Phoenix Odyssey Book 1 (Battle Beyond Earth)

by Thomas, Nick S.

  He kicked the pistol back across the floor to CJ’s feet. CJ smiled, appreciating the Captain’s backbone.

  “You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that. You surprise me, Captain, and that is the kind of surprise I like. Operationally, I am in charge of whatever mission we take on, and I will choose what and when we do those. I owe allegiance to no man, nor nation, but I will fight for Jafar. He is my rightful leader, even if I do not agree with the decision. Beyond that, the ship is yours.”

  “And you would have me, even after I have outlined my disdain for you and your actions?”

  “I don’t need a Captain who likes me. I need one who is good at his job. Can you be that man?”

  “That is what I signed up to be.”

  “And the rest of you? Will you work with me?”

  They all looked to their Captain for approval, and he simply nodded. CJ hit the door releases, and all the cells opened.

  “Then welcome back. We have work to do.”

  They stepped out of their cells with relief, but still watched CJ with caution. Marks strode right up to him. He had more confidence and stood with more authority than he ever had before. It was as if the experience had hardened him in some way.

  “General Lysenko had faith in you. The Alliance needs you, and this crew will be putting their lives in your hands. Please do not let us down. I can forgive you for making a mistake. A life behind bars is no life for any man, and I am beginning to understand how it could have led a man to do what you did. But I still don’t like it. You have a chance to be a hero, or a tragic disaster. I hope you value your own life enough that you will see the value of ours.”

  CJ nodded in agreement as he passed on by. The brig cleared out quickly as those held in it were only too happy to get out of there as quickly as their feet would carry them. That left just the three of them in the room, and King gestured towards Boron to leave them.

  “Why did you do that? Risk your own life? He could have picked that gun up and put a bullet in your head, and he’d be within reason to do it after the way you treated them.”

  CJ took in a deep breath as he thought about it and then turned to face her.

  “I didn’t ask for this second life, and I didn’t want it. I came out swinging against an old enemy, and it turns out I was wrong. Things aren’t like they used to be. I have been given a second chance, and I am giving this crew the same.”

  She looked a little relieved to hear him say it, but she still wasn’t sure how much she believed. But he went on before she could think of a response.

  “Soon enough, a few hours or a few days, and this crew and this ship are going to go back into combat. We need to trust in one another, as much as we can. The Alliance created this unit to do the shit jobs, the suicidal missions nobody else would dare do. I understand how a group of criminals could be persuaded to risk it all for the chance of freedom, but the crew is another matter. We are trusting in them to risk all that we do.”

  “You don’t think they are up to the job?”

  “Not yet, but they may be if we can live long enough. Despite everything we have faced, and all the odds stacked against us, we have gotten this far. We are unified for the first time since all this began, but we have a long way to go before they see themselves as family, like the rest of us do. I’d say that goes for you, too, but you seem to have made your peace with these rejects,” he said, gesturing towards the door and Boron who was standing outside.

  “You know you really are an enigma,” she said.

  “How so?”

  “On the one hand you are the most savage and ruthless Human being I have ever known, and on the other a smart and considerate one.”

  “I do care for my own. Until this past day, you and the crew were not among them.”

  “And you think things are that black and white?”

  “They can be, if you let them be.”

  “I just don’t think that’s the way life is.”

  “And that is your weakness. You think about everything. You worry about everything, far too much. Make a plan. Go forward with it. That is the path to success.”

  “And when that plan falls apart?”

  “Then you fight like hell to survive.”

  She shook her head in amazement.

  “You aren’t the man I ever thought you would be.”

  Without another word he strode across the room, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her passionately. For a moment she responded, letting her emotions get the better of her, but finally she pushed him away.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Life is too short not to, don’t you think?”

  She didn’t even have a response to that. He stepped up closer to her and kissed her again briefly, before stepping around and out the door. She opened her eyes and couldn’t believe what had just happened. She huffed as though she was annoyed and surprised all at the time, and didn’t know how to feel. CJ strode down the corridor with a broad smile on his face. He looked up and down the halls of the vessel and just smiled even wider.

  Now it’s starting to feel like home!

  Chapter 22

  A day had passed, and CJ and King waited at the docking bay for Jafar’s shuttle. She wouldn’t even look at him as though she was fearful of what he might say.

  “Silence is a powerful tool, isn’t it?” he finally asked.

  She couldn’t help but smile. “So is a punch in the throat.”

  “No doubt about that.”

  The shuttle put down, and Jafar stepped out to greet them. He looked surprisingly happy, and yet they didn’t know why.

  “What is it, you found some clever new way for us to commit suicide in the name of the Alliance?” CJ asked.

  “Come with me.”

  They went on to an operations room that CJ hadn’t even seen yet. He’d never had the time or luxury of spending any time there. Jafar pressed a few keys on his Mappad, and a projection of a space station appeared above the table. It looks like two stars crossing at the centre, and from the size of the ships docked with it, ten times the size of what they had encountered the day before.

  “What is it?” asked King.

  “What we have been looking for. Ganbaatar has been working to breed these cyborg soldiers.”

  “Gueros.”

  “What?”

  “That is what Ganbaatar called them.”

  “You actually spoke to him?” Jafar was surprised at that revelation.

  “More times than I would have liked. He was my interrogator, when he didn’t have one of those things giving the beatings for him.”

  “Do you want a chance to get some payback?”

  “I’d love to, but you faced him, and even at your strongest you didn’t have a chance.”

  “I agree. Even a few centuries ago when I was at my very best I could not have defeated an enemy as powerful as Ganbaatar. There is a reason my ancestors were so terrified of Bolormaa and her Princes.”

  “Has anyone ever killed one? I mean actually confirmed a kill?”

  Jafar shrugged at her question.

  “We thought Taylor had. And the history of my ancestors is so old that it has long been forgotten. Until recently, we thought Bolormaa was just a myth, a terrible story that was told throughout our Empire. Nobody ever believed she was actually real, and yet the reality has been far worse than the nightmarish stories that my people told.”

  “What happened to the Krys fighting spirit? The Krys I knew welcoming a fight. They lived for it.”

  “Yes, but that is not my people any longer. We are good fighters still, but not what we were. The Krys Empire made great leaps forward after ceasing hostilities with the Humans. Our two peoples have gone forward together, in peace.”

  “Yeah, and how’s that working for you?”

  “Let’s stick with going forward and working with what we do have, and not what we don’t, ey?”

  CJ sighed but begrudgingly agreed with King, and turned his attention to
the station projected before them. It was a vast structure, and he could only just begin to imagine how well defended it would be.

  “Answer me this honestly. If this is such an important target, and the Alliance is such a vast enterprise, why do you need us for this?”

  “Our resources as spread thin. The media tries to tell it otherwise. It is true we have had some successes, and that Mitch Taylor has made a world of difference, but no one should be under any illusions as to how this war is going. We have gone from certain defeat to the faintest hint of survival.”

  “I didn’t realise things had gotten this bad,” replied King.

  “The people cannot know. They need to know they are fighting for some prospect of victory. If they knew how bad things are, the Alliance would fold in a few short weeks. Colonies would retreat within themselves and become easy pickings for Bolormaa. This mission is of vital importance, but it cannot be known to anyone who is not involved. Not now, and not afterwards.”

  “You are scared that if the people of the Alliance know about this new threat it will break their spirit?”

  “Yes.”

  “And we couldn’t tell them about the success even if we can pull it off, for it would only spread fear that other such things exist?” Mirov asked.

  “Why does it all have to be so complicated?”

  “Because CJ, this is war on a massive scale, the scale of which the universe has never known, or cannot remember. You, Captain, you fought a one-man war. Everything you did had a direct effect, and you never saw the problems of your allies. You never saw the big picture or had to be responsible for so much.”

  “No, and why put all that on me now?”

  “Because I know you can handle it. You are the perfect killing machine, and a blunt instrument at that. You are precisely what we need, even if the Alliance could never admit it.”

  “The dirty little secret of the Alliance?’ he asked with a smile.

  “Yes, exactly that, I’m afraid,” replied Jafar.

  “Those kinds of secrets have a tendency of getting out,” added King.

  “Yes, then let’s make sure that when they do, we have some good news to speak of.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that. Either it’ll be good news, or I’ll be dead,” said CJ.

  He seemed quite amused by the thought, and King couldn’t understand that. The buzzer of the door went, and CJ snatched his pistol from his hand as if expecting trouble.

  “Easy now, Captain. If this mission is going to work, we are going to need help.”

  The doors opened, and a Cholan officer stepped in. It was Tamay, the Captain that CJ humiliated when they first established their unit.

  “You’ve got some serious stones coming back here,” said CJ as he holstered his pistol, “What makes you think you are good enough now, when you weren’t good enough then?”

  “Whether you think I am good enough or not, I am the only one coming to your aid. You can have something or nothing.”

  CJ smiled, appreciating the response.

  “Maybe you’ll do,” he added.

  “None of you should be under any illusions about how dangerous this mission is. We don’t know the full strength of the enemy, but the surveillance and intel that we do have suggests there could be as many as ten thousand troops active on that station, and that number grows everyday.”

  “Ten thousand?” asked King in astonishment.

  “That number could be one hundred thousand in a few weeks, if we don’t stop this now.”

  “And the Alliance still doesn’t think that committing resources to this is important?”

  “Look at the numbers. We’d need a substantial fleet to complete this mission, and that is where you are coming in. A special task force that operates in an irregular fashion.”

  “All the risk, and none of the glory?”

  “Is that not exactly what you were created for, CJ?” Jafar asked.

  That made him stop and think for a moment, and he soon realised it was true. The room was silent as they all digested what they were being asked to do.

  “What the hell! None of us live forever,” CJ finally declared.

  “Okay, let’s move on,” said King.

  “What is our target? What can we do to destroy this facility?” CJ asked.

  “Two targets must be struck simultaneously.”

  “With what?”

  “No weapon system that we have aboard a ship. Only the Nakbe would be capable of such power.”

  “The Nakbe?”

  “The most powerful vessel in the universe,” Tamay said proudly.

  “You know whenever someone thinks they have the biggest gun in the galaxy, there is always someone making something bigger,” replied CJ.

  “Not like the Nakbe.”

  “Have you ever seen a weapon that could destroy an entire planet?”

  “Who would make such a despicable weapon?”

  “We did,” replied Jafar.

  Nobody needed to say another word, but it was CJ who did in his usual unsympathetic way.

  “Too bad we don’t still have it.”

  “A weapon that can destroy a planet, only a monster would use such a thing,” said King.

  “Yeah, or someone who needs to defend against them.”

  “No race in the universe deserves that.”

  “Spend a little more time with the enemy, and I am sure you will feel differently.”

  “I do not accept that…”

  “Enough!” roared Jafar, “Enough of what has or could be. Let’s talk about what is.”

  They waited for him to continue, and he did.

  “Two charges must be set in person. I have prepared the bombs for you. They will be man portable. I will plot out where you need to put them, and I believe we can hack their systems and ensure that as few of the enemy engage you as possible.”

  “Hack? And do what?” King asked.

  “Seal off all blast doors outside of the areas you need. The station, that we are calling Starbase 1…”

  “That’s original,” CJ muttered.

  But Jafar ignored him.

  “The station is a well organised facility, but it is managed from one central network. We can hack into their systems using a system provided by the Aranui, and seal those doors shut, until such time as you are ready to set off the charges. The doors will need to be reopened to ensure maximum damage to the station.”

  “If you can access the station’s systems, why not just overload its power core?” asked King.

  “Because that runs independently of the networked systems, and we aren’t entirely sure where it is.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know where it is? The energy signatures a power source like that puts out would be massive.”

  “Yes, and they have a very simple and effective set of countermeasures in place that stop us from identifying a target,” he said and pointed to the 3D projection of the station, “Near the tip of every single point of both stars is a high energy power source. One or more of those could be what is powering the station, or perhaps the immense power needed for their Gueros programme, but the others are decoys. We have no idea which it is.”

  “And let me guess, we don’t have eight bombs, nor the manpower to hit all of these targets?”

  Jafar shook his head. “I wish it were that simple, CJ. I wish we had all the resources we need to get this job done the way I would like it to be.”

  “This is what it must have felt like. All those years ago when you fought with Taylor against Erdogan,” said CJ.

  Jafar looked uneasy as if he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “A raggedy small crew of ambitious lunatics who thought they could take on the world and win,” he added as if joking around.

  “Didn’t we?” asked Jafar.

  “Not without help.”

  “Indeed, and that is just what you will be getting. Captain Tamay here will be in charge of the five-strong Cholan fleet that will act as your dec
oy. We have provided you with the intelligence, the target, and the support. All you need do is work out how you are going to get on and off that station.”

  CJ turned his attention to the projection. It had come down to his role now, and that had given him focus.

  “A jump right into position worked well before, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t again. We wait on the hack, deploy the bombs on short timers, and then jump out before it blows to hell."

  "Simple as that?"

  He looked at King. "The best plans in the world can be some of the simplest."

  "And yet there is still one thing that you are all forgetting," said Mirov, "Ganbaatar. He nearly killed us all when we last met. The fact that you hurt him was sheer luck," he said, glancing over to CJ.

  CJ gritted his teeth as he thought further about it.

  There is no doubt it was a lucky bit of timing that allowed the Prince to expose his back.

  "We also almost killed him for good."

  Jafar was already shaking his head.

  "You underestimate his power. We had a lucky escape, and I will not be coming with you this time."

  "But why not?" Mirov asked.

  "Because I have many duties to the Alliance. I went with you to get CJ back. You have him now, so you don't need me."

  "But we could sure do with your help."

  CJ hated to have to admit it, but Jafar was still a phenomenally strong fighter.

  "I am sorry, but you are on your own now. I cannot be everywhere at once."

  "And if we run into Ganbaatar again?" asked King.

  "You'll have to make do."

  CJ smiled. He knew they were up against it, and that if anything could go wrong, it would involve Ganbaatar.

  "I am finished here. I wish you every luck, all of you."

  Chapter 23

  "This has all come on so fast, hasn't it?" King asked.

  CJ nodded. He looked out at the moon below and the extensive repairs being carried out on the Kadir.

  "This isn't the life I was made for."