The Phoenix Conspiracy Read Online Free Page A

door whisked shut Calvin
shook his head. He'd just lost an excellent officer. And as a CO
who put a lot of value in his XO’s capabilities, he hoped his next
one would be as good.
     
    ***
     
    Calvin awoke slowly, rubbing at eyes
that seemed to be glued shut. His throat was parched and his
stomach growled like a beast on the brink of starvation. Everything
was black, except for the blinding glow of the clock on the
nightstand.
     
    0430 L.T. & 1950 S.T.
     
    A yawn escaped him as he
stretched out his limbs and crawled out of bed. His fingers skimmed
his clumpy, messy hair and he realized he'd slept on-and-off for
the better part of fifteen hours. The unhealthy result of sleep
deprivation, stress, and way too much equarius. Speaking of which... he reached for
the bottle of pills and placed it back in its locked case, which he
then buried in one of his many boxes. It had been sloppy to leave
the bottle in plain sight, even in his own quarters. Had someone
seen the pills, he'd be in a lot of trouble.
    His shirt was sweaty as he peeled it
off and he realized he hadn't showered in over a day. For someone
obsessed with being clean, hygiene trumped breakfast as top
priority, despite the protests of his stomach. Food would have to
wait a little longer.
    The private shower was much larger
than his on the Nighthawk and being on the station carried another
advantage, the hot water seemed endless. He scrubbed himself more
than he needed to, lathering everywhere with soap as he enjoyed the
soothing hot water and steam. It was relaxing, like his own
personal chamber of solitude. There was a tranquility here that
even equarius couldn't offer, and in his relaxed state his mind
wandered like a dream.
    Until a chirping sound
brought him back to the present. At first he didn't know what it
was, but had to cut his shower short when he realized the sound was
the comm panel. As he grabbed for a towel to wrap around himself he
wondered who would call this early. If
it's a sales call they'll never hear the end of my
wrath!
    He tapped a button on the
panel and the screen came to life, blue text informed him that a
private call was coming through. He tapped Accept to the audio but denied the
visual, since being broadcast wet and shirtless wasn't his style,
even if a few people might have enjoyed it.
    "Lieutenant Commander Cross, is that
you?" The voice was obviously computer-generated.
    "Yeah, it's me," said Calvin. "Who is
this? What do you want?"
    "I just want you to know that I'm
sorry."
    He wondered if this was some kind of
prank. "Sorry for what?"
    "For involving you in this. But I
hope, when the time is right, you'll understand there was no
choice."
    Calvin didn't say anything for a few
seconds, wondering if the mysterious voice would
continue.
    It didn't.
    "Okay, I have no idea who
this is. If you want something from me, you're going to have to
give me more to go on than that. Like your name and what
this thing is
you're involved in."
    "Goodbye."
    The screen flashed the text "Call
Terminated." Calvin searched for caller information but there was
nothing, not even a call-back link. Maybe the caller was harmless,
but then again maybe not.
    He wrote down what the voice had said,
verbatim. Including details about the voice's sound and texture,
and he described the intonations as best he could remember them. No
detail was worthless until proven otherwise. His memory of sound
wasn't nearly as sharp as his memory of images, but it was still a
cut above most people.
    The panel chirped again. He quickly
tapped Accept Call and, in his haste, forgot to deny the
visual.
    "Well, that's certainly...
unprofessional attire." From the other side of the screen was the
narrow brown face of Vice Admiral Harkov in full dress uniform,
including her emerald rank insignia.
    "Hey... what I wear at obscenely early
morning hours—while on leave, is my business and not the Fleet's."
He cracked a smile. He'd been chastised in the past for being too
casual or "sarcastic"