Phoenix Solution: The New Glasgow War, #7

By CN Stoesen and Chris Stoesen

Fear, Isolation and Dread. Sometimes the only solution is to counter-attack.

Rachel Duncan is still missing. Her former platoon has been broken up and scattered. Gordo and DuBois are searching for the truth while being hunted themselves. Agent Theoni Connor is separated from her team, her career and her life. With Phoenix Operatives closing in, she must find a way to fight back. Has she been abandoned by command? With guts and determination, she must find away to find the Phoenix Solution.

This is book 7 of the New Glasgow War series and the final book in the series. Follow our heroes as they search for a way back to the life they had long since lost. Who will emerge on the other end and will they be able to live with the result?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Stoesen
• Release date: Jul 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393931331

Book preview

Phoenix Solution:

A Story of the New Glasgow War

Book Seven of the New Glasgow War Series

By CN Stoesen

June 16, 2020

Version 2

Copyright © 2020 CN Stoesen

All rights reserved.

Cover By Philip McClimon

Dedication

Thank you so much to my wife and son for their love and support. I couldn't hope for a better family. After all, they put up with my nonsense constantly.

A special thanks to my writing friends in The Sprinters.

Thanks for sharing.

Free Fall

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Chapter 1: A Safe Harbor

Container Ship Machpeh

Theoni sat in the captain's chair and watched as the asteroid belt came into view. Soon she could get off this ship and get some clean air. Even if it was the stale canned air of a space station. She played with the controls and magnified the image of their destination.

They built the space station on the side of a large asteroid, and it boasted a large settlement. This was exceptional due to it being so far out on the rim of space. Her vessel was too large to dock on the planet. She would have to tether to one of the mooring buoys orbiting the station. A shuttle was already being dispatched to take control of her ship once she parked.

That she didn't have to fly the thing was such a bonus. That Billy Driscole himself was her savior was a hoot. She had heard of the mad miner, but there was no recognition when they met. That was fine. It was pleasant to see someone from her past, even if they didn't know her. It was familiar.

She checked the screens to see how the prisoners were doing. They're still alive. She kept them fed, and they had their needs provided for. They had spare breathing masks, no other comforts offered. With their hands bound in front of them, they could feed and take care of themselves.

She switched the monitor to the communication channel with the Explorer. No one was responding. They were very busy communicating with the base and trying to park the Machpeh. At least they were in charge and not her. One less thing she had to worry about.

Playing with the terminal, she found a news feed and watched it. Most of the stories were attempts to sensationalize the banal. Or downplay tragedy to fit the narrative of the day. Nothing of her old unit, and doubtless there would be less of Project Phoenix.

She searched and found a story about some former marines that had caused some extensive damage on Planet Charon. Described as terrorists, they detonated an explosive on a world known more for its naval base than any industry. The information struck her as odd, and she dug down into it. According to the news article, they were released from service under a cloud of suspicion. They're presumed dead in the explosion. The target was one of the seedier hotels on the planet. Another account surmised it was an accident, and they meant the bomb for a different objective.

She kept looking for mentions and found them. Gordon MacCormick's name appeared first. She felt gut punched. A tear leaked from her eye as she struggled to get under control again. The other names also moved her to cry. Jerome Dubois, Jeffery Tanner, and Louis Matthis. The faces hovered in front of her.

It took a second to connect the dots. Matthis was the one who would have had the bomb. He was an obedient soldier, but not the brightest recruit to enter the service. He loved explosives and always had some on him, regardless of the mission. His solution-making process involved something blowing up. His officers and sergeants had to keep a close watch on him. It had to be that the man ran out of luck and blew himself and the enormous part of a building up.

Gordo and Dubois were the harder of the losses to take. She had known and trusted them the longest. They were friends. She grieved at the thought of a world without them. If she had been with them, they might still be alive. When she read more, she tried to figure out why her friends would do this. None were suicidal. The feeds said that the matter was under investigation. The Navy Times reported the men as suffering from post-traumatic stress. It also mentioned their New Glasgow service.

That made little sense to her. She knew these men. They showed no sign of it after the battles they had fought through the sewers and streets. When she last saw them, the FIS withdrew them from combat and underwent a refit. Something else was happening. There were movements taking place that she couldn't see. The question that came to mind was is Olanski involved in this?

Her thoughts focused on Olanski and her last memories of him as he dismissed her from service. Was it for her protection or just the means to get rid of her? Did he set her up for an assassination attempt through these pirates? He needed to answer.

Theoni glanced at the console and saw she still had over an hour before they pulled to the mooring beacon. She entered the emergency contact address for Olanski. Her hands hovered over the keyboard and froze there. How should she do this? She decided that she would be blunt.

Your team failed. Most are dead. Why are you attacking my people? - Theoni.

It was a terse note, but she thought it would get her message across. Now she just had to wait for a response. She hit send and sighed. There was still twenty more minutes until the mooring beacon. Time was ticking.

Chapter 2: Back in the Game

Passenger Cruiser Symphony of the Stars

Gordo leaned back against the washer. It vibrated as it worked on the dirty dishes inside. He was getting bored again, which wasn't the best thing. Boredom got him in trouble. When bored, he drank. When drunk, his discretion was suboptimal. For a man fleeing the largest intelligence agency mankind had yet to create, prudence was a matter of life and death.

So, Gordo remained bored and sober. It wasn't a pleasant combination. DuBois didn't seem to have any such problems. Nor was he sober at the moment. He entertained the crew with stories that were fanciful and of borderline legality. Some of his descriptions of encounters with loose women seemed to range between the imaginative and the impossible.

He had to admit; he enjoyed DuBois' tales as much as the others. It passed the time and allowed him to laugh. Without such a release, he was sure he would have killed someone by now. It was easy to get angry. Used and abused by first the Federation military and then by the FIS, he needed something to fight back against. But all he could do was run. It was like punching at shadows, completely ineffective.

DuBois made a wide hand gesture to show size that had his audience howling in laughter. Gordo had missed the context and wasn't sure what was going on, so he stood to leave and wished everyone a good night.

The audience was a mixed group of men and women. DuBois could tell his stories without offending either party. It was a gift that Gordo didn't possess. He could never get away with the nonsense that his friend could.

Edwin Malcomb met him in the hallway. The two had made a friendship when Gordo refused to turn Edwin into the police on his first day aboard.

Gordo, hold up a minute. You wanted to get off the ship at the next port, right?

Yes at the stop at the asteroid field, he said with a nod.

I do not understand why you're eager to let go of a great gig like this, but I know someone who can get you on the station, the ship's purser. He controls all personnel exiting when docked. The purser, Carl, owes me a favor. He'll have you and your buddy off the ship. It's the least I can do for you.

Thank you. That is the best news that I have heard all day.

He patted Gordo on the shoulder, No sweat. We arrive at the belt tomorrow. The purser has put yours and DuBois' names in to run an errand for him on the station. You will need this.

He handed over a pair of cards on a chain. They granted the user the ability to leave the ship. Shore leave wasn't granted on most refueling stops. This was his only chance to leave the ship.

He thanked Edwin again and went into his room. Things were turning around. Gordo now had a way off ship. He could get back into the fight. The one item still missing was intelligence on who the players were. Getting that would be difficult. Everyone that he trusted who would know what to do was dead.

He pulled out his tablet and searched again. Gordo tried everything he could think of, but with his civilian access, there was nothing out there. He stayed awake until DuBois returned.

Gordo explained the deal that Edwin had found for them. DuBois nodded and looked remarkably sober as he laid the plan out for getting off the ship. Gordo received a grunt of agreement before DuBois dropped into his bunk and fell asleep.

Gordo wondered how much the man understood. He laid back and closed his eyes. His mind still raced through the possibilities before sleep overtook him.

Chapter 3: Pride before the Fall

Intelligence Bureau Facility, Communication Bunker

The broad hand squeezed the stress ball until the knuckles turned white. The general's face was red with anger. He couldn't believe the report he was seeing. Not only did that idiot fail in his mission, they captured him alive. Not just him, but also one of his hirelings.

It wasn't a hard mission. He was supposed to kill everyone on board and send the ship into a star. No one would ever know. Yet the fool sent him pictures of the target bound up in a room full of dead people and told him they handled the situation.

Yet here is a request for help to the FIS to address the problem of an attempted hijacking of the Machpeh. A ship he was told was destroyed. Sanchez was one of his best agents, but he underestimated his target. A rookie mistake. A careless error. The man knows better.

Even worse, the communication went to Olanski's office. He knows that his agent lives. Well, he can do something about that. A quick scan of his ready teams showed that there was one within a day's travel of the station. With a terse set of instructions, he dispatched the team. He clarified that they were to clean up the complete mess. Not just Conner, but also Sanchez and Stuart.

No more mistakes. He had to get this under control so he could prepare for the budget meeting. This was a distraction. He looked at the surface of his desk and saw that the stress ball had failed him. A thin stream of sand was being ejected from a hole in the ball's side. He slapped it to the floor for the cleaning crew to take care of.

Chapter 4: Order To Go

Mining Colony Athos 7, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles

Billy Driscole tossed back the last of his beer. The food was tank grown and processed protein but tasted close to the genuine article. Enough so it was a pleasant meal. It wasn't enough to get him past being mad.

What should have been a simple process of dropping off the freighter into the welcoming arms of the local authorities had turned into the worst kind of detour. The police interviewed Billy and his crew no less than ten times each. They were looking to catch him in a lie. The problem was, the only thing they had to tell was the truth.

They questioned his cargo, his motivations, and asked how they knew Theoni. All of which he had a consistent answer for. But they