“Where is Kage?” he asked when they walked in.
“Stayed back on the ship,” Jason said casually, depending on Lucky’s unparalleled situational awareness to record and analyze any reactions from the Praetores or Fordix. “He said this wasn’t really his scene. So what’s going on?”
“Captain Burke,” Fordix began, “while we appreciate your service, I don’t believe that you’re needed to—”
“I don’t believe I asked you, Master Fordix,” Jason said pleasantly. While the exchange may be viewed by those in the room as unbelievably rude, the insult was quite intentional. He wanted everyone in the room as off balance as possible so that Lucky could record any inadvertent slips or odd reactions.
“We’ve just been debriefed by Fordix about the situation on Galvetor,” Crusher said in the silence, giving Fordix a warning glare. “It’s more problematic than we thought. I’m afraid now would not be the best time for us to leave, Captain.”
“I see,” Jason said neutrally, glancing at the maps and documents strewn about the table and allowing his neural implant to record everything for later. “How problematic are we talking?”
“Likely a full-blown civil war,” Crusher sighed. “Galvetor has been secretly putting together an assault force to try and capture the legion leadership. After that they will assume command here on Restaria via the oversight committee.”
“To what end?” Jason asked dubiously. “There has to be a larger political goal here, a reason for action against the legion’s leadership in the first place.”
“We’re not entirely sure,” Morakar admitted. “We were fortunate to learn as much as we have.”
“So what will be our next course of action?” Jason asked, maneuvering himself in the room so that he could turn his back on Fordix.
“We’re assembling the leadership here in Ker,” Crusher said.
“I was under the impression that was something that has not happened in a long time,” Lucky spoke up.
“You’re correct,” Fostel said. “It is highly unusual, but now that Lord Felex has returned, we can unify the Legion leadership under a single banner and plan a more coordinated defense. We would not be able to do this without him.”
“Captain, perhaps I could interest you in something to eat,” Mazer spoke up from the doorway. “It has been a long day.”
“Thank you, Mazer,” Jason said with a nod. “I believe I’ll take you up on that.”
Jason and Lucky followed him out of the meeting room and through the compound to the dining hall. The entire way Mazer wore a frown and carried a hard set to his eyes.
Chapter 17
It was well into the evening when the expected knock came on the door of Jason’s room. “Come in, Crusher,” he called, getting up from the bed.
“I wish you wouldn’t intentionally antagonize him, Captain,” Crusher said without preamble. “He gets so agitated it’s difficult to get any more information out of him.”
“Your friend is an asshole,” Jason said simply. “I’m only returning the favor.”
“No,” Crusher said with a shake of his head. “There’s something else going on here. You’re intentionally pushing on him. Tell me why.”
“So you’re giving me commands now?” Jason asked mildly, hoping to change the subject.
“Why are you being so difficult?” Crusher snarled. “Did I not nearly die during the defense of your homeworld? Now that my people are in danger, you seem to—”
“The Phoenix is missing, Crusher,” Jason said, cutting him off.
The big warrior stood frozen for a moment, mouth hanging open and his recriminations dying on his tongue.
“What?!” he was finally able to say.
“The Phoenix is gone,” Jason said quietly. “We went to check on her and there is nothing but twelve divots where the wheels were and a few blast marks where the tail guns lit someone up.”
“What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Twingo and Doc are missing as well,” Jason said.
“Why am I just now hearing about this?” Crusher demanded, his fists clenched. “Where is Kage?”
“Kage is in a safe location trying to track down some leads,” Jason said. “I couldn’t tell you until I was able to get you alone.”
“You did not trust me,” Crusher stated, his voice breaking.
“You know that is not true,” Jason said hotly. “But I don’t know how much I can trust those in the Order. There were only a few people who knew where the Phoenix was parked.”
“But they have resources we could use,” Crusher began. Jason held a hand up to stop him.
“Kage is now plugged in and on the trail,” he said. “If the ship is still in one piece, he’ll find it. If we find the Phoenix, we find our friends. There was no evidence they’d been killed, so I have to believe they were taken captive for whatever reason.”
“So what should I do?”
“For now, exactly what you’re doing,” Jason said, grateful the conversation was going as well as it seemed to be. “There’s not much you can do right now, honestly, and we’d just be in Kage’s way. Once we have a firm lead we’ll act.”
“Who else knows the ship is missing?”
“All the remaining members of the crew and Mazer,” Jason said.
“Do you trust him?” Crusher asked. Jason decided to treat it like a serious question and not a petty accusation.
“I do,” he said. “He’s solid. He reminds me a lot of you, actually.” Jason intentionally left out the fact Mazer was also harboring suspicions about the true motivations of the Archon’s Fist. That is a really stupid name for a secret society.
“Try to keep me informed,” Crusher said, moving towards the door.
“That’s a given, Crusher,” Jason said. “I didn’t exclude you as an insult. It was simple logistics … I needed to talk to you without anyone overhearing.”
Crusher just nodded. “Goodnight, Captain.”
*****
Jason rose early, not having been able to actually sleep, and went in search of Mazer. Unsurprisingly, Lucky had stood watch outside his door all night. The pair moved through the compound towards where Mazer shared a room with his brother.
The young warrior was already awake and had been waiting for them. Jason had approached to within five feet of the door when it swung open and Mazer, already fully dressed, emerged and closed the door quietly behind him.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said softly. “Let’s get to work. What do you need?”
“Let’s go check in on Kage,” Jason said. “I need to get an update as well as make a secure slip-com call myself.”
“I’ve already secured a vehicle,” Mazer said with a nod. “This way.” He led them back through the compound and down a spiraling staircase that led to the underground parking facility. Jason noticed how crowded the halls seemed and had to wonder how they were keeping everything secret at this point. It seemed since Fordix was brought back and Crusher resumed his role as the Archon that the Order was much more bold in operating out in the open, at least compared to the dungeon they had been led to upon first arriving.
“How did you know it was us when you opened the door?” Jason asked, mildly curious.
“Lucky’s feet make a distinctive sound against the stone floor,” Mazer explained. “I knew you were in front because your stride is shorter than any of the warriors currently housed in the compound. I didn’t want to wake Morakar. For now, the less he knows the better until we get a firm handle on what is happening with your crew.” He looked at Jason with a slightly guilty expression at that last bit.
“I can’t thank you enough for the assistance, Mazer,” Jason said with genuine gratitude. “I think we’d have been in real trouble if you hadn’t stepped up.” Mazer seemed to puzzle through the expression a moment before answering.
“It’s my honor to help however I can,” he said seriously. Jason wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he didn’t.
&
nbsp; “I assume you want access to the com node in order to alert Captain Colleren of our predicament,” Lucky said.
“Correct,” Jason said. “She and Crisstof need to be aware of the situation. I don’t necessarily want any assistance since the Defiant showing up in orbit over Restaria would cause more problems than it would help, but I owe them the courtesy of at least a message.”
“I’ve heard these names,” Mazer admitted, “but the ship sounds unfamiliar.”
“You probably associate their names with a ship called the Diligent,” Jason said. “The Defiant is a brand new battlecruiser that replaced the older frigate.”
“What happened to the Diligent?” Mazer asked.
“Captain Burke rammed it into another ship as a diversion, destroying both vessels in the process,” Lucky stated matter-of-factly. Mazer just turned and stared at Jason with an expression that was part awe, part horror.
“There was nobody on it,” Jason said defensively.
*****
“What the shit, Kage?” Jason exclaimed when he walked in and saw the Veran. “I’ve told you about this … how long have you been hooked in now?”
“Not sure, Captain,” Kage said dismissively. The little Veran was sitting in a padded chair and had no less than six computers running search algorithms simultaneously while controlling and filtering the results with his neural implant and brain. There were infusion packs strewn about from a tea that was a powerful stimulant and at some point he had wrapped a wet towel around his hairless head.
Jason had been there when the doctors on Aracoria had warned Kage that the new implant would heat up if he taxed it too hard and that he must take precautions to not allow it to heat his cranium too much. Apparently he thought a wet towel would wick away enough of the heat that he could press on through the night. Jason knew the little code slicer could be tireless when on the hunt, and with his friends in almost certain danger he obviously wasn’t thinking about taking a break anytime soon.
“Is the towel actually working?” Lucky asked.
“It would be better if I had some air moving over it,” Kage said. “Don’t worry, I’m monitoring the thermal output of the unit. I’m well within acceptable limits.” There was something odd about the way he was talking that led Jason to his next question.
“How many partitions are you up to right now?”
“Um…”
“How many?” Jason pressed.
“Five continuous, but I can do six for short bursts,” Kage admitted.
“That’s it,” Jason said. “Shut it down. Now. You’re unplugging for at least four hours to get some food and rest. The automated searches can keep running on their own.”
“But—”
“Now, Kage,” Jason repeated. “I need the slip connection for a bit anyway.” He knelt beside Kage’s chair and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you want to find them as much as I do,” he said gently. “But finding them may only be half the fight. I need you at one hundred percent … you can’t run yourself down to the point that you can’t fight when the time comes to go get them.”
Kage just nodded and his eyes went blank for a moment as his unique brain began to reintegrate into itself. Without a word, he climbed out of the chair and headed back to one of the bunk rooms.
“What did you mean by partitions?” Mazer asked. “Sounded serious.”
“What do you know about Verans?”
“Other than they have four arms and are a dark green color? Nothing,” Mazer said.
“Their brains have the ability to divide into what amounts to parallel processing units,” Jason tried to explain. “It goes far beyond multi-tasking. Kage can literally think about six unrelated things simultaneously with as much accuracy as he can just one.”
“Sounds complicated,” Mazer said, clearly not that interested.
“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “I sort of just take his word for it … it’s a bit beyond me.”
He cleared some of the junk away from the desk and began configuring the com node for a long-haul video link. Punching in the code for the remote com node from memory, he waited until he was prompted and then put in the long encryption string that would make tracing the signal that much more difficult. It was another few minutes before the nodes negotiated back and forth and established a solid signal through the ether of slip-space. Jason was never unimpressed that he was able to make a realtime video call from thousands of lightyears away.
The link went from an amber status symbol to a blinking green, meaning the signal had been accepted and he was awaiting a response. He had pinged Kellea’s personal com unit so he know it would take her a bit to break away and answer it depending on what hour it was on the ship. There was no way he was going to signal the bridge and have them track her down or, worse, have to explain what the call was about. He knew most of the Defiant’s bridge crew and wasn’t ready for half the galaxy to know he’d lost his ship and a third of his crew.
“Hello there—” Kellea broke off as the video image of Jason resolved. “What’s happened?”
“I’ve lost the Phoenix,” Jason said with no lead up, breaking the news as quickly and brutally as he could.
“Where did she go down? It says you’re still on Restaria.”
“No… I mean I lost her. I landed at the outer edge of one of the larger cities for safekeeping. When we went back to check on things the ship was gone without a trace,” he told her, watching her expression morph from concern to disbelief.
“Is this one of your pranks?” she demanded. “I really don’t have time for this sort of thing, Jason.”
“There’s more,” he pressed on, ignoring her. “Twingo and Doc are missing as well. We know at least Twingo was near the ship when it was taken.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said. “Since I’m assuming the rest of you are full throttle trying to find them, just tell me what you’ve found so far. What are you into out there?”
“More than we bargained for,” Jason said. “There have been some … things … that would be frowned upon by the authorities. But from what we can tell, the ship went missing well before anyone could have linked us to it, at least without there being an internal leak with Crusher’s friends.”
“You don’t feel you can trust them?” Kellea asked.
“One I can trust for certain,” Jason said, “the others are all suspect until proven otherwise.”
“And Crusher? How is he handling being back home?”
Jason took a deep breath before answering. “Crusher is actually Lord Felex Tezakar, the Guardian Archon of Galvetor,” he said. Kellea just stared blankly at him for a moment.
“Unbelievable,” she breathed. “Crisstof had looked for him extensively when word got out he’d been exiled, but nobody knew for certain what he looked like. Looking back, I should have suspected there was something unique about him.”
“Yeah, well …what it means right now is that I’m a man short trying to track down Twingo and Doc,” Jason groused.
“Who is the one person there you’ve been able to trust?” she asked.
“His name is Mazer Reddix,” Jason said. “He’s a warrior from the same legion as Crusher. He’s been facilitating getting us the gear we need and transporting us around the planet without being spotted.”
“Well, at least you have some sort of support system in place,” she sighed. “I’m currently in the Ta’amidil System, quite far from your location.”
“Never heard of it.”
“I’m not surprised,” she said. “Minor system, no sort of trouble that would have attracted your attention. We’re here on a relief aid mission.”
“Is Crisstof with you?” Jason asked.
“No. We’re supposed to pick him up when we leave here,” she said. “Jason, I don’t know realistically when I can get to you.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Jason said, holding up his hand. “You can’t reposition the Defiant every time we get in a pinch. We’ll manage. I
’m just giving you a heads up in case the worst happens. Anyway … I’ve got to get going. Lots happening.”
“Be careful Jason,” she said seriously. “Go get your guys.”
As soon as he disconnected, he began to go through the summary file Kage had been compiling as he worked. It was well organized and Jason was quickly able to not only ascertain the overall strategy but get a good feel for the results.
Kage had been thorough. He’d hacked into the few global surveillance satellites there were around Restaria and was able to locate the Phoenix from the old data. It barely showed up on the low resolution, wide area scans, but as soon as it was no longer there it gave him a timestamp to begin expanding his search from. He had checked the air traffic control and departure control logs after that to look for any ship leaving that hadn’t filed a flight plan. After that he actually sliced into the individual sensor logs of ships that were known to be in the area to see if they may have picked up the Phoenix in flight. It all came up empty.
From what Jason could tell, Kage seemed convinced the gunship was still on Restaria somewhere. He left a note in his summary file giving the elapsed time between when the satellite had spotted the ship on the ground to when it would have been within sensor range of ships passing by the area. Jason understood what he was onto: the Phoenix would not have been able to go from a cold condition to slip-space capable within that period of time.
“Damn,” Jason muttered to himself.
“That bad?” Mazer asked, walking into the room with Lucky in tow. They’d given him some privacy when he’d made contact with the Defiant. Actually, Lucky had made a not-so-subtle gesture that they should leave because of the personal nature of Jason’s conversation. I don’t know why he’s worried about that now … he routinely eavesdrops on every conversation I have within a hundred meters of him.
Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon Page 15