Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals (16 page)

“Tibby, come in, come in.  What do you think of your new intelligence center?  From here, we can monitor all sorts of signals and data and quite effectively intercept and decipher coded messages.  We just got everything up and running today; and already we’re picking up some pretty juicy bits between the Brotherhood ships.”

“You mean like they’re detaining and searching every ship that leaves the Ryken, Yentum, and Goo’Waddle area?”

“Oh, so you know about that already?”  A’Lappe looked somewhat crestfallen.

“Yes, I just got the information from Wabussie a few minutes ago.  He received a report from one of the FSO agents in the area.”

“Hmmph,” A’Lappe snorted.  “Did he also tell you the Brotherhood is offering a huge bounty for anyone providing them information that leads them to Logden?”

“No, he didn’t mention anything like that.”

A’Lappe perked up; apparently having something new to offer provided him with renewed energy.

“Well, Logden, it seems, was providing some services to the Brotherhood up until about eight weeks ago — drug running, from the sounds of it.  Then suddenly he became an unwelcome name in Brotherhood circles.  Two days after the solbidyum shipment was taken, communications throughout the Brotherhood in this sector really heated up, and the focus was the search for Logden.  Instructions are to NOT kill him; that he is wanted for interrogation by the Brotherhood.  The same orders apply to Logden’s ship, the
BUKSCUKET
.  It is to be captured at all cost, but not destroyed or damaged.  Any crew that successfully locates and detains Logden or the ship is guaranteed riches beyond belief, according to Brotherhood channels.  They have every ship they can muster responding to the area as fast as possible.  They believe that Logden is hiding someplace on one of the three planets, waiting things out.”

“So what you’re telling me is that all we have so far is an elaboration of information we already had?”

A’Lappe looked crestfallen again.  “Pretty much so.  There also was some chatter about the fighter at Gaimse and about Shydak, who was heading there to confront the Gaimseians and rattle some skulls over the deal to reverse-engineer and build more Mirage Fighters for them.  He should be arriving there about now.  Boy, is he in for a surprise.”

“I would imagine so.  You wouldn’t happen to know if the FSO still has an agent on Gaimse
…?”

A’Lappe scanned his console, as he moved his hands over it a few times.  “It looks like Commander Wabussie issued an order for one to be stationed there last week.  Hmm, I see here that one was dropped off by… um… you’re not going to believe this, Tibby.  We dropped him off – well, indirectly, anyway.  Commander Wabussie took out one of the Federation
Mirage Fighters intended for transfer to the Federation and flew one of the Nibarians to the surface – cloaked, of course – and dropped him off while we were engaged in our recon operation with the Gaimse shipyard.”

“How did he pull that off?  He would have needed either Commodore Stonbersa or Captain Kerabac’s approval to do that, and neither of them mentioned it to me.  Is there any indication of authorization being given for the flight?”

A’Lappe’s hands moved over the console once more.  “All indications are that the commodore cleared the mission.”

“It looks like I’m going to have to speak with
the commodore about this,” I said, as I turned and left the room to head for the bridge.

When I arrived, I found Stonbersa seated in his chair, reviewing monitors about the bridge.  Captain Kerabac was leaning over Verona’s DSC console.  Two were discussing something.  Two other crewmembers were operating their stations.

“Excuse me, Commodore,” I began, “might I have a word with you in private?”

Stonbersa gave me a questioning look.  “Certainly, Tibby, shall we use the bridge conference room?”

“That will be fine.”  The bridge conference room was a small but comfortable room adjacent to the bridge that was intended for bridge crew briefings and meetings.  Under normal conditions, it held about eight to ten persons.  Once inside and seated, Stonbersa said, “What can I do for you, Tibby?”

“I understand that, while we were on Gaimse, you authorized Commander Wabussie’s departure from the
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with one of the Mirage Fighters and a Nibarian and that they flew to the surface.  Is that correct?”

“Why, yes, it is.  The Commander came to me and said that he needed to go to the surface using one of Federation fighters aboard the
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on a special mission.  He said he would be back before you had completed your mission and that there was no danger of detection because he would be cloaked the entire time.”

“Why was I never informed of this?”

“I was of the impression by the way that the Commander presented himself that you were aware of it and that the action had your approval,” Stonbersa said, staring at me like a creature caught in a spotlight.

“I’m upset about this,” I said.  “Understand, I am not blaming you.  I gave you authority to make decisions about the operation of the ship and I fully trust you.  What bothers me is that no one — especially the Commander — discussed this with me directly at the time.  I cannot have anyone doing things like this under the radar, especially when we are in the midst of a critical situation like our recon mission at Gaimse.  Had he been observed or discovered while we were on the planet, the safety of every one of my team could have been endangered.  In the future, I want a log maintained of the comings and goings of ALL ships here on the
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.  Both you and Captain Kerabac have the right to authorize and sign for such events, but I want a record of it included in my daily status report. 

“Under normal situations and normal daily operations, I do not expect to be made aware of the comings and goings of each and every ship, but on missions such as this, where dangers are present, I wish to be notified before any ship leaves or joins up with or docks in the
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.  If we know in advance that a ship is coming, like a small cargo vessel, I would like to know as far in advance as possible.  Likewise, during non-standard missions, like the one we currently underway, I want to be informed before any ship leaves the
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.”

“Tibby, I am sorry.  I assumed – and wrongly so, I admit – that the Commander had discussed this with you and you were aware of the situation.  But as Commodore of your fleet and guardian of the flagship, I should have been more astute.  I assure you, it will not happen again.”

“Thank you, Commodore.  You are not entirely to blame in this situation; I fully intend to talk to Commander Wabussie.  He is a guest here on the ship and his comings and goings are not to be based on his whims.  I do not want him or any member of the Federation high command to make the assumption that they can just do whatever they wish on my ships.”

“I understand, Tibby.  I assure you
; I will not let it happen again.”

“Good!  Now I need to go track down the Commander and get this all squared away.”

When I arrived at Commander Wabussie’s office, I found Sokaia engaged in a discussion with him.  Wabussie greeted me and Sokaia rose from her seat.  “I’ll leave you two to discuss things privately.”

“Stay, Lieutenant Commander.  My purpose here will indirectly apply to you also.”  Sokaia stopped, but didn’t sit back down.

“Commander,” I began, giving him a hard look in the eye, “it has come to my attention that, on the night of our recon mission at Gaimse, while I was on the surface with my recon team, you left the ship with a cloaked Mirage Fighter and a Nibarian agent, whom you deposited on the surface of the planet.  Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir, it is,” Wabussie said somewhat stiffly.

“Just when did you make this decision and why was it not discussed with me in advance?”

“Tibby, I am not one of your crew,” Wabussie said defensively.  “I have every right to take a Federation fighter out when I wish, and the Nibarian in question is an FSO officer that I wanted in place on Gaimse for intelligence purposes.  I don’t need your approval to do that.”

“Right and wrong, Commander.  True, the ships are yours to use; I lent them to the Federation separately from the ones I reserve for my own fleet.  You are in charge of the FSO and do not need to answer to me or inform me of your dealings with them.  But you are wrong to assume that you can come and go from my ship as you please, especially when I am in the midst of a dangerous operation or situation.

“Had something gone wrong and you were detected while I was on the surface, who knows what alarm might have been issued and what might have happened?  The
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had to uncloak and recloak twice during the recon operation and twice because of your departure.  What if this had been observed while we were on the planet?  If you had discussed the plan with me beforehand, we could have all departed at the same time and minimized the risk of detection.  Fortunately, no one detected you.  But understand this — the same protocols are in place here as if this was a Federation starship.  You do NOT depart or arrive without notification to the bridge and proper authorization from the bridge. 

“Whether by intent or by neglect, you presented Stonbersa with the impression that I was aware of your mission and that I had approved it.  That is not to happen again on any of my ships.  You are a guest here.  While I have every intention of helping the Federation in any way that I can, I will not be used blindly.  I want this made very clear to you and every Federation officer or trooper on this ship.  There are about a thousand people, plus or minus, on the
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.  Aside from a handful of Federation officers, they are my people and I am the one who is responsible for ALL your lives.  If I am going to shoulder that responsibility, then everyone on this ship answers to me in one fashion or another.  Is that understood?” I looked from Wabussie to Sokaia.

“Yes, sir!” they both responded.

“Good! I’m not asking you to inform me of all your intelligence actions with the FSO, Commander, but if it has anything to do with our mission, I would appreciate being kept in the loop.  I’m trying to prevent a war, not create one, and at the moment, it’s not looking too good.”

“Tibby, I do apologize,” Wabussie began.  “I fully intended to brief you, but after you got back…well, I guess I sort of felt that what you didn’t know wouldn’t hurt anything.  I was wrong on two counts there, and it won’t happen again.”

“Sokaia, this was not a reprimand for you, it was solely for your edification.  But it applies to you nevertheless.”  I looked at her with a smile as I made the statement.

“I’m relieved to hear that, sir.  I certainly do not want to get on your bad side again.  Once was enough for me,” she said with a smile.

“You’ve been on Tibby’s bad side?” Wabussie said with astonishment.

“You mean you never heard about it?” Sokaia exclaimed.  “I ended up getting a dressing down from both Major Kalana and from Admiral Regeny himself over the matter.  My face and ears burned for days afterwards.”

“Well, that was in the past, as is this issue, I hope.  So let’s move on.  Now, if you will both excuse me, I need to speak with the captain.”

“Oh no.  Don’t tell me Kerabac is in trouble, also,” Sokaia exclaimed.

“No, he isn’t, but I do need to discuss an idea I have that will require his services.”

When I returned to the bridge, Stonbersa and Kerabac were seated and talking to each other.  They looked up as I entered and
the commodore spoke.  “Tibby, is there something I can do for you?”

“Actually, I need to speak with Kerabac.  Do you mind if we use the bridge meeting room?”

“Not at all,” he said with a look of concern.  I could tell by both the look on his face and Kerabac’s that the commodore had discussed with him our earlier conversation and now both were expecting that Kerabac was next in line to be called on the carpet.

When we settled into the meeting room, Kerabac said, “Tibby, if I’ve done something wrong, I assure you I did it unawares.”

“Relax, Kerabac, it’s nothing like that at all.  I want to discuss a possible course of action that may require your help to pull off.”

“Anything, Tibby.  You know I’m at your service.”

“This could be a lot riskier than anything I have ever asked you to do before.  It’s my understanding that many of the non-aligned worlds still practice slavery and that Ryken, Yentum and Goo’Waddle all permit the trade and ownership of slaves.  I also seem to recall you telling me that many of your fellow….  By the way, I don’t believe you’ve ever told me the name of your home world, or how your people refer to themselves.”

“Our home planet is
Ginet, and we call ourselves Ruwallie Rasson, which loosely translates to
The Chosen
, or
Above Others
.  We tended to be a rather arrogant race going back long before we joined the Federation.  Today, however, most of us are more like the other races in the Federation.  There are some that still hold to the older ideas of superiority and some that still want to reinstitute slavery.  Most of those bands have left the Federation and now live on worlds outside the territories, like Ryken, Yentum and Goo’Waddle.  But they do not rule on those worlds; their agendas and words carry no more significance than any of the other free citizens of those worlds, regardless of race.  Many are simply traders and merchants, while others are little more than pirates.”