Phoenix Feathers, Part I Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Joss is boss. He is Blue Sun, too, so he owns all of these toys. I just admire them.

***

As Phoenix stood, he looked around at the grassy slopes that rolled over the buried Academy complex. He tried to think of where he was or where he should go, but it was difficult for him to think rationally. He needed to RUN. It was a foreign thought, but it pounded at the very front of his mind-Run!- and he couldn’t quiet it. Run!-No, he mustn’t get caught-Run!¬- again, he had to move quickly, or the ring would close and he would lose his window. He would make for a populated area and-Run!- lose his pursuers in the crowds.

Phoenix could just make out the skyline of a far-off city rising up over the jagged peaks of a mountain range. Despite its distance, he could gauge its immensity, which, coupled with the warmth of the sunlight on his face, meant that he was on one of the Inner Planets. He might have trouble avoiding the authorities, but he wouldn’t have to look too hard for a ride off-world.

Phoenix’s bare feet caressed the rich soil of the plains as he ran towards freedom, the both of which he had not known for years.

***

“Number 82, are you listening to me?”

Phoenix looked up guiltily from his nearly completed assignment in multivariable calculus to see how upset the teacher was this time. He hadn’t been doing anything wrong, unless working ahead was a crime- he had merely failed to look attentive and feign that he was awed by the teacher’s stunning lack of gray matter. He knew that the Academy teachers were a little frightened by their students’ knack for learning, and it was because of this fear that they snapped at any overachievers. The children thought it was ridiculous, and discreetly continued working at an accelerated rate.

Such disobedience came naturally to Phoenix, but his efforts to prove his mathematical independence had now aggravated the situation, making the teacher feel even more impotent than usual. This meant that casually flaunting his prowess would require even more caution in the future.

Phoenix felt like an idiot. He glanced across the room at River and saw that his efforts had been wasted anyway. Her pencil was already back in its place, betraying that she had been finished working well before him. Again.

Phoenix had never really expected to win- River was by far the best student in the program, and everyone knew it. He didn’t resent that fact, for that distinction carried a certain level of responsibility and pressure that he wanted to avoid. She was marvelous to watch, though, and Phoenix was fortunate that they spent so much time together. Indeed, the two of them were nearly inseparable: in a very short time they had started to complete each other’s sentences, and they could now pick up on each other’s emotions from across a room.

In her front row desk, River felt Phoenix’s gaze and shifted imperceptibly in her seat.

~Did you really think that little stunt was going to work?~

She turned around to find the object of the teacher’s ire, and saw him raise an eyebrow fractionally.

~It was worth a try.~ Phoenix passed his hand over his desk, still looking at the teacher. ~Wrote too loud, did I?~

River turned away from him with the ghost of a smile evident on her otherwise placid face, pretending that she hadn’t seen his question.

Yes, she was definitely the best of them, and everyone knew it. What was worse, Phoenix thought, was that she knew it, too. And she could be a real brat about it sometimes. But not really. Never really.

Later in the lesson, the door opened and two men entered the classroom. Phoenix recognized Dr. Barnes, but did not know who the other man was, although he and Barnes seemed to be colleagues. They regarded the students, showing none of the amiability that Phoenix had known on his first day at the Academy. Dr. Barnes didn’t look at him at all, while the other doctor’s gaze immediately sought him out and studied him, cold and calculating.

They met with the teacher, conferring briefly in hushed tones. The two doctors then continued on to wait at the back of the classroom as the instructor finished the lesson. As the unfamiliar doctor passed by Phoenix’s desk, he reached down to leaf through the pages of Phoenix’s worksheet. Seeing the last page incomplete, he raised his eyebrows and looked triumphantly across at Dr. Barnes, who was examining River’s finished paper and was clearly impressed by what he saw.

After the students were dismissed, Phoenix moved to join River at the door, but was intercepted by Dr. Barnes. He led Phoenix aside.

“82, I have to know why you didn’t finish the worksheet. Dr. Mathias has told me that you had gone on somewhat, but not to the end. Why?”

Phoenix considered his response carefully. Telling the truth would damage his standing with the adults if the paced class was a test of some kind, but the way that the instructor had reacted to the doctors’ sudden entrance hinted that it wasn’t. Besides, he felt no shame in losing the race to River. “Teacher took exception to it, wouldn’t let me work at me own pace. Would’ve been done, else.”

Dr. Barnes, relieved, ushered Phoenix over to where River and the doctor Barnes had called Mathias were talking. Mathias, off Barnes’ nod, icily introduced himself to Phoenix, then explained his presence to the two students.

“The Academy is starting a new, accelerated program for advanced students such as yourselves. It has come to our attention that you are being held back in your studies, but this will not be allowed in the new course. Since this project is still in its experimental stages, though, we will have to monitor your progress closely.”

Phoenix was bursting with questions, but he suspected that Dr. Mathias wouldn’t accommodate him. He thought that the new opportunity must have had something to do with the cranial scans that the students had been subjected to a few weeks ago. Phoenix already knew he wasn’t the best student, so he wondered what had made him suitable for the new program.

Seeing Phoenix glance at River, Barnes spoke up.

“You’ll study alone, supervised by Dr. Mathias and myself, but otherwise you’ll be permitted to spend your free time together.”

Neither of the students objected.

“Excellent! You’ll begin by transferring your things to a new dormitory. Dr. Mathias?”

Mathias beckoned for River to accompany him, while Barnes gently restrained Phoenix from following them.

“There’s something else, 82. Some of my colleagues” -he glanced at Mathias’ back- “think that this program may be too difficult for you. You must realize that there is no turning back once you begin, unless you decide to return to Dyton. Are you truly prepared?”

The door closed after River, and Phoenix suddenly felt cut off. He needed to get through the door, and even though he was scared of the doctors and the new program, he nodded.

Barnes smiled. “Good! One other thing: Your designation is no longer number 82. You are now number 04.”

He opened the door for Phoenix and followed him through it into the lonely corridor.

***

Nebula guided the sluggish space freighter into the upper atmosphere with the expertise of a much older pilot. She kept a firm grip on the wheel and steadied the ship as a strong gust of wind buffeted the aging craft. As the vibrations worsened, Nebula realized that they weren’t being caused by the wind. She punched the intercom.

“Cody, looks like a stabilizer malfunction. If you don’t get it locked down, we’ll be rolling around like crazy. Right before we die. Fix it, will you?”

Koyi had been leaving her infirmary when she heard a yell and turned to see the ship’s young mechanic barreling down the corridor towards her. She cursed and pressed herself into a bulkhead to avoid a collision.

By was of explanation, Cody articulated his panicked cry.

“-aaaaaaAAHHthatwassoclosesorrybutshe’scrashingandwe’reallgonnadieeee…” and he was around the bend and out of sight, making for the engine room at top speed.

“Then fix it!” Koyi shouted after him. She took a moment to think darkly about what she’d give to have Cody under her tender care. Right now, though, he was needed. Koyi then realized the full implications of her near-death experience.

“He’s going to fix the ship? He’s…oh, Merciful Buddha, he’s gonna fix the ship!”

Koyi hurriedly went back into the infirmary, locked the doors, found a convenient cabinet, and hid.

Cody managed to slow his pace to just below breakneck speed as he entered the engine room. This was his true home, where he waged an endless battle against the ship’s cantankerous engine. He knew the area like the back of his hand- the only trouble was that the ship never broke down the same way twice, which Monty attributed to Cody’s mechanical genius. Cody, on the other hand, knew that the ship had a will of its own and was merely toying with him. He dove into a mess of wires and was searching for the problem when a gorilla-sized hand grabbed him by the collar and hauled him into the air.

Cody frantically protested, struggling uselessly against Monty’s iron grip.

“It wasn’t me this time, Cap’n, I swear! The stabilizer’s getting too much flow from the engine, and she’s-”

Monty cut him off. “Didn’t I tell you what I’d do if this happened again?” He shoved the smelly, raggedy brown coat under Cody’s nose. “I found the gorramn thing on the bridge, and who coulda put it there, I wonder?” He stared accusingly at the mechanic.

Cody stopped wriggling and gaped at Monty.

“…Are you serious? I mean, we’re kinda…you know, …crashing.” A fresh tremor shook the craft as Monty considered this. Then his lips formed a silent ‘O’ and he shuffled quietly out of the engine room.

Cody had no time to contemplate the ludicrous event, for the situation remained desperate. He grabbed a handful of wires and sorted through them. He needed to cut the feed from the engine to the stabilizer bank, which meant- green, blue, or red wire? There was no time! He set his jaw, closed the wirecutters, and waited.

Nothing happened. And then- nothing continued happening. The severe shaking had subsided, and a sense of calm now radiated from the ship. Cody breathed a sigh of relief and leaned heavily against the engine housing.

…Only to grab at it for purchase as his world turned upside-down. Nebula’s voice came over the intercom, strained and hurried.

“Great job, Cody, we’re not going to break up in atmo anymore. We’re just going to hit the ground really, really hard. Get the gorramn engines back online!”

The ship lurched, sending Cody tumbling onto the far wall. He hit it hard, losing the wirecutters in the process, but he was tossed again before he could recover them. This time he fell next to the stabilizer panel and was quick enough to snatch at it before the ship rolled again. He found the wires that he had been working on and gathered them together.

The ship’s engine fed power to the drive directly through the red wire, but he had severed it by mistake. Cody knew that he had to act immediately to get power flowing through it once again, whatever the risk. Biting his lip, Cody used his thumbnail to strip the plastic insulation off of the green wire, missing the live feed by millimeters. He touched the end of the red wire to the exposed portion of the green one, and was rewarded as the welcome sound of the ship’s drive flaring to life met his ears.

The freighter righted itself and slowed its plummeting descent. But it did not stop falling entirely. Priscilla and Monty looked over Nebula’s head at the huge city that they were rapidly approaching. Too rapidly. Priscilla checked a console, then hailed Port Control.

“Control, this is the Goliath-class freighter Stallion reporting engine trouble.”

The bridge’s speakers crackled with the precise tones of the traffic controller.

“We saw that, Stallion. You are directed to resume your original course to Bay E-12.”

Nebula shook her head violently and made an exploding noise. Priscilla returned her attention to the radio.

“Negative, Control. We’re down to fifty percent power and can’t maneuver real well. We’ve got to ease her down.”

Control considered for a moment. “Affirmative. Activate your hazard beacon and proceed to a landing area. Do not make any unauthorized course changes. Control, out.”

Nebula guided the Stallion over the city safely, but the ship continued to lose altitude at an alarming rate. The crew looked down at the world stretching out beneath them as the harsh lines of Alliance engineering gave way to the jagged peaks of a mountain range. The Stallion’s four turbines could no longer keep the ship aloft, and Nebula gritted her teeth as they sank inexorably towards the rocky ground. They barely cleared the mountains, flying at treetop level over the countryside, the gentle grassy slopes a blur. They came to a short but level open patch of ground immediately preceding a heavily wooded area.

“Get us down,” Priscilla ordered.

“What happens when we hit the trees?” Monty asked.

“We won’t,” said Nebula.

In the history of worst landings, few cases can rival that of the Stallion. It was a jarring, bumping, scraping, screeching affair that lasted for hundreds of meters. The massive spaceship plowed up the soft earth before it in a wave, and skidded on into the woods. Metal rang with the multiple impacts of tree trunks against the hull plating, and anyone on board who wasn’t sitting down was severely shaken. Although it seemed as if it would never stop, the Stallion began slowing down, finally grinding to a halt in a small clearing of shattered branches and splintered trees, miraculously intact.

Nebula leaned back against the pilot’s seat.

“Welcome to Osiris.”

***