Phoenix Feathers, Part II Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Joss is Boss, and…and…and all these ideas floating around in my head are mostly his doing. So it’s really just a lesser version of something that he could do much better. And I personally wouldn’t have any complaints if he did…

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“You understand that these are very serious allegations against you, Doctors.”

From his vantage point at the front of the chamber, Andre Titus crossed his arms and watched Barnes and Mathias squirm over the Corvue screen. It was close to a week after the twin escapes on Osiris, and each passing day lessened the Academy’s chances for successful retrievals by an order of magnitude. The strain of the situation had aged Mathias perceptibly, a change which could be clearly seen over the Cortex by the dozen or so Parliamentary officials who were looking on.

It had taken Titus over a day to get through the tangle of bureaucratic procedural rubbish that formed a buffer between the Interplanetary Parliament and the ‘Verse. He had been bounced between different offices in a fashion more practiced than that of a professional Voidball team.

After proffering his credentials to a lesser government official for perhaps the seventh time, he had been taken aside to a small briefing room to be questioned. No sooner did his interviewer glance at his papers, however, than he was ushered from the room and deeper into the gargantuan building that made up the Chambers of Parliament. He was then brought before a uniformed man who appeared to have the proper clearance level.

Titus was greeted cordially by this officer, but as the Chief Supervisor told of the thefts at the Academy, he was told to shut up and was moved again. After being escorted by a squad of Parliamentary MPs to a small, disused room in the lowest levels of the building, the officer allowed Titus to continue his story, after which he organized the investigatory committee which Titus now found himself a central part of.

The senior Parliamentary minister who was leading the investigation held the rank of Admiral. He wore his dress uniform with the pride of a war hero, and judging by the number of medals on his chest, certainly had done his duty to the Alliance over many lengthy campaigns. He leaned forward in his seat and clasped his hands together on the large table that dominated the room as Mathias’ face shivered with a nervous tic. Titus sat to the Admiral’s left, while on his right sat a scribe who tapped furiously with an ornate stylus at the small screen that rested before her.

Mathias nodded his head obediently. “Yes, of course, sir. But I- we’ve done nothing to merit this inquest. What are we being charged with?”

“You’re not being charged, Doctor. Not yet. We are trying to see if there is any truth behind the rumors” –here the Admiral glanced sideways at Titus, whose lips tightened- “of a subject escaping from your facility.”

Barnes had the nerve to look shocked at the news. “Escape? No, sir. All our subjects are as they were, and the program is still meeting its projected deadlines.”

The Admiral continued, looking again at Titus. The Chief Supervisor’s mouth was open in indignation, his head slowly shaking back and forth. “Subject 03 in particular was brought to my attention. She has not left the facility?”

Barnes looked at Mathias, whose face had calmed once more. The 03 Project head looked straight at Titus for a moment, then turned back to the Admiral.

“On the contrary, sir. She is now undergoing one of her final treatments. River Tam is our greatest success, and the girl’s progress is monitored very closely. However, we cannot allow any interruptions at this phase of her development.”

Barnes nodded in agreement, a pained expression on his face, and the Admiral sat back in his chair.

Titus could hear whispers starting in the chamber behind him. The Chief Supervisor spoke for the first time during the hearing, his lip curled. “So it is your word against mine, is it? I don’t suppose you have any evidence to back up your preposterous denials?”

“We don’t allow any recorded taping of our subjects-” Barnes began, but Titus cut him off.

“Actually, we do.” The Chief Supervisor turned to face the chairman of the committee, a grim smile on his face.

“As per your instructions, Admiral, Parliament receives a weekly report on our subjects’ progress. This report includes recorded assessment sessions of our top students with various Academy personnel, who monitor the extent of the subjects’ behavioral conditioning, as well as their mental and physical health. Admiral, have you received a report from us this week?”

The Admiral shook his head. “I have not.” He questioning eyes on the rest of the committee, and each of them shook their heads or murmured that they had not. The Admiral turned back to the Corvue.

“Gentlemen, can you explain this lapse in procedure to us?”

Mathias gulped, but Barnes stepped in. “I believe I can, sir.”

The Admiral nodded for him to continue, and Titus held his breath.

“A week ago this installation underwent an unscheduled, full electronics blackout, known as a Freeze. This procedure was developed as a safety measure to protect the Academy against detection from uninvited guests. A week ago, this base was almost discovered.”

Barnes nodded to Mathias, who reached off-screen. Seconds later, data began streaming over the Cortex channel, and a new Corvue window opened up. Titus, the Admiral, and the rest of the observers watched as a two-dimensional representation of a bulky spaceship rotated before them.

“It appears that a Goliath-class space freighter crash-landed a matter of kilometers away from us, effecting rudimentary repairs before breaking atmo again. Based on our investigation, we have reason to believe that this was a smuggler’s ship, and faked a catastrophic malfunction to make rendezvous with an unknown party and exchange goods. They spent approximately twelve hours at the landing site before escaping just ahead of local patrol craft.”

“Twelve hours?” the Admiral exploded. He glared at Titus. “What became of our state-of-the-art security?”

“Well, Admiral, it is likely that the local Federals were hesitant to enter a Blackout Zone. If this scenario actually occurred, then they would have had to cut through a lot of red tape in order to get clearance.”

“If it happened, Titus? It did happen!” the Admiral’s nostrils flared.

“As you say, sir, but this has no bearing on the missing rep- on the missing students!” Titus’ fists balled beneath the table.

“If I may interject,” interjected Barnes, “it explains everything.” He ignored Titus’ derisive snort and continued, his hands clasped behind his back.

“During this twelve-hour Freeze, no broadwaves were received or sent from the Academy. All of the logs were blank. In a largely automated system, such as the one we have at this facility, we cannot correct such matters. In any case, you did not receive this week’s report because it was queued to be sent during the Freeze.”

The Admiral stroked his chin. “So you’re saying that this was the fault of the Academy’s mainframe computer system?”

“Well, it’s hardly to blame, sir. It was just following its programming, and quite handily at that.”

“So do you have a report for us?” asked the Admiral pleasantly.

Barnes froze for a split second. He looked uncertainly over at Mathias, and Titus grinned. To his surprise, Mathias nodded and smiled back at the Admiral.

“Of course we do, sir. But I’m afraid that it’s this week’s report, as last week’s is buried somewhere in Archives. I trust that will be acceptable?”

“Yes, quite acceptable,” the Admiral agreed.

“Very well, then, sir.” The doctor nodded, then walked out of their range of vision, although he still spoke to them as he fiddled with the Situation Room’s Communications console.

“One moment, please. Beginning uplink…now.”

Mathias stepped back into the Corvue screen’s field of vision, standing tall as he addressed the committee.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Alliance owes you, our benefactors, a great debt of thanks for funding this project. Please note the progression of our most promising student, Subject 03.” In the instant before the Corvue screen changed channels, Mathias met Titus’ eyes.

Mathias smiled.

To Titus’ horror, the image of the two Academy doctors was replaced by that of a very familiar creature, a frail young woman with tangled dark hair. He could also see the head and shoulders of her interviewer, who probed the troubled girl’s thoughts, trying to assess her development.

After a few minutes of viewing River Tam’s latest Session, most of the committee began to disperse. The Admiral stood up, nodding over to the scribe.

“Everything appears to be in order. This hearing is concluded. Encode in the Parliamentary Archives under the Academy Program, mark as top-secret, all of that. Let’s get on to matters of more vital importance.”

The Admiral moved past Titus as he made his way towards the door. He shook his head.

“Dr. Titus, I took this meeting out of respect for you and your achievements. Now I don’t know what’s going on over in your little labs, but I’m willing to bet that it’s beginning to mess with your head a little bit. Perhaps it’s time that you took some time off. You look like you could use a vacation…”

The Admiral didn’t bother to look back at Titus as he joined the stream of people leaving the room. The Chief Supervisor of the Academy Project hadn’t moved since the Session started. He looked up as another uniformed figure moved by him, his attention on the Cortex feed. Titus grabbed his arm.

“This can’t be real,” Titus said to him. “It’s a fake!”

The man looked down at him disdainfully. “Dr. Titus, I have detailed knowledge of the 03 Project, perhaps beyond your own. This footage is new.” He shook his arm free of the Chief Supervisor’s feeble grip and left the room without a backward glance.

“Please,” Titus whispered. “Please. It’s not what you think. It’s a trick.”

The door whooshed shut on Dr. Titus.

He was alone, now. There was nowhere else for him to turn, nothing that he could do. He would lose his job over this incident when the Parliament realized the truth- possibly more than his job. Or had Mathias and Barnes really managed to recover River Tam in the time it took for Titus to travel from Osiris to Londinium? No, he couldn’t believe it. Something was up. The two of them must have plotted against him. And it had worked.

Titus stared down at the floor, huddling over the table, thinking dejectedly about his future prospects. It took him a while to recognize that he was looking at a pair of sneakers. He shook himself out of his mournful reverie and gazed up at the man who stood before him.

The man wore a nondescript uniform, one that would fit in almost anywhere. His jacket bore no rank insignia, and he displayed no medals. He had green eyes and hair as dark as a raven, and his face was unmarred by age or combat.

“Dr. Andre Titus, born August 11th, 2451 on Bellerophon?”

Titus blinked his eyes back into focus. “Yes. Who are you?”

“I? I am no one of consequence. You may call me the Colonel. I supervise a certain group of Parliamentary personnel, an asset that not even Admiral Simpson back there is privy to.”

“What do you want with me?”

“I’d like to hear your candid opinion about the recording that was just displayed.”

Titus blinked. “How did you…you weren’t on the committee.”

The Colonel’s eyebrows raised in a polite question. “Wasn’t I?”

“You weren’t in this room, I know that much. Do you even have clearance to be talking with me about this?”

The man frowned, searching through the pockets of his pants and coat. He came up empty and shrugged.

“No clearance at all?” Titus stared. “How’d you even get in here? Into Parliament, I mean.”

The Colonel shook his head sorrowfully, then leaned across the table, his face not far from Titus’ own. “I don’t think you fully understand who I am, Andre Titus. I don’t need Security Clearance. I am security.”

He drew back, smiling at the dumbfounded expression on Titus’ face. “Now tell me what’s so special about this recording.”

“Why, it’s been staged somehow. They’ve doctored that footage.”

The Colonel moved to stand before the Corvue screen, watching Subject 03 as she fought wildly against her restraints across from the camera.

“Show me.”

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