Despite having no visible mouths, the look of pleasure on their faces was evident. So far, the cruisers the Onixins built had remained in their star system to protect the homeworld. For the council to allow one to leave was a milestone.
The Onixins spent their last night on PHOENIX socializing with the crew in Central. The night happened to be the senior staff’s poker night, so Julie skipped the game to spend it with the Onixins. With her accommodating the scientists, John could go to the game.
He was running late because of some unforeseen ship business he needed to attend to. He was in his quarters getting changed when the door chime rang.
“Come in,” he yelled from the bedroom. “Just give me a sec to finish changing.” When he emerged, John found Fred Timilson in the living room holding a DAT.
“Fred, I didn’t expect it to be you.”
“Sorry, captain. I was going to wait until tomorrow. But this can’t wait.”
His somber tone indicated something was wrong. “Is everything alright?”
“I finished analyzing that population study you asked me to review.” Timilson handed John the DAT.
John read over the summary Timilson put together. “This…this can’t be right.”
“I rechecked the figures and conferred with several people. We all came to the same conclusion. The numbers aren’t concrete, but there’s no escaping the end result.”
John took a seat on the couch as he reviewed the summary report again. “Could the conclusion be off? You did say the equations were highly complex.”
“They are, revolutionary even. But the science behind them is sound. I broke the numbers down and concluded the margin of error is minimal. Again, I had others check my work.”
“Damn.” It was all John could say. He didn’t know how else to respond.
“I’m sorry, captain,” said Timilson.
“Don’t be,” said John .”You’re just reporting the data as you see it. But do me a favor, keep this to yourself. This is something the crew shouldn’t know about.”
“I understand the sensitivity,” said Timilson. “I’ve already ask the same thing from the individuals I consulted with. They all promised to remain quiet.”
It was Alex’sis’ turn to host the poker game. Kevin, Chief Davers, Chris Anne, and Drix had shown up and the group decided to begin playing without the captain.
“It’s too bad Calbo and Nueista decided not to join us,” said Kevin.
“They’re both too in love with Central and want to spend as much time down there as possible before leaving,” said Alex’sis.
“I thought you were giving them a farewell performance,” Davers said to Chris Anne.
“Please, sweetie,” said Chris. “Not when there’s a poker game to be played.”
The door chime rang. “Come in,” said Alex’sis. “Well, glad you finally decided to join us sir,” as the captain walked in.
“I got caught up in something,” said John.
“Why you holding a DAT?” asked Chris. “You know the rules, no work during a game.”
“I’m sorry to spoil your fun, but as the senior staff I need to inform you of something.” John sat down and put the DAT in the middle of the table.
Alex’sis saw the grave look on his face. “What’s happened?”
“A while ago I found a scientific study in the encrypted data block. It was a study on human population growth. I didn’t understand the numbers or scientific jargon, so I had Professor Timilson review it. He stopped by my quarters a few minutes ago to deliver his findings.” John was trying to find the right words to explain it, but he knew there were no words to ease the blow.
Alex’sis took the DAT and read the report. She was stunned. “This can’t be right.”
“Unfortunately, it is,” said John.
“Captain, please just tell us,” said Chris.
“The study has concluded that the human race is dying.”
Silence filled the room as this was something none of them expected to hear. Everyone looked at one another, not sure how to respond.
“And before you ask, Timilson had the information verified by several other scientists,” said John. “They all agreed with him.”
“How can humanity be dying off?” asked Kevin.
“The report concludes that, as people with genetic disorders from the Holocaust continue to mingle with those with unaffected genes, it will slowly pollute the gene pool with so many defects that procreating viable successive generations will be reduced until we’re no longer able to breed.”
“You’re saying that a catastrophe that happened a century ago is killing us?” said Alex’sis. “That’s impossible.”
“Not according to this,” said Davers as he handed the DAT over to Kevin. He looked at John. “You wouldn’t be telling us this if you didn’t think it was true.”
“What about the Population Bureau?” asked Kevin. “If this was happening, wouldn’t they have announced it? Or at least institute measures to correct it?”
“I doubt it,” said Chris. “They probably think making this public would plunge our society into utter chaos. Better to keep quiet than let this out.”
“That’s insane,” said Kevin.
“That’s politics for you,” countered Chris.
“That doesn’t mean they’re not working behind the scenes on this problem,” said Alex’sis.
“One would hope, sweetie,” said Chris. “But don’t hold your breath.”
“Does the report say how long before humanity becomes extinct?” asked Davers.
“It’s not a concrete number, but the study estimates about four hundred years,” said John.
“And I thought we were having a good day,” said Kevin as he tossed the DAT back on the table.
“I’m sorry,” said John. “I want to keep this from the crew, but thought the senior staff should at least know.”
“Should we include this in our next transmission to Earth?” asked Kevin.
“No,” replied Alex’sis. “Chris is right. If this got out to the public it might create a huge panic.”
“We’ve got to tell someone,” said Kevin. “What happens if we don’t make it back home?”
“Nice attitude,” said Chris, rolling his eyes.
“We’ve got to be realistic,” said Kevin. “This report would be lost if something happened to us.”
“I agree this should go to the government,” said John. “But right now we don’t have the means to communicate with anyone in authority.”
“Billy and David could do it,” offered Kevin. “They could pass along the message to someone in the government.”
“No, I won’t put them in any more danger then they’re probably in now,” said John.
“For all we know they might have already been caught distributing our transmissions,” said Alex’sis. “Transmitting this back to Earth is no guarantee.”
“So we’re just going to sit on this information and do nothing,” said a visibly upset Kevin.
“We don’t have any other option right now,” said John. “But it makes our mission finding the Screen even more important. Now we have another reason why we need to complete our mission and get back home.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
David was in his hidden bunker located on his parents’ estate in Richmond, Virginia. His eyes were glued to the monitors, which were all turned on to ELM News. Two hours ago, there was an explosion at the TERRA facility in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. David, who had taken a week’s leave from his duties as assistant to Admiral Theodore Crendell, hurried to his bunker to start eavesdropping on TERRA military channels. He called his friend Billy and they agreed to meet here at the Block estate.
“The latest report has the death toll at sixty-three, with dozens more injured,” reported the journalist at the scene. “Although no official cause of the explosion has been released, rumors are circulating that it may be the work of terrorists. If so, it would be the first terr
orist act in almost fifty years.”
“My sensors detect the approach of a male individual,” announced David’s red bot.
David switched one of the monitors to the external camera and, sure enough, it was his friend. He opened the entrance and moments later Billy descended from above.
“Glad you made it,” said David. “All of TERRA’s on high alert.”
“I know,” said Billy. “Some of my colleagues were recalled back to work. Luckily, I was cleared to stay on leave for now.” Billy took a seat next to his friend at his makeshift station. “I’m up to date on what the news is saying. What’s the word in TERRA?”
“They’ve already confirmed the identities of the perpetrators,” said David. “Two of them were civilians who were prominent members of the PHOENIX movement. One was actually a TERRA officer, a lieutenant who worked at the Santa Cruz operation.”
The PHOENIX movement grew from the growing support of PHOENIX’s mission to find the Screen. In the past few months the movement grew rapidly, due in part to TERRA’s continued insistence the ship had been destroyed at Mars. More and more people were calling on both TERRA and the government to support PHOENIX’s mission, including calls to send TERRA’s capital ships out of the solar system. TERRA refused and even began publicly criticizing the government for doing nothing to rein in the movement.
“If a TERRA officer was part of the movement, who knows how command is going to react,” said Billy. “If John was here, he’d be so happy seeing what’s going on.”
“Forget that,” said David. “You’re right that TERRA is mad that an officer was responsible for the bombing. I listened to some communication from the command council…”
“How the hell did you crack into the command council’s communiqués?” asked Billy. He was working at the communications center in Madrid and had learned that transmissions to and from the command council was nearly impossible to crack.
“I’ve been eavesdropping for years,” said David. “Plus I kind of copied Admiral Crendell’s encryption protocols.”
“David, you’re got to be careful. We agreed we weren’t going to do anything reckless.”
“It wasn’t that hard and I was careful,” said David. “Look, Crendell won’t know a copy was made.”
“Fine,” said Billy, realizing it was too late to stop his friend anyways. When they first started distributing PHOENIX’s transmissions to the news outlets, David was constantly scared they would get caught. Now he seemed to be enjoying this cloak and dagger stuff. “What did the council say?”
“They’re ordering security to do a comprehensive background check on all officers.”
“That’s nuts,” said Billy. “There’s thousands of officers. It’ll take forever to check everyone.”
“Yeah, but they’re assuming the officers with less years of service may be more apt to join the movement, so they’re starting with the newest officers. Billy, it won’t take long before they get around to investigating us.”
A lump developed in Billy’s throat. A background check scared the hell out of him, but he remained calm, mostly to keep his friend from panicking. “So what? They’re not going to find anything on us. We’ll just have to be even more careful.”
David looked nervous. “I don’t know, Billy.”
“We can’t quit now even if you want. If we stop the distribution of PHOENIX’s transmissions, it may be enough to end the movement. As long as people know PHOENIX is looking for the Screen, the movement will continue putting pressure on the government and TERRA.”
“I wish they hurry up and complete the mission,” said David.
“Maybe we can give them an incentive,” said Billy. “Why couldn’t we try sending them a message, let them know what’s going on back home?”
“I thought you said we shouldn’t be reckless,” said David. “And we wouldn’t even know where to send the transmission.”
“I know it’s a long shot,” said Billy. “But what about directing the transmission towards their last location in their last message. If they’re still roaming around in the same general area they might pick it up.”
“It’s possible,” said David as he thought over the possibility. “We can use the same technique to mask the signal as background radiation to get it out of the solar system undetected. But they wouldn’t expect a message from us. How would they even know to look for it?”
“There’s no guarantee,” said Billy. “I’m willing to try, but I won’t do it unless you’re on board.”
David weighed the options. He spent the last year and a half scared they would be caught and thrown in prison. Sending a message out was a risk, but Billy was right. It was because of them there even was a PHOENIX movement.
“Ok, let’s do it,” agreed Billy.
“Whoa! Hold on!” David heard something on one of TERRA’s security channels. He turned it up.
“Repeat! All security officers in the South American region are to converge on Santa Cruz and institute a curfew immediately.”
“Oh shit!” said David. “They’re instituting martial law.”
President Butu had been monitoring the situation in Bolivia from her office. Ever since the assassination attempt on her life several months ago, she remained in Sydney at the request of Earth Security to minimize the risk of another attempt on her. People were going in and out of her office, reporting any information they had about the explosion in Bolivia.
“Has TERRA verified the explosion was an attack by PHOENIX movement members?” asked Butu.
“Their forensics team have already processed the scene and verified the conclusion,” said Earth Security Commander Greg Merrison. He had a team conducting covert surveillance on TERRA in Bolivia, which wasn’t hard to do as TERRA was preoccupied with keeping people out of the area.
“I understand the frustration of the movement, but I cannot condone any violence that harms civilians or military officers,” said Butu. She had hoped the movement’s pressure on TERRA would convince the command council to admit PHOENIX was operating in space, but not like this.
“Has anyone else been arrested?” asked Charles.
“No,” replied Merrison. “But I suspect there won’t be. They’ve already raided the homes of the three perpetrators and the evidence seems to indicate they were the only ones who planned and executed this attack.”
“I have a hard time believing two civilians and a single officer could infiltrate a military facility,” said Butu.
“Security is tight when it comes to civilians,” said Merrison. “But not so much with officers. I don’t think TERRA ever expected one of their own to turn on them.” His earpiece beeped an incoming message. “Excuse me, Madam President.”
“It goes without saying that you’ll need to address the public,” said Charles.
“A statement by me won’t be enough in this instance,” said Butu. “The public will expect action, and I may need to give in to such a demand.”
“What would you do?” asked Charles.
“I don’t know.”
“Excuse me, Madam President,” said Merrison. “I just got word that TERRA is sending their security officers to institute martial law in Santa Cruz.”
“Who authorized such an action?” asked Butu, shocked by the information.
“It’s a direct order from the command council,” said Merrison. “They’re also planning to investigate and search anyone who was associated with the three dead attackers.”
Such an aggressive response without the authorization of the president was beyond contemptible. Butu had treaded carefully with the command council for months, not wanting to reveal the rift between the government and TERRA. Even when they discovered her would-be assassin was a TERRA officer who had contact with the command council prior to him being covertly placed in the president’s support staff, she refused to confront them. Although they had no proof, it was apparent the council had sent an officer in to kill Butu and disrupt the government. Many of her staff, in
cluding Charles, recommended the council be dismantled and charged with treason, but Butu held her ground. She looked at the big picture. TERRA was so insulated that removing the council risked the entire organization turning on the government. She wanted to wait for the right moment to remove the council from power, but the actions they were taking now was something she couldn’t ignore.
Butu looked to her chief of staff. “Well Charles, it seems TERRA has chosen my response. Send a message to the command council that they’re to cease their attempt of imposing martial law in Santa Cruz. Any TERRA officer who tries to carry out those orders will be arrested by Earth Security. If they resist, Earth Security has orders to open fire.” She looked at Merrison. “Commander, I believe you have your orders.”
Merrison and Charles looked at one another nervously. “Understood, Madam President,” said Merrison. Charles waited for the commander to leave before he spoke up.
“Madam President, if TERRA forces the issue, it could turn into a bloodbath. It could even destroy your presidency.”
“I understand the risk,” said Butu. “But allowing martial law could also destroy my presidency as well. It’s my responsibility to protect the people who elected me. I won’t allow their civil liberties to be taken.”
“I just wanted to clarify the situation,” said Charles. “I didn’t mean to question your actions.”
“You’ve worked in politics for many years,” said Butu. “You’re not used to a politician putting the people’s needs above their own.”
“Yes, Madam President,” said Charles, who couldn’t help but smile at her humor. “But if I may be so bold, you’re not like other politicians. That’s why I crossed party lines and agreed to work for you.”
On Luna, Admiral Vespia left the command council meeting shortly after they convened. She used the excuse of consulting with her officers to mobilize their teams on Earth to skip out on the meeting. She wasn’t surprise when the council then contacted her with the order to impose martial law in Bolivia. For her, it worked out perfectly. Since she wasn’t in the council chambers, she never officially voted to impose martial law. When the order was sent to her, she had the message automatically rerouted to her officers on Earth. Therefore, if the situation turned badly for TERRA, it would appear that the command council bypassed her and sent the order directly to her subordinates. It would appear that she was the only command council member who was never involved in the decision.
Phoenix In Chaos (Exodus) Page 22