Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals

by Dale Musser

  “I also found reference in one of Shydak’s earlier messages that the Brotherhood was about to come into considerable wealth. They were planning to use this wealth to purchase as many of the latest and best ships as they could get their hands on. Then, about the time of the solbidyum heist, he suddenly changes his story and starts indicating in his communications that the Brotherhood is having some problems with securing the resources to their wealth and that there would be some delay in payment. So it seems that Shydak and the Brotherhood were either not the ones that intercepted the solbidyum shipment, or they can’t secure a buyer with the funds to pay them.”

  “That is interesting news. If the Brotherhood doesn’t have the solbidyum, that means they are probably looking for the people that do, just like we are. I think you need to see if you can hack into the Brotherhood communications and monitor them again. It might not hurt if you could train some of our security people how to do it as well, so you can filter several channels of communication at once.”

  I could tell A’Lappe didn’t like this idea, but he could see the value in it and I was sure he would follow through. A’Lappe enjoyed having the edge, in terms of technological gadgets and exclusive access to certain information, so to have to reveal one of his secrets was not something he relished.

  I continued, “If the Brotherhood suspects who has the solbidyum or has any clue as to where it is, and if we have the opportunity to gain that information from them and beat them to the solbidyum, all the better. We don’t know what we’re up against, but maybe we can find out from the Brotherhood.”

  With everything that had been going on in the previous couple of days, I had spent very little time with Kala, and her absence was becoming annoying. So I was delighted when I returned to our quarters to find her there waiting for me.

  “Tib, come with me. I have a surprise for you.” She took me by the hand and led me out the door and through the maze of corridors and compartments on the NEW ORLEANS. The ship is so large that were I to start out in the morning with the goal of traversing every corridor and compartment, I wouldn’t be able to finish by the end of the day. So I was not surprised when the journey with Kala took longer than usual.

  “Just where are we going?” I asked.

  “Wait and see; you’ll like it!”

  I always hated when people say that, because the frustration of the wait usually outweighs the joy of the surprise. “Really, now, would it destroy the wonder of whatever it is if you told me before I saw it?”

  “Yeeesss! Now stop being a pest and just be patient.”

  “Don’t we have some sort of transfer tubes on this ship that could take us here faster?”

  “Tib, stop being difficult. You know very well we have transfer tubes, but I thought it would be more fun to walk.” Kala was just far enough in front of me, as she held my hand to drag me along, that I could enjoy the view of her luscious hips as she marched along.

  “I must admit, watching your butt sway back here is making the journey more enjoyable.”

  Kala turned her head and smiled at me as she gave an extra exaggeration to her hip motions. I resigned myself that I was just going to enjoy the view until we arrived at our destination. Eventually, Kala stopped at a compartment door that appeared to be the entrance to a cargo space. She placed her palm on the security door lock and the door slid to the side so we could enter.

  I was dumbstruck for a minute. For the life of me, it felt as if we had exited the ship to find ourselves standing in a small, earthen depression in a forested area surrounded by rocks and a small stream with a rock pool. A breeze carried the rich scent of the forest and I could hear birds singing off in the trees somewhere. It was only with the utmost inspection of the sky that I could see that it was artificial – a dome, but the illusion of being outdoors was so great that it was breathtaking.

  “Well? How do you like it?” she asked, as she bounced up and down on her toes. I had never seen Kala like this before. She was almost like an excited teenage girl instead of the mature and controlled Major Kalana, military attaché for the Federation – the image of Kala that people saw most of the time.

  “I…I don’t know what to say. How did you find this place? Why is it here?”

  “First of all I didn’t find it — I had it made. And the reason it’s here is so we have a place where we can get away and be alone. The door is coded to only allow access to you and me. No one else on the ship can get into this space. I’ve had the botany crew secretly working on this for months.”

  The whole time she was telling me this she was shedding clothing. I wasn’t exactly sure where all of this was going, but I had an idea. So I began shedding my clothing as well. Kala walked over to the pool. The banks were lined with heavy, velvet-like green moss. She stood for a moment with one foot on the bank, extending the other to reach her toe into the water.

  “Perfect,” she purred. “Not too warm, not too cold.” She waded out into the water and settled down on an underwater rock that made a bench long enough for two persons. I followed her. The water was cool, but not unpleasantly so, so I waded slowly into the deeper water and seated myself beside her.

  “How did they duplicate the sun?” I asked curiously. In the sky dome above us a bright sun sent down rays of light that filtered through the trees and leaves to cast dark shadows on the ground.

  “I have no idea. But I know that we can have a sunset, a starry sky – with or without a moon or moons – or we can opt for a cloudy sky, and even rain. Of course, the temperature is adjustable to suit our wishes.”

  “What made you decide to do this?”

  “I really enjoyed all the time together back on the estate at our secluded lakeside sanctuary, and I thought how nice it would be if we had such a place that we could take where ever we went. Then I thought about all the vacant compartments and spaces on the NEW ORLEANS and, well, next thing I knew, I had A’Lappe and Commander Stonbersa looking into having this space outfitted just for us.”

  I wondered at all I was seeing around us. I felt Kala’s eyes on me and turned to see the most beautiful smile on her face. Had I not already been madly in love with her, I would have fallen hard for her in that very instant.

  “I don’t know what to say. This is beautiful. Wonderful!”

  “Tib, you don’t need to say anything. Now let’s go over there and see if that moss is as soft as it looks.” She took me by the hand again and led me to the mossy bank. My earlier assumption as to where all this was leading proved itself to be correct.

  For the next several days, Kala and I practically hid out in our paradise aboard the NEW ORLEANS. We came out early in the mornings to check on the status of things, get something to eat, and return to our paradise for a few more hours before emerging for another meal and updates on any new happenings. On the third day I found Wabussie eagerly awaiting me as we opened the door.

  “Tibby, we’ve received word from one of our operatives that the Brotherhood is sending a lot of ships and personnel into the area of space around Ryken, Yentum and Goo’Waddle. Our agent tells us they’re stopping every ship in the area to board and search for someone or something. So far, they’ve released every ship they have searched, offering no explanation for the interception, and have departed with nothing more than a brief apology for the detainment. Needless to say, this situation has a lot of people in the area quite nervous and angry.”

  “Good. If the locals are upset with the Brotherhood, all the better for us and more favorable for the Federation. I think we can safely assume that the Brotherhood is searching for the solbidyum. I wonder why it is that Logden, or whoever has the solbidyum, hasn’t tried to sell it yet?”

  “Yes, that bothers me also. It’s possible, I suppose, that the thief still doesn’t know what he has in his possession. Or maybe he is just being very cautious as he tries to figure out how to sell the solbidyum and still keep his skin. He might even be trying to negotiate with the Brotherhood from some undisclosed location; but we know
they are cash poor at the moment and would need to sell the solbidyum themselves in order to have enough money to buy anything.”

  “Has A’Lappe said anything to you about messages he may have intercepted with the Brotherhood thus far?”

  “No. I didn’t know he was even doing that. To be honest, I’ve not seen him in a few days now.”

  “I asked him to look into intercepting Brotherhood communications; he’s done it successfully in the past. I also wanted him to train several of the crew in his methods so we can have more ears listening. I wonder what he’s been up to.”

  “Maybe that’s what he is doing,” Wabussie said while adjusting his collar. “I saw him with several of your crew a few days ago as they entered one of the vacant compartments not far from the bridge area. Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen any of those crewmembers since then. A’Lappe hasn’t even been performing in the ship’s lounge the past two nights.”

  “I guess I’d better find out what our little genius is up to.”

  I activated my wrist com. “A’Lappe, this is Tibby. I would like to meet with you for a few minutes to get an update on your progress.”

  One of the interesting things about the wrist com that I didn’t fully understand was how, before I finished saying the name of the person I wanted to address, the communicator calculated the recipient’s identity and opened a link to that person’s communicator. Kala tried to explain it to me once — the microsecond delay that adjusted on the other end so that the person’s name didn’t get chopped off when the link opened and the caller was already in the middle of speaking. But I still couldn’t grasp how that worked.

  “Ah, Tibby,” A’Lappe’s voice came back over the com link. “I was just about to contact you for a demonstration. If you would care to join us in the room across the corridor from the bridge conference room, I’d be happy to bring you up to date.”

  “I’m on my way,” I said, all the while wondering just who “us” was.

  When I reached the compartment, the first thing I noted was that a security palm pad had been added outside the door. I placed my palm on it and the door immediately opened. It was obvious upon entering that A’Lappe had been very busy indeed. The compartment was only about seven meters square. Two console panels were set up along each of the three walls. A row of comfortable-looking chairs lined the remaining wall, where the door was, obviously meant for anyone in the room that wasn’t occupying one of the consoles. In the center of the room was a circular console with A’Lappe seated on a swivel chair that allowed him to scan the room.

  “Tibby, come in, come in. What do you think of your new intelligence center? From here, we can monitor all sorts of signals and data and quite effectively intercept and decipher coded messages. We just got everything up and running today; and already we’re picking up some pretty juicy bits between the Brotherhood ships.”

  “You mean like they’re detaining and searching every ship that leaves the Ryken, Yentum, and Goo’Waddle area?”

  “Oh, so you know about that already?” A’Lappe looked somewhat crestfallen.

  “Yes, I just got the information from Wabussie a few minutes ago. He received a report from one of the FSO agents in the area.”

  “Hmmph,” A’Lappe snorted. “Did he also tell you the Brotherhood is offering a huge bounty for anyone providing them information that leads them to Logden?”

  “No, he didn’t mention anything like that.”

  A’Lappe perked up; apparently having something new to offer provided him with renewed energy.

  “Well, Logden, it seems, was providing some services to the Brotherhood up until about eight weeks ago — drug running, from the sounds of it. Then suddenly he became an unwelcome name in Brotherhood circles. Two days after the solbidyum shipment was taken, communications throughout the Brotherhood in this sector really heated up, and the focus was the search for Logden. Instructions are to NOT kill him; that he is wanted for interrogation by the Brotherhood. The same orders apply to Logden’s ship, the BUKSCUKET. It is to be captured at all cost, but not destroyed or damaged. Any crew that successfully locates and detains Logden or the ship is guaranteed riches beyond belief, according to Brotherhood channels. They have every ship they can muster responding to the area as fast as possible. They believe that Logden is hiding someplace on one of the three planets, waiting things out.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that all we have so far is an elaboration of information we already had?”

  A’Lappe looked crestfallen again. “Pretty much so. There also was some chatter about the fighter at Gaimse and about Shydak, who was heading there to confront the Gaimseians and rattle some skulls over the deal to reverse-engineer and build more Mirage Fighters for them. He should be arriving there about now. Boy, is he in for a surprise.”

  “I would imagine so. You wouldn’t happen to know if the FSO still has an agent on Gaimse…?”

  A’Lappe scanned his console, as he moved his hands over it a few times. “It looks like Commander Wabussie issued an order for one to be stationed there last week. Hmm, I see here that one was dropped off by… um… you’re not going to believe this, Tibby. We dropped him off – well, indirectly, anyway. Commander Wabussie took out one of the Federation Mirage Fighters intended for transfer to the Federation and flew one of the Nibarians to the surface – cloaked, of course – and dropped him off while we were engaged in our recon operation with the Gaimse shipyard.”

  “How did he pull that off? He would have needed either Commodore Stonbersa or Captain Kerabac’s approval to do that, and neither of them mentioned it to me. Is there any indication of authorization being given for the flight?”

  A’Lappe’s hands moved over the console once more. “All indications are that the commodore cleared the mission.”

  “It looks like I’m going to have to speak with the commodore about this,” I said, as I turned and left the room to head for the bridge.

  When I arrived, I found Stonbersa seated in his chair, reviewing monitors about the bridge. Captain Kerabac was leaning over Verona’s DSC console. Two were discussing something. Two other crewmembers were operating their stations.

  “Excuse me, Commodore,” I began, “might I have a word with you in private?”

  Stonbersa gave me a questioning look. “Certainly, Tibby, shall we use the bridge conference room?”

  “That will be fine.” The bridge conference room was a small but comfortable room adjacent to the bridge that was intended for bridge crew briefings and meetings. Under normal conditions, it held about eight to ten persons. Once inside and seated, Stonbersa said, “What can I do for you, Tibby?”

  “I understand that, while we were on Gaimse, you authorized Commander Wabussie’s departure from the NEW ORLEANS with one of the Mirage Fighters and a Nibarian and that they flew to the surface. Is that correct?”

  “Why, yes, it is. The Commander came to me and said that he needed to go to the surface using one of Federation fighters aboard the NEW ORLEANS on a special mission. He said he would be back before you had completed your mission and that there was no danger of detection because he would be cloaked the entire time.”

  “Why was I never informed of this?”

  “I was of the impression by the way that the Commander presented himself that you were aware of it and that the action had your approval,” Stonbersa said, staring at me like a creature caught in a spotlight.

  “I’m upset about this,” I said. “Understand, I am not blaming you. I gave you authority to make decisions about the operation of the ship and I fully trust you. What bothers me is that no one — especially the Commander — discussed this with me directly at the time. I cannot have anyone doing things like this under the radar, especially when we are in the midst of a critical situation like our recon mission at Gaimse. Had he been observed or discovered while we were on the planet, the safety of every one of my team could have been endangered. In the future, I want a log maintained of the comings and goings of AL
L ships here on the NEW ORLEANS. Both you and Captain Kerabac have the right to authorize and sign for such events, but I want a record of it included in my daily status report.

  “Under normal situations and normal daily operations, I do not expect to be made aware of the comings and goings of each and every ship, but on missions such as this, where dangers are present, I wish to be notified before any ship leaves or joins up with or docks in the NEW ORLEANS. If we know in advance that a ship is coming, like a small cargo vessel, I would like to know as far in advance as possible. Likewise, during non-standard missions, like the one we currently underway, I want to be informed before any ship leaves the NEW ORLEANS.”

  “Tibby, I am sorry. I assumed – and wrongly so, I admit – that the Commander had discussed this with you and you were aware of the situation. But as Commodore of your fleet and guardian of the flagship, I should have been more astute. I assure you, it will not happen again.”