“Using information uncovered by our operatives about the Federation, we learned Shydak was on his way here to meet with ranking members of the Brotherhood and we hoped with the head of the Brotherhood as well. This is a picture of Shydak; it’s quite possible some of you may have seen him in the company of some of the highest ranking individuals in the Federation at times.” An image of Shydak appeared on the screen and I felt myself tensing up as I looked at that face once more. I could feel all the hate I felt for this man rising within me.
Wabussie continued. “About two weeks ago Shydak arrived here in Megelleon and since then he has been meeting with a number of people in clandestine settings. Fortunately, with the information we had uncovered, we were able to plant surveillance devices in the right locations, and this is what we uncovered. This is a meeting took place a four days ago,” a series of images appeared on the vid screens showing Shydak talking and laughing with Garfreed Aliquatee. There was a large gasp from the hall of senators. “These other men you see here at this meeting with Garfreed Aliquatee and Shydak are some of the top-ranking members of the FOI,” Wabussie said as more images appeared on the screen.
“These photos were taken last evening at another meeting,” he continued. Shydak could be seen talking to a group of men all dressed in senators’ attire. There was a loud gasp and buzz of conversation about the hall that took a few moments to die down. “If you are looking for these senators in the hall today,” Wabussie continued, “you will notice they are absent. Sometime during the night they all disappeared, along with this man.” The next image that appeared on the screen was that of Leader Roritat standing with Shydak, the two appeared to be engaged in intense conversation. The noise of conversation in the hall was explosive with senators jumping to their feet in astonishment. It took the intervention of Justice Mastoeth shouting at the top of his lungs to establish order and quietness again so Wabussie could continue.
“I have here a vid recording; we have enhanced the sound and filtered out background noise so you can hear the conversation between Shydak and Leader Roritat.”
“You blew it today with your questioning of Tibby,” Shydak can be seen saying to Roritat.
Roritat came back at Shydak, “Don’t fuss at me, I told you to get rid of him a long time ago. You’ve botched the job every time. You were supposed to get rid of him at Plosaxen and you messed that one up. You blew it when Senator Euregata called you from TEZU LAGONG and told you Tibby was there, and you blew it again at Goo’Waddle, so don’t go telling me that I blew it. I should replace you with someone more competent.
“We need someone who understands the way Tibby thinks,” Roritat can be heard saying, “someone from Earth.”
“Where are you going to get another Earthman?” Shydak answered, “The Tottalax destroyed the planet with an asteroid.”
“Yes, but Tibby rescued some colonists from Earth that were on the planet’s moon and another nearby planet; one of them was a military leader and he and Tibby are enemies. He’s being held in a cell here at the Capitol awaiting trial for crimes against sentient life forms. I think he may be more than willing to help us.” The vid ends, and Wabussie continues speaking.
“Unfortunately, it was a few hours later that we retrieved this recording, and by then Shydak had taken Brotherhood men in trooper attire and gone into the holding area, where they killed the guards and freed the man known as Ming and took him away. We have other information showing that the man we have believed to be Leader Roritat is not Roritat at all, but an imposter who took Roritat’s place about three years ago when the real Roritat was visiting one of the fringe worlds named Gander. The planet had just joined the Federation and was still in a disorganized state; sometime during Roritat’s visit there he was assassinated and the leader of the Brotherhood took his place. We don’t know the imposter’s real name, but we do know that he had reconstructive surgery done a couple of days before the actual Roritat arrived. It was a good place to make the switch and a good time to do so, as few people in that sector had ever met the real Roritat and before any of his acquaintances would see him again elsewhere in the Federation, several years would go by, so any changes in his appearance would be assumed to be natural. What we do know now is that the man we believed to be Leader Roritat is, in reality, the head of the Brotherhood.” While he was still talking, one of the Senate guards approached Justice Mastoeth and handed him a note. The Justice looked at the note and stood up and walked to Wabussie and handed him the note. While Wabussie was reading the note Justice Mastoeth began to speak.
“We have just received word that Leader Rieam is dead; I repeat-- Leader Rieam is dead. Apparently, he was assassinated in his home sometime this morning. His body along with bodies of his guards were found moments ago when there was supposed to be a changing of the guards. There was a loud roar as thousands of senators began speaking all at once. Mastoeth spoke in a loud voice, “There is more.” Slowly things quieted down and Justice Mastoeth continued.
“When the guards tried to notify Leader Roritat of the event they were unable to locate him. We then got an urgent message from the starship HAPRIN, which had recently arrived in orbit, saying the man we assumed was Leader Roritat, along with more than thirty senators and several dozen troopers boarded the starship. The captain assumed it was an official visit and welcomed them aboard. We’re not sure what happened next, but the message said that the ship’s bridge had been taken over by the troopers with Leader Roritat, and that he, and his men, had taken command of the ship.”
I found myself jumping to my feet and shouting to the Justice and Wabussie, “You need to get everyone out of here now! He’ll use the ship to attack the Capitol!”
I barely got the words out of my mouth when suddenly all the vid screens in the Senate hearing hall changed to an image of Leader Roritat on the bridge of the HAPRIN.
“I should give you all a chance to surrender,” he said, “but honestly I don’t feel like it, and killing you all will send a message to the rest of the Federation not to oppose me. You’re all such a bunch of fools. It’s going to be a real delight seeing you die with your beloved Tibby,” he said, and the screen went blank. All around the Senate hall people were screaming and trying to get out the exits as explosions started rocking the building and pieces of it began falling in on the senators. The Captain of the Senate Guard was by my side in an instant pulling me and saying, “This way, First Citizen, quickly.” I glanced over at Kala to see a senate guard directing her in the same direction we were heading. There was a loud crash behind us, and I turned back to see a large piece of the roof had collapsed under the fire from the ship and fallen where I had just been seated. The Captain led me to a small area behind the podium that concealed a long tube tunnel like a water slide.
“In here, quickly,” the Captain ordered.
“Not until Kala and Jenira are safe,” I said, as I saw them both being led around the corner.
“Very well,” the Captain said. “You will all need to go down this slide; it will take you to a shelter below the Capitol. It’s a long way down; keep your arms folded across your chest and your legs straight, as soon as you stop at the bottom roll out of the way because someone will be coming right behind you, and you don’t want to get kicked in the head.” He took Kala by the arm and helped her into the tube, as soon as she had her arms in place he let go of her and she began sliding down the tube; immediately he took hold of Jenira’s arm and helped her into the tube. Out in the main hall we could hear screams and explosions as more of the hall caved in. I saw Admiral Regeny, Commander Wabussie and Senator Tonclin being escorted into the alcove behind me just as the Captain took hold of my arm to place me in the tube.
“These men are more important to the Federation, send them through first,” I said as I tried to disengage my arm.
“Sorry sir, but you go first.” He replied.
“Go Tibby, he’s right, you’re more important right now than we are,” the Admiral said.
; I was about to argue more when a large portion of the roof collapsed just behind the Senator, and I realized this was no time for arguments. I quickly climbed into the tube and was rocketing downward on the slide before I knew it. I was glad about one thing; there was some type of light strip in the tube so you could see, even if there was nothing to see but the tube itself. The tube was sufficient in diameter that one could have crawled through it on hands and knees were it not so steep a decline. It seemed that the tube went on forever; I tried to guess just how long it was, and I was about to think it would never end, when suddenly I saw a circle of light at the end of the tunnel that grew and grew until at last I was ejected from it onto a large foam mat. I quickly rolled to my left and saw Kala and Jenira standing with two Senate guards on the other side of a sizeable room.
“That was quite some ride,” I said as I started to walk over to them just as Admiral Regeny popped out of the tube behind me.
“I’m just glad we made it,” Kala said. I noted Jenira arguing with one of the guards, using her sign language that she needed a weapon in case she needed to defend us; the guard wasn’t buying her argument.
A moment later, Wabussie popped out of the tube followed closely by Senator Tonclin, who nearly plowed into Wabussie when he was slow in rolling out of the way. I noted that Tonclin was covered with a layer of dust; I could only visualize that more of the ceiling had collapsed near him before he got into the tube.
“You three should have gone before me, you’re vital to the Federation, I’m not.” I said.
“You’re wrong there, Tibby,” the Admiral began as he adjusted his uniform. “You’re more vital to the Federation than you realize, and the actions of the Brotherhood in staging your hearing here prove it. They see you as their biggest threat, and not without reason.” I noted Tonclin brushing the dust off his clothing and then looking back into the tube just as a very dusty Regata appeared.
“Where are the Senate guards? “Tonclin asked. “They should be right behind you.”
“They will be trying to rescue others,” one of the guards in the room with us said. “It’s our job.”
The room shook violently, the lights flickered, accompanied by a loud rumbling and a few pieces of debris came sliding out of the tube.
“Is there a communication link here that I can use to contact my men?” the admiral asked the guards.
“Yes Admiral, right this way,” he answered and began leading the Admiral across the room toward a door.
“Tibby, I think you should come with me, I may need your advice. You too, Commander,” he said to Wabussie. We entered a long hallway with doors every 50 to 100 meters apart. Occasionally we saw a senate guard moving rapidly across the hall or moving from one room to another leading a senator. I noticed a few seemed to be bleeding and in need of medical attention. We didn’t go very far before we were directed into a small room filled with communication equipment and several operators.
“I need to talk to my command center immediately,” the Admiral said to an officer who appeared to be in in charge of the communication room.
“I’m sorry, Admiral but we are unable to connect with the command center; they went offline about one minute after the attack began,” the officer replied.
“What about the hangar here at the Capitol, can you get through to them?”
“Negative sir, it was hit on the first volley; we have no contact with anyone there.”
“Admiral, let me see if I can contact my estate; we have about 30 Mirage Fighters there and some patrol ships.”
“Do it!” he said as a man at one of the consoles began to make the connection. A moment later the operator said. “I have someone here named Marranalis.”
“Good, let me talk to him. Marranalis, this is Tibby--are you monitoring what’s going on here at the Capitol?”
“Yes, we’re just now taking off to attack the HAPRIN, but we don’t know how far to carry the attack. Their RMFF and cloaking are down so we can make some solid hits on it, especially if we’re cloaked.”
“This is Admiral Regeny,” the Admiral spoke up. “Hit that ship with all you got, Major Marranalis! We can’t afford to be squeamish about innocents aboard; the Brotherhood is wiping out the Federation’s leaders and who knows what else.”
“I agree with the Admiral,” I said.
There was a pause while Marranalis gave orders to my security forces at the estate, and then he said. “I’ve managed to get word to the Commodore on the NEW ORLEANS at Nibaria, but the ship is undergoing major repair to the hangar; they can’t help us. However, there is another shipment of Mirage Fighters ready for delivery. A’Lappe and some of the ship’s crew are installing the reactors and cloaking devices as quickly as possible on the fighters and some of them should be underway in less than an hour. But it will be a day before they can reach you.”
“Thanks, Marranalis, good hunting.” I said.
“I’d forgotten that we have the RMFF and the cloaking devices keyed into the bridge crew on the ships so invaders can’t activate the systems, only a few regular crew members; no one else can activate it.” I said. “Obviously the Brotherhood doesn't know that and now they can’t activate it. If they had the amplification of the weapons that the RMFF provides, they would have blown this place apart on the first shot.”
The admiral sighed and said, “Tibby I can’t agree with you more.”
“Sir,” one of the operators addressed the Admiral, “the HAPRIN has stopped firing and seems to be leaving orbit. They are firing to the north now.”
“They are probably firing at my incoming Mirage Fighters, but they can’t seem them to target them.” I replied.
“No sir, they are taking fire from the fighters but firing at something else.” He answered.
“What else could there be?” I asked.
“Sir, we have message coming in for you from Major Marranalis.”
“Put him through,” I said.
“Tibby,” Marranalis began in a tense tone. “They are firing on your estate; it’s taken several hard hits.” Instantly my blood seemed to have turned to the coldest ice. There were thousands of people living and working at my estate, as well as the orphans who had just arrived from Goo’Waddle and many of the refugees from Earth.
“Send back half the fighters you have with you to help them and keep firing on the HAPRIN with the other ships until you destroy it or until they surrender or leave.” I ordered. “Contact the fighters from Nibaria and have them join up with you in the pursuit of the HAPRIN.”
“Will do, Tibby, but I don’t know if the ships from Nibaria will be able to catch up with us, the HAPRIN is heading in the other direction. Tibby, I left the ALI in the hangar. It should be safe there if you need it.” The hangar Marranalis spoke of was built into the side of the mountain and was protected to some degree from enemy fire.
While I had been talking to Marranalis both the Admiral and Commander Wabussie had managed to get in touch with their own people. The Admiral had been able to contact a frigate and they were on their way, and he had also been able to activate a squad from a base on the far side of the planet; and they too, were rushing to join up with Marranalis and my Mirage Fighters in the pursuit of the HAPRIN.
“How bad is the damage to the Senate hearing room?” I asked one of the senate’s guards with us.
“We’re still assessing the situation, but it’s very bad. There are several thousand senators who are dead and many more seriously injured, but from what we can tell at least two-thirds of the Senate made it to shelters and survived.”
“What of the captain and team that helped us?” I asked. The operator was silent a moment before replying, “We’re not sure. The podium area where you were was hit very hard; we’ve not had any reports from the guards who were in that area.”
“How about Justice Mastoeth, did he make it?”
“The Justice is safe, he was one of the first evacuated. Do you wish to speak with him?”
“Ahh, no… I im
agine he is busy with other affairs of the Federation with all that is happening. It’s best I not disturb him.” I answered.
It was a moment later that another Senate guard in a captain's uniform appeared and addressed the Admiral. “Admiral Regeny, it is safe now to move you from the shelters here. We have accommodations for you and the First Citizens deeper in the complex, if you care to come with me, I will assign guards to escort you to your rooms.”
“I really need to stay here and communicate with my men outside,” the admiral replied. “However you can see to the First Citizens and to Senator Tonclin.”
“The Senator and First Citizen Kalana, along with the young woman and the man from Alle Bamma have already been taken to their accommodations; I’ll send someone to guide First Citizen Tibby to join them.”
A female guard came and escorted me to the suite that had been assigned for Kala and me; there were two additional bed rooms in the suite and Jenira was in one of them. I didn’t see Regata, so I assumed they had given him a room of his own. I was glad to see Jenira was with Kala, as I didn’t want either of them alone at a time like this. As soon as I was in the suite Kala rushed to me and put her head against my chest and sobbed. “Tibby, they attacked the estate. There are hundreds dead and wounded.”
“I know,” I said. But how did you find out?”
Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth Page 36