Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (50 page)

“Do you swear by the spawn of our ancestors that no harm will befall us if we come to see the ship?”

“I swear by the spawn of my ancestors, if all you do is come and look; they will not harm you.  If you come to attack; they will destroy you.”

There was another pause and there appeared to be an off-screen conversation going on, then the person on the screen said, “Very well, we will come and see,” and with that the vid screen went blank.

“Thank you, Tot,” I said after the screen went blank.  “I am sorry about destroying the island and those on it.”

“Your words of consolation are not required.  Warning was given, they chose to ignore it.  Now they will come to see, and communicate,” Tot replied.

“Tot, are you feeling all right?” I asked, as he appeared to be tired and weak.

“I am too long dry,” Tot said.

“I’m sorry,” I didn’t realize you were in discomfort.  I’ll have someone help you back to your accommodations.  We’ll bring you back after your people have inspected the ship.”

“Your concern is noticed and appreciated,” Tot replied.

After Tot was gone, Marranalis said, “These Tottalax are some very strange people.  Tot doesn’t seem to have any feelings about the deaths of his people.

“Just because he doesn’t show physical emotions doesn’t mean he lacks them,” I said.

It was nearly two hours later that a ship was detected leaving the surface and headed toward the damaged Tottalax ship.  It took a straight course and never deviated from it in the slightest.  When it finally reached the ship, it appeared to dock up with it.  Then all was still for a long time.  Eventually, a small figure was observed leaving the smaller ship and maneuvering around the outside of the larger one.  This lasted nearly an hour before it went back inside the smaller one.  Moments later, the smaller ship undocked and returned to the planet.

I waited about 20 minutes after the Tottalax ship had landed before I sent for Tot again.  When he returned, I was a bit taken aback, as he had a wet blanket that was dripping water, draped about his shoulders.  Truath explained that during the last visit, his skin had gotten too dry, and it had become irritated.  I sent a trooper out to get a bucket of water, so we could soak the blanket periodically to keep Tot's skin moist.  We waited for nearly two hours, and I was about ready to send Tot back to his accommodations and call it a night, as it was now quite late, when the vid screen came to life. This time a different Tottalax appeared on the screen.  On seeing this, Tot immediately got to his feet and stepped forward and stood facing the vid screen in a regal pose.

“(Squeaking and squawking) Leader,” the image on the screen flashed as it genuflected gracefully in the water surrounding it.

“(Squeaking and squawking) Minister (squeaking and squawking),” Tot said, his chin held high.  “What news do you bring from the siblings?”

“We see and know you and look upon your words (squeaking and squawking),” the minister said.

“And what of (squeaking and squawking)?” Tot asked in a flurry of flashing colors.

“He has been disposed,” the minister said.  “His patterns were not true, and have brought on us much grief and hardship.  It is the siblings’ desire that you return to us and be (squeaking and squawking) once more.”

“I shall deliberate on this thing, and will show you my reply tomorrow,” Tot said while standing in a regal manner.  Then he turned to Marranalis and nodded his head.  Marranalis looked at me, and I indicated he should end the transmission.

As soon as the camera was off, Tot slumped slightly and nearly fell.  Truath and I each grabbed his arms to give him support.

“I am not well,” Tot said, “I have been too long in the dry air this day.”

“We’ll get you back to your accommodations immediately, is there anything that we can do to help you?  Will you be all right?”

“Yes, I will be fine.  I need to be submerged in water for several hours.  I will fully recover.”

By now a med had arrived with a floating stretcher, and Tot was helped onto it.  “Tot, can you tell me what happened during your conversation with your people just now?”

Tot flashed some colors, but because the camera level on the translating device was too low, it didn’t pick up the message to translate.

“Truath, can you raise the camera so it can view Tot when he flashes,” I asked.

“Oh, yes, certainly,” she said as she detached the camera and aimed it so it pointed at Tot.

“I repeated my question and this time the device translated clearly.  “They have disposed my sibling as leader, and I have been restored as the leader again.  Tomorrow I shall tell them of my acceptance and will return, and you will have your peace with my people.  Then he closed his eyes, and Truath placed a wet towel over his head as the medics returned Tot to the
NEW ORLEANS
, and his aquatic accommodations.

The following day, Tot contacted his people on the planet below.  He now appeared fully recovered and looked ready to once more be the leader of the Tottalax.  He told them he accepted being their leader again.  A ship was sent from the surface to take him back.  Because most everything on the planet was underwater, we didn’t go to the surface.  Tot asked that we not leave for at least two days, as he wished to talk with us again before we left.  On the second-day, Tot contacted the ship, saying he wished to come up and say good bye personally.  An hour later his ship docked in one of the launch tubes of the
MAXETTE,
and he entered the ship with two personal bodyguards and another Tottalax carrying five small boxes on a tray.  Truath was there to see him and to act as a translator.

“I have come to say my farewell and to thank you for all you have done,” Tot flashed.  “The Tottalax will no longer deal with or help the Brotherhood.  Even if we had a desire to do so, without the big ship we are helpless.  My people were (squeaking and squawking) and horrified by what they discovered when they examined the ship; they are terrified of you and your people, and they wish no more to have contact with the other worlds.”

“I’m glad they have come to see this, and you have been restored as their leader again,” I said.

“I would like to visit your ship one last time, he said.  I have some gifts for you and for your children,” he said.

“I think we can do that,” I said as I walked with him to the Cantolla Gate that would take us to the
NEW ORLEANS.
  Once aboard my yacht, we went to Tot’s old accommodations, as I knew he would be more comfortable there with the water, temperature and humidity.  I called for Kala on my wrist com and told her to bring the twins to Tot's accommodations.  Moments later, they arrived and immediately Tot got down on one knee and motioned for Lunnie and Reidecor to come to him.  He began flashing colors, and the translator on Truath’s belt began to play his words.

“My people do not have a thing or a word for what you call friendship.  It is a new thing I have learned from my time in the outer worlds.  This is a good thing, that which you call friendship.  It feels nice inside and I wish for my people to have it also. I will have to work on it.  You were (squeaking and squawking) to me while I was with you, now I wish to show my appreciation by giving each of you a gift.  He reached for the tray carried by one of the Tottalax, and removed a round opalescent sphere from a box.  Inside the colors seemed to swirl slowly and endlessly.  ‘This is a (squeaking and squawking), it is a thing highly prized by my people.  “This is yours”, he said and handed it to Lunnie, as she looked at it wide eyed.  Lunnie took it with a big smile and thanked him.  Then Tot took another box and took out another sphere and gave it to Reidecor, who smiled and thanked Tot, and then looked at the sphere and shook it trying to figure out how it worked.

Tot then stood, and took another box with another sphere and handed it to Truath and thanked her for her kindness in caring for him.  He gave one to Kala, and lastly one to me, thanking us for our hospitality and kindness.  He took one last look around the accommodation as though trying to memorize its every detail, and then said that he needed to get back to the planet, as he had much to do.

That evening after Tot was gone, and the
MAXETTE
was headed for the interstellar Cantolla Gate to return to the Federation, I sat in my suite with Kala and the twins.  Lunnie came to me while holding the sphere in her hand and said to me.  “Daddy, will we see Tot again?”

“I don’t know, maybe someday,” I answered, “Why do you want to know?”

“Because he was a nice man, and he helped Reide and me when we were in the water and couldn’t breathe”, she said.  “He was a good friend, Daddy.”

“Yes he was, Lunnie,” I answered and gave her a hug.

Tot had said that his people did not have a “
thing or a word for what we call friendship,"
but I think Tot understood it very well.  He had displayed it to us by saving Reidecor and Lunnie before we showed any friendship to him.  His culture and language were difficult for us to understand. Tot said he hoped to instill the principals of friendship he had learned into his people and culture; I had no doubts he would do it, and do it very well.

My thoughts were interrupted abruptly as there was a signal at the door.  Kala opened it and Regata came barging into the room unexpectedly and said, “I have found him!  Man Who Speaks for Thumumba, I have found him!”

“Who,” I ask?  “Who did you find?”

“The one Thumumba asked me to seek.  He is here!  He is even older than Thumumba.”

“Where?  Which star,” I asked.

“Not in a star, but in a nebula.  Thumumba is so pleased.”

THE END OF BOOK 6 DEFEAT OF THE TOTTALAX

COMING SOON

SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA – BOOK 7-HUNT FOR THE REDUVIIDS

Four years have passed since the Federation’s defeat of the Tottalax, but the greater war with the Brotherhood still rages.  Despite their access to superior technology and the successful destruction of several enemy bases, The Federation struggles to ward off the ever-growing insurgence of the Brotherhood organization.  Ming, Roritat and the spy called Sisopan are still at large, wreaking havoc within the Federation territories and its governmental and military organizations by way of new technologies of their own, including the strangely powerful and seemingly unstoppable asteroid-ships and a new propulsion system that enables the Brotherhood spacecraft to travel slightly faster than the Federation’s fastest ships.  The Brotherhood has also advanced their communication capability after reverse-engineering the stolen Deep-Space Communicator technology that allows for instant transmission and reception of messages over the vast distances of the galaxy, which affords them a much more powerful means of planning battles and coordinating galactic-wide strikes.

Attempts to find the site where the Brotherhood has been building the asteroid ships have met with little success, as the Brotherhood manages to abandon or move their production sites before the Federation can locate them.  Meanwhile, efforts to secure a spy on the planet Esprit to search for Sisopan and the abducted Gravity Wave expert, Professor Fass Hakwin, have also met with failure.

Ming and Roritat have expanded their campaigns of violence to include acts of terrorism carried out by a specially trained group that Ming calls his Reduviids, a name referring to the genera of Earth insects more commonly known as assassin bugs.  As a result of the increased attacks from both the asteroid-ships and the Reduviid terrorists, the Federation finds it necessary to divide the armada into eight separate fleets, all of which report directly to Fleet Admiral Tibby.  Ming continues with his merciless retaliation against innocents located on unarmed commercial ships and helpless planets as a form of punishment each time Tibby thwarts one of Ming’s plans.  He vows to continue this random decimation until Tibby stops interfering.

In order to increase combat capabilities, Tibby forms an elite unit of highly trained Ruwallie Rasson mercenary fighter pilots and equips them with newly designed ships.  However, the Brotherhood has planned some surprises of their own and Tibby finds himself leading the Federation into a huge battle fought on two fronts.  The battle results in heavy casualties that could spell the defeat of the Federation.

In the meantime, Lunnie and Reidecor are growing up rapidly and Tibby finds that fatherhood is sometimes just as complicated as fighting a war.

Other books by Dale C. Musser

Solbidyum Wars Saga

Book 1 – BATTLE OF THE NEW ORLEANS

Book 2 – SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA

Book 3 – THE PIRATES OF GOO’ WADDLE CANALS

Book 4 – TOO LATE FOR EARTH

Book 5 – DESOLATION

Book.6 – DEFEAT OF THE TOTTALAX

Poetry

THE POETRY OF WINDWALKER

About the Author

Dale Musser was born in 1944 in a small rural community of Pennsylvania.  From 1967 until 2012 he was employed as a structural and piping designer in the industries of marine and offshore resources, cogeneration power and hard rock mining.  His work at three shipyards and assignments with several engineering and naval architectural firms during his careers in Virginia, Texas, and Maine, took him to such places as London, U.K., Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., Scotland and Mexico.  During this time, he was responsible for the design of reactor compartments for nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy and the structural designs of numerous offshore semi-submersible oil rigs, tanker ships, supply boats, and other vessels and equipment used in the offshore industry.  After the death of his wife in 1999, Mr. Musser changed careers and went to work in Arizona and Utah in the hard rock mining industry.  He retired in Fall of 2012 and currently resides in Mesa, Arizona.

Dale enjoys rock hunting and lapidary work, gourmet cooking, writing, poetry, art, music, religions and philosophy in small doses, astronomy and the sciences in general, hiking, camping, the outdoors and the gifts that nature provides.  Mr. Musser is a member of Mensa and remains an avid reader, having lost count of all the books he has read after 3,000.

The greatest joy in his life is his daughter, Heather.  Affectionately they call each other “BUBBY.”

Contact Information:

Those wishing to write to Mr. Musser may do so at
[email protected]
.  Although he attempts to answer all correspondence, heavy emails may prevent him from responding to everyone.