“Thank you, Ms. Bowers,” said John. “But I’m afraid you’ve put me in quite the predicament.”
“Please captain, you have to listen to our side. You can’t send us back.”
John was surprised how passionate she was coming across. It would be easier if Kevin was still here. He could be helping John with this situation.
The captain realized that the passengers were tired and emotions were probably running high. He needed to diffuse the situation. “We’re resuming our course back to the solar system. How about some dinner in Central?”
“I…I would like that, thank you,” said Witney.
John looked at Myers. “We ok?”
“My scans shows nothing immediate to treat,” reported Myers. “I’ll take them for a full workup in medical. Please bring Ms. Bowers when you’re done.”
John nodded. “Ms. Bowers.” He motioned her to follow him, which she did.
Witney had heard so many stories about the PHOENIX and was amazed by the video feeds broadcasted by the news over the past three years. To finally be on the starship she had seen and heard so much about was a dream come true for her.
Witney stuck close to John as they headed down to Central. She had never seen an alien before and was scared of all the Onixins, Quix, Senfo and other aliens on the ship.
They took a seat in the patio of the Stardust Café. Witney was caught off-guard when an alien with three arms and eyes came to take their order.
“Captain Roberts, you usually come to my establishment for breakfast.”
“My guest just came on board and I thought we could enjoy a glass of wine here,” John said to Mu. Witney was confused. All she could hear was gibberish coming from the alien’s mouth, but John seemed to understand it.
“What would you like? Mu asked the woman. Witney looked to John for help.
“She doesn’t have a micron,” John said to Mu. He looked to Witney. “How about a glass of chardonnay?”
“Ok,” replied Witney.
John couldn’t help but grin. “Two chardonnays. And bring us a bombshell stack, but no xixia.”
“Understood captain,” said Mu, who knew full well the captain’s dislike of xixia.
Witney waited for Mu to go back inside before speaking. “How’d you understand what it was saying?”
“Micron implants,” replied John. “They allow our brains to understand what each other says, even though we’re speaking our native languages.”
“I see.” Witney looked at the aliens walking past them on the street.
“It takes some getting used to, but living and working with aliens is pretty easy,” explained John.
“It’s…it’s amazing what you’ve done here.”
John smiled. “I can’t take credit. It’s the crew who created this ship and welcomed alien crew members to come aboard.”
“I’m glad that you’re an open-minded individual,” as Mu came and set two half-filled wine glasses on the table. “I’m hoping you’ll be as open-minded to me and my friends’ situation.”
“You’ve got gumption, Ms. Bowers…”
“Please, call me Witney.”
John was hoping to wine and dine her first before getting to business, but he could see she was anxious to discuss things. “Witney, you have to understand my position here. The law clearly states that no one with genetic defects can leave Earth.”
“We didn’t ask to be born this way,” started Witney. “And it isn’t right that the government can dictate where we can live.”
“The law wasn’t passed to control you, but to help you. Earth is the only place where you can receive the best medical care.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with me, with any of us. And the medical issues some of my friends have are no worse than someone who’s not a mute. Can you sit there and say I don’t belong here, or on Luna, or Mars? I always wanted to live in space, to explore the stars. But I couldn’t join TERRA. They wouldn’t even let me apply to the Academy and give me a chance to prove myself. And I could never work on a merchant or luxury ship, insurance wouldn’t cover me.”
John was ready to counter her arguments, but he couldn’t. He looked at this woman and there was no indication she was suffering from any ailment as a result of her heritage. And he remembered the crew members they discovered on the ship with genetic defects, including Kevin. None of them required any more medical care than the rest of the crew. Kevin gave up his career to convince people that Holocaust descendants deserved the same opportunities as everyone else. She wanted the same life in space John had. What made John so different that he could fulfill his dream but she couldn’t?
“Look Witney, I can’t promise you anything. But I am willing to talk to the government on your behalf.”
“We just ask for the same rights as everyone else,” said Witney. “We want the chance to lead our lives however we wish.”
They talked for awhile more, enjoying the wine and appetizer Mu brought for them. When they finished, John escorted Witney to medical for a full evaluation. He then sent a message back to the solar system requesting to speak with someone in the government about these human refuges.
After several hours of waiting, a call came into John’s office. When he activated his display, he saw the head of the population bureau on the line.
“Minister, thank you for getting back to me.” In truth, John was annoyed on how long it took for anyone to get back to him. The government was barking to have these people returned to Earth, but didn’t want to give John the common courtesy of a quick call back.
“I understand you’ve intercepted the freighter and have the passengers on your ship?” the minister said.
“That’s correct,” replied John. “You’ll be happy to know they’re all safe and in good health.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” said the minister, who showed no emotion behind those words. “Will the PHOENIX be returning to Luna?”
“We’re scheduled to orbit Mars,” said John.
“Then I’ll have arrangements made to have a ship sent to Mars and transport them back here to Earth.”
“Hold on, minister,” said John. “I haven’t said I was releasing them to your custody. They were rescued by my ship and are my responsibility.”
“Captain, the law is clear here. They cannot leave Earth, and TERRA isn’t above the law.”
“I report to the command council,” reminded John.
“And the council and all of TERRA reports to the government and are bound to enforce the law,” said the minister.
“Minister, it’s my understanding that Congress is getting ready to vote on a bill that would allow people with genetic defects to live away from Earth.” John made it a point to keep up with events going on back home, specifically with his former navigation officer Kevin Jacobson. Kevin and his group had been lobbying to get the law changed and, after months, managed to convince some lawmakers to sponsor a bill.
“That’s still being debated in committee,” said the minister. “It may not even make it to a vote on the floor.”
“Then let me give you something to consider,” said John. “Kevin Jacobson served on PHOENIX. We discovered he and six other crew members had genetic defects concealed by sneaks.”
“I wasn’t aware of this,” said the minister, annoyed just learning about this. “How come the bureau wasn’t notified?”
“Because their medical records are privileged information,” said John. “However, I spoke to each of them and they all agreed to release them to the bureau so that you can see they’ve required no more medical care than any other crew member.”
“I find that difficult to believe,” replied the minister.
“My chief medical officer did a three year study on them. The results show their conditions don’t require any sort of specialized long-term care. I understand the law was made to ensure Holocaust descendants received the best care needed. Hell, I was a proponent of that law. But as I worked with these people, I realized
we’re overreaching trying to protect them. Instead of helping them, we’re sentencing them to a life on Earth. Some of them don’t want to stay on Earth and they all deserve a chance to follow their destinies, wherever it takes them.”
“You make a compelling argument captain, and I respect you for advocating on their behalf. But the law is the law.”
“Then let me propose this, minister. PHOENIX was designed to hold fifty-thousand people, but we currently only have a little over eight thousand here. We have plenty of resources to treat these people. If they agree to remain on PHOENIX, my doctors can continue the study started by Doctor Myers.”
The minister considered the captain’s proposal. “You send me the medical profiles of the seven crew members and your doctor’s study. I will consider allowing an exception and letting the people remain off Earth. But they need to remain on PHOENIX. They cannot go to Luna or Mars, at least not until the law changes.”
“I think they’ll find that acceptable,” said John. “Thank you, minister.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“Follow the guard,” instructed the duty officer to John. The captain nodded and followed the guard into the prison facility. After PHOENIX arrived at Mars, John made arrangements to visit with the two Screen leaders in custody on the red planet. Surprisingly, they had not been informed about the destruction of their homeworld. John requested to tell them himself and, even more surprisingly, his request was granted. This would be his first time coming face to face with the leaders who were responsible for directing their military to wage a campaign of terror and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He wasn’t happy to deliver bad news to them, but he wasn’t feeling sympathetic either. He was simply approaching this as a responsibility he needed to complete.
Although the Screen leaders would spend the rest of their lives in prison, it had not been decided who would keep them in custody. The alliance races were still hammering out the details and last John heard the Cresorians were becoming adamant that the Screen be sent to their homeworld for trial and punishment. Nothing had been confirmed on official channels, but rumor was the Cresorians wanted to torture the leaders and then publicly execute them. Until a consensus could be reached, the leaders would remain on Mars.
John found the two leaders sitting in their prison cell. They wore standard prison garments, having been stripped of their ceremonial garments. John saw how defeated they looked, having gone from being leaders of an entire race to prisoners on an alien world.
Once the guard left John spoke up. “Hello.” The leaders looked at him and didn’t seem to recognize who he was “I’m Captain John Roberts of the PHOENIX.”
That got their attention. “You are the Roberts. The one who is responsible for turning the local races against us.”
This was already going well. “You mean stopped your reign of terror, but I’m not here to debate that with you.”
“You come here to gloat over your victory over us,” said the second leader. “You want to see what your actions have done to us.”
“No,” replied John. “I have hundreds of reasons to gloat, the hundreds of my crew your military killed. Or maybe the millions of Senfo, Cresorian, and Onixins you killed. Yeah, I have a lot of reasons to be happy, but I’m not. I’m here to deliver you some news. Remember a race called the Io?”
Drou shrunk back. “We encountered them on a world they inhabited jeudan hui ago. They are a dangerous race. We stranded them on the world we found them at.”
“They escaped the planet and activated a large starship they had hidden in an asteroid field. They went to your star system and eradicated your entire race. All your people are gone.” John was surprised how easy it was for him to break the news.
The leaders looked at each other. “The Roberts lies!”
“I have no reason to lie. We tried to stop them, but the Io’s technology was superior to ours. They destroyed most of the alliance fleet, a fleet that tried to protect your world.”
The leaders began to scream, echoing that familiar screeching sound they used to instill fear in their enemies. It was a sound John had become so familiar with. He stood there for a minute waiting for them to calm down. But he realized there would be no more talking to them. They continued to howl as several guards came running up to him.
“Captain, are you alright?”
John looked at the leaders as they laid on the floor on top of each other. Any satisfaction he may have gotten telling them the Screen were gone had vanished. He felt sorry for them. They were all alone in the universe.
“I’m fine,” said John as he walked away from the cell.
On PHOENIX, Julie had just left the boardroom along with a diplomatic team from the alliance and the Rifva homeworld. After what turned out to be a very fluid exchange between them, the Rifva formally signed a cooperation agreement with the alliance races. It also tied up the loose ends with the Rifva in the brig. Arrangements were being made to transfer Zuk to the Rifva starship in orbit of Mars and returned to his homeworld.
“Hey,” said Julie, meeting up with her fiancé Mitchell in the corridor. They kissed and walked hand in hand to the lift.
“How’d it go?”
“Great! I just sat there and let the diplomats hammer out the details,” said Julie. “I think the Rifva considered the meeting some sort of symbolism. They put a lot of stock into symbols and ceremonies.”
“Engineering,” Mitchell announced in the lift. “So what’s the plan now?”
“We need to finish adding additional crew,” explained Julie. “We’re expecting about another ten thousand people to join us.”
“Wow, we’ll have close to twenty thousand on the ship,” said Mitchell.
“And the aliens who joined the crew at the Ni star system all want to stay on board,” said Julie.
“Well, if we’re staying here for awhile then I want to bring something up. I know we’ve discussed the wedding, but we haven’t nailed down an actual date.”
“I still need to check our schedule,” said Julie. “If we’re getting married on the ship, we need to look for the best time.”
“Well I think we should get married while PHOENIX is still in the solar system. I know that might be short notice…”
Julie’s face beamed. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
Mitchell smiled. “Good, ‘cause it would have made this a bit more complicated.” He activated his holographic DAT and Julie looked at the crew requisition form displayed. The form was completed and approved, but it was the name that got Julie’s attention. It showed David Olson, her father, being approved to move onto the PHOENIX as a civilian working on the farm deck.
“I’ve been talking to him the last couple of weeks,” explained Mitchell. “Since we’re staying on board, he wants to be close to you. He’s selling the farm and moving here.”
Julie didn’t care that the lift doors opened up. She grabbed Mitchell and kissed him. A Senfo engineer watched in fascination as the humans engaged in this strange lip locking ritual. She had seen this done in numerous human films she watched.
With his meeting with the Screen leaders concluded, John had no more business on Mars and returned to the ship. As he disembarked the shuttle in the hangar, he was surprised to find Jacks waiting for him.
“Is Julie still with the Rifva delegation?” John asked his operations officer.
“No, Captain Olson has concluded her duties there,” said Jacks. “The delegation is being entertained in Central. I am here to give you a message from the whole.”
Jacks wasn’t holding a DAT, and his holographic DAT wasn’t activated, so John was confused.
“And the message…?” John asked.
“The whole has requested to see you, and you alone.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The command council wasn’t thrilled about the idea of John going to see the Ni all by himself. They had virtually no interaction with the race and all attempts by the alliance governments to speak with t
he gaseous aliens were met with silence. But John assured them the Ni harbored no malicious intentions. After repeated assurances that he would be fine, the council reluctantly granted his request to see them. With PHOENIX still being staffed with new personnel, John managed to book passage on a Quix starship to the Ni homeworld.
Jacks accompanied John but offered no insight as to what the whole wanted with the captain. Jacks had been disconnected from the whole ever since joining PHOENIX, and the alien knew it would be judged when it returned home whether or not it was worthy to rejoin the whole once again.
They wasted little time once the Quix ship got in orbit of the planet. They took a shuttle down to the surface as the Ni didn’t reply to any requests authorizing them to come down. The shuttle touched down on some sort of surface, and John and Jacks disembarked, a swirl of gases floating all around them.
“John Roberts of the human starship PHOENIX,” echoed the whole whose voice seemed to come from all around them. “You have returned to us with your mission completed. How do you feel?”
The question was an odd one for the Ni to be asking and John wasn’t sure how to answer them. “What?”
“How do you feel?”
“About completing the mission? I’m happy we defeated the Screen, happy my people are free. Is that why you asked me to come here?”
“It is one of many issues why we have requested your presence. You have been granted an audience so you may ask us the one question you have desired to be answered.”
“What question?” John looked to Jacks. “I don’t understand.”
Although not connected to the whole, Jacks knew what they were referring to. “It is a question you have always wanted to ask us. You believe the answer will provide some meaning to those crew members you lost to the Screen you fought for the Ni.”
At that moment John knew exactly the question they were referring to, but he never expected to ask it. But they seemed willing to answer it. “Are you prepared to answer me honestly? No games.”
Fury Of The Phoenix (Exodus) Page 22