Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids

by Dale C. Musser

  “I wish I was making it up. I only got word yesterday about it.”

  “But surely they can see what has happened to other planets that surrendered or left the Federation. Do they truly believe the Brotherhood will pass them by?”

  “I can only tell you what I know at the moment and that is that Syndrop and Porporat have both asked to secede from the Federation.”

  “What is the Federation going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I've not heard anything official,” I replied.

  “Well what do you think should be done?”

  “About the only thing we can do to keep them from seceding is to provide them with more defenses. We’ve got a new fighter design, thanks to A’Lappe, Reide and Rory; we now can match the Brotherhood in speed once again. With more ships and firepower coupled with more speed, we should be able to hold the Brotherhood off and maybe even push them back and regain some of the planets we’ve already lost.”

  Twenty minutes later, I arrived on the MAXETTE and went straight to the War Room and then my office. As usual, Marranalis was there waiting for me.

  “Good Morning, Captain,” I said as I entered.

  “Good morning, sir,” Marranalis replied. “I trust you are feeling well this morning…?” he added with a questioning look.

  “I seem to be doing all right this morning,” I replied. “Say, Marranalis, could you have someone bring me a plate of Kogo eggs with Awa bread?”

  “Certainly, sir, did you skip your meal this morning?”

  “Sort of. Reide was tinkering with the food synthesizer and now – well – let’s say you would not want to ingest anything that is coming out of it.”

  Marranalis chuckled. “It’s times like this when I am glad I don’t have a bond mate and offspring.”

  “Well,” I said smiling, “it may sound strange, but I’m damn proud of my kids.”

  “What’s new that I need to be aware of today?”

  “Leader Tonclin wishes for you and Admirals Regeny and Wabussie to meet with him this afternoon to discuss Syndrop’s and Porporat’s requests to secede from the Federation. Admiral Wabussie reports that our agents on Epsirt have shot down the three drones spying on Norcar’s estate. So far, there has been no reaction from anyone about it.”

  “Give them time, I suspect before the day is over, they will be hearing from someone,” I said as I took a sip of the cup of foccee I had retrieved from the dispenser in the room.

  “Say, Marranalis could you have someone bring me a plate of Kogo eggs with Awa bread?”

  “Admiral, you asked me that a few seconds ago,” Marranalis said with a concerned look.

  “I did?” I responded. “Odd, I don’t recall it. Well, as long as I haven’t already eaten them, I guess no harm is done,” I said with a grin, trying to make light of the situation.

  “Ah, yes, sir,” I’ll see to it immediately.

  I went to my office and went over the morning reports from the Fleet Admirals. Captain Wanoll was temporarily standing in for Admiral Stonbersa as head of the Second Fleet and I hoped to have him advanced and make his position official. Since the battle in Sector 2, no enemy ships were reported in the area. The same was true for Sector 3; after the departure of the Brotherhood ships, there had been no more detected on the long-range sensors. Sector 5, however, was reporting some activity on remote sensors, indicating something going on out beyond Federation borders. Reports in Sector 4 were showing an increase of freighters transporting goods in their sector with destinations unknown and outside the Federation borders. I wondered what the reaction would be to inspection of ships leaving the Federation for materials that could be used to help the Brotherhood; probably not well and most likely against Federation laws.

  I finished reading the morning reports from the fleet admirals and was looking at the reports from Nybidong and Ruwallie Rasson Fighters when Marranalis entered with one of the ship's staff and a tray of food.

  “Here you are, Admiral. Kogo eggs with Awa bread and another cup of foccee.”

  “Ah, thank you, Captain. Tell me, what do you think would happen if we had Federation ships stopping all freighters heading out beyond our borders and search them for weapons and goods that might be aiding the Brotherhood?”

  “Sir, I don’t think that would be a good idea. It would certainly raise a stink in the Senate and we would probably see more worlds in the Federation wishing to leave it. You’re not planning to do that, are you?”

  “No, it was simply a thought. What do you make of all the freighters that are being reported in Sector 4?”

  “I honestly hadn’t given it a thought, sir.”

  “According to Admiral Diphik, they are seeing nearly three times as many freighters passing through their space and outbound from the Federation as normal. Don’t you find that strange?”

  “Now that you mention it, I do. Where do you think they are going?” Marranalis asked.

  “That’s what I want to know. Something is going on; something that requires a lot of materials being transported. I want this information sent to Admiral Wabussie immediately. Tell him I think we need to learn two things; what these ships are carrying and where the majority of them are going.”

  “Do you think it’s the Brotherhood, sir?”

  “I think the odds of it are pretty strong, but we need to find out for sure.”

  I don’t remember Marranalis leaving my office and I don’t recall what happened in the next few hours; what I do remember next was Marranalis coming into my office and asking me if I had forgotten my meeting with Leader Tonclin.

  “What? I thought you said it was this afternoon?” I exclaimed.

  “Sir, it is afternoon. You're scheduled to meet with Leader Tonclin and Admirals Regeny and Wabussie in less than five minutes.”

  “What? How did that…, never mind, I'd best hurry. Please send a message to them that I am on my way. Hopefully, I won’t be more than a few minutes late,” I said as I rushed out the door. I ran to the Cantolla Gates, my bodyguard running beside me. Marranalis must have notified the security at the gates that I was running late, because I got super-fast service when I exited the gate at the Capitol. I arrived at Tonclin’s office three minutes late and out of breath.

  “Greetings, Admiral, we were starting to wonder where you were,” Leader Tonclin’s high-pitched voice intoned.

  “My apologies, Leader Tonclin, I fear I failed to notice the time and it was upon me before I realized it.”

  “That’s quite alright, Admiral. I do realize you have a lot of things going on. Frankly, I don’t know how you manage it all.”

  “Yes, sir,” I responded, “thank you for your understanding.”

  “Now, let us get down to business,” Tonclin said with a tone of authority. “The Senate is extremely upset about this latest request from Syndrop and Porporat to secede from the Federation. The fear is that if we grant them their wish; it will start a rush of other outlying planets to do the same. If that happened, it will severely damage not only the security of the Federation, but the economic stability of it as well. The Senate is hoping that we might find a way to utilize the military to bolster up the feeling of security with the peoples of Syndrop and Porporat, so they feel safe staying a part of the Federation.”

  “What are the planetary defense system situations like there now,” I asked looking at Wabussie, who had his vid pad on his lap.

  “Currently, both planets are defended by their own defense forces. We do have two small military bases on each world each with one frigate, a half-dozen or fewer corvettes and about three hundred patrol ships. Each planet has about 6,000 federation troopers stationed there as well,” Wabussie said dryly.

  “That’s it? That’s all, to defend a planet? By the stars, we’re lucky the Brotherhood hasn’t taken those planets over already,” I fumed.

  “Tibby, neither of those planets have much the Brotherhood would want. They don’t produce much of anything and they are, for the most part, insignificant
,” Regeny said, “I can’t see that either world warrants more attention than we’ve already given them.”

  “Begging your pardon, Admiral,” I began, “It’s not their economic significance I am concerned with; it's their significance from a military perspective. Those two planets are positioned at a place that is highly significant in terms of defense for the other Federation planets. Assuring their safety is akin to securing the safety of all the Federation planets in that sector. With the use of Cantolla Gates, we lose nothing by beefing up our military presence there. We can stage troops and ships from there and by using gates, we can have them anywhere in the Federation in seconds.”

  “Exactly,” Regeny said explosively. “All we need is a few gates there and there is no need to increase our military presence there.”

  “I disagree,” I said. “Our increased military presence there will cause the citizens of both worlds to feel more secure. The presence of our bases and personnel will also boost their economy as well and will enamor us with the citizens instead of lessening it. Plus, it becomes a strong front line for any attempted incursions from the Brotherhood in that sector.”

  While we debated this issue, Leader Tonclin sat back to absorb our arguments. When Regeny and I paused to take a breath, the Leader interrupted, “Admiral Wabussie, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

  “I would have to agree with Admiral Tibby, based solely on intelligence our FSO agents have gathered. We know that of late the Brotherhood has been showing increased interest in that sector; a strong military presence on both worlds would cause them to rethink that, I believe. It certainly would ease the minds of the citizens on both worlds.”

  Tonclin got up out of his chair and walked toward the large window wall, his back to us as he stood staring out the window at the world Megelleon rotating below. “You know I hate this job,” he said, his back still turned to us. “When I was elected a senator to represent the needs of my people on Nibaria, I was thrilled. I thought I would serve a term and return home to live a quiet and simple life. I never dreamed that one day I would be here representing all the Federation with nearly a million worlds. It’s a heavy load.” He turned facing us, “I know your burdens are just as great; every day we make decisions that affect the lives of those we serve and our choices often involve the loss of life for so many. In Sectors 2 and 3, the Senators demand more funds be poured into the war efforts; while in Sectors 4 and 5, where there is less Brotherhood activity, they want to see spending reduced. Sector 1, here at the Capitol, is divided down the middle and everyone wants their way right now.

  “Leader Pheosa and Leader Maragon have both decided to defer to my opinion on the matter and whatever I decide they say they will support. Tomorrow I need to address the Senate with my recommendation; no matter which way I go on this, I will receive a lot of negative reactions,” he sighed and looked at us each individually for a second before adding, “Admirals, I thank you for your advice and comments.” And with nothing further, he dismissed us. As I left with Regeny and Wabussie, I looked back to see Tonclin once more staring out the large window at the planet slowly revolving below.

  “What do you think he will do,” I asked as I approached the Cantolla Gate to return to the MAXETTE?”

  “I think he will side with more bases and reinforcements,” Wabussie said.

  “Are you kidding?” Regeny said, “Clearly, he’s going to recommend we let both the worlds secede. We've nothing to gain by keeping them.”

  “I guess we’ll know for sure tomorrow”, I answered as I was about to step through the Gate, "but just in case, I think I will start drawing up some plans for reinforcing both worlds.”

  I was feeling quite hungry when I returned to the MAXETTE and realized I’d not eaten since earlier that morning. I’d missed lunch and probably would have missed the meeting with Tonclin had it not been for Marranalis. What happened to me? I must have been in some sort of stupor or trance for who knew how long. It had been six days since A’Lappe had given me my first treatment and it obviously was wearing off. The idea of another treatment left me feeling ill, but the idea of not getting it frightened me even more. I thought of Kala as I reached my office on the MAXETTE and I changed my mind and told Marranalis I was going to the NEW ORLEANS to eat and I would be back later. I gave him brief instructions to begin looking at which troops would be in the best positions to be transferred to Syndrop and Porporat, from bases where their presence was not critical and to also put together a list of ships that could be sent there. With that out of the way, I called Kala and asked her if she could join me for a late lunch. She said she’d already eaten, but would be happy to join me anyway and she might have some dessert. By the time I had reached our suite, she’d instructed Piesew to prepare me a fubalo steak with all the trimmings. I do so love that woman; she always seems to know exactly what I need.

  I was ravenous and gulped down bits of food while telling Kala of the events of the day, leaving out, of course, the bit about spacing out and nearly missing my meeting with Tonclin.

  Kala told me that I should be happy that Piesew was seeing to our meal and it was not coming from the food synthesizer, as the engineering department of the ship said they were not able to undo whatever it was Reide had done to the machine. They would need to replace the unit entirely. Kala joked that we should have the old food synthesizer installed in Reide’s room and make him eat out of it for the next month to teach him a lesson; however, though I found the idea amusing, I told her I thought that would be going a bit too far.

  “Oh, you think so,” Kala came back at me? “Obviously, you haven’t seen your daughter today.”

  “No, come to think of it I haven’t. Where is she?”

  “She’s in the ships med unit, they are trying to see if they can fix her hair without needing to shave her head!”

  “WHAT!” I exclaimed as I accidentally spit out a piece of steak, “Shave her head? What for?”

  “Our genius son tinkered with her styling wand. I think he intended to make it change her hair color as a joke, but instead it… well, here--let me show you a vid image. I took this so you could see for yourself.” She pushed her vid pad across the table and I took it. There on the screen was a weeping Lunnie, her hair in twisted rope like reptilian shapes of purples, greens and yellow on her head.

  “Reide did this?”

  “Who else do you think would to that?”

  “Where is he now,” I asked in a tone of anger?

  “In his room. I’ve told him he’s not allowed to leave here and that you and I would decide his punishment.”

  “Hmm, do you think shipping him back to Desolation for a year would be too harsh a punishment?” I said as I tried to think up something suitable.

  “Ha, he’d probably enjoy that.”

  “What do you recommend?” I asked.

  “Well since his offense was against Lunnie and she is the one affected by it the most, I thought we might ask her what she thinks his punishment should be,” Kala said.

  “That’s an interesting idea; we can always say no to anything too extreme, like spacing him.”

  Kala laughed at my comment, “Don’t kid yourself, Tibby, while those two fight, they also genuinely love each other and neither would do anything to seriously harm the other; though I must admit Reide came really close to it this time. I honestly doubt that was his intention, though.”

  There was a sound at the door and we turned and saw Lunnie entering. Her head wrapped up in a turban-like affair. It was obvious she was not happy.

  “Dad, did Mom tell you what Reide did?

  “Yes, she was just telling me. Were they able to fix your hair?”

  “Dr. Danjuma thinks it will be all right in a few hours, but I’ll need to have it dyed. Doctor Danjuma said I could have lost all my hair had we not treated it in time. I’m so mad at Reide.”

  “Well, your mother and I were discussing what kind of punishment he should receive for this.”

  “What di
d you decide? Sending him away to the far side of the galaxy to work in the prison mines on Zandar?”

  “No, we have something else in mind. Let me get Reide,” I said and I went and called Reide from his room. Once we were all gathered in one room I said, “Reide, you really messed up this time and of late you have been getting out of hand with your tinkering with things around here. This time your stunt almost cost your sister her hair. Your mother and I have been trying to think of a punishment for you, but we have decided that since it was Lunnie you hurt the most, that she should decide your punishment, as long as it’s not something outrageous.”

  Reide’s eyes opened wide in horror as he looked at Lunnie. Lunnie’s face was hard to read and she appeared to be almost in shock, then abruptly she ran from the room crying. Reide stood there stunned for a moment and then ran after Lunnie calling, “I’m sorry, Lunnie. I'm sorry…!” Kala and I followed after the pair, wondering what was going to happen. When we reached Lunnie’s room, she had thrown herself down on the bed and was sobbing. Reide was sitting on the side of the bed holding her hand.

  “Lunnie, I’m sorry. I won’t do anything like that again. I promise. I’ll do anything you say... whatever punishment you want me to have.” By now, Reide had tears in his eyes.

  “I… don’t… want … to punish… you,” Lunnie sobbed. “You’re … my… brother… and I love you… but you made me so angry. You hurt me.”

  “I’m sorry Lunnie… honest I am…” by now, Reide was sobbing also. “I’ll never hurt you again. I promise. I love you, Sis.” Lunnie sat up and threw her arms about Reide’s neck and the two hugged each other and both cried.

  I looked at Kala and saw she had tears in her eyes. She looked at me and I said, “You know, I think Lunnie gave Reide the hardest punishment possible. I doubt he’ll forget it.”

  “I think you’re right, Tibby, I certainly never would have thought of it.”

  “Well, this wasn’t the experience I had hoped for coming back here to dine with you, but I think it was worth it.”