by Musser, Dale
The trooper slowly withdrew his gun and placed it on the table; but instead of sliding it to me like he was told, he suddenly grabbed for it and tried to aim and fire. Kerabac and I fired at the same time and he dropped to the table dead.
“I’m sorry he did that,” I said. “We truly don’t wish to kill any of you, if we can help it. Now, if the rest of you are willing to cooperate, perhaps you’ll live to tell stories about this one day.”
It took us about 15 minutes to move them all into a small empty cargo hold. One by one, we made them strip down and dress in simple jumpsuits. Once locked away inside, we left Hotyona to guard the hold from outside the door.
In all it had been less than 50 minutes since we entered the ship. If the dead men had since been discovered on the trail, it hadn’t been reported to the base yet. If they had been was more likely that no one had bothered to venture out into the rain to search for what they probably believed were deserters.
“How long do you think this rain will last?” I asked Kerabac.
He checked some instruments on the control console and said, “By the looks of the weather radar, I’d say a few hours. This is a pretty large storm.”
“Listen, I’m going out there. This is our opportunity to free the slaves. If my latest dream about Thumumba is accurate, they’re in that large building behind this ship. If I can disable the guards and let the natives out through the back, it’ll create a large diversion. We can use this ship to disable the other Brotherhood ships here at the base; and once the natives are clear of the area, we’ll destroy the lab. By the way, this is probably a good time to contact the NEW ORLEANS. It should be in orbit by now.”
Kerabac had already activated the communication system and set it to a coded frequency that the NEW ORLEANS would expect for our transmission. When he opened a communication link, Stonbersa’s image appeared on the screen. “Tibby, it looks like you’ve joined the Brotherhood.”
“Not exactly,” I said. “Not everything is at it appears. Things are a mess down here. We ran into a base where the rebels are manufacturing God’s Sweat, the illegal drug that’s been plaguing dozens of planets in the galaxy. The Brotherhood has been forcing the natives into slavery to harvest and process the plants used in its concoction. Right now we’re in their base camp, or at least one of their bases. I suspect there are many more to be found elsewhere on the planet.
“We’re about to steal one of their ships and create total havoc at this site. For the moment, I would appreciate if you could keep the NEW ORLEANS cloaked and shielded. Have Marranalis get two squads geared up. The ALI is at a hidden location in the jungle; I’m going to have Kerabac give you the coordinates. The ALI is currently surrounded by Brotherhood troopers that are hoping to capture us when we return to the ship; but that number may soon be reduced, once the fireworks begin here. I want Marranalis and his men to retrieve the ALI and fly her back to the NEW ORLEANS. Marranalis is the only one who can access the ALI, as we sealed the hatch. His prints are still registered with the ship, so he’ll be able to open her. Once we’ve done what damage we can here, we’ll join you in orbit. Have the fleet of Mirage Fighters ready to go; we may have a real battle on our hands in a short while.
“What’s the status of A’Lappe and Cantolla’s efforts with the instant communicator?”
“You won’t believe it, Tibby, but their contraption works. It still needs some refining but the damn thing works.”
“That’s great news. Listen, I need to speak quickly. I need you to get a message back to Admiral Regeny apprising him of the situation here. Tell him that the Brotherhood has been financing their expansion at least in part with the drugs they’re manufacturing on this planet. The ship we’re in at the moment is like nothing we’ve ever seen. It’s armed like a star ship but it’s the size of a corvette. Right now I wish it had an RMFF on it, but I would settle for a cloaking device. See if A’Lappe can get a cloaking device built that we can put in this ship as soon as we get back to the NEW ORLEANS. I think we’re going to need it.
“One more thing – how is Kala doing in stasis? Is everything alright?”
“Yes, Kala is fine and the stasis system is functioning well. How did your hunt go for the ruguian eggs?”
“We were able to collect some, but not enough yet to make the anti-toxin. We ran into the Brotherhood before we could finish.
“I need to cut this transmission short. I have some natives to free before it stops raining. Kerabac can give you more details.”
I turned to Kerabac and said. “I’m headed out. If I’m not back in 40 minutes, I want you to take this ship and the prisoners and head for the NEW ORLEANS. On your way out, use the torpedoes to take out the processing plant and as many other buildings and ships on the ground as you can. Then move out fast, in case someone on the ground gets a message to other bases to pursue you.”
“Understood,” said Kerabac. “Good luck.”
I descended to the hatch level and exited the ship using the code Kerabac entered to secure the door. It was still pouring rain and no one was in sight. I resealed the door and quickly headed to the large building Thumumba had shown me in the dream. I found a door and walked in quietly, only to find myself face to face with a trooper standing guard just inside the entrance. Since I was in a Brotherhood uniform he didn’t realize that I wasn’t one of them.
“They must have sent you here on something really important for you to come in this storm,” he said. “I’ll be glad when they get the underground connecting tunnels completed.”
“Yeah,” I said… and then I hit him square in the face, knocking him out cold. On the wall behind him were storage racks filled with slave control collars. I placed one on his neck and activated the full restraint setting. His body immediately went rigid.
I opened a nearby door to a large area of holding cells loaded with natives from wall to wall. A long corridor separated the cells, at the end of which I could see a small room behind an open door, where four guards sat around a makeshift table, playing some sort of gambling game. I went back into the room I had just left and gathered about a half dozen collars and a controller unit and then walked confidently down the corridor as if I belonged there. At first the sight of the restraining collars the natives flinched; then they appeared somewhat confused when I passed right by them and headed straight for the end of the corridor.
As I walked boldly into the room, one glanced up briefly from his cards and said, “I take it that it stopped raining and you need some of the ants to do some work?” It was obvious from his tone that the “ants” were the natives.
“Not exactly,” I replied, as I lifted my gun and aimed it at them. I tossed the collars on the table. “Put one of these on… all of you… NOW!”
One guard’s eyes shift toward the wall beside me. I glanced quickly to see all their arms propped up against the wall. The guard moved quickly in that direction, but I shot him before he moved very far, almost instantly recovering my aim on the other three.
“Anyone one else want to join him or are you going to follow orders?” Slowly, they each put on a collar, after which I used the remote device to activate the restraint setting, leaving them rigid on the floor. I took their weapons, just in case they were somehow able to free themselves before I finished my task.
I looked about the room and noted toggle switches on a wall panel that appeared to be used for opening and closing the cell doors. I opened all the doors and then went back to the cell corridor. None of the natives tried to flee; instead they just stood there looking scared and confused.
Using their universal language I said to them, “My name Tibby, friend of Jnanara. I speak for Thumumba. Thumumba send me to free children of Thumumba. Go quickly into jungle. Return to your people.”
They began murmuring and repeating “Thumumba” among themselves as they slowly began to emerge from their cells and move tentatively past me. I told them to move quickly and gestured toward the large roll-up door at the back of the buildin
g that faced the trees, away from the rest of the compound. Unless there were troopers standing back there in the rain, which was unlikely, the natives would be able to make a clear break for the jungle. I found the control to open the door and then, holding my gun at the ready, I pressed the button. I held up my hand to quietly hold the natives back, until I was able to glance past the slow-moving door into the rain.
Seeing no one in the area, I said to the natives, “Go! Go quickly! Thumumba wish you free.”
I didn’t have to repeat the command. They all moved forward and out the door with remarkable speed and silence, disappearing quickly into the shadows under the jungle canopy.
I noted several cans of fuel sitting near a piece of equipment by the large roll-up door, which I used to soak the building walls, before dragging the bodies of the guards outside to the jungle’s edge where the rain and trees would protect them from the flames. It was not an easy task, as they were quite large men. I searched the pockets of my combat vest that I had taken earlier from the trooper as I made my way back inside. As I anticipated, I found a lighter device like the one Kerabac had used to light the oil reeds. I tossed the lit device into the fuel that pooled on the floor and instantly the building was ablaze. I then quickly ran to the corvette and punched in my code at the hatch – and none too soon, as alarms started to sound within a minute or so and men came running out of buildings toward the burning prison just as the hatch opened. Once inside, I quickly resealed the hatch again and took the lift to the control room.
“Get us out of here,” I said to Kerabac, “and blow up as many buildings and ships on the way out as you can.”
“Right!” said Kerabac. “How about you do the shooting and I’ll fly us out. We’re going to be taking the netting over the compound with us, I fear.”
I laughed as I dropped into the chair at the weapons console. “I don’t think they’ll be needing their camouflage any longer.”
When I originally found the TRITYTE back on Earth, I spent weeks aboard with nothing else to do while the ship navigated through the galaxy on autopilot; so I let the ship teach me how to use most of the ship’s flight and navigation controls. Though the ship didn’t actually allow me to take control, due to its prime directive, I was permitted to simulated flight and navigation as much as I wanted. I was, however, restricted from learning any of the weapons systems during my passage through space; so I made sure to have Marranalis and Reidecor teach me some fundamentals of locking aim and firing the basic armaments during our long clandestine trip to Megelleon from the DUSTEN. It seemed that the technology for these control systems was pretty much consistent in all ships designed in the area of the Federation territories; so by learning one, I could pretty much understand and successfully execute the same commands in any ship. The only problem was – the bigger the ship, the more screens and controls there were to manipulate. I was a bit slower to get oriented than I would have liked, but eventually I found the appropriate controls.
Kerabac raised the ship about 50 meters above the compound, which allowed me to take aim with a clear view of everything on the ground. The first thing I took out was the drug laboratory. Then I started taking out the smaller patrol ships parked about the compound. In just a few minutes the entire compound was ablaze.
“Okay, get us out of here, Kerabac. Take us to the NEW ORLEANS.”
“Your wish is my command,” Kerabac said with a grin. “Just before you got back from the prison building I received a message from Marranalis that he and his men were on their way to retrieve the ALI. They should be arriving planetside about now.”
“Great!” I said. “Let’s hope that the Brotherhood called all their troops in to help here at the camp and that there are relatively few, if any, left to guard the ALI.”
“If they use Federation procedure, which is how most of them have been trained, they’ll leave only a half dozen or so to watch the ALI and the rest will be called back with orders to stay on the lookout for us, in case we are fleeing back to the ship. But by now I suspect they know we’re the ones in control of this ship, so they may just pull them all back from the ALI. Considering that we just destroyed all the ships at this compound, they’re grounded until they can get reinforcements from another base. I just wonder how many bases and processing plants they have here.”
“I’m getting readings on the weapons screen of dozens of ships taking off from various locations on the surface. It looks like we have our hands full. Send word to Stonbersa that we’re on our way and to get the Mirage Fighters out of the hangar and ready for a fight. Once the enemy is in range, have them cloak and wait until the rebels begin to attack the NEW ORLEANS before they open fire.
“This ship should fit in the hangar of the NEW ORLEANS. I want it docked safely inside until we can at least get a cloaking device on it. We should arrive long before the enemy gets mobilized sufficiently to figure out where we’re headed.
“Oh, be sure to let Stonbersa know what we look like, so he doesn’t blow us out of the sky as we arrive.”
Kerabac grinned, “I agree with you there, Tibby, and I promise you I will make every attempt to make sure the NEW ORLEANS knows who we are.”
The approach and berthing with the NEW ORLEANS went smoothly. I could see the Mirage Fighters holding a broad formation some distance from the ship as we approached. We were no sooner aboard and opening the hatch than we were greeted by a dozen of my security forces who were ready to retrieve the prisoners.
As they escorted the captives from the ship, I overheard their captain muttering to Felenna, “You’re dead. I promise you, you filthy doesee, they won’t be watching us all the time; and the first chance we get, you will die!”
I could see that Felenna was shaken by his comment as tears of despair filled her eyes. I stopped the guards escorting her and said, “I don’t want this prisoner going with the rest. Find her a small, modestly furnished cabin and post a guard at her door. She is not to have contact with any of the other prisoners. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered together.
I told Kerabac to accompany me and we headed to the bridge to see Captain Stonbersa. When we arrived, Kerabac went directly to the captain to brief him as to the nature of the unique ship we took from the compound and that more of them would likely be among the pursuing ships.
In the meantime, I noted A’Lappe sitting in the chair normally occupied by the communication officer; rather, I was able to see his short legs dangling inches above the floor until he spun the chair around to greet me.
“Tibby, so good to see you back,” he said. “Were you able to acquire the ruguian eggs?”
“I fear we only managed to find a portion of what is needed before we ran into the Brotherhood. We’re going to need to clear them off the planet before we can continue our search.”
“I noticed that you brought back a prize ship; I was monitoring it as you approached. She’s a beauty. Markazian, from the looks of her.”
“Markazian? Is that a planet or a style?” I asked.
A’Lappe chuckled, “Markazia is a planet – a nonaligned world noted for making some of the best armed ships in the galaxy. They’ll sell to anyone for any purpose. They really don’t care how the ships are used, as long as the buyer pays for it. Do you mind if I look it over?”
“Not at all. In fact, I’m hoping you can work you magic and get a cloaking system installed on it in short order. We’re going to have a battle on our hands soon and we’ll need every ship we can get. We may not have the luxury of giving her an RMFF shield before the action starts, but we can give her cloaking ability and that’s almost as good.”
“I’ll get right on it, Tibby. I think I have a cloaking unit already built that should be able to cloak a ship of this size. What’s the ships name?”
“Damn if I know. We were so busy I never looked to see. Kerabac, do you know?”
“It’s the RUNANA,” answered Kerabac as he scanned the captain’s console and discussed a deployme
nt plan for the Mirage Fighters.
“Tibby, I’m glad you made it back okay,” said Captain Stonbersa. We’re tracking fifty ships coming in pursuit from the surface. They should be here in about ten minutes. I’ve ordered the Mirage Fighters to cloak and wait for orders.”
“Good,” I said. “This should be interesting, keep the RMFF up but leave us uncloaked. I want to crush the morale of the Brotherhood. If we can consistently instill a sense of despair and impotence in these conflicts, it will soften their confidence and create dissention within their ranks. The more battles they lose, the more conflict it will create within.
“By the way, were you able to get the message off to Admiral Regeny about the situation here on Alle Bamma?”
“Yes,” said Stonbersa, “but he was already on his way here. He and his forces are about two weeks away. The Brotherhood fell into the trap at Plosaxen when they tried to overtake the fake solbidyum reactor site. After that, the admiral immediately loaded every Mirage Fighter onto the URANGA that was completed at that point and issued orders for the ship to head this way at top speed. He’s aboard the ship. He’s itching to be in the fight… and I also think he wants to be redeemed in your sight, Tibby.”
“I’m glad the trap on Plosaxen worked,” I said. I didn’t respond to his last comment.
“Oh, it worked alright. It worked much better than anyone expected. The Brotherhood came with three corvettes and close to a hundred patrol ships. They thought they were prepared for any scenario to unfold, including a trap; but they weren’t expecting cloaked and shielded star ships in addition to the patrol ships… and a dozen Mirage Fighters – also cloaked. When the trap was sprung and they saw what they were up against, they bolted. The Federation patrol ships and the Mirage Fighters took off after them and destroyed the better part of their armada. Two of the corvettes escaped and a hand full of patrol ships; and according to Admiral Regeny, they’re heading this direction.”
“By any chance did you happen to note the departure points of the ships here from the surface so we can deploy ships to their bases?” I asked.