Exodus Of The Phoenix

by Robert Stadnik

  “No, no, Ms. Olson. No apology is necessary," replied Johnson.

  "Hey Julie, I bet if you ask nicely the admiral will bend over and let you kiss his ass." Julie took a step towards John, ready to smash his face in with her fist. She wasn't about to let him throw insults at her in front of the admiral.

  "This is exactly why I’ve chosen you," said the admiral. "If nothing else you are honest with one another.” He looked to John. “I know about your assignment to the reserves, cadet, and I do not agree with the commission’s choice.”

  John felt better hearing that not everyone in TERRA agreed what was done to him. But he was still unsure of the admiral's motives for his visit.

  “Admiral, I appreciate that you don’t agree with my placement. If you don't think I should be in the reserves couldn’t you just overrule the board and put me in the fleet? I don’t expect to work in the fleet before graduating if that’s what you're here for. I only expect a career after all my work at the Academy.” It was Julie’s turn to roll her eyes.

  “What I’m offering is better than any entry-level position in the fleet,” said Johnson. “Quite simply, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Both cadets were now intrigued. The admiral had captured their interest.

  “Admiral, what is the assignment?” asked Julie.

  “I’m afraid I cannot discuss it here. In order for you to fully grasp what I have to offer I must show you. My shuttle is right outside and ready to take us. All I need is a yes from both of you.”

  Julie needed no time to think and immediately agreed. Despite the admiral's words to him John couldn’t help but be suspicious about his intentions. It was in John's nature to question people’s motives and this was no exception. But then again Admiral Johnson would not have shown up unless he sincerely wanted them. John had read the biographies of all command council members and high ranking military officers. From everything he read and heard the admiral was a man of honor.

  “Sure, why not,” said John. “But can I least clean up first? I look like hell.” Julie could only clasp her hand on her head in embarrassment.

  A few minutes later the shuttle rose up over the buildings of Dorm Row and took off. It sped effortlessly across the landscape, neither land nor ocean inhibiting its progress. On board the cadets sat side by side one another in the back. They didn't speak to each other throughout the trip as both were preoccupied figuring out their destination. Before they left New York the admiral had provided them a gift, TERRA uniforms, which reinforced the notion that they were being given positions in the fleet. The black and gold trimmed uniforms were missing command bars, as it was the only way to differentiate a cadet on assignment from a TERRA officer. It was a rare privilege to be able to wear a TERRA uniform. It let people know that the person had persevered through rigorous mental and physical training and was now a part of an elite institution. Admiral Johnson had John and Julie change into them before leaving and they were only too eager to fulfill his request. Both felt a renewed sense of accomplishment as they settled in on the shuttle for the ride to wherever it was they were heading.

  John, who was initially skeptical of the Admiral, was beginning to relax and let his guard down. He fantasized about stopping over at Mortino’s house so he could show off the uniform he was now wearing. John relished the thought of driving Mortino into a tirade seeing John look like an officer. It would make up for the hell Mortino put him through yesterday.

  Julie was enjoying this unexpected good fortune. She knew TERRA wouldn't let her sacrifices go unrewarded and what a reward they gave her. Admiral Johnson personally chose her for an assignment and elected to deliver the news firsthand. It didn't matter to her what the job actually entailed. Just to be selected by the head of operations was an honor. Julie would gladly do whatever it was the admiral asked of her.

  Admiral Johnson was seated across from the cadets. Twice he went up to speak with the shuttle pilot. The cadets could overhear them talking, but neither could discern what was said. Neither John nor Julie could bring themselves to ask the admiral about their destination. They were both a bit star struck. Oliver Johnson was a famous figure not only in TERRA but in the public eye. Everyone knew of him and how proud he was to represent TERRA. The admiral knew the cadets’ silence was because of his reputation and was the reason the shuttle trip lacked any conversation so far.

  “I would have thought the two of you would be more talkative,” quipped the Admiral. "Do not let my presence prevent you from speaking your mind."

  “Uh, sorry sir,” stammered Julie. “It’s just that we’re…, well at least I’m still surprised by your offer.”

  “And you Mr. Roberts?” asked Johnson.

  “Honestly sir, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop,” admitted John. “Superintendent Mortino was quite blunt why I was going to the reserves and I didn't take the news quietly. I assumed he wasted no time in telling the whole command about my blow up."

  "You are correct Mr. Roberts,” said the admiral. “The superintendent notified several executive officers of your behavior yesterday. I expected such a reaction based upon your academic file. The superintendent holds little regard for you."

  "So you did read the right file." John was beginning to think the admiral had mixed him up for somebody else. "Not to brag or anything, but I am considered a black sheep at the Academy.”

  The admiral laughed at John’s amusing remarks. Julie frowned a bit. She was jealous that John seemed to have garnered the admiral’s favor by acting as himself. She was following all the proper protocols as expected of a TERRA officer. She was polite and respectful to the admiral and made sure not to utter any offensive or controversial remarks. But John’s in-your-face attitude seemed to be having a positive effect on Admiral Johnson and it bothered her.

  “Yes cadet,” said the admiral, regaining his composure. “I did indeed read the correct file. Let me see if I can remember...ah yes! Has little regard for complying with authority figures. He immediately questions any order given to him. He has the unique ability to create discord in any unit or project he is a participant. I believe I've stated the basics of your evaluations.”

  “Yeah, that'd be about right,” said John as he folded his arms. He felt almost proud hearing those words.

  "How would you know?" asked Julie. "Cadets aren't permitted to view their records."

  "Oh please," said John. "I gained access to my file long ago. Everyone knows the Academy's records aren't that hard to break into."

  "I can't believe you just admitted in front of the admiral to breaking into confidential Academy files," said Julie. "That's grounds for immediate expulsion."

  "Well if it makes you feel better I took a look at your file too. You are such a suck up." Julie just glared at John.

  Julie looked at the admiral. "You see how he is. He's bragging about breaking the rules. Surely this is not the person you had in mind for what you’re offering us."

  "Such behavior would be considered unfit for any position in TERRA," said the admiral. Julie was glad that he recognized John's attitude as unacceptable.

  “So again I ask why I am here?” asked John. “All you have is a file saying I’d make a terrible officer and, as you just witnessed, I have a big mouth.”

  "Let me ask you this," said the admiral in a serious tone, a change from his light-hearted demeanor. "Why did you enter the Academy?"

  "Huh?" The question caught John off-guard. He didn't know how to respond.

  "You spent years preparing for the entrance exams, gave up your youth in order to have a chance to become a TERRA officer. To those who have watched you it seems that you have little respect for TERRA, so why work so hard to be a part of it?"

  It was a question Julie always wanted answer. John seemed to mock and belittle TERRA at every turn and she couldn't understand why he even bothered applying to the Academy.

  "Simple," said John. "I want to live in space."

  "You could do that with a private company," said Julie.r />
  "It's not the same thing," replied John. "I don't want to haul freight, captain a pleasure craft that goes to the same place over and over again, or work for a mining company. I want to live on a capital ship and explore what's out there in space."

  "There's not much left to explore within the inner solar system," reminded the admiral.

  "Maybe, just maybe in my lifetime TERRA ships would be traveling to other star systems. If that happens I want to be on one of those ships. As much as I don't care for TERRA it's the only means of having a life in space."

  Julie found that notion idealistic. The Screen had prevented human ships from leaving the solar system for decades. Every time a ship tried to pass the boundaries beyond Mars' orbit around the sun, a Screen ship would appear and destroy the vessel. No one knew why this alien race wanted to keep humanity contained. Hell, no one even knew much about the Screen themselves. But as long as humans stayed within the inner solar system the Screen left them alone.

  Before the admiral could respond to John, the pilot interrupted them.

  “Admiral, we’re at the perimeter,” he said.

  “Excuse me,” said the admiral as he got up and relocated to the co-pilot chair. John and Julie could hear the shuttle being contacted through its communication system.

  “Exodus Station to shuttle Aries One,” came a female voice over the shuttle speakers. “Please identify yourself and provide clearance code.”

  “This is Admiral Johnson on board Aries One. Clearance code Alpha-Zeta-9-0-Theta.”

  “Confirmed Aries One. Welcome back to EXODUS. You are clear for approach to the hangar deck.”

  John whispered over to Julie. “What’s EXODUS?” He figured it was something mentioned in one of the Academy textbooks John never read.

  Julie shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea.”

  The admiral turned from his seat to the cadets. “Cadets, would you join me up here?”

  The two approached the front of the shuttle. As they stood behind the admiral and shuttle pilot they got a clear view out the front window. What they saw took their breaths away.

  The scene before them was of a massive ship hovering just above the ground outside. Describing the ship as massive seemed inadequate. The ship was enormous and easily eclipsed any one of TERRA's capital ships. The vessel seemed to encapsulate the entire valley it was towering over. Its sheer mass captivated John and Julie as it appeared to stretch to the horizon and beyond.

  The vessel was unlike anything either had ever seen anywhere or studied at the Academy. It didn't conform to any ship specifications on the books. TERRA ships were square and rectangular. This ship seemed almost organic in nature. Curves, domes, and half circles seem to permeate from the hull as if the ship were alive. The admiral smiled knowing he had given the cadets the biggest surprise of their lives. This was a vessel few people knew existed.

  “Julie Olson. John Roberts. I’d like to welcome you to the EXODUS Project.”

  “EXODUS,” muttered John as his eyes remained transfixed on the ship.

  “Yes,” answered the admiral. “What you’re looking at is the result of twenty years of hard work.”

  “That’s a human ship?” asked Julie. One could easily mistake it as an alien design, it looked that unconventional.

  “I can assure you this ship is one hundred percent human, built from the ground up here by a dedicated team,” replied the admiral. John wasn't aware that TERRA would have any operation in such a remote area. Then again, he was only a cadet and wasn't privy to active military operations.

  “It completely departs from traditional ship design,” said Julie.

  “Yeah,” agreed John. “Human ships seem so…” He fumbled, trying to find the right word.

  “Mechanical,” said the admiral.

  “Exactly.” He continued to gaze at the ship as the shuttle flew closer, unable to take his eyes from such a fantastic sight. “The ship almost looks like it could be a living creature.”

  Details of the ship became to emerge as they approached it. The vessel was a median brown color unlike the silver metallic color of most TERRA ships. The cadets could see small windows and port holes dotting various points all along the hull. John tried to focus his eyes to see if he could spot people walking past the windows, but no matter how much he strained his eyes he couldn't catch a glimpse of anyone.

  “How many people can this ship hold?” asked John.

  “Fifty thousand comfortably,” answered the admiral. “Currently, there’s a little over 5,000 people on board.” The number seemed incomprehensible to the cadets. The ship was big, but so large that it could hold such a complement? The largest TERRA capital ship was the SYRIA which staffed about eight hundred people and in a squeeze could get over three thousand on board. Given the enormity of EXODUS John wasn’t surprised it took over twenty years to build.

  A blip on the shuttle console caught the attention of the cadets. “We’re passing through the anti-gravity field,” reported the pilot. “I'm switching to thrusters only and activating internal gravity.” John and Julie both felt the change to artificial gravity as the shuttle passed through the anti-gravity field that surrounded EXODUS. It made sense to John that such a field surrounded the ship. Its sheer mass would cause it to collapse in upon itself in Earth's gravity well, unless of course it was composed of some top secret high resistant alloy. John had kept up on all the technology relating to starship design and felt he would know if such a thing were possible.

  “Admiral, why is there an antigravity field here?” asked Julie, who was thinking along the same lines as John but wanted to verify if her assumption was correct.

  “As you see EXODUS is a massive ship and is far too large to operate in a gravity environment.” So much for the new alloy theory, John thought. “We have four towers located at each corner of the ship generating the field. Without them EXODUS would implode under its own weight.”

  “So it’s a space faring vessel,” postulated John.

  “Correct,” replied the admiral. "The ship is a multipurpose design specifically meant to operate in space. For planetary missions the ship has numerous small support craft available."

  “Admiral, just from the number of people it can hold I assume the ship is designed to be completely self-sustaining,” said Julie. “The Luna and Mars orbiting stations wouldn’t have the resources to resupply such a large vessel.”

  “That was one of the primary goals of the EXODUS Project,” said the admiral. “The ship can operate without the need of station replenishment. It is fully autonomous and can operate for years in space without any external support.”

  That statement caught John's attention. Why would TERRA feel the need to build such a vessel? As Julie pointed out earlier ships were restricted to the inner solar system and weren't even permitted to have hyper-drives. Building a ship for interstellar travel would be meaningless, not to mention illegal.

  "EXODUS is equipped with all necessary tools to conduct mining and exploration missions," the admiral continued to explain as John's mind wandered over the possibilities this ship represented.

  “Admiral, why have you brought us here?" Unlike John, Julie hadn't caught onto the Admiral's last statement about the ship being a space explorer. "Are we to work aboard EXODUS?” It seemed stupid to ask the question. The admiral wouldn’t have brought them here unless he intended for them to work on the ship. But Julie wanted to ensure there wasn't some small chance they weren’t simply passing through on the way to some other destination.

  “All in good time. First I want to give you a brief tour of the ship before explaining what your roles will be.”

  Julie only nodded. She rejoined John in looking out the front window as the shuttle passed alongside EXODUS. John noticed the rear of the ship seemed to expand a bit and assume a more rectangular stance. He couldn’t make it out from this distance, but he swore that the wavy configuration of the ship’s hull stopped at the rear. John began to speculate what the area ho
used. As he did the shuttle began to ascend quickly. As it climbed above the ship the shuttle made a ninety degree turn allowing the cadets to see a large half dome sitting atop EXODUS. A large opening presented itself on one side of the dome facing the rear of the vessel. The cadets could see other shuttlecraft and auxiliary service ships entering and exiting the opening of the dome at regular intervals. John concluded correctly that it was the hangar bay.

  “This is Aries One requesting clearance to the hangar deck,” said the pilot.

  “This is EXODUS hangar control,” replied a woman over the speakers. “You are clear for entry.”

  “This is Admiral Oliver Johnson. Inform the crew I’ll be conducting a tour with some guests.”

  “Understood, Admiral.” Julie and John looked at one another with looks of anticipation. They each knew the admiral was referring to them as his guests. They were going to get the opportunity to look at the inside of EXODUS.

  The shuttle slowly cruised into the hangar deck area. The cadets looked to each side to see a variety of small ships lined in rows on either side of the hangar deck along the walls. John could make out at least five different vessel types, from reconnaissance Scouts to attack Interceptors.

  The shuttle landed not too far from the hangar doors. The rear hatch opened as the pilot powered down the shuttle systems. The admiral got up from his chair and turned to see that, although Julie was still standing where she was, John had already exited the shuttle to explore the hangar deck.

  “I’m sorry,” Julie started to apologize. “He just bolted…”

  The admiral held up his hand to interrupt her. “There’s nothing here that you and Cadet Roberts are not supposed to see. He will undoubtedly ask many questions and I expect you will not refrain from asking questions either.”

  Julie nodded and moved to let the admiral past her, preferring to follow him out. Both stepped out onto the expansive hangar deck and Julie looked around to get her bearings. The deck area was enormous. It was almost the size of three football fields. TERRA capital ships had hangar decks only one fifth the size.