Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price

by Dale Musser

  “It may be possible to manage the dehydration, at least temporarily, but it would be tricky and a little painful,” said Cantolla. “The HAZMAT suits are made of a thin material that is self-sealing in the event of a puncture or leak. It’s possible to make injections through the suit and even install IVs using a heat sensor to find a vein. The obvious problem is making sure the needle hasn’t been contaminated.”

  “Let’s keep that in the back of our minds as a last resort. For now, focus on trying to find a way to disinfect the suits and the quarantined building. See if Rory’s idea will work.”

  When I arrived back on the GLOMAR ROSA, I knew before asking that Marranalis had more bad news.

  There’s been a body-bomber attack on Resalon during an outdoor sports event. There were at least five body-bombers spread about the facility and they must have been connected remotely as they all detonated at once. Fatalities are estimated at more than three hundred at this time and the injured number in the several thousands. Governor Lenacky is among the fatalities. The Brotherhood also made an aerial attack on the planet’s solbidyum reactor plant, but the system is deep enough underground that there was no significant damage to the actual reactor unit. Still, the attack successfully knocked out a significant portion of the power grid. Engineers are looking over the damage now, trying to determine how long it will be before power can be restored.”

  “No biological agents were released?” I asked.

  “None that we are aware of, sir.”

  “I hope that means Ming doesn’t have any left. I just wish we could find out where he is.”

  “That reminds me, sir. Admiral Wabussie wishes to talk with you about the interviews with Senator Yungman’s sister.”

  “Did he say what they found out?” I asked.

  “No, sir. He just asked me to relay that he wishes to speak with you.”

  “I guess I should go to the Capitol Station and see what he wants,” I responded.

  I could just as easily have called him from my office, but I needed the time that walking through the gate and down the corridor to his office would provide just to clear my thoughts. There was too much going on, and since I was on the down-side of my treatment cycle, my mental functions were already becoming a bit sluggish. A’Lappe had made it clear that the benefits from the treatments weren’t going to last as long as they had in the past and that I could expect to show symptoms sooner than before, so I had to be more mindful of my demeanor and work harder to stay focused as the week progressed, especially when interacting with people who didn’t know about my condition – which meant pretty much everyone.

  As I moved through the corridors and saluted the passing officers, I wondered just how much longer I really had before my condition became completely disabling. A’Lappe didn’t know and he became elusive and strangely silent when I broached the topic with him. In the back of my mind I was hoping I could get Ming and have just one year of peace without interruptions… just one quiet year, unmarked by war, that I could spend with Kala, Lunnie and Reidecor before I died. I sighed as I entered the waiting area outside Wabussie’s office.

  “Admiral, we received a message that you were en route. Admiral Wabussie said to admit you as soon as you arrived,” greeted the aide, who showed me immediately into the office.

  “Ah, Tibby,” said Wabussie informally as I entered. “I’d like you to meet Agent Condari. Condari was assigned to interview Senator Youngman’s daughter.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said to the balding man of medium height who rose from his chair to greet me.

  “It’s my pleasure and a great honor to meet you, Admiral,” he replied.

  “I hope you’re bringing some good news,” I said. “Something that will lead us to Ming.”

  “We may have,” said Wabussie. “Please, have a seat and I’ll let Condari tell you what we’ve learned.”

  Once we were seated, Condari presented his findings. “Telanna, Senator Yungman’s sister, told us that she overheard her captor-master talking one night with a visiting superior, one of the higher-ranking Brotherhood members. Telanna said on that evening, not long before the liberation of Alamar-4, her master, Bimdat Ranwoo, and this superior, Garrad, an arrogant and sadistic beast of a man who enjoyed inflicting pain on Telanna, both used her in a very rough manner, leaving her afterward in an unconscious state inside the bedroom. When she regained consciousness, she could hear them talking in another room. Garrad told Bimdat that he needed to go to Xennek to meet with Ming. She was sure he said Xennek, as Garrad repeated it again later. From what she could recall of the conversation, Ming was using Xennek as a major staging area. She also remembered hearing Garrad mention a scientist that was working for the Brotherhood and that this scientist had come up with what he called the ultimate weapon for defeating the Federation. We believe the scientist is Fass Hakwin, and the ultimate weapon is the germ warfare that has currently been unleashed on Agraious, Frandee and Sambal.”

  “How reliable do you believe this intelligence to be and where is this Xennek?” I asked.

  “That took a little digging. Xennek is not a planet in the Federation. In fact, it's not a planet at all. It’s a moon that orbits the planet Plamos. Plamos is several light years from the Federation perimeter and we know very little about it. One thing of particular interest, however, is that there is a huge asteroid field a short distance from Plamos that very likely meets the criteria for providing the type of asteroids that Ming needs to create his ships.”

  Now Condari had my full attention.

  “We also believe that Xennek is where the Brotherhood has been training their terrorists.”

  “Tell him the other part… about the other moon,” said Wabussie.

  “Ah, yes. There is a second moon that orbits Plamos. Graben. It too supports life, but that life is deadly and everyone who has ever set foot on the planet dies within hours.”

  “Ming’s plague,” I said, nearly jumping out of my seat.

  “We think so,” Wabussie said. “Of course, we can’t be sure, unless we examine samples of the organisms taken directly from the moon, but the reported symptoms seem to be the same.”

  “Is there any cure for the disease?” I asked hopefully.

  “I’m afraid not,” responded Wabussie. “Every mention of it we can find in the computer databases refer to it as exceedingly lethal and contagious. There has never been a single recorded survivor of the infection.”

  “I don’t suppose that by some chance Bimdat was captured when we liberated Alamar-4 and that we have him in custody.”

  “Bimdat’s body was found and identified on Alamar-4 right after the battle. I’m afraid you won’t be getting any new information from him,” said Wabussie.

  “Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked.

  “Only that you will have a hard time getting to Xennek. The space between here and there is Brotherhood territory that is heavily traveled by Brotherhood ships. It would be supremely difficult to get there undetected, even cloaked.”

  “Send the coordinates to Marranalis on the GLOMAR ROSA and we’ll see what we can come up with as a means of getting there undetected,” I said. “We’ll find a way and when we do, we’ll put an end to Ming and the Brotherhood,” I said.

  “Do you really think you can get him?” asked Wabussie.

  “We don’t have a choice. If we don’t get him, his disease canisters will wipe out all of us. We have no defense against them.”

  As soon as I returned to the GLOMAR ROSA, I directed Marranalis to bring up the 3D hologram and light up the location of Plamos. It was considerably farther away than I expected and when Marranalis illuminated the nearby asteroid field, I cursed myself that we hadn’t considered looking out this far before. Realistically, the field was immense; so even if we had investigated it, we very well might have still missed the Brotherhood’s asteroid-ship fabrication site when searching within the dense belt of asteroids. I imagined that two very large planets must have coll
ided to produce so large an asteroid field.

  Any excitement I had about finding Ming was soon dispelled when Marranalis lit up the known locations of Brotherhood patrols and areas of space under Brotherhood control. All the direct routes to Plamos and its moons were areas that were impossible for any ship to traverse without being detected – cloak or no cloak. Even worse, rumor had it that the Brotherhood was intercepting and commandeering all ships going through those areas of space. There was only one alternative.

  “I want six long range patrol ships equipped with stellar gate components sent on routes to that circumvent this area between here and Plamos. I want gates set up there as quickly as possible so we can mobilize for a full assault. Gate positions are to be established here, here, here, here, here, and here,” I said as I walked into the 3D display to indicate the locations.

  “Sir, that’s going to take some time,” said Marranalis.

  “I know that, but I don’t see any other way to get there without having to fight our way there and if we do that, Ming will be long gone before we even get close. It may take longer than we like, but it’s the only way. Even so, there is a good chance the patrol ships may be spotted before any of them get there. I want this mission to be classified as Above Top Secret. I don’t even want the Admiralty to know about it for the time being. Pick crewmen with no families and whose work routines are aligned with top secret missions and long absences so their companions don’t become concerned if they aren’t in contact for a while. I’ll talk to Wabussie about sending an FSO agent along with each ship, with the possibility that we may be able to get some FSO agents on Xennek to gather intelligence, once we have the gates in place.

  “This will be a very dangerous mission. After several failed attempts to get Ming, I have no doubt his security is very tight and he’ll be watching for us. He’s most likely not on Xennek, but hiding on his starship somewhere in orbit or nested in space inside a hive of fighters, like he was at the other site. Now that he possesses Cantolla Gate technology, who knows what avenues of escape he has set up for himself. If we do manage to find him, we’ll need to attack swiftly and hard. We’ll have minutes at the most to destroy him before he escapes. Before we even open a gate, it’ll be critical that we know exactly where he is,” I said.

  “This isn’t going to be easy,” said Marranalis. “There’s a lot of room for error and a high risk of being detected. Besides that, we could be walking into another trap like at Glomar Rosa. We’ll be in the thick of Brotherhood territory. No matter how we look at it, once we take our ships into the Xennek area, we’re surrounded by enemy ships. If they were to destroy or block our gates like they did at Glomar Rosa, we would have a huge fleet of enemy ships between us and home that we would need to fight just to get home. And we know how that would turn out.”

  “You’re right,” I said as I thought about it. “But I still want those six gates set up. In the meantime, we’ll try to come up with a plan that protects our backs to make sure we don’t get trapped.”

  I was exhausted. I struggled to focus through two more days of planning, study and data collection with Marranalis, the FSO, and the interagency science task force, as Ming continued to terrorize the Federation with random body-bomber attacks and aerial blitz raids. Marranalis had taken to ordering food for me automatically and making me rest periodically during the day, knowing that I was soon due for a treatment. By the fifth day, I was so exhausted that I felt compelled to contact Kala and tell her that I expected to be too tired to leave the GLOMAR ROSA at the end of the day and that I would be staying in my quarters for the night. She must have felt uneasy about the tone in my voice, because she dropped what she was doing, got dressed her captain’s uniform, and found a reason to be called to the Glomar Rosa for a day or two of duty so she could stay with me. When she surprised me in the officer’s lounge during one of Marranalis’s imposed meal breaks, I have to admit I was deeply relieved and happy to see her.

  I was also glad to have Kala with me when it was time to leave for the NEW ORLEANS to get the first of my treatments that were starting on the new six-day cycle. I had a sense of foreboding even before it was time to go. When we arrived at the med-unit, both A’Lappe and Cantolla were there. I knew A’Lappe was going to talk to Cantolla about my condition, but I didn’t expect her to be present for my treatment. The somber look on their faces told me I wasn’t going to like what they had to say. A’Lappe spoke first.

  “Tibby, I’ve consulted with Cantolla and we’ve reviewed your treatment and lab records. I’m sorry to say the news isn’t good. Your body’s rejection of the synthetic nerves is stronger than before and we’re not sure how well shortening the treatment sequence is going to help. We’ll need to monitor this adjustment closely. We’ve also discussed the possibility of immunosuppressive drug therapies that were commonly used on your home planet with organ transplants, but it would increase your risk for other diseases and neither Cantolla nor I think that it’s a wise choice.”

  “I’ve looked at your tissue and blood samples,” said Cantolla. “Looking at them comparatively in series since you first began taking treatments, it’s clear that the rejection is escalating. There are signs of more recent deterioration of your overall peripheral nervous system. You probably haven’t noticed it much or if you have, it was probably so minor, you most likely dismissed it. That being said, it won’t be long before these symptoms become more obvious. A’Lappe and I will try to find some way to stop or retard future deterioration, but as the moment we don’t have a solution.”

  “So what are we talking about? How long before it becomes obvious to others and how long before I’m incapacitated by this?” I asked in a weak and more emotional voice than I liked.

  “We don’t know,” A’Lappe replied. “It could happen very quickly or it could just as easily slow down and stabilize. We’re in completely new territory and we’ve never had to deal with anything like this before.”

  “What will happen? With me, I mean? What can I expect? What will go first?” I asked rapidly.

  “We don’t know that either. You’ll probably notice it first with things like fine digit coordination and reflexes. You'll no doubt experience memory problems and difficulty with thinking or concentration, especially when you let yourself get tired. Those will be the noticeable signs. However, it’s what’s happening inside you that may be the most dangerous. Your central nervous system’s signals to your heart, liver, kidneys and other organs will eventually be affected. You won’t sense those changes yourself until it’s too late. Cantolla and I believe that if we monitor you closely, we will be able to detect these more critical fluctuations and intervene at least enough to provide bridge treatments until we can find a more permanent solution.”

  “But there is no guarantee of that, is there?” I asked more as a statement than a question.

  “No,” A’Lappe replied. “No guarantees. Cantolla believes that interferon treatments are still the best bet. She’s been working on a special formula that she’s used during the cloning processes in the labs that she thinks may help and even possibly heal some of the damage already done to your nerves. However, it's untested on humans.”

  “So, I’ll be your first human test subject,” I said.

  “There are risks,” Cantolla said with a grave tone that I’d never heard in her voice before. “I’ve no idea what impact it will have on you or what other problems it might create. For all we know, it might cause your body to totally reject your synthetic nerves all at once and shut you down completely.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said with some confusion.

  “It might kill you,” A’Lappe said bluntly.

  “Oh,” I replied. “What do you recommend?”

  Cantolla bit her lip a moment and then began. “I’d like to do some tests in the lab using synthetic nerves spliced to organic nerves and then treat them with the interferon compound to see what happens. If it doesn’t speed up the rejection, I suggest we try it on you… sta
rting with small doses.”

  “I’m still not sure I understand. I thought that interferon was already a part of my treatment. A’Lappe, I was sure you told me that you produced it here in the lab instead of harvesting it from humans and animals. What’s different with your interferon?”

  “It’s a compound consisting of interferon collected from various life forms found throughout the galaxy,” said Cantolla. “In some ways this compound is more effective and faster acting, but it’s aggressive and in some cases it can have just the opposite of the desired effect. It does no good to repair your nerves if the therapy destroys your liver.”

  I looked at Kala, who had been silently holding my hand up to that point. “What do you think I should do?” I asked.

  She didn’t answer me right away, turning instead to ask Cantolla, “What happens if you don’t try this therapy?”

  “He’ll continue to get worse,” Cantolla answered.

  “But if he takes the treatment, there is a chance he’ll get better?”

  “A chance, yes, but he may also get worse.”

  Kala paused, then looked at me and said, “So, if he does nothing, he gets worse, without question. If he takes the treatment, he may or may not get better. It would seem that the second option is the only option under those conditions.”

  “Alright,” I said. “Cantolla, run your tests and as soon as you feel it’s a good risk, I’ll take your treatment. But I still have a war to fight, so until then, we’ll continue as we have so far, only I’ll take a treatment every six days instead of every seven. Are we all in agreement?”

  “I think that’s the best plan,” said A’Lappe.

  Kala and Cantolla nodded in agreement.

  “I have to tell you, Tibby, you and A’Lappe have done an excellent job of hiding your condition. I never suspected it at all. When A’Lappe told me about it, I thought he was joking, until he showed me your lab samples. I was even more amazed when he told me you had kept this from Kala for years.”