Search for the Phoenix: Phoenix Series Book 2 (26 page)

“Sorry I asked,” Pierce said. He looked around at the other members of their group and saw a lot of doubtful faces.

“Let’s go, you slugs! We have three days to search for Tompkins. Then we’re going back to deal with a bit of unpleasantness at home.”

“Maybe you should send a message to one of our squad back at command,” Pierce said.

“Why would I do that?” Stevens asked. “The coup won’t happen for five days.”

“Okay, but wouldn’t it look good if some of our squad went to First Admiral Bennett’s office to stand guard in the meantime?” Pierce asked.

Stevens looked at him for a moment, and then said, “You’re not completely stupid, after all.”

* * * *

General Nelson and a dozen of his soldiers stepped off the elevator at the penthouse level. He looked at the indicator for the second elevator and said, “The major and the rest of the team will be here in a moment. They’ll have our backs. Let’s go.”

The group walked into the first admiral’s outer office. Bennett’s secretary dropped her data unit and stared at the general with wide eyes. She quickly regained her composure and opened a desk drawer as two soldiers came around the desk and grabbed her by her arms. One of the soldiers pulled her arm from the drawer. Wrenching the neurodart pistol from her grip, he slipped it into a pocket of his vest. She began screaming as the other soldier clamped a hand over her mouth. She jerked and twisted as the pair lifted her off her feet. Kicking wildly, she sent papers and objects from the top of her desk flying.

“The first admiral’s office is soundproof. Screaming is pointless,” Nelson said. The secretary glared at him as she was dragged past him and into the lobby. Nelson heard Major Anderson’s voice as he ordered Corporal Nellis and Private Simms into the office to replace the pair that was wrestling the secretary into a nearby conference room.

“Major Anderson has secured the lobby, General,” Nellis reported as he entered the outer office.

“Thank you, Corporal,” Nelson said as he moved to Bennett’s door, his team gathering behind him. “Let’s go.” He threw open the door and stepped inside, his twelve soldiers entering behind him and quickly fanning out into the office.

Georgia Bennett sat at her desk, smirking, flanked by six of the goons, all aiming neurodart pistols at Nelson and his team. However, the goons’ faces, initially defiant, now looked worried. Nelson and his team were aiming ballistic combat rifles at them. A man standing beside Bennett sneered at Nelson and fired his pistol. An ear-splitting bang ripped through the silence. The goon looked down at his chest where a red stain was quickly growing. He dropped to his knees, and then fell forward. A thin wisp of smoke rose from Corporal Nellis’ barrel.

Nelson looked down at the dart sticking part way into his protective vest, pulled it out, and tossed it to the floor. “That is why you don’t bring a neurodart pistol to a ballistic rifle battle.”

Another goon aimed his pistol at the general’s face. This time, Nelson fired, hitting the man between the eyes, knocking him back before he collapsed to the floor. The wall behind him was a sickening mess.

“Anyone else feel like trying their luck?” Nelson asked. The remaining goons tossed their pistols to the floor.

“Georgia Bennett, you are under arrest for conspiracy to overthrow the galactic government,” the general said.

“What?” she shrieked. “Under whose authority?”

“I am acting under the authority of the Galactic Senate, according to section ninety-three of the Galactic Code of Regulations, sub-paragraph B.”

“And who gave you your orders, General?” she asked.

“My orders come from Senator Kase,” Nelson said.

“Him?” Georgia roared, her face now red. “That double-crossing—”

“He said you were too dangerous to keep around, and he regrets that you put up a struggle and were killed,” the general said.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Georgia said, staring defiantly at the general.

“Close the door, Corporal Nellis,” Nelson said.

* * * *

Niles Jiorgenson tapped his foot nervously as the elevator descended. “Come on!” he urged. When the door finally opened, he ran down the hall and through the door into Security Forces Command.

General Nelson’s secretary looked up in surprise. “Can I help you?”

“I need to see General Nelson,” Niles said.

“I’m sorry. The general is busy at the moment.

Niles rushed to Nelson’s office door and threw it open. “General…” The room was empty. He turned back to the secretary. “Where is he?”

“The general is busy.”

“What about the major… um… Major Anderson?” Niles asked.

“The major is busy,” the secretary said.

“Look, this is urgent! The general may be walking into a trap,” Niles said.

“Captain, I’m sure General Nelson can handle whatever situation arises.”

“He’s started his operation, hasn’t he?” Niles asked.

“The general is busy.”

Niles ran out of the office and back to the elevator. “Come on!” he yelled as he waited, pounding on the
Up
button. First one elevator, and then the other, passed by his floor on their way down. When an elevator finally arrived, he stepped in and jabbed the penthouse button several times. “Come on! Move!” The door slowly closed. Niles had always thought these elevators were fast until now.

The elevator stopped on the seventh floor, and Niles groaned when the man who entered pushed the button for the ninth floor. It seemed they had hardly moved when they stopped and the man got off. A man and a woman stepped in and pushed the button for the fourteenth floor.

When he finally reached the penthouse, Niles ran across the lobby and found the first admiral’s outer office empty. It looked as though there had been a struggle. The door to the first admiral’s private office was ajar. He crossed to the door and listened for a moment before slowly pushing it open. He stared at the far wall, taking a moment to realize what he was looking at. Looking down, he saw the blood-soaked carpet next to the admiral’s desk. He felt sick, and his knees began to shake. He spun around and ran back to the elevators.

Pressing the call button, he leaned against the cool, marble wall, eyes closed
.
Sometime later, a chime rang as the elevator door opened. He stumbled in and pressed a button. The door closed, and the elevator began to descend. It stopped two floors down, and Jiorgenson’s shaking legs gave out. He collapsed, leaning against the door just as it opened. He fell to the floor of the corridor and looked up into the shocked face of a young corporal. The door closed and the elevator began descending.

Jiorgenson was panting heavily. The corporal asked, “Are you okay?”

“He’s done it!” Niles said. “He killed her!”

“What are you talking about?” the corporal asked.

“First Admiral Bennett is dead! He’s killed her!” Niles said.

The corporal helped the captain to his feet. “Come into my office and sit down. I’ll call security and have them send someone up.”

“Security! I need to get to Security!” Jiorgenson said. He looked at the indicators for the elevators, and then turned and ran down the corridor to the stairwell, hitting the door at a run, slamming it against the wall. He turned and ran down the steps as fast as his shaking legs would carry him. Floor after floor went by, and on he ran.

By the time he reached Security Command, he was gasping for air. He leaned on the secretary’s desk and pointed to Nelson’s door.

“The general is busy,” the secretary said.

Niles glared at her. He took a deep breath and said, “Busy killing the first admiral?”

“Captain Jiorgenson, step into my office now!” General Nelson said as he strode in from the corridor.

Niles turned to him and pointed an accusing finger. “You killed Admiral Bennett! I just ran down here from her office. There is—”

“My office, now!” Nelson yelled. He grabbed Niles by the arm, dragged him into his office, and slammed the door. “I think I gave you too much credit for intelligence! Who else did you blab too?”

“What? No one. Oh, except a corporal on… I don’t remember which floor it was.”

The general shook his head. “Wonderful.”

“Don’t blame me!” shouted Niles. “You’re the one who went into Bennett’s office and shot her!”

“Captain, you don’t know what you are talking about, so I would advise you not to talk at all. You are spreading lies, and that can only make matters worse than they already are.”

“I saw her office! There’s blood everywhere, even on the walls!”

Nelson stepped behind his desk and sat. He pointed to a chair and said, “Sit down, Captain. There was some collateral damage when we went into Bennett’s office. Some of the goons where there. Someone tipped her off.”

Niles looked shocked. “I didn’t say a word to anyone!”

“Not you, Niles. Someone else,” the general said.

“Oh no… it was Senator Kase,” Niles said.

Nelson leaned back and stared at him for a moment. “What makes you say that?”

“He’s part of the conspiracy. Caroline’s Dream—the freighter—is owned by Marlow Freight, which is owned by Caroline Marlow, who is Senator Kase’s daughter. I came down here to warn you, but you had already gone,” Niles said.

“I see. Aside from me and Major Anderson, Kase was the only other person who knew the details of our operation.”

“Then it had to be him,” Niles said.

“Except for one thing—I told the senator we would start in five days.”

“Then it had to be Major Anderson,” Niles said.

“Impossible,” Nelson said. “He didn’t know when we would start until the moment before we left. We were together until we split our team to take two elevators to Bennett’s office. He couldn’t have warned her even if he wanted to.”

“He could have contacted her from the elevator,” Niles said.

“Not with twelve of our people in there with him. It wasn’t him,” Nelson said.

“Maybe someone told her days ago that you were planning something. She could have had extra security in her office for the past few days, waiting.”

“She isn’t the sort to sit back and wait for an attack. If she had known days ago, she would have sent someone after me right away. Besides, those soldiers in her office were my people before they became loyal to her. I know every one of them. I had seen the group in the lounge less than an hour before we went up there. They arrived shortly before we did,” the general said.

“Then we’re back to Senator Kase,” Niles said.

“That’s enough speculation for now. Look, Captain, I can’t have you running around this place telling people I killed the first admiral. I need you to go back to your office and carry on as though nothing has happened. You shouldn’t have gone up there, and you shouldn’t have talked to that corporal. Are you sure you can’t recall which floor he was on?”

“Why? So you can kill him, too?” Niles asked.

General Nelson shook his head. “Captain, I need you to remember what floor you were on when you talked to the corporal.”

Niles thought for a moment. “It was two or three floors down from the penthouse. I’m sorry, I can’t be more exact.”

“Well, I’m going to have to do some extra damage control, but it isn’t like nobody would find out the first admiral is missing,” he said. “It’s been a long day, Captain. You should go back to your work and let me do my job.”

“Did you really kill Admiral Bennett?” Niles asked.

“You need to go back to your work, Captain,” Nelson said.

“Senator Kase,” General Nelson said, “First Admiral Bennett has been eliminated.”

A smile flashed across the senator’s face, quickly replaced by a solemn expression as he nodded. “Good work, General. I’ll report to the full senate as soon as possible. We’ll need to appoint a new first admiral. In the meantime, who’s in charge?”

“I believe the ranking officer would be Vice Admiral Saunders. However, she is on deployment with the Second Fleet,” Lance said.

“Well, then, who’s next in the chain? Someone needs to take charge until Saunders returns,” Kase said.

“That would be Vice Admiral Tompkins. However, he has disappeared.”

“I see. And the circumstances of his disappearance?” the senator asked.

“Tompkins was extremely loyal to the first admiral. He has… vanished from sight, sir,” Nelson said.

“That is most unfortunate,” the senator said. The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought to keep from smiling. “Perhaps I should put you in charge of SACOM temporarily.”

“No, sir. That job should go to a SACOM officer. Besides, I have my hands full dealing with security. When word spreads that the first admiral is gone, things could become tense around here.”

“Good point. Well, is there anyone who can take charge until a new first admiral is appointed?” Kase asked.

“If you’re asking for my recommendation, there is a hard-working captain who I believe would make an excellent choice as a temporary head of SACOM.”

“A captain?” Kase asked.

“Only until Vice Admiral Saunders returns, or a new first admiral is appointed,” Nelson said.

“I don’t know, Lance. I was hoping for a more senior officer to take command for now.”

“Perhaps you should visit us, sir, and meet Captain Jiorgenson personally. You know, an interview,” Lance said.

The senator suddenly looked very uncomfortable. After a moment, he said, “I suppose that would be prudent.”

“Yes, sir, prudent.”

“Very well. I’ll be there in a week. I will inform you of my precise arrival time after I receive landing clearance,” Kase said. The link closed.

Lance Nelson leaned back in his chair and smiled.

“Well done, sir,” Major Anderson said, sitting behind Lance’s data unit where the senator couldn’t see him. “You pulled him in effortlessly.”

“Oh, it took some effort, I assure you. He doesn’t want to come here… not yet. He has no idea what Bennett might have told us. I could see the fearful, hunted look in his eyes.”

“So, we have a week to make our plans for his arrival. Are you seriously recommending Jiorgenson to run SACOM?” Eric asked with a smile.

“Only temporarily. We need someone we can trust in charge until Senator Kase shares the same fate as the first admiral.”

“I’m looking forward to arranging that,” Eric said with a broad smile.

“In good time, Eric. First, we have to deal with the rest of the goon squad. Somehow, Bennett knew we were coming for her. I’m sure the rest of her goons would have been there, too, if they weren’t out searching for Tompkins,” Lance said. “There will be trouble when they return.”

* * * *

Lieutenant Steven’s data unit chimed. “What now?” he groused as he pulled it from an inside pocket of his vest and scanned the notification. Opening a new message, he began reading.

He moved earlier than expected. He has already killed First Admiral Bennett and Vice Admiral Tomkins. Return immediately. Kill him and his followers. Promotions and commendations for all members of your squad will be forthcoming.

“Oh, hell. Come on, we need to get back to Central Command now!” Stevens said.

“What’s going on?” Pierce asked.

“Nelson already made his move! He’s killed Bennett and Tompkins,” he replied.

“I thought Tompkins was around here somewhere,” Pierce said. “I mean, that’s why we’re here… to look for him.”

“It was a ruse to waste our time. Bennett and Tompkins are dead! That’s what the message says,” Stevens said.

“What about the rest of our squad? They were supposed to be guarding the first admiral. Do you think they’re all dead, too?” Pierce asked. A murmur ran through the squad.

“Shut up, the lot of you!” Stevens barked as he stopped and began typing a message. Everyone stood, waiting for the chime signaling a reply.

“They should have replied by now,” someone said.

“They’re all dead,” said another.

“Come on! We’re going back as fast as we can, and we’re going to kill Nelson and anyone who helped him,” Stevens said as he turned and began running down the street.

“We should have left someone with the truck, you know, to come and pick us up,” Pierce said.

“Shut up and run,” Stevens said.

* * * *

“What makes you think the rest of the goon squad will be here soon?” Anderson asked.

“Because one of the goons in Bennett’s office told me Stevens ordered them there to protect her. He knew we were coming. I don’t know how. I suspected Kase of feeding information to him, but Kase thought we weren’t taking action for five days,” Nelson said.

“But nobody else knew, except those of us who went up there,” Anderson said.

“Someone tipped Stevens off.”

“Do you think we have a traitor in our group?” Anderson asked.

“I can’t think of another explanation, can you?”

“But how? We were all together the whole time. Nobody had a chance to send a message,” Anderson objected.

Nelson shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, Eric. I just know someone tipped Stevens off. That’s why I expect him and his goons to show up any minute. We need to be ready.”

“They have to come through a gate when they get here. We’ll have plenty of warning, and we have them outgunned,” Anderson said.

“That would be more comforting if I didn’t care about killing them,” Nelson said.

“Then we’ll make them surrender,” Eric said.

Nelson frowned. “Not Stevens. If he knows what’s happened here, he’ll be out for blood—my blood. He won’t give up without a fight. He’ll probably head for the arsenal first, to increase their firepower.”

“I’ve got the arsenal on security lockdown. Nobody can get in there without authorization from you or me,” Eric said. “Hell, even Bennett wouldn’t have been able to get in there.”

“That will be the best place to take them. There won’t be any personnel down there, except us, so there won’t be unnecessary casualties,” Nelson said.

“I’ll send our squads down there. Shall we join them?” the major asked.

“Not yet. It will only take us a few minutes to get down there. We’ll go as soon as we get word from a gate that they’ve arrived. I want things to appear as normal as possible up here until we’re needed.”

* * * *

The goon squad’s truck rolled down Water Street and pulled to a stop at the gate. A corporal checked their badges and then opened the gate, smiling as he waved them through. Casually returning to the gatehouse, he pulled out his data unit and opened a link to General Nelson.

The truck came to a halt at the facilities loading dock of the administration building. Stevens and his squad climbed out and ran to the door. Running down a corridor, the group turned right, passed the elevators, and went through a door into a stairwell. Stevens led the way as they quickly descended two floors. He halted just inside the door, looking through the small security window before slowly opening it and sticking his head through enough to look up and down the hallway. He gave a hand signal for his group to follow, and then opened the door fully and stepped through.

They moved quietly down the hall until they reached the first junction. Stevens peeked around the corner into an empty hallway. He could see the arsenal door a short distance away, its window dark. He moved cautiously to the door and waved his badge over the sensor. Nothing happened. He waved it again with the same result. He motioned to Pierce, who stepped up and waved his badge. The door remained locked.

“I would appreciate it if you would all put down your pistols,” General Nelson said.

Stevens spun around, drawing his pistol as he turned, but kept it aimed at the floor as he looked into the barrel of a ballistic combat rifle. “Well, if it isn’t the enemy of the state, himself?” Looking past the general, he said, “I suppose you all know the general killed First Admiral Bennett and Vice Admiral Tompkins.” Looking at Nelson again, he said, “Yes, they probably helped you, didn’t they? You’re all enemies of the state!”

“Put down your pistol, Lieutenant Stevens,” Nelson ordered.

Stevens’ arm swung up and he tried to take aim when a deafening bang startled him. He stared at Nelson for a moment, feeling a burning sensation in his chest. Before he realized what had caused it, he collapsed to the floor.

Pierce pulled his own pistol, looked down at Stevens, and then reluctantly tossed it to the floor. The other goons added their pistols to the pile.

Major Anderson stepped forward and kicked the pistols away toward Nelson’s group before signaling his own squad to take the goons into custody. “Well done, sir,” he said, nodding to Nelson. Turning to his squad, he said, “Take them to the security cells.”

“I don’t feel well,” Nelson said.

Anderson spun around and saw that the general was beginning to sway. Then, noticing the dart in Lance’s upper arm, he said, “He shot you, sir! Let me pull that out for you.” He grasped the dart and pulled. Nelson fell forward into Eric’s arms, eyes wide, his breathing labored.

“He’s allergic to the tranquilizer, Major,” Corporal Sparks said. She rushed forward, unzipped a pocket on the general’s vest, and pulled out a cylindrical device. Pulling a cap off one end, she dropped to her knees and thrust the end of the device hard against the general’s thigh. She looked up at the Major. “It’s his epinephrine injector,” she said as she stood up.

“Allergic? Then why was he down here for this operation?” Eric bellowed.

“Because he refuses to send us into a situation he won’t go into himself, sir,” Sparks replied. “Come on, he’s not out of danger yet.”

Three others stepped forward and took Nelson from the major’s arms. After picking him up, they began running toward the elevators.

Eric watched as the general was rushed to the infirmary. Then he turned around and saw his own squad leading the goons away in handcuffs. He wanted to go with the general, but he was responsible for the prisoners. “The rest of you,” he said to the remainder of Nelson’s squad, “take Stevens to the morgue.” He hesitated a moment before turning and running after his squad.