“Fire thrusters and move us above the cruiser,” said Julie, seeing it was still moving towards them. Kevin and Jufo worked together and moved the PHOENIX over the Screen cruiser.
“Notify assault teams one and four to standby for launch,” ordered John.
“Hangar bay has already reported both teams are in their shuttles,” reported Jacks.
Despite its power being drained, the cruiser managed to fire off a few shots at PHOENIX, but the weaken shots were easily absorbed by the starship’s shields.
“Disable their weapons,” said John, clearly frustrated.
“The starburst effect should render their weapons useless,” said Julie.
John shot her a nasty look. “I said destroy their weapons.”
A lump developed in her throat as she looked away from him. “Uh, particle beams should be sufficient.”
“Then do it,” said John. Julie fired off a few shots at the cruiser.
“Sensors confirm Screen weapons have been destroyed,” announced Tim.
“I am reading power fluctuations in the energy network of the cruiser,” reported Korifluxinina.
“Are they trying to self-destruct the ship?” asked Bret from his station.
The Quix shook her head. “The fluctuations are due to the starburst. Their systems cannot initiate self-destruct.”
“We don’t have much time,” said John. “Tell the hangar bay to launch assault shuttles immediately.”
Moments later, human and Ni assault shuttles exited the hangar and flew to opposite sides of the cruiser. They attached to the hull and bore through a section of it. Without missing a beat, the assault teams, one led by Chief Davers, boarded the cruiser.
“I’m reading weapons fire,” reported Tim. “However, very little of it is coming from the Screen.”
Ten minutes elapsed before they got a call from the teams. “Davers to PHOENIX.”
“Go ahead,” said John.
“We’ve secured the ship. The Screen put up very little resistance before committing suicide.”
“Damn it,” muttered Julie. It was another missed opportunity.
“However, we managed to subdue three Screen soldiers. They’re alive and we’ve disabled their suit functions.”
John’s eyes lit up. “Have team two return with the prisoners immediately. I’ll meet them in the brig.” He promptly headed out of the pit. “Commander, you have the deck.”
“Uh…” Julie was taken aback the way John just left. “Chief Davers, secure the cruiser. I’d like to get a team over there to hack their systems as soon as possible.”
“Understood. Davers out.” With that done, Julie went over to Thresha and whispered to her so no one could overhear them. “What is it? What did you sense from the captain?”
“It was something I never thought to witness,” said the Aldarian leader. “What I felt was not the John Roberts I have come to known.”
“Thresha,” pressed Julie. “Please.”
“I sense immense hatred.”
“Towards the Screen.” It made sense to Julie. John held the Screen responsible for their friends’ deaths.
“No, towards you and Jacks.”
Julie was stunned by Thresha’s words. Why was he feeling hostility towards her? Towards Jacks? It didn’t make any sense.
“He is lost,” said Thresha. “If he does not reach out to us, I fear we will lose him.”
Down in the brig, John shot out instructions to the assault teams. He had them remove the armor from the Screen prisoners. Two were placed in separate cells while one was strapped down to a table. John watched the Screen intently, hoping to see any sign of fear in them.
“You can go,” John said to his officers. “Let Commander Olson know I’ll be interrogating the Screen and am not to be disturbed.”
The captain watched his people leave. When the door closed he turned to the prisoner lying on the table. “Vish, lock the brig door, captain priority one authorization. And shut down all surveillance equipment.”
“The door has been locked,” replied Vish. “All monitoring systems in the brig have been placed offline.”
John casually walked over to the table and retrieved a case from underneath. “I’m Captain John Roberts, the commander of this ship. Bet you’re surprised to see the PHOENIX. I’m sure you thought you had gotten rid of us. Well, we don’t give up easily.”
None of the Screen said anything. The one on the table looked at John with hatred, John could see it in his yellow eyes.
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand,” John said as he looked at the small case laying on the table before him. He went to open the case and found his hand was shaking, which surprised him. He rubbed his hands together and opened the case, reminding himself he needed to focus.
“You see, we’ve been examining the body of one of your friends for months, and it’s told us a lot about you. For instance, I know about the implant in your head,” as he tapped the Screen’s head. “The one that blocks micron functions. You can understand us, but we can’t understand you. But that’s ok.”
John looked through the array of surgical tools that were in the open case and selected the laser scalpel. “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” He closed the case and moved it aside. He pointed the scalpel at the Screen’s knee, ready to fire it, but he hesitated. He thought about Alex’sis for a moment, remembering all those nights they spent in each other’s arms. John missed that comfort and wanted so much to have her back. She told him more than once that he was a gentle soul. Would she say that now if she saw what he was planning to do?
Suddenly, the Screen managed to grab John’s arm. It’s claws tore his flesh as John pulled it free. All conscious thought left John’s mind as the blood and pain threw him into a rage. He activated the scalpel and the laser bore through the Screen’s knee. John ran an incision down the prisoner’s leg and the Screen cried out in pain. The other two screamed that familiar screeching sound and rattled the cell bars. Their cries were music to John’s ears.
He turned and looked at the pair in the cells. “I want you to see what I do to him, because I’m going to do the same to you. You’re all going to die, and I can assure you it will be a very painful experience. You will welcome death.”
John turned back to the Screen on the table. “Your species has much to fear, because I intend to do this to every Screen I encounter. I’ve been studying Screen physiology for months. I know where you’re most sensitive nerves are. For instance, the nerve I’ve exposed on your lower leg.” John fired the scalpel again and the Screen screamed out in pain once more.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was an uneasy night for Julie. While coordinating the inspection of the Screen cruiser, she was informed that John was questioning the Screen. Her instincts told her to go down and find out what the captain was doing, but she held back. She was grappling with the changes in John’s behavior and she needed some time to sort things out. After tossing and turning in bed all night, her mind was not any clearer. She got dressed and headed to the coilquin in Central to try some meditation, but even that was proving elusive. All she could do was sit with her eyes closed and hope her mind would untangle itself.
“Are you having any luck?” Julie looked up to see Thresha.
The commander moved over to make room for the Aldarian leader. “No. It’s too quiet in here. I miss the chanting sounds.”
“When another Yearden walks among my people, the melody of our spirituality will return. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“I wish you could,” remarked Julie. “I have to confront John, but I’ve been avoiding doing that. I don’t know what motivates him anymore. He’s not the same person I knew back on Earth. I’d rather have the arrogant cadet who mocked me at the Academy than the person he’s now become.”
“He has not moved on since the loss of Alex’sis,” said Thresha. “Any mention of her name and I sense the emotional walls closing around him. He has not faced the f
ull extent of his loss.”
“I’m the executive officer. I’m supposed to question the captain whenever I feel he’s not making good decisions, but I’m also his friend. How can I question his motives after everything he’s gone through? He’s lost Alex’sis, his sister, he never knew his parents. He even lost his unborn child. How can anyone handle that much loss without it affecting them?”
“I believe I understand humans enough to answer that,” offered Thresha. “Whenever a crew member died, I observed your people coming together to support those who needed it most. The captain has not experienced that as he has kept a distance from everyone, including you.”
“I keep telling myself that destroying the outpost was a tactical move, but it wasn’t. I know he did it to get back at the Screen. How far is he willing to go for revenge? Do I have to remove him from command before he does something worse?” Just uttering those words made Julie feel sick.
“I cannot answer that, only you can,” said Thresha as she put her hand on Julie’s arm. “Remember that whatever you do, it will be to help him.”
“When we first started our trip and were leaving the solar system, I questioned whether John was fit for command and considered removing him as captain,” admitted Julie. “He’s come so far, Thresha. If I’m forced to do something…I don’t want him to hate me.”
“I do not believe the captain could hold any hostility towards you forever,” said Thresha. “You must…”
“Chris Anne to Commander Olson.”
“Damn it!,” said Julie. “Sorry Thresha. Go ahead Chris."
“Vish said you’re in the coilquin. Are you busy? Tim just gave me some information you asked him to look into.” Yesterday, Julie asked Lieutenant Mallison to review the sensor logs from the attack on the outpost, to verify that it didn’t send a transmission to the cruiser.
“Where you at?”
“In The Lounge.”
“I’ll meet you there. Olson out.” Julie looked at Thresha. “I think I’m going to need you with me for support.”
“Of course,” said Thresha as the pair made their way out of the temple and to The Lounge. They found Chris right outside. As soon as he spotted them he ran up to them.
“Tim said you asked him to recheck the logs from the battle yesterday.”
“That’s right,” confirmed Julie.
“He went through the logs and found an anomaly in the data. Something about it not looking right. The bottom line is he deconstructed the sensor logs and found they had been altered to make it appear the outpost never sent out a signal.”
“But they did,” said Julie, already knowing in her gut they had.
“They sent a distress call out to that cruiser,” explained Chris. “But there’s more. He traced the data path to a specific console and command code. Sweetie, the command authorization came from the captain and was initiated from his console.”
Shocked as she was hearing this, she wasn’t surprised.
“Why would the captain do such a thing?” asked Thresha.
“He wanted them to come,” said Julie. “He was hoping to destroy the ship under the guise of them surprising us.” She couldn’t ignore this. He had jeopardize the lives of the crew. She had no choice but to confront him.
“Sweetie, what’s going on with the captain?” asked Chris.
Julie didn’t know how to answer him. This was all happening too fast. She fell back on her military training to guide her.
“Olson to Captain Roberts.”
“I’m sorry, commander,” said Vish over her pip. “But the captain has given explicit instructions he’s not to be disturbed.”
“Where is he?” she asked.
“The captain’s in his quarters.”
Julie was relieved. At least he wasn’t in the brig. She looked up and saw Jacks in the distance. “Jacks,” she waved over.
“What is it, commander?” asked the Ni as he joined the trio.
“I’ve tried contacting the captain, but he’s not talking to anyone,” said Julie. “Have you spoken to him recently?”
“I ran into John Roberts this morning,” revealed Jacks. “He had just come from medical.”
“Is he ok?” asked Chris.
“He was not injured. Apparently, one of the Screen died last night and he delivered the body to autopsy.”
“He never contacted me about that,” said Julie. Protocol dictated she should have been informed about the death of a prisoner.
“Human military policy states that the executive officer should have been notified, but the captain assured me this was an exception situation,” said Jacks.
“Well, yes…” Julie didn’t like what she was hearing. She had a bad feeling what might have happened. “I’ll see you all later.” She quickly left the trio and took the nearest lift up to medical.
“Maybe I should go with her,” Chris said to Thresha.
“No,” replied Thresha. “This is something Julie will want to do alone.”
When Julie arrived at medical she found Doctor Myers working in his office.
“Doctor, I need to talk to you,” Julie said as she sat down.
Myers exited the file he was reviewing on his console. “What is it?”
“Jacks just told me that one of the Screen prisoners died last night and the captain delivered the body to autopsy.”
Myers had a perplexed look on his face. “I wasn’t told about this.” He accessed the autopsy intake log. “I’m showing Doctor Roth took delivery of the body late last night. Strange that she didn’t notify me of this.”
“Is she here?” asked Julie.
Myers nodded. “She’s working at one of the medical stations.” He got up and headed out of the office, with Julie following right behind him. They found Roth working at medical station A.
“Amie, can I asked you about the Screen body you accepted into autopsy last night?”
Doctor Roth looked at him confused. “What are you talking about? No one delivered a body last night.”
“I show your authorization on the intake form.” Myers pulled up the file on the medical station console. “Right there. Your authorization is registered on the form.”
“Jeremy, I’m telling you I didn’t take anything in to autopsy last night.” She glanced over the file. “This shows the body was taken in at 0134 hours. I left here at 2345 last night.”
“Does the form show which container the body was stored in?” asked Julie.
Myers looked at the screen. “Yes, container 53A.”
Julie didn’t say another word and headed straight to autopsy.
“Jeremy, what’s going on?” asked Roth.
“I don’t know.” Myers and Roth followed Julie to autopsy, where they watched her trying to open the container.
“Damn it! It’s locked,” she muttered. “Vish, release the lock on container 53A.”
“I’m unable to comply with your request,” replied the computer. “The lock has been sealed, priority one, captain’s authorization.”
“Why would the captain restrict access to the container only for himself?” asked Roth.
It was a good question, one that Julie needed to know. “Is there any way to override the lock?”
“Yes,” said Myers. “The chief medical officer can override the captain’s orders on any medical related issue. Vish, override the lock on 53A, medical emergency, chief medical officer’s authorization.”
“Confirmed,” said Vish. They heard the click of the lock releasing. “The lock has been disengaged.”
Julie wasted no time and opened the container door. She pulled the holding tray out and found it was empty.
“Where’s the body?” asked Roth.
“Julie, what’s going on?” asked Myers, just as confused as Roth to what was happening.
“I don’t know,” said Julie. “But I’m going to find out. Vish, I want to talk to the captain.”
“The captain is still not accepting any calls,” replied Vish.
> “Then where is he?” she demanded.
“The captain is in his quarters.”
Julie headed out of autopsy.
“Commander, should I come with you?” asked Myers.
“No, you two stay here. I need to do this alone.”
The two doctors watched Julie leave medical. Roth turned to Myers. “Jeremy, do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“I’m afraid I don’t,” admitted Myers. “But I fear whatever it is isn’t good.”
Julie arrived at the John’s quarters and rang the door chime, but no one answered. “John!” she pounded on the door, but again no reply. “Vish, is the captain still in there?”
“Confirmed, commander.”
“Is there a priority lock on the door?”
“Negative.”
Good, she could get in. “Commander Olson to security. Override the lock on the captain’s quarters.”
“Standby, commander,” said the security officer on duty. “Is there a problem?”
“Not sure. I’ll let you know.” The door chirped and opened. “I’m in. Olson out.”
Julie walked in and was surprised to find the state of John’s quarters. It was a complete mess, like a tornado had passed through it. There was glass on the floor, furniture overturned, dishes strewn everywhere. How long had he been living like this?
“Captain? Are you here? I need to talk to you.” But there was no reply, she made her way to the bedroom, trying to avoid stepping on any debris. But again, she didn’t see John. She returned to the living room and looked around.
“Vish, location of the captain.”
“The captain is in his quarters,” replied Vish.
“What’s your basis for that?”
“The location of the captain is based on his pip transponder signal.”
“Isolate the exact location of his pip,” requested Julie.
“Pip signal is localized to the breakfast bar in the kitchen area.”
Julie made her way to the breakfast bar. It was hard to find the pip with all the dirty dishes laying around, but she finally spotted it. Why would he remove his pip? The answer was simple: he didn’t want anyone to know where he was.
Fury Of The Phoenix (Exodus) Page 5