The Phoenix Project (41 page)

    
What I was in awe of was the
armada of support ships that they carried in their bellies. Besides the myriad
shuttles, each of the warships had sixty squadrons of gunships, for a total of
thirty thousand of those maneuverable little vessels, and they could pack quite
a punch. With five times that number of fighters it was possible for us to
defend the Ferine from the Nevargh. Believe me, I know this from experience.

What I Learned From Cats

by Fleet Admiral Maria Peterson (ret.)

Chapter XIV

Fleet Admiral
Nelson walked into the command center of Phoenix Base. He spotted Elliot
standing next to the command chair with Lathiel and Ranik. The three were deeply
involved in conversation amidst the furious activity of hundreds of officers
and enlisted men on all floors of the center. Having found his target, Nelson
walked at a brisk pace to the unlikely trio.

    
Elliot stopped speaking the moment he saw
Nelson’s approach.

    
“I take it this is Lathiel and Ranik,”
Nelson said, offering his right hand. Ranik was the first to take it, but was
unable to bring a smile to his concerned features.

    
“I’m Ranik, good to meet you Admiral,” he
said and withdrew from the handshake. Lathiel grasped the Fleet Admiral’s hand
afterwards with a quick nod.

    
“I thought it fair to brief all of you on
the most recent events. We have demanded that the Ferine ships and their crews
be released to the UN.”

    
“Yes?” Lathiel asked, hopefully.

    
“The Coalition has refused. I am now in the
position to advise the Prime Ministers as to what our next move should be.
That’s why I’m here.”

    
“Admiral,” Elliot said, “we can’t allow the
Coalition to take hostages.”

    
“We can’t allow the Coalition to take our
people as hostages, but these are not our people. I’m sympathetic to the
situation, Eli; I’m just pointing out the facts. To put it as simply as I can,
we have no jurisdiction here.”

    
“I understand,” Lathiel said.

    
“Admiral, these people don’t have the
political or military resources to extradite these prisoners,” Elliot said.

    
“I’m aware of that, but our intervention
appears to be without cause. The Coalition claims they aren’t prisoners but are
under their protection.”

    
“Then why can’t we contact them?” Ranik
asked.

    
“They claim it would open up the
possibility of tampering with the witnesses. I won’t lie to you Ranik, the
Coalition is not known for their hospitality.”

    
“I wish we never came here,” Ranik said.

    
“That’s exactly what they want you to
think,” Elliot said.

    
“What would happen if you were to rescue
the prisoners on our request?” Lathiel asked.

    
“That would likely lead to a war. With no
cause other than your request for assistance we would look like we were
attempting to monopolize your race and hold all of you as our prisoners.”

    
“Even with our request for assistance?”

    
“Our politics are more unwieldy than yours,
Lathiel. The media would view your request as having been made under duress so
that we could have all of your people and ships under our control,” Nelson
said.

    
“For what reason would they say that?”
Ranik asked.

    
“Our fleet vulnerability after the loss of
the Moon is no secret. They would view this as a last desperate attempt to
seize more ships before a war began. We would look like the instigators of a
war we can win only if we started immediately.”

    
“What if they were our people? I mean what
if the Ferine were Alliance
citizens?” Elliot asked.

    
“Eli, they’re not.”

    
“Just humor me for a second.”

    
“We would have an obligation to rescue
them. It’s in the constitution,” Nelson said.

    
“An alliance?” Lathiel asked.

    
“An alliance,” Nelson repeated and took a
step towards the Ferine. His eyes glowed with the possibility presented to
him. “If we can do that, we have every reason to take action.”

    
“Will your people go for it?” Elliot asked
Lathiel.

    
“Right now we need every ally we can get,
especially ones with a military background. I will have to contact the
Assembly, but I can’t see why they would refuse.”

    
“Question is will our people accept it?”
Nelson said, looking to Elliot.

    
“Why wouldn’t we? We could use allies as
well.”

    
“Allies with weapons and warships, yes. You
said so yourself that they are passive and unarmed. What do the Ferine have to
offer?” Nelson asked.

    
“I think we have a lot to offer, Admiral,”
Lathiel replied before Elliot could respond. “Our fold drives are a thousand times
faster than anything you have and our sensor technology is twice as sensitive
as yours.”

    
“They may have something even more valuable
than that Admiral,” Elliot said.

    
“What’s that?” Nelson asked, dividing his
attention between the three of them.

    
“Sanctuary. We were going to start over
somewhere. Why not start over with a new ally beyond the Coalition’s reach?”

    
“You want the Ferine to accept refugees?”

    
“An ally would harbor us, wouldn’t they?”
Elliot asked, and regarded the two Ferine.

    
“Yes, we’ve offered many races seeking
refuge sanctuary from the Nevargh,” Ranik replied.

    
“How many refugees?” Lathiel asked.

    
“It would likely be in the millions,”
Nelson said. “We have nine hundred ships that are acting as our own sort of
arks. They’re almost two miles long and can hold quite a few civilians.”

    
“The Assembly might have an issue with
that,” Lathiel said.

    
“We’ll talk to them,” Ranik said, “but you
may well be trading one danger for another. We have been informed that the
Nevargh are mounting a second campaign to take Cartise. We are assembling a
defensive fleet, but it won’t hold up against their forces for long.”

    
“How many ships are we talking about?”
Nelson asked.

    
“At least two thousand.”

    
Nelson tapped Elliot on the shoulder and
motioned away from the Ferine. They retreated into privacy for a moment beyond
the Ferine’s astute hearing. They whispered in each other’s ears military secrets
meant for no others in the room.

    
“You think we can do it?” Lathiel overheard
as they finished their conversation and rejoined them.

    
“From what they told me before, I think the
gunships could make up the difference,” Elliot replied.

    
Nelson faced the two. “I think we can help
you there. Tell your Assembly that, pending Senate approval, we can provide the
reinforcements you need against the Nevargh.”

    
Nelson was gratified to see the two
Ferine’s eyes brighten in the hope for a reprieve.

    
“That would certainly motivate them towards
membership,” Lathiel said.

    
“Good, now if we can have sanctuary with
your people, I think I can convince the Prime Ministers to support an alliance
between us. Now understand that we are talking about an exchange of technology on
both sides. We will rescue your people and in exchange your government will
grant us refuge against our enemies. Now the Coalition’s new ships will be
capable of one thousand c, but at that speed it would take them at least ten
years to send any forces your way.”

    
“I doubt they would try,” Elliot said.

    
“It gives us time,” Lathiel said, “and
that’s something we didn’t have before. With the new alliance, Ranik and I
should be able to convert the engines on your new ships into temporary fold
drives.”

    
“Good enough,” Nelson said and emphatically
shook each Ferine’s hand. “If you will excuse me, I have a lot to do in the
next few hours. Lathiel, if the Prime Ministers approve this, it will be made a
priority Senate issue. That means you will have an answer by tomorrow night.”

    
“It will take approximately the same time
for us to have a response.”

    
Nelson smiled at both of his potential comrades
and strode back out of the centre.

    
“Admiral,” Peter said from his station.

    
“Yes, Commander?” Elliot replied. He crossed
to Peter’s station in an alcove on the first floor.

    
“A General Hanover would like to speak with
you.”
 

    
“Oh,” Elliot said with a smile, “I’ll take
it in my office.”

    
Peter nodded and forwarded the signal.
Elliot left the center through a small, narrow door in a corner of the multi—storied
area. The CEO’s office was almost an afterthought to the design of the massive
dome shaped complex. Elliot walked into the privacy of a claustrophobic office
only eight by ten feet in size. Elliot sat at a low desk and looked to a small
screen on the same wall as the narrow door.

    
Elliot pressed a blinking button on a small
pad embedded in the desk. Nadine came alive on the small screen. He could see
the telltale signs of the interior of a shuttle in the background.

    
“Eli, I can’t tell you how good it is to
see you.”

    
“What’s going on?”

    
“I have to tell you Eli. I’m supposed to
tell you,” she said in a hesitant voice.

    
“What? What is it?”

    
“I’m going to the waypoint docks,” she
stopped for a moment while she considered her orders, “to the Waypoint Eleven
docks.”

    
“Why?”

    
“That’s where the Ferine have been taken,
Elliot. I’m ordered to go there and conduct interrogations on all of them.”

    
“What kind of interrogations?” Elliot
asked.

    
“You know what kind.”

    
“You can’t do that!”

    
“I have to, those are my orders.”

    
“Nadine,” he said softly, “that will undo
everything you and I have started here.”

    
“I know. But I have no choice.”

    
“You always have a choice,” Elliot said.

    
“I wish that were true, but those
platitudes aren’t for the real world, Eli.”

    
“You do have a choice Nadine,” he said and
emphasized every word. “Don’t do this.”

    
“I’ve told you what I have to.”

    
“What did you have to tell me?”

    
“Goodbye.”

    
The Assembly Building
held one thousand Senators in its massive chambers. Normally, five hundred or
fewer would be in attendance for the daily passing of legislation. In this case
all Senators had been apprised of the situation. The Prime Ministers were in
attendance with the proposal of admitting a new nation into the Alliance. It would be the
first time in nearly fifty years that the admission of a new nation would be
voted on. The politicians came in their business suits and formal wear hidden
by the black gowns indicating their status in society. All stood at attention
with the speaker’s entrance and sat down.

    
The Senate rose a second time once the
speaker announced the five Prime Ministers in alphabetical order as was
tradition. They didn’t sit with the Senators but at five long tables arranged
to create a disconnected pentagon at the center of the nearly stadium like
room.

    
Once the Prime Ministers were seated the
sound of hundreds more taking their seats created the familiar but odd sound of
backsides meeting cushioned benches.

    
“Mister Speaker,” Linda said into a tiny
microphone protruding from the top of her desk.