SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA)

by Musser, Dale

  “Good job,” I said and slapped him on the shoulder.

  “That’s amazing,” exclaimed the admiral. “You were able to corner and capture the assailants within just a few minutes of the attack. I never would have believed it possible had I not seen it.”

  “Just think what it will be like when every star ship in the fleet is carrying about 200 of these Special Ops troopers,” I said.

  “Yes, indeed… and when all my troopers are trained in martial arts, as well…yes, indeed,” the admiral said as he grinned and reclined in his seat.

  As a precautionary measure to prevent further threat to the citizens, the parade was cut short; but we maintained our visibility before the citizens from a safe distance as everyone dispersed. This visibility asserted the Federation’s unwavering presence in spite of the assault. Marranalis continued to direct his teams and track their deployments on his vid pad maps while we maintained this posture; and I did my best to reassure Kala, who still wanted to help injured citizens, that medical personnel were on their way and would be better able to care for them – that and the fact that our presence could serve to put more people in danger if the Brotherhood tried to attack us again. When I said that, Kala relented; but I could see the concern on her face for those who were injured. Within an hour we were able to return to the NEW ORLEANS to quickly debrief and watch the news broadcasts of the incident.

  If the Brotherhood had hoped to advance their cause in the eyes of the people by eliminating the admiral and me with their attack, they failed drastically. While the rest of the parade was canceled the news media was ablaze with vid broadcasts of scenes and comments about the attack. It was quickly noted by the media that some sort of “secret force field” had been employed by the Federation to protect the ground transport and that the attackers were apprehended with unprecedented efficiency and skill by “an equally elite and hitherto undisclosed group of specially trained troopers.” The overall message presented by the media was one of powerfully demonstrated Federation superiority, where the Federation was not just on top of the situation at hand but consistently one step ahead of the Brotherhood, an organization that was clearly revealing itself to be nothing more than a band of rebel terrorists.

  Admiral Regeny played his role to the hilt when interviewed by the press, hinting that the Federation had advanced knowledge of plans for a potential attack by the Brotherhood and expressing his concern for the citizens who suffered injuries as at the hands of these violent criminals, who clearly had no regard for the welfare of the people of Plosaxen. When asked about the inability of the weapons fired by the Brotherhood to harm those inside the confines of the transport, the admiral simply said, “That information is classified,” and moved on to the next question – an approach that put forward an air of strength, control and resolve.

  Kala was relieved to also hear in the reports that all injured parties were expected to make a full recovery.

  “Well,” Kala said as we were watching the vid-casts, “it certainly seems that whole situation worked out to our advantage.”

  “Yes,” I said, “and I think we all owe A’Lappe and Cantolla a measure of gratitude and recognition. Had it not been for A’Lappe’s inventions and the combined efforts of the two of them over the last two days, we would most likely all be dead now. As it is, in the minds of the citizens of the Federation – and probably those of many non-aligned planets – the Brotherhood is not a friend of the people; their organization is made up of traitors, liars and violent criminals. Hopefully this incident will lead to desertions from their ranks, at least in this sector of space. In just a few days the solbidyum reactor will be commissioned here and Senator Tacfacs can announce that the delivery has taken place as promised by the Federation. At that point, I suspect the Brotherhood will flee this area to concentrate on another planetary system where they can establish their footing.

  “Since numerous Federation vessels arrive here daily, hopefully no one – particularly the press – will assume that the NEW ORLEANS was the ship that delivered the solbidyum, though I’m sure there will be at least some speculation of that nature. If we can continue to implement the GW pod deliveries as planned and successfully commission solbidyum power distribution on a few dozen planets in different sectors, especially on planets far removed from anywhere the NEW ORLEANS has travelled, I think the idea that we’re the ones delivering the solbidyum will vanish. By that time we‘ll hopefully not be needed for deliveries at all anymore.”

  The normal calm of the ship was broken suddenly, when alarms again sounded and Captain Stonbersa’s voice came over the com links. “All crew members, respond to battle stations. We are under attack - I repeat we are under attack. The RMFF is deflecting fire. There are no reports of damage to the NEW ORLEANS. Repeat – there are no reports of damage and the RMFF is deflecting fire from the assailants.”

  Fortunately, Kala and I were near the bridge when the alarm sounded. I left Kala to communicate with her staff. I entered the bridge by the time the captain finished his announcement.

  “Ah, Tibby, you’re here. Good. What do you make of all this?” Stonbersa said sweeping his arm toward the view screen. Three patrol ships could be seen speeding toward the NEW ORLEANS and attacking with every weapon they had. Flashes of light filled the screen and streaks of energy played around the RMFF field but nothing came even remotely close to penetrating the shields.

  “Just three ships?” I asked.

  “That’s all we’ve seen so far,” replied Stonbersa.

  “When they come about on their next sweep, wait until they pass by and then activate the cloaking device just at the point where you think they lose visual contact with us. Then move us in the opposite direction far enough that they don’t fly into us but so we are still within sight of them. If I’m right, they will linger a bit and then head for home, wherever that is. Follow them discretely while cloaked and let’s see where they lead us,” I said.

  “Has anyone seen A’Lappe? I need to talk to him.” No sooner had I asked the question than A’Lappe appeared by my side, as if by magic. I shook my head, knowing full well that he had been there all the while and that he enjoyed the mischief and theatrics of appearing out of thin air.

  “You wish to see me, First Citizen?” he said.

  “Yes, A’Lappe, we need to know what communications are taking place between those patrol ships.”

  “I see. And why would you believe that I would be able to tap into coded channels that the Brotherhood might be using?” A’Lappe said, looking suddenly deflated and pouty.

  “I know you have a means of identifying frequencies by way of some combination of sweeps and scans and tapping into coded transmissions between ships. I suspect you’ve been able to do so for some time and that it’s how you’ve obtained most of the information you have,” I said while looking at him like a parent who has just caught a child in a lie.

  A’Lappe grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, so you figured it out. But I can’t promise that I’ll be successful; I am only able to establish a reliable tap about a third of the time. The Brotherhood isn’t all that creative with their coding, so let’s see what I can uncover,” he said as he seated himself at the communication console.

  His small hands moved skillfully and quickly across the touch screens and panels as small windows began to display various wave signs and signals. A’Lappe appeared to be trying to capture these transmissions with some kind of combination signal transducer and resonance instrument that he manipulated via the touch screens.

  Suddenly a voice came across the speaker on the console. “–one minute as we passed, and then when we came about a second later, they were simply gone. We’ve searched the area, but there’s absolutely no sign of them either visually or on the sensors.”

  “Very well. Make one more pass through the area. Then head off in the opposite direction from base for the next two hours. After that, split up and return to base using different routes. Keep your eyes open
. If you see anything on the sensors, move in a direction away from the base and return only when you’re sure you’re not being followed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A’Lappe spun in his seat to look at us. “Will there be anything else?” he asked.

  “Yes, A’Lappe. I need the ALI fully operational, including the cloaking device, before we get to the Brotherhood’s rendezvous point. Do you think that’s something you can accomplish in a few hours?”

  “It’s already done, First Citizen,” A’Lappe said with his usual grin. “Installation and testing was completed while you were at the parade. The only constraint is that you won’t have an unlimited cloaking time. At the moment the prototype will only provide you with about an hour of cloaking capability; and then you’ll have to wait two to three hours before enough energy has built up to support cloaking again.”

  “That’s still enough time to sneak in or to escape from a situation, if necessary,” I said, “but I thought you said that energy wasn’t a major factor with the independent cloaking system…?”

  “Unlike cloaking on the NEW ORLEANS, which doesn’t require its own power source, as it is essentially an induced side effect of the RMFF, the ALI’s cloaking device must accumulate energy that is slowly discharged under certain conditions to create the field when it’s in operation. So, until I’m able to create a smaller and more powerful energy source that is appropriate for the ALI, its cloaking capabilities remain limited to one hour. I could probably duplicate the solbidyum reactor arrangement that was used in the transport for the parade; but I don’t think it’s advisable to do so. The solbidyum reactor serves the NEW ORLEANS better than it would the ALI.”

  “I have to agree with you there, A’Lappe. Frankly I was nervous about using the solbidyum reactor in the transport. Fortunately we did, though, or we wouldn’t be here now.”

  “Captain,” I said to Stonbersa, “pick one of those retreating ships and follow it. It’s time to find out where the Brotherhood’s base is hidden. My guess is that we will find ourselves moving toward the third moon of Ludation, as A’Lappe theorized.”

  “Why not just head there now, if that’s the case?” the admiral asked.

  “Because we can’t be entirely certain and we don’t want to get it wrong. These ships will lead us to their base without a doubt. Aside from that, the base may not be as easy to find as A’Lappe suspects; so again, this is the surest way to locate the underground portal, if there is one. It’s also possible that they’re returning to an airbase, meaning the TECCION. In that case they wouldn’t be going to the moon at all, but someplace else in space.”

  “I see your point, Tibby,” said the admiral.

  “Tibby,” interjected Kala, “what about the banquet tomorrow? After today’s incident, it’s more important than ever that we don’t miss that event.”

  “I’d forgotten about that,” I said, “but this is too important for us to let go. If it looks like we’re going to be led too far way to return in time to attend, we’ll just have to find a diplomatic excuse for delaying the banquet.”

  “I can handle that situation,” said Admiral Regeny, “I’ll contact Senator Tacfacs and tell him that we’ve heard rumors of a plan to detonate a bomb at the banquet and that we may need to cancel it until we receive more intelligence. That should buy us the time needed to deal with these rebels.”

  “Good, hopefully this won’t take too long to accomplish,” I said.

  Little did I realize that it would take far less time than even I anticipated. By late afternoon Stonbersa reported that the ship we followed was approaching a much larger craft that was about the size of the TECCION.

  “It looks like the rebels decided not to hide out on a planet or moon after all; they simply moved out further into the vacuum of space,” commented Stonbersa. “What do you want us to do now, Admiral?”

  “I’d hate to blow the ship up,” said the admiral, “but unless they’re willing to surrender, I don’t see that we will have a lot of options. We need that ship and every ship we have in the fleet to ultimately squash these brigands. We can’t afford to go around blowing up every ship the Brotherhood may take.”

  “Maybe we won’t have to blow them up… how about we just shake them up a little?” I said.

  The admiral looked at me and grinned, “What’s your plan, Tibby? I have a hunch it’s going to be a good one.”

  “First off, we have to back out of sensor range of the TECCION just long enough for us to drop shields and launch the ALI. Marranalis and two other troopers can take her out cloaked. Then we’ll also return cloaked and position ourselves within close distance of the TECCION. We’ll broadcast our presence to them, giving them the option to surrender peacefully. They won’t of course, but they won’t be able to see us either.

  “In the meantime, the ALI will fly around to their other side. When we tell the Brotherhood that they are surrounded and to surrender, we’ll then materialize so they can see the NEW ORLEANS. They’ll most certainly open fire; and when our RMFF shields dissipate the hits, they will again see that their weaponry is ineffective. We’ll then return fire aimed to take out some of the GW propulsion systems on the ship, while the ALI simultaneously takes out several of the GW drives on the other side the ship while remaining cloaked. The TECCION will have to assume that a squadron of invisible ships has surrounded the TECCION and that they are outclassed and unable to strike back. I think under those circumstances, and in light of the events of the past few weeks, they will surrender without further resistance. We’ll then send over patrol ships carrying Special Ops troopers to round up the rebel crew; confine them securely, and then fly the crippled ship back to Plosaxen for repairs. You can schedule a news conference and broadcast vid clips, like we did at Megelleon, so the citizens can witness the successful operation.”

  “I like it,” said the admiral. “Let’s just hope the rebels are as willing to surrender as you think.”

  According to this plan, Stonbersa moved the NEW ORLEANS out of range so the ALI could be launched. The captain then moved us back to the TECCION in a position adjacent to their main hangar – so close that if we were uncloaked and standing in the open hangar bay those onboard the TECCION would have easily been able to see us with the naked eye. In fact, our position would make it extremely difficult for the Brotherhood to deploy any patrol ships out of the hatch of the TECCION to retaliate.

  A universal communication link was then opened and Admiral Regeny announced, “Attention, rebel insurgents aboard the TECCION, this is Admiral Regeny of the Federation Space Force. You are hereby ordered to surrender. You are surrounded.”

  There was a moment’s pause before an image appeared on the screen. It was obvious that these members of the Brotherhood had their own idea of uniforms, as their Federation dress had been replaced with a dark, almost violet blue uniform. This was somewhat surprising, as the Brotherhood troops that had taken over the DUSTEN wore black uniforms with contrasting collars. The image on the screen was that of a middle-aged woman.

  “This is Captain Ceewurd of the Brotherhood of Light. You seem to be delusional, Admiral, as you have no ships in our vicinity and I hardly believe you are in any position to take action against us.”

  The admiral signaled to Stonbersa to reveal our position as soon as she stopped speaking. Stonbersa deactivated the cloaking mechanism while maintaining the RMFF defense shields. On the screen we saw Ceewurd’s face render surprise as Admiral Regeny said gravely, “We are much closer than you think, Captain. I highly recommend you surrender – now.”

  Behind Captain Ceewurd one of her officers turned to her in a panic. “They’re right on top of us, Captain, what shall we do?”

  “Fire, you idiots,” Ceewurd screamed. “FIRE!”

  For the next several minutes lights and explosions flashed across the RMFF shield as the weapons of the TECCION blazed away and Captain Stonbersa and the admiral stood calmly before the vid screen. Eventually the firing stopped; and the shock t
hat consumed Ceewurd’s entire posture betrayed her attempt to assert an air of control.

  “It’s a trick. They’re not really there. It’s some sort of illusion or hologram,” she insisted hysterically.

  The admiral replied with grim calm, “I assure you, Captain, this is no illusion. At this moment a squadron of cloaked and shielded Federation ships surround you; and if you do not surrender in the next two minutes, we will open fire.”

  I was hoping that the TECCION would surrender at this point, as time would otherwise run out on the ALI’s cloaking device and they would need to withdraw for protection.

  “You’re bluffing, Admiral,” replied Ceewurd with a contemptuous grin. “You have nothing but an illusion of a ship in our vicinity and that appears to be a space yacht and not a star ship.”

  “It is your choice, Captain,” said Regeny, “I have no intention of playing games with you.”

  “Be careful, Captain,” I whispered to Stonbersa, as the NEW ORLEANS prepared to fire on the TECCION’s GW drives. “We don’t want a repeat of the underwater base on Megelleon.”

  “Right,” he whispered back. “Kerabac and I have since calibrated for the amplification. We can do this without blowing them to pieces.”

  We had discovered quite by accident the first time we fired weapons from the NEW ORLEANS through the active RMFF shields that the RMFF field amplified the force and energy of any beam or projectile launched from the ship. Consequently, the damage done to the targets was many times over the expected outcome under non-shielded conditions. If we were to fire through the RMFF at normal strength to disable its engines, we would most likely blow the ship into oblivion.

  Stonbersa gave the order to the weapons officer, “Fire to take out the starboard GW drives. ALI, fire to take out their port GW drives.” There were brief flashes of light from the weapons on the NEW ORLEANS and small explosion occurred on the GW drive pods on the TECCION.