“I've been told the Cantolla gate between the DUSTEN and the HAPRIN has been made operational again. We will be using that gate to move to the HAPRIN. The first squad to go through will be from the DUSTEN and the second will be from the NEW ORLEANS. Commander Mazone will be in command of giving orders to both groups, but everyone ultimately answers to me. Padaran, I expect you to keep me personally advised as to the operations and findings of your squads. I know that both the squads of the NEW ORLEANS and the Federation have trained jointly, so I expect you to work in cooperation as a united force. Padaran, your second squad will be responsible for guarding the Cantolla gate from both sides.
“It is important that we save and salvage the HAPRIN if we can, but it is even more important it does not fall back into enemy hands, and no more lives are lost because of it. Padaran, I will be crossing through the gate with you and the second squad through the gate. Now let’s get over there and secure that ship!”
Our arrival on the HAPRIN was almost surreal. Smoke, dust and debris filled the corridors and compartments. Troopers were assisting injured personnel to the med unit or preparing them for transport to the DUSTEN for treatment. My bodyguards cleared a path for me to the bridge area. The closer we got to the bridge, the worse the conditions got. The door to the bridge itself had been blown out, and it could be seen that additional force had to be applied to bend the doors opened enough so people could enter and leave. The air was filled with rancid smoke from both the bomb and the shorted electrical gear in the room. Lights were brought into the bridge area and set up to provide light, as the illumination in the room was no longer functioning. I glanced about and saw Marranalis sitting in what was left of the only remaining chair in the room. He was bent down with his face buried in his hands. I walked over to where he was sitting and said, “Captain, what’s the status here?"
He slowly raised his head; his eyes were swollen and red, and he looked at me a second before suddenly rising from his chair, “Admiral, you shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe for you.”
“Now you tell me,” I said as I looked about. My senior officer ran off so I had no one to tell me what’s going on, so I just thought I would come by and see for myself.”
“Sir,” he sniffed, “Sokaia is dead,” then he stood sobbing for a moment, “She’s gone.”
I looked around the bridge; Mazone's men were surveying it and carefully looking for anything else that seemed suspicious. “Mazone, you’re in command here,” I said, and then to Marranalis, “Marranalis, come with me.”
The HAPRIN was a sister ship to the DUSTEN so their layouts were the same. I led Marranalis back to the civilian area of the ship; there was less damage here and other than for the absence of people milling about, things looked pretty normal. I found one of the bars and led Marranalis inside and called one of the troopers to me. “Lieutenant, you know anything about mixing drinks?”
“Sir?” he said looking at me in astonishment.
“Do you know how to mix a drink, or at least how to get the machine behind the bar to pour a drink?”
“Ah, yes sir, I think I do.”
“Good, go get me two brandies and take them over there,” I nodded to a table in the corner.
“Marranalis, have a seat.” He looked at me still in a sort of daze but seemed to be slowly waking up to the reality around him.
“Now, Captain, let’s hear it,” I said looking at him, just as the lieutenant returned with two glasses of brandy.
“Thanks,” I said to the lieutenant, “why don’t you and the rest of the men check this bar out and ensure there are no bombs hidden anywhere in here?” He looked at me, and then at Marranalis, who had picked up his glass and swallowed it all down in one gulp, then he looked back at me and nodded.
“Tibby, she’s dead,” Marranalis said as tears filled his eyes. “She’s gone… I never had a chance to say good bye.” I pushed my glass across the table to him; I really didn’t feel like drinking at the moment. Marranalis looked at it a minute before he picked it up and drank some of it, then he set the glass down.
“We, we were talking about, maybe after this war ended, and when we no longer wanted to serve any more, about retiring, just she and I, and now she’s gone.” He picked up the glass and gulped down the last of it.
“So, what now? What do you plan to do now? Stop living? Is that what you think Sokaia would want you to do?” I asked.
He looked hard at me for a moment and then blurted out, “It’s my fault. She’s dead because of me!”
“Oh? I said, “You planted the bomb here that killed her?” I asked sarcastically.
“No, but I gave her permission for this mission. She came to me after you had returned to your quarters with Kala, and she wanted to ask you for permission to come back here and check things out, after she heard something suspicious had been found here on the bridge. I didn’t want to bother you, so I gave her permission in your stead. If I hadn’t, she’d be alive.” I thought for another minute he was going to break down in tears again, though his lips quivered, and his eyes flooded, he didn’t.
“So you think if she asked me instead I would have told her differently and forbidden the mission?” I replied. Marranalis looked at me and relaxed a little. “I don’t know. What would you have said?” he asked, looking me in the eye.
“I would have said exactly what you did, Yes! It was the logical choice with the information at hand. However, Sokaia and her troops would still be dead. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Marranalis looked about the bar, and at my bodyguards searching for bombs. “I’m no good as your aide, Tibby, you need to get someone else, someone more reliable.”
“Oh? What makes you think that? You’ve been with me longer than anyone. You know how I think and how I would handle things. You’re honest and trustworthy; why would I want to replace you?”
“Look at me Tibby, I ran off on you in a time of crisis. Heck, I didn’t even tell you what had happened or where I was going. It was my duty to let you know, and I didn’t. Now when you need me the most, I’m sitting here useless. At the very least, you should have me court-martialed, or something.”
“I see,” I said as I lowered my head a moment and then looked back at him. “Let me tell you a story about a man I know. I think you know him too. He was supposed to take part in a huge battle, and the Federation was relying on him for his assistance. Just before the battle, his bond mate was poisoned; he took off with his ship, and crew, in the opposite direction, to a remote jungle planet to get a cure for her, leaving the Federation to fight the battle without him. Then a few years later, on another mission that he was responsible for, he witnessed a small boy he cared for killed, and he snapped and took off in a fighter chasing after the boy's killer. He did so without any regard for his crew or ship hovering above the planet. Even when they tried to reason with him, he kept up his insane pursuit and ended up crashing and nearly killing himself, and still they made him, – ME – an Admiral!”
Marranalis stared into his empty glass for a moment and then said, “Okay, Admiral. I get your point. You may understand better than most what I feel, but dammit, I’m not you, Tibby. I'm not as strong as you.”
“Strong? You call chasing after Shydak foolishly the way I did, strong? That had to be by far the stupidest thing I ever did. I could have stopped at any time. Chasing after Shydak because things didn’t work out the way I wanted, is no different than you moping about because things didn’t turn out the way you wanted when you allowed Sokaia to come here to the HAPRIN.
“Let me just ask you one question, what do you think Sokaia would want you to do now? Give up and beat yourself up over this, or to stand tall, and resolve yourself to put an end to the Brotherhood, who is the true cause for Sokaia’s death?”
Marranalis stared at the wall a second and drew a deep breath. I saw his jaw tighten, and then he said, “You’re right, Admiral. I'm sorry for my actions. If you still want me, I’m ready to kick some Brotherhood ass.
”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. Now let’s get back to work, shall we? For the rest of the night, I just want you to be at my side relaying orders. After we return to the DUSTEN, I want you to go over to the NEW ORLEANS, see Dr. Hughes and have a chat. Tell him I recommended he give you something to help you sleep tonight and then go back to the DUSTEN and get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll assess the data that we get today.”
“Yes sir,” Marranalis said as he got up and preceded me out the door; as he did the lieutenant with us came up beside me and quietly whispered, “Sir, my men and I couldn’t help but over hear your conversation, and well sir, we just want to say thanks for what you did for Marranalis, and if anyone ever asks us, we didn’t hear or see anything here today.”
I smiled and gripped his shoulder, “Thanks, Lieutenant, that is much appreciated.”
By the time we returned to the bridge, Marranalis had composed himself and while he still looked distressed, he no longer appeared to be in shock or an emotional wreck. I didn’t want him on the bridge too long though, knowing that just a short time earlier Sokaia and other troopers had died there would have been too much, I thought. Instead, we set up a temporary command station in one of the undamaged conference rooms near the bridge. I tried to keep Marranalis busy conveying commands, most of which were not vital, but I hoped it would help to keep his mind away from the helplessness that the loss of Sokaia was giving him.
At one-point Commander Mazone came in and reported that the hull damage was wider spread than we had previously suspected, and that it would be necessary to evacuate many parts of the ship and seal them off, as the loss of air was becoming an issue. I agreed with his evaluation and issued orders to have those areas evacuated immediately. Fortunately, the area around where the prisoners were being held was still intact, so for the moment we had no need to relocate them, but I was beginning to worry that we might have to before the place I had in mind for them would be ready. Another explosive device was found in the engineering section, but luckily it had never been armed. I ordered Mazone to have it examined, thinking if it were similar to the one that had had exploded on the bridge, we might learn what went wrong when Sokaia and her troopers were killed.
About six hours after I had arrived on the HAPRIN things seemed to be getting under control, and I took my leave with Marranalis and returned to the DUSTEN. Once I was sure Marranalis had gone to the NEW ORLEANS to meet with Dr. Hughes, I returned to my suite. Kala was sleeping when I undressed and slowly slid into bed, hoping not to wake her, but she must not have been that sound asleep, as she woke up and in a sleepy voice asked, “How bad was it, Tib?”
“Bad, really bad,” I answered “the bridge is totally gone. It needs to be completely rebuilt. Commander Mazone said there were 13 troopers killed with Sokaia in the explosion on the bridge. The ship is leaking a lot of air, and they had to seal off large sections. Marranalis was a total wreck when I arrived and in a state of shock. I got him off the bridge and took him to one of the bars in the civilian section, gave him two glasses of brandy, and we had a chat. He’s doing better now, however I had him report to Dr. Hughes on the NEW ORLEANS for some therapy and to get some medication to help him sleep tonight.”
“I feel so sorry for him,” Kala said, “I knew he and Sokaia were close, but they must have been closer than I realized.”
“He told me that they were talking about retiring together some day and getting a place of their own,” I replied.
“Oh, Tib! I never realized they were that involved. He must be devastated.”
“I guess a lot happened while we were on Desolation,” I said, as I thought about witnessing Padaran and Jenira earlier. I gave a huge sigh, “Well I guess we should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.”
When I awoke it was to the sound of my com link buzzing. “Tibby here,” I answered.
“Admiral, this is Captain Wanoll. I have received a message from Admiral Regeny requesting your presence for a meeting in his office an hour from now. He would like an immediate reply to his request.”
“See if it can be arranged for two hours from now, and if he agrees, have Commander Mazone meet me in the Bridge conference room in 20 minutes to update me in the situation on the HAPRIN.” While we were talking, I glanced about the room and noted that Kala must have gotten up earlier and was already gone. After showering and dressing I heard giggling from the outer rooms, and I assumed it was Jenira with the twins. I looked in the room to see what they were doing and saw Jenira sitting on the floor with them playing the Federation version of pat-a-cake with them. Jenira saw me and stopped and stood up and signed. “I heard that Sokaia was killed last night. She was a good lady and a good friend. I will miss her.” Then she walked over and gave me a hug. Lunnie and Reidecor watched Jenira do this and assumed it must be some game, and they must do likewise; I looked down to see them each hugging one of my legs. I picked one up in each arm and gave them both kisses… Reidecor immediately wiped his off, but Lunnie decided she needed to kiss my nose and eyes as well. Jenira laughed and then took them both from my arms. I sighed, “I need to go. I wish I had more time to spend with the twins, but I have a meeting with Admiral Regeny.”
I headed out the door and was immediately greeted by my bodyguards. How I wished I could just ditch those guys. Not that they were unpleasant, it’s just that it was such an inconvenience. I could not even go into a toilet without one of them going in first to check and make sure everything was safe.
I met with Mazone and got filled in on the details of conditions on the HAPRIN and then headed for the meeting with Regeny. I decided not to take Marranalis with me, thinking the rest might do him well, so I sent him a message saying I was called to a meeting with Admiral Regeny, and I would get with him as soon as I returned.
One of the strange things about Cantolla gates that I found interesting was that the difference in atmospheric pressure and density between the two sides of the gates made it necessary to have an airlock arrangement on at least one end of the gates, otherwise you could end up with a howling gale of wind blowing through from the higher pressure side to the lower one. Another thing that I noticed was the difference in humidity as well; air temperatures indoors in most places only varied by a few degrees, so they were not so noticeable. So I wasn’t surprised at the humidity change when I stepped through the gate and into the arrival area near Admiral Regeny’s office. I was met by Lt. Commander Goncest, who escorted me to the Admiral’s office. He didn’t knock but simply opened the door and said to me, “The Admiral is waiting for you.” I entered the room to find Admiral Regeny, Admiral Wabussie, Captain Slater, and Leader Tonclin seated at a round conference table.
“Come on in, Tibby, we’ve been waiting for you. Would you care for some foccee?” and then without waiting, he said, “Goncest, get Tibby some foccee, will you? Tibby, have you eaten? I just realized we got you up rather early with little notice.”
“Actually Admiral, I haven’t eaten anything in nearly 20 hours,” I replied.
“Hmm, that won’t do. Goncest, see what you can get in some sort of food tray that Tibby can snack on. I wouldn’t mind snacking on something as well. I don’t know about the rest of you,” he said turning to Wabussie and Tonclin.
I looked at Leader Tonclin and said, “Leader Tonclin. It's a pleasure to see you again.”
“The honor is mine, First Citizen,” Tonclin replied, “I trust you do not mind my inviting myself to this meeting today. Admiral Regeny was relating to me earlier the developments at Kendrop and Gochian, and your theory that they plan to attack Sector 3 next. I'm interested in hearing more about your plans.”
“Yes, well that’s what we’re here for,” Regeny chimed in, “so why don’t we all have a seat and begin? Tibby what can you tell us about the situation at Kendrop and Gochian and also what your plans are.”
I related to them everything that had happened, about Sokaia and the troopers being killed in the booby-trapped explosion, the c
ondition of the ship, and how much of it had to be sealed off. I told them of the plan to have the ships repaired at Kendrop and Gochian and about our intention to use large Cantolla gates to rapidly relocate ships to Sector 3 to fight off the Brotherhood in what we anticipated as a major offensive there. When I finished, Admiral Regeny turned to Admiral Wabussie, “How does this compare with the information being collected by your field agents?”
Wabussie had a contemplative look on his face, and he paused a moment before responding. “We’ve not received any information that would confirm intentions of a strike in Sector 3. However, there have been strange things happening with the Brotherhood recently which tends to support the idea that they are preparing something big somewhere. They have reduced the number of ships and troops in most of their strongest held territories gradually over the past few months, and we haven’t any real clue where they have gone. We can only assume they are assembling them somewhere in preparation for some major offensive. Another strange thing is a reduction in the appearances of the Tottalax ship. What we do know is that on many of the planets they have captured, they have forced men into their armies as conscripts and forced them to fight using slave collars and drugs, like Tibby has reported with captives taken at Kendrop and Gochian. It’s a bad situation, sir. We may be required to kill men fighting against us who have no choice in their actions and may not really want to fight us at all.”
“I can see the dilemma,” Admiral Regeny said, “but we can’t let them kill us, regardless of what they may really want. If they are attacking and it’s a choice of them or us, I don’t see that we have any choice. Tibby, what are your thoughts?”
“I’m afraid I have to agree with you, Admiral. We may not have any choice other than to rescue those that we can, when possible, but the rest of the time we have to treat them as the enemy and a serious threat. I’ll talk to A’Lappe and Cantolla and see if they have any ideas as to some way we may be able to block the signals to the slave collars; beyond that I don’t know what else we can do.”
Solbidyum Wars Saga 5: Desolation Page 32
