Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (31 page)

“Marranalis, tell A’Lappe we are running out of time I must have an answer NOW!” I shouted.

“A’Lappe says to blow it, the wave effects will be minimal,” Marranalis replied.

“Trooper, arm that thing and close the gate,” I ordered.  I watched as a nervous trooper reached through the gate and set the timer for one minute and then quickly jumped back as the gate was closed.

“Well, what now?”  Regeny asked.

“Now we disassemble this gate and pray that A’Lappe was right and my decision was the correct one,” I said, and then to Marranalis, “Contact Halfredies on Irribis, I want to know what happens with this explosion.”

It was thirty minutes later that we got a reply from Halfredies, other than for a wave about a meter and a half high sweeping up on the shores, there wasn’t any real sign of the blast.  I had expected there to be some mushroom cloud with water being thrown up in the air for several kilometers, but nothing like that occurred.  When I asked A’Lappe about it later, he explained that at the depth the base was, and with all the water pressure, that all the explosion did was damage the cave structure at the base and cause it to implode, and not explode in the conventional sense.  When I asked why it was so different from the base on Megelleon, he explained the base there had been in much shallower water.  He said that there, the force of impact had been greatly amplified, because the shot we fired on the base came through the ship’s RMFF field as well, and at Irribis there was no such amplification.

I issued an order for some of the coastal patrol boats to go out and survey the damage using sonar and underwater cameras.  I wanted to see the results.

“Admiral, the crew members of the submarine wish to know what is going to happen with them?”  Captain Wanoll said as he approached me.

“By the stars, I’d forgotten about them,” I sighed as I rubbed my forehead.  “What time of day is it?  I asked. 

“It’s early evening.”

“Have the sub crew been given anything to eat since we arrived?”

“I don’t believe so,” Wanoll answered.

“See to it they are provided an opportunity to shower and get fresh clothing and have them join me in one of the nicer dining rooms on the ship in about an hour and a half.  Have the majordomo select an exquisite meal for us.”  Then I turned to Admiral Regeny, “Would you like to join us, sir?”

“Why yes, I think I would, Tibby.  I want to hear this adventure from all of you.”

“Excellent,” I said, ‘”Wanoll, you’re invited also if you wish.”

Since Admiral Regeny had already moved into my old suite on the
DUSTEN,
I used the Cantolla Gate and went quickly back to the
NEW ORLEANS
to shower and change.  After a while, traveling from location to location through Cantolla Gates was like moving from one room in a house into another.  You soon got the feeling it was all just one huge ship or building you are in.  When I entered my suite on the
NEW ORLEANS,
I was greeted with a duet of “Daddy!”  As both Lunnie and Reidecor spotted me, I noticed that Jenira had both twins dressed in exercise leotards and appeared to be teaching them some tumbling exercises.  “Hi kids,” I said, “what are you two up to?  Doing exercise?”

“Watch, Daddy,” Lunnie said as she tried to do what I imagine was intended to be a flip of some sorts but ended up more like a summersault.  Reidecor clapped, and then not to be outdone, he said, “Watch, Daddy,” and he repeated Lunnie’s move with much the same results.

“Wow,” I said, ‘That looks like fun.”  Jenira stood looking at me and frowning as she signed, “They are terrible, don’t go praising them.  They need to do better.”

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t realize they were going to be in a competition later today.”

Jenira glared at me, clearly missing my sarcasm.  “They must learn,” she signed, “someday their lives may depend on it.”

“Well, I certainly hope you have sufficient time to train them before that day arrives,” I said.  Where is Kala and where is Piesew?”  I asked, as I realized I’d seen very little of Piesew around the suite lately.

“She has gone to talk with Dr. Hughes,” she answered, “and since Kala, and I are here so much of the time with the twins, Piesew is spending more of his time administrating the housekeeping aspects of the
NEW ORLEANS
.  He says now that most of the accommodations on the ship are nearly full, that it demands a lot more of his time to run things to the
utmost of perfection
.”

“Ah, good!”  I responded, realizing as I did that I had promised Kala that if she talked to Dr. Hughes, I would resume my sessions with him.  I sighed and made a mental note to try to get an appointment to visit him as soon as possible.

“Daddy, tell us a story!”  Lunnie said.  I pondered her request; I still had a little over an hour before I needed to be back on the
DUSTEN
for the meal with the sub crew.

“Okay, but it will have to be a short story.  Daddy must go back to the
DUSTEN
and work some more.”

“Daddy, you work too hard,” Reidecor said, and by his tone, I was sure it was something he’d heard Kala say, and he was repeating.  At his age I didn’t think he or Lunnie had any real concept of work or what adults did.

I sat down with the twins on the floor and quickly made up a story.  Lunnie's favorite story topic usually was about when we lived on Desolation and about muralams we saw there.  In the stories, I normally had the muralams wanting Lunnie and Reidecor to feed them and the twins hunting for boilatee to feed to the muralam.  When I finished the story, Lunnie climbed in my lap and gave me a kiss and said, “Daddy, can we go see the horses again?”

“I think so, just as soon as Daddy takes care of some business.”

“Daddy, what is business?”  Reidecor asked looking at me intently.

I was stumped on how to answer the question, and I was glad when at that moment, the door opened and Kala walked in.  “Mommy!”  Both twins screamed as they jumped up and ran to her.  By the way they acted you would have thought she’d been gone for a week.

“Hi, the two of you,” she said as she smiled and ruffled their hair.  By now, I was on my feet, and she walked over and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me and then said, “And hi to you, too.  How did things go on Irribis?”

“It’s a long story,” I said, realizing I didn’t have much time left before I needed to be back on the
DUSTEN
for the meal.  I can give you the quick story while I shower; I need to be back on the
DUSTEN
in about 20 minutes to eat with the crew of the sub, or you can come and dine with us, providing of course that Jenira doesn’t mind tending to the twins for another hour or two.”

“Wait a minute, why is the sub crew on the
DUSTEN
?  Is this the same sub you went looking for the Brotherhood subsea base with, by any chance?”

“Ah, yes, as a matter of fact, it is,” I responded.

“Oh, Tibby, don’t’ tell me you got their sub blown up.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.  Get dressed and come with me, and I’ll let them tell you,” I said.

“By the stars, Tib, you really did get their sub blown up, didn’t you?”

”Look I don’t have time to explain it all now.  I need to be back on the
DUSTEN
in 20 minutes; do you want the short of it, or do you want to join us?”

“Damn you, Tibby!  I’ll come with you, otherwise I will only get your version of this, and I want to know ALL the details.”

Captain Wanoll arranged for us to dine in one of the nicer dining facilities on the
DUSTEN.
  Both Kala and I dressed in our formal military uniforms for the meal, and the crew of the sub were in awe of being in both Kala’s and my presence as they realized they were dining with two First Citizens.

“Honored First Citizen,” the Captain of the sub began, “I apologize that I didn’t recognize you as being the First Citizen earlier today.  Even when they called you Admiral, it didn’t register, as I never in my wildest imagination ever thought I would encounter someone of your stature in my life.”

“Think nothing of it, Captain,” I said, “Under the conditions, the last thing we needed on that trip was anyone giving me even more special attention or treatment.  Everyone did what they had to do and you all performed excellently.”

“Yes, I’m quite proud of my crew,” Captain Tamhew said, “but I don’t know what will happen now that we no longer have a sub.”

“Well, first of all,” I began, “you will be compensated for the sub and the loss of income until you can acquire a new one.  All of your crew will be compensated, and we’ll assign someone to help them all find new jobs.”  I looked around the table, and everyone seemed happy by that announcement except Truath, who sat with her head bowed and a sad look.

“Is there something about that which is unsatisfactory to you, Truath?”  I asked.

“It’s a generous offer First Citizen, but I don’t think it will help me much.  As I mentioned to you earlier, there are already more marine biologists on Irribis than there are jobs for.  I was fortunate to have the job on the sub I did, but now with it gone and until another is built, I’m out of a job, and I’ll be lucky if I can get one selling food for a street vendor.”  I could see she was almost in tears.”

“You’re a marine biologist?” Kala asked.

“Yes,” Truath answered.

“Tibby,” Kala said looking at me, “with all the marine aquariums you have on the
NEW ORLEANS
and back on the estate, and with that Tottalax living on our ship, we could use a marine biologist.”

“You have a Tottalax living on your ship?”  Truath reacted in surprise.

“Sort of, the Tottalax that was living and performing on Irribis is living on my ship now,” I replied.

“I’ve been trying for months to get to see and study him to no avail," Truath said, “are you able to communicate with him?”

“Yes, one of my crew has rigged up a communication device that works for us,” I answered.

“So he’s a prisoner, and you’re interrogating him?”

“No, nothing like that.  He’s more of a guest at the moment,” I said.

“But I thought the Tottalax were our enemies and allied with the Brotherhood.”

“Well, most of them seem to be, but Tot isn’t.”

“Tot – you call him Tot?”

“We had to call him something.  Colors and patterns are hard to pronounce,” I quipped, “so what do you think?  Do you want a job with us?”

“Yes, by the stars, YES!  It would be a dream come true being able to work with an intelligent aquatic life form.  One that wasn’t always swimming away, that is.”

“You know,” Admiral Regeny began from across the table, “It’s remarkable now much you and First Citizen Kalana look alike.  “Your hair is obviously different, but your faces and your eyes are almost identical.  Tell me, are you related?”

Kala and Truath both looked at each other a moment and Kala answered, “I don’t think so, at least not that I am aware of.”

“I was born on Montoiac,” Truath said.

“I was born on Gosney,” Kala said, “the two planets are light years apart.”

“Yes, but people do travel; perhaps you have a common relative?”  Regeny continued, “Maybe you’re cousins.”

“I doubt that, neither my dad nor mother had brothers or sisters,” Kala answered.

“I have an uncle on my mother’s side,” Truath answered, but I’m sure he didn’t have any children, and my dad was an only child.”

“Well, the resemblance is uncanny,” Regeny said.

As we dined, Kala and Truath chatted.  Kala was interested in what had happened during the expedition to the Argrais Sink, and from time to time I saw her look at me and frown.  I knew that look, and I was sure I would be hearing from her later about the crazy risks I had taken.  We were nearly finished with the meal when a message came in from Halfredies on Irribis with the reports from the coastal patrol boats.  When the boats arrived, they were unable to visually see the sink because of the turbidity to the water.  However, by using scanners, they could see that the size of the sink area at the sea floor was increased substantially.  On the one side of the sink, a huge crater appeared nearly the same size in diameter as the sink itself.  This crater, however, only had a depth of about 300 meters.  The reading of the main sink showed that it was no longer as deep as it had been previously, probably because a portion of the debris from the caverns collapsing had had migrated over into the sink, falling to its bottom and raising it.

Additionally, the patrol boats found other debris floating to the surface from ships and the base that once was there.  A few bodies were found as well, dressed in Brotherhood uniforms.  That was the good news, unfortunately there was bad news as well.  There happened to be a school of Zenandu swimming close enough to the blast that several had suffered injuries, nothing life threatening, but still they were injured.  They were rescued and transported to a marine hospital facility back on the islands.  There were several Robalas and Uhangi that had been injured as well.  Only one had serious injuries, but it was believed it would fully recover.  I didn’t like this news, and I was fretting over it when I heard Admiral Regeny say, “Don’t go beating yourself up over this, Tibby, you did what had to be done.  One of the nastiest parts of fighting a war is knowing that there will be casualties; that can’t be helped.  Fortunately, the only deaths were to the Brotherhood, if you hadn’t taken the actions you did, it would have been Federation life’s that were lost.”