Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (43 page)

“Find out how many resort stations there are like that around the Federation and beef up their protection,” I said as I pointed to the fungus.

Regeny nodded.  "I agree.  This must be a top-priority item., even if we have to pull ships and troopers away from pursuing the Brotherhood and attacking their bases. We need to ensure these stations are safe.  Don’t fail me on this one, Tibby; I’m having a hard time trying to smooth over your screw ups with the Senate.  Wabussie, did you have anything to add to this?”

Wabussie played into the act perfectly as he answered, “No sir, I wish I did, but we’re at a dead end with the FSO investigations.  We followed the woman agent the Brotherhood used to seduce Bandur to Tetteferd 3.  We believe she is still there somewhere.  She booked a ticket to Vassacless, but there is no indication she ever boarded the ship, and her room aboard the ship was vacant the entire journey, according to the ship’s crew.  We believe her to still be on Tetteferd 3 somewhere."  I smiled at Wabussie and added, “Keep me informed of what you discover.  Have we heard any word on where the images were taken with Ming’s prior message or where he was sending an asteroid to destroy a planet?”

“Nothing at all,” Wabussie said, “there just isn’t enough information for us to identify what planet he could be going after.  For all we know, the planet may already have been destroyed.”

“I’m sorry, Admiral Regeny.  I'm afraid we are failing you this time,” I said as I winked at Regeny.

He smiled back as he said in a gruff voice, “See here, both of you.  I won’t have this.  I need the two of you to step up performance.  So far, we’ve been lucky.  The Brotherhood doesn’t know we accidentally stumbled on to both Windsor and their Irribis bases.  They think we found them because the two of you figured things out, or got information that led us to them.  I want to see some real action from you two, not just dumb luck.  I’ve touted you two as being smart and great men in the Federation, if the people find out the truth that the two of you have only been lucky, it could damage our support with the Senate.  Now get out of my office, and go do something real for a change,” he said, nearly laughing as he tried to sound angry.

“Yes sir,” Wabussie and I said, trying to sound contrite.

Later when we met back on the
DUSTEN,
Regeny asked, “Do you think our performance was convincing?”

“I hope so,” I said, “we still don’t know how long it takes for this information to be processed by whoever is taking it.”

“We do know the cleaning robots access the fungus daily and download the recorded sounds for the day.  We also know how often the robots are serviced; and we’ve isolated the two operatives that are retrieving the data from the robots.  We just don’t know how often they pass that information on to their superiors.”

“I’m guessing that the operatives and the servicing center check the recording immediately in the event of something critical being there.  If there is, they report it immediately.  Otherwise, they may only be passing information on every few days,” I said.  “I wonder though, do they pass it on by person-to-person contact, or do they send it electronically?”

“I would think electronically,” Wabussie said. “Personally is too slow, and also dangerous for the operatives.”

“All right, assuming then they send it on to someone at their base on Epsirt, using a GW pod, how long do you think it would take to get there?” I asked

“Several weeks, I would think, close to three at least,” Wabussie answered.

“So where do we go from here?”  Regeny asked.

“First we tow the Tottalax ship back to their home world and let them know they are out of the war, and they had better stay on their own planet from now on.  Then we need to make a raid on the asteroid cluster where it appears the Brotherhood is building their asteroid-ships.  Wabussie, try and find out the locations of as many Brotherhood bases of operation as you can.  I want to keep wiping them out as fast as we find them.  In the meantime, I’ll go to Weccies and meet with their leaders and see what kind of agreement we can work out,” I said.

“Have you heard anything more from the Ruwallie Rasson ship trying to head off the asteroid headed toward Maisha?”  Regeny asked.

“No, I’ll have Padaran check on that today.  Speaking of Padaran, I forgot to mention it to you both.  He’s been challenged to the
Sith lubnol
on Goo’Waddle.”

“WHAT?” Regeny shouted as he jumped up out of his chair.  “When did this happen?”

“Very recently,” I said, “One of the Ruwallie Rasson, who was out on a trade mission when Padaran became the Dormon of the Ruwallie Rasson, is unhappy that someone outside their race is now their leader.  He believes there was a mistake, and that there is no way Padaran could have become their leader rightfully; he believes he can defeat Padaran.”

“Can he do that?  Beat Padaran, that is?”  Regeny asked with concern.

“Not according to Kerabac, Tondor, or Nybidong assessments.  They honestly do not believe anyone, other than perhaps Jenira, can defeat him.”

“This is a fight to the death, isn’t it?” Regeny asked.

“Yes, unless one of them yields,” I answered.

“What if Padaran doesn’t accept the challenge?” Regeny asked.

“Then he loses his position as Dormon, and the Ruwallie Rasson reverts to their old ways, and we lose an ally in our fight against the Brotherhood,” I replied.

“Damn, Tibby, I’m proud of that boy and all he’s accomplished, but honestly the things he gets into scare me almost to death,” Regeny said looking a little pale.

“You have every right to be proud of him, Admiral, we all are.  However, unless he gets killed, we can repair just about any physical wounds he receives, so I think it will all work out in the end.”

“Let’s hope so,” Regeny said, “If something should happen to him, I would never forgive myself for sending him to you.”

It was two days later that I found myself on Goo’Waddle with Padaran, Kerabac, and Jenira.  I sat in Padaran’s personal box at the arena where the
Sith lubnol
contest was to take place.  Tondor, Kerabac, Jenira, and Nybidong also joined me in the box.  Typically, females were forbidden from being present for an event such as the
Sith lubnol,
but because Jenira was considered a sword master, and was granted the right to bear swords, no one questioned her presence.

As the event began, Padaran's challenger stepped into the center of the arena with two companions and loudly announced. “I, Frigbot, challenge the one called Padaran to the
Sith lubnol
, and declare him as unfit to serve as Dormon of the Ruwallie Rasson.  As proof of my right to challenge, I bring Tanger and Scruttee, as witnesses and to support my right and claim.”  The two men at his side raised their arms as their names were called.

Frigbot was obviously prepared for the fight and wore only a pair of green pants with flared bottoms, sandals, and his two swords strapped on his back.  His nearly jet black face was long and his chin square with a tuft of a beard on his chin.  His cheeks were slightly sunken, and in a way he reminded me of a black Abraham Lincoln, a leader from the past back on my planet of Earth.

From across the arena, Padaran’s voice rang out, “I, Padaran, Dormon of the Ruwallie Rasson accept the challenge,” as he strode out into the arena.  Like Frigbot, he was naked above the waist, wearing his two catas swords on his back.  He wore the purple pants of a Dormon, and like Frigbot’s, they were flared at the bottom, and he wore sandals on his feet.  There was a loud cheer as he made the announcement, and clearly the majority of Ruwallie Rasson saw him as their leader.  Tanger and Scruttee left the arena as Padaran strode forward to meet Frigbot.  When the two were about four meters apart, Frigbot spat on the ground as he drew his catas.  Padaran stopped and stared at him.  I glanced over at Jenira expecting to see her nervous and concerned for Padaran’s safety, but I was surprised to see her sitting staring coldly at the two men in the center of the arena and showing no signs of emotion at all.

Frigbot paused a moment, and when he saw that Padaran was not drawing his catas, he gave a yell, and with swords twirling, ran at Padaran.  Padaran stood as still as a statue, and it looked like he was about to be decapitated, when just a fraction of a second before the blades would have sliced his neck, he dropped down.  With his forward momentum, Frigbot was unable to stop and ended up running into a crouched Padaran and stumbling over him.  As he was flying over Padaran’s body, Padaran grabbed Frigbot’s ankles, and standing quickly began to spin Frigbot around in a circle until his body was off the ground at a height near that of Padaran’s chest.  Then Padaran released his grip, and Frigbot flew across the ground landing in a jumbled heap.  Frigbot quickly tried to regain his feet and take a defensive pose, but he was dizzy from being spun in the air, and he staggered about like a drunk man, as the Ruwallie Rasson in the seats roared with laughter.

Frigbot shook his head to steady himself; he had managed to hang onto his swords throughout the experience, but one of them now appeared to be slightly bent.  It was quite obvious he was angry, and once more he charged Padaran, who had still not drawn his swords.  This time Frigbot tried to swing his swords so his left sword was about chest height, and the right sword was knee height.  As he approached, once again far too fast to control his direction, Padaran leaped into the air, barely clearing Frigbot’s head.  How he leaped that high astounded me, and I heard the men in the seats about the arena gasp as Frigbot passed under Padaran.  Frigbot turned quickly this time, charging with both swords raised over his head, and he clearly intended to chop downward on Padaran with them.  Padaran stood there and then when Frigbot’s arms were raised at their highest, Padaran stepped forward, just as Frigbot began to swing down with the swords.  Padaran caught both Frigbot’s wrists with his hands and gave a quick twisting motion, and Frigbot yelled out in pain as he dropped his swords.  Almost too quick for the eye to see, Padaran released his grip on Frigbot’s left hand and grabbed the falling sword while he still held onto Frigbot’s right wrist; in less than a second, he had the sword at Frigbot’s throat.

“Do you yield?”  Padaran asked.  The stunned silence in the stadium seemed to magnify his words.

Frigbot trembled with fear and said, “I yield.”  The Ruwallie Rasson let out a loud roar and cheered as Padaran dropped Frigbot’s sword to the ground.  Then he turned his back and began to walk away with the sun at his back.  Behind him a still trembling, and angry, Frigbot reached down and picked up his sword and raced at Padaran.  It was unclear to me if Padaran saw the look on the faces in the crowd, or if he saw Frigbot’s shadow coming from behind, but unexpectedly Padaran stepped to the side, and he drew both his catas; there was a flash of sunlight off their blades as Frigbot’s headless body continued on before falling to the ground.  Behind him in the sand lay his head.

It was deathly silent in the arena. Then slowly the Ruwallie Rasson in the stadium began to chant “
Pad-da-ran, Pad-da-ran, Pad-da-ran”
, getting louder, and louder.  Padaran walked over to the corpse of Frigbot and wiped the blood off his catas using Frigbot’s pants, before sheathing his blades.  Then he raised his hands to the crowd as they stood and cheered.

I glanced over at Jenira, who still showed no sign of emotion, but I noted her eyes seemed to have a bit more sparkle than usual.  Slowly, she got to her feet and walked over to a set of stairs that opened out into the arena. She descended and then proceeded out into the arena.  As soon as Jenira appeared, dressed all in black, with her long braid of black hair hanging down her back, and the hilts of her two swords appearing slightly above her shoulders, the cheering grew louder.  Slowly, she walked across to where Padaran stood, and embraced him. The roaring and cheering continued.  Nybidong turned to me with a smile on his face, but a sad look in his eye.  “It is a shame that it had to come to this.  Frigbot was a great fighter at one time, but he was also a stubborn and proud man.  His attacking Padaran from behind, after he was beaten is a disgrace.  Had he killed Padaran, he would have been taken out and tied to a pole, and his skin slowly peeled from is body until he died for such a cowardly act.  Padaran’s beheading him, as he did, was an act of kindness.”

I thought that everything was over then, and we could return to the ship.  I had forgotten that one of the aspects of the
Sith lubnol
was that the victor got all the loser's property as a prize.  Frigbot’s estate on Goo’Waddle was smaller than average, but what it lacked in size, it made up for in luxury.  What Frigbot did have was one of the finest ships of all the Ruwallie Rasson.  It was named the
PINGOT
and was nearly three times the length of a Federation Patrol ship and only slightly larger in girth than a patrol ship.  The interior was artistically done, with beautiful wood panels and trim throughout many locations, and deep rich colors at others.  The bridge of the ship was almost regal in appearance and looked more like a throne room than an operational bridge.  Everything was polished and spotless.  Tondor saw to acquiring all the codes and ownership documents and that they were transferred to Padaran before night had fallen.

I knew there would be a celebration feast that would probably last well into the morning, but needed to return to the
DUSTEN
to attend to official duties.  Padaran requested permission to return to the
NEW ORLEANS
within two days, flying the
PINGOT
back using the interstellar Cantolla Gates.  Fortunately, we had never completely gotten around to replace all the ships in the
NEW ORLEANS
hangar that had been destroyed five years earlier. We had captured a Brotherhood ship, and it exploded inside our hangar.  The hangar had been repaired, but only about half of the ships that had been in the hangar had been replaced, so there was ample room for the
PINGOT.