by Dale Musser
“In the meantime, the starship HOSPIN is currently here.” Wabussie indicated a spot in the corner of the screen right near the arch of the Federation border ended on the screen frame. “They are carrying four FSO agents who will also disembark from their current location and move in the general direction of the agents from the ROSKON, but into this region of space. They too will be looking for leads, as this is an area that is collecting a heavy concentration of Brotherhood members who have fled the Federation territories. We are hoping that we will get some definitive information from this area soon. Of course, since the FOI knows nothing about the FSO, they will be conducting their own investigation into the event. Information we have from the FOI is that they plan to have two of their twenty Lasalt agents looking into the matter. We do not anticipate ever hearing anything of significance from their operation; and it is apparent that whoever is giving issuing the orders has no intention of actually succeeding in the solbidyum recovery.”
I was beginning to get a sinking feeling about all of this. “So, let me ask. If it turns out that the solbidyum is on one of the non-aligned worlds outside the Federation territories, what is the plan?”
Wabussie stood with both hands on the table and his head down, staring at it as he spoke. “I was hoping not to have to answer that question at this time and rather wait until we know more.” He sighed and, still with his head down, he said, “Tibby, the admiral was hoping that you might take your team and go in to retrieve it. If the Federation goes in, it’s an act of war; but if you do…well, you know.”
“Damn,” I said, “why can’t he just send in an undercover Special Ops team to handle it?”
“That option is on the table if you reject the request; but right now, until we know just where the solbidyum is, nothing is expected or planned.”
I had to weigh our chances of success regarding the two issues at hand. I thought for a moment, then replied, “At the moment, our own goal is unchanged – to recover the Mirage Fighter at Gaimse. Maybe we’ll get lucky there and uncover a clue that connects the two events and gives us some direction as to where to focus our search. But until I know more, I am not making any commitments to help out on this one.”
“Fair enough, Tibby. You have already done plenty for the Federation.”
After that the meeting split up. I decided Kala and I needed to unwind, so we headed to the entertainment lounge. As we made our way there, Kala said, “Tibby, if it turns out the solbidyum has been taken outside of the Federation territory and we discover where it is, you will go after it, won’t you?”
“Most likely,” I said, “but let’s not tell the admiral that just yet. If he is going to put me on the spot again, I think it only fair that I make him sweat a little.”
Kala poked me in the arm and laughed. “What am I ever going to do with you?”
I didn’t answer, because just then we arrived at the lounge and the music coming from within was enticing me to dance.
As soon as we entered the room I had Kala on the dance floor. I had always enjoyed dancing, ever since my mother taught me as a boy; and while I was not especially popular in school, I was never at want for a dance partner. But never in my life had there been anyone I enjoyed as a dance partner more than Kala. Besides having a natural grace of motion, she was also an incredibly fast learner who needed to see a dance step only once before being able to repeat it herself.
Both Kerabac and A’Lappe had astonished me months before, when I learned they were excellent singers and performers. Their nightly performances in the lounge on the NEW ORLEANS were becoming legendary. Tonight, however, only Kerabac was performing – and it wasn’t long before he noticed us. For his next song he sang UNFORGETABLE, a hugely popular tune performed on Earth by Nat King Cole. Kerabac’s voice was an exact duplicate of Nat’s; and when I first heard him sing, I knew I would have to teach him all the songs I could remember. I was surprised at how quickly he learned them; and now, every time he was performing and noticed the arrival of Kala and me, he would sing at least one of the few songs I had shared with him.
It was amazing how many of the Earth dances I taught to Kala were rapidly spreading about the Federation like a craze. Nearly everyone on the dance floor was copying our dance moves. Kala snuggled closely to me, her head on my shoulder as we danced. As I slowly moved her about the dance floor to the sound of Kerabac’s crooning, she whispered in my ear, “Next time you turn me, look at who Marranalis is with.”
“Let me guess,” I said, “Lieutenant Commander Sokaia.”
“You already noticed them?”
“No, but I suspected they would get together before this journey ended.”
We danced a few seconds longer and then Kala said, “This is what you were up to when you matched Marranalis with Sokaia for sparring earlier, isn’t it?”
“Maybe… as a secondary objective. The first was to get Marranalis to focus on what he was doing, instead of trying to impress Sokaia. Since the first time they met, it’s been obvious he is smitten with her; but he feels he needs to impress her by being superior to her. Sokaia, on the other hand, likes being superior and doesn’t like yielding to anyone who is not her superior. She has high respect for those who are better than her. Matching the two let Marranalis know on two levels that he was falling short of the mark. First he was losing control by trying to be in control, and second because he was not going to get Sokaia by showing off. He actually needed to prove it to himself.”
“Damn, Tib, I didn’t know you were a psychologist and a matchmaker, too.”
I laughed. “I’m not a psychologist, but I’ve learned a lot about people by observing them.” I glanced at them dancing. It was obvious by the smiles on their faces that they were enjoying themselves; and I could tell by the way Sokaia was looking at him that she was definitely attracted to Marranalis. If he didn’t do something incredibly stupid before the night was over, he would not be sleeping alone that night.
I was awakened from a deep sleep later that night when the sound of my wrist com penetrated my dreams. I struggled to break out of my half-sleep as my hand fumbled across the nightstand next to the bed. As soon as I started to sit up, the lights in the room slowly rose to a dim level that allowed me to see the room’s contents without being so bright as to hurt my eyes. I finally found the com and managed to say, “Tibby here,” just as Kala stirred in the bed next to me.
“Tibby, this is Verona, DSC operator on duty. We’ve just received a message from the admiralty that an attempt was made on another GW pod solbidyum shipment, this time the delivery intended for Duepras. He said to notify you and Commander Wabussie that the attempt was thwarted by the frigate VENGENCE, which happened to be in the area. After the GW pod was taken at Lasalt, the admiral said he ordered all available ships to head to delivery points for the GW pods in that sector of space where deliveries had not yet reached their destination. The VENGENCE had just recently received a DSC system and one Mirage Fighter. Captain Feltsey of the VENGENCE ordered the Mirage Fighter to pursue in a cloaked mode, but not to open fire on the enemy ship, in hopes that the fleeing craft would lead them its base and, hopefully, the location of the other stolen solbidyum shipment.
“The enemy ship was a corvette of Markazian design, similar to the ones you found at Alle Bamma. The enemy used a number of maneuvers to make sure they weren’t followed and then suddenly made a rush across the Federation border. The Mirage Fighter terminated their pursuit at the border, as it had no authorization to cross, and then returned to the VENGENCE. According to the admiralty, the direction the corvette was headed would lead them to a region that holds three non-aligned planets, Ryken, Yentum and Goo’Waddle. Any one of these planets might be the location of the stolen solbidyum, as they are not far from the first shipment interception.”
“Thank you, Verona. Have you already passed the information on to Commander Wabussie?”
“No, sir. I contacted you first. I will be contacting Commander Wabussie as soon as we finish here
.”
“When you contact Commander Wabussie, please tell him I would like to meet with him in the conference room next to his suite at his convenience in the morning. I assume he will want to contact the admiral and his FSO operatives before talking to me; this will give him time to do so.”
“Yes, Tibby, I will see to it.”
“Once the Commander gives you a time, contact Commodore Stonbersa, Marranalis, and Lieutenant Commander Sokaia and tell them to be in attendance.”
“Yes, sir. Will there be anything else?”
“No, that will be all, Verona. Thank you.”
I put my com link back on the nightstand and rolled over to look at Kala, who was propped up on one elbow facing me. “Well, Tib,” she said, “it looks like you are back in action again.”
I struggled to go back to sleep, but my thoughts kept drifting to our mission to retrieve the missing Mirage Fighter and then track down the missing solbidyum — wherever it might be. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I drifted back to sleep, only to dream of aliens dressed like World War II Japanese soldiers back on Earth. In my dream a fleet of giant battleships floated in the dark of space, while airplanes that looked like a cross between a Mirage Fighter and a Japanese Zero made bombing passes on then. As the battle ensued, the collection of battleships morphed into a small sailboat in which Kala, Commodore Stonbersa, Marranalis, Kerabac and Commander Wabussie sailed stoically while Admiral Regeny stood on the bow in a gallant pose with a sword in an outstretched hand pointing onward.
Suddenly, the boat began to rock wildly and I could hear Kala calling, “Tib, Tib!” and I woke to find Kala shaking me by my shoulder. “Wake up, Tib!”
“Huh? What? I’m awake. What’s the matter?”
“You were dreaming and struggling while you talked in your sleep. I was afraid you were going to give me a black eye with the way you were flailing about.”
“Wow, I’m sorry,” I exclaimed. “Yeah, I was having a bad dream. What time is it?”
“It’s mid-morning. I tried to wake you earlier, but you didn’t respond. I’ve never known you to sleep so soundly.”
“I don’t, normally; but after getting the message last night about the second attempt on a solbidyum shipment, I had a difficult time trying to rest. I guess once I did, I really went into a deep sleep.”
“I suggest you get yourself showered and dressed, as you have a meeting with Commander Wabussie in about thirty minutes. If you hurry, you might have enough time to eat a rogae and have a cup of foccee.”
I had to grin, because a rogae was a pastry that looked like a small waffle from Earth, but it was covered in a thin sugary icing and tasted like a donut; and foccee was more or less the equivalent of coffee served cold. I guess some things remain the same throughout the galaxy.
When I arrived at the conference room, everyone else had already settled in. Commander Wabussie had a dark look on his face and I could tell he was eager to get started.
“I believe everyone is here, so let us begin,” Wabussie started. “As you have probably heard, there was an attempt made to steal the solbidyum shipment intended for Duepras. Fortunately, the frigate VENGENCE was en route to that destination, having been alerted by the admiralty after the heist at Lasalt. We were very lucky in this instance, as we have only a few ships near enough to the current shipment points to provide protection and, fortunately, Duepras was the one picked by the thieves as their next target. I’m not going to repeat all the information that came in on the original message last night — most of you already know those details. I do, however, want to update you on new information.
“We are relatively sure that this last attempt was by the Brotherhood, since they used a corvette of a Markazian design; but here is the disturbing news, our FSO field operative at Duepras reports hearing a conversation between some Brotherhood members just two days ago regarding a plan to raid a pirate base on Goo’Waddle. From what the agent was able to hear, it was not the Brotherhood that intercepted the solbidyum shipment at Lasalt; it was a space pirate and smuggler named Logden. Apparently, this Logden had past ties with the Brotherhood — it suffices to say right now that he has collaborated with the Brotherhood on some rather nefarious projects. Logden got wind of their intent to intercept a shipment at Lasalt. He didn’t know it was solbidyum; only that it was extremely valuable and that the Brotherhood was putting forth a great deal of effort to get it.
“Apparently, the Brotherhood is less than happy about Logden’s heist and is looking for him everywhere; however, they are focusing on Goo’Waddle because that’s where Logden has the most ties and connections. Sooner or later, he is bound to figure out what it is he has. When he does, it’s difficult to say what he will do, but I think it’s safe to bet he will try to sell it to the highest bidder. We’re not sure if he knows yet what he has or not. So far, there has been no indication of him trying to sell the solbidyum to anyone; in fact, he seems to have disappeared completely.
“The VENGENCE is flying to Duepras, where they will pick up our FSO agent. Of course, the crew of the VENGENCE does not know he is an agent; they know only that their orders are to pick him up and transport him to the area where the fleeing Brotherhood corvette crossed the border. The VENGENCE has been told to hold their position there until someone arrives to retrieve him. The admiral is hoping it will be us… if Tibby is willing, of course,” said Wabussie in my direction.
“I hate to ask this question,” I began, “but assuming we do rendezvous with this agent — what then?”
“Then we cross the border, drop off the agent and his ship so he can gather information, which we would use to search for and retrieve the solbidyum. The admiral has suggested that, as a result of new developments, our earlier idea of setting a trap for the Brotherhood by baiting them into an ambush with rumors of a large solbidyum shipment would not be effective. He thinks the sole focus now should be the recovery of the stolen shipment.”
The meeting with Wabussie bothered me. Something just didn’t feel right and I couldn’t shake it off. Everything he said made sense, yet I felt something was missing. Then, suddenly, I realized what it was: A’Lappe. I wasn’t detecting the faint scent he emitted. Usually A’Lappe was lurking invisibly somewhere in the room, listening to everything said in these meetings; but this time there was no sign of him. I was beginning to wonder where he was — it was hard to believe that a meeting of this importance would be something he would let slip by.
Once the meeting was over, I headed to the laboratory where he and Cantolla worked. I entered to find them standing behind a shielded viewing window while looking at something inside a test chamber.
“Tibby,” Cantolla said, “you’re just in time. We think we have resolved two of your requests with one idea, and you were the one who gave it to us.”
“I did? What are we talking about?”
“When we were talking to you last time, you talked about amplifying power, rather than increasing power production. We have been able to do that by looping the signals. We’ve applied the principle to the gravity wave generation unit and it looks like we should be able to boost starship speed to match that of the Mirage Fighter. We also found that looping the power signal for the RMFF demonstrates that the field can be generated and sustained for about one third the power we currently use. But there is a catch — the field is not as strong. We are now capable of shielding a Mirage Fighter with an RMFF, but it won’t be as strong as the one for a starship or for the NEW ORLEANS. This field will protect it from most conventional weapons, but it would not shield against something like a large fusion bomb that is used to destroy a planet.”
“So we will be able to produce RMFFs for the patrol ships and the Mirage Fighters, as well as frigates and corvettes?”
“Yes, and possibly transports, too.”
“That certainly will help. How soon can you have the units produced and operating on the fleet we have here on the NEW ORLEANS?”
“We should have a unit working o
n the ALI by the end of the week, and maybe on thirty other ships by the end of the month. But we don’t have enough raw materials to make many more than that. We’ll have to pick up supplies someplace to continue production beyond the thirty units.”
“If the ships are shielded from attacks, thirty should be more than ample for our needs. How long will it be to get a unit produced to amplify the speed for the NEW ORLEANS so we can travel faster?”
“I think we can have that accomplished in four days.”
“Excellent.”
Remarkably, considering all that was at stake before us, the next few days went by routinely. Each day, Kala and I worked out with Marranalis, Sokaia and our security force for an hour; then we swam laps before meeting with Commander Stonbersa, Kerabac and Commander Wabussie for intelligence updates. In the evenings, we dined alone in our quarters and then went the lounge for dancing and relaxing with the off-duty crewmembers. The only thing new that seemed to be developing was a romance between Marranalis and Sokaia — something Marranalis had been dreaming of for a long time.
On our fifth day out from Nibaria, I received a request from Captain Kerabac to come to the bridge. I arrived to find Commodore Stonbersa, Cantolla and A’Lappe gathered there.
“Tibby,” Stonbersa began, “A’Lappe has his GW amplifier hooked into the system and is ready to give it a try. We thought you would want to be here to see how it works.”
“Certainly,” I said, as I took a seat on the bridge next to Commodore Stonbersa. “Anytime you’re ready, let’s give it a try.”
Captain Kerabac turned to A’Lappe and said, “We’re ready. Let’s see what you have created.”