Sons of the Phoenix Read online

  Sons of the Phoenix

  Part One

  A novel by

  Joseph Mackay

  Sons of the Phoenix

  Part One

  Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Mackay

  Cover Design by Niki Kangas

  Edited by Travis McGaughey

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be re-produced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trade-marked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trade-marks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  To Connor and Alex

  For whom there are no limits

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Draft

  Chapter 2: Goodbyes

  Chapter 3: Initiation

  Chapter 4: Here and There

  Chapter 5: Soldiers

  Chapter 6: Blue Army

  Chapter 7: Departure

  Chapter 8: Opening Doors

  Chapter 9: Changes

  Chapter 10: Limitations

  Chapter 11: Skoll

  Chapter 12: Learning

  Chapter 13: Secrets

  Chapter 14: A Long Way to Run

  Chapter 15: Echoes of Yesterday

  Chapter 16: The No Win Scenario

  Chapter 17: Deception

  Chapter 18: Hati

  Chapter 19: The Fine Line

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Prologue

  The world had changed.

  By 2051, mankind had drained the earth of its fossil fuels. For years, humanity’s best scientists looked for alternative forms of energy to help sustain life on Earth. Many technologies were created, but all were insufficient to satisfy man’s rate of consumption.

  In 2075, physicist Paul Samson and his team made a breakthrough in slipstream technology. Their method of increasing the speed of particles faster than light created a way to harness and stabilize wormholes through space and time. It wasn’t long before the team discovered ways to follow the particles through these folds in space-time.

  Probes were sent out first and, soon after, manned exploratory flights, searching for habitable planets and other viable resources. In 2095, the first colony vessels were sent through slipstream portals to various star systems to establish livable conditions on habitable planets and report on the level of available resources. Most colonies performed their function as best they could with limited interaction with the United Earth Defense Force, the collaboration of Earth’s nations and governments.

  Excited about the possibilities of exploring the galaxy and developing other worlds, the majority of the population became complacent, satisfied to let the global government use these worlds to help them sustain human life. Over the years, however, the people grew restless, unsure of the progress of the colonies, unsure of the future.

  Then the Gortha attacked. They were a race of evil, lizard-like humanoids that possessed superior technology and a hunger for planetary resources. In 2115, in response to the Gortha threat, the UEDF was taken over by the global military under the command of General Harruhama, who sat at the head of the Earth Military Council (EMC).

  The people lived in fear of humanity’s new enemy, getting sporadic media reports from the front lines of the battle. In order to help battle the alien race, the EMC opened the OMBIcademy, enlisting children into military service. Children, with their developing brains, had proven much more capable in utilizing new synapse-sync technologies, which fused growing brain functions with operating computers, allowing users to experience combat, piloting, and operating functions with the speed of thought.

  Humanity was all too willing to offer its brightest children to their government to protect the human race, all in the name of the greater good.

  Chapter 1

  Draft

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” Major Sanders asked the dark figure on the other side of the video display.

  The shadowed face answered in a menacingly distorted voice, “How else are we going to get at them, Major Sanders? We cannot win if they hold all the cards.”

  “I still don’t understand how this plan is going to work,” Sanders stated, more to himself than to the figure on the screen. Sanders did not like taking orders he didn’t understand.

  “Perform your task and we will take care of the rest. The more you know, the more dangerous it will be. Understand this is for the greater good.”

  “He is only ten! Christ, they’re all just children!” Sanders lamented aloud. His words came out with a snarl, a last effort to appeal to any sense of conscience.

  “Of course, I know that. We cannot afford to wait any longer. They grow bolder with each passing year. Just do it, Sanders.” The video call abruptly ended.

  Major Edmond Sanders sat staring at the video screen in his AX-11 utility vehicle for a long while after the conversation ended. He had never thought of himself as a particularly brave man, joining the military as an officer right out of college at the age of twenty-two. Now forty-seven, Major Sanders had a lot of reservations about the current string of events unfolding in the galaxy. Ever since the “2115 Incident,” as it was referred to by the Earth media, Sanders had watched the military grow in power and influence. For the last six years, he had witnessed events that made him numb.

  Now sitting on a quiet country road on a Saturday afternoon, he was going to deliver a draft notice to a ten-year-old boy, a boy who would become a UEDF soldier and probably go on to die fighting a war in space.

  He pulled out his onboard computer and began to type. “Connor Pereira, DOB: 2111-02-05, UPIN: CMP-2111-M-02.” The computer pulled up the boy’s information immediately and began printing the conscription notice.

  Sanders looked at himself for a moment in the rearview mirror of his AX-11 and took a deep breath. As he took the notification in hand, he growled under his breath, “God help us all.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Connor’s tenth birthday party was in full swing at the Mercer Estate, a fifty-acre property sixty miles north of San Francisco, in Healdsburg, California. The estate’s eight-foot rock wall enclosed the entire property, including the large main house that was often described in architectural circles as “a temple to man’s virtues,” using hard angles to accentuate the strength of the materials used to build it. The long driveway up to the house was adorned with large sculptures of legendary figures striking heroic poses. They were the collection of William Mercer, who purchased them almost exclusively from the Cordair Art Institute. William had designed the house and landscaping of the property with the sculptures in mind, knowing that the institute’s unparalleled work would emphasize the strength and
beauty of the architecture and the land. Everyone who had ever visited the estate had been left with a feeling of inspiration of man’s greatest achievements or a feeling of annoyance over the owner’s considerable ego.

  The children at the party were playing outside near a large swimming pool, which featured a long waterslide exiting through a tall waterfall that cascaded down from a rocky swell, where a hot tub sat steaming like the caldera of a volcano.

  “Their own little paradise, to enjoy all alone,” one of the guests said a bit too loudly. Elena March had never been a woman of subtly or wit.

  William Mercer stood by the grill, cooking hamburgers for his guests, wondering, not for the first time, why he had invited the Marches to the party. The festivities had been enjoyable until Austin March’s mother started drinking and began with the snide comments and personal praise. William sighed, resolving to not let himself become irritated.

  He was a lean and muscular man, with slightly thinning brown hair. The edges of his temples had become gray over the last few years, as did spots of his trimmed goatee. He would have appeared handsome except for the cold, hard edge around his dark-blue eyes. He stood out from the crowd, not because he was tall or particularly well dressed, but because of the intensity of his demeanor. He scanned the clusters of partygoers as they mingled about the grounds, measuring the way they carried themselves and listening to how they spoke with the people around them. He had a way of gauging the people he encountered, something he had learned as a boy. “Always looking for gold,” as his grandfather would say. “But sadly, I’m still broke.”

  He stood upright in a relaxed sort of way. He always appeared relaxed, no matter where he was. It was as if the entire world had belonged to him or, perhaps, he belonged in the world.

  A man of some repute in the Bay Area, William had designed several homes and buildings in the city before retiring at the age of thirty-six. The death of his wife had taken a heavy toll on him, and his priority became raising his stepson, Connor, into a man his mother would be proud of.

  The doorbell took William’s mind away from his increasingly irritating party guests. He deftly set the grill to an automatic function, which would flip and serve the hamburgers when they were ready. He passed by quiet groups of guests, who had just been talking about him, on his way into the house. He crossed through the long, hardwood hallway and into the foyer, to answer the knock on the large, oak door.

  He opened the front door to find himself standing face to face with a man in a military uniform. The man was nearly two inches taller than William, with a head of completely gray hair and a face that appeared to belong to a wild animal more than a man. William was familiar enough with the United Earth Defense Force to be able to identify the man’s rank.

  “What can I do for you, Major...” William began.

  “Sanders,” the Major replied. “I am here to deliver this.”

  Major Sanders handed William a slip of green paper, officially sealed by the UEDF. William stepped outside, onto the front landing, and shut the oak door.

  “What the hell kind of sick joke is this?” William asked, with tempered anger.

  Sanders was not normally intimidated, but he found himself taking a step backward, unsettled by the threateningly calm tone.

  “It is no joke. As you are his legal guardian, I am here to inform you—” Sanders began.

  “I can see that it’s a draft notice, but what makes you think I’ll let you take him?” William interrupted, anger building in his voice. “—that your ward, Connor Matthew Pereira, is to report for duty on Saturday, February twelfth, by order of the Earth Military Council of the United Earth Defense Force,” Sanders finished, despite the interruption.

  “And if he doesn’t?” William said in an icy tone.

  Major Sanders remained silent.

  “I am going to say this once and I want you to really listen to me, Major. God damn the UEDF and the council straight to the pits of Hell. When I see you there, I will make you pay for this for an eternity.”

  Major Sanders accepted the idle threat without flinching, even though technically it was illegal to speak of the council in a negative or aggressive manner.

  Sanders locked eyes with William and said quietly, “I’m sorry,” before turning and departing the estate.

  William fought back the wave of despair that followed the feelings of bitter helplessness. He had no idea what he was going to say to Connor or what he was going to do without him. For William Mercer, the galaxy was closing in around him too fast and he wondered how he would survive the collapse.

  ~ ~ ~

  “I’m not going!” Connor shouted from the hallway.

  “I don’t think they are giving us a choice, Connor,” William said with a disheartened look in his eyes. “This is a mandate from the council.”

  “I’m still not going!” the boy screamed back with a shake of his head that tossed his mop of brown hair from side to side.

  It was all a show, of course. Connor’s chocolate-brown eyes betrayed his acceptance of the fact that he’d be gone within a week and nothing he, nor his stepfather, could do would change that.

  He had been listening at the door since it closed, his anger building as the conversation between his stepfather and the Major concluded. Left inside, he felt a hot rage at the idea that someone other than he would decide his fate.

  Connor’s mother had died six years prior, while on assignment. Captain Marlena Mercer was flying an Anubis Class Fighter, escorting the colonization freighter, Andromeda, to the Hourglass Nebula colony when they were attacked by the Gortha, an evil race of “cold-blooded humanoids,” as the evening holotube reports had explained.

  That attack started the Gortha War and had led to a military coup of the UEDF government, which the majority of the citizens had supported.

  The day after Marlena’s funeral, Connor’s older brother, Alex, enlisted into the UEDF at the age of ten. William would have tried to stop him, but after the funeral, weeks had gone by before he could pull himself out of despair enough to function normally. Alex had told them both that he had something to prove to himself. Their father left when Alex was five and, after his mother died in the line of duty, no one doubted that Alex had some demons. It had been a tragic day for the family in so many ways that neither William nor Connor had ever fully recovered.

  William had been left to raise Connor alone and had done so as if the boy were his own son. He had made raising that child his life’s work, out of love and as a way to cope with the pain of losing his wife to a faceless enemy and one of his adopted sons in the aftermath. He had done everything he could to prepare Connor for the day he would leave to be his own man. He did not, however, expect that day to come on Connor’s tenth birthday.

  Several years before, the Holotube news had announced that the military would be drafting high-ability adolescents due to the neural growth patterns. Growing minds proved more receptive to mental augmentation and virtual battlefields. William had explained to Connor, while watching that report, that the government was using technology to grab more power and reach further into the lives of the citizens.

  The fact that his birthday party was interrupted with the delivery of a draft notification left Connor hating the world.

  “I don’t know what to say to you, Connor, but I know that you are going to make your mother proud,” William said, with a subtle wince at the mention of his wife.

  Connor noticed the wince and felt his anger quickly melt into sympathy for his stepfather. “I will make her proud,” he said quietly. “I would have, even if I didn’t get drafted.”

  “I know it. Who knows? Maybe you will run into Alex. The last time he wrote he was on Station Sigma, orbiting Mars.”

  Connor thought a moment. “By the time I am in orbit, Alex will be out of the academy. Besides, I can’t even remember what he looks like,” Connor said sadly, while looking over at an old photo on the wall of the two boys playing baseball together.

  It wa
s almost more than William could handle. “Let’s get back to your party.”

  “Okay,” Connor said, remembering that he had kids over to play with. The idea that they started playing games without him only aggravated Connor’s irritation.

  ~ ~ ~

  The tone of the party was somber after the draft notification arrived. Most of Connor’s friends didn’t know what to say to him and he wasn’t offering any explanations. At that moment, he hated the Earth Military Council and everyone in the room. He especially hated his friend Johnny Perez, whom he suspected took back the gift card that his parents had brought. Connor could just hear the excuse, “Well you weren’t going to get to use it anyway.”

  Seeing Connor’s tension grow, William suggested that they play a game of Hide and Seek.

  He watched the kids take their positions while halfheartedly listening to the other parents talk about the unfairness of it all. Johnny’s parents were the worst, complaining about how the election process of councilmen had been rigged to give the military more power and how they would never allow Johnny to be drafted.

  William watched curiously as Connor hid under a gazebo in the backyard of his estate, followed by Johnny. They had known each other since their first year of school and Johnny always seemed to follow Connor around. As Marlena used to say, “Everyone is drawn to that boy’s light.”

  “We should petition the council. Surely they won’t force us to give up our children if we all write letters together!”

  The tirade was lost on William as he watched Connor settle into position opposite Johnny under the gazebo. Meanwhile, Mary Atherton, who was “it,” was finishing her countdown.

  “Yeah … maybe,” was all he replied, not really interested in rants that offered no viable actions.

  “Maybe?!” came the predictable retort. “My brother-in-law is an attorney for the state and he can present our case! His fees aren’t too high and I won’t charge much for introducing you two!”