Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price (45 page)

To make matters worse, I had no idea what had happened to Lunnie or Reide.  The last thing I knew of Lunnie was that she was headed toward Megelleon in a severely damaged ship surrounded by loyal Federation fighters who had seen her destroy the Brotherhood’s stellar gate and a vast number of their asteroid-ships and warships.  But I didn’t know whether she was injured or how severe or – the stars forbid – whether the navigation completely system failed and she crashed.  Reide was last seen on the Capitol Station when it was being overrun by enemy troops; and by the time we’d lost Padaran, the station had probably succumbed completely to the Brotherhood insurgents.  I didn’t know if Reide had managed to escape with the senators or if he had died trying.  My mind was spinning with fear.  Fear for my family, fear for my comrades and fear for the billions of citizens in the Federation coalition.  I had to move.

“Kala, take care of Jenira.  I need to get to the Control Room and find out what’s happening,” I said.

Kala nodded and said, “Take care, Tibby.  I love you.”

“I love you too, Kala,” I answered as I raced out the door with Marranalis.  I couldn’t stop to tell her what had happened to Lunnie or Reide and I hated that, but there simply was no time.”

When we ran into the Control Room, Kerabac immediately spoke up.  “Thank the stars, you're still alive!  We saw some of what was happening on the ship’s security cameras, but it all unfolded so quickly that we couldn’t respond in time to be of any aid.  What happened?!  We saw a fight involving enemy combatants that spilled over from the
GLOMAR ROSA
into the
NEW ORLEANS,
but we couldn’t see what was happening on the other side the gate.”

“Padaran was killed,” I said bitterly and still somewhat short of breath.  “Actually, that’s not true.  He blew himself up near the gate to save us all.  So he gave his life; he wasn’t killed.  But he had taken enemy fire just beforehand and may have believed it was fatal.”

“Oh, no!  Kerabac said in a shocked whisper.  Not Padaran!”  He slumped back in the captain's chair.  The news of Padaran's death clearly had a powerful impact on him.  “He was one of the bravest warriors I have ever known.  The Ruwallie Rasson will mourn his loss heavily, but they will be proud of the way he died.”

“Kerabac, I need to use the communication system to find out what’s happening in the battle.  The Capitol Station has fallen to the Brotherhood.  They now have control of the
GLOMAR ROSA
and they’re invading Megelleon as we speak.  And I have no idea if either Lunnie or Reide is alive.”

“By all means, Tibby.  Verona will assist you,” replied Kerabac.

“If it’s all the same, I would prefer that Marranalis make the calls.  We’ll use the War Room across the corridor.”

If I had thought the situation bad moments earlier, once we began making calls from the War Room, we discovered it was far worse.  The
MAXETTE
and
FAZTA’MINA
had been boarded and captured in the same manner and at the same time as the
GLOMAR ROSA
, so Ming now possessed
all
the PLABE weapons and major Federation warships.  Many or perhaps all of the Federation carriers and frigates had also been captured in the same fashion.  CGS-1 and CGS-3 had both been captured and were under the complete control of the Brotherhood, with the exception of the Control Rooms and Security Centers, which they had yet to find.  CGS-2 responded that they the station had been infected by a canister containing the deadly pathogen and they had sealed all gates so no one could transmit the plague to other locations.  Perhaps because of the confined environment, the illness was progressing into the latter stages very quickly.  In a few hours everyone aboard would be dead.

Ming had won.  The war was over.  A handful of Federation ships still survived, but not enough to fight off the Brotherhood.  I told them to disburse.  Flee the Federation and hide until I could find out whether any of the Leaders or senators survived.  Pieces of the Federation still existed, but it was a question of how long they could hold out.  With all the PLABEs under Ming’s control, Federation worlds had a choice to either surrender or to be totally annihilated – and Ming didn’t really care which choice they made.  He had won.

I went to the
NEW ORLEANS
’ med unit, where Doctor Danjuma and A’Lappe were examining Jenira.  I walked in to find Kala’s tear-stained face staring through the examining room window as she waited with her arms hugged around herself.

“They say she’s in shock… some sort of catatonic state,” said Kala as I embraced her.

“I suspected as much.  Listen, Kala, I have something to tell you,” I began.  “Lunnie was shot down over Megelleon.  She was alive, last I know, but she was trying to land our damaged fighter after she destroyed an enemy stellar gate.”

“WHAT?!  How did she…?  She was here earlier today.  When did she leave?”

“She took our Nijang Fighter prototype, the one that A’Lappe equipped with the first PLABE weapon.  She flew directly into the war zone at Megelleon and the Capitol Station.  By the stars, Kala, her flying skills were unbelievable… the best I’ve ever seen!  The girl is an honest to the stars hero!”

“Tibby, you said she was shot down?  Is she injured?

“I don’t know.  Her communication system was damaged in the fight.  There were dozens of android and Nijang Fighters that escorted her back to Megelleon, but before I saw her land, the
GLOMAR ROSA
came under attack and Padaran showed up and told me I needed to leave the ship and come here.”

“Reide!  Tib, where’s Reide?  Wasn’t he with Padaran?”

“Padaran left him in command of evacuating the senators and Leaders from the Capitol Station.  I've heard nothing since then.”

“Oh no!” Kala said as her lips quivered and her eyes filled with tears.

“Kala, it gets worse.  Ming has captured nearly all the major Federation warships, including all those equipped with PLABE weapons, CGS-1 and CGS-3 are under Brotherhood control and CGS-2 is in permanent quarantine lockdown, infected with the deadly pathogen.  Kala, Ming has won.  We’re defeated.  There aren’t enough ships left under Federation control to put up even a minor fight.”

I looked over at A’Lappe, hoping he would offer some miracle, but he only looked at me sadly and hung his head in despair.

At this point, Doctor Danjuma had finished her examination of Jenira.  She approached Kala and me and said, “I think she will come around in a day or so.  She’s suffering a traumatic shock right now.  I’ve given her a sedative that should make her sleep.  When she wakes up, I’m hoping she’ll snap out of it.  Someone needs to be here with her until then.  Someone she trusts needs to be at her side when she wakes up.”

“I’ll stay,” said Kala as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.  “Tib, find out what happened to Reide and Lunnie.”

“I will,” I said.

I returned to the
NEW ORLEANS
War Room.  It wasn’t as big as the one on the
GLOMAR ROSA,
but it was every bit as powerful.  Marranalis had already taken up station at the console and was making contact with surviving Federation ships.  Ming had planned out his operation well and the Brotherhood had managed to take nearly all the carriers in the Federation fleet.  They didn’t bother going after the frigates and corvettes.  From what Marranalis was able to learn, the Brotherhood had been able to get aboard CGS-1 and CGS-3 using gate nodes for their own gates.  They did this by mobilizing troops to less-traveled worlds, whose Cantolla Gates were guaranteed to be located remotely in the less commercially affluent areas of the gate stations.  Then, at a synchronized, selected time, they stormed through the gates of these worlds and aboard the CGSs, swiftly overtaking the guards, switching out the gate nodes on several gates to match their own gates, and moving thousands of troops onto the CGSs, where they were then in a position to quickly sweep the facilities and moved into the secured essential military and governmental gates to get onto the Federation ships and the Capitol Station.

It was a fast and well-planned operation.  The Brotherhood even knew enough to make a priority of disabling the CGS communication systems so no one could call for help.  It was an ingenious plan and one that used our best resources against us.  Where Cantolla Gates were once one of the main tools that kept us going in the battle against the Brotherhood, they had become the very instrument of the Federation’s destruction.

I knew my first concern had to be the troops that were still out there fighting.  I wanted to forget about all of it and just search for Lunnie and Reidecor, but duty demanded I take care of business first.  The remnants of various fleets were told to take refuge at smaller bases and outposts for the time being.  I was able to get in contact with Andy, who made apologies for not being able to do better than they had in the battle.  I thanked him for coming to our aid and expressed my regret that it hadn’t turned out better.  I advised him to return to Mars and build up the defenses of his home planet in preparation for the day when the Brotherhood would try to come and take Mars.

In my mind I was hoping that Ming would die before he could establish his empire in the Federation that had become all but totally destroyed.  Perhaps, once he was gone, the citizens would be able to rise up and regain their freedom from any remaining Brotherhood members that survived their slave collars and drug addictions.

I knew a broadcast was inevitable, so I wasn’t surprised when Kerabac contacted me to say that Ming was making an announcement on all commercial channels.  Marranalis opened the vid channel where Ming was already speaking.

“…useless.  I have defeated your puny Federation Military.  Your most dangerous warships are now under my command.”

I noted that Ming was seated in what normally would have been my chair in the War Room of the
GLOMAR ROSA
.  He looked terrible.

Ming giggled and then suddenly reverted to a serious expression again.

“IF you wish to survive, you will surrender completely.  Any resistance on your parts will result in the immediate destruction of your world.  You will surrender all weapons, ships and armaments to my troops or you will be destroyed.”

He leaned forward into the camera as he spoke.  His soulless, black irises were surrounded by a sick, yellow color and sagging lids.  He looked older and even more frail than the last time I had seen his face.  Had I not known better, I would have thought he was in his late 90s.  His complexion was pale and waxy, except for the blue-gray veins in his skinny hands that shook from the onset of palsy that I knew was caused by the advancing Kuru disease.  A twisted kind of hope gripped the pit of my stomach and I wished that he would take his last breath and die right in the middle of his broadcast, but my hopes were too high and he just kept on ranting.

“I expect you all to be loyal subjects, to honor me as your Supreme Emperor by erecting statues of me in all of your cities.  All monuments of your fallen heroes of the past are to be destroyed.  All records and plaques containing the names and images of your past leaders are to be destroyed and replaced with statues and images of
me
. 
I am your RULER now!
”

He giggled maniacally again and struggled to control his flailing arms.  When he regained his grasp on the chair arms, he leaned into the camera again.

“
I
am your EMPEROR!  Your GOD!  You will serve and worship ME!  You will live and die for ME!”

His voice began to rise in self-glorification as he raised one fist in a show of might.

“I am
MING
, descendent of the most ancient and most powerful rulers on Earth, and I am the greatest of them all, FOR I HAVE CONQUERED THE UNIVERSE!”

He shouted this last proclamation so fiercely through his ailing lungs and throat that he choked and doubled himself over in a coughing fit.  When he regained his composure, he stared at the camera with a hard look.

“I have one more demand.  If you wish to avoid being destroyed, you will turn over to me Admiral Tibby and his cohort named A’Lappe.  Anyone harboring or helping him will be tortured and killed in the most painful way possible.  Anyone who turns him over to me will be rewarded and will remain in my favor.  I wish to receive them both alive.  Do not harm them.  Be certain both of them are alive when you turn them over to me.”

He broke into another scratchy, psychotic giggle that ended in another coughing fit.  Then the vid screen went blank.

Marranalis and the security team looked at me, expecting me to say something or offer some direction, but there was nothing I could say.

“I’m going to go check on Jenira.  Let me know if you find out anything about Lunnie and Reide,” I said as I got out of my chair and headed out the door.

I arrived at the med unit to find two of Jenira’s Women with Swords attending to her.  They said she had awakened earlier for a few moments and then fell back to sleep.  I didn’t see Kala anywhere, which surprised me, as I had expected her to be there watching over Jenira.

“Where’s Kala?” I asked.

“We don’t know.  She called us about thirty minutes ago and asked us to come and care for Jenira.  She said she had something important to attend to.  When we arrived she left quickly.  She seemed very upset.”