rotham squadron. However, I have some evidence that high-ranking members in this government, including some inside this very Assembly, are part of a large conspiracy and are cooperating with foreign agents—including, most likely, the Rotham squadron.”

  His words created an uproar and the chamber filled with noise. Representative Tate had to call the Assembly Floor to order. Those in attendance sounded with such dissonance it was as if Calvin had personally accused each and every one of them of treason.

  “And you escaped this Rotham force—which was never seen or heard from again—how exactly?” pressed Lekovic.

  “The Harbinger and other renegade ships did arrive on the scene and participate in the battle, but only after the Andromeda had fled and the Imperial flotilla was destroyed. The Harbinger and its squadron defeated the Rotham squadron—of which only a few ships escaped, which is probably why it wasn’t seen or heard from again—and then the Harbinger sent troops aboard the ship we were imprisoned on and liberated us.”

  “At which point the Harbinger simply let you go?”

  “Yes,” said Calvin, though that wasn’t entirely true. Raidan had asked Calvin to come to Gemini—which Calvin had done willingly—but had he refused… it was likely Raidan would have forced him to come to Gemini anyway.

  “Quite the fanciful tale,” said Lekovic and laughter filled the chamber.

  “It’s the truth,” said Calvin. “I swear upon my sacred honor.”

  “The honor of a renegade,” said Lekovic.

  The chamber reacted with “ooh’s” and curious intrigue. Was a member of the Defense Committee, and the Internal Security Committee, accusing the Executor of the Empire—whose name had been cleared by the King’s authority—of sedition and disloyalty to the Crown? Perhaps Lekovic was a member of the Phoenix Ring, Calvin thought.

  “Watch your tone,” said Kalila, finally speaking up. Her words carried a commanding tone. “I remind you that Mister Cross has been appointed by the Crown and serves the Empire loyally. You would do well to remember that.”

  “I apologize, Your Grace,” said Lekovic in a speedy backpedal. “I meant only that, at the time of this alleged incident with the Rotham squadron, Mister Cross was a renegade. Officially being pursued by agents of the Fleet and Intel Wing. That is an indisputable fact.”

  “He was being pursued under false pretenses and for unjust reasons,” said Kalila, fire in her voice. “Because of that his name has been cleared, not just for the present but also the past.”

  “Of course, Your Grace,” said Lekovic.

  “Admiral Harkov,” said Representative Tate, “would you care to respond to Mister Cross’s allegations? Did your ship exchange fire with the Imperial flotilla?”

  “There is not a shred of truth to these allegations,” said Vice Admiral Harkov. “The flotilla was destroyed by the Nighthawk and the Harbinger and other renegade warships. The flotilla had been given the assignment to capture or destroy all of those vessels, so they had motive in ambushing it. Certainly there was no friendly-fire. What would possibly motivate commanders from my own fleet, the Fifth Fleet, to fire on one another? It makes no sense. Surely this honored Assembly can see that the truth—that the Nighthawk and Harbinger destroyed the flotilla before the Andromeda arrived—is far more plausible than Mister Cross’s claim that we destroyed ourselves, in the presence of an alien, and probably hostile, force.”

  This seemed to win a positive reaction from the crowd. Calvin could tell from the timber of the noise that people seemed to be assenting and sympathetic, and when put like that—Harkov’s version of events did sound more believable. But that didn’t change the fact that it was completely false. Calvin looked at the Admiral, and remembered how he and other commanding officers, including Harkov, had dined together while awaiting the verdict of Raidan’s trial on Praxis One. Harkov had seemed so normal then, certainly she hadn’t struck Calvin as a player in the conspiracy. Yet here she was, spinning lies before the Assembly. Attempting to discredit him—and through him Kalila, and through her, the King himself.

  “Mister Nimoux,” said Representative Tate, “your reputation is one of high-esteem in this body and your record has proven you time and again to be a servant of the Empi
re. I ask you now to weigh in on these claims. As a representative of the intelligence community, but also as a trusted friend of the Assembly and a proven servant of the Empire.”

  It sickened Calvin a little to see that the Assembly held Nimoux and his reputation in such light, while they were so suspicious of Calvin. His record had proven him too to be a servant of the Empire. He had two silver stars. But even Calvin had to admit that, when compared to Nimoux’s record, his was nothing to talk about. And Nimoux was easily the most effective and well-known operative in all of Intel Wing. It made sense that his words would carry weight here.

  “My ship, the Desert Eagle, arrived on the scene at Abia after the fact,” said Nimoux. “However we did find a great deal of debris. All of it was from Imperial ships. No debris was found of alien origins. The most likely explanation is that the Harbinger and other renegade Imperial ships fired on the Imperial flotilla, like the Admiral said.

  The room listened in total silence. Hundreds of people, and each hung onto Nimoux’s every word like some kind of pure gospel.

  “I would also point out that the Andromeda has no battle damage. And so, unless a very rapid repair was done to restore the ship—which is unlikely—then the Andromeda cannot have participated in a battle against our own battleships, which surely would have scarred the Andromeda’s hull, like Mister Cross claims. And finally, I would say that according to the best knowledge of Intel Wing, there is not a Rotham military squadron in Imperial space, nor has there ever been since the Great War. Any large force of ships attempting to cross the DMZ would be detected by our listening posts.”