The Phoenix Conspiracy (50 page)

The medic noticed Calvin standing over
them and looked up to say "he'll live." Then moved on to the next
of the injured.

Calvin looked at Shen. "You
okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shen lied through
gritted teeth, eyes watering.

"Hang in there," said Calvin. "We'll
get out of this yet. Just keep it together. And remember, the
Andromeda has its own burn ward."

Shen nodded trying to force a
smile.

"And Shen," said Calvin,
reluctant to disturb a man in pain. "Since we
are
on the secondary bridge, is there
anything we can do from here to sabotage the ship? Make it less
able to fight the Andromeda. Lower its shields? Drain its power?
Jam its firing systems? Anything that would make it easier to
subdue?"

Shen looked up. "I don't know, maybe."
He struggled as if to get up but Calvin stopped him.

"No, no, you stay put. Just tell me
and the engineers what to do." Some of the engineers had overheard
him and Calvin waved them over.

"Okay," said Shen. "Go over to the
main panels, they're on the platform above us." He proceeded to
coach them through several tactics to compromise the ship's
systems. They had some difficulty, as the controls had few
instructions—and the existing instructions were in Rotham. Alex
assisted them and Calvin was again surprised by his willingness to
work against his own people.

They shifted power levels and followed
several other of Shen's ideas, who seemed unable to really
concentrate. But, in the end, they had very little success. The
main bridge locked them out of the computer systems. And, if
nothing else, they only confirmed they were on the secondary
bridge.

"It was worth a try," said Calvin, not
really sure that it was.

While he and the others had been busy,
Pellew had finished positioning everyone in their most tactically
ideal places and set up all the defenses he could.

By scooping up the weapons from the
dead, they now had enough to arm everyone who wasn't injured.
They'd also managed to short out the door so the control system on
the outside wouldn't be able to force it open, like they had. The
downside was that they couldn't open the door either.

"The Fifth Fleet better come fast,"
said Pellew. "Because this isn't going to hold off a few hundred
Teldari for long."

In no time they heard banging against
the door. Followed by a muffled drilling.

"Why does this seem so damn familiar?"
asked Miles, standing next to Calvin. A hot white spark could be
seen where the enemy was carving into the door with a laser drill.
Calvin's muscles tightened and he steadied his handgun.

"Hey, look everybody," shouted Sarah
from behind. She—like Calvin, Miles, and several other crew
members—was on the platform. The Special Forces soldiers did not
look to see what she was excited about. They kept a disciplined
watch of the door, which threatened to burst at any moment. But
everyone else turned.

Calvin looked and saw nothing. Sarah
stood in front of the great wide window, which was black and
empty.

"What?"

"Look!" She pointed, sounding
annoyed.

Calvin moved closer.

"See them?" asked Sarah.

And then, in the blanket of darkness,
Calvin caught a glimpse of phantom grey ships. With their
identifier lights turned off, they blended in almost completely
with the black space.

"It's the Andromeda!" Sarah announced
and a cheer filled the bridge. Calvin too spotted the great white
ship in the center, as lights from the Rotham ship bounced off of
it.

"Use the projector display," said Shen
from the ground, still hunched over.

"Yeah, turn it on," said Calvin to the
nearest engineer, since he had no idea how. The woman complied and
before long a huge three dimensional projection of the system
appeared, filling the center of the auxiliary bridge where all
could see. The engineer focused it on the Andromeda and all
surrounding ships.

The vessels moved fast, in an attack
posture, with two destroyers in the lead, then the Andromeda, two
more destroyers at its sides, and three battleships at the rear.
They closed in on the alien squadron, which couldn't be entirely
seen from this view, but looked to be around four heavy warships
and two smaller ones, along with a swarm of fighters barely more
than specks.

"No chance, they have no chance,"
Miles' voice boomed. "The aliens are roasted. Go Empire. Hell yeah!
Fifth Fleet!"

The alien squadron moved to a
defensive posture, ready to engage the incoming Imperial ships.
Calvin was worried that the aliens would make a run for it,
dragging them along to who knows where, but that didn't seem to be
their intention. Which, aside from making him grateful, made him
curious.

"Wow these guys are stupid," said
Miles, managing to laugh. "They don't have a chance."

Calvin frowned. He thought the alien's
confidence in taking the Fifth Fleet head on was a bit bold, even
for them. Did they have a kind of weapon no one expected? One that
might be a match for the Imperial Fleet? Unlikely. But then again,
they had managed to see through the Nighthawk's stealth
capabilities... perhaps this battle wasn't as decided as Miles
claimed.

There was silence as the Fleets
converged on each other and then, before they were in range to
attack each other with any kind of major firepower, the darkness
lit up.

"What the hell?” asked Miles. Calvin
and the others watched as the Fifth Fleet's rearguard opened fire
on its leading ships.

It was absurd, he couldn't believe it.
But the display showed clearly that Human ships were attacking
other Human ships, throwing the whole formation into
disarray.

"Oh my god..." Sarah's voice trailed
off.

Within seconds, two of the human
destroyers disappeared. Calvin could see debris breaking up outside
the window.

The Human ships were now in a panic,
with the remaining destroyers breaking formation—obviously unsure
who was an enemy and who wasn't. The battleships now fired on the
Andromeda, which turned to attack them broadside. Destroying one
battleship and crippling another in no time. Able to use all
batteries at that range, its unparalleled firepower ripped through
the warships' armor and bypassed their advanced shields.

The alien ships had now reached attack
range and opened fire on the leading Human ships. The destroyers
regrouped to hold them off, providing cover for the Andromeda as it
fought the traitorous battleships, taking a severe beating
itself.

Everyone who could, watched
breathlessly as the Fifth Fleet incinerated itself. The alien ships
took no losses as they pulverized the Human destroyers, while the
Andromeda became scarred and battered, and part of its hull broke
off just as it finished wiping out the last Human battleship.
Leaving it alone as the sole Human ship in the system, against
several alien ships in mostly-perfect condition.

The Andromeda changed direction and,
while being pounded by alien fire, swiftly jumped away into
alteredspace. The Polarian ship bolted after it and it too vanished
into alteredspace. Leaving the Nighthawk's crew alone once more.
Trapped on a Rotham ship, in the middle of a Rotham squadron. Hopes
blown out like candles in a storm.

"Why...?"

"I don't believe it..."

"Did our ships fire on our
destroyers...?"

Perhaps no one was more shocked and
heartbroken than Summers. She stared forlorn out the window and
eventually lowered her head. And for the first time, Calvin saw no
fire inside her. She was crushed. Like someone who'd just witnessed
everything she'd ever believed in vanish like a midday shadow. Her
face was pale as a corpse’s. And she slouched, barely able to
stand. He was filled with pity seeing her.

And then inevitability sank in. They
all looked to him for answers, but he had none.

"What do we do now?" someone asked. He
felt only barely aware it was Sarah. And made no
response.

"What's our next move?" someone else
asked.

The banging and drilling was louder
than ever now. And as Calvin looked at the door, he saw it was
about to come apart. A gateway opening to oblivion.

"Calvin?"

"They're almost through!"

"How do we get out of this one, Cal?"
Miles asked from directly to his left.

"We... don't," Calvin whispered. Then,
a bit stronger, "this is our final stand." He raised his weapon,
and the others did the same.

"I never thought I'd die on an alien
ship," said Miles. "That's why I didn't join the damned
marines."

Pellew gave his final orders to his
men, making sure they were ready and optimally positioned. Then,
just as they heard the Rotham drill finish breaking through, he
glanced up at Calvin and nodded. As if to say "it's been an honor,
sir."

Calvin returned the nod. Then took
aim.

Chapter 30

Before the door's debris hit the
ground, a storm of crossfire surged in and out of the room.
Completely obscuring whoever was out there.

A wave of five Rotham shock troopers
charged in and were cut down instantly. The covering fire from
their end was worthless against Pellew's superiorly positioned
troops. The second shock wave also failed. They died trying to
clear away the mess of chairs and obstacles Pellew had placed, and
their bodies joined the debris. Holding that chokepoint was
something the humans could manage for awhile. But both Calvin and
Pellew knew their weapons would soon be exhausted. And when they
tried to pick up more, from the new Rotham dead, they'd be the ones
getting cut down.

And since they had the men to do it,
wave after wave of Rotham soldiers charged into the room only to
die violently. They managed a few lucky shots and hit token humans
here and there; it was uncertain who was dead and who was just
wounded. The heat of battle kept Calvin focused on the
chokepoint.

He unloaded on two of them, killing
one, injuring the other. His slide stuck back and he knew he was
out of ammo, he rolled into cover and waited.

It was from this position, facing the
window, that he saw the planet moving and he knew the ship was
turning. The alien squadron was changing its posture. But what
for?

And then the noise of fighting died
down. He dared to poke his head up and he saw the smoky doorway
start to clear. Below him, the Special Forces soldiers and several
crewmen were tense and ready for the next wave. But it didn't come.
Had the Rotham decided they were losing too many men with the
direct assault tactic?

"What are those lizards waiting for?"
asked Miles.

"Do you think they'll gas us through
the vents?" asked Sarah.

"Maybe they want us alive?" a soldier
said.

The lights went dark and Calvin
assumed power had been cut to them. The display flickered and died
and several other systems seemed to be failing. "They're going to
wait us out," said Calvin.

A deep rumble filled the ship. And
several other consoles went dead. Calvin looked back at the window
and saw the lights of exchanging starship fire. It got brighter and
closer. Piercing the darkness for brief moments, again and again,
with ghostly flashes.

And, in the distance, moving ever
closer, was the grim-steel face of the Harbinger. Its weapons
ablaze, shredding the nearest Rotham ship like it was made of
paper—the only ship standing between it and the one holding the
Nighthawk’s crew.

Calvin lost sight of it as the ship
they were on turned, trying to maneuver away from the Harbinger.
But Calvin felt a flicker of hope return and he shouted.

"The Harbinger, I saw the
Harbinger!"

"What?"

"It's attacking the Rotham
ships!"

An engineer ran over to the nearest
working panel—there weren't many systems still online. But he
managed to confirm it. "The Harbinger is here. Along with three
other Human ships—including the Liberty Sun."

They all cheered once more.

"Yes! Yes! I knew it! I knew it!" said
Miles. "Eat death you bastards!" he screamed at the window as
another Rotham ship was decimated.

"I don't believe it," Summers
whispered.

"Maybe he's been misunderstood," said
Calvin.

She didn't look up. "He has a lot to
answer for."

"Yes," agreed Calvin. "But not right
now."

"Oh look at that!" said
Sarah.

They could see small rockets and
larger projectiles penetrate their ship's shield and slam into the
hull. Wiping out its engine before it could jump from the
system.

"Pulsar torpedoes," said Miles. "They
want to disable us."

The Harbinger attacked them broadside
and as they exchanged fire, it was clear the Rotham ship was
outmatched. A hailstorm of projectiles swept toward them like a
crushing tidal wave. Many of them were intercepted by missiles,
energy beams, and basic gunfire. But most were not. And for each
torpedo that failed to hit its mark it seemed two more were fired.
Piercing the screen of defenses and scoring hits on the Rotham
ship's critical areas.