by Dale Musser
“Ultimately, there is no concrete proof that the Wingutt holding the office of Senator is the same person. What leads me to doubt his identity are elements in his dialect and manner of speech that are inconsistent with those of his native village or even to Lissalon Prime in general. If I were relying on forensic linguistics alone, I would deduce that he’s from one of the planets in Sector 3. Of course, his speech patterns and dialect could have been influenced by what he heard at home, for instance, if he had a parent from Sector 3. As far as his parents and family are concerned, we have even less information. Destruction of ancestry records was extensive and none of what survived sheds any light on his heritage. Most of what we do know of him before the eruption is in his own words and nothing more.”
“If so little is known about him, how did he rise so quickly in influential circles and gain enough trust and attention from the citizens to be elected a senator?”
“We’re still trying to follow that trail backward,” Wabussie said. “Wingutt started appearing in the company of numerous wealthy individuals six years ago. He seemed to have a knack for saying what they wanted to hear and making promises that he could affect some significant economic change and essentially redouble their wealth if he were a senator. His claims were powerful enough to gain the support of the wealthiest families and entrepreneurs. Two years later, when election time came around, he was elected in a landslide victory. Since then he has proposed and passed a great deal of legislation that has helped Lissalon Prime financially, so he still holds great favor with the people there. He’s well-liked by the other senators, Tibby, and he’s also known to be very outspoken about his dislike for you. He has made an increasing number of claims against you during the scheduled Senate meetings, accusations that have recently been presented more officially as grievances and allegations of treason, ultimately culminating in the demand for a formal hearing. Essentially, Wingutt is claiming that you have instigated much of the conflict for your own purposes and that he can prove you are using the military to perpetuate more conflict with the Brotherhood and ultimately generate significant personal profit and power from the continuation of this war. You are being accused of treason.”
“Do you have any idea how he discovered I’ve been getting ships from the androids?”
“No, but then I didn’t know it myself until recently. It was only after Wingutt started making his claims that I had the FSO check out and verify his claims.”
“How did you do that? Did someone in my crew leak information?” I asked.
“No, nothing that simple. We examined several of the ships you’ve recently approved for delivery to the military and found traces of sand inside several of the ships. Analysis of the sand showed that it came from the fourth planet in your solar system – the planet where you took the androids.”
“Do you think that’s how Wingutt figured it out?”
“Not likely. I don’t think he’s had access to any of the fighter craft. He had to discover it through other means. He recently formed a team that has been asking questions of Federation military personnel and sifting through public records for military equipment acquisition documents and sourcing histories.
“Off the record, Tibby, are you getting any other military hardware from questionable sources?”
“Not that I’m aware of – and off the record, Admiral, I don’t think the androids are a questionable source, nor are they an enemy.”
“From what I know of them I would agree, but I’m afraid my opinion isn’t going to help you.”
When I finished my conversation with Wabussie, I went back to the NEW ORLEANS and sought out A’Lappe in his lab. Both Cantolla and Reide mentioned that A’Lappe had developed a new weapon of some type and it was high time that I saw what it was. A’Lappe’s inventions always seemed to come at just the right moment, so I was hoping that this new weapon would prove to be another game‑changer that would give the Federation some advantage in the war.”
“Ah, First Citizen, it’s nice of you to pay me a visit,” said A’Lappe when he saw me enter the main lab facility. “I was about to contact you and invite you to view my latest invention.”
“What have you created for me this time, A’Lappe?” I asked as I looked about, trying to identify what it might be.
“No need to look for it here, Tibby. We’ll need to take a small excursion in your personal fighter so I can demonstrate it.”
“You’re willing to leave the NEW ORLEANS to demonstrate it?” I asked with surprise.
“Why certainly, Tibby. I feel just as safe aboard your fighter as I do aboard the NEW ORLEANS. But come, let me show you,” he said as he opened one of the panels into the maintenance tunnels that he used to traverse the ship.
Once inside the tunnels, he quickly led me to the personal hangar where my fighter and A’Lappe’s small personal ship were berthed. We entered the fighter and I let A’Lappe take the pilots seat. After making a quick call to the bridge to alert Captain Kerabac that we were leaving the NEW ORLEANS for a short flight, A’Lappe opened the hangar bay doors and flew the ship out into space. He quickly accelerated the ship in the direction of the Kuiper Belt.
“So what is it you want me to see?” I asked after several minutes passed without so much as a word from A’Lappe.
“I want you to see this new weapon I’ve created. I call it a Plasma Laser Amplified Beam Emitter or PLABE for short.”
“Plasma Laser Amplified Beam Emitter? That’s a mouthful. What does it do?”
A’Lappe chuckled. “That’s why I call it a PLABE. Here, let me demonstrate.” A’Lappe navigated carefully along the perimeter of the asteroid field until he positioned himself in front of a remarkably large asteroid. “Do you see that average-sized rock mass directly in front of us?”
“I see it, but I would hardly call it average. It’s four times larger than a starship.”
“Yes. Well, watch this,” A’Lappe replied as he trained the sights on it using the weapons console. “And…FIRE,” said A’Lappe, as a brilliant white/yellow beam of light shot out from the ship, instantly creating an explosive force on the asteroid as vaporized material shot out into space. When the vaporized debris floated far enough past us to restore our view, I was surprised to find myself looking at a deep hole bored into the asteroid’s surface.
“Impressive. How deep does the hole go?” I asked.
“Let me show you,” A’Lappe said as he maneuvered the ship to the far side of the massive rock. It took us several minutes to get there. When we arrived, I saw an even larger hole and crater. The weapon had blown clear through the far side of the asteroid.”
“You’re kidding me! That can’t be real!” I exclaimed.
“Oh it’s real, I assure you of that,” A’Lappe said with a grin.
“But how? I mean what?”
I infused a plasma beam into a laser beam to pair the two into a distinctly powerful weapon. In the past, most lasers created their own plasma energy upon impact with an object. I wanted to see what would happen if I purposely inserted a plasma beam into the laser and let the laser carry it. As you can see, the result is rather impressive.”
“How deep can the beam penetrate before its energy plays out?” I asked as A’Lappe headed back toward Earth’s orbit.
“I’m not sure,” A’Lappe replied. “Probably half the diameter of a planet like Megelleon.”
“What does it do to an RMFF shield?”
“I fitted a drone with an RMFF field to use as a test. When we get back near the NEW ORLEANS I’ll have Kerabac launch it so we can see what kind of effect it has. I haven’t been able to do any tests aboard the NEW ORLEANS for fear the beam would burn through the ship.”
“A wise choice I would say, based on what I saw of that rock back there.”
“The damage would have been far worse if the asteroid had contained water. The subsurface ice would have been superheated by the PLABE almost instantly, and the force of the steam would have blown the rock mass to bi
ts.”
“So if we’d had this weapon when we were fighting the Tottalax, we would have ended the battle earlier?”
“Possibly. I don’t think their ship would have held up against it. Honestly, I don’t think anything will stop it – not even the shields of an RMFF, but we’ll know for sure in a few moments. We’re coming up on the NEW ORLEANS now. I’ll signal Kerabac to release the drone.”
A few minutes later the drone could be seen on the vid screen. A’Lappe hummed as if he were baking a pie, while he adjusted the targeting and then said, “Here we go,” as he pressed the firing button.”
I expected that if the shield was breached and the drone was hit, the beam would bore through it like it did the asteroid. Instead there was an intense flash of light… and then nothing. No trace of the drone at all.
“What happened? I asked. “Where’s the drone?”
“It’s gone! Vaporized!” exclaimed A’Lappe with a scientist’s glee. If it had been larger, say the size of a starship we would more likely be looking at a ship with a hole in it. But the drone was so small and the heat so intense, it vaporized the entire mass. Also, I have to deduce that the intense heat released by the 10X reactor used to power the drone’s RMFF also contributed significantly to the destruction of the drone.”
“So the PLABE penetrated the RMFF?” I asked, in order to be sure my excitement wasn’t misplaced.
A’Lappe grinned. “Well, the drone didn’t blow up on its own.”
“A’Lappe, this is great!” I exclaimed. “How soon can we get these mass produced and installed on our fighters and other ships.”
“Uh… that’s a small problem,” A’Lappe drew the words out slowly. “One of the components needed to make the PLABE is rundadite, and it's a rather rare element.”
“Just how rare?”
“Rare enough that, if we gathered all of the rundadite in the Federation, we would probably only have enough to make a dozen PLABEs at the most.”
“By the stars! So not only is it rare, but it’s expensive,” I said.
“No, not expensive. There has been no use for rundadite until now. The currently known specimens exist mostly in university and research labs. It has no commercial uses at the moment.
“So where can we find more? There must be some known natural source for it, right?”
“All the rundadite that has been collected came from a single comet that passed through Federation space several hundred years ago. I don’t know if anyone ever figured out the comet’s origin.”
“Can’t you produce the rundadite in the replicator the same way you make the sympathetic particles for the Cantolla Gates?”
“No, the atomic and molecular structure is way too complex. The replicator can’t copy it. Plus, rundadite has a very strange and unstable molecular structure that keeps changing between two states, like a light switch that you keep turning on and off.”
“I see,” I said, even though I didn’t really understand it. “Well, get as much of this stuff as you can and make as many PLABEs as possible. Also, see if you can define that comet’s trajectory from historical data to see where it originated. If there’s more rundadite somewhere, we’re going after it. This is a huge discovery, A’Lappe. You did a good job – an amazing job! Now let’s hope we can find more of this rundadite.”
I was expecting to hear from the Senate at any moment directing me to make an appearance at Megelleon and answer the allegations against me, but the days continued to pass without a summons. In the meantime, I underwent another treatment from A’Lappe to counter the synthetic nerve rejection, and Admiral Slater and I finalized plans for the attack at Alamar-4.
With the help of Wabussie’s teams that were already in place on Alamar-4, a stellar Cantolla Gate was assembled on a cliff that faced the ocean. Meanwhile, using the smaller personnel gate set up earlier for Wabussie’s FSO agents, Slater was able to get 100 troopers and their equipment on the ground to serve as defense forces around the cliff and maximize the number of ships that made passage before enemy forces arrived to shut down the gate. Fighters arriving through the gate would stave off initial counterattacks so transports could reach their strategic destinations unimpeded and set up additional gates, allowing troops to flood in toward the Brotherhood facilities from all directions. At the same time, the assault from space was expected to occupy much of the enemy’s already meager resources. We could only hope that the FSO’s intelligence was comprehensive enough to minimize the unknowns, so we could render the Brotherhood’s counterforces powerless and reclaim Alamar-4 in a single offensive.
At the appointed time the attack began. Admirals Regeny and Wabussie joined Admiral Slater and me in the MAXETTE’s War Room, where we could watch the action unfold on the 3D holographic display.
Since one hemisphere of Alamar-4 was an ocean we timed the assault to begin long after nightfall on the continental side. This meant that nearly all the Brotherhood troops on the planet were asleep and probably half those that were on duty were not likely paying attention to their monitors. Little had happened on Alamar-4 after the Brotherhood seized the planet many years earlier, so security was expected to be lax.
We managed to get several hundred fighters and transports through the cliff gate and on the way to their destinations before there was any indication that the Brotherhood was aware of our presence. Even then, it wasn’t the ships and troops deploying across the surface that they detected, but the onslaught of ships that approached from the space Cantolla Gates. From the War Room we watched as Brotherhood fighters climbed from the planet’s surface to join their larger frigates and corvettes in orbit, quickly configuring their fleet in a classic defensive shield formation. As soon as the exodus of fighters from the surface ceased, Federation fighters that had until this point maintained cover below the marine sensor range began attacking their surface bases. They were quickly followed by Federation transports, which mobilized ground troops to secure each base after each air assault. Meanwhile, more portable Cantolla Gates were quickly assembled to deploy military hardware to support ground troops at each base and to sweep every possible inch of the continent for signs of Brotherhood outposts. The ground attack unfolded so quickly that the Brotherhood troops didn’t even have a chance to defend themselves.
The space battle was just getting into full swing when I was interrupted by Marranalis. “Admiral, there are two men here representing Senator Wingutt. They say they need to see you immediately.”
“By the stars,” I exclaimed, “Do they realize we are in the middle of a battle at the moment?”
“Yes, sir, I believe they do. I informed them you were engaged with military matters regarding the directions of battle units and could not be disturbed.”
“And what did they say?”
“They said that as duly appointed representatives of the Senate, you are required to see them immediately.”
“Well, tell them as Admiral of the fleet engaged in battle at this very moment, I don’t give a damn. They can come back when the battle is over.”
Both Admirals Wabussie and Regeny look at me with complete shock. Regeny stepped forward and said, “Let me talk to them, Tibby. I’ll get them to come back later when the assault is resolving.”
I nodded. “If you think it will help, Admiral. I appreciate it.”
Inside I was fuming. I had a strong suspicion that Senator Wingutt had somehow gotten word that I was engaged in the battle at Alamar-4 and he picked this precise moment to present me with orders to appear before the Senate for questioning. The real question was what his true motives were. My instincts told me that I wouldn’t like the answer.
The battle lasted longer than I expected. Even though we had caught the Brotherhood’s forces unexpectedly, they put up a real fight. In spite of their inability to organize and the undisputable fact that they were too poorly equipped to repel an invasion, they fought with a ferocious determination that had me wondering whether we had perhaps walked into a trap. The way the enemy
fought made me uneasy. I felt as if at any moment massive reinforcements would show up, but none did. I found myself wishing that I had A’Lappe’s new weapon, as the RMFF shields on the larger Brotherhood ships prevented us from doing any serious damage. Somehow the Brotherhood discovered that, by targeting our slow penetrating torpedoes as they passed through their RMFF shields, they could destroy them before impact with their ships. As a result, only one of our torpedoes penetrated through the shield of one of their frigates and destroyed the ship.
When the enemy saw the frigate explode, they turned and ran, abandoning hundreds of their fighters as they did. As in the past, it was only a matter of minutes after the Brotherhood fled that their fighters began detonating in suicide explosions. Clearly the enemy had no intentions of allowing the capture any of their ships or men.
Wabussie was puzzled by the suicide tactics. “Tibby, I don’t understand why the Brotherhood kills their own men and destroys their own ships. They’re wasting resources. Even if we do manage to take prisoners, they always of low rank, so they know nothing of value and we garner no useful information. We already know all the secrets of their fighters and ships, so there’s nothing to be gained. So why do they do it?”
“Ming is paranoid,” I answered. “There’s always the possibility that some trace of communication is left in the data banks on one of the ships or that one of the pilots may know something that they shouldn’t or that someone might reveal the location of other bases, shipyards or other resources that we could target. In Ming’s mind men and minor equipment are expendable. He has absolutely no regard for human life.”
