CHAPTER NINE

Julie sipped her hot coffee as she sat in the patio of the Stardust Café. The last few weeks had been difficult for her. She was still not used to being in command of the ship. It didn’t feel right. John should be the one commanding PHOENIX. When she broke the news to the senior staff, they were full of questions. The aliens were the most vocal. They wanted to know why the captain would abruptly resign his post. Julie refused to divulge any information. She merely stated that John had stepped down as captain. Even more questions arose from the crew when Chris Anne cancelled his performances for the foreseeable future. Only a handful of people were aware that he was looking after John.

Julie looked up at the nearby building, staring at the window of John’s apartment. There was a light on but she couldn’t see any shadows or movement. She kept in touch with Chris Anne to remain apprised on how John was doing. Unfortunately, Chris said John was mired in a deep depression. All the morale officer could do was sit there and watch John suffer in misery.

A plate of food was placed on the table. She looked up to see Mu, the three eyed Rifva cook. “I know you said you were not hungry but Mario has told me numerous times that humans sometimes do not mean what they say. He also says that humans sometimes use food for comfort.”

Julie looked at the plate. She wished it could simply make her sadness go away. “I’m afraid breakfast won’t lift my spirits.”

Mu nodded. “I will not be offended if you do not eat the dish. It is there if you have need of it.” The Rifva returned to the kitchen as Julie continued staring at the plate. She tried to think of a way of breaking through to John, to get him back to his old self. But her mind was drawing a blank.

She lifted her head back up and spotted Kevin walking down the street. He looked up at the apartment building. Julie wasn’t the only one worried about the captain. The navigation officer saw Julie and waved at her.

“Commander,” as Kevin approached the table. Julie motioned for him to sit and join her, which he did. “How’s your morning?”

“It’s been better.” Julie knew she needed to try and maintain the illusion that things were alright but she didn’t have it in her to put on such a front.

“I know what you mean. Have you heard how the captain’s doing?”

Julie shook her head.

“Look, I know you have your reasons for not telling us what happened to him. It’s just frustrating not being able to help him.”

“I understand,” said Julie. “But even if I told you what happened, it wouldn’t matter. The captain’s beyond anyone’s help for the moment.”

Kevin was disappointed. If he could do something, he’d jump at the opportunity. “I never told anyone this but the captain helped me through a rough patch a while back. I discovered I had a sneak implant and learned I was actually a Holocaust descendant.”

Julie was stunned by the news. “I never knew…”

“Doctor Myers and the captain were the only ones,” continued Kevin. “I asked the captain to keep it a secret. He kept his word. Whatever feelings he had about me being a mute, he never showed them. Instead, he helped me through it. He made me realize I was the same person before finding out. What was remarkable was he never treated me any differently after learning about my heritage. He let me keep my post and never treated me differently.”

Julie broke a weak smile. It was good to hear something that was characteristic of John.

“I wish I could help him the same way he helped me,” said Kevin. “I feel powerless. The captain deserves our help. Someone has to be able to help him.”

“I feel the same way,” admitted Julie. “We just have to hope he’ll pull through whatever he’s dealing with.”

“Julie Olson.” Julie and Kevin looked over to see Rudov approaching. “Forgive my interruption of your meal time but I have discovered something of importance.”

The Onixin communications officer flicked his wrist and brought up his holographic DAT. The image displayed a variety of equations. “I have been concerned with the lack of Screen communications. PHOENIX has far more advanced communications equipment to allow us to pick up covert transmissions; however, we have been unsuccessful in that endeavor. I had engineering conduct some modifications to the communications array and we picked up a Screen transmission traveling through open space.”

“What’d you find out?” asked Julie. She was elated to hear that there had been a breakthrough.

Rudov extended his arm so Julie could read the contents. Her face turned somber as she read the information.

“What’s wrong?” asked Kevin.

“We need to assemble the senior staff in the board room ASAP,” said Julie. “Contact the command deck and have them set a course for the Quix nebula immediately.”

********

An hour later the senior staff was gathered in the board room. Julie was sitting at the head of the table, a seat John once occupied. She didn’t have time to dwell on that. There were more urgent matters to attend to.

“Thanks to Rudov, we’ve uncovered several Screen transmissions on our long range scanners.” Bret patted his compatriot on the back as Vish brought up a visual representation of the transmission in the center of the table. “Our decryption teams successfully unraveled the transmission.” Julie took a deep breath before continuing. “The transmission reveals that the Screen are planning to return to the Quix nebula to retrap the Quix.”

There were some rumblings amongst the senior staff about the news.

“The protectorate has been notified and has deployed ships throughout the nebula,” announced Korifluxinina. “However, none have reported any Screen ships on their long range scanners.”

“Neither have we,” added Tim.

“Is it possible they’re somehow concealing themselves from the Quix and our sensors?” asked Kevin.

“If they believe they can pull this off with an armada of Quix vessels outside the nebula, we have to consider that,” said Julie. “The problem is we don’t know how they plan to trap the Quix. I doubt they’ll use the same technique they did last time.”

“Tactically, it’d make sense to initiate some cascade reaction that affects the entire nebula,” said Chief Davers. “There aren’t enough Quix ships to patrol the entire perimeter at once.”

“Do the Screen even have the capability to conduct such a large scale cascade?” asked chief engineer Postun.

The Senfo navigation officer, Jufo, spoke up. “They were able to alter the atmosphere of my entire homeworld. It is within their capability.”

A holographic humanoid image of Vish appeared over the table. “Probability analysis indicate a 78.4% chance the Screen are capable of such an action.”

“Luckily, we have a plan,” revealed Julie. “Vish?”

An outline image of the nebula appeared over the table. “The Quix have a comprehensive sensor net deployed along the perimeter of the nebula,” explained Vish as dots representing the satellites appeared over the table. A n’quadrin energy feed can be directed from the power facility on Forn to the nearest satellite, which would spread the energy feed to the other satellites, effectively creating an energy shield.”

“As we know, very little n’quadrin is needed to create a stable energy shield,” added Julie. She was referring to PHOENIX’s new shield system that was powered with n’quadrin.

“There are thousands of satellites,” pointed out Bret. “There’s no way the Quix can modify all of them in time.”

“Only a small number of satellites will need to be retrofitted to establish a shield network,” stated Vish.

“Based on best estimates, the Screen will arrive at the nebula in five days,” said Julie. “We should arrive in three and the Quix should have the shield system up by then.”

“The protectorate has spread the home fleet as much as they can for patrol duty,” said Korifluxinina.

“When we arrive we should deploy our fighter drones to assist with the patrols,” advised Tim.

Julie nodded in agreement. “I’ll want status reports from the relevant departments this afternoon. If nothing else comes up, we’ll reconvene in the morning. Anything else?”

Several of the senior staff were tempted to ask her about John but none of them could bring themselves to inquire about him. It was odd to be planning an engagement without the captain.

“Then you’re all dismissed,” said Julie.