“Yeah, you wait. You'll be old too one of these days,” I answered through a forced grin.
I was taken by surprise later that afternoon when I received word that a lawyer on Megelleon was trying to contact me about Admiral Stonbersa’s will. According to the lawyer, I had been named in his will and the lawyer wished to meet with me.
“Why would Stonbersa have named me in his will?” I asked Kala later that evening as we ate dinner. “I can’t imagine him leaving me anything, with all that I have now. Anything I don’t have I can buy or have made. It makes no sense,” I said.
“Dad,” Reide butted in, “maybe it’s a map.”
“A map? For what?”
“I don't know, maybe a treasure that belonged to some space pirate who died and he gave the map to Stonbersa before he died.” Reide said as he struggled hard to make up a reason. I glanced at Kala, who had her head down and was smirking.
“That’s dumb, Reide,” Lunnie interjected, “How would Stonbersa get to know a pirate and why would the pirate give him the map?”
“I don’t know,” Reide mumbled, “Maybe they were friends growing up--like me and Rory.”
“Well I don’t think it’s a map,” I said.
“Dad, can Rory come and live with us here on the NEW ORLEANS?” Reide asked abruptly.
“What? Why do you want Rory here on the ship?” I asked.
“Well, he’s my best friend and we’re like brothers and he doesn’t have a mother or dad, and… well, can he, Dad? He could share my room with me,” Reide said looking at me pleadingly.
“Reide, Rory has a very nice place back on the estate and he can come here at any time; all he has to do is walk through the Cantolla Gate, the same goes for you. You can visit him every day if you wish,” I said.
“Yeah, but it’s not the same. When I go there we always have Women with Swords following us around and watching everything we do.”
“But they don’t follow you around when Rory is here visiting you on the ship,” I said.
“That is why he should come and live here, so we don’t get followed all the time.”
“Reide, I get followed all the time, on the ships or at the estate,” I said. “Right now there is a trooper outside our door to follow me where ever I go.”
Reidecor looked sullen and mumbled, “that’s not the same.”
“Oh? Tell me how it’s different?”
“Well, well… it’s not fair. That's all…”
“I see,” I said. “And somewhere you think there is a law written down that life should be fair,” I asked in amusement?
“Well, it should be,” Reide fumed.
“Go tell that to the Brotherhood,” I said. “They’re one of the big reasons that life isn’t fairer than it is. Rory’s parents are dead because of the Brotherhood; they are the reason Rory is an orphan; they are the reason you need the Women with Swords to guard you, Lunnie and Kala. They’re the reason I have to wear this uniform and fight battles instead of being able to spend more time with you all. Tell it to Jenira, who was a slave longer than you’ve been alive; and tell it to her brother who was killed when he wasn’t much older than you are now. They will all agree with you that life should be fair, but they will all also tell you that it isn’t and to get used to it.”
“So, Rory can’t come and live with us?” Reide said peeping at me from under his brow. It made me laugh and I ruffled his hair. “No, but he can come and spend the night from time to time and he’s always welcome here on the ship.”
After dinner when Kala and I were alone I asked her, “Kala, did I do the right thing telling Reide ‘no’ about Rory coming to live here on the ship? I mean, we certainly can afford it.”
Kala smiled and looked me in the eyes, “Tib, if you had said yes, next week Lunnie would want to move four of her friends in here and the week after Reide and Rory both would want someone else to join them. I think you made the right decisions; like you pointed out, it’s not like they can’t get to see and be with each other, only it’s not twenty-four hours a day.”
I was starting to open my mouth to say something else when my wrist com beeped.
“Tibby here,” I answered.
“Admiral, this is Marranalis; Admiral Wabussie is requesting your presence. The FSO has spotted Sisopan.”
“Tell Wabussie I’m on my way. Where is he? On the DUSTEN or the Capitol Station?”
“Capitol Station, sir. He said to tell you that when you arrive there he will have some agents waiting to lead you to his office.”
“Alright, I’m on my way.”
It was a good thing I had my security detail, otherwise I might never have found my way to Wabussie’s office; but once I told bodyguard where I wanted to go, it was a matter of me staying with him. As promised, no sooner did we arrive at the Capitol Station than we were met by an FSO officer who guided us to Wabussie’s office. I was not surprised to see Admiral Regeny already there and seated in a rather plump-looking high-back chair in front of Wabussie’s desk.
“Ah, Tibby, we’ve been waiting for you,” Admiral Wabussie said. “Have a seat.” He indicated a chair identical to the one Regeny was sitting in. “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, but we’re getting information from the field that Sisopan has been spotted and was last seen entering this building.” He pointed to an image on the giant vid screen behind his desk. “…and so far none of them have exited.”
“How long has it been since they entered?” I asked.
“About forty minutes,” Wabussie said. “I’ve called for agents to surround the area; very few of them are close enough to the building to be seen. We have four areal drones at high altitudes using telescopic lenses watching the building from all angles. If they leave we’ll know it.
“Not necessarily,” I said. “They could leave cloaked.”
“The Brotherhood doesn’t have personal cloaking,” Regeny blurted out, “do they?”
“Admiral, the Brotherhood has had cloaking technology for a long time; that they weren’t using it for personal devices either was an oversight on their part, or they hadn’t gotten around to miniaturize it like we have. However, they do have the technology and there is no reason to expect that they haven’t started producing personal cloaking devices. They’ve also captured several Federation planets where we had troopers with individual cloaking devices. You can be sure that by now the Brotherhood has some and they are using them.”
“So we don’t know if Sisopan and the two men are in the building,” Regeny said?
“We can’t be sure,” Wabussie answered, “but we still believe they are. Ten minutes ago, one of the men was seen at a window on the third floor.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“We’re waiting for them to exit the building and my agents will sweep in from all sides and arrest them. We have a cloaked patrol ship hovering nearby with a squad of troopers to assist if necessary.”
“Can I see a map of the area?” I asked.
“Sure,” Wabussie said as he reduced the view window showing the building and brought up a map of the surrounding area. “What are you looking for?”
“A target; Sisopan may be prepping the men as body bombs and they may have a nearby target. There! What is that facility, the one with the clear space around it and all the people coming and going?” I asked.
Wabussie activated some commands through a touch pad and names displayed over all the buildings in the area. “It’s the Cantolla Gate location to access the central transfer hubs."
“That has to be it; alert the Gate guards and give them pictures of the suspects. None of them are to be allowed inside and if possible, I want them captured and placed in explosion-proof isolation cells.” I said.
“Tibby, the two men are exiting the building now,” Wabussie said, “do you want us to stop them where they are?”
“Can you see Sisopan?” I asked.
“No, she doesn’t appear to be with them,” Wabussie answered.
“Wait until the men are out of sight of the building, or until Sisopan exits before moving in. She’s the one we want.”
It took several minutes before the men were out of sight of the building. There still was no sign of Sisopan. “All right, move in and take the men. Stun them if you can. Sisopan will need to stay nearby in order to detonate the body bombs. She’s probably still in the building and giving them enough time to get to their assigned detonation areas. My guess is we have about ten minutes before she detonates them. Send a team of cloaked men into the building and find her. I want her alive.”
I was nervously starting to sweat as I sat staring at the screen. Minutes ticked by and Wabussie got word that the two men had been stunned before they reached the Cantolla Gate building and they were being transported in a patrol ship away from the facility.
“Does the ship have an explo– ”
My statement was cut off by a bright flash on the vid screen as the cloaked patrol ship exploded over the city.
“By the stars,” Regeny said as he leapt from his chair.
“There was no explosive proof shielded area on the ship, obviously,” I said.
“Wherever Sisopan is, she is on the move now trying to get away from the area. Have the men in the building found anything?” I asked.
“They say the building is empty; the only thing they found was a pile of clothing she wore when she entered the building and a small valise she had been carrying. They reported that a DNA aerosol bomb had been activated in the room, so there is no trace of DNA or fingerprints. From the looks of it, the aerosol was set off about the same time the men left the building.”
“How did she get out of the building?” Regeny asked.
“She may have walked out with the men,” Wabussie answered, “only she would have been cloaked. She might even have been with them when they were stunned, for all we know.”
“True,” I said, “but somehow I doubt it. My guess is she was somewhere near the gate station, far enough away to not be hurt by the explosion but close enough for the detonator to work.”
“Where do you think she is now?” Regeny asked.
“Gone,” I answered, “she either went through a gate after detonating the men, or she’s taken another route to a small private ship that was waiting nearby. However, I’m betting she is no longer on the planet.”
“I’m afraid I must concur with Tibby,” Wabussie said. “Sisopan never sticks around after a strike; she is off world before the smoke of the explosion is settled.
We spent the next hour going over the event and reviewing the vid recordings trying to see if we could spot or detect when Sisopan left the building, but we found nothing. There was no evidence of any consequence left that told us anything. The clothing discarded by Sisopan was clean of every trace of DNA, it was a regular outfit that could be produced by any clothing replicator; and the valise she left behind was a generic one, also capable of being produced by any replicator. Not one clue could be found that told us anything we didn’t already know and we knew very little.
I was ready to give up and call it a night when Wabussie said, “Tibby, I was going to contact you in the morning to tell you that our agents on Epsirt have reported that they have detected three separate high-altitude drones spying on Norcar’s estate. Do you think they are Brotherhood?"
“At least one of them is, but I’m not sure about the others. Are they sure they are over his estate and focused on it?”
“Yes, sir,” Wabussie said.
“Good, tell them to shoot them down, but make sure they are not using any weapons made by the Federation. If there ever is any trouble, I don’t want the authorities there to realize the people on the estate are FSO, or that they have any ties to the Federation.”
“You think there will be trouble?” Regeny asked.
“I’m counting on it,” I said. “I’m sure there will be some kind of altercation so the authorities and the Brotherhood can check things out at the estate. No doubt one of those drones is from the local authorities, who probably answer to the Brotherhood. Shooting it down will bring them out to threaten and complain and so they can snoop.”
“What do you want us to do if the authorities do show up?” Wabussie said.
“Oh, I don’t want you to wait until then. I want a complaint filed on behalf of Chief Banker Norcar of an invasion of privacy and a potential threat to his wellbeing. Tell them the estate is being monitored by drones of unknown origin and you fear that it may be criminals, either planning a break-in, or an attempt to kidnap the Chief Banker.”
“Do you think they will buy that?” Wabussie asked.
“I don’t know, but if no complaint is made on behalf of Norcar, it's going to look suspicious.” I answered.
“I see your point.”
“One more thing, use something small and simple to bring the drones down; hopefully there will be enough pieces so you can collect them and have them on hand when the authorities do arrive. If one of them does belong to the local authorities, make a stink about it, demanding to know why it was there and spying on Norcar’s estate.”
“Right,” Wabussie replied, “What do think they will say?”
“They’ll give you some excuse that it was there watching the estate for intruders before Norcar took possession of the property and that they had forgotten to end the surveillance after Norcar did take possession, or some other such nonsense. Regardless, it will be good to let them know that the estate’s people are on the alert and aren’t going to stand for outside surveillance. Norcar is a very prominent man through the galaxy and his wealth and position demand a certain level of security; it’s best not to disappoint people who expect it to be there.”
By the time we finished up with our meeting, it was past midnight. When I returned to the NEW ORLEANS, I was exhausted and had it not been for my bodyguard, I would have accidentally gone through the wrong gate and traveled to the DUSTEN instead of my yacht. It startled me, as for a moment I had forgotten about the NEW ORLEANS and was thinking that I still resided on the DUSTEN. When I finally did enter my own suite and crawl into bed, I found Kala asleep and breathing deeply. Moments later, I too was fast asleep.
I probably would have overslept the next morning if it hadn’t been for a lot of shouting in the dining area.
“Reidecor, how many times must I tell you NOT to mess with the appliances and equipment on the ship?” Kala’s voice said angrily.
“But Mom, I didn’t…” Reide’s voice began.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t!” Kala exclaimed, “The food synthesizer isn’t producing this orange goop that tastes like hydraulic fluid instead of foccee by accident.”
“I was only trying to make it produce lemonade like the trees Cantolla cloned on the estate do,” Reide exclaimed.
“Reide, you have got to stop this. What’s your father going to say when he wants a cup of foccee and he gets this orange gunk instead?”
From across the room, I heard Lunnie chime in, “He’s probably going to say yuck and throw up.”
“I’ll need to get someone from Engineering up here to fix this,” Kala said in frustration, “In the meantime, Reide, you’re grounded for the day. No going to the estate and Rory isn’t allowed to come see you, either. You’ll spend the day in your room.”
“But Mom,” Reide began.
“No buts about it; now go to your room.”
By now, I was out of bed and headed toward the dining area; I passed Reide in the hall as he stomped to his room. He didn’t look at me as we passed, but he did mutter, “Sorry Dad.”
“Did I hear correctly?” I began as I entered the kitchen to see Kala with her hands still on her hips staring angrily at the food synthesizer, “there isn’t any foccee available?”
“I’m afraid not,” Kala fussed, “our genius son decided to make some drink concoction Cantolla gave them on the estate and now our food synthesizer produces this orange grease instead. You’re welcome to a cup of this if you want
to try it.”
I took one look at the goo in the cup and held my hand up,” Take it away before I throw up,” I said in disgust, “I think I’ll dress and eat on the MAXETTE,” I said.
“What time was it when you got back last night? Kala asked, “I tried waiting up for you in case…” she glances at Lunnie, who was feeding something that looked like grapes to Mimic, “well, you know,” she finished with a slight blush. “So what happened that took you away so quick last night?”
“Reduviid attack,” I said. “Sisopan was sighted at the scene, but she got away again.”
“Oh no, how many people were injured?”
“Twenty-three troopers on the patrol ship transporting the body bombers away from the intended target when they blew up.”
Kala gasped. “What happened at their target?”
“Nothing, they never got to it. We intercepted them before they did.”
“Where did this happen?”
“On Plosaxen, their target was one of the Cantolla Gate stations that connects to the Transfer hub. If they had gotten inside they could have killed hundreds of people.”
“Do you think they may have been trying to get to the Capitol?” Kala asked.
“I doubt it; I think they wanted to create a situation of terror and panic; their chances of getting to the Capitol with body bombs by using the Cantolla Gates are about nil.”
“Then why do it at all?” Kala asked.
“Because if they can terrorize the Federation citizens, enough planets will want to break away from the Federation thinking that they will be safer and left alone by the Brotherhood,” I answered.
“Do you think people are that ignorant that they would believe that would work?”
“Kala, Syndrop and Porporat are already petitioning the Federation to secede for that very reason,” I answered.
“Are you serious? Syndrop and Porporat! Say you’re making this up, Tib. I can’t believe they could possibly believe that,” Kala said in a shocked tone.
Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids Page 20