Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans

by Dale C. Musser

  I made Piesew my standard offer of employment the same as I had made to those I had hired from the DUSTEN and he accepted immediately.

  “Piesew, you will be responsible for hiring your own staff,” I said, “and I would appreciate it if you would work in conjunction with Captain Stonbersa in acquiring domestic staffs for the other suites on the NEW ORLEANS as well.”

  “It would be my great honor,” Piesew replied, “I know Captain Stonbersa well, having served on another ship with him in the past; he is a great man to work with.”

  “It’s good to know, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Stonbersa from the people I trust most. I also like knowing my crew likes each other.” I said.

  Stonbersa came to me just a few hours after accepting my offer to me telling me he had located a purser for the ship and I needed to set up an account for them to draw funds on for ship expenses. I asked Kala to find out what I needed to do and make the arrangements. I had barely finished talking to her when Kerabac approached me with a look of urgency.

  “We just got word from the estate, there was an attack on the hangar. Two Federation ships that were there were involved and several of the Federation troopers guarding the hangar area were killed and three others were wounded. Of our own security force only two were wounded, but none of them seriously. The attackers got away, taking the two Patrol Ships with them. From the early reports we are getting it seems they were looking for the TRITYTE. The security cameras at the landing field captured some images that Sgt. Marranalis think’s you need to see.”

  All the time that Kerabac was relating this information we were headed towards the bridge at a run, as we arrived Captain Stonbersa and Marranalis were standing at the communications station, Marranalis was issuing orders to the security forces at the Estate on one screen and had the commander of the Federation security force on the other screen.

  “Make sure main house is totally secure before trying to do anything at the hanger, and make sure guards at the Lodge are all at the ready, they may try and attack there. I want the Patrol Ship at the Lodge landing pad sealed with the crew inside at the ready, get them in the air but they are not to engage anyone unless fired upon! I do not want them chasing after the stolen ships, the Federation already has ships in the air searching for those. Just stay ready for anything that might happen and be prepared to defend the lodge or Estate house if called on to do so!” He turned to see us enter, “Kerabac, show Tibby the vid’s from the hanger attack please.” He then turned back to the screen, “Tell the Federation they need to set up some guns at the Estate that can take out patrol ships if necessary, if anyone gives you flack about it tell them to check with Admiral Regeny!”

  Kerabac led me over to another vid screen and activated it. On the vid screen images of about two dozen individuals attired like troopers suddenly appear on the landing pad with weapons firing on the security guards and other troopers stationed there. Fire was returned both by the security guards and by the Federation supplied troopers as well, the skirmish didn’t last long and the invading troops quickly boarded the two patrol ships on the landing strip, one of them turned just before entering the ship and the camera caught his face full on. “Lexmal!” I exclaimed in fury.,

  “Notice anything strange about the raid Tibby?” Marranalis asked.

  “Yeah they went straight for the ships, nothing else, you don’t think they thought one of them was the TRITYTE?” I said.

  “That’s exactly what I think,” Marranalis responded, “and Lexmal was with them. He knows that the TRITYTE has a Solbidyum reactor and I’ll bet anything that was their target. Just one grain of Solbidyum is worth a planets’ wealth by itself. Lexmal no doubt has some confederates interested in getting that Solbidyum. It’s a good thing the TRITYTE was here at the time.”

  “Oh my god, where is Lunnie!?” I asked in a near panic.

  “Don’t know, she cut out of here right after seeing that vid. She said she had something to take care of right away.” Marranalis answered, “She took Reidecor with her.”

  “Captain Stonbersa seal off the ship and get ready for a fight,” I said, “I fear we are about to get company in the form of three fully armed Federation patrol ships. I am confident that they’ll be trying to get to the TRITYTE. We must not let them get either the TRITYTE or the NEW ORLEANS. If they were to find out about the RMFF on this ship, well we can only imagine the damage they could do to the Federation.”

  “I already issued the order as soon as I heard of the attack on your estate.” Marranalis reported “This ship has good fire power, but we lack trained people to handle the guns. I didn’t think about the TRITYTE being the target, I thought it was you they were after. I’ll get a message off to the Federation asking for back up.”

  “My guess is we have about an hour and a half before they show here, pray it’s enough time for Lunnie to complete her task,” I said.

  “Lunnie?” Marranalis said questioningly “what the hell can Lunnie do to help us.”

  “You know about the RMFF on this ship!”

  “Yeah so? It’s nonfunctional as there is not enough power to,” Marranalis slapped himself on the head as realization hit him. “Of course! The Solbidyum reactor on the TRITYTE, it has more than ample power to operate the RMFF! When did you guys figure that one out?”

  “Same day I bought the ship,” I said, “I’ve had Lunnie working on an interface connection to hook the TRITYTE reactor into the NEW ORLEANS RMFF grid through the hull power output. I’m just hoping she has it completed and that everything else in the system is operational. Marranalis you stay here with Captain Stonbersa to man the defense system and guns if necessary, you can instruct the on board security forces from here. Captain command the ship, I’m headed to the hanger area to see if I can give Lunnie a hand. Let’s hope we can get the RMFF running before the raiders get here.”

  When I arrived at the hanger I saw Lunnie, Kala and Reidecor using a small tractor dragging a massive cable across the deck toward the TRITYTE By the time I reached them they had the cable in position under the power attachment point on the TRITYTE .

  “About time you got here,” Kala said, “We need some extra muscle.” It was not until that moment that I realized that Kala had not been with me as usual, she must have headed here as she heard about the raid at the Estate.

  “Thank the stars you all took the initiative to get down here and get this thing hooked up; we don’t have much time, maybe an hour at best. What do you need me to do?” I said.

  “We need you to put your back under this thing with Reidecor,” Lunnie said, “It weighs over one hundred-eighty kilograms and even as strong you both are, it’s going to be a struggle to get this hooked, if we can.”

  Lunnie was not kidding when she said it would take all our strength, the cable was stiff and didn’t want to cooperate as we lifted into place. There were times I thought I was going to collapse under the strain of trying to hold the cable in position as Lunnie and Kala tried to engage the clamp that would seal the attachment. Finally we heard the thud as the clamps locked. Lunnie gave it one final careful look over “I think that will do it.”

  Just then Captain Stonbersa voice came over the com system. “I hope you have things hooked up, we have three incoming ships on the sensor screen right now and they are headed this way.”

  Kala, Lunnie, Reidecor and I ran into the TRITYTE Lunnie headed to engineering and the rest of us went to the control room. I went to the com and brought Captain Stonbersa up on the screen. “We just finished the hook up Captain, now we are going to power her up, we hope.” I said.

  “Tibby,” Lunnie’s voice came across the com, “I’m going to initiate the switch over so the RMFF can draw the power it needs.”

  Suddenly Marranalis was yelling from the bridge of the NEW ORLEANS, “Captain all three ships are firing on us” and in response came Captain Stonbersa, “Hit the button!”

  There was a briefest of flickering lights in the control room on the TRITYTE
and then nothing. Then suddenly we heard from the bridge over the com the whoops and yells of Marranalis, Kerabac, and Captain Stonbersa, “Did you see that, their shots were completely absorbed.”

  Kala and I headed back to the NEW ORLEANS bridge leaving Lunnie and Reidecor on the TRITYTE to monitor the power connection.

  “Will you look at that,” Marranalis was saying as we entered the bridge, not even their plasma torpedoes can penetrate the ship’s defensive systems.”.”

  We all watched in fascination as the torpedoes flew right into the unseen RMFF. There was a burst of energy with lightning racing about on the surface of the RMFF shield but that was all. Inside the ship there was not the slightest indication of an attack happening. On the screen we could see the attacking ships circling around the NEW ORLEANS firing with everything they had.

  “Captain I am not very knowledgeable on the functions of a RMFF system. Is there nothing that can get through it?” I asked.

  “Not exactly,” the Captain replied,” nothing can get in but things can get out. The RMFF is designed to project a force outward from the ship. If you were to have the cargo hold open and threw a wrench out when it hit the field from the inside it would suddenly accelerate to light speed moving away from the ship out into space.”

  “WOW…” I responded, “So we can return fire on them with no ill effects to us?”

  “In theory, yes.” The Captain said.

  “Let’s try it, use our weakest weapon and target one of the three patrol ships,” I said.

  The Captain grinned and nodded to Marranalis, who immediately seated himself at the weapons console and began activating controls. Suddenly a beam of light shot out and hit the RMFF shield and instantly the targeted ship exploded into a billion stars like a fireworks display. Immediately the other two ships broke their attack and fled at top speed.

  “What just happened?” Marranalis asked in amazement. “That shot should barely have made a mark on their hull!”

  “I think the shield amplified the speed and power of the shot,” I said hesitantly I looked at Captain Stonbersa who was walking about the bridge with a beaming smile on his face gently running his hand across the consoles. “Incredible,” he whispered to himself, “Simply incredible.”

  “Captain,” I said, “we need to keep this as secret for as long as we can. We can tell people we have some new weapon, but we need to keep from mentioning the RMFF and the use of the TRITYTE in this operation.”

  “Yes, yes, I completely agree Tibby,” the Captain said, still mesmerized, “I can also see where we are going to need to be extra careful in choosing the crew for the ship. Sgt. Marranalis, I’m going to need all the best trained security people you can get.”

  “Kala is there a good way to test people for loyalty quickly? Corporal Lexmal was supposed to have been screened before he was made part of our team and yet he was a traitor and got through. We can’t have that happen with our security forced or crews,” I said.

  “I know Tib,” Kala responded, “it bothered me afterwards and I brought it up with Captain Maxette when he was here. He said once they found out what had happened they reviewed the events leading up to the treason. Corporal Lexmal was not the original pick for the crew but the night before we pulled off the operation the original crew member took sick. Corporal Lexmal was picked to take his place. He was given the same psych test as the original crew member. However, the normal test operator who conducted the original tests of the crew with the computer interfaces happened to be sick and a replacement had to stand in. They have since discovered that the second operator used another person’s test readings in place of Corporal Lexmal’s but no one knew at the time. By the time the people on the DUSTEN found out, they were in orbit about Megelleon and the test operator had gone missing. You will remember that Corporal Lexmal indicated to us when we were on the Bunem that he had a confederate aboard the DUSTEN. We can only guess that she was the one, but there are also indications there may have been others as well. Captain Maxette said that nearly two dozen of the ship’s crew, mostly troopers, has not returned from shore leave. This is most unusual, occasionally someone will go AWOL but never anything of this scale and it certainly is not because things on the DUSTEN are bad. It’s one of the best and most sought after assignments to get for anyone in the service.”

  “If he had confederates we can only assume he has more on the ship,” I said, “and that there may still be some on the ship. They stole three patrol ships, one on Lexmal’s escape and two others from our Estate. He seems to be trying to assemble a small force and we must assume that the TRITYTE’s Solbidyum reactor is their target. We are going to need to be very careful to keep the TRITYTE safe, at the moment I think the safest place is here in the NEW ORLEANS.”

  “Kala do you know how to run one of the computerized psych test?” I asked.

  “Yes I do, why do you ask?” Kala responded.

  “Because I want every one of the security people we have to undergo the test, twice, once when we get them and once before they are assigned to duty. I want the second test done by someone I personally know and trust. I also want every crew member on this ship to be personally screened by you; I hope that testing is not too long or difficult.” I said.

  “Actually,” Kala responded, “it’s very simple and lasts about one minute.”

  “Good, I want you start with the crew and security forces on this ship right now. I think there are less than two hundred people on board. You can skip Lunnie, Marranalis and Reidecor, but even thought I think Kerabac and Captain Stonbersa can be trusted I want them tested. There simply is too much at stake to make a mistake.

  It was about an hour later that a squadron of patrol ships sent by the Federation arrived. Captain Stonbersa turned off the RMFF so a few of the Pilot ships could land in the hangar bay and some Federation troopers could take up security posts at vital spots in the NEW ORLEANS. I was surprised when Lt. Commander Wanoll from the DUSTEN walked down one of the patrol ships ramps and greeted me warmly. “Tibby it is great to see you again, you never stop amazing me with your unique ways of overcoming obstacles, Major,” he acknowledged Kala, who responded with “Lt. Commander.”

  “I understand you have Captain Stonbersa as your captain now,” Wanoll said, “Good man, one of the best you could have. Admiral Regeny and Captain Maxette thought I should stop by and chat with you and Captain Stonbersa about security defenses. Captain Maxette seems to be of the opinion that you may have something in that bag of tricks of yours that might give the Federation an edge if war should break out...” The way Wanoll was wording things left no doubt in my mind that Captain Maxette had figured out that we had somehow gotten the RMFF working was hoping it would be something that could be used with larger Federation warships.

  “There certainly are some things that we can discuss, but I fear they may not hold the promise you hope for. Let me get Piesew to make some arrangements for quarters for you,” I said, “and once you have settled in we can get together with Captain Stonbersa and discuss a few things.”

  “Piesew is here? I thought he was still aboard the DUSTEN?” Wanoll said with amazement.

  “Well technically he is, I invited him here to make him an offer to come to work for me and he has consented, his tour of duty is up with the DUSTEN next week. He will be coming to work here for me, but at the moment I am a bit shorthanded for staff and crew. I hope you do not mind the lack of service you might normally be accustomed to.”

  About two hours later, Lt. Commander Wanoll, Captain Stonbersa, Kala and I met in a small yet elegant staff meeting room adjacent to the Bridge. After giving Wanoll a briefing on the what we knew of the attack at the Estate and the attack on the New Orleans and our being able to engage the RMFF using the power from the Solbidyum reactor on the TRITYTE, Wanoll sat back in his chair with a sad look and said.

  “We were hoping that you had come some breakthrough that enabled you to use a standard fusion reactor to operate the shields. There is no way
we will ever be able to get the Senators in the Federation to allow us to use even a small portion of the remaining Solbidyum, after its distribution, to power reactors on our war ships. I fear we will never be able to use RMFF shields in the fleet.”

  “Don’t jump to that conclusion too soon,” I said, “Galetils was on the verge of fusions reactors with ten times the power of conventional fusion reactors. If it was figured out once it can be done again. I have the resources so I can privately fund the research, and I am betting that there are people out here that Galetils hired and contracted to help him who can give us clues that will make it possible to produce a Fusion reactor with sufficient power for the task required. Let me see what I can find out, Orcpipin is the GM here at the Nibarian ship yard and was to install the reactor when it was finished. He may be able to give us leads to other contractors, and he must have some sorts of plans, even if only exterior for the shipyard to use to design the space to hold the reactor and its foundations, maybe we can learn something from those. You won’t have RMFF’s running by next week but you will sometime in the future.”

  Kala spoke up, “What can you tell us about this rebel faction that seems to be trying to get the Solbidyum; they seem to be just a bit too organized to have just sprung up since the recovery of the TRITYTE.”

  “You’re right there. The Federation Office of Investigation (FOI) has discovered that Corporal Lexmal and Lieutenant Loracie were both members of an underground movement that’s been around for over three hundred years. Lt. Loracie was the crew member who administered the loyalty test to Lexmal and substituted his test results. This group they belonged to was set as a secret society but became little more than a drinking club up until a few years ago when it started to take on a new face for malcontents believing that progress was being held up by the Federation. Even so, their numbers have been relatively small up until about ten years ago, when they got a new charismatic leader named Eulshod Rendoid. No one is sure where he comes from and few have actually ever seen or talked to him. What we do know about him is that he is rich and paranoid, he espouses that he will make his followers rich and they will one day replace the Federation with a new government in which each of them will be leaders. Even so the FOI didn’t foresee them as any threat as they appeared to be poorly organized and had no real hierarchy within to organize anything. Obviously they were wrong on that count, and it appears that Corporal Lexmal has enough sway within the organization to galvanize enough of its members to follow him in hopes of getting rich. The FOI is trying to track down all the members now and to find out which of them are involved in this plot.”