The Phoenix Reckoning (The Phoenix Conspiracy Series Book 6) Read Free

reaction is much the same as the Commander’s,” said Nimoux, getting Calvin’s attention. “Aleator does not seem like an ideal place for repairs, taking on soldiers, or really much of anything, to be honest.”
    “Calvin, have you lost your mind?” asked Summers. He was glad to see her emotional side break through her armor of disciplined etiquette and protocol, and Calvin never minded when his officers legitimately raised concerns with his orders. That helped him to keep giving good ones.
    “I assure you my mind is quite intact and accounted for,” he said, turning back to face Summers.
    “Then, please explain,” she folded her arms and looked at him skeptically.
    “The last time we had soldiers on this ship,” said Calvin, “they were a combination of professional Special Forces operatives, under the command of Captain Pellew, and several mercenaries on loan from Raidan—four of which we still have. Then, in a moment of crisis, when you needed to trust your soldiers to execute your orders and destroy the isotome missile, they instead mutinied and took over the ship. The mercenaries only cared about what Raidan was paying them, and the Special Forces soldiers were faithful to their CO, Captain Pellew. I don’t think I have to remind you,” he looked now to Nimoux, whose bandages clearly showed that he was still recovering from a gunshot wound, “that having untrustworthy soldiers can be a very dangerous thing.”
    Nimoux nodded. “I quite agree,” he said. “Which is why it is, and always has been, my recommendation that we make port in a system deeply loyal to Her Majesty and only approve soldiers loyal to her.”
    “I’m of the exact same opinion,” said Summers. “I don’t want more soldiers from Raidan aboard this ship any more than you do, probably less even, but the choice isn’t between mercenaries from Raidan and whatever riff-raff we can find frequenting the bars and casinos of Aleator.”
    “Thank you, both of you, for your counsel,” said Calvin. “However, my mind is made up on this. I have decided that I only want soldiers whose loyalty I can control. Whose loyalty I have bought. I want them loyal to me and to this mission, not soldiers loyal to Raidan, not soldiers loyal to the queen, and not soldiers loyal to Caerwyn. Because, were I to take on more soldiers who owe loyalties higher than to this ship and this mission, the people who control them will always be able to capture this ship, or take command of our mission, and we, the crew, would be helpless to stop them.”
    “But, are we not loyal subjects of Queen Akira?” asked Nimoux.
    “I favor her claim to the throne, yes,” said Calvin. “That does not mean I want to invite her to be able to interfere with our operations. And if we bring aboard some twenty of her soldiers, then she will always be able to make the decisions about what we do—if she should exercise that option.”
    “But, begging your pardon, Calvin, is that not our duty?” asked Nimoux. “Are we not on this mission at her command?”
    “She may have commanded us…she may have allowed us, I’m not sure which,” said Calvin. “But we are on this mission to uncover the truth, whatever it is, and then expose that truth to the galactic public. That is our mission, and if any part of it ever becomes inconvenient for the queen, or Caerwyn, or Raidan, or anyone else, because of what we uncover, I do not wish to have a garrison full of their soldiers aboard this ship.”
    “I see,” said Nimoux. “Then I suppose I misunderstood the mission parameters.”
    “As did I,” added Summers, not too happily.
    “I know that while I was away and you were chasing after the missing isotome weapons, you were close to the civil war and probably got a lot of news about it,” said Calvin. “I don’t doubt you saw vids of the horrors, read casualty lists, probably even lost friends and loved ones in those battles.
    “But you have to trust me when I tell you that