Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals (11 page)

On our fourth day out, I stopped him in the middle of our exercise and said, “Marranalis, I think you need a change.  I think it would be a good idea for you and Sokaia to spar together.”  I saw the concern flash over his face.  I had put him in a position once before where he had to spar with Sokaia.  That time, it was Sokaia who needed the lesson.  This time, it was Marranalis who had something to learn and I had a feeling that Sokaia was going to be the one to do the teaching.

I called to Sokaia, who was just about to begin sparring with Kala.  “Lieutenant Commander Sokaia, would you mind sparring with Marranalis today?  I think he is too accustomed to sparring with me and would benefit from a session with someone who is equally skilled, but who perhaps takes a different approach.”

“Sure,” she responded with a smile.  “I’ve been looking for the opportunity to get him on his back.”

Kala raised a questioning eyebrow and walked over to me as Marranalis and Sokaia headed to the mat.  “What’s this all about, Tib?  What are you up to?”

“Wait and see.  I think this is going to be interesting.”

Kala and I watched from the side as Marranalis and Sokaia went at it.  At first it was a repeat of Kala and Sokaia’s first match a few days earlier, but then slowly, bit by bit, Sokaia became more relaxed in her movements while he became overly aggressive.  Suddenly, Marranalis thought he saw an opening and lunged forward in an attack.  As he did, Sokaia flowed to the side in a smooth motion and, like Kala had done with her just days before, shifted in a way that allowed her to use Marranalis’ own motion against him.  Before he knew what had happened, he was on the floor with Sokaia overhead, poised to deliver a fatal blow.

Sokaia laughed with glee as she hopped up and extended her hand to help him to his feet.  He had the same wounded look on his face that he had the first time I sparred against him in the demonstration for Captain Maxette on the
DUSTEN
.  Sokaia kissed him on the cheek and ran off in a gleeful leap as Marranalis shuffled over to where Kala and I stood.

“I don’t know what happened, Tibby; I was sure that I had the upper hand and next thing I knew, she had me.  What went wrong?”

“Kala, why don’t you tell him?”

Kala looked at me and then turned to Marranalis.  “You were concentrating too much on your movements and not relaxing and allowing your natural reflexes and instincts to fight for you.  When you concentrate in that way, you actually dampen your responses.  You and Sokaia are pretty evenly matched, but she was able to relax and trust in her skilled reflexes, and you didn’t.  The end result was you got your ass kicked!”

“Hmm, you’re right.  I realize that now.  Is that why you wanted me to spar with Sokaia?” he asked me.

“Yes.  Since she began practicing here with our team, you
’ve been trying to impress her with your skills, and have not been fighting to win but to impress, which is always dangerous, and if you’re fighting someone with skills equal or greater than yourself, it can be fatal.  Now, if we can convince Sokaia to come back, I would like to see the two of you spar again.”

Moments later, they squared off again.  This time, however, the bout only lasted a short time before Marranalis defeated Sokaia.  The two squared off for a third time and, again, Marranalis beat her quickly.  As he was helping her to her feet, she said, “I guess I just got lucky the first time, but it was great getting you on your back at least once,” She winked.

Kala looked at me and I smirked.  “You have more than just one goal in mind with this exercise, don’t you, Tibby?”  I just grinned.  “Don’t go playing coy with me.  I know you, Tib; what are you up to?”

I just kept smiling and said, “Wait and see, my dear.  Wait and see.”

After showering, Kala and I lounged in our quarters before a fireplace while sipping a luxurious wine and feeding each other some small snack foods.  I was mystified by the fireplace; it was a real fire — not a wood-burning fire, of course, but a gas flame or something else with artificial logs, just like my home on Earth.  The mystery wasn’t really about the flames, rather, I couldn’t figure out where the heat and oxygen-depleted gases went.  Obviously there was no chimney exhausting the gases into space; so where did they go?

While she sipped her wine, Kala noticed me staring inquisitively at the fire.  “Tib, what is it about that fireplace that intrigues you so much?  Don’t you have fireplaces on Earth?”

“Yes, we do, but if we burned one in an enclosed space, like this spaceship, it would burn all the oxygen out of the air and we would soon suffocate.  Likewise, the heat would build up in the place and cook you like a Rudosian fowl.  Yet, here we are, totally enclosed with a fire burning, and we are neither cooking nor suffocating.”

Kala laughed.  “Tib, there are scrubbers built into the ductwork that filter and re oxygenate the exhaust gases.  The heat is sent to collectors and redistributed to places that might need it.  If there is more than needed, it is sent to heat exchangers on the dark side of the ship’s hull, where the heat quickly dissipates into space.  But that seldom happens, as there are plenty of applications and uses for the heat here on the ship, like heating the pools or the greenhouse hydroponic gardens.”

“That’s a relief.  I was afraid that sooner or later, we were going to run out of air.  But what about the fueling gas? Do we re-supply it when we get to other planets, and where is it stored?” By now, Kala was laughing so hard I was afraid she was going to spill her wine.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“You!  You are so funny!  Here you are – the richest man in the universe – able to devise all sorts of brilliant military actions, able to save entire worlds – and you worry about asphyxiating due to lack of oxygen.  You have no idea what goes on in your own ship, and yet you save the universe,” she said, still laughing.

“Seriously, Kala, I really would like to know.”

“You would be much better off asking A’Lappe, if you want all the scientific details, but I do know that the gas is generated right here on the ship.  You know how the replicators work—by taking basic organic materials here on the ship and converting them back into food or other organic items.  Well, one of the products produced in that process is methane.  That methane is compressed and stored in tanks aboard the ship, and some is burned in the fireplaces.  What doesn’t get used can be reclaimed and used by the replicator to produce new foods or clothing or other items.”

“Wow.  I never realized just how elaborate and sophisticated the replicators are.”

We were interrupted by a call on my wrist com.  “Tibby, this is Kerabac.  We just received a message from the admiralty that the GW pod shipment of solbidyum to the planet Lasalt has gone missing.  It is believed that the pod was intercepted before the intended representatives were able to get to the coordinates to pick it up.  Commander Wabussie would like to meet with you in the bridge meeting room to discuss the details.”

“Tell him I will be right there.”  Turning to Kala I said, “We were expecting this, only we didn’t know where it was going to happen.  Now we do.  I wonder what plans
the admiral will come up with to get it back.”

When Kala and I arrived at the bridge conference room, Wabussie and Commodore Stonbersa were there waiting.  As we exchanged greetings, Marranalis and Sokaia arrived. 
The commodore and Sokaia retrieved cups of foccee from the wall drink dispenser and then took seats at the table.  When everyone had settled, Wabussie immediately launched into the meeting.

“We knew this was coming.  Unfortunately, we were unable to prevent it.  But now the Federation needs to act. 
The admiralty got word a few hours ago that a solbidyum shipment sent to Lasalt was never received by the planet’s representatives.  From the information we received, the representatives of Lasalt were on the way to retrieve the GW pod when they received a distress call from a freighter, stating they had a reactor problem and the ship was in danger of exploding.  The freighter crew reported an injury and casualty count of about fifty crewmembers.  They anticipated that the ship would blow up in a few hours and they had begun fleeing in life pods.  Normally, the Lasalt ship assigned to the GW pod retrieval would have requested another ship to provide rescue assistance, but there was no other ship near enough to respond in time.  A decision was made to render assistance and initiate rescue operations – only when they arrived at the location of the distress call, there was no sign of the ship or any debris that would indicate an explosion.  None of the calls they sent out during their search for the ship were met with a reply; and after searching for a full day, they headed back to the coordinates where the GW pod shipment should have been.  When they arrived, there was nothing to be found.  Someone had tricked them into the diversion so they could steal the shipment.”

Wabussie pressed a button on a small remote control device and a panel in the wall slid up to reveal a vid screen.  Moments later a star map appeared.

“This is the star system for the planet Lasalt,” he said.  A red circle appeared around a star on the screen.  “These stars are the nearest Federation stars to Lasalt,” he continued, as a number of nearby stars lit up in a green color.  “These stars…” he said, as a number of other stars lit up in magenta, ”…are solar systems that are the home to several non-aligned worlds, and this arch…” an arc appeared close to Lasalt, “…represents the fringe of the Federation territory.”

It was easy to see that many of the stars in magenta were outside the arch, while the green ones were within it. 

“Fortunately, we were recently able to get a starship with a DSC system into this sector that can relay information to us as it happens.  We fear the solbidyum has been taken to one of the worlds outside Federation’s territory.  It could have been taken to anyone of these worlds,” he stated, indicating the magenta stars.  “But most likely, it went to one of these.”

White circles appeared around thirteen planets.  “We think these are the most likely candidates, because these planets engage in a great deal of trade; ships are coming and going across this region in a steady flow of traffic.  Right now, the starship
ROSKON
is headed to the area.  They have three FSO agents aboard who will depart on small personal transports to investigate some of the more seedy planets in the area — planets known to be hangouts for pirates and smugglers — in the hope that they can obtain some leads as to who is responsible for the theft and where the solbidyum may be now.  It may be months before we learn any information, if ever. 

“In the meantime, the starship
HOSPIN
is currently here.”  Wabussie indicated a spot in the corner of the screen right near the arch of the Federation border ended on the screen frame.  “They are carrying four FSO agents who will also disembark from their current location and move in the general direction of the agents from the
ROSKON
, but into this region of space.  They too will be looking for leads, as this is an area that is collecting a heavy concentration of Brotherhood members who have fled the Federation territories.  We are hoping that we will get some definitive information from this area soon.  Of course, since the FOI knows nothing about the FSO, they will be conducting their own investigation into the event.  Information we have from the FOI is that they plan to have two of their twenty Lasalt agents looking into the matter.  We do not anticipate ever hearing anything of significance from their operation; and it is apparent that whoever is giving issuing the orders has no intention of actually succeeding in the solbidyum recovery.”

I was beginning to get a sinking feeling about all of this.  “So, let me ask.  If it turns out that the solbidyum is on one of the non-aligned worlds outside the Federation territories, what is the plan?”

Wabussie stood with both hands on the table and his head down, staring at it as he spoke.  “I was hoping not to have to answer that question at this time and rather wait until we know more.”  He sighed and, still with his head down, he said, “Tibby, the admiral was hoping that you might take your team and go in to retrieve it.  If the Federation goes in, it’s an act of war; but if you do…well, you know.”

“Damn,” I said, “why can’t he just send in an undercover Special Ops team to handle it?”

“That option is on the table if you reject the request; but right now, until we know just where the solbidyum is, nothing is expected or planned.”

I had to weigh our chances of success regarding the two issues at hand.  I thought for a moment, then replied, “At the moment, our own goal is unchanged – to recover the
Mirage Fighter at Gaimse.  Maybe we’ll get lucky there and uncover a clue that connects the two events and gives us some direction as to where to focus our search.  But until I know more, I am not making any commitments to help out on this one.”

“Fair enough, Tibby.  You have already done plenty for the Federation.”

After that the meeting split up.  I decided Kala and I needed to unwind, so we headed to the entertainment lounge.  As we made our way there, Kala said, “Tibby, if it turns out the solbidyum has been taken outside of the Federation territory and we discover where it is, you will go after it, won’t you?”

“Most likely,” I said, “but let’s not tell
the admiral that just yet.  If he is going to put me on the spot again, I think it only fair that I make him sweat a little.”

Kala poked me in the arm and laughed.  “What am I ever going to do with you?”