Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals (7 page)

“One of the aides he had with him at
TEZU LAGONG is a man who has already been identified as having direct Brotherhood involvement.  He seems to be the senator’s right-hand man; and from what we have been able to piece together, he was the one who set up the attack against you.  When Marranalis started to put things into motion at the club, he alerted me and I subsequently contacted the admiral and Lieutenant Commander Sokaia.  I immediately contacted one of my FSO operatives who is normally assigned to TEZU LAGONG.  The club is a good place to gain information, as many of the most powerful people in the Federation are known to dine and entertain there.  Our agent was outside the club and overheard the senator’s agents making some reference to “getting rid of Tibby now, before the interception.”

“Interception? You mean before they intercepted the transport?
That doesn’t make sense,” I said.

“No, I don’t think they meant the transport.  As you learned in our private briefing before your dinner event, I’ve been receiving getting reports from our field operatives that the Brotherhood is planning to intercept a GW pod carrying a solbidyum reactor and a solbidyum grain.  I think this is the interception they were talking about.  So far, you have been the source of all their downfalls, Tibby, and they see you as a potential threat to any future offensives they may be planning to implement.  They want you out of the way before they act.”

“Ah, right.  Do we know yet which solbidyum shipment they plan to heist?” I asked.

“No.  I was hoping maybe the prisoners that the Special Operations unit managed to capture could enlighten us; however, I received some bad news today.  Just as we prepared to dock here at the
NEW ORLEANS
, a message came in that all the prisoners we captured are dead — killed in their cells, it would appear, by some lethal gas.  The guards posted with them were also killed.  Somehow, the Brotherhood was able to get into the prison area where they were being held and poison them with gas.  My people are still checking into leads on all the people who were involved in the attack on the transport.  We’re trying to track their movements, as well as any who they associate with.”

“I thought all the troopers in this sector had been tested and that we didn’t have any infiltrators in the military in this sector anymore,” Marranalis interjected.

“That’s correct, and we have no reason to think otherwise.  We believe the assassin was a part of the civilian prison kitchen staff and that he released the poison gas when he made the meal rounds.  We’re trying to track him down now, but he seems to have vanished.”

“You mean to tell me you tested everyone in the military on the base and in the capital, but you haven’t tested the civilian support staff?” I said, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry to report that is the case.  It was believed that, if we had the troopers all tested and certified as clean, the support staff was inconsequential.”

I shook my head and Kala put her hand on my shoulder.  “Well, I guess now everyone knows differently,” I said.  “Were you able to get anything at all from the attackers you captured?”

“The only thing we were able to get from the one captive who was cooperative is that they received orders from one of the higher ranking individuals in the Brotherhood leadership, but he had no idea who it was.  Orders were received suddenly while you and Kalana were dining at the club, which seems to indicate that whoever gave the orders was most likely also in the club.  While Senator Euregata certainly is a suspect, the hard evidence isn’t there to formally charge him, much less convict him of the crime.”

At that moment a message came in on Stonbersa’s wrist com.  “Commodore, we have received a message from Senator Tonclin’s shuttle that they are underway and will be docking in about twenty minutes.”

“Thank you.  I’ll be at the hangar to greet him.  Please see to having proper protocol arranged for his arrival.”

“Do you have any new information as to what Senator Tonclin may want to discuss with us?” I asked Wabussie.

“Not a clue, but it’s obvious to me that it somehow involves the senate and the FSO, and that whatever it is, he wants to make sure he presents it to us in the most secure and confidential environment possible.”

I nodded and replied, “We will know shortly.”

When the shuttle bearing the senator arrived, he was greeted by Commodore Stonbersa, Kalana and me.

As the senator disembarked I broke protocol and stepped forward, “Senator Tonclin, so nice to have you aboard again
.”  According to custom it should have been either Captain Kerabac or Commodore Stonbersa that greeted the senator first but I had met the senator several times in the past year and considered him a close friend, I never failed to be fascinated by his appearance.  Like all Nibarians, he was short and squat in stature and his skin resembled thick, gnarled tree bark.  It was obviously an adaptation to protect them from the caustic nature of the nitrogen compounds in their dense atmosphere.  Another Nibarian characteristic that always seemed out of place was the high-pitched voice, which was a sound more like one would expect from a human after inhaling helium.

“Honored First Citizens Tibby and Kalana, I cannot express what a delight it is to see you both again.  I’m so pleased and relieved that you were able to precisely interpret my clue and allow me the opportunity to travel with you to Nibaria on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  I’m certain you have surmised that I have an urgent need to discuss developments with you and Commander Wabussie.  I felt the
NEW ORLEANS
to be the safest and best place to do so.”

“Yes, we did indeed surmise as much.  Regardless of the situation, though, you are always a welcome guest aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
, Senator.  Do you wish to be taken to your accommodations now, or would you prefer we meet now?”

“Actually, since the flight to Nibaria is relatively short, I would prefer to meet immediately.  I regret that I will probably not even have time to visit the delightful quarters that I’m sure you and Piesew have already arranged so perfectly for my comfort.  For appearance’s sake, the less time I spent on the
NEW ORLEANS
, the less suspicion it will likely arouse with anyone who may be observing my movements.  Since you have ordered Mirage Fighters to be built at our shipyard, my meeting with you will not be out of line, if kept relatively brief.  Hopefully, the presence of Commander Wabussie will likewise not appear out of the norm, as you are reportedly taking him to Plosaxen on some official duty for the Federation.  Since the existence of the FSO still is a secret known to only a few, I do not think anyone will realize the true intent of this journey.”

Commodore Stonbersa led us into a small but very rich-looking conference room that I had not seen before.  Though I owned the ship, it was so large that even after spending a good deal of time aboard, I had only seen a small portion of the spaces.  This conference room was furnished with a round table that could accommodate about eight chairs.  The room itself was also round and paneled with a rich wood of a slightly orange-brown color and dark, almost black grain.  An equally rich green carpet covered the entire floor and the middle of the ceiling was recessed fitted with indirect lighting.  A vid screen hung near the wall, and I suspected that a control somewhere could easily make it vanish into the ceiling or behind a wood panel if one chose.

Piesew appeared as we arrived and inquired of each person whether they cared for some refreshment.  Once those had been delivered, he departed, leaving us to discuss whatever it was that Tonclin felt was worthy of this assembly.

“Tibby, I first want to say that when you first presented the idea of the FSO to me, I was rather taken aback.  The idea of a government spying not only on others but on its own entities as well seemed preposterous.  And when you asked me to act as a such a spy within the senate – well, it was only out of the utmost respect for you that I was even willing to hear you out.  Ultimately, I was able to understand your logic and I felt that, if someone was going to do it, I would, at least, be able to conduct myself objectively in such a litigious capacity.  I had no idea at that time how insightful you were in taking the actions you did.  But now, after what I am about to tell you, you will see how wise your motives truly were and are.

“So far as I have been able to ascertain, no one in the senate knows about or even suspects the existence of the FSO, and they still believe that all spying and intelligence is coming through the FOI.  The arrogance of the Brotherhood, created by their long success of infiltrating the government over the past century, has caused them to be overly relaxed and careless – and this includes their members in the senate.

“One evening last week I dined alone in the senate dining room while reviewing a speech I had prepared for a meeting with the Federation agriculture committee later in the day.  I wasn’t paying much attention to who was near me — most of the dining room was empty at that hour — however, the table behind me was occupied by a few senators from a sector out near the rim.  I was fairly engrossed in the composition of my speech, when I heard someone say, ‘The Brotherhood is ready to act now.’  I
must say, it required a great deal self-restraint to resist the urge to turn and see who spoke.  I kept pretending to work on my speech, but now I was listening more closely.  For the sake of clarity I will repeat their conversation here as the way it generally unfolded in the senate dining room.

“I heard another man say, ‘If we stick with our plan, our allegiance to the Brotherhood will pay off.  They are promising to provide our planets with solbidyum first, instead of having to wait and get it last.  This would profit our planets greatly.  Even if the Brotherhood can’t bring down the Federation like we believe we can, we would still have quietly gained the advantage of obtaining the solbidyum; and we can still break away and start our own alliance and union of planets thereafter.  We are so far out on the fringe of the territory that the Federation most likely would not bother trying to retain us – and we could renounce our membership with the solbidyum in hand and still be better off.’

“‘I agree,’ a third speaker said.  ‘The concentration of Brotherhood support in our sector provides us with lots of military strength.  I understand that, unlike here in the inner planets region, the majority of the crews on the Federation ships in our sector are Brotherhood supporters and that they are only waiting for the signal to initiate takeover actions on their respective ships.  They are not aware of this new purging of the fleet that the admiralty is undertaking to get rid of insurgents and Brotherhood members within the military and space crews.  We must hope that our people strike soon and take over those ships before testing and purging begins in their sectors.’

“The first speaker then said, ‘I was told by one of the Brotherhood leaders that they have information on where several of the solbidyum shipments are going and when they will arrive.  It seems that
the admiralty pulled a trick on everyone and has been using GW pods to ship solbidyum to many of the worlds.  Up until this time, it was a secret, but one of the GW pod suppliers became suspicious of the Federations request for a couple of slight size modifications to the internal storage compartment on the pods purchased in recent months and equally suspicious of the sudden increase in their demand.  This supplier eavesdropped on two of the Federation inspectors who were conducting a quality check of the pods before delivery.  The discussion between these inspectors was about the purpose of these modified units, which are being used to ship both the solbidyum and the reactor.  Apparently, the reactors themselves are quite small, for all the power they produce.  This supplier happens to be a Brotherhood member and reported what he heard to his group leader.’ 

‘Someone has to be coordinating the distribution, and it was apparent to our Brothers that it must be
the admiralty.  It took some work, but our Brothers were able to get an agent into the capital who then gained access to the admiralty computer.  They downloaded all the information on shipments of solbidyum and found out where shipments were planned for delivery by GW pod.  They have since gotten word out by way of their own message pods to Brotherhood members in the regions where several GW pod deliveries are to be made; and by the end of next week, they should have at least one shipment in their hands.’

“I then heard the second man say, ‘I think we all need to make preparations to leave quickly, should these plans come to fruition.  In the meantime, we should go about business as usual and make efforts to influence the reduction of military spending and the downsizing of the Federation military forces.  Things were heading in the right direction until this Tibby guy started interfering.  His provision of
Mirage Fighters to the Federation at no cost is not boding well for our plans.’

“It was then that one of the men announced that he had a session to attend and they all got up and left.”

“Did you see and recognize any of them?” Wabussie asked.

“Yes, as they were leaving, they walked past my table.  They didn’t even glance at me, so I don’t think they realized I had been listening to their conversation.  I recognized only one of the three — it was Senator Euregata, representative of Samalis.”

“Well, I think that solidifies one thing for us.  We believe it was also Senator Euregata who set up the attack on us two days ago,” I said.

“This is bad news,” Wabussie began.  “If the Brotherhood got wind of us using GW pods to make shipments, all the shipments about to arrive at their locations are now are in danger of interception.  I need to get
the admiral to check which shipments are scheduled to arrive at their destinations within the next two weeks, and hopefully we have DSC-equipped loyal Federation ships in the area that we can contact to protect those shipments.”