Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth

by Dale C. Musser

  “Galetils had intended his ship to be both a personal yacht and a showpiece for new technology he was developing and hoped to sell that technology to the Federation military. One of those items was a working Reverse Magnetic Force Field, the second was a 10X fusion reactor that would be needed to power the RMFF. The RMFF was already aboard the ship when Tibby acquired it, and fortunately the information to build the 10X fusion reactor was aboard the ship as well, making it possible for Tibby to have the reactor built and to power the RMFF. Furthermore, aboard the NEW ORLEANS, there was a prototype fighter which Galetils had designed and built, with the intentions of marketing it to the Federation Military; this was the design of the ship stolen and taken to Gaimse. I personally know this to be true because the discovery of the whereabouts of the stolen fighter was made by one of my fellow Nibarians on a trip to Gaimse. He was making the trip in hopes of negotiating a joint venture contract for a project Nabaria was hoping to get. He happened to notice Tibby’s ship in a hangar, being worked on and was surprised, because while First Citizen Tibby has contracted several shipyards to build these ships, none of them were outside the Federation, and Gaimse is not part of the Federation. He reported the matter to me, and I was the one to inform Tibby of his ship being on Gaimse.” During Senator Tonclin’s testimony, the truth indicator stayed a solid green.

  “I now turn testimony over to Admiral Regeny,” Tonclin said, then he turned and went to the box where my defenders sat.

  Admiral Regeny had elected to wear his formal military whites, presenting an imposing figure as he stood tall at the podium.

  “First Citizen,” he said looking in my direction, “Justice Mastoeth, honorable members of the Senate. I’m here today to provide testimony and evidence in defense of First Citizen Thibodaux James Renwalt and the accusations against him.

  “Like Senator Tonclin, I too shall skip over the events of the DUSTEN. The historical records clearly speak to those events and there is no need for me to address them, so I shall move on to the events that led up to First Citizen Thibodaux James Renwalt’s departure to the planet Alle Bamma.

  Not long after the memorial ceremony for those who had died in the DUSTEN event, we received information from covert sources that are not part of the FOI that the Brotherhood was seeking to steal shipments of solbidyum. The Brotherhood had just captured a Federation frigate called the TECCION and also the freighter MOOGAWOE which the Brotherhood believed was carrying the TRITYTE and solbidyum shipments. Fortunately for us that was not the case, but the Brotherhood still placed all the crew of the MOOGAWOE in rescue pods and ejected them before taking off with their ship.

  The Admiralty called upon First Citizen Tibby to assist in the operation to find the two ships taken by the Brotherhood because at that time his ship was the only one with RMFF and cloaking capability. Things were very chaotic at the time, as we had discovered that nearly all the ships in the Federation had Brotherhood members or sympathizers aboard them; it became necessary for us to slowly and methodically test every single member of the Federation military for loyalty to the Federation; it’s a process still going on today. We needed to know that all ships going into action against the Brotherhood were clear of Brotherhood members. At the time only the three closest star ships to Megelleon, the DUSTEN, the URANGA and the CACHATORA had been cleared of Brotherhood members in their crews and were in a position to assist in the hunt. While we were on this mission, we devised a plan to try and trap the Brotherhood at the town of Banur on Plosaxen, we had adequate time to install RMFF’s and cloaking devices on all the star ships in the vicinity as well as 10X reactors to power them. With the cloaking and RMFF capabilities of these star ships, it was believed a good trap could be set and the Brotherhood lured in.

  Before this trap could be sprung, however, I felt the need to show off Tibby and his martial-arts skills one more time, something I now regret. Without warning, during a banquet I arranged for First Citizen Tibby and First Citizen Kalana to engage in hand to hand combat with two troopers. Somehow word of my intentions was discovered by the Brotherhood, and they replaced the troopers with two of their own assassins, which resulted in both Tibby and Kalana being wounded with poisoned knives. Tibby's body was able to overcome the effects of the poison, but First Citizen Kalana was mortally wounded and was dying fast. She was placed in stasis to prevent her ultimate death in hopes a cure could be found. It was eventually discovered what type of poison had been used and that the only source to produce the cure were the eggs of a particular creature only found on the planet Alle Bamma. Tibby immediately set course for Alle Bamma, while I behaved badly thinking he should stay and help fight the Brotherhood and seek Kalana’s cure later. Tibby was right in his going straight to Alle Bamma, but at the time we didn’t know that.

  We still went through with the trap at Plosaxen and it worked out better than we had hoped, as the Brotherhood showed up with five corvettes, one frigate and 29 patrol ships. We met them with two cloaked starships, three cloaked frigates, hundreds of cloaked patrol ships independent of the many hundreds already on the starships, and ten cloaked Mirage Fighters. We took nearly a hundred prisoners and killed most of the other enemy contingent in battle. Some of you senators here in this hall today, were present when those battles took place as you had offices aboard our starships, so you can attest to these events. Tibby in the meantime had reached Alle Bamma where he encountered the Brotherhood. As it turned out, they were using the planet to produce the illegal drug we know as God’s Sweat, and the planet was heavily defended. However, rather than having me tell you about Alle Bamma, I think it best that I let one of the natives of the planet tell you what happened there. I introduce you to Regata, a native of the planet Alle Bamma and a representative of the planet currently traveling on a mission for his planet with Tibby on his ship the NEW ORLEANS."

  The admiral walked back to the box passing Regata as he did so. Regata was dressed in a dignitary cut uniform; I was amazed at how civilized he looked wearing it. His mottled skin with its camouflaged appearance looked a bit out of place in the suit, but still he looked every bit of a representative as he approached the podium.

  “Citizens of the Federation,” he began, “please forgive me if I do not follow proper protocol in addressing you all, but I am unfamiliar with all your customs. I am here to provide testimony for the Man-Who-Speaks-for-Thumumba, as he is known on my planet of Alle Bamma, to you he is known as First Citizen Thibodaux James Renwalt. For us the title of anyone who speaks for Thumumba is the highest honor that one can have on our planet. My world is a primitive one by Federation standards. On my home world, I would not wear this fine clothing but would be nude; we live in the trees, in villages up off the ground. We are an arboreal people, we hunt, we fish and eat wild fruits, berries and nuts. We fight no wars, we are a peaceful people. Many years ago a representative of your Federation came to our planet seeking to find plants that might be used for medicines on your worlds. We were not in favor of their presence, so we avoided them as much as possible and eventually they left. Our civilization was not advanced enough to be welcome in your Federation; this was satisfactory to us as we had no desires beyond our planet and the life’s we were living.

  Then a few years ago the men you call the Brotherhood came. One of these men was also one of the scientists who had first come with your Federation team; he and his men began clearing sections of the forests on our planet to land more ships and to erect buildings, where they processed the plant to make the drug you call God’s Sweat. This was an abomination to us, as this is a sacred plant to our people. When we tried to stop them, they killed many of us and took others as slaves, forcing them to harvest the sacred plant to make their drugs. More and more they came tearing up the forests for their factories and their ships and they enslaved more of my people. We were in despair when Tibby showed up seeking the eggs of the slow walker, a creature you call a rugian.

  At first, we thought Tibby was one of the Brotherhood as we watched and followed
him. However, soon we learned that the Brotherhood was his enemy also. Tibby saw our plight, and while his need to find the eggs was great, so that he might save his mate Kalana, he took time to free us from the Brotherhood. He destroyed their buildings and many of their ships; some ships he kept and he put his own people on them. They now guard my world using those very same ships to protect us from the return of the Brotherhood and to ensure we will never be slaves again. For this reason my people have named him the Man-Who-Speaks-for-Thumumba; he speaks for all our people and represents our people and their wishes in all matters that involve other worlds.” Then Regata turned and walked back to his seat. I noted Admiral Regeny look about with a sense of frustration and I realized he was looking for the still missing Commander Wabussie. Slowly the Admiral got up and returned to the podium.

  “Since some of your senators and diplomats were aboard the starships that pursued some of the Brotherhood ships back to Alle Bamma, I know you are aware of all that Regata has related and can give testimony to those events. As for what happened at Goo’Waddle, you have already heard Tibby’s explanations during questioning by Leader Roritat yesterday, but I think hearing from someone from Goo’Waddle about what happened will help you in your judgment of Tibby.

  “I wish to introduce you to Jenira; she was born and raised on Goo’Waddle, and she will testify to what transpired there when Tibby arrived. Jenira doesn’t speak but uses Federation sign language to communicate. However, the computers connected to the vid screen will convert her signing into a synthetic voice for those who do not understand Federation sign language.” The Admiral walked over to his seat and Jenira rose and walked to the podium; she stood tall and was dressed in a black dignitary outfit that I am sure Kala had chosen for her. It seemed strange seeing her without her swords, but I knew they would not allow her to bring them into the Senate hearing hall.”

  “Honored Justice, and Senators of the Federation,” Jenira began signing as the computer translated her gestures into a soothing female voice. “My name is Jenira, I was born and raised on Goo’Waddle. Until Tibby came to Goo’Waddle, I had never been off the planet and knew little of other worlds or customs. When I was 10 years-old, men from the Brotherhood came to our home with a government official on the planet. They said my father owed them money; my father could not pay the money so my eight-year-old brother and I, as well as my mother, were taken as slaves of the Brotherhood until such time as my father could pay the debt. My brother and I were sold as sex slaves to a prostitution house where men came seeking young children. Tanden, my brother, was in a house next to mine, and while at times we might get glimpses of each other over a wall or through a window, we were not allowed to speak to each other. We were both given drugs to slow down our aging process because as young children we were more marketable and the financial reward to the Brotherhood was greater. The drugs worked better on me than on my brother, who still showed signs of aging but at a slower pace than he would have normally. Eventually, he grew too large to be desired by the men who sought out male children for sex and he was sold to another Brotherhood drug cartel to harvest the plant used for God’s Sweat, which they had recently started to grow and harvest on our planet.”

  “Tanden was forced to work in a field on the calgana next to the estate house where Tibby and his disguised team were staying on Goo’Waddle. Tanden had been beaten earlier that day, and his arm was broken by an overseer; the Brotherhood had no use for him with a broken arm, so they threw him into the canal to drown. Somehow he made it to shore, where he ended up hiding in the shrubbery outside the estate where Tibby and his team were staying. Tibby found Tanden hiding, injured and afraid; he took him in and saw to it that he got medical attention. At the time, I was still enslaved across town, so I only know of these events because Tanden told me of them. Tanden told me of smugglers that came to the estate. Tibby tried to find out where Logden, the man who had the solbidyum, was hiding. The Ruwallie Rasson also came to the estate claiming that Kerabac had violated their rules by operating a business without being a member of their cartel; they were going to take all his possessions and make everyone in Tibby's group slaves of Tondor, their leader; but Padaran challenged Tondor to hand-to-hand combat and defeated him. Because of this he ended up becoming the leader of the Ruwallie Rasson.” I glanced over at the Admiral and saw him smiling to hear about his nephew’s victory over the Ruwallie Rasson leader. Jenira continued.

  “Tibby and his friends somehow managed to track down the prostitution house where I was from the information Tanden gave them, and Tibby came and purchased me from the prostitution house where I was enslaved. He took me back to the calgana where they were staying and reunited me with my brother. We were so happy to be together then,” on the vid screen a tear appeared in Janira’s eye as she signed. “Tanden believed that Tibby was going to reunite us with our parents. Tibby didn’t know that our parents had been killed a year earlier. I was forced to watch as both were executed before me, and I was warned that if I didn’t do as I was told, I would meet their fate as well. I didn’t want Tanden to know, so I didn’t tell him.

  “Tanden dearly loved Tibby, Kalana and Padaran, as well as all the others in Tibby’s team on the planet. In the end, when we were trapped by the Brotherhood, Tibby tried his very best to save us all. When Tanden was killed by the Brotherhood, and when they were about to kill me, Tibby risked his life to try to save me; if it were not for him and the androids that came to our rescue, I would have died for sure, as Shydak had cut my throat, right here,” she signed and placed her hand on her throat. “Tibby pursued Shydak, the leader of the Brotherhood cell, when he fled and shot down many of the Brotherhood ships using one of their own fighters. He was still in pursuit of Shydak when his fighter was shot and he crashed into the planet. He was barely saved from death, he was so badly injured; he had to have a new eye cloned after losing his left eye in the crash as well as limbs reattached. Tibby made arrangements for many of the orphaned children on Goo’Waddle to be brought here to Megelleon and has set up a place for them on his estate where they can learn and play and be free and safe. He ended both slavery and forced prostitution on Goo’Waddle, he established peace there and ended the reign of the Brotherhood and their evil ways there.

  “I hate the Brotherhood for all the evil they have done, and I have vowed that I will not speak again until they all have been destroyed. I will do all I can to see an end to their reign of terror and slavery. I will fight to the death to defend Tibby and Kalana from anyone who tries to harm them,” she signed in a defiant pose and then turned and walked back to her seat. As she did I saw that Commander Wabussie had slipped in unnoticed while she was making her presentation.

  The Admiral once more returned to the podium but not before stopping and talking to the Justice first. The Justice listened to him for a moment and then nodded and stood and said, “I realize that we are near time for the noon lunch break, however, due to unusual circumstances, which will soon be explained, we will continue. I feel it is important that we do so, so please bear with us.

  Admiral Regeny stepped forward and began, “Honored senator, you heard testimony from Tibby yesterday under the questioning of Leader Roritat that Tibby and the Admiralty didn’t feel we could trust the information coming from the FOI. That is true, we were getting information from them, some of which was blatantly false, and we discovered that there were indeed members of the Brotherhood in the FOI who were blocking information from being fully disclosed to the proper people. When the high command decided to test all members of the military for loyalty in the military, we suggested that the FOI do the same within their organization as well. That request was denied by Garfreed Aliquatee, the head of the FOI, leaving the high command in a situation of not knowing if information we received was true, or even if we were getting all the information. As a result, I authorized the establishment of a covert group to seek out information about groups, organizations and individuals operating with the intent to do harm to the Federation.
This group is called the Federation Security Organization or FSO, which is being funded at the moment through the Office of the Admiralty. It is headed up by Commander Wabussie and currently has hundreds of operatives strategically located about the Federation and a few outside the Federation as well. The FSO has, in the past few days, uncovered information of utmost importance that needs to be revealed immediately to the Senate. In as much as it has a bearing on this case, I will now turn over the podium for Commander Wabussie to tell you what we have learned.” While the admiral and Commander Wabussie exchanged places there was a loud buzz of conversation taking place about the hall.

  “First Citizens,” Wabussie said, addressing me and then nodding toward Kala, Honorable Justice Mastoeth and senators. The news and evidence I am about provide you are shocking, and may be overwhelming. As the Admiral just told you, we recognized there was a problem in the FOI when we were not receiving intelligence reports of things we knew were taking place. We suspected that the Brotherhood had infiltrated the FOI and that it was compromised. This doesn’t mean that the FOI didn’t have members loyal to the Federation, but it meant that people in the chain of command were not passing information on that needed to be. The failure of Garfreed Aliquatee to have the FOI members tested and Brotherhood sympathizers removed has done severe damage to the Federation on many levels. In order for us to find out what was going on, it became necessary for us to have our own undercover operatives infiltrate the FOI. We were able to find several agents existing within the FOI who we were able to determine were loyal to the Federation, and using them and information they were able to provide to us, we pieced together a startling picture of the workings within the FOI. I have here a list of key people within the FOI who are Brotherhood members who answer to one of the top leaders in the Brotherhood, a man named Shydak. This list should be downloading to all your personal vid screens as I speak. Shydak was not unknown to us in the military. We have many intercepted conversations of Brotherhood transmissions and communications referencing Shydak. Tibby encountered him at Goo’Waddle as well.