Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth

by Dale C. Musser

  “I agree;" A’Lappe relayed from the Admiral, “but we need to demonstrate that to the Senate in a clear way, or else we will all be carrying rocks for the Brotherhood. Senator Tonclin is doing his utmost to talk to the senators and get them behind us, but there are nearly one million senators, and he only gets to talk to a small handful. It would take him a life time to see them all individually. Wabussie says he is getting new information from field operatives that may sway things for us if we can get solid evidence and present it to the Senate, but he hasn’t told me what that evidence is.”

  “We should be arriving at Megelleon later this evening. We have a prisoner we need to turn over to the Federation for crimes against sentient life forms; cannibalism, slavery, murder, and forced pregnancies being but a few. After he is transferred, I’ll be going to my estate while the NEW ORLEANS is taken to Nibaria for repairs. After a good night’s sleep, I’ll come into the capital to meet with you, Wabussie, and Tonclin-- if you all are available tomorrow afternoon.”

  “I hope your prisoner didn’t commit all those crimes aboard the NEW ORLEANS." Regeny responded.

  “No, but he committed enough. Two of his co-conspirators are dead. I’ll tell you all about it when we get together tomorrow.”

  “I’ll see to it that there are troopers ready to accept delivery of your prisoner and transport him to a proper holding cell pending trial. You and others will have to file formal complaints at the time of the transfer. Kalana should be able to provide the forms you will need to fill out before you arrive. The forms will all be available on your ship's computer,” A’Lappe said, relating the Admiral’s words.

  I had decided that before we disembarked at Megelleon, I would have one last meeting with the refugees. I arranged with Piesew to have another buffet-style dinner with all of them. Unlike the first dinner, people seemed more animated and happy. As soon as Jenira entered the dining room she was instantly surrounded by a gaggle of her Chinese fans. Kala informed me that Jenira had actually been training some of the women in her sword techniques. I noticed a lot of smiling faces and heard a lot of laughter. Once everyone was served and I had finished my food, I stood up to speak.”

  “Within a few hours, ships will be arriving from the surface to take Ming down to a prison cell in the capitol complex until he stands trial. I want to thank all of you who came forward to sign criminal complaints and provide recorded testimony against him. We have every reason to believe he will be found guilty and incarcerated for life.” There was some cheering and clapping when I said this. Kala still found applause instead of foot stomping strange and amusing, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Once Ming is off the ship, you will all have the opportunity to leave the ship. I have set up accounts with funds in them for all of you which should be sufficient to see to your needs for at least a year, and if at that time you haven’t found employment, it may be possible that we can assist you in other ways. You all have options; some of you have already taken employment with me here on my ship, and some of you will be going to work at my estate on the surface. All of you have a choice of staying on the ship here, or going to the surface and staying at my estate or going into the city and seeking accommodations. Again, regardless of which option you have selected, there are people here on my staff who will be able to assist you. If you have not already made arrangements or need assistance, please contact Kalana immediately after we finish here and she will get you together with the person best suited to help you.

  “It has been an honor meeting you all. I regret that not all of your journey with us has been pleasant, but I hope that compared to what you were going through on Mars or the Moon that things here were an improvement.” Again there was a round of applause. “I’m hoping that at some point in the near future I can have the opportunity and honor to entertain you all at my estate and to see how you all are getting along. Once again, let me say it has been a real honor getting to meet you all.” I sat back down expecting my speech to be the end of the event but that was not to be the case. Two of the Chinese, a man and a pregnant woman stood up, and the man began to speak.

  “First Citizens,” he began, bowing slightly in the direction of Kala and me. “We wish to express our most heartfelt appreciation for all you have done and are doing for us. The conditions we lived in under Ming on the Moon were most oppressive and cruel. Mai Ling and I,” he said nodding toward the woman next to him, are husband and wife, but Ming told us that our marriage no longer existed under his rule and we were not permitted to be together nor speak to each other. Many terrible things took place on the Moon and we will not forget those things. Dr. Hughes has been most helpful in guiding us in ways to deal with what we suffered, especially for the women who suffered in the most horrible of ways. We cannot thank you enough nor repay you for the tremendous service you have provided us, but know that you will always remain much loved in our hearts and minds. We are forever in your debt.”

  All of the Chinese stood and bowed toward Kala and me. When they sat down again, Mai Ling began to speak.

  “Honorable First Citizens, with all that you have done for us there is yet another to whom we, the Chinese women, must thank and show our respect. Under Ming we lost all sense of value, we were but slaves and objects for Ming’s use and satisfaction. We were most shamed and had lost all self-esteem. When you arrived at the Moon and rescued us, we were embarrassed by what we had become and what we had endured; few of us wanted to live. Though Ming was our oppressor, Yǎnjìngshé was our keeper, and Láng was our tormentor; under their reign we became as nothing in our own minds. Even after our rescue we still continued to feel the shame and lack of self-worth until we saw Nǚrén De Dāopiàn stand up to Láng and put him to shame. Her strength show us we too need not be afraid, and with her as a model and with her friendship, we learned to overcome the shame we had to endure. Nǚrén De Dāopiàn told us of all she endured at the hands of the ones you call the Brotherhood, and we saw in her a true sister. She showed us that we need not live in shame, that we have value, and that we can become strong and survive without fear. She will forever live in our hearts. We pledge her our life’s. If ever she is in need we will be there to serve her.” When she concluded, all the Chinese women rose and bowed to Jenira. I looked at Jenira, who I expected to be touched by the display, but instead found her sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest and a contemplative look on her face. After a moment she signed to the women, “I love you all.”

  Early the next morning a patrol ship from the Federation arrived at the NEW ORLEAN; fortunately our engineering department had been able to devise a temporary .hangar door that allowed us to be able to pressurize the hangar area so we no longer needed to use space suits to board the shuttles and ships. However, the seal was not very good and had a slow leak, so we had to board ships quickly and depressurize and pressurize the hangar quite often while we transported people to the surface. Transferring Ming to the Federation shuttle went off without any problems and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief knowing he was no longer aboard the NEW ORLEANS. Kala and I took the ALI and with Jenira accompanying us, we flew down to our estate. Jenira was overwhelmed when she saw the size of the estate and kept asking Kala if it was real and it was all mine. Kala assured her it was.

  Weeks earlier ships had arrived from Goo’Waddle, bringing many of the orphaned children that had been slaves to the estate. Piebar had time to see to the rapid construction of more accommodations near a cove in the lake that would serve as accommodations for the orphans, but intermingled in their quarters were also accommodations for adults who volunteered to live among them as mentors and to provide adult supervision. All of the adults had been psychologically tested to make sure they were ideally suited for living with these young people. Beach areas surrounded the cove, boats and canoes were available for their use and hiking trails and play areas abounded.

  I was amazed that Piebar had been able to get so much accomplished in seven months’ period o
f time, but the advanced construction methods of the Federation made the process go swiftly. Jenira surprised Kala and me by telling us she didn’t want to live in the quarters with the orphans but wanted to be near Kala and me so she could be near our children when they were born. Kala seemed delighted by this and arranged for Jenira to have the suite across the corridor from our own. The quarters had never been occupied, but this was not strange in itself as the Estate was huge and there were many unoccupied suites in the main building.

  By the time shuttles from the NEW ORLEANS began arriving with the lunar and Mars refugees, Piebar had all of them assigned to suites and had house staff available to see them to their accommodations and instruct them on operations of things inside. It was decided that objects of art and most of the seeds and genetic materials from Earth would be left aboard the NEW ORLEANS until the hangar had been fully repaired and larger freighters and supply ships could be used to safely transfer the items to the planet surface. This also gave us time to have a special museum set up for the art, and a special laboratory for the seeds and DNA material that would be able to keep the material fertile. After having a small, but satisfying lunch, I boarded the ALI with Marranalis, who had come down from the NEW ORLEANS an hour earlier. We headed into the Capital to meet with the Admiral, Wabussie and Senator Tonclin. The flight was uneventful and we received clearance and landed within the capital complex landing area. When we disembarked from the ship, troopers lined the walkway to the building interior in manner that was a custom that the military had been doing since the Admiral had made me an honorary vice admiral.

  We were about half way down the line when a Trooper in a major’s uniform stepped forward and said, “Thibodaux James Renwalt, we are ordered to take you into custody by order of Leader Roritat and you are to be held until a senate hearing can be convened to determine if you are guilty of crimes against the Federation and humanity. If you will kindly surrender all your arms and come with us, please.”

  Marranalis started to step forward to block the troopers from taking me, but I knew we were greatly outnumbered and we had no chance against so many, so I stopped him. “It’s okay, Marranalis; contact the Admiral and Senator Tonclin and let them know what has happened, and let Kala know as well.”

  I was taken deep within the complex and placed inside a small but well-appointed suite, two guards were stationed outside my door and two came inside and stayed by the door. There was a food synthesizer, a bath and a small but comfortable bedroom, a small living room and a vid screen. I asked my guards how long they expected I would be held before being taken to the Senate, but the guards didn’t speak. I was beginning to wonder if these guards were Federation troops or Brotherhood goons. While I wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, I also wasn’t terribly concerned. If someone was planning to kill me, they would have done it already; more likely the plan was to discredit me as Leader Roritat had mentioned on the news show, but why? What would be accomplished by it? None of this was making any sense. I had expected Admiral Regeny or Commander Wabussie to show up at any moment to tell me it was all a mistake and to get me out of custody, but no one showed. Finally with nothing else to do, I sat down before the vid screen and tuned in the news channel.

  “In a surprise move today, First Citizen Thibodaux James Renwalt was taken into custody at the Capital building by Federation troopers and by order of Leader Roritat to face a hearing of the Federation of the Senate on charges of crimes against the Federation and humanity. Leader Roritat has made it clear recently that he believes First Citizen Tibby is not the hero of the Federation that people believe, and he claims he has proof of it which he will present in the special hearing. Under normal circumstances such a hearing can take weeks to set up, but Leader Roritat feels that this hearing is of such importance that he has called a special emergency Senate hearing to be held tomorrow. The event will be broadcast live here for all to see.

  “What do you think? Is First Citizen Tibby the hero we all believe he is, or is he, like Leader Roritat maintains, a fraud and a threat to the Federation? We have a reporter on the street asking that question of you average citizens. We go now to Cababa Knodak down in the business district asking people for their thoughts. Cababa, what are the opinions on the street?" The image of a male reporter appeared on the screen along with two young women.

  “Well Cleainsta, the thoughts are strangely mixed. I have here two young ladies; what are your names and what do you do?" The camera focused on a youthful woman of about 25.

  “I’m Tamima and I work at the Ministry of Health. I’m not sure what I think, I mean, Tibby did save us when the DUSTEN was taken and put himself at risk, and I know he’s used a lot of his own money building hospitals on some of the poorer planets. He doesn’t seem like much of a bad guy to me.”

  “And how about you?” Cababa asked the next woman.

  “I’m Enapard, I work in community services. I think that Leader Roritat may have a point. Why else would Tibby be going out and attacking non-aligned worlds? Why would he be hooking up with Ruwallie Rasson and the androids? I mean, didn’t the androids try to destroy us once? If he is allying himself with the androids, he’s no friend of the Federation.”

  “Well there you have it, Cleainsta,” Cababa said, “these are the kinds of comments I’ve been getting ever since the news broke about First Citizen Tibby being taken into custody. We have tried to contact people in the admiralty, since they seemed to have the highest regards for Tibby, but no one is returning our calls. We have also tried contacting Senator Tonclin, a known friend of Tibby, but have not had any response from his office. Calls to Tibby’s estate also are unanswered, and I fear we will have to wait until the hearing tomorrow to find out what’s going on.”

  I turned off the vid screen and sat staring at the blank screen as I wondered what had happened to Senator Tonclin, Admiral Regeny and Commander Wabussie that none of them had come forward with a statement or tried to contact me. I also wondered what was going on back at my estate and if Kala was all right. Was the NEW ORLEANS at Nibaria being repaired or had they heard the news and returned to orbit with the hopes of helping me in some way? With these thoughts in mind, I went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. I decided the best thing I could do was to take the advice of Ababan and wait until the hearing tomorrow to find out what’s going on.

  My sleep was disturbed and I had many strange dreams during the night of the Brotherhood dragging me through the streets while people threw garbage at me. I would end up at a gallows where a noose was placed around my neck as children sang an old child’s game song from Earth.

  This old man, he played one,

  He played knick-knack on my thumb;

  With a knick-knack paddywhack,

  Give the dog a bone,

  This old man came rolling home.

  In the morning I was awakened by one of the guards and told that I had 10 minutes to get ready to leave. I quickly showered and checked to see if the closet was equipped with an automatic clothing dispenser; fortunately it was and since I had been a guest at the Capitol, my size was still in the computer. I decided on a simple diplomatic cut in a dark green and hoped that if Kala had been there she would have approved of my selection. I had barely finished dressing when my guards told me it was time to go and they led me out of the room and down a long and winding corridor. As we walked I began to hum the tune to This Old Man in beat with the cadence of the guards’ boots striking the floor.

  I had been in the Capitol complex many times and rarely saw the same places twice. The entire complex was one enormous building that covered many square kilometers and went up almost a kilometer in the air and nearly as deep underground as well. I had been in the Senate banquet room, a large arena like space used for special social functions and award presentations, but I had never been to the Senate hearing chamber before. Unlike the Senate banquet room which was located on the first floor of the capitol, the Senate hearing room was located on the top floor. We boarded a lift a
nd quickly shot to the upper level, where we disembarked in a small holding area outside the senate hearing chamber; there we were met by five armed guards in tan uniforms and body armor. The senior officer escorting me stepped forward and announced to the captain of the senate guard, “We are here to escort Thibodaux James Renwalt before the Senate to answer charges of possible crimes against the Federation and humanity.”

  “Thank you, Major, we will take the prisoner from here,” one of the senate guards in a captain’s uniform said.

  I could see confusion spread across the face of the guard escorting me and he stuttered, “but, but, Leader Roritat said we were to stay with him at all times until the hearing was over.”

  “Leader Roritat has no say in this matter. The only armed guards permitted inside the Senate hearing chamber and the main Senate chambers are the Senate guards, and you and your men are not allowed beyond this point. You’re welcome to wait out here, but you can’t go into the Senate hearing room. Also the Senate guard is responsible for the wellbeing of any persons testifying before the Senate, so we’ll be seeing to the First Citizen from here.”

  The troopers who had originally taken me into custody looked at each other in confusion, clearly they had anticipated being with me the entire time. Finally the leader of the troopers said, “Very well, but Leader Roritat will be informed of this.”

  “First Citizen, if you will come with me,” the captain of the guard said as he led me through a door on the other side of the room as two senate security team followed behind us. We entered a small alcove with a few seats that had another large door at the opposite side from where we entered; there was a small table with some refreshments that I assumed was for those waiting to testify. One of the guards took up a station at the door we had just entered and the other took up a station at the door I assumed led to the Senate hearing chamber.