Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price (29 page)

“I guess so, as long as we are still free and fighting, there is hope.”

Marranalis’s com beeped.

“Marranalis here,” he responded.

“Sir, this is Corporal Neider.  There’s a call coming in from a Senator Yungman from Nevel Ordax.  He says he needs to talk to Admiral Tibby.”

Marranalis looked at me questioningly.  Senator Yungman was the brother of one of the women we had rescued from Alamar-4 and he was sympathetic toward my military agenda.  I nodded to Marranalis.

“Put him through.  He’ll be expecting the call,” said Marranalis.

A moment later my com beeped.

“Tibby here,” I answered.

“Admiral, I’m sorry to disturb you on such short notice, but I have some information that may be useful to you… or rather, I should say my sister may have some information.”

“I’m always interested in any information that may help us,” I replied.

“As you may or may not know, my sister has been slowly regaining her faculties since her rescue, and during a particularly lucid moment while we were speaking last night, she mentioned that she recalled overhearing a conversation between the Brotherhood officer who was holding her as a slave and another officer who had stayed at the home briefly.  One of them said they needed to go to the Copscian Nebula to see about picking up some asteroid-ships waiting to be delivered to Alamar-4.  She said the way he talked about it at the time made her think the asteroid-ships were being constructed there.”

“Is there anything more she can tell us?” I asked.

“Maybe, but I can’t guarantee it.  Her train of thought comes and goes and if she dwells too long on memories of her time in captivity, she sinks back into a depression-like state of shock for several days.”

“Would you mind if I had Admiral Wabussie send some FSO agents to interview her?”

“I don’t know, Admiral.  I want to help you, but my sister has gone through so much.  I would hate to see her have a setback at this time.”

“I understand,” I replied.  “If I can guarantee that they will stop at the first sign of her becoming distressed, would you consent to them talking with her?”

“I… I don’t know… maybe.  If I can be there and they agree that if I ask them to stop, they stop.”

“I think that can be arranged.  Let me talk to Wabussie and get back to you, and thank you Senator, this may well be the information we need to make a lasting difference in the war.”

“See, Admiral,” Marranalis began once the call with Yungman was over.  “Something always comes up to change the circumstances.  I’ll bet this is the information we need to get Ming at last.”

“I hope you’re right, because I’m running out of ideas,” I said.

By now, it was nearly time for the meeting with the Admiralty.  I took the last bite of my now cold nardar strips, thinking to myself that they were much better warm, and washed it down with the last bit of my afex.  Across the table from me, Marranalis let out a belch.

“Excuse me, Admiral, he said in a more formal tone.  “That caught me off guard.”

“Quite alright, Marranalis.  It’s just the two of us.  We can belch all we want,” I said as I let out a belch of my own.  We both laughed for a moment and then I said, “I guess we’d best get going.  It’s nearly time to start the meeting.”

Because the meeting was arranged via vid conferencing, I was able to sit in my office and view the attendees in a limited 3D holographic display.  However, since my office wasn’t large enough to display a life-size scene, the images were reduced in scale by twenty-five percent.  I found this quite amusing and it took me a moment to adjust to this comical scene.  I had a difficult time keeping myself from grinning like a fool at all the homunculi seated about my office.  To make it worse, I kept expecting high-pitched voices to come from their images and it seemed incongruous and even funnier to hear full-sized voices coming from the miniature bodies.  I actually had to look past them at the opposite wall to clear my head and get down to the business at hand.

“Admirals, I began.  “We have gathered to address a serious problem regarding security.  I need all of you to audit and remedy any security weaknesses immediately as a priority matter, not only when it comes to the gate stations but at all Cantolla Gates, cargo transfers and security stations of all kinds.  The attack on CGS-3 has shown us just how lax we have become in the execution of our protocols.  Not only was it possible for the Brotherhood to find the location of the Cantolla Gate Station, but they managed to get a bomb aboard the station as well.  We know that the bomb was inside a container that was transported through the cargo transfer.  The fact that the bomb passed into the station undetected is bad enough on its own, but the real question is how the Brotherhood coordinated the bomb explosion with the external attack at the station.  Normally, the complete transit time for a container or package is less than an hour from its origin to its destination.  The actual duration that any given item stays within the Freight and Cargo Pod is only a few minutes.  This means that the Brotherhood needed to know almost precisely when the package would be aboard CGS-3 to detonate it with a timer or they had someone aboard the station or aboard a nearby ship to detonate it remotely.  To do that they almost assuredly needed help from someone familiar with the CGS operations.

“From what we now know, this kind of attack could be repeated on any of the CGSs or any place where freight is transferred or delivered.  This includes any of our fleet ships.  All of you take delivery of cargo and supplies on a regular basis and if the Brotherhood can get a package through screening on CGS-3, chances are they will be able to do it on a carrier, frigate or corvette, so retrain your crews from scratch if you have to.  Just make sure your vigilance in respect to security does not falter again.

“Now, moving on,” I continued.  “In the past, we had the comfort of knowing the Brotherhood did not possess or understand how the Cantolla Gate technology worked.  We no longer have that luxury.  We don’t know what weaknesses the Brotherhood will discover, now that they have access to gate technology, but recent events show us that they are learning fast and will exploit this new power in devastating ways.

“We need to make THIS our number one priority: 
Find the weaknesses in our gate technology security before the Brotherhood does and tighten up security in those areas already identified as vulnerable
.  I want each and every one of you to alert those who fall under your command at all levels to look at gate security, find the weaknesses and come up with solutions.  Create a joint task force to coordinate and communicate between you.  Nothing is to fall through the cracks.”

While I was talking, one of my aides approached and slipped a note in front of me.  I glanced down at it and then looked up at the admirals in the holographic display.  “I’ve just received word that there have just been a rash of body-bomber attacks on the planet Frandee at two cargo transfer locations.  The Cantolla Gates there were destroyed by other explosions.  Which of you admirals have ships closest to Frandee?” I asked, looking about the group.

“I have a carrier just a few hours from there,” responded one of the admirals.

“Get them there immediately, in case the Brotherhood is planning on attacking with more ships,” I replied.  I couldn’t help shuddering, as I realized that the Federation wouldn’t be able to respond effectively to a large number of these attacks, if Ming were to coordinate a lot of them at the same time.  I noticed motion at my side and turned to see my aide returning with another note.  My anxieties began to materialize into reality as I took it from his hand and read the contents.

“Gentlemen,” I began in a somber tone as I glanced over the note.  “The planet Agraious has also suffered body-bomber attacks.  Reports also indicate that several Brotherhood ships entered the atmosphere there, where they dropped canisters that broke on impact with the planet, after which the ships departed.  The contents of the containers are unknown at the moment.  Retrieval crews are collecting them for examination.  I fear we are facing multiple simultaneous attacks that require your immediate and direct attention.  All sectors are raised to high alert at this time.  Under the circumstances, this meeting is hereby adjourned.”

As the images on the 3D display vanished, I turned to Marranalis.  “I’d like to see the attack locations in the holographic display.  Also, pull up any data we have on Agraious and… what was the name of that other planet?”

“Frandee, sir.”

“Yeah, Frandee.  What data do we have on these worlds?”

“Agraious is an outlying world with sparse population and only a few small cities.  Mostly agricultural and specialized ceramic electronic components manufactured for export.  Frandee is about the same size but more densely populated.  They have a diverse economy with no single dominant product or industry.  A fairly diverse world in commercial terms.”

“Are they also an outlying world?” I asked.

“No sir, not at all.  In fact, the next closest inhabited world to them is Plosaxen.”

“They’re in that close?!” I said in shock.

“Yes, sir.

“Any updated reports from there?” I asked.

“No, sir, just the initial reports of the body-bombers and the explosions at the Cantolla Gate cargo transfer area.”

“So it sounds like CGS-3 all over.  They probably shipped the bombs disguised as common cargo and then detonated them on arrival.  Do we have any idea as to where that cargo originated?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.  Until the FSO can get in there and investigate, we have no idea.”

“What about those canisters dropped on Agraious?” I asked.

“The ground team is just reaching the first one.  They say there are no obvious clues as to the contents, as there is no evidence of any substances, dry or liquid, being dispelled on impact.”

“That doesn’t make sense.  Why would they drop empty canisters?” I said.

“Perhaps they didn’t know they were empty,” Marranalis said.

“How many did they drop?” I asked.

“Over one hundred that have been identified so far.”

“And all of them empty?”

“Yes, so far.”

“Is there anything significant about where these canisters were dropped?” I asked.

“All drop sites are within a few kilometers of large cities, but that’s about all I can see,” said Marranalis.

It was about three hours later that we got our answer, when reports began to come in stating that the first responders to the canister scenes were falling violently ill.  At first, the individuals began sweating profusely, then they complained of severe stomach cramps and muscle spasms.  It had become obvious that the containers held some kind of harmful biological agent.

“I wish Slater was still alive to advise us.  Ming probably did something similar to this on Earth and Slater could have told us how they dealt with the situation back then,” I said, thinking out loud.

“Maybe Doctor Danjuma can help.  She was an Earth doctor during that time.  If Ming used germ warfare back then, Naomi would have to know something about it, wouldn’t she?” Marranalis offered.

“You’re right. I need to talk to her,” I replied.  “We need to get word to the people on the ground who are not ill to get away from the infected areas and we need to set up quarantine zones.  Make sure all our people in these areas are wearing HAZMAT suits and following the strictest quarantine protocols.  Broadcast HAZMAT high alert protocols to all Federation and planetary authorities.  It looks like Ming has found another way to create a situation where we need to stretch our resources to the max and reduce our ability to fully defend and protect all the Federation planets.

“Do you think we need to bring the JAC cadets back in order to help?” asked Marranalis.

“We may, but I don’t think it will help much.  What we need is for the planetary police forces and the local governments to step up and take over these operations.  We’ll provide what assistance we can, but only in organizing and training.  I don’t see that we can do much beyond that.

“Oh!  Has anyone thought to shut down the Cantolla Gates on these worlds?  By the stars!  If any of the infected people get through the gates, we’ll be in for one hell of a time!” I exclaimed.

“The gates were shut down immediately when the attack began, I’m not sure of their status at the moment,” Marranalis replied, as he broadcast an immediate security shutdown order.

“Get word to them and tell them to keep those gates closed,” I said.

“Yes, sir.  Already done.”

While Marranalis contacted the appropriate planetary authorities and training units, I sat with my forehead propped against my fist as I pondered the situation and tried to determine what to do next.  My thoughts were interrupted by Marranalis. 

“Sir we have a situation.”

“What now?” I asked with agitation as my fist fell to the table.

“We’re getting word that the first people to contract the disease are rapidly developing respiratory distress.  They’re coughing up blood.”

“Already?  It’s only been a few hours since the canisters were dropped!  What kind of microbe strikes that fast?  By the stars, if this disease, or whatever it is, gets off the planet, it could spread and infect the entire Federation in days!”  I started pacing the floor in an effort to organize my thoughts quickly.  “We have no choice.  Quarantine the entire planet right now.  No one on the planet is allowed to leave.  Cantolla Gates remain shut down and no ships, transports, GW pods, satellites or hardware of any kind leave the surface.  Give orders to any ships we have in orbit there that they are to stop any craft trying to leave and force it to return to the planet.  If they don’t comply, they are to be shot down.  We have no alternative other than to treat this infection like a pandemic and restrict it, whatever it is, to this planet’s surface until we can find a way to cure it,” I said.