Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price (32 page)

“I guess I’m really talking about dying,” I said quietly.  I had to look away from her as I didn’t want to see the look on her face at that moment.

“You think it's that bad?  Do you believe you will be dying soon?  Is there something else about your condition you haven’t told me?  Tib?  Tib, look at me.”

“Well, no.  I’m not hiding anything from you, but I do feel like I am deteriorating and A’Lappe says these treatments won’t work forever.  I think maybe I should go to Weccies and make some sort of arrangements for what happens with my money and estate when I die.”

“Look at me, Tib,” Kala ordered.  I turned my head and stared into her eyes.  “No one knows when they will die.  My sister certainly didn’t, nor did Admiral Regeny or Captain Maxette or Tanden.  Some people live long lives and others have very short ones.  We can’t go around thinking about our deaths all the time.  As for making arrangements about your estate and wealth, making arrangements for that is a good idea, regardless of when you die.  However, doing so with the mindset that you’re going to die any day now isn’t why you should be doing it.”

“I guess you’re right, though I am going to make arrangements with the bankers at Weccies to set up my will.”

“Good.  Now why don’t we finish our dinner and go back to the lounge so you can hold me in your arms and we can stare at the stars together?”

The climate on Megelleon at the latitude where my estate was located was moderate year-round.  The nights were just as comfortable as the days; and before I knew it, I was getting sleepy in the evening breeze.  The next thing I remembered was waking under the yellow blush of an early morning sky.  I glanced at Kala, who still lay in my arms with her head on my chest, only now we were covered by a light blanket.  Across the alcove our dinner dishes had been cleared from the table sometime during the night.  Piebar and his staff had managed to follow through with the entire dinner service without making a single sound.

Just then my comlink beeped. I had to shift my arm from beneath Kala to answer, causing her to wake.

“Tibby here,” I said.

“Admiral, there’s been another canister attack, this time on the planet Vidon.  I’ve placed a comprehensive quarantine on the planet.  Everything is sealed off, but the Brotherhood hit the planet hard and we can expect heavy casualties over the next few days as the disease spreads,” reported Marranalis’s voice.

“Is the attack still in progress?” I asked.

“No, sir.  It was another hit-and-run raid.”

“Alright, I’ll be there shortly,” I said.  Then I turned to Kala as I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.  “Sorry, dear, but duty calls once more.  Thank you for the evening.  Thank you…for everything.”  I gave her a quick kiss.  “I love you,” I said.

“Take care, Tib.  I love you,” Kala called to me as I bounded up the narrow stairway and headed to our suite for a shower and uniform change before going back to the
GLOMAR ROSA
.

When I arrived at the War Room, I found Admiral Wabussie talking with Marranalis.

“Good morning, men,” I said.  “Let’s have the details.  First off, what’s the status at Agraious?”

“The death count is high and climbing,” replied Marranalis.  “So far, no one who has contracted the disease has survived more than thirty-two hours.  The disease is highly contagious and seems to be transmitted by multiple means; for example, physical contact, airborne transmission, and hosts or carriers.  Furthermore, the pathogen can sustain itself for a long period of time without a host body – certainly for several days.”

“I see.  Have we been able to identify what the pathogen is?”

Marranalis looked at Wabussie who responded, “One of our teams on Agraious was able to obtain a sample from the canister site and get it into a mobile lab incubation chamber before they got sick and died.  Fortunately for us, the lab is synced with the equipment at the Central Lab at the Capitol, so we’re able to continue running tests remotely using robots.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to learn anything useful or encouraging so far, even with the help of Doctor Danjuma and her teams.  The pathogen is unknown.  There’s nothing anywhere close to its structure in our databanks.  The samples are still alive after three days with no food or host.  One thing that makes this disease especially frightening is that the pathogen is neither a virus nor a bacterium.  It seems to be something completely new, something we’ve never seen before.  The samples we’ve actually manipulated by feeding protein material shows that the pathogen changes its structure inside a host after a few hours, at which time it then acts like a completely different disease.  In the first phase of its existence, it causes respiratory distress and ruptures respiratory capillaries.  Next, the pathogen mutates into its second form that attacks the body’s organs and more or less dissolves them.  The victim passes out, goes into a coma and is dead a few hours later. 

The stuff is contagious in both of its incarnations and neither form is affected by any of the known disinfectants, so we have no known way of decontaminating an area, once it’s compromised.”

“By the stars, that makes this disease unstoppable!  The only thing we can do is contain it on any world it infects.  Anyone on a world it infects is doomed,” I said.

“I’m afraid so.  At least that’s how it stands right now,” replied Wabussie.  “Perhaps A’Lappe and Cantolla can come up with something.”

“Possibly.  I’ll talk with them about it.”

“I’m afraid we have another problem, Admiral,” said Marranalis.  “Leader Pheosa wants you to call him.  Apparently, the news of the disease has reached the public and they’re making demands for information and action.”

“By the stars, what do they expect us to do?” I exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but you can bet it will be something we’re incapable of,” Wabussie muttered.

“Is there anything else?” I asked in frustration.

“Yes, sir.  There were one hundred and eighty-two body bombings during the night spread across the Federation territories.  Most of them resulted in only a few casualties, but eight of them were significant.  Thousands were injured and several hundred were killed in total.  Sir, I don’t get it.  These attacks really don’t do much damage to the Federation’s strength, so why are they bothering?”

The motivation behind these particular actions is not about how much damage they do to our military,” I said.  “It’s about the psychological damage they do to the citizens.  Even though less than one percent of the people in the Federation are directly affected by body bombings, everyone becomes terrified of the possibility of one, possibly even more fearful than they are of an enemy attack by a fleet of asteroid-ships.  They can detect and physically see a ship, but they can’t tell who is a body-bomber.  Every gate transfer to get to work could be their last.  Every shopping trip or gathering with friends at a restaurant could turn into a disaster.  Every unknown person they pass on the street could be a body-bomber, and they wouldn’t know until it is too late.”

“Well I still don’t see how Ming gets people who are willing to blow themselves up,” Marranalis said.

“He does it with drugs, slave collars, brainwashing and mental conditioning,” said Wabussie.  In most cases, the bombers have no real idea of what is going to happen to them.”

“Right,” I said.  “The same manipulation was used back on Earth.  There were members of various terrorist organizations who blew themselves up for their cause, because they believed they were going to receive all kinds of rewards for their violent deeds in their afterlife.  Mind control is a tremendously powerful tool, especially in the hands of a malevolent leader.”

“But that’s what I don’t understand.  With all the information and educational material available to the public, how could anyone
not
see how crazy those ideas are?” Marranalis said.

“That’s where the brainwashing and control come in.  The leaders of those cults gradually begin restricting what their followers would read, watch and hear.  They were given lots of material to read, but all with a very narrow perspective.  They listened only to what their leaders wanted them to hear and in a short time the follower only believes what he sees and hears as presented to him by the leader.  Surprisingly, it doesn’t take all that long to do with most people, if you can isolate them from the rest of the world.  If you bring mind controlling drugs into the picture it can happen even faster, but if indoctrination begins in childhood, drugs, slave collars and blackmail may not even be needed.”

“So you think Ming has brainwashed the people he captures?”

“Only a portion – the ones he plans to use as body-bombers and the like.  The rest are just slaves under the control of Ming’s elite who, even though they’ve been granted special privileges, answer to Ming without question for fear of their lives and the lives of their families.”

“And you think if you kill Ming the Brotherhood will crumble?  No one new will take over after Ming?”

“Ming’s paranoia runs too deep to allow any one individual to know how to run the entire Brotherhood network.  If he’s gone, no one will know how to take the reins of power and continue where he left off.  Some many consider trying, but it would amount to only a brief and feeble attempt to do what Ming and Roritat had accomplished.”

“It would be nice if that happens,” Wabussie interjected.  “I mean, if we were able to go back to peace like we had for six hundred years before the Brotherhood insurgence.”

Marranalis pondered silently for a moment before sharing his thoughts.  “So much has changed since you came here, Tibby.  The advancements with the learning headbands, the solbidyum and solbidnite reactors, 10X fusion reactors and flight speeds a hundred times faster than we had before.  Instant communication across the vastness of space.  The big star ships that were the greatest thing we had back then are all gone now, except for the few the Brotherhood captured and still use.  The Cantolla Gates have made those completely obsolete.  And the gates themselves are probably the most amazing change.  It used to take us years to travel or communicate from one side the Federation to the other.  Now we do it in the blink of an eye… all because of you Tibby.”

“Not because of me.  All those things you mentioned are because of A’Lappe and Cantolla.  They’re the ones who should get the credit,” I said.

“Don’t be so sure, Tibby,” replied Wabussie.  “If it weren’t for you and your money, where would Cantolla be right now?  She’d probably still be employed as a college professor, working by way of an occasional government grant that would allow her to research something on a limited basis using funds that aren’t even sufficient to do a fraction of the proposed work.  As for A’Lappe, who knows what would have become of him.  If the
NEW ORLEANS
hadn’t been sold to you, that yacht may have ended up being scrapped and A’Lappe would have had to find a new place to hide.  He may have eventually found a new employer, but his efforts would have been directed to what his employer wanted and not toward the wonderful discoveries he’s made in your service.  No, Tibby, like it or not, even if they did the work, it still was pretty much because of you that these things came to be.  I’d probably still be the security officer on the
MAXETTE
and Marranalis would still be a trooper.  We probably would have gone up in rank some, but it’s unlikely that either of us would have achieved the ranks we have in our careers.  It’s been because of our association with you that we are who and where we are today.”

“I still say you’re giving me too much credit,” I protested.

“Hm, I doubt the Ruwallie Rasson would agree with that.  Where would they be, if you hadn’t intervened and brought about reconciliation with the Federation?”

“That was more Padaran’s doing than mine,” I said.

“Really?” Marranalis chimed.  “And what about the androids?  Do you think the Federation would have come to a cessation of war with the androids were it not for you? 
And
you brought about an end to slavery on both Goo’Waddle and Alle Bamma… are these things someone else’s doing as well?”

“Well, maybe.  But before I came here you had peace.  You could have gotten along nicely without the solbidyum and solbidnite and the learning headbands.  You were happy with the starships and GW pod communications.  All I’ve been for you is a bringer of war, death and destruction.”

“Tibby, listen to me,” said Wabussie in a serious but different tone, as he tried to break the heaviness of the conversation.  “You have no idea how boring life was before you came here.”

With that both Marranalis and Wabussie cracked up laughing… and they managed to get a grin out of me.

My meeting with Pheosa was basically a repeat of the earlier one, during which he expressed the concerns of the Senate and the people and asked questions for which I had no answers.  There was a more desperate tone in his voice and I could tell he was frightened of where things were going.  I couldn’t blame him.  I was frightened, too, and I’m sure it was evident in the tone of my own voice.  Ming had found a terrible tool, one I had no idea how to defend against.  Action needed to be taken immediately, but what that action was I hadn’t a clue.

Toward the end of our meeting, I must have been showing my own bewilderment, because Pheosa stopped talking rather suddenly at looked at me a moment, then relaxed and smiled as he said, “I’m sorry, Tibby, I realize you have done – and are doing – all you can.  You’ve done more than anyone for that matter.  I realize that what we ask of you is more than is humanly possible, but you’re the only one who seems to be able to come up with solutions to these situations and the people have come to expect it of you.