Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans

by Dale C. Musser

  “Well, first of all, it gets me off the DUSTEN, so I cannot be questioned or interrogated by the Bunemnites if they do come aboard. If you like you can make up a story that I was abducted by the traitors and that I’m being held as a hostage with them on the ship. Secondly, I will need Major Kala to assist me with protocol once I reach Megelleon and to convince them that I am not a pirate. I want a full crew, because we are in a combat situation and this calls for a combat-ready crew. I was lucky to have the computerized navigation after I launched from Earth, however, the craft is designed to operate with a crew of six people who have a skilled understanding of all the systems and weapons. Lastly, I have nothing to gain by taking the ship anyplace but the capitol, and I have everything to gain by getting it there. Overall, I think the plan greatly increases the probability of getting the TRITYTE and Solbidyum to Megelleon safely.”

  “I see your point,” the Captain said, “shrewd thinking. I think I have a crew in mind that will increase probability even more. Damn, Tibby, the plan is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Now, if we can only keep it under wraps and pull it off. Tell me, why didn’t you have Commander Thimas and Lt. Commander Wanoll here for this discussion as well?”

  “Because, Captain, I don’t know who you can trust on your staff and who you cannot. I leave that to you. The fewer people who know about this, the better our chance of pulling it off.”

  “I agree, Tibby,” the Captain replied thoughtfully,” I believe I can trust Commander Thimas and Lt. Commander Wanoll to carry out this plan with us. However, neither of them can go with you on the TRITYTE; I need to find four competent crewmembers that I can trust. You’ll need an engineer, a navigator, a seasoned pilot and a gunner.” He listed off.

  “Captain, I think I know an experienced engineer you can trust that would fit into the crew nicely.” Kala said.

  The Captain grinned. “I think I know exactly the engineer you have in mind and I could not agree more.”

  I saw Kala grin and I wondered who this engineer was and what made him so special.

  The next two days were dedicated to training Kala and two of the guards in the fundamentals of martial arts and practicing some key combat moves. Between sessions Kala and I burned off some anxious energy by swimming laps. As time passed and no word came from the Captain, I became worried. We were only a few days away from our imminent encounter with the Bunem fleet.

  Kala and I were together at all times, other than when we were sleeping. We shared many details of life and customs both on Earth and on the Federation planets. The more time I spent with her, the more I found myself drawn to her. Her competitive nature compelled me to push my abilities to the limit to keep up with her in the pool and on the target range. I finally got the hand of the flat gun and was matching her scores with all weapons by the end of our training period.

  We had just finished eating breakfast on the fifth day after our meeting with the Captain, when Kala finally received word from him to get to the hangar. Kala was told to see to it that I was dressed in something that would not differentiate me from others passing through the hangar area. Kala made a quick call and Piesew appeared shortly after with a package he said had just arrived for me, along with a set of orders for Major Kala.

  Kala read her message and handed it to me. After reading it twice, I handed it back to her. ”Well, I guess this is it.” Kala placed the message in the recycler as per instructions written in the communication. I opened the package to find a flight mechanics outfit complete with shoes. While I was dressing, Kala packed two duffel bags for us containing items from our wardrobes. She suggested that we make our way to the hangar with two of the guards walking ahead of us as though they were on a casual stroll, followed by me and another guard walking together. She and the forth guard would follow approximately ten paces behind, appearing to chat as though they were friends leaving their shift. This informal profile would be inconspicuous in the high traffic of the main corridor. I must confess, I was rather nervous, but was glad to be paired up with the same trooper who had participated in my first martial arts demonstration and who had been practicing with Kala and me the past few days. This association gave us something to talk about naturally so our conversation would not appear forced or fabricated. In addition to wearing an ordinary mechanic’s uniform to detract attention to our movements; Kala also darkened my hair using the styling wand to a more commonly seen brown shade.

  We strolled casually through the corridor to a different hangar entrance than where the TRITYTE and I were originally received. The two guards who preceded us through the corridor took up positions outside the hangar door and the guard who walked with me entered the hangar first. We were immediately challenged by a trooper inside the door who required us to place our hands on a scanner that confirmed identification and clearance. Once cleared to enter, we moved directly toward a patrol ship bay that housed what looked like a standard patrol craft with a Federation emblem displayed on the hull. The hatch in the hull was closed. Kala instructed me to grasp the handle and then step back. I did so with some apprehension, recalling my first encounter with this door handle on Mound Island. There was a momentary delay while a small light (which I clearly had not seen through the crusted mud the first time) blinked at one end of the handle, after which the door swung open – much more gently than it had in the swamp. As soon as we entered and closed the hatch behind us, I recognized that were in the airlock of the TRITYTE looking through the open inner airlock door toward the wall where I had originally rappelled into the craft. Back on Earth I didn’t notice the inner airlock door, but I suppose everything looked foreign when the ship was lying on its side.

  Once inside, we proceeded to the galley where Kala said the others would be waiting. We arrived to find two other men and a very lovely woman standing there, all in military uniforms. All of them snapped to attention and saluted; right arm across the chest and hand on the shoulder. Kala returned the salute and greeted the next in command; “Lieutenant” to which the Lieutenant returned, “Major”. It was Lieutenant Reidecor, the officer who was the first to enter the TRITYTE on my arrival and escort me off the ship.

  Kala spoke deliberately and quickly, knowing there was little time for a full briefing. “Crew I would like present to you Thibodaux James Renwalt. He prefers to be called Tibby or Tib. Tib this is Lieutenant Reidecor, whom I believe you have met before. He will be our pilot. This is Corporal Lexmal, our navigator. You know Sergeant Marranalis, who has been guarding you for nearly a week now. He’s our gunner. And this is Corporal Luinella, our engineer, and my sister. She prefers you call her Lunnie.” Lunnie smiled in acknowledgment. “Now, per the Captains orders, for this mission Tibby is in charge. You all will report to him directly. Although you’ve all been briefed on this mission, I will let Tibby summarize the plan, since he was the one who conceived it. “

  “Thank you, Major.” I began, “First of all, I am sure you all have a clear sense of what this mission means, both if we succeed and if we fail, so I won’t belabor that issue. You have been handpicked by the Captain because of your skills and your loyalty to the Federation. If this mission succeeds, you all will go down in the history of the Federation for getting the ship and its cargo to Megelleon. If we fail, well, we may not be remembered at all. Anytime now, a battle will ensue in the secured bay where the TRITYTE was originally stored and the decoy TRITYTE will make its escape from that bay into space in the hands of traitors desiring to capitalize on the wealth its holds. Shortly thereafter, there will be a general alarm issued and this place will be buzzing with ships leaving in pursuit of the decoy TRITYTE. When approximately two thirds of the ships have left, I will receive a signal from the Captain and we will depart like all the patrol ships in the general direction of the pursuit. However, we will at one point slowly veer off in a direction away from the Bunem System. Once we are out of detection range of the pursuit ships, we will make a U-turn around and in front of the DUSTEN out of their sensor range and follow a course that is
forty five degrees off the usual direct path to Megelleon at maximum speed. This will cause us to pass outside the range of the Bunem System and the fleet of pursuers, after which we will correct our course to head directly for Megelleon. We will not make contact with anyone until we are well within the Capitol’s perimeter fleet protection, at which time Major Kalana will broadcast a coded message briefing leadership of our presence. At that point we hope for prompt landing instructions and protection. Any questions?”

  “Sir,” Lieutenant Reidecor stepped forward. “What if the Bunemnites don’t buy the ruse and we run into their fleet?”

  “We have every reason to believe the Bunemnites will suspect some sort of trick, but they must equally consider that the situation may be real. We believe they will split up their forces, sending one contingent out after the decoy ship and another to the DUSTEN in the belief that the Solbidyum may have been secretly stored onboard. Before the Bunemnites can attack, the DUSTEN will contact them, thanking them for coming to aid in searching for the TRITYTE and its cargo. The Captain will then invite the officers from their flag ship to join him on the DUSTEN and allowing them to roam about the ship, knowing full well they will be searching for the Solbidyum. They will even be shown a patrol ship that supposedly was damaged when fired upon by the fake TRITYTE. Even if it doesn’t convince them it will slow them down tremendously. They will not want to start a war, unless they are in possession of the Solbidyum; and when it can’t be located on the DUSTEN, they will know that it’s got to be on the TRITYTE or on some other ship and clandestine route to Megelleon. In either case, their ships will be divided up with the bulk of them between the DUSTEN and the Bunem System, or between the Bunem System and the decoy. We, on the other hand, will be on the opposite side of the Bunem System and headed for Megelleon by then. At the very most, they might spare two or three ships to monitor activity on that side the system, in the remote chance a ship, meaning our ship, escapes detection and passes Bunem surveillance. If this is the case and we are discovered, we will either have to outrun them or fight them.” I tried to read the intense faces of the crew. “Any other questions?”

  No one raised their hand. “Just one more thing, even though this ship appears to be the same as all the other patrol ships, it isn’t. The power distribution is much more advanced; it is faster than anything else in the fleet; it is better armored.” I hoped this would raise their confidence in the mission, “The ship’s computer should be programmed to respond to all of us and our commands according to rank. Though I hold no official rank in your Federation military service, the ship will recognize my orders as priority one commands, overriding any and all conflicting commands. If all goes well, we should make it to Megelleon in three weeks. The prolonged travel time is a result of the indirect route we must take.”

  I turned to Kala, “Major, does everyone know where they are to be quartered?”

  “Yes. You will have the Captain’s cabin, I will have the First Officer’s cabin and the rest of the crew will be bunking in the main crew quarters”.

  “We will be departing shortly. I’d like to change out of this mechanics uniform before we do. In the meantime, make sure all gear is secured and support items are stowed and that you’re at your stations, ready for take-off.” I went to my cabin and opened my duffel bag; inside I found several suits of the dignitary cut and two that looked like they would be something one might wear on a spaceship. Both were solid black, a color that didn’t seem to be of any military significance. I put on one of the plain uniforms, noting that the top had two breast pockets with flaps and the pants had two pouch like pockets on the outside, also with flaps. When I glanced in the mirror to see what it looked like, I was shocked to see my now brown hair. I had forgotten about the color change and the sudden sight of it startled me. Kala had assured me she could restore the natural color with a style stick. I was contemplating having it changed before leaving the hangar; but I recognized that it might be best if I didn’t have red hair, if I needed to be seen on a view screen before we completed the mission.

  When I arrived in the control room, everyone was seated at the console stations, with the exception of Lunnie, who was at her station in the engine room. The center chair was reserved for me and Lieutenant Reidecor was positioned at my right in the pilot’s seat. Corporal Lexmal was on my left in the Navigator’s chair, Kala was behind me to the right and Sergeant Marranalis was behind me to the left. I noted that Marranalis was wearing a helmet equipped with a view screen that simulated a view of the area outside the ship in the direction he turned his head. On the armrest was a series of buttons that I surmised were weapons controls.

  Kala was smiling at me. “Is there some significance to this uniform?” I asked.

  “It’s a typical uniform worn by mercenaries who are affiliated with the Federation and deployed for special operations.” Kala answered. “It suits you well.”

  Sergeant Marranalis glanced at me and added, “I agree. You look like you belong in that uniform.”

  Just then a slight tremor shook the ship.

  “Looks like the action is starting,” said Lieutenant Reidecor. “It won’t be long now.” A second, larger tremor shook the ship. “That would be them blasting out the hangar door. Any moment now we should hear –” He was cut off by a general alarm signal coming through the speakers on the TRITYTE.

  “Attention all ships and military personnel: An attack has taken place in the hangar. A patrol ship containing an extremely valuable cargo has been commandeered. It is imperative that this ship be captured at all costs. All flight crews are ordered to report to their ships immediately. The ship you are seeking is the TRITYTE. I repeat, the objective is the TRITYTE. This craft can be identified by a specific signature detectable on frequency Delta95446. I repeat, frequency Delta95446!! This ship also does not bear the Federation logo on its hull If encountered, DO NOT DESTROY! It is imperative that this ship be taken intact with its cargo. All flight crews are ordered to report to their ships IMMEDIATELY!!” The voice overhead boomed out its orders through the alarm system.

  The TRITYTE’s crew grinned, fully aware that, as soon as people on the DUSTEN heard the name TRITYTE in the broadcast, pandemonium would erupt. Teams raced to their ships, knowing full well that any crew capturing the TRITYTE would be well-rewarded. This craft was the ship of history – the golden egg. At that moment I envisioned every ambassador and diplomat on the DUSTEN launching GW message pods to their home worlds with news of the ship, hoping that the TRITYTE would somehow be heading near enough for their troops to intercept. Most of those message pods wouldn’t arrive at their destinations until the real TRITYTE was already on or very near Megelleon. Since the Bunem System was nearby, the pods sent earlier by the one crew of loyalists were already being received and preparations for deployment were most certainly in progress. By the time the Bunem fleet assembled and moved to intercept the DUSTEN the TRITYTE would be well out of reach of their ships. Everything was falling into place so far.

  Lieutenant Reidecor activated the screen so we could view the flurry of activity in the main hanger. It reminded me of a nest of angry hornets. One ship after the other zoomed out the main hangar access. Several ships nearly collided in their haste to get into the chase after the decoy TRITYTE and the unfathomable fortune held in its cargo. Crewmen were racing all over the place, while we stood by watching the commotion. The number of ships leaving the DUSTEN began to slow down, when a light on the console lit.

  “That’s our signal Lieutenant,” I said. “Move us out of here and let’s get this ship on the way.”

  Lieutenant Reidecor activated a few controls on the console. Silently the TRITYTE rose and headed out into the launch area. We lined up with other exiting ships. Then, on the signal from the DUSTEN bridge, the last battalions of airships launched into space and away from the DUSTEN. Slowly Lieutenant Reidecor navigated to the outer edge of the fleet and away from the Bunem System, until the last remaining indicator signaling the position of a
Federation ship disappeared from the TRITYTE’s monitoring systems, everyone relaxed and let out a breath of air

  At that point we turned ninety degrees, heading even farther away from the pursuit ships. After an hour we turned back on a course that would bring us in front of the DUSTEN but out of range of its sensors. Once we had traveled about an equal distance to the other side of the DUSTEN, we began a course toward Megelleon, but on a course that would take us farther away from the Bunem System until such time as we had navigated past their colony. The crew was on full alert, remaining focused and pretty much silent in their own contemplations, as we headed away from the DUSTEN and the Bunemnites.

  The first two days of the journey were pretty quiet. Two of the crew members were always on the bridge monitoring space for ships and the air waves for transmissions. Most of this was actually being done by the ship’s computer system with human eyes scanning the screens out of habit. Kala, Sergeant Marranalis, Lt. Reidecor, Lunnie and I practiced martial arts moves in the cargo hold. Originally it was just Kala, Sergeant Marranalis and I; but after seeing our practice sessions, Lunnie and Lt. Reidecor joined in. Corporal Lexmal watched, but showed no interest in joining our activities and either spent his time on the bridge or in the crew lounge watching vids. While he talked with the crew and occasionally joked, he didn’t appear as interested in socializing with the team.