Elm: A Phoenix Warrior Romance (Phoenix in Flames Book 8) Read online

  He was tall for a human at well over six feet and broad. The male was in great condition and could fight well, if not as well as most Phoenix. How he had been captured was a mystery that he refused to share. Elm couldn’t blame him, it must be terribly embarrassing. Ranger was doing deep space scans to look for pirates although odds were Angel’s scans for messages were more likely to prove helpful. Audio scans went out further and once messages were translated or decrypted, they would likely know what kind of ships they were from.

  “See anything?” Elm asked breaking the silence and the boredom.

  “Yes, there is a large armada heading this way. It’s unusual and I’ve alerted Teresa.” Ranger said. Moments later, Teresa rushed in.

  “Isolate them for me.” She ordered. Ranger immediately did as asked. “Any opinions?” Her gaze searched both their faces.

  “It might be a trade group, but I doubt it.” Elm observed.

  “Why?” Teresa asked. He knew she meant why did he doubt it.

  “They are traveling in what most races would call battle formation. The largest ship is at the rear to protect whoever is leading them. Oison has to be aware of this group from their usual long range scans.” Elm assured.

  “I contacted Razar and they didn’t know. He’s sent some officers to find out why. There will also be a message sent to this group to ask them what their purpose is. Angel will be monitoring the group to catch any communications. Since Razar has had some traitors among his technical people, they will be watched closely.” Teresa admitted.

  “You think it’s an attack?” Elm asked.

  “I do. If it looks like it, our mission may change temporarily. There’s a possibility if we get a large enough crew trained properly, we may divide up and take turns running missions with this ship.” Teresa informed.

  “You and Flicker will lead all missions, or divide up?” Elm asked.

  “It will depend on the missions. You or Oak may be running some with the officers being second or third.” She said. That information must be for Ranger who was in the top ten.

  Some of their officers wanted the training to go planet side on Oison eventually. Those positions were highly desirable for those who wanted to eventually mate and settle down. Razar was sadly lacking experienced, capable, and loyal officers to run the planet’s defenses or fly the ships that protected the planet as the second line of defense. If they made it past the automated defense system, ships would be launched into space to attack any enemies that made it that far.

  “Angel is messaging me. I’d best go.” Teresa left and Elm wondered where these attacks on Oison were originating from.

  “I think our job security just hit the highest level yet.” Ranger observed.

  “Our life expectancy just hit the lowest.” Elm added. There was no way to dispute it with all these attacks and the new race edging into their galaxy.

  Earth could no longer contribute any assistance, not that they’d given much to begin with. Those left on the planet needed help, they were in no position to give any. Mazlans had the Phoenix and a few previously Earth based groups as allies and no one else. Mazlan numbers were low, but their abilities high and they had the money to buy mercenaries. Unfortunately so did their enemies.

  “This is going to get nasty before it’s over.” Ranger predicted. Elm just stared at him. Talk about stating the obvious.

  Their ship was set to head off the cluster of ships headed their way, but the group divided. Ranger informed Teresa immediately. “Stick with the group headed straight to Oison and keep an eye on the other group as well as you can.” Teresa instructed.

  It looked like they would be close to their enemies in a few hours. Once they reached them, they would shadow them until they had reason to take action. He had a bad feeling about what was headed toward them. A couple hours later, boredom was killing him.

  “What do you think will happen?” Ranger asked.

  “I think they will turn out to be attackers. Once we shadow them and they are determined to be enemies we will take out their command ship. This will create fear and a loss of leadership. Hopefully, they will run. If not, we will circle around picking out random targets until they panic and eventually whoever remains will run.”

  “That sounds good. You think it will work.”

  “It has before. As long as we remain undetected we can attack at will.” Elm assured.

  “Is this something you’ve done before?”

  “I’ve applied it in a lesser way against slavers. It is a battle strategy from my people’s past. We study many of them when we learn in our military.”

  “I didn’t know your people had a military.” Ranger admitted.

  “Few do until it’s too late for them.”

  Ranger looked unsure and like he wanted to ask questions, but he didn’t. Silence fell between them as they both did what they were there to do for a couple more hours. They were drawing near the enemy ships when replacements came for both of them. Teresa would probably be switching out crew members in essential positions every few hours to ensure everyone at a console was fresh and fully aware.

  Elm went to his room to catch some sleep taking his com with him and setting it near his bed. Once he showered and dried off, he set his alarm at eight hours knowing his com would alert him if he was needed. Regardless of all the excitement he fell asleep right away. His alarm woke him letting him know nothing serious had occurred yet. A loud noise erupted from his stomach telling him he’d best go eat.

  The food available in the cafeteria was a selection of lunch and breakfast foods. He loaded up on breakfast mostly. A cup of coffee and an OJ finished off his tray. Seeing Oak and Angel, he joined them. “Any news?” He asked as he sat down.

  While they brought him up to speed, he ate his food. Oak looked fine, but Angel had obviously been up since she’d come onboard. Once he was through eating, he said his goodbyes. “Take care. This is a serious matter. Angel is going to bed now, but I’ll be in communications if you need me.” Oak informed.

  “Get some rest, Sister. I’ll see you in a bit I suspect, Brother.” Elm said.

  He headed to the bridge to see if Teresa was there. It was best not to disturb her by calling her com. There was no way of knowing what she was in the middle of. Her getting any rest at all was unlikely since she was such a hands on leader.

  Flicker was on the bridge looking rough. “Where is Teresa?” He asked.

  “I finally talked her into lying down for a while. There are many others that can step in for a while and I promised if anything serious happened, she would be woke.”

  “I’m surprised she agreed.” Elm grinned.

  “I told her she needed to be rested if all hell broke loose so she could think clearly. If nothing else happens soon, I’m putting Oak in charge with you as a backup and going to join her.”

  “We would wake you if needed. You know that. Angel just went to rest too. She looked rough.” Elm admitted.

  “Trying to tell me I look bad?”

  “Of course not. Just saying right now seems like a good time to rest with half the command crew or more up. That’s all.”

  “I believe you’re right. Let Oak know he’s in charge and assist him all you can.” Flicker ordered before he strode away.

  “Oak?” Elm said after pressing his com button.

  “Yes?”

  “Flicker says you’re in command until he or Teresa inform you they’re back. I’m your second.”

  “Thanks for telling me. I’ll be in communications if you need anything. You take the bridge.”

  “I’ve got it. I’m here right now.”

  “Thanks. Just let me know if you need me.” Oak said before he turned his com off.

  Now Elm got updates from all the consoles. Ranger was back on navigation. “We’re trailing them and there are still headed for Oison. The other group is still headed away but they have slowed. I suspect they will head to the back side of the planet soon.” Ranger concluded.

&nbs
p; He looked up the last report from communications and saw the group of ships told Razar they were there for trade purposes. Scans has shown all the ships had full crews. That was odd for traders but they had said they took passengers too. They had an answer for everything. Razar wanted to get more information before they took an action they might regret.

  Caution was a good idea most of the time, but they were traveling fast and soon they would have to make a decision. Hopefully one they could live with. Oak was looking for any communications having relieved Nila so she could rest. Elm had thought they were adequately staffed until this had happened. Now he wished they had twice the crew they had. When all the consoles and equipment had to be monitored, that required a lot of people.

  His hope was before action had to be taken, Teresa or Flicker would be available to make that decision. It wasn’t that he couldn’t decide, it was that there was information he was sure he didn’t have and they did. What Razar would expect them to do was something only they would know. His com flashed, it was Oak.

  “Brother, what’s up?”

  “They are sending messages between ships. It encrypted, but it’s an old Earth code. They are planning to attack Oison. I’ve sent Razar a copy of the message and I’m waiting for the reply. Someone needs to wake Teresa or Flicker. Hell, maybe both of them.”

  “I’ll send someone. At least they’ve had four hours of rest.” Elm got on his com and sent one of the young boys to wake them. Now all they had to do was wait, but not for much longer.

  Ten minutes later, Teresa and Flicker walked in. “We have a plan and we need a dozen volunteers.”

  “I’ll go.” Elm said. “Oak probably will volunteer as well once he knows.”

  “Knows what?” Oak asked as he entered the bridge. “Angel is up and monitoring communications now.”

  “We need a dozen volunteers. Razar wants the big ship, the one in command of the group taken. The flash tech we have is rare and few know it exists. Properly armed, a dozen stealthy warriors can take the ship a section at a time. Once you have it, we’ll decide what to do next.

  It was amazing how quickly she got her dozen volunteers. This crew he was on all took the high risks just by being on this ship. Most of those who were on the raiding teams volunteered for anything. He and his brother always did, though now that he was mated, Oak might not be as eager to leave.

  Chapter 2

  Life Goes On

  Her life had changed greatly when she’d taken her place on this crew her friend Teresa had offered her. The experience she had as a doctor had sealed her position but her other abilities were highly sought after too. Right now she was the only female other than Teresa on the raiding teams.

  She’d been a bit of an overachiever starting college at sixteen and med school at eighteen. Her position had been at a hospital in the worst region on Earth. In New York City’s poorest area, she had quickly learned the value of self-defense. Once she’d taken those courses, she’d become addicted to battle skills to stay in shape, self-defense, and to protect others.

  Martial arts had become a hobby, but now it would be a way of life as long as she was on this ship. The young Phoenix who trailed after her often, had no place in her life. When she was younger she’d wanted a settled life someday, but that before her world had crumbled. There was no future of with any happiness on Earth. Maybe someday, but not in her lifetime, the Earth would support life again.

  Even the help Razar had given had not been able to undo all that the rich men had done and continued to do to her planet. Those were the kinds of men they were now punishing. She’d not been able to save her own world, but she would defend her galaxy. These humans they saw spread autumn leaves on the breeze would eventually propagate the human race and eventually return to a healed planet.

  It was what her life was dedicated to and what she would give her all to see happen. Teresa too helped all she could. She had a fund for aiding Earth and those few that remained on the planet. Seaweed that ate the pollution and broke it down had been sent in large quantities to be seeded in Earth’s ocean. Several machines that filtered the air and broke down the chemicals that poisoned it had also been spread around the surface of the planet.

  Fast? No, but it would speed up the process and make the planet heal faster. There was no need to help those that were left behind at this point. Regular trade between them and Razar was still ongoing. They had too many females and he had things they needed. Food, medical supplies, clothing, and equipment were traded for those that were willing to go. It was a win/win situation since he didn’t force the females to do anything. They could mate or choose a worthwhile job.

  Now here she was training some medics to serve as backups and to fill her position leaving her just on call so she could rest or do other things. Teresa was smart, every position had several backups. The loss of any single crew member could be filled. Everything wouldn’t go to hell even if Teresa was unable to lead for whatever reason. As a team, they all needed to hold up their end, but the team would move on no matter who was missing.

  Her com vibrated and she checked for the message. Volunteers? Count me in! The answer came back right away. Accepted. “Guys, you are in charge. I’ve been called out.” She instructed.

  Now she headed to the bridge. She wore her black raiding uniform. They all wore them while working in case something like this happened. The meeting room was halfway full. It looked like a dozen volunteers if they were all here minus Teresa and Flicker who probably would stay behind.

  “You’re all here now.” Teresa informed. “This is the mission. You will all be flashed to the engineering room on the command vessel. Razar wants the ship taken rather than destroyed. The leader in charge will be sent here and the others will be restrained and imprisoned if possible. This will require hand to hand as you go from section to section of the ship. We are getting close enough to Oison if you have particularly dangerous prisoners to deal with, they can be flashed to Oison’s prison. Everyone clear on the mission?”

  “May I asked a question?” Mike asked.

  “You may.” Teresa responded with humor.

  “To save time, shouldn’t we flash some knock out gas before we go onboard?”

  “Do we have some available?”

  “We do. It will ease some of the danger too. Most will be out cold. There is a possibility a few might not succumb to the gas.” Mike admitted.

  “Sounds like a plan. How much of the ship can we gas?”

  “We have enough for half the ship. The places with the most people are the ones we should hit with the gas.”

  “Agreed.” Teresa said. “Do it.”

  “I’ll go with her to help carry the gas.” Elm volunteered.

  Teresa grinned. “You do that. Everyone is dismissed. Com me before you send the gas and again before you leave our ship. Don’t forget to send the camera drone, Oak.”

  The plan was a good one and sending the camera drone would not only tell them the enemy ship was accessible to them, but show them where everything and everyone was. Since no plan was perfect, they would proceed with caution. Oak was a solid commander and she was happy he and Elm were with her. They both did that extra little bit that made the difference between good officers and excellent ones.

  Those two never failed to volunteer and always seemed to be on those extra missions like this one. They were also tough and Phoenix. That race had secrets she had no clue about. It was tempting to pursue what Elm wanted just to find out more about him and his people. But no, she refused to hurt the sexy young male.

  She led the way as Elm followed her to the supply closet in medical. That’s where the canisters of knockout gas were. There was several cases of them. They could be set to go off in a few seconds or minutes later, whatever they desired.

  “We’ll start with the section we plan to flash to. By the time we’ve sent all the canisters, it should be safe for us to enter.” She explained.

  “This is a great plan. We’ll still be alert,
but this gives us an edge. I’m curious if these are just mercenaries or the latest alien threat.” Elm admitted. Hell, she was curious too.

  “Let’s grab the cases and get down to engineering.” And that was exactly what they did. The cases weren’t that heavy she thought as she saw Elm lift six easily. She lifted one and decided he must have some serious muscles. “Let’s use this cart to get all we need.” Elm nodded as he set the six cases on the hand cart. Then he got the last six cases.

  Now they headed to engineering where the flash device was. It was a super-secret device Razar had made by his scientists. As far as they knew, no one else had that capability. That was another advantage that they would use. The engineer nodded at them and they began the long process of sending one canister at a time to the enemy ship. Each one was sent to a selected area to take out the maximum number of personnel.

  When they were finally through, they began to get sent to those areas in pairs. She was sent with Elm, but she didn’t mind. They went first and got the enemy’s engineering. Four males were out lying on the floor. She used two of her cuffs and Elm did the same. Now they moved to an area no gas had been sent. These guys were asleep making them easy targets. It was clear they were the engineer off duty personnel. Maybe they had gotten a bit of the gas because they didn’t wake.

  The other teams were getting things done easily too. It pleased her to make such a useful suggested to make this difficult raid easier. Things went well up to a point then they ran into enemies that were awake and aware. “Well that sucks.” She said.

  “Indeed.” He agreed. Because it was dangerous to fire weapons on a ship, the fight would be hand to hand.

  Slightly outnumbered, he went in swinging. He got a hard hit on the first guy’s head and he went down. Now it was an all-out no holds barred fight. Sweat poured off him but now she was too busy to watch what Elm did. The largest number of attackers headed to him even though she was holding her own. Slowly and with difficulty, they managed to subdue their adversaries and work their way around to more sections.