SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA) (45 page)

“I can understand your confusion,” said A’Lappe.  “It was nearly overlooked by the scientists that discovered it for that very reason.  You’re right.  Its weight should be astronomical
but for one thing; solbidyum has an anti-gravity property to it – not enough to totally repel normal gravity as we find on worlds suitable for humanoids, but enough to make it very lightweight, so to speak, while still being very dense.  It’s quite intriguing stuff actually.”

After leaving A’Lappe
, I located Piesew and asked him to make arrangements for a staff dinner that evening to celebrate our victory and to make additional plans for resolution to the situation on Alle Bamma.  I advised Piesew that I expected everyone to be in formal attire; and I gave him one other instruction that caused his eyes to widen a bit; but he said nothing and simply replied, “As you wish, sir.”

After I
finished dressing for dinner I slipped off for a few minutes to be with Kala again.  As with previous visits there were several crew members present in the room where she lay in stasis.  I walked over to the stasis chamber, thinking it looked all too much like a casket for my liking.

“Only a few more hours Kala,” I thought
. “Just a few more hours and well have the planet under control and we’ll get you the cure… and you’ll be alright again.”  I placed my hand on the capsule over her heart for a moment and then turned and headed for the dining room.

The usual staff members were there that evening as we gathered in the dining room – Captain Stonbersa, A’Lappe, Kerabac and Marranalis.  As we sat down, it was obvious that there was an extra setting at the table where Kala would normally be seated.  “Gentlemen, we have a new staff member joining us this evening.  I’m pleased to present Captain Felenna, the newly appointed captain of the recently acquired
MIZBAGONA
.”

As I made the announcement, Piesew opened a side door to the dining room, through which Felenna entered.  Her injured arm was immobilized, but the sling did little to detract from the formal white uniform she was wearing.  There was a brief look of shock on everyone’s faces, which then gave way to applause and congratulations.

After she was seated at the table, I continued, “I have a few other announcements to make.  As of today Kerabac is advanced to the level of captain in my services.  Likewise, Captain Stonbersa is advanced to commodore.  In this role he oversees and commands my entire fleet of ships, now and in the future.

“Unfortunately, I cannot advance Marranalis, as his rank is still determined by the Federation military, since he didn’t formally resign after verbally announcing to the admiral in a recent meeting that he was doing so.”  Everyone at the table laughed, except Felenna, who wasn’t present at the meeting to understand the joke.

“I’m sure some of you are wondering what I plan to do with the
MIZBAGONA
and the
RUNANA
,
though I’ve mentioned bits of my idea to a couple of you.  Once all signs of the Brotherhood have been removed from Alle Bamma, I want this planet and its natives protected, so the Brotherhood and any other group that might try to repeat what has happened here are prevented from reaching the surface or interfering with the planet in any way.  We know now that Alle Bamma was the source of the drug God’s Sweat.  No doubt the Brotherhood has already taken seeds or cuttings of the plants and has begun growing crops elsewhere; so this will not be the last we have seen of this drug scourge.  There will be others who will want to manufacture and peddle God’s Sweat; and if they find out its source, you can be sure they will be coming here for it.  It is my intention to maintain both the
MIZBAGONA
and the
RUNANA
on guard here, each equipped with a squadron of Mirage Fighters and several patrol ships, which is about all that they can carry.  In addition, I plan to have two other ships stationed here.  As to what those will be only time will tell.

“Ultimately, my hope is to develop a space station, complete with quarters and laboratories, which will house scientific teams focused on pharmaceutical research.  These teams will have to seek approval from me to conduct such research.  After we have removed the Brotherhood’s equipment and infrastructure and restored Alle Bamma to her natural state, no one will set foot on the planet without my approval.”

I noted some stunned looks at the last statement.  “Yes, I said
removed
.  Soon the
NEW ORLEANS
will head back to Megelleon, where I will hire a team to respond to Alle Bamma and stay only as long as it takes to perform a thorough reclamation of every Brotherhood field and encampment area.  Hotyona, who is not here with us and has not yet been told, will be overseeing that operation.  I hope to not ruffle too many feathers by circumventing Cantolla’s authority and appointing him to this temporary assignment.

“As far as the Brotherhood presence that is still here, I plan to make a final offer to them tomorrow regarding terms of surrender.  If they refuse, we will move forward with a final cleanup assault.  So far we’ve been lucky; we haven’t suffered any casualties or lost any ships in our operation
thus far, though two ships were damaged slightly in a collision that occurred while cloaked.  Let’s hope our luck continues.

“At this point
, our best weapons are our cloaked ground forces, which are instrumental in preparing each site for aerial assault.  Their stealth will allow us to enter each camp with little risk of confrontation, free the slaves from the holding cells and secure their safety before we commence any organized aggressive attacks.  Our ships will stand at the ready and will attack any base that does not surrender tomorrow, but not until every last native is clear from the strike zone.

“Brotherhood ships coming from the raid on Plosaxen will be arriving in a few days, providing the admiral hasn’t
destroyed them all by then.  I don’t want any Brotherhood bases or ships still in action here if they do show up, so we’ll be moving quickly and decisively against each encampment.

“I cannot begin to express to you all how pleased I am with your performances.  I’m proud of each of you individually and proud of what we stand for together.
  More than anything, I will be immensely happy when this is all over with so we can locate the ruguian eggs we need to get Kala out of stasis and cure her of the poison that threatens her life.

“And now I’m done with my little speech, so let’s eat.”

The food served by Piesew and his staff was impeccable, as always.  Most of the conversation centered on the battle of the day.  Felenna received most of the attention, since her role had involved the greatest danger.  I was pleased to see the others opening up to her and welcoming her into the group.  Shortly before we launched the mission to seize the
MIZBAGONA
, A’Lappe administered the computerized tests to Felenna that indicated her true feelings about the Brotherhood and the offer I had given her.  At the time, A’Lappe simply told me that her test results showed she was loyal without a doubt and was clear to move forward with her crucial role in the operation.  Now at dinner, while the captain and commodore talked with Felenna about the mission, A’Lappe quietly told me that the tests had verified that she did indeed loathe her involvement with the Brotherhood and had wanted to get out ever since she discovered their true intents.  A’Lappe also said that her tests indicated a high degree of skill and strong leadership abilities, which I believed would become evident in her new position as captain of the
MIZBAGONA
.

After dinner we continued our conversation while sipping some wine from the collection I acquired as part of my purchase of the Galetils estate.  Toward the end of the evening I said, “I have one request before we adjourn for the evening.  I would like very much for A’Lappe and Kerabac to sing us a song.”

The two of them looked at each other and A’Lappe said with a wicked grin, “On one condition; we sing a Bandarian drinking song and at the end of each verse everyone must drink a shot of Bandarian brandy!”

Kerabac laughed and the rest of us just looked at each other, unsure of what this meant.

Kerabac said, “Come on, don’t be chicken.  Bandarian brandy won’t give you a hangover.  This brandy is known for that particular benefit.

“I’m in!” said Marranalis slapping his hand on the table.

“Oh, what the hell,” said Stonbersa.  “Let’s give it a go.”

“Okay,” I said.  “Piesew, find us some Bandarian brandy, please.”

True to Kerabac’s claim, I didn’t have a hangover the next morning; but I also didn’t remember any of the singing, drinking, or even going to bed that night – though I did have a strange tune running through my head as I showered and dressed.  I wondered if I had gone to see Kala before going to bed, but I honestly could not recall anything after my first sip of brandy.

When I arrived on the bridge, everyone from the night before was present and looking well rested.  I was glad to see that, as I feared maybe one or two might have some measure of hangover in spite of Kerabac’s assurance that we wouldn’t.

“Marranalis, what’s the status of your men?” I asked.

“They‘re in full gear and standing by in the hangar.  We can have them onboard and deployed in the patrol ships in less than two minutes, if needed.”

“Go ahead and get them aboard ground transports.  Have the rest of our ships deploy to staging areas over their targets; but they are not to take any action until we give word.  If the Brotherhood turns down this chance to surrender, I want the attack to begin almost the instance they say NO.  We will alert you from here.  Get your ground troops to the surface and stage at your respective targets.  You have about an hour and a half before we make contact.

“Commodore,” I said turning to Stonbersa, “What’s the status of the
Mirage Fighters?”

“I sent them out on patrol earlier.  Just before we contact the Brotherhood I will issue orders to cloak and report to their attack positions.”

“Good.  Captain Kerabac and Captain Felenna, we have crews assembled and aboard the corvettes.  Kerabac, you will captain the
RUNANA
,
and Felenna, you will captain your own ship, the
MIZBAGONA. 
The
RUNANA
will cover the southern polar region and the
MIZBAGONA
will cover the northern polar region.  Your orders are to destroy any Brotherhood ships that try to leave the surface.  You will remain cloaked during your operations.  Remember, your ships do not have RMFF shields, so you are vulnerable to enemy fire.  If you don’t have any questions, I suggest you get underway.”

After the crews departed
, the
NEW ORLEANS
grew strangely quiet.  This large, private space yacht was capable of housing several thousand people.  However, the absence of my security forces, all of which were deployed for the anticipated final conflict at Alle Bamma, meant only a few hundred service staff and skeleton crewmen were left onboard; and on a craft as large as the
NEW ORLEANS
, a staff of 300 made this enormous yacht feel like a derelict ghost ship.  But even with the entire security contingent deployed, the ship was quite safe.  The RMFF shields and the cloaking system made the
NEW ORLEANS
impervious.

As the hour and a half mark approached, Stonbersa turned to me and said, “Tibby, I think you should be the one to announce terms of surrender to the Brotherhood.  It’s through your plans and actions that we have them contained as we do; and it’s only right that you be the one to make contact.”

I nodded; but before I could respond, he added, “…and I think you should be wearing your vice admiral uniform when you do.”

It was and electrifying sensation when he said it; and I didn’t realize until that moment just how much hostility and anger I still felt toward the admiral.  I knew that Regeny had never really done
anything where he believed we were in harm’s way, but I was still harboring anger at him for Kala’s demise.  Sure, it was at his request that we went into a martial arts demonstration that led to her injury.  If we hadn’t done the demonstration, they could just as easily have administered the same fatal toxin by way of a blow gun and dart or a waiter with a piece of broken glass at the banquet table or any one of a number of different means.  It was not the admiral’s fault, nor the Federation’s, nor the military’s.  It was the fault of evil traitors with greedy, self-serving ambitions to enslave and dominate the galaxy who were to blame; and I needed to let go of my anger toward the admiral and set things right.

I looked at Stonbersa, who stared at me with
sadness in his face; and I knew he understood the struggle I was going through.  I saw tears in his eyes and I realized how others near me must also have been secretly feeling my pain through this ordeal.

I nodded to Stonbersa again and said, “I’ll be right back.”

I thought I would never wear the vice admiral uniform again.  I never wanted it to begin with and I think I had been feeling growing resentment about it all along, even if it was only honorary.  When Kala was struck down, that resentment grew into a tidal wave of fury; but now, as I donned the uniform and prepared to deliver the final blow to the rebels on Alle Bamma, all that anger and resentment melted away.  It was the Brotherhood that was causing the pain and suffering; the Brotherhood who was rising up in violent attempts to destroy the Federation and steal the solbidyum for selfish purposes; and it was the Brotherhood that struck down Kala.