CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

David was in his hidden bunker located on his parents’ estate in Richmond, Virginia. His eyes were glued to the monitors. They were all turned on to ELM News. Two hours ago, there was an explosion at the TERRA facility in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. David, who had taken a week’s leave from his duties as assistant to Admiral Theodore Crendell, hurried to his bunker to start eavesdropping on TERRA military channels. He called his friend Billy and they agreed to meet here at the Block estate.

“The latest report has the death toll at sixty-three, with dozens more injured,” reported the journalist at the scene. “Although no official cause of the explosion has been released, rumors are circulating that it may be the work of terrorists. If so, it would be the first terrorist act in almost fifty years.”

“My sensors detect the approach of a male individual,” announced David’s red bot.

David switched one of the monitors to the external camera. Sure enough, it was his friend. He opened the entrance and moments later Billy descended from above.

“Glad you made it,” said David. “TERRA’s on high alert.”

Billy took a seat next to his friend. “Some of my colleagues were recalled back to work. Luckily, I was cleared to stay on leave. I’m up to date on what the news is saying. What’s the word in TERRA?”

“They’ve already confirmed the identities of the perpetrators,” replied David. “Two of them were civilians who were prominent members of the PHOENIX movement. One was actually a TERRA lieutenant who worked at the Santa Cruz operation.”

The PHOENIX movement grew from the growing support of PHOENIX’s mission to find the Screen. In the past few months the movement grew rapidly, due in part to TERRA’s continued insistence the ship had been destroyed. More and more people were calling on both TERRA and the government to support PHOENIX’s mission. That included calls to send TERRA’s capital ships out of the solar system. TERRA refused and even began publicly criticizing the government for doing nothing to rein in the movement.

“Who knows how command is going to react with an officer involved in the bombing,” said Billy. “If John was here, he’d be so happy seeing what’s going on.”

“Forget that,” said David. “TERRA’s pissed. I listened to some communications from the command council…”

“How the hell did you crack into the command council’s communiqués?” asked Billy. He was working at the communications center in Madrid and learned that transmissions to and from the command council was nearly impossible to crack.

“I’ve been eavesdropping for years,” admitted David. “Plus I kind of copied Admiral Crendell’s encryption protocols.”

“David, you’re got to be careful,” warned Billy. “We agreed we weren’t going to do anything reckless.”

“It wasn’t that hard and I was careful,” assured David. “Look, Crendell won’t know a copy was made.”

Billy realized it was too late to give his friend a lecture. When they first started distributing PHOENIX’s transmissions to the news outlets, David was constantly scared they would get caught. Now he seemed to be enjoying this cloak and dagger stuff.

“What did the council say?” asked Billy.

“They’re ordering security to do a comprehensive background check on all officers.”

“That’s nuts,” said Billy. “There’s thousands of officers. It’ll take forever to check everyone.”

“They’re assuming the officers with less years of service may be more apt to join the movement, so they’re starting with the newest officers. Billy, it won’t take long before they get around to investigating us.”

A lump developed in Billy’s throat. A background check scared the hell out of him. Despite his worry he remained calm, mostly to keep his friend from panicking. “So what? They’re not going to find anything on us. We’ll just have to be even more careful.”

David looked nervous. “I don’t know, Billy.”

“We can’t quit now even if you want. If we stop the distribution of PHOENIX’s transmissions, it may be enough to end the movement. As long as people know PHOENIX is looking for the Screen, the movement will continue putting pressure on the government and TERRA.”

“I wish they hurry up and complete the mission,” said David.

“Maybe we can give them an incentive,” offered Billy. “Why couldn’t we try sending them a message, let them know what’s going on back home?”

“I thought you said we shouldn’t be reckless,” said David. “And we wouldn’t even know where to send the transmission.”

“I know it’s a long shot,” admitted Billy. “What if we directed the transmission towards the last location in their last message. If they’re still roaming around in the same general area they might pick it up.”

“It’s possible,” as David thought over the possibility. “We can use the same technique to mask the signal as background radiation to get it out of the solar system undetected. But they wouldn’t expect a message from us. How would they even know to look for it?”

“There’s no guarantee,” said Billy. “I’m willing to try but I won’t do it unless you’re on board.”

David weighed their options. He spent the last year and a half scared they would be caught and thrown in prison. Sending a message out was risky but Billy was right. It was because of them that there even was a PHOENIX movement.

“Ok, let’s do it,” agreed David.

“Whoa! Hold on!” Billy heard something on one of TERRA’s security channels. He turned it up.

“Repeat! All security officers in the South American region are to converge on Santa Cruz and institute a curfew immediately.”

David was really scared now. “Oh shit! They’re instituting martial law.”

********

President Butu had been monitoring the situation in Bolivia from her office. Ever since the assassination attempt on her life several months ago, she cancelled all travel engagements and remained in Sydney at the request of Earth Security. They wanted to minimize the risk of another attempt on her life.

Staff were going in and out of her office, reporting any information they had about the explosion in Bolivia. It seemed new information was coming through by the minute.

“Has TERRA verified the explosion was an attack by PHOENIX movement members?” asked Butu.

“Their forensics team have already processed the scene and verified that conclusion,” replied Earth Security Commander Greg Merrison. He had a team conducting covert surveillance on TERRA in Bolivia. It wasn’t hard to do as TERRA was preoccupied with keeping people out of the area.

“I understand people’s frustration but I cannot condone any violence that harms civilians or military officers,” said Butu. She had hoped the movement’s pressure on TERRA would convince the command council to admit PHOENIX was operating in space. She never expected, or wanted, violence.

“Has anyone else been arrested?” asked Charles.

“No,” replied Merrison. “But I suspect there won’t be any more arrests. They’ve already raided the homes of the three perpetrators and the evidence seems to indicate only the suicide attackers were the ones who planned and executed the attack.”

The president wasn’t buying it. “I have a hard time believing two civilians and a single officer could infiltrate a military facility.”

“Security’s tight when it comes to civilians,” said Merrison. “But not so much with officers. I don’t think TERRA ever expected one of their own to turn on them.” His earpiece beeped an incoming message. “Excuse me, Madam President.”

“It goes without saying that you’ll need to address the public,” Charles said to the president.

“A statement by me won’t be enough in this instance. The public will expect action. I may need to give in to such a demand.”

“What would you do?” asked Charles.

Butu quickly went over in her head any options she might have available but came up empty-handed. “I don’t know.”

“Excuse me, Madam President,” said Merrison. “I just got word that TERRA is sending their security officers to institute martial law in Santa Cruz.”

“Who authorized such action?” asked Butu. She was shocked by the information.

“It’s a direct order from the command council,” replied Merrison. “They’re also planning to investigate and search anyone who was associated with the three dead attackers.”

Such an aggressive response without the authorization of the president was beyond contemptible. Butu had treaded carefully with the command council for months. She didn’t want to reveal to the public the rift between the government and TERRA. Even when they discovered her would-be assassin was a TERRA officer who had prior contact with the command council, she refused to confront them. Although they had no conclusive proof, it was apparent the council had sent an officer in to kill Butu and disrupt the government. Many of her staff, including Charles, recommended the council be dismantled and charged with treason. Butu held her ground. She looked at the big picture. TERRA was so insulated that removing the council risked the entire organization turning on the government. She wanted to wait for the right moment to remove the council from power. The actions they were taking now was something she couldn’t ignore.

Butu looked to her chief of staff. “It seems TERRA has chosen my response. Send a message to the command council that they’re to cease their attempt of imposing martial law in Santa Cruz. Any TERRA officer who tries to carry out those orders will be arrested by Earth Security. If they resist, Earth Security has orders to open fire.” She looked at Merrison. “Commander, I believe you have your orders.”

Merrison and Charles looked at one another nervously. “Understood, Madam President,” said Merrison.

Charles waited for the commander to leave before he spoke up. “Madam President, if TERRA forces the issue, it could turn into a bloodbath. It could even destroy your presidency.”

“I understand the risk,” replied Butu. “But allowing martial law could also destroy my presidency as well. It’s my responsibility to protect the people who elected me. I won’t allow their civil liberties to be compromised.”

“I just wanted to clarify the situation,” said Charles. “I didn’t mean to question your actions.”

“You’ve worked in politics for many years,” said Butu. “You’re not used to a politician putting the people’s needs above their own.”

Charles couldn’t help but smile at her humor. “Yes, Madame President. If I may be so bold, you’re not like other politicians. That’s why I crossed party lines and agreed to work for you.”

“We have our work cut out for us the next few days. Notify the press I’ll be issuing a statement on this matter. I also want to take that opportunity to make it clear to TERRA that martial law will not be tolerated at all.”

Charles nodded and left to get things arranged. The president turned and looked out the window. It was hard to imagine that the departure of one starship had created so much upheavel here.

********

On Luna, Admiral Vespia left the command council meeting shortly after they convened. She used the excuse of consulting with her officers regarding the situation on Earth to skip out on the meeting. She wasn’t surprise when the council later contacted her with the order to impose martial law in Bolivia. For her, it worked out perfectly. Since she wasn’t in the council chambers, she never officially voted to impose martial law. When the order was sent to her, she had the message automatically rerouted to her officers on Earth. Therefore, if the situation turned badly for TERRA, it would appear that the command council circumvented her and sent the order directly to her subordinates. It would appear that she was the only command council member who was never involved in the decision.

The head of security sealed herself in her office and activated various security screens to ensure she wasn’t being spied on. She pulled up a list of the deceased crew members of the PHOENIX. The ship had been providing the names of those crew members who had died during its travels in their transmissions to Earth. Vespia was impressed that the causalities were low. John Roberts was apparently faring well commanding the starship with no experience.

One of the last transmissions had the name of Marcus Sandoval listed as one of deceased. His name got her attention. Sandoval was the spy she sent into the EXODUS Project years ago to monitor Admiral Johnson’s activities. Seeing his name brought back long buried memories.

It was that one and only trip Vespia made to the Tormented Valley. She was a commodore at the time. She spent many hours touring various military installations. The command council assumed her visit was to assess the state of the EXODUS Project. Vespia didn’t go to evaluate the project but to see someone dear to her heart…

********

The desolate-looking valley was littered with housing modules surrounding the construction arena. The massive frame of the ship sat in the center of all the various shaped modules. Although most of the ship’s hull had been applied, it wasn’t yet ready for habitation. Project members lived in the housing modules that sat around the ship.

Although she had been provided the latest status reports on the project, she didn’t read them. Her mind was too focused on personal issues to be bothered with military affairs. It wasn’t until the shuttle landed that the bump shook her from her deep thought.

It was bitter cold, even with wearing thermal clothes. Luckily, the shuttle landed right next to the module that was the commodore’s destination. Vespia darted from her shuttle for a quick run to the module. She banged on the door as hard as she could to get the inhabitants attention.

The door opened, revealing Admiral Johnson. He showed little reaction to seeing Vespia and seemed unaffected by the chill blowing inside. “Pulled some strings to come here, did you? Even rules governing classified projects mean nothing to you, Karla.”

“The council gave me permission to see you, given that we were married,” replied Vespia.

“Were married,” emphasized Johnson. “You’re no longer afforded special privileges in that regard. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no different than any other officer.”

“We lost a son,” Vespia reminded him. “I’ve been worried about you. You haven’t shown any emotion about his death. You refused to give a eulogy at his funeral.”

Johnson poured a glass of brandy and took a drink. “I wasn’t going to pretend that I was proud of what he did.”

Vespia disagreed with him. “You should be. He gave his life in the service of TERRA.”

Oliver blew up. He threw his glass against the wall and it shattered. “He threw his life away for nothing! It was stupid! What’s worse is you encouraged him to do it!”

“I tried talking him out of it,” explained Vespia. “I begged and pleaded with him to reconsider. But he was committed to going through with it. For him, it was the ultimate sacrifice he could to give TERRA. When I realized I couldn’t dissuade him I chose to support him.”

“And who’s decision was it to keep it from me?” demanded Johnson.

“Kory asked the council not to tell you,” said Vespia. “I had to respect his wishes.”

“Bullshit! You knew I’d be against it,” countered Johnson. “It was bad enough the council concealed it from me but for my own wife…”

“I wanted to tell you,” interrupted Vespia. “But Kory made me promise. He was an officer and I was duty-bound to honor his request.”

“TERRA, TERRA, TERRA. That’s all you care about,” said Johnson. “You’ll give them anything they want.”

“You know how hard it was sitting there and watching him fly to Mars?” asked Vespia. “I wanted to scream for him to stop, to turn around and come home. But I couldn’t. How could I face him if I would have shattered his dream?”

“His dream was his death!” said Johnson. “You know how hard it was getting the news of his death a day later?”

“Oliver, please…

But Johnson had enough of her explanations. “To hell with TERRA and to hell with you! You let your own ambition blind you. Kory threw his life away! His death is just another notch on your belt as you climb the ladder.”

“That’s not true,” replied Vespia.

“Yes, it is,” countered Johnson. “Your son was nothing but a means to an end for you.”

“Then why don’t you tell that to the council!” yelled Vespia. She couldn’t hold back her feelings, not when Oliver was blaming her. “Tell them what you think and they’ll drum you out of the service.”

Johnson waved his hand away at her. “I’m not going to give them the satisfaction. But mark my words, before I leave TERRA I’ll make sure it changes. I won’t allow them to continue to sacrifice the lives of good men and women.” he marched past Vespia to the front door. “I expect you to be gone when I get back. I never want to see you again!”

He slammed the door, leaving Vespia alone. She had hoped to come to some sort of reconciliation with Oliver. She realized now this was all a mistake. Her presence only served to anger him more about their son’s death.

She looked around the house and spotted a familiar sight on the bookshelf. She went over and pulled a weathered brown leather book off the bookcase. It was Oliver’s journal. He started it when he first entered TERRA. He used the journal to document his personal observations of people and his experiences in TERRA. Reading it would be a huge invasion of privacy. Oliver never allowed Vespia to read it when they were married. Given his behavior, she felt justified her action to read it. She needed to know what her ex-husband was thinking.

Vespia opened the book and turned to the last entry and read the following:

“The funeral was nothing more than a show. I could only sit and listen as each council member spoke and extolled Kory’s virtues. They didn’t even know him, yet there they stood acting like they were involved in his life. What hurt more was watching Karla following their footsteps. She acted as if what Kory did was honorable. She was his mother. But I’m no better. How many funerals did I speak at where I praised the pilot for choosing to fly past Mars? I’m just as guilty as the council for allowing this charade to continue. It took the death of my son to open my eyes and finally realize what we’re doing is wrong.

“No more. I won’t continue to go along with any of this. TERRA is convinced that staying within the solar system won’t aggravate the Screen. I think we’re on borrowed time. Eventually, they will act against us. I’ll never be able to convince the council otherwise. As much as I want to I can’t move against the council, at least not directly. But this EXODUS Project will give me the means to carry out my plans. It’s going to take years and hopefully the Screen won’t do anything until I’m ready. My only regret will be that more pilots will die before I’m ready to launch this ship. But when I do, EXODUS will have the capability to fight back against the Screen and defeat them. I’ll make sure of it.”

It was at that moment Vespia realized what Oliver was planning. Reading that entry had finally opened her eyes as well. She decided that she would do everything she could to ensure he carried out his plan. She wouldn’t be able to return to the project to check his progress. The council wouldn’t allow it. All she could do was monitor Johnson’s activities as best she could.

********

When she was promoted to head of security she finally had the means to conduct proper covert surveillance: Marcus Sandoval. Not only was he one of the finest intelligence officer but a patriot to TERRA. She used his skills to penetrate the EXODUS Project and report on the activities there. His patriotism was a problem but the solution was simple. All she had to do was feed into his loyalty. She told him that Johnson had planned to turn the EXODUS starship from a refuge for humanity’s best and brightest to a warship to fight the Screen. It was his job to monitor and report the project’s activities to her so she could communicate to the council what was really going on down there. Of course she never reported anything. The council was unaware that she even had an operative in the project. And Marcus was so loyal he never once questioned Vespia.

When PHOENIX left Earth, she worried that Sandoval might try to sabotage the ship. He sent a coded transmission alerting her of the launch. She was able to reply one last time and told him not to do anything until he heard from her. She had hoped to pull him from the ship before it launched but the project went on lockdown and she couldn’t get him out. After the ship left Earth, TERRA reacted so quickly she couldn’t risk communicating with her agent while PHOENIX was leaving the system.

So what happened to cause Sandoval’s death? She found it odd that he was the only decedant with no explanation included in the transmission as to how he died. Had he been uncovered as a spy? Or did something happen to him that John Roberts determined should remain classified? If his identity was uncovered, Vespia wasn’t concerned that he would reveal his orders. He was her best agent. No amount of torture would have compelled him to talk. For now, it would remain a mystery until PHOENIX returned…, if the ship ever returned.

Her computer beeped and the display automatically rose up from the desk. Her security sensors had picked up a faint energy emission. The signal was odd. It was something she had never seen before. It seemed to be coming from somewhere in North America.

She fiddled with the sensors to get a more accurate reading. Although she was a command council member she kept the skills she learned in TERRA sharp with practice. It paid off as she found something. “Well, look what we have here,” as she smiled. Another opportunity had just presented itself.