by Dale Musser
“This could all be some sort of trick,” said Kala. “Maybe the painting and statues aren’t old at all.”
I’ve considered that possibility, but I don’t believe that’s the case. I think they were telling the truth, but I don’t understand it.”
“Are you still going through with the attack on Ming?” Kala asked abruptly.
“Yes, I’ll be meeting with my team tomorrow to make final plans. We'll attack the day-after-tomorrow. Lunnie, you are not to mention one word of this to anyone. This is highly classified.”
“Don’t worry, Dad, I never discuss anything you say about work or about the Brotherhood.”
“Good girl,” I said. “Now, I want to hear about your day on Earth.”
“Not much to tell. I helped one of the scientists check some water moss we planted in several of the streams. Of the ten streams we tested, four of the mosses were flourishing, two weren’t quite as good and the last two died. But the results are still optimistic. Eventually these plants will grow and thrive on Earth again. We’re going to introduce some more plants into a lake tomorrow.”
“You know, I’m immensely proud that my very own daughter is helping to revive my home planet…proud and honored,” I said as I reached out and kissed her on the hand. “Just don’t let any of those rubloids loose out there!”
“Oh dad!” she said, as she flipped her hair and left to meet with her friends.
“Tibby, do you think the scene showing you before the Senate is something that happens because of your going after Ming?” Kala asked.
“I thought you didn’t believe in prophecy,” I said.
“Well, I don’t. I mean, I’m skeptical, but still…” she trailed off.
“Kala, I honestly have no idea what any of it means and I’m not going to try to figure it out or go in one direction or another because of what I saw in the temple chamber. I’m going to keep on going as I have been.”
A little while later, Kala asked, “When are you supposed to get another treatment?”
“Not for another four days. Right now, I’m feeling strong and my mental acuity is quite good, but I’m glad you’re keeping it in mind, because I may forget someday. By the stars, Kala, I wish A’Lappe would find a cure for this ailment. The last thing I need is to be in the middle of some conflict and find myself in need of a treatment.”
I slept soundly that night, in spite of dreaming of animated versions of the statues and frescoes from the temple chamber. I awoke refreshed and proceeded to the MIZBAGONA with the rest of the group to finalize the details of our assault on Domagota. Asalott proved to be essential in developing some critical elements of the plan. One of the chief concerns was how to effectively get troops on the ground. My best hopes were to deploy the troopers before launching the major assault from orbit. Asalott said the main spaceport was less than fifty kilometers from Ming’s palace. Though trade with other planets had been reduced since the Brotherhood had taken over, the spaceport was still the site of frequent traffic. Most were smugglers and drug traders hoping to get large quantities of God Sweat to sell on other worlds. The Brotherhood would trade for arms and weaponry, as well as scarce medicines and technically superior items they lacked. This meant that making our way to the surface was simply a matter of acquiring some old junk freighter and throwing some goods on it that the Brotherhood might need, at which point we could simply arrive in plain sight. Components for a small Cantolla Gate could easily be hidden on the ship and, once past Customs, the crew could quickly find an appropriate place to assemble it. Once operational, the gate would allow any number of troopers to transfer directly to the surface and deploy across the area.
Captain Mareoparen suggested that the Brotherhood might be interested in acquiring some of the mechanized armored units we had used against them during past ground assaults. Asalott agreed. I wasn’t sure, as I was afraid the Brotherhood would ask too many questions as to how they were acquired and become suspicious if the answers didn’t match their own intelligence. With that in mind, I thought it would be best if there was nothing on the ship that was recognizable as originating in the Federation. Asalott quickly saw my point and agreed that my approach might be best. He then mentioned that the Brotherhood seemed to be very fond of a particular laser rifle that was manufactured on a planet named Eladlin, but they couldn’t acquire these weapons easily. The Eladlinians accepted only Universal Chip Coins for payment and the Brotherhood had very limited access to this currency because of the nature of their organization. I knew I had chip coin currency on deposit at Weccies, but there was no time to retrieve the coins, get to Eladlin, buy the weapons, and get them on a freighter that could arrive at Domagota by the next day. That’s when Padaran came to my aid.
“Tibby, the Ruwallie Rasson trade regularly with Eladlin. I’ll bet that there is a stockpile of crated weapons stored somewhere on Goo’Waddle. Let me contact Tondor. If I’m right, we could have several crates of these rifles by this afternoon.”
“You’re correct, Padaran,” said Nybidong. “I've personally been to Eladin myself to purchase armaments. When you talk to Tondor, tell him to see Gazzamatt. I’m certain he was the arms dealer on Goo’Waddle who purchased our merchandise.”
“Do it,” I said. “I’d forgotten that the Ruwallie Rasson traded outside the Federation boundaries all the time. While you’re talking to Tondor, see if they have an old freighter we can use for the transaction – something not of Federation origins.”
“I’ll contact him now,” said Padaran as he left the War Room.
“Nybidong, I want you to have all your fighters ready to fly through a Cantolla Gate on the MAXETTE launch tubes as soon as you receive orders. Your job will be to clean up any Brotherhood ships in orbit around the planet and to stop any ships from escaping.
“Asalott, how many asteroid-ships can we expect to encounter at Domagota?”
“One, maybe two. Ming maintains mostly starships at Domagota. I’ve never seen more than two asteroid-ships there at a time.”
“He must feel pretty safe there, if that’s all the asteroid-ships he keeps. Those are his strongest ships. Aside from their fighter carrier functions, the starships are poor warships. We should be able to handle those easily.
“Is there anything else we should know before the attack?’’ I asked.
“Well, there is one thing more,” said Asalott. “There’s a rumor that Ming’s people have designed and built some new ships that are faster than anything else known; however, it seems they can be built only on a small-scale for a maximum occupancy of three passengers. Reportedly, Ming has manufactured three of these ships, which are kept at his disposal in case he needs to flee quickly. I don’t know anything more about them, other than that they’re apparently equipped with cloaking technology but not with defensive shields. I don’t know the exact location of the ships, but they’re housed somewhere close to him in a facility that’s connected to his compound by an underground rail system.”
“How old is this information?” I asked. “At one point, Ming had developed ships that were much faster than the Federation’s; but we’ve since updated our designs and have since matched anything we’ve seen the Brotherhood use.”
“I collected my information less than a year ago. These ships are supposed to be faster than anything else in his fleet. My informant says that Ming has some scientist helping him.”
“Did your informant mention a name?”
“Yes. Hakwin, I believe.”
“Professor Fass Hakwin? We thought he was killed at Epsirt.”
“I’m reasonably certain that Hakwin is the man who developed these new engines," replied Asalott.
“Damn. I need to get this information to Wabussie. The problem is, any new intelligence reported by me will reveal that I’m up to something and he might find it necessary to discuss it with Regeny. I’m fairly certain that Wabussie is on our side; however, I can’t risk this operation. If Regeny finds out, he will stop us without a doubt. Marranalis,
as soon as our attack is underway, get this intelligence to him, will you?”
“Certainly, Admiral.”
Asalott brought with him a data cube that contained the same information as the one Wabussie had provided me, but his cube contained additional information that was missing from the one Wabussie provided. The one piece of data I found the most useful was a schematic of Ming’s palace complex that included the escape rail tunnels leading away from the palace. The tunnels each led to one of the hidden ships Ming had set aside for his escape. If our ground squadrons were able to get into the tunnels or hidden hangars before we launch the assault, there was a fair chance we would be able to trap him before he escaped. Ming would most certainly try to flee at the first sign of an attack. He was not one to stay and engage directly in battle.
“How accurate is this data on the tunnels and hangar locations?” I asked Asalott.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. The tunnels exist; of that I am certain. As far as each tunnel’s entry point into the palace, I’m fairly certain the schematics are accurate. However, the trajectory of each tunnel and the hangar locations may not be as precise. I acquired this data from one of the engineers who worked on the project, but he said that he was blindfolded every time he was taken to one of the sites. He tried to pinpoint the locations once he arrived at the sites by triangulating landmarks he could see in the surrounding area.
At one point in our planning, Nybidong asked, “Why can’t we simply blow up Ming’s palace from orbit?”
“Because we need to be sure that we have actually killed Ming,” I said. “We could destroy the entire complex and kill hundreds or maybe even thousands of innocent slaves, only to discover later he wasn’t there at the time of the attack. For all we know, he may be off world at the moment, in which case our attack would serve no real purpose than to enrage him more than he already is and potentially kill innocents that we might have been able to save at some point in the future. There can be no doubt. If we’re going to get absolution from the Senate for breaking the law, we’re going to have to deliver Ming’s head on a platter and...”
A moan came from someone at this statement, so I added, “Figuratively that is, not literally. What I mean is we will need to present undeniable evidence that he is dead.”
“Admiral, what happens if Admiral Regeny unexpectedly requests assistance from the First Fleet halfway through our attack on Domagota?” asked Captain Mareoparen.
“The MAXETTE will be the only Federation ship that participates in this mission. If Regeny asks for more ships from the First Fleet, he will get them; but the MAXETTE will still stay at Domagota until Ming has been killed. Admiral Regeny isn’t so dumb as to pull all of the First Fleet away from defending the Capitol. If he asks me to personally appear at Glomar Rosa, I can simply transfer back through the Cantolla Gates to any one of the responding ships. He’ll never know that I was ever away from Sector 1.”
We spent the entire day going over individual battle plans and scenarios. I checked to make sure that our advance ship was in position near Domagota and that the stellar gate was in position before calling it a day. We planned to attack early the next morning and I hoped this timing would correspond closely with the launch of Admiral Regeny’s campaign at Glomar Rosa. If my hunch was correct, Ming would receive word of the Glomar Rosa blitz via the Deep Space Communicator system. I hoped that the Glomar Rosa situation would serve as a distraction. We would have a distinct tactical advantage, if he and his High Command were initially preoccupied with monitoring the battle rather than paying attention to Domagota’s own defenses.
It was late by the time I got home that night. Both Kala and Lunnie had already gone to bed. In the morning Kala heard me getting ready to leave and got up long enough to give me a kiss, tell me to be safe and wish me luck. If she had known the totality of my plans, I am sure she would have displayed more concern than she did. Neither she nor any of my teams were aware that I personally planned to lead the attack.
As hoped, Tondor had been able to locate an old freighter for us, a rust bucket of a ship called the MURDEN CLOUD that was produced many years ago by some non-Federation world. It appeared to be in a lot worse shape than it actually was. Its engines were sound and its operating systems remained in working order. Tondor managed to nearly fill the cargo hold with Eladlinian laser rifles, as well as various other arms that may or may not be of interest to the Brotherhood. All things considered, the MURDEN CLOUD looked like an authentic merchant ship.
Padaran had selected several members from my personal security team to act as the ship’s crew and went the extra step of making each one of them look the part. One of them even sported a nano-tattoo of a Mydosian mud serpent that moved about his arm under the skin in a slow, hypnotic movement. Such animated nano-tattoos were quite the rage in the outer worlds and were particularly popular among traders and the crew members of merchant ships. It was the attention to this kind of detail in our disguised merchant ship that I hoped would ensure the success of our ruse. If all went well, the freighter would be on the ground and through Customs before Ming received word of the events at Glomar Rosa.
After the MURDEN CLOUD passed through the stellar gate, we waited two hours before following in the MAXETTE. We had berthed the MIZBAGONA and other ships brought from Alle Bamma under the MAXETTE in the central docking well. All ships were cloaked to avoid detection. We remained stationary, waiting for a signal from the MURDEN CLOUD that they were on the ground and ready to receive troopers through the Cantolla Gate.
We didn’t have to wait long. As soon as we received the signal, I turned to Marranalis and said, “Captain, you know what needs to be done. I’ll stay in contact with you via com-link.”
“Sir?” began Marranalis said in disbelief. “You’re not going to the surface, are you?!”
“Yes, I am. I intend to lead the team and see to it personally that Ming doesn’t get away. I’m counting on you and Captain Mareoparen to run things from here.”
“Admiral, I must object! You’re too important to risk your life on this mission!”
“No one’s life is more important than anyone else’s, especially when it comes to stopping Ming,” I said. “Just see to it that my orders are carried out as planned.” Then I turned to Padaran and said, “Let’s go.”
Behind me at the Cantolla Gate assembly area stood teams of Federation troopers and security forces at the ready. Our plan was to quickly take out the Brotherhood troops at the landing area and steal a number of patrol ships known to be stationed there. Once in possession of the patrol ships, some of the crews would fly at low altitude to Ming’s palace 70 kilometers away, while the remainder would disperse to the triangulated zones where Ming’s escape ships were expected to exit from the hidden hangars. If the hangars could be located, the crews would destroy them. Otherwise, they were to stand by and shoot down any ship trying to depart from the area. It was my hope that the team I was leading would successfully locate the entrances to each tunnel within the palace compound after Ming and his High Command had already fled toward the escape ships and that we would trap them somewhere within the tunnels before they reached the hangars.
The troopers were outfitted with sound suppression devices like those used years earlier to protect against the debilitating effects of the Tottalax sleep weapon. Even though the Brotherhood had apparently stopped using the Tottalax weapon, I wasn’t going to take any chances. In the event they weren’t using the weapon, it was likely the case that they were also no longer wearing the protective earbuds. In that scenario, we would be prepared with the Federation’s own version of the sleep weapon, which would be used to disable any resistance we might encounter while in pursuit of Ming.
I was about to pass through the gate ahead of my troops, when Padaran stepped in front of me. “Tibby, if you’re going to insist on leading this raid, I’m going to insist that you let me sent a squad ahead of us to secure the immediate area and verify that it’s not a trap.”
; I desperately wanted to push him out of the way and lead the charge, but I knew he was right. I paused for a second and then nodded and stepped aside. Padaran then signaled to the first squad behind me. They quickly and quietly passed through the gate, fanning out of view as they scanned the perimeter. It was only a matter of seconds before one of the troopers signaled back that everything was clear. By the time Padaran and I moved through the gate, the first squad had activated their personal cloaking devices and slipped out to hunt down Brotherhood guards stationed throughout the base. Padaran and I followed suit with the second squad, after which we were joined by two more. Ten minutes went by and all was quiet. Then another ten went by. Finally, the signal came that the base control tower had been secured and all communications outside of the base area silenced. By the time fifteen minutes had passed, all the Brotherhood ships at the spaceport had been seized utilizing the sleep weapon.
Finally, Padaran turned to me and said, “If you still wish to lead the raid, I suggest we take one of their patrol ships and head toward Ming’s palace.”
“Right,” I said. “Make sure any of the commandeered ships responding to the palace stay in contact with the War Room. As soon as we’re spotted and fired upon by the enemy, I want our ships to begin their attack in orbit and deploy the androids and Ruwallie Rasson to the surface. Tell Captain Mareoparen to move the MAXETTE into orbit and remain cloaked for now.”
With the planet's main spaceport now under the control of my troopers, I hoped that no one would notice the approach of the MAXETTE. Once in orbit, the MIZBAGONA and our other ships undock from the MAXETTE and took up their fighting positions in orbit and the Ruwallie Rasson and androids were prepared to enter the atmosphere and begin their surgical strikes against the bases and the palace compound. So far, everything was going precisely as planned.
As my teams departed the spaceport in the commandeered Brotherhood ships, we activated the cloaking devices and hoped we’d make it all the way to the palace undetected; but that was not to be. We were about 6 kilometers from the complex when we began to take enemy fire from the grounds. Immediately after we could see fighters rising from the palace site to confront us.
