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

“Incredible — all that on a single planet, and you didn’t have learning headbands to teach the languages to others.  It must have been difficult trying to communicate to resolve issues.”

“We had professional translators that served for government and business negotiations,” I said.

“But isn’t that dangerous? How do you know you can trust your translator?  What if they were trying to sabotage your negotiations or misinterpreted something?  You could have even had a war on your hands.”

“I’m sure it’s happened,” I said, “but usually both parties in a negotiation had their own translators, so if one translated something incorrectly, the other would notice and correct the error.”

“All I can say, Tibby, is that I am glad I didn’t live on your world, even if you had food like this to eat every day.”  We all laughed and then sat back to watch a truly amazing sunset.

The next morning, I dressed in my honorary Vice Admiral’s outfit at Kala’s insistence.  “You will be expected to wear your uniform anytime you are meeting with the Federation military, simply as a courtesy.”  I hated wearing the uniform and, even more, the implication that I was connected to the Federation military in any capacity. However, because of my past roles in the implementation of numerous plans and actions against the Brotherhood and the enemies of the Federation, I was connected, in a sense. 

Kala and I met Lieutenant Marranalis at the hangar, where a contingency of our security forces waited to escort us to the admiralty.  Several attempts had been made on our lives since my arrival in the Federation and, because of our high profile, it was deemed best that we never leave the estate or the
NEW ORLEANS
without a security escort.  Marranalis had the
ALI
flown to the estate sometime during the night to personally pilot Kala and me Admiral Regeny’s headquarters at the capital, escorted by two of our private security patrol ships. While en route, we were joined by eight other Federation Mirage Fighters from the planet.  When we landed at the military spaceport, we were greeted by an aide to the admiral, as well as several dozen troopers who accompanied the admiral—all of whom gave smart salutes, much to my chagrin.

“You do realize, Tibby, that you have more security assigned to you by the Federation than the leaders do.  You’re still considered to be the most powerful person in the Federation,” said Marranalis, as we disembarked.
We were then immediately ushered into a ground transport, in which we completed the rest of the trip to Admiralty Headquarters.

The capital building on Megelleon was huge; there is nothing on Earth that compared to this immense structure that covered several square kilometers.
Unlike the capital complex of the United States of America in Washington, DC, where different agencies occupied separate buildings, the Federation capital housed all agencies and government offices within one giant building complex, the towers of which soared into the sky, taller than the tallest building on Earth. Even more amazing, the structure reached deeply underground, where most of the high-ranking military offices were protected within secure-access tactical and command centers.  Even with this security, the rebel group known as the Brotherhood of Light had managed to successfully breach Admiralty Headquarters in an attempted raid shortly after we delivered the solbidyum to the capital.  A large portion of the admiralty complex was destroyed, but the admiral and his staff were spared, as they had temporarily and secretly moved their headquarters to my yacht, the
NEW ORLEANS
, as an added security measure at my invitation. 

Since that time, the facilities had been rebuilt and the rebel forces purged from the military ranks in the area of the capital, and new and more efficient security put into place.  After driving through a series of wide tunnels within the complex, we eventually arrived at a terminal area surrounded with armed troopers who also saluted as we disembarked.  We walked a short distance to board train-like cars that moved us farther and deeper into the complex.  We were required to change cars several times, and our direction of travel changed, too, as part of the security tactics that keep secure and secret our precise location. 

Finally we arrived at a small station that appeared (on the exterior) to be a maintenance garage. There we disembarked with four of my personal security team and were met by four troopers who served as our final escort to the meeting room where Admiral Regeny and Commander Wabussie awaited.  Only Marranalis and one of two of the Federation troopers were permitted to enter the meeting room with us.  The rest took up stations outside, while Marranalis and the Federation trooper took up stations just inside the door.

“Greetings, Vice Admiral Tibby and Lieutenant Commander Kalana.  It’s so good to see you both again,”
the admiral said.  The title of Vice Admiral was only an honorary one, bestowed on me by the Federation military because of my earlier roles in the battle to recover the
DUSTEN
and defeat the rebels.

“Greetings, Admiral Regeny and Commander Wabussie.  It’s good to see you both again, also,” I replied.  By Federation military custom, it was not necessary for me to acknowledge Commander Wabussie, as one only needed to acknowledge the senior-most officer present.  But I considered Wabussie a close personal friend; and while I was to be extended all respect and honors reserved for a Vice Admiral, I was not expected to follow all their protocols.

“It’s good to see the two of you looking so relaxed and healthy,” the admiral said.  “The last time we were together, Kala was still recovering from the ruguain poison and you had been traipsing about in the jungle, fighting the Brotherhood.  At that time you looked you were pretty stressed, physically and mentally.  But now the two of you look to be in the best shape ever.”

“Well, just understand that we are not doing anymore martial arts demonstrations for you, or anyone,” I said with a grin.

“No, no, Tibby, I promise you, that is not going to happen ever again.  I learned my lesson last time – and I still have nightmares about it.  You have my solemn promise; I will not put you in that position again.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but I’m sure you didn’t ask me down here to offer another apology.”

“Actually, it’s Wabussie that requested this meeting, and I’m as much in the dark about it as you are.  Commander, would you care to enlighten us?”

“Please, everyone, have a seat,” Wabussie directed. We seated ourselves about a small circular table in the middle of the room.  “First let me say that I elected to come here because, in the eyes of the Federation, I am still an active member of the staff of
the admiral, so my coming and going here is not suspicious.  Because of the role that both of you, Tibby and Kala, have played in recent events, your coming and going here is also not considered suspicious.  Therefore, I felt this would be the best place for us to convene for an update on investigations and information uncovered by the FSO.”

The FSO, or Federal Security Organization, is a top secret body set up to spy both within and outside of the Federation for issues that might have negative or harmful impacts on the Federation.  Prior to the formation of the FSO, such matters were under the jurisdiction of the FOI, or Federation Office of Intelligence; however, the FOI became compromised by an infiltration of Brotherhood operatives and could no longer be trusted.  One of the tasks of the FSO was to infiltrate the FOI and the Federation senate to identify any Brotherhood members who were still actively engaged with the Brotherhood activities.  But the FSO reach extended far beyond just organizations in the Federation; it was in the process of placing agents about the galaxy, hoping to spot trouble and take preemptive measures before the problems became real.

“Using codes and information gratefully provided to us by Captain Felenna of your security detail at Alle Bamma, Tibby, and by applying code-breaking techniques provided to us by A’Lappe, we have been able to monitor much of the Brotherhood communications.  Word of their defeat at the
DUSTEN
event, the destruction of their underwater base here on Megelleon, the decimation of their fleet at Plosaxen — when they fell into the trap to steal a staged solbidyum shipment—and the destruction of their drug labs and ships at Alle Bamma, has been spreading rapidly through their ranks.  Of special note to them is that the Federation now has cloaking technology, as well as Mirage Fighters, which deliver 50% more speed than anything they possess or have heard of before.  They are also aware that the Federation now has achieved Reverse Magnetic Force Field capability that is fully operational.  While they do not know that RMFF installations are limited only to starships, they do know we have them and recognize this as real issue for any confrontations they may have with the Federation in the future.  At the moment, their communications indicate that they are focusing their God’s Sweat drug sales to non-aligned planets where the Federation does not have jurisdiction, but they are still maintaining drug sales in Federation territory where they feel they have a chance of escaping apprehension.  They have also set up new production facilities to grow the plant from which God’s Sweat can be obtained. Again, these facilities are located on non-aligned planets and some asteroids and moons about the galaxy.  Most of these facilities are not producing at the moment, as it takes close to a year for the plants to reach the level of maturity needed for harvesting. But back to the ships…

“The Brotherhood wants to obtain the plans for both the RMFF and the cloaking devices.  They managed to steal one of the
Mirage Fighters being constructed on Plosaxen two weeks ago.  Fortunately, at Tibby’s suggestion, the ship’s cloaking device was not installed.  Cloaking technology is only being installed by Federation teams once the fighter ships have been delivered, and the plans for the cloaking device is not in the hands of civilians, other than for Tibby and his associates.  This is a huge relief, but now the Brotherhood does have access to the engine design, which will give them more speed when applied to their own ships.  Of course, they also now have access to the design of the Mirage Fighter itself, and can have identical craft built for their own uses.  The last communications we intercepted between the Brotherhood groups indicate that they have contacted the Markazians to build several fighters.  The Markazians want 60% in advance and the remainder paid in installments by the Brotherhood, with the last payment to occur upon delivery; however, the recent losses suffered by the Brotherhood, in terms of  their fleet and their drug operation at Alle Bamma, have left them cash poor at the moment.  The best they can do is to have two built.  We’re not sure if the Dietyte fusion reactors used by the Markazians can be made small enough or robust enough to power the ships at 50% more speed.  They definitely won’t have cloaking; but still, it will increase their threat.”

“I’ll talk to A’Lappe about the engine design and see if he can shed any light as to what we can expect speed-wise from any ships the Markazians may build based on the
Mirage Fighter they have taken.  In the meantime, do you have any idea where they have taken the ship?” I asked.

“No, we don’t.  Although the ship‘s engine was installed at the time it was stolen, it didn’t have the small fusion reactors used for their operation.  It was equipped only with a small fusion battery to deliver enough power for the simple and short flight to a starship, where its final power package and cloaking device would have been installed.  We believe the ship was flown to a freighter in the area, where it was taken aboard and delivered someplace out of this star system.

“If the Brotherhood’s plans are to have the Markazians build ships for them based on our design, I would think they’d deliver the Mirage Fighter to Markazia or stage it someplace nearby.  They will either have to reverse-engineer the ship or get their hands on a set of plans.  If their planned approach is to reverse-engineer the craft, it will add to the time requirements, and I don’t see them being able to do that in less than a year,” I said.  “Hopefully, before they get that much accomplished, your FSO team will have located the ship so we can organize a raid to either take it back or destroy it.”

“Yes, but if the ship is taken to a non-aligned world and we initiate a raid on the planet to recover or destroy it, our actions would likely be construed as an act of war,”
the admiral interjected.

“Ah, but you forget, Admiral, the
Mirage Fighters are my personal property.  I only lend them to the Federation.  If I take my security forces to retrieve my stolen property, it may be contested by whatever planet it’s on as an illegal incursion, but they cannot consider the Federation as having acted against them.  I’m a private citizen, not an official government representative.”

I noted Wabussie leaning back in his chair, grinning.  “Tibby’s right, Admiral.  His actions cannot reflect officially on the Federation.” I suddenly realized by his actions that he had planned this all along, knowing full well that I would make the suggestion.

Wabussie continued.  “The second matter I wish to bring up has to do with information obtained by one the operatives you trained, Tibby.  He has overheard that another attempt is being planned to intercept a solbidyum shipment.  We don’t know where this is to happen, but we believe it will be one of the shipments planned for delivery by GW pod.  We don’t know how they plan to intercept this shipment, or even how they know where or when the solbidyum is scheduled for delivery.  Our agent was only able to overhear part of the conversation, but the words ‘intercept,’ ‘GW pod,’ and ‘solbidyum’ were all clearly discernible.  They also mentioned something about some ‘mercenary friends’ coming into play.  We’ve discovered that, in addition to their drug operations, the Brotherhood also has links to piracy and smuggling operations.  The Brotherhood believes that, if they can capture one solbidyum shipment, they can sell it for enough money to facilitate development of larger and stronger fleet.  There are also indications that they hope to steal more Federation ships and that more mutinies are planned to take place on outlying Federation ships before word gets to them about the Brotherhood’s failures so far.  Even though it’s been nearly a year since the
DUSTEN
incident, there are still planets on the outer edge of the Federation that have not heard of these events and the results.”