“Once they brought me here I was able to use the communication system to contact my assistant back at the estate. She survived the attack, but she said the place is badly damaged and many people are dead; some are still trapped in the rubble.”
“Is Piebar okay?”
“She didn’t know. They are still searching for people.”
“What about the orphans?” I asked.
“It’s a miracle. They all are safe. They were all at the cove in the area you asked to have built for them; they were having a concert when the attack happened. Fortunately it was far enough away from the main estate house that none of them were injured.”
“I need to get back there to help search.” I said as I tried to think of what to do.
“Tibby, I don’t think you can get out of here. I heard the guards saying that many of the tunnels and accesses to this area are blocked with debris; they were checking to see if they could find a clear route out. In the meantime, there are people on the outside trying to get in. If we had evacuated to shelters at the other end of the Senate hall, we would be able to get out, but we’re trapped at the moment.”
“The other end of the Senate hearing hall, you mean that the senators at that end got out?”
“A large percentage of them did. Many of them are back at their estates and accommodations here on the planet. The HAPRIN only seems to have targeted the capitol building and our estate.”
Kala turned on the vid screen in the room and we were able to see on the news the information about the attack. There were aerial shots of the capitol building, or at least, what was left of it. Most of the building that had existed above the ground was just a pile of rubble; fortunately half the complex was deep underground and those that made it there were safe and survived. Nevertheless, thousands had died in the attack on the Capitol, and thousands more were trapped in the rubble. The commentators seemed to be in a near state of shock and only muttered a few words every minute or two. “Unbelievable!” and “Do we have any word as to if anyone in that section survived?” were heard from time to time. Repeatedly they played back the last few minutes of my hearing when Commander Wabussie was giving testimony and Justice Mastoeth giving the announcement of Leader Rieam’s assassinated, right up until the attack begins and the cameras cut out due to damage from fire from the HAPRIN. In one scene as the attack starts you can see the Senate guards rushing in to escort me and those speaking in my defense to safety, as a commentator said, “You can see the Senate guards rushing in to get the First Citizens to safety. We are told that First Citizens Tibby and Kalana and those in the defense testimony box all made it to the shelters just seconds before the building collapsed in that area. You can see three brave Senate guards who give their life’s to see them survive as the hearing hall collapses on them just as the last of Tibby’s defenders made it to safety. It is the duty of these guards to see to the safety of the people of most value to the Federation, surely no one has been more valuable than First Citizen Tibby, and one can only ask now what role he will take in the protection of the Federation and the rebuilding of our society.
“We have reports that the Leader of the Brotherhood, who we thought was Roritat, wasn’t satisfied with destroying the capitol; he also destroyed a large portion of the First Citizens’ estate with fire from the HAPRIN. We’re told there were a large number of the orphan child slaves that Tibby rescued at Goo’Waddle who now live at the estate. Apparently the children had just moved into a new facility he had constructed away from the main estate, and they were having an outdoor concert nearby; fortunately it was far enough that none of them were hit by any of the fire from the HAPRIN. The refugees whom Tibby brought from his home world of Earth didn’t fare as well; it is estimated as many as half of them perished in the attack. Their exact number is unknown at this time as some are rumored to be on his ship the NEW ORLEANS, which is currently at Nibaria undergoing repairs for damage incurred to the ship when he returned from Earth.
“With Leader Rieam dead and the real Leader Roritat dead, the Federation is left with only one Leader, Leader Floss, who is in the outer rim of the Federation on revolving duty. Justice Mastoeth, speaking on behalf of the Federal Legal Review Board, has announced the reenactment of the war power act which allows for the Senate to elect and appoint an interim Leader to fill in until the next election. Those members of the Senate who have survived will convene in two days in the old Senate assembly hall deep under the Capitol. These halls haven’t been used in years but were kept in case of an emergency. They were originally built during the first Solbidyum War after the capital planet of Caldon was destroyed. According to the War Powers Act, 55% of the senators of the Federation planets must agree on the interim Leader, who must be elected from the existing senators. Until an actual sign-in roll call is taken, we won’t know if there are enough surviving senators to even make the minimum to vote.” I turned the vid screen off and buried my head in my hands. Kala put her hand on my shoulder.
“Tibby it’s not your fault. Don’t go blaming yourself for this.”
“How can you say it’s not my fault when everything the Brotherhood says is directed around me and my activities?”
“You’re not the reason they are the way they are, you’re the reason they can’t be what they want to be,” she said. “You stand in their way of conquest and domination of the Federation; it seems that everyone but you sees that. It’s why the Senate guards gave their life’s to get you to safety. It’s why Admiral Regeny, Commander Wabussie and Senator Tonclin were behind and not in front of you in going down the escape chute.” I looked at her questioningly as she had not been there when that happened. “Yes, I know about that; Tonclin told me while you were with the Admiral in the communication center.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Kala, I am no one special, there are millions of people far better than I, people more suited for the task, why me and not one of them?”
“I can’t answer that, but I think something Dr. Hughes said might make some sense of it. I was talking with him about you shortly before we got back to Megelleon and he quoted some saying from your planet of Earth. He said it was written by a famous man named Shake a Spear.”
I snorted and laughed… “You mean Shakespeare, William Shakespeare… not Shake a Spear.”
“Whatever, but it’s what he said that was important. He said that Shakespeare wrote, Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them; Tibby, you are one of those men who have greatness thrust upon them and all you can do is your best.” Then she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I lay there silently for a while thinking about what she said. I could not argue it, for I indeed greatness had been thrust upon me. I had never sought it or wanted it, it simply happened; and while I wanted to walk away from it, I had no choice but to follow it through to the end.
It was about eight hours later that a senate guard came to our suite to tell us that a route had been found out of the capitol complex and they would escort us out. Kala made a call to our estate and had a shuttle sent to pick us up and take us back. Before we left I had a chance to talk to the Admiral. He looked exhausted; he had huge dark circles about his eyes and stubble on his face that revealed he had not left the communication center to sleep or freshen up.
“Tibby, it’s bad,” he said when he saw me. “It’s the worst damage and attack I have ever seen in my career. Our latest information is that 3,843 people died and another 5,232 were injured, some critically and others minimal, in the attack on the Capitol. They are not sure they have found everyone yet and there may be more fatalities and injured. A large portion of the Senate guards in the hearing hall gave their life’s to get us out. The ships chasing after the HAPRIN say it seems to be heading toward Plosaxen. Marranalis reported in a few minutes ago that the HAPRIN now has the RMFF working; we can only assume they found and coerced one of the crew members on the ship to turn it on. So far, the ship is still uncloaked, but if they get the cloaking system
working we’ll lose them.”
I suddenly had a chilling thought, “If they are heading toward Plosaxen it can only mean one thing; they intend to attack the surface facilities at the base there. We need to get to a DSC system and tell them to get all their surface ships airborne and cloaked, or they will be wiped out on the ground. Have all personnel on the bases and any government buildings get into deep shelters or as far away from the complexes as they can. They still have some time to take precautions, but as far as defense… well, if the HAPRIN has its RMFF working, there is little we can do to stop them.”
“You forget Tibby we already have a fleet of ships at Plosaxen in anticipation of an attack. Right after you contacted when you encountered the Brotherhood fleet and had your ship damaged we sent a number of ships to Plosaxen in anticipation of an attack there.
“Good,” I said, “I’d forgotten about them. You’ll need the ships with RMFF’s to act as shields to block the shots from the HAPRIN from hitting bases and cities on the surface. There won’t be much we can do against the HAPRIN if they have their RMFF working, but at least we can prevent some of the carnage they might otherwise inflict on the planet.”
“Put me through to the NEW ORLEANS at Nibaria, I need to talk to Commodore Stonbersa.” I said to the communications operator.
A few minutes later the image of Stonbersa appeared on the screen; Nibaria was close enough that the DCS was not required for direct communication but there still was a several minute delay in conversation as the signals traveled back and forth between the planets. Once the Commodore appeared in the vid screen I began, “Commodore, I’m hoping the repairs on the NEW ORLEANS are far enough along that you can take her out immediately, we have a very bad situation on our hands. The Brotherhood has gotten the RMFF up and working on the HAPRIN. They are headed to Plosaxen and we believe it’s their intent to attack the military bases and government buildings there. We have a few ships in the area with RMFF’s that can block their shots, but I’m hoping that you can get to Plosaxen before the HAPRIN makes it and you can also position the NEW ORLEANS between the HAPRIN and their targets on the planet surface. With enough ships you may be able to stop the HAPRIN from doing serious damage to the planet. The RMFF on the NEW ORLEANS will shield the ship and block the HAPRIN. If Roritat, or whatever his name really is, sees his shots are to no avail they just may leave. Maybe if you keep the NEW ORLEANS and the other ships cloaked they might believe that Plosaxen has some sort of planetary shielding.”
We had to wait several minutes before the Commodore’s reply came back.
“Yes, we can get underway. The hangar bay door is operational now and our RMFF has always been working. There still are some minor items like painting that needed to be finished, but that can wait. However, we have no fighters aboard at the moment and only three shuttles.” There was a distraction to the Commodore’s side that drew his attention for a moment, then he looked back at the screen and said. “A’Lappe wants to talk to you for a minute about the RMFF.” A’Lappe appeared on the screen.
“Tibby, the NEW ORLEANS may have an advantage over the HAPRIN’s RMFF. The NEW ORLEANS RMFF is powered by the solbidyum reactor and the HAPRIN’s is powered by the 10X reactor, both are powerful enough for their RMFF’s to withstand conventional fire using conventional weapons, laser and nuclear. However, the RMFF enhances the energy behind shots fired from a ship, and two ships both with RMFF’s operational have never fired on each other, so we don’t know how the RMFF’s will handle that much energy, but I have a good idea based on calculations I’ve done. Because the solbidyum reactor has more energy than a 10X reactor, it will generate a stronger RMFF than the 10X reactor; if the NEW ORLEANS fires on the HAPRIN, the RMFF on the HAPRIN will be able to repel the shots, but rapid consecutive shots will put a strain on the 10X reactor and gradually weaken the RMFF shield. Enough shots and some of them may start to get through causing damage to the HAPRIN. It might be enough that the Brotherhood may want to pull out and run for it. The big issue will be if they get the cloaking device working. We don’t know how they got the RMFF working; most likely they coerced a crew member, but it’s not impossible that they bypassed the ciphered switch in some way. The cloaking device is on another circuit with a separate activation device that requires a coded input as well, but they may still feel safe enough shielded behind the RMFF so as not to bother trying to get the cloaking. operational.”
“If we have other ships assisting in firing on the HAPRIN will it weaken the HAPRIN shields faster,” I asked
“It should,” A’Lappe replied. “But I have no idea how much fire power it’s going to take to do it, or how long it will take. It could be an hour, or it might take days of fire.”
“Do whatever you need to do right now, the only thing that can save Plosaxen is the NEW ORLEANS; and any other ships in the area large enough with sufficient RMFF shields to block the HAPRIN from laying waste to the planet,” I said.
Admiral Regeny spoke up. “I’ll be getting the word out to as many Federation military ships as I can to get to Plosaxen as soon as possible to assist, but it will be days before any others can get there, so you may have to hold out a long time and even then I’m not sure what will happen. I only hope you are right about the NEW ORLEANS having an advantage over the HAPRIN.”
“I’m going to head to my estate to see what I can do to help and find out what’s needed there, then I’ll be headed to Plosaxen in the ALI to join up with you. I’ll contact you when I get in the vicinity to arrange for boarding, we’ll need to determine some way to get me aboard if the HAPRIN is still there, because I won’t be able to land as long as your RMFF is up.”
There was a pause and then the Commodore replied. “We’ll be looking for your message, maybe with the fire from the NEW ORLEANS blasting away at the HAPRIN, combined with the fire power of other ships there and from Marranalis and the Mirage Fighters, which are in pursuit, we can destroy the HAPRIN or get them to surrender.”
Once we had finished communication with the NEW ORLEANS, I joined Kala and Jenira where they were standing and waiting with a guard who escorted us through a maze of tunnels to a parking area where a small surface transport waited. We were driven out of the Capitol complex; everywhere we looked there was debris from section of the building that had collapsed. At places we could see where some of the debris had been moved out of the way to clear a path so we might get through. At several locations shoring materials supported parts of the structure to prevent them from caving in.
When we cleared the complex, we were driven to a small space that had been roped off for shuttle craft; immediately two armed troopers advanced and escorted us into the shuttle. I realized that I recognized these men as being part of my own security team.
“It’s good to see you again, First Citizens. We'll have you back to the estate shortly. It’s been badly damaged so we’ve made arrangements for you both at the lodge at the northern end of the lake.”
The lodge he spoke of was part of my estate and it had been the intention of Galetils to use it as a guest house for entertaining friends and dignitaries. I had pretty much turned it over to the admiralty for a place for its senior officers to get away to when they needed a rest. As we flew to the estate, I kept looking at the vid screens trying to see the estate and the damage done to it, but there were some low clouds and smoke around the estate that made it difficult to see anything. We arrived at the lodge and were escorted to a little cottage next to the main building. I say little, but that’s only by Federation standards. It actually was quite large in that it had three bedrooms, three full baths and a sizeable kitchen. Kala and I freshened up and changed clothing because we wanted to get to the main estate house and check out the damage. Jenira managed to beat us in getting dressed and was waiting at the shuttle; somehow she had managed to replace her swords, and she now looked like she was ready to take on the universe.
Even before we reached the south end of the lake, I could see the extensive damage that had been
done. Everything on the surface was total rubble; columns of smoke and small spots of flames could be seen at places in the rubble. That anyone had survived at all amazed me.
“By the stars,” Kala said, “How did anyone survive?”
“As soon as the first shot hit people began running for the shelters,” one of the troopers from my security team explained. “Amazingly, the majority of them made it.”
“We have shelters in the estate?” I asked dumbfounded.
“Oh Tibby,” Kala started, and I knew instinctively what was about to come, “please don’t tell me you didn’t know we have shelters at the estate? With all the precautions that Galetils made about everything else you don’t believe he would leave out shelters on his estate, do you?”
“Honestly, I never thought about it,” I said. “I guess he would, but no one ever showed them to me.” Kala just shook her head. “You know Tibby I’m starting to wonder it that crash on Goo’ Waddle didn’t do some damage to your thought processes.” Lately I had been starting to wonder the same thing myself, as I didn’t feel as mentally sharp as I had been when I first arrived in the Federation.
When the shuttle set down I was both surprised and pleased to find Piebar standing there waiting for us. It was apparent that he hadn’t made it unscathed, as one leg was in some sort of a cast or brace that made him hobble when he walked, but otherwise he appeared fine.
“It is good to see you both back safely, First Citizens; I am sorry that you find your estate in such a condition.”
“It’s quite alright Piebar,” I said, “so long as you are alive and well. That is the most important thing. This estate we can have rebuilt, but you we cannot replace.” For a moment, I saw Piebar’s eyes tear but then abruptly he said, "I’m sure you would like to have a tour of the damages; I regret that I will be unable to accompany you. This injury to my leg is quite painful at the moment and I need to rest it. I will have my assistant, Dondor, show you about.”
Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth Page 37
