The Phoenix Rising

by Gary Caplan

  “It’s challenging; however, I was close to promotion, and the admiralty decided I would be a good coordinating officer for Commodore Sheppard,” replied Sherman. “Such actions during war games or during limited command situations are not unheard of. With those andro-synths attempting to assassinate anyone with two or more star clusters, I thought I would take the rank in name but not officially until I’m more comfortable with the situation.”

  Wilder said, “I hope you can join me in the officers’ galley later. Perhaps we can finally get better acquainted, since we’re going to be working together.”

  “I don’t see a problem. I’m sure Commodore Sheppard will have us get up to speed with each other’s command styles soon enough,” replied Sherman.

  Fleet Captain Wilder’s first officer on the Phoenix, Commander Nathaniel York, passed the command station and transferred a status report via his interlink and then went back to his starflight control station. In the meantime, Fleet Captain Sherman returned to his duties until such time as Commodore Sheppard should want him to implement any orders.

  C HAP TE R 18

  GATHERING HYDROGENAND ARRANGING TASKS

  Two weeks later after rendezvousing with starships from other task forces within the Sixth Fleet, Fleet Captain Wilder looked up from an infopad containing Task Force One’s mission reports. As a fleet captain, Wilder was responsible for coordinating the actions of his task force of twelve ships. Reading other ship captain’s reports and occasionally communicating directly with starship captains was also his responsibility. Out in deep space, there was no time to wait for orders from Star One, so the fleet captains and commodores essentially ran deep-space task force and fleet operations. At times, vice or fleet admirals would supervise the command of operations from a starbase, mobile warbase, or dreadnaught.

  Wilder was waiting for time to finish some reports, and as the Phoenix and several other ships in the task force were low on hydrogen, he decided a stop to refuel in deep space was necessary. A few starships had not been fully charged with hydrogen when they joined Task Force One and would need hydrogen fuel supplementation for their fusion reactors and matter synthesizers. His task force had recently exited

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  from translight hyperspace and was heading into a system with some gas giant type planets similar to Jupiter in Earth’s solar system. Sitting at his station on the bridge, Commander York observed the course corrections being initiated by Lieutenant Commander Darani the non-aligned alien helm and navigations officer that acting Fleet Admiral Sheppard had brought on board before they left Star One. York shifted to inform Fleet Captain Wilder.

  “Sir, we are on course toward the gas giant in this system,” stated York.

  Wilder looked up from his reports and toward the view screen for a few moments. Wilder knew York could handle the bridge, and he needed some time to review reports and complete his own reports. He instructed York to take direct command of the hydrogen extraction operation.

  “Aye, sir,” Commander York nodded as Wilder left the conn. York sat in the captain's command station, a position he had taken several times to command the ship for Wilder as he finished other task force operations. He began organizing the procedure in his mind; he realized a third of the fusion generators had not been fully fueled, as the Phoenix had been ordered to leave the dry dock ahead of the final fueling schedule. It was not unusual to obtain hydrogen and sometimes helium in space. In addition, the Nova Cannon weapon also needed additional particle fuel in order to be able to fire several times.

  Lieutenant Commander Lee Sterling moved toward York’s vacated station to assist the operation. He looked over at Lieutenant Commander Lyra Darani who was a Quarlusian; one of the so called ‘shape shifters’. She presently appeared to be a Kyz and the captain had stationed her at the helm. He was not completely aware of her background but had heard she was an excellent helm officer.

  As he passed Darani, he noticed that she had already coordinated with the navigator to plot a safe approach. Part of the bridge’s long view screen showed a representation of actual space. Another part of the screen was set to a tactical view that showed task force information, including ships’ course vectors and velocities. There were also detailed representations of the planets in this system, along with statistical measures for each planet or moon.

  Mister Sterling told York, “Sir, I think we can execute the course toward the larger gas giant in this system that is mostly composed of hydrogen.”

  “Good, Lee. Assist the helm as necessary with any course modifications,” stated York. Several additional ship reports came to York’s attention, as he now held the ship captains station. From behind him and to his left, Lieutenant Commander Ares moved from conferring with the sensor station officer to the security station.

  “Sir,” Ares said, “the sensors detect no Varlon in this system, and no other obvious hostiles.”

  “That’s good news, Commander Ares. As we’re approaching a gas giant with a high magnetic field, I would like you to coordinate defensive shields and dampers with the helm,” York said.

  “Yes, sir, as this may be a turbulent gas giant, I will increase the radiation shields and verify the inertial dampers are modifying the gravity changes in each section of the Phoenix,” replied Ares.

  On the initial approach, she had already modified the radiation shields beyond the automatic increase initiated by the ship’s virtually sentient computer. After reading the sensor reports, she realized that this was a somewhat unstable hydrogen source, although according to sensors, it was an excellent hydrogen replacement fuel planet. Unfortunately, they did not have time to wait to get to other, safer fuel sources.

  “Commander York, I am finding some subtle but significant gravity changes on our active sensors,” interjected Commander Andor. “I am still attempting to coordinate sensor readings with other ships approaching from different vectors.” Andor paused as he examined the sensor readings and the active scans data from the other ships. “This might require more accurate course correction, so the high gravity and possible electric or magnetic fields of the gas giant do not interfere with any of our more susceptible internal systems.”

  York looked quizzically at the sentient android who was the Phoenix’s senior science officer. “What can we do to minimize those effects?” he asked.

  Andor appeared to be about to make a suggestion when Lieutenant Commander Darani made one first.

  “Sir, I could take one of the T-100’s with a science and sensor pod out further in front of the Phoenix and relay immediate gravity changes to the helm, as well as report any atmospheric turbulence as we go deeper in,” stated Darani.

  Commander Andor looked at Commander York, nodding. “I agree. That would be a good solution and would increase the level of safety,” he said.

  “That’s acceptable; go ahead. I suppose you want some time in the T-100,” York said, smiling at Lyra Darani.

  Darani smiled back and nodded to Commanders York and Andor as she left the bridge.

  York knew she was an excellent starfighter pilot and helm officer, from what he had observed personally over the past few weeks and from other officer’s reports.

  After she left, Lieutenant Commander Ares communicated with Commander York through a secure commlink-channel. “It’s well and good sir, that Commodore Sheppard and Vice Admiral Garfield vouched for her, as she is one of the same species that the Varlon are using to sabotage our Alliance of Worlds ships and bases.”

  York looked over at the Phoenix’s chief of security.

  Ares went on. “But I still want to be sure myself; it will be my head if something happens that I could have prevented.”

  “Ares, ease up a little,” York told her through his imbedded interlink. “Lieutenant Commander Darani checked out. I’m sure you read the station security reports, and I’ve gotten no orders from above to limit her activities. However, you can keep a subtle eye on her if you like.”

  Ares nodded affirmatively to York
and looked at her monitors to review security updates.

  Lieutenant Pelori, one of the helm operations officers, had replaced Lieutenant Commander Darani at the helm. Pelori was an Azuran with powder blue skin and short white hair. She had two small, antennaelike sense receptors coming from the crown of her head. The small antennae were rotating partially probably reacting to her imbedded interlink. Pelori looked around the bridge and noticed Lieutenant Commander Ares looking at the helm station she just had occupied.

  As the Phoenix approached the gas giant, Lieutenant Commander Sterling and the navigator observed a few significant sensor anomalies.

  “Commander York, we are detecting some anomalous readings,” stated Sterling. “It’s probably good that someone is heading out to directly monitor the situation in the outer clouds of this gas giant.”

  The Phoenix and a few other ships in Task Force One that needed hydrogen were taking the necessary time to vector along a low orbital approach of the gas giant. It was a typical size for a gas giant planet— about the size of Jupiter or Saturn.

  The computer continued to monitor and alter the inertial dampers along sections of the Phoenix as the 1,600-meter ship approached the outer hydrogen clouds and continued to move further into the planet’s magnetic fields. The T100, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Darani and a small science crew, began to probe and monitor the atmosphere for turbulence and the gravity fields for subtle changes.

  Looking toward Lee Sterling, the Phoenix’s second officer, York, stated, “This planet reminds me of Jupiter or Saturn in our home solar system. It’s not one of the more easily accessed gas giant planets.”

  Sterling nodded affirmatively. Although many of the Phoenix’s crew members were non-humans, both Fleet Captain Wilder and Commodore Sheppard had selected a somewhat larger percentage of humans for the Phoenix’s bridge crew. However, the other ships of the Sixth Fleet had a large majority of non-human officers, representing essentially all members of the Alliance of Worlds.

  From a low orbit the Phoenix had continued along an atmospheric approaching course and was now almost in optimal position for hydrogen extraction. Commander Andor looked up from analyzing the sensor readings.

  “Lieutenant Commander Darani is relaying navigational telemetry from her T100, and there are a few subtle gravity changes as well as some atmospheric turbulence in the cloud layer just below us,” Andor said. “It seems she is now reporting some turbulence further along this course.”

  The bridge’s view screen showed the T100 as it was traveling in actual space. Part of the screen was set to a tactical view with ships vectors and representations of planetary layers, along with actively changing numbers for distances and other measured metrics.

  “It certainly was a good idea to directly monitor this gas giant’s clouds for gravitic changes and atmospheric turbulence,” stated Commander York. York knew that if necessary, the Phoenix was capable of going deeper into the gas giant’s atmosphere; however, not all the other ships that needed extra fuel were capable of this. “I see that Lieutenant Pelori is implementing the navigation telemetry coming from Lieutenant Commander Darani to modify our course.”

  He looked over at one of the communications officers. “Lieutenant,” he told the young man, “please arrange to relay our sensor readings to the other ships, and if they have not implemented a probe or a forward sensor ship, ask the captains to consider the option.”

  There was one small unsettling sensation as the Phoenix descended toward the planet: it felt to the crew as if they were getting heavier, and a few crew members in the outermost hull sections reported mild stress sounds from the internal hull supports.

  After a period of time, the chief engineer, Commander Matthew O’Brien opened the duty log and saw that his friend Commander York had the conn. Using both his interlink to transfer some report data as well as the visual internal comms system O’Brien contacted the captain’s station on the bridge. “Nathaniel, we’re almost finished,” stated O’Brien. “The transfer process of the hydrogen using the particle extraction scoop system went off without a hitch. The matter separation system worked with precision in separating hydrogen from helium.”

  “And our storage tanks?” asked York as he looked at data from his console and glanced at O’Brien’s image in the consoles viewer.

  “Our storage tanks are recharged, and, if necessary, the additional fusion generators can soon all go on line,” replied O’Brien. “We will also be able to produce some helium 3 and, in combination with stored planetary mineral sources, use it in some of the high-energy fusion generators.”

  “Excellent work, Matthew. Has the Nova weapon system been checked?”

  “At this point, we are still transferring hydrogen and some helium collected from the gas giant to the Nova system,” replied O’Brien. “But as you know, the auxiliary fusion generators can be used to power or augment the energy of the Nova weapon.”

  “Yes, I recall. I will order the Phoenix to leave the upper atmosphere in another few minutes. That should allow you time to finish securing the particle extraction scoops,” York said.

  “We’re just starting that process now,” O’Brien said. “I will send that interlink data to the science section along with the elemental processing report, and the results of altering the hydrogen and helium to more effective energy-generating states. Oh, and I need to talk with you later at chow, Nathaniel, about some crew rotations.”

  York nodded as his friend’s image faded from the small private viewing unit at the captain’s station. He reviewed a report indicating that the other ships of Task Force One would also soon be ready to leave the system. He also noted they each had implemented his suggestion to launch a forward sensor probe, or a T100-type starfighter, to directly relay advance gravity and atmospheric data. At that point, Captain Wilder came back.

  “Any problems, Commander York?” asked Wilder.

  “No, sir. There is good teamwork here, and the hydrogen extraction and separation processes went smoothly,” replied York.

  Wilder nodded as York stood so he could take the station.

  “I look forward to viewing your report,” replied Wilder with only mild enthusiasm as he sat down. Wilder had recently finished contacting some ship captains of the Sixth Fleet’s Task Force One, and had completed the necessary procedures to determine the next several days of ship patrols and scouting routes.

  ********* Acting Fleet Admiral Sheppard had arranged a meeting of several senior staff, including Fleet Captain Sherman, in the fleet command briefing room, which was adjacent to the command alcove and the aft area of the bridge. The briefing room’s main entrance was another door that connected to a hallway leading to one of the other bridge entrances. As Sheppard walked in, he saw Commodore Helmslar, an Azurian, one of the more battle-seasoned of the senior officers in the Sixth Fleet. Commodore Prescott, a humanoid member of the Antares colony, was seated in the room. Attending the meeting via imager conferencing system were Commodore Xfelma of the Erandi home world; Commodore Nistra, a feline Myranarr officer; and Commodore Eljar, who was originally from one of the Zal planetary ring stations. Fleet Captain Wilder had also been called to this gathering, as he was the commanding officer of Task Force One.

  “Now that all involved officers are here, I can begin,” stated Commodore Sheppard. “I believe that the task forces of the Sixth Fleet are finally in a position to each begin covering various sub-sectors of the Quellus and Mercan sectors. I wanted us to have at least one senior officer update. My command style is that I usually prefer face-to-face communication for giving orders in case there is a problem. I could just transmit general orders and let you decide how to carry them out. For most of our minor or routine missions, that will more likely be the case.

  “The Sixth Fleet has an additional special mission. As directed by our grand admirals, in addition to supporting our colonies if the Varlon Star Empire should attack in the Quellus or Mercan sector, the Sixth Fleet’s additional mission is to look for A
ccadian and any other allies of the Varlon. These sectors have to be searched and any enemy presence repelled or contained. Likely several months from now, once the operation under the command of Admiral Peregrine is planned and ready, several task forces of the Sixth Fleet will rendezvous with the other fleets in Rhendal sector to push back the Varlon.”

  Sheppard went on. “I know that Fleet Captain Sherman has been involved in coordinating task force movements and search patterns and working with the task force commanding officers. Unfortunately, we have a situation where both the fleet commanding officer and the fleet coordinating officer are at acting or brevet rank,” he said. It will take some time to remedy this situation with support officers from member worlds or affiliated allies allowed by treaty stipulation to have a planetary defense navy. We have few options presently. The Karratins have their own defense force, and through our officer loan program we have an admiral-level officer as an advisor, or if necessary in my absence someone who could command the Sixth Fleet.”

  Elsewhere on the ship, Garfield of Karro got the sensation that Robert Sheppard was about to talk about him in the conference room. He sent forth his other senses and began to hear the thoughts of the individuals in the meeting. He could also sense the life forces and physical conditions in the briefing room. Garfield sensed Sheppard had wanted him at the meeting, but he was slightly delayed by Hegemony business. To get there more quickly, he would use an ability developed by some Star Knights long ago. As he concentrated, he began to pass rapidly through the Phoenix. This movement, if observed by a sophisticated sensor array, would appear as if someone was manipulating probability and actually tunneling to a new destination. The procedure was even more complicated as the ship was moving. He moved into the hall just outside the commodore’s door. The security device responded to his commlink pass code, and Garfield entered through the open door.

  Sheppard continued, mentioning Garfield in his comments, and most of the people in the room looked toward the door as it opened. In stepped Admiral Garfield confidently, just as Sheppard mentioned him.