SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA)

by Musser, Dale

  “I mean, before I showed up, your life was stable and you had a less demanding routine. Since I arrived, you’ve been thrown from one action scene into another – each becoming more stressful.” I had difficulty voicing the rest of my thoughts without choking back some tears. “If I hadn’t shown up, Lunnie and Captain Maxette would still be alive, as would thousands of others.” Kala reached across the table and took my hand.

  “Tibby, you coming here has been the greatest experience of my life. Before you came, I lived a monotonous and repetitive life. I was bored and frustrated and I believed that my life and career were for nothing. Since you came along, I feel – no, I know – that I am a part of something important, something meaningful that will become part of history. Yes, I do regret losing Lunnie and Captain Maxette; but those losses were not your fault. With great success and rewards come great sacrifices, my mother used to say. But by far the best thing of all was meeting you and having you in my life. Lunnie saw that; and I know that if she were here, she would tell me it was worth the price. I never knew what real love was like until you came into my life; so no, I don’t regret that you found your way to the Federation by accident or by any other means.” Kala’s eyes glistened with tears and her chin began to quiver. “Do you miss Earth? Do you want to go back?”

  “I can’t say that I miss Earth exactly. I really had no family or relatives left there; and by the time I got out of the Navy, most of my friends from school had all drifted off and gotten married or had new lives elsewhere. I had a few friends in the Navy during my tour of duty, but I wasn’t really that close to them. I guess what I miss are some of the things from Earth, like my favorite foods. On Earth we didn’t have food simulators and dispensers like you do here. Flavors and textures were more diverse and exotic. I miss the foods that were grown organically and harvested. I miss some of the entertainment of Earth as well. And I haven’t had any real time to spend on a planet yet. I mean, I haven’t been able to get out and have a real feel for any place. The most significant outdoor experience I’ve had to date was the walk to the valley where we held the cremation of the DUSTEN crew and Lunnie and Maxette, and that wasn’t really what I’d call an outing.”

  “Hmm, I hadn’t really thought about that, but you’re right. We need to remedy that situation. Perhaps we can sneak down to the surface of one of the next planets we visit so you can experience some of these new worlds. As for food, you can still get organic foods, there are many people on the planets that eat nothing but organic foods and many grow their own in greenhouses, much like the ones you saw on Megelleon. Meats and fish are more culturally driven, so some planets are almost entirely carnivorous while others adhere to strictly vegetarian diets or synthetic foods. Ships generally rely on synthesizers, because they don’t need to have as much space for food storage and preparation and because everything gets recycled. But if you want, you can instruct Piesew to stock up on organic foods and meats. I don’t know if there is an organic chef onboard as part of the current service crew, but I’d almost bet Piesew has seen to it that we have at least one – or probably a half dozen. Why don’t you get with him and describe the types of foods you like? You might be surprised what he comes up with.”

  Just as Kala finished, Piesew returned with some sort of dessert dish reminiscent of an Earth dish called strawberry shortcake and whipped cream. He called it Norgein Delight; and whatever was, it turned out to be delicious. “Piesew, Kala was telling me that it is possible for you to obtain organic foods and have them stored on the ship and that we can have a chef prepare them for us at times. She indicated that you may already have an organic chef on staff. Is that correct?”

  “Indeed, First Citizen Renwalt.” Piesew insisted on formality at all times, saying it would be inappropriate for a house majordomo to address anyone with familiarity. “In fact, one of the best chefs on the ship is a member of your personal staff.”

  “What? Who?” I asked trying to imagine who of the handful of my staff it might be.

  “Kerabac,” said Piesew. “He has even set up his own personal garden in the atrium attached to his quarters, which he maintains himself. When we returned to Megelleon from Nibaria, he ordered a small personal stock of meats and other organics, as well.”

  “Well I’ll be…! I never would have guessed Kerabac to be a gourmet’” I exclaimed.

  “Kerabac is quite accomplished in many areas,” Piesew continued. “He is an excellent musician as well. He plays several instruments and has a wonderful singing voice.”

  “How do you know this?” I asked curiously.

  “Why, he performs regularly for us in the crew entertainment lounge,” Piesew said with a bit of surprise.

  “We have an entertainment lounge?” I asked dumbfounded.

  “Why, of course, sir. You were not aware of it? You must visit the lounge, sir. It’s great fun for everyone onboard. There is music and dancing every night; and many of your crew demonstrate their talents in performances of songs and acts. It is really quite engaging.”

  I looked at Kala in amazement. She said, “I never thought to mention it to you; I assumed you knew. We’ve both been so busy that neither of us has really had time for entertainment.”

  “Well, we will tonight,” I said. “I’ll be damned if you and I are going to spend all our time working.”

  Kala grinned, “I look forward to it. Maybe you can teach me a few more Earth dance steps.”

  When we delivered the TRITYTE to Megelleon from the DUSTEN, Lunnie enticed Kala and me to dance together. I count those few minutes among my favorite memories still today. When I was growing up, my mother was a part time dance instructor. She taught me all the popular dances of the day; and ever since then dancing has been one of my favorite diversions. Kala and I danced only that one time; we hadn’t really had an opportunity to dance again since then, mostly because my injuries took time to heal and the pace of work hadn’t relented. So I, too, was looking forward to the opportunity to dance with Kala again.

  “My dear, it will be my pleasure.” I answered, just as my wrist communicator started to buzz. It was Lieutenant Commander Wabussie, an aide to the admiral, asking me if I could meet with the admiral for a brief discussion.

  I arrived at the admiral’s office a few minutes later. This was my first visit to the admiral’s office. I don’t know when he had the furnishings brought aboard or when the offices were decorated, but they were lavish to say the least. A dark green carpet covered the floor and behind his desk was a full wall vid screen displaying a super high-definition 3D view of one of the more spectacular nebulas in the system. The remaining walls of his office were paneled with rich wood and decorated with various portraits of figures in military uniforms that were either heroes, relatives, or prominent figures in Federation history – I have no idea which. On the front of his desk was a plate-sized emblem of the Federation. Two leather easy chairs faced the desk. When I entered his office he was standing with his hands behind his back facing the vid screen. He heard Lieutenant Commander Wabussie and I enter the room and he turned around to greet us.

  “Ah, Tibby, I didn’t expect you so quickly. Please sit down.” He indicated a chair in front of his desk.

  “Tibby, we received some bad news just a few minutes ago. When news of the mutiny on the DUSTEN reached Aburn, members of the Brotherhood in the crew of the PURFIRE attempted a rebellion there as well. Fortunately they were not successful. In the same message pod we managed to communicate to the captain details of developments here. He had already begun testing his crew for loyalty to the Federation, starting with the bridge crew. By the time the mutineers organized their attempt to take the ship, the captain had already sealed the bridge and defended its perimeter with a handful of loyal troopers. Two days later, when the second message pod arrived with news of the recovery of the DUSTEN and the fall of the mutineers, including all the news vids, he broadcast the newscasts over all the ships vid screens. The mutineers surrendered immediately thereafter. Fortunatel
y, there were only a small number of casualties; but I fear this is just the beginning. We’re going to see more of this as word spreads out from the capital. More ships will experience mutinies and some may actually fall to the Brotherhood. There’s no telling how many people may die.”

  “That is not good news,” I said. “We really need to find some way to implement a faster and more direct means of communication than GW message pods. Once you get beyond the range of a solar system, the time lag for standard transmission is way too long; and the GW pods are only a little better. It’s just not good enough.”

  “I agree, Tibby. Our scientists have been working on it for years, but to no avail.”

  “I remember seeing a vid documentary on Earth about a branch of science called quantum mechanics. The earth scientists discovered something unique about particle behavior – and I don’t know enough to speak intelligently about it – but it had to do with something called sympathetic particles. If one particle is induced to vibrate or oscillate, its sympathetic partner would duplicate the behavior at that exact same instance, no matter where it was in the universe. I wonder if such technology could be adapted to create an instantaneous communication system.”

  “I’m no scientist, Tibby. Those things are way beyond me and I don’t know if our scientists have knowledge of this quality mechanics theory.”

  “Um, that’s quantum mechanics, sir,” I interjected.

  “Ah, yeah right, quantum mechanics… or whatever,” the admiral stammered. “But you may want to bring it up with someone more in tune with things like that. Maybe that Cantolla woman you have on your staff that did such a great job with the learning devices could investigate.”

  “I‘ll discuss it with her,” I said. “I’ve assigned two projects to her and her team so far. We’ll see what we can discover.”

  “Tibby, I hate to keep dumping things on you, but we also need some new ships – something about the size of the NIGHTBRIDGE; but we need the design to include more firepower and a working RMFF; and they need to be super fast. If we had a small fleet of those with, say, about 300 onboard, mostly your Special Operations troopers – Damn there I go again, wanting you to pull new technology out of your pocket like magic to solve my problems!” the admiral exclaimed.

  “By the way,” he continued, “I’ve been mulling over your idea about using the GW pods to deliver solbidyum and reactors to some of the planets where we are relatively sure of secure delivery. I think we will try to implement that idea. My staff is working on the profiling and selection of individuals we believe loyal to the Federation to serve as targets for the message pods. If we can get a few more planetary reactors in service and make an announcement to that effect, I think our progress will reduce the Brotherhood membership and gain us some time. But as to the real reason I brought you here, the recent attempt at mutiny on the PURFIRE has prompted me to want our next delivery target to be Aburn. It’s about a ten day trip from here. The delivery and installation period will give me an opportunity to meet with Captain Crafter and the PURFIRE crew. I think my personal appearance will help to solidify confidence in the Federation’s perseverance; and I believe it will send a message to other ships where Brotherhood members may be thinking of planning a mutiny.”

  “Aburn it is, then, Admiral. As soon as we have successfully transferred the solbidyum reactor to the surface of Nibaria and received their candidates for the FSO, we can get underway to Aburn. I’ll advise Captain Stonbersa. With any luck we can be underway sometime tomorrow.”

  After leaving Admiral Regeny’s office I made my way to my personal gym. My recovery from the knife wounds I received at the hands of Lexmal had healed over, but I needed to exercise to regain my former strength and agility. I started out with a leisurely swim, gradually building speed until I was racing from one end of the pool to the other. After that I went through a martial arts routine and finished with some strength training on various pieces of equipment in the gym. By the time I was done my entire body tingled with fatigue. Kala was already at our quarters when I arrived. I asked her what she thought I should wear for our evening at the entertainment lounge.

  “Why don’t you wear one of those shirts that you had Piebar make up for you?” she offered. “You look rather handsome in that style; and I think when others see it, they will want some for themselves.”

  After showering I looked through my closet and picked a gray shirt made of a fabric that felt like a cross between silk and velvet and a pair of slightly darker gray slacks. I’ve never been one for light or bright colors and I prefer rather plain fabrics without patterns or elaborate weaves. Before long I was dressed and ready to go to the lounge.

  Kala had decided not to wear her usual military uniform, opting instead for a lovely form-fitting, knee-length dress in a deep tangerine color. She looked absolutely stunning; and my pulse quickened when she walked into the room.

  When we reached the lounge, I was surprised at the enormity of the room. I expected a small cozy area that maybe housed 120 people at most; but this room was five times that size. There were many similar features to some of the night clubs of Earth. A raised stage was positioned in the center of one wall. Tables surrounded an already busy dance floor. Opposite the stage was a bar with an honest-to-goodness bartender who, oddly enough, retrieved the drinks from a dispenser instead of mixing them by hand. Glowing bands of colored lights alternated in the walls and thousands of needle-thin beams of light shot around the room from the ceiling, but the lights never seemed to hit anyone on the face. I mentioned this to Kala and she explained that the computer used to control the lights was programmed with a sort of facial recognition so the lights would not be directed toward anyone’s eyes, as the beams were intense enough to cause temporary blindness.

  Although some of the people in the lounge were still in uniform, the vast majority wore civilian clothing. Since my arrival in the Federation, I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet or see may people outside of the military or government; so I was a bit surprised to see some of the fashions. Actually, fashion is probably not the right word, as that would imply prevailing styles. These were more like costumes.

  “Is this a costume party?” I asked Kala.

  “A what?” she asked.

  “Costume party… you know, where people dress according to a theme that represents a particular period, certain historical figures, story characters or something similar,” I said as I gaped around the room.

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” said Kala as she looked at me in amazement. “None of these people are in costumes. This is their normal civilian clothing.” As she spoke, a man in a purple velvety suit with a fluffy lace collar passed in front of us. His garb reminded me of a popular singer back on Earth that dressed in purple velvet outfits. With him was a woman wearing a dress that fully exposed her left breast. My momentary shock was followed by the realization that I was still not totally over my taboos of Earth. Nudity was a part of life the Federation. The citizens simply accepted it without any thought; and this same attitude extended into the clothing they wore.

  In reality the taboos associated with nudity had not always existed on Earth either. In several historical periods and cultures attitudes and fashions similar to what I was seeing in the lounge had been common. The Minoans, Romans and Egyptians all achieved quite advanced cultures and technologies for their times; and nudity or partial nudity was a quite common feature of clothing styles in all levels of society. In a country called Japan multiple families gathered at community bath houses to bathe nude; and in Europe women wore dresses during one period that left their breasts exposed. There were also what most of Earth’s society like to think of as ‘primitive’ tribes that survived into present times. These people wore little or no clothing; and outside of ceremonial garb or items worn by royalty or shamans of the tribe, wearing clothing was considered superfluous and pointless. Regardless of the truths or realities of the issue, nudity was a non-issue throughout most of the Federation plane
ts. Kala did tell me once in the past that there were a few worlds within the alliance that held strong to their own cultural perspectives or religions that included bans on nudity in varying degrees, but they tended to be few and far between.

  The first time I heard Federation music was on the TRITYTE, when Kala and I found Lunnie and Reidecor dancing to music reminiscent of Earth’s disco music. At the time I more or less assumed that it was the music of the day; however, as we entered the lounge on the NEW ORLEANS, the music I heard was more like tango and milonga rhythms. Without realizing it I had begun to move to the music.

  “Ah, so you have dance steps for this music, as well,” Kala said to me. “Want to teach me a few?”

  When teaching both martial arts and dancing to Kala in recent months, I discovered that she needed to be shown a step or movement only once before it became a permanent and easily recalled skill. In just a few minutes we were doing a tango as finely and smoothly as I had ever danced with any partner. We kept our eyes glued on each other as the rhythm carried us; and when the music came to an abrupt end, we were shocked to hear cheering and applause all around the dance floor. Everyone had stopped dancing to watch us. Within seconds we were surrounded by people wanting to learn this “new” dance. Unfortunately, few of them were as fast as Kala at learning the steps.

  After a few more tangos the music stopped. The lounge’s presiding host announced that we would be entertained by Kerabac while we caught a breath and refreshed ourselves with some beverages. It was obvious that Kerabac was quite popular, as I could barely hear the remainder of the introduction over the huge applause and roar from the audience. A device stood in the middle of the stage that looked a little like a semi-circular table top mounted on a pedestal with a mushroomed base. Kerabac emerged in a spotlight and walked to center stage as the applause grew even louder. He wore an ivory short-sleeved shirt with a Nehru-like collar that contrasted sharply with his very dark skin. He took a seat at the small stool and placed his hands on the semi-circle and it immediately became clear that this was some kind of keyboard that could mimic almost any sound.