Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids (31 page)

“I doubt it, too much time and planning were involved,” Marranalis said.

“Yes, you’re right.  Well let me review these reports of the bombings, so I can talk intelligently with Tonclin later.  Check and make sure I don’t miss the meeting,” I said as I headed for my office.

“Yes, sir,” Marranalis replied.

I was early arriving at Tonclin’s office, beating them by several minutes.  I expected I would need to wait until the others arrived, but I was ushered in as soon as the receptionist saw me.

“Leader Tonclin expressed that he wished you to enter as soon as you arrived,” she said.

When I entered his office, I saw him at his desk.  I had never seen him like this before; his skin appeared ashen and grayer than usual and dark-brown pools of liquid formed around the edges of his eyes.

“Tibby, come in.  I was hoping you would arrive early,” he said.

“I’m sorry to hear about Nibaria being bombed last night,” I said.  “I hope that there were not many lives lost.”  My reports hadn’t indicated the number of casualties on Nibaria.

“No, fortunately less than a dozen people were killed; the difference in atmospheric composition reduced the level of the explosive forces,” he said, as he nervously adjusted the items on his desk.  However, that’s not all of it, Tibby.  It’s not in the reports you received, but it was my home on Nibaria that they bombed.  MY home!  They knew exactly where I lived and targeted it.  Tibby, I have never been so glad that my daughter works for you and lives on your yacht.  If she had been home… well, I don’t want to even think about it.”  I could see he was trembling as he spoke.

“Does Chanina know this?”  I asked.

“No, not yet.  I’m trying to decide how to tell her.  She will be devastated when she learns it.

“Tibby, how did they get a bomb on my estate?  How did they even get to the planet?”

“I don’t know, perhaps Admiral Wabussie can tell us, or at least have the FSO investigate it and find out,” I replied.

It was only a few minutes later that both Admirals Wabussie and Regeny arrived.  Wabussie updated numbers and gave us new information.  He also reported that there were two additional bombings not noted in the earlier reports.  Of the thirty bombings total, five were at estates of top ranking government officials.  In one case, a senator had been killed and in another a senator had been severely injured.  Not all the bombings were by body bombs carried by Reduviids; in fact, none of the bombings of government officials were.  Surveillance videos obtained from one of the senators’ houses showed a bomb suddenly appearing inside a building.  This suggested that the perpetrator of the bombing was cloaked when they entered the building and placed the bomb.  It was possible the same thing was true on Tonclin’s estate, though we could not be sure.  Wabussie theorized that the Reduviids were using small cloaked ships to land the bombers and quickly departed once the bombs were in place.

“But why not simply attack the estates from the air using their ships?”  Regeny asked.

“Because it doesn’t have the same element of terror and fear as knowing that at any time they can enter your home and do as they wish and you won’t know they are there until it's too late,” I said.  “That’s how terrorism works.”

“I don’t understand it.  Why my estate?  Surely they must have known that I’m not there, nor is my daughter.  My wife has been dead for years and only servants occupied and maintained it,” Tonclin said.

“It’s the message it sends that they are interested in,” I replied.

“What message?”  Tonclin asked.

“That no one is immune to their attacks, from the common man or woman on the street to the Leaders of the Federation.  That the Reduviids can attack anyone at any time and any place.  That’s the message they are sending.  But there is one thing that bothers me.”

“What?”  Regeny asked.

“Up until this point, we have seen evidence of Sisopan directing or activating the bombers.  This event is different.  She could not have been in all the locations at the same time, nor could she have traveled to them all in anything less than a few days.”

“So what is so significant about that?”  Regeny asked.

“It means that she now has a bigger and more organized operation going and that is scary,” I said.

Leader Tonclin, naturally was unnerved by the situation and wanted to know what we were going to do about it.  Wabussie and I tried to explain that we were doing all we could to fight the terrorists, as well as the attacking Brotherhood fleets, but that there was little beyond what we currently were doing.  Tonclin said he was going to ask the Senate to vote on making in a mandatory death sentence for anyone found to be a member of the Brotherhood or helping and aiding the Brotherhood.  I reminded him that many of those fighting for the Brotherhood were doing so under duress because of drug addiction, slave collars, or blackmail and it would be unjust to execute them for something outside their control.  Tonclin agreed, but said he still wanted mandatory death sentences for top Brotherhood officers and officials.  The discussion went well into the late afternoon before Tonclin finally called an end to the meeting and we all went back to our other duties.

That night I had a dream that I was on one of the gate transfer stations and that the station was under attack from outside.  Dozens of asteroid-ships, starships and fighters were bombarding the shielded station; and at the same time the several gates were under attack from their planetary links as well.  In my dream, a team of Reduviids managed to get through a gate and made their way to the RMFF shield room and had blown up the equipment there.  The station was about to fall when I awoke.  The dream was so real, I was trembling and could not shake the feeling of imminent danger.  I glanced at my com link to see the time.  It was early in the morning.  Acting on instinct, I called Marranalis, waking him from a sound sleep.

“Marranalis, when was the last time the Cantolla Transfer hub stations were relocated?” I asked.

“Ah, let me check, sir.”  There was a pause and his sleepy voice came back.  “Sir, it looks like it was 18 months ago.”

“Eighteen months!  They were supposed to relocate every three months so their position would never be known,” I said.  “Why weren’t they moved?”

“Let me check, sir.  Ah, here it is, Admiral Pynice rescinded the order several months ago.  He says in his notes that it was a waste of time and resources and that, with the station both shielded and cloaked, there was no chance of them being discovered or harmed.”

“Pynice, that son of a –.   Look, I’m sorry to wake you up right now, but meet me in the War Room in twenty minutes and get Pynice and tell him I want to see him in my office in thirty minutes.  As soon as you know he is on his way, issue orders in my name telling the gate station to move immediately.  Oh and get the exact current coordinates of the station.  I want sixty ships from each fleet sent to that location now and to wait cloaked.  I have a feeling the Brotherhood will be showing up there soon and I want to be there waiting when they arrive.”

“Yes, sir,” Marranalis replied and I could tell by his tone he was not fully awake.

Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in my office when, Admiral Pynice arrived.  I could tell by his looks that he was both confused and unhappy about being called away from his sleep so early in the morning.

“You wished to see me, Admiral?” he said as he entered.

“Yes, Admiral, have a seat.  Would you care from some foccee?” I asked politely.

“Ah yes, sir, I may need it.  I'm still a bit sleepy.  I was deep in sleep when Captain Marranalis called me.”

“Yes, we all have had our sleep interrupted tonight,” I said as I handed him a cup of foccee from the dispenser in my office.  “Now tell me, Admiral, why do you believe that it is unnecessary for us to relocate the Cantolla Gate Hub stations according to protocol?”

“Oh come now, Admiral,” Pynice began.  “surely you didn’t get me out of bed over the station not being moved.  What harm is it?  It can’t be seen and it’s shielded.  No one knows where it is.  I’ll bet even you don’t know where it is.”

I turned and walked behind my desk and glanced at my vid pad.  “It’s outside Sector 4 in quadrant 29.  Four parsecs on an arc from Gammatrie and at… let me see... and at an intersecting arc 2.9 parsecs from Alba-Cordie.  Or at least it
was
.  It's being moved to a new location.”

“What?!  By whose order?” Pynice fumed.

“By mine,” I said.  “I outrank you and technically you answer to me.  I don’t know how your order rescinding the command to move the stations every three months slipped by me, but it is now reinstated and I expect it rigidly followed.”

Pynice’s face reddened, “This is preposterous.  You're wasting time and resources moving the station.”

“If you don’t like it, you can take it up with Admiral Regeny.  It's possible he may agree with you.  However, if I’m right, in a few hours, we’ll see the value in moving the station.”

“Fine”, Pynice said as he rose to his feet, “I will take it up with Admiral Regeny,” and he headed for the door.

“Oh and Admiral,” I stopped him as he was about to open the door.  “Don’t ever rescind one of my orders again without discussing it with me and getting my approval first.  You’re dismissed.”

I came out of my office as Pynice stormed out the War Room.

“I’m assuming that didn’t go well, based on the look on the Admiral’s face as he left here,” Marranalis said with a grin.

“No, not very; I suspect I’ll be getting a visit from Admiral Regeny later today,” I said with a sigh.  “In the meantime, contact Wabussie’s office and get me the latest reports on Brotherhood activity within fifteen light-years of the Gate Station's previous location.  I also want all sightings of Brotherhood ships in the same area in the past three months.  When you get it, display it in the 3D display, if you will.”

“Yes, sir,” Marranalis said.

I returned to my office and got a cup of foccee and returned to the War Room and took a seat as slowly the data I requested began to display.  It took several hours to gather all the data, as many of the people in command of the information were still asleep.  The last of the images was taking form in the display when Admiral Regeny, along with Pynice, burst into the War Room.

“By the stars, Tibby, what is the reason for dragging Pynice here out of bed at three in the morning over his not having moved the Gate Hub Station?”

“Good morning to you, too, Admiral,” I said in a pleasant tone, “Would you care for a cup of foccee?”

“Why... Ah,
harrumph
,” he cleared his throat, “I think I would.  You don’t have any pastries about do you” He added, looking about?

“I’ll have some brought up, sir,” I said as one of the aides in the room got fresh cups of foccee for all of us.

“Now, about this matter,” Regeny began once more; only this time with less bluster, “What’s this all about?”

“Look at the 3D display, Admiral,” I said.  Then to Marranalis, “Highlight the location where the hub station was located this morning.”

A bright pinpoint of blue/white light appeared in the display.

“Now if you would; show the Admirals here where the Brotherhood ship sightings have been in the past three weeks,” I said.  Quickly small ball-like clusters of red lights began to appear around the location of the station.

“Now, show us where the reports have been for sightings of asteroid-ships in the past week.  The other ship lights disappeared; but a small number of asteroid-ships appeared surrounding the station location.  “And now, show us the same area with Brotherhood sightings and reports from three months ago.”  Abruptly, the area went dark and only a handful of ships randomly located appeared.

I heard a gasp from both Regeny and Pynice.

“By the stars, Tibby, do you think they are planning to attack the station,” Regeny said?

“I think they did plan to and I think they still will show up there; but the station is now on its way to a new location.”

“Where," Pynice asked quickly?”

I smiled, “That, sir, is on a need to know basis.”  I turned to Regeny, “Admiral, I request, with all due respect, that Admiral Pynice be reassigned to other duties not associated with the Cantolla Gates and that he be investigated for possible contact and compromise by the Brotherhood.”

“What, why that’s… preposterous…!” Pynice sputtered.  “You can’t do that!”

I looked at Regeny, who was still staring at the hologram, “Yes; he can,” Regeny said, “and after looking at this; I must support his recommendation.  Don’t bother going back to the station, Pynice; I’ll have some of my people pick up your personal items and have them sent to your home.  Take a few weeks off while I find you a new assignment.  I hope you won’t mind having some extra security with you while we investigate the matter.”

“Extra security?  Surely you don’t believe that I’m a traitor and I need to be watched so I don’t tip off the Brotherhood,” Pynice stammered?

“At the moment, I don’t know what to think, but I must act in the strictest manner to protect the Federation.  If you’ve done nothing wrong, there is nothing for you to fear and you can consider this time as a nice paid vacation, albeit with a bit more security than usual.”

Once Pynice had gone, Regeny turned to me and asked, “How long have you known about this?”  He nodded toward the 3D display.

“About five hours now, sir,” I answered.

“Five hours!  By the stars, man, how do you put this stuff together so quickly and what set you onto this?”

“Admiral you would not believe me if I told you,” I said with a grin.

“So now what?  How do we deal with this situation?”

“I’ve already issued orders for over three hundred of our larger ships and carriers to the scene with their complements of fighters.  I plan to cluster the ships tightly.  I don’t think the Brotherhood knows the exact size of the station, or its configuration.  I’m hoping their sensors will read them as one large cloaked object.  By the time they move in for the attack, it will be too late; and I hope to release a firestorm on them.”

“You’ve put all this into motion already?  In five hours?”

“Not all the details, sir.  However, some of the ships are underway and I hope to have them all on station in three days.  Then we wait.”

“Tibby, do you think Pynice is a traitor?”

“I doubt it; but it’s highly possible he’s been compromised in some way that even he doesn’t realize.  One thing is clear, had he moved the station as ordered, we wouldn’t see the Brotherhood preparing to attack it.  Furthermore, they needed someone to provide them with a clue where to look for it.  The universe is huge; finding that station without a confederate to help them is nigh unto impossible.  The odds of them stumbling onto it by accident are greater than we can calculate.  I’m hoping if Pynice was the leak, that it was unintentional and not because he did so willingly.”

After Regeny left, I went into my office.  Moments later, Marranalis entered.  “Admiral, how did you figure all this out?  I mean, about the station being in danger and all.  There is nothing in our daily reports that indicate anything like this.”

“Believe it or not, I dreamed it,” I said as I took a sip of my foccee.

“Dreamed it?  You mean you have dreams of the future and they are real?”

“Not exactly; the treatments A’Lappe gives me seem to make my brain hyperactive for a brief period.  I think during times like that my brain puts together bits of random data and sees probabilities I would otherwise miss.  I don’t think I’m psychic or anything like that,” I said.

“Still, it’s almost unbelievable that your mind figured this out while you were asleep,” Marranalis replied.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant dream, I can tell you that.”

It was about an hour later that Wabussie called me, “Tibby, by the stars!  How did you figure out that the Brotherhood had discovered the locations of the Cantolla Gate station and were preparing to attack it?  I’ve been having our team of FSO agents going over the data and it looks like you are correct.  How we missed it, I am not sure, but if what we are seeing is correct, the Brotherhood will probably attack in three to five days.

“I’m guessing three days,” I said while wondering at the same time if I wasn’t being a bit cocky in making that claim.

“But how did you figure it out?”  Wabussie asked.

“Honestly, it was merely a hunch,” I said.

“A hunch?  You’re kidding, right?”

“No, not really.”

“By the stars, man, you pulled off one hell of a magic trick with this one.  Admiral Regeny said you already have the station being relocated.  Won’t people using it be suspicious?”

“That’s the beauty of Cantolla Gates; it doesn’t matter if they are moving, or stationary, it doesn’t impact the station use.  People on the station and people passing through it won’t even know it’s being moved.  Right now, there are less than 30 people who know the station is being relocated and only about three know where.  People will continue to work there and pass through it and never notice anything different.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.  In reality, you could have the station moving constantly, if you so desired.”

“Yes – however, we would need a permanent crew to fly it and with that it would mean needing more persons knowing the ships location increasing the potential information leaks.  Even now, with a very limited permanent crew on the station, the Brotherhood managed to find out where it was.”

“So who is in command of the station now that Pynice is being replaced?”

“At the moment, his second in command is responsible.  He doesn’t know that Pynice isn’t coming back.  He’ll be told when the person replacing Pynice arrives.  You have any recommendations for a good officer to take his place?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.  Captain Dranda Gandrop, she currently is on the list to be promoted to admiral.  I think she would be ideal for the position; plus, she has worked in a clandestine position with the FSO in the past and her loyalties to the Federation are very strong.”

“Send me her file; I’ll look it over.  If I like what I see, we’ll set up an interview,” I said.

“I’ll have her file to you within the hour,” he said.

By now, it was nearly noon and I decided to try once again to have lunch with Kala on the
NEW ORLEANS. 
Lately I didn’t know what to expect when I entered, so I wasn’t surprised when I opened the door to the sounds of squawking and the flapping of wings. Lunnie yelled out, “Catch him!” as something flew by my head and out the door.  Fortunately, one of my ever-present bodyguards managed to snatch the flying object out of the air.

“By the stars,” I exclaimed as Lunnie rushed past me to grab the critter from the guard’s hands, “what is that thing?”

“Thanks," Lunnie said to the trooper.  She turned to me, “It’s a Mellapuee, Dad.  Isn’t it beautiful?”

I looked at the winged creature in her arms.  It appeared to be birdlike only it had fine blue fur with iridescent patterns instead of feathers.  “Where did it come from?” I asked.

“Oh, they come from Gorboron.  Isn’t it simply the most beautiful thing you have ever seen,” she said as the creature squirmed in her arms trying to get free?

“Gorboron?  How did it get here?” I asked.