Pynice’s face reddened, “This is preposterous. You're wasting time and resources moving the station.”
“If you don’t like it, you can take it up with Admiral Regeny. It's possible he may agree with you. However, if I’m right, in a few hours, we’ll see the value in moving the station.”
“Fine”, Pynice said as he rose to his feet, “I will take it up with Admiral Regeny,” and he headed for the door.
“Oh and Admiral,” I stopped him as he was about to open the door. “Don’t ever rescind one of my orders again without discussing it with me and getting my approval first. You’re dismissed.”
I came out of my office as Pynice stormed out the War Room.
“I’m assuming that didn’t go well, based on the look on the Admiral’s face as he left here,” Marranalis said with a grin.
“No, not very; I suspect I’ll be getting a visit from Admiral Regeny later today,” I said with a sigh. “In the meantime, contact Wabussie’s office and get me the latest reports on Brotherhood activity within fifteen light-years of the Gate Station's previous location. I also want all sightings of Brotherhood ships in the same area in the past three months. When you get it, display it in the 3D display, if you will.”
“Yes, sir,” Marranalis said.
I returned to my office and got a cup of foccee and returned to the War Room and took a seat as slowly the data I requested began to display. It took several hours to gather all the data, as many of the people in command of the information were still asleep. The last of the images was taking form in the display when Admiral Regeny, along with Pynice, burst into the War Room.
“By the stars, Tibby, what is the reason for dragging Pynice here out of bed at three in the morning over his not having moved the Gate Hub Station?”
“Good morning to you, too, Admiral,” I said in a pleasant tone, “Would you care for a cup of foccee?”
“Why... Ah, harrumph,” he cleared his throat, “I think I would. You don’t have any pastries about do you” He added, looking about?
“I’ll have some brought up, sir,” I said as one of the aides in the room got fresh cups of foccee for all of us.
“Now, about this matter,” Regeny began once more; only this time with less bluster, “What’s this all about?”
“Look at the 3D display, Admiral,” I said. Then to Marranalis, “Highlight the location where the hub station was located this morning.”
A bright pinpoint of blue/white light appeared in the display.
“Now if you would; show the Admirals here where the Brotherhood ship sightings have been in the past three weeks,” I said. Quickly small ball-like clusters of red lights began to appear around the location of the station.
“Now, show us where the reports have been for sightings of asteroid-ships in the past week. The other ship lights disappeared; but a small number of asteroid-ships appeared surrounding the station location. “And now, show us the same area with Brotherhood sightings and reports from three months ago.” Abruptly, the area went dark and only a handful of ships randomly located appeared.
I heard a gasp from both Regeny and Pynice.
“By the stars, Tibby, do you think they are planning to attack the station,” Regeny said?
“I think they did plan to and I think they still will show up there; but the station is now on its way to a new location.”
“Where," Pynice asked quickly?”
I smiled, “That, sir, is on a need to know basis.” I turned to Regeny, “Admiral, I request, with all due respect, that Admiral Pynice be reassigned to other duties not associated with the Cantolla Gates and that he be investigated for possible contact and compromise by the Brotherhood.”
“What, why that’s… preposterous…!” Pynice sputtered. “You can’t do that!”
I looked at Regeny, who was still staring at the hologram, “Yes; he can,” Regeny said, “and after looking at this; I must support his recommendation. Don’t bother going back to the station, Pynice; I’ll have some of my people pick up your personal items and have them sent to your home. Take a few weeks off while I find you a new assignment. I hope you won’t mind having some extra security with you while we investigate the matter.”
“Extra security? Surely you don’t believe that I’m a traitor and I need to be watched so I don’t tip off the Brotherhood,” Pynice stammered?
“At the moment, I don’t know what to think, but I must act in the strictest manner to protect the Federation. If you’ve done nothing wrong, there is nothing for you to fear and you can consider this time as a nice paid vacation, albeit with a bit more security than usual.”
Once Pynice had gone, Regeny turned to me and asked, “How long have you known about this?” He nodded toward the 3D display.
“About five hours now, sir,” I answered.
“Five hours! By the stars, man, how do you put this stuff together so quickly and what set you onto this?”
“Admiral you would not believe me if I told you,” I said with a grin.
“So now what? How do we deal with this situation?”
“I’ve already issued orders for over three hundred of our larger ships and carriers to the scene with their complements of fighters. I plan to cluster the ships tightly. I don’t think the Brotherhood knows the exact size of the station, or its configuration. I’m hoping their sensors will read them as one large cloaked object. By the time they move in for the attack, it will be too late; and I hope to release a firestorm on them.”
“You’ve put all this into motion already? In five hours?”
“Not all the details, sir. However, some of the ships are underway and I hope to have them all on station in three days. Then we wait.”
“Tibby, do you think Pynice is a traitor?”
“I doubt it; but it’s highly possible he’s been compromised in some way that even he doesn’t realize. One thing is clear, had he moved the station as ordered, we wouldn’t see the Brotherhood preparing to attack it. Furthermore, they needed someone to provide them with a clue where to look for it. The universe is huge; finding that station without a confederate to help them is nigh unto impossible. The odds of them stumbling onto it by accident are greater than we can calculate. I’m hoping if Pynice was the leak, that it was unintentional and not because he did so willingly.”
After Regeny left, I went into my office. Moments later, Marranalis entered. “Admiral, how did you figure all this out? I mean, about the station being in danger and all. There is nothing in our daily reports that indicate anything like this.”
“Believe it or not, I dreamed it,” I said as I took a sip of my foccee.
“Dreamed it? You mean you have dreams of the future and they are real?”
“Not exactly; the treatments A’Lappe gives me seem to make my brain hyperactive for a brief period. I think during times like that my brain puts together bits of random data and sees probabilities I would otherwise miss. I don’t think I’m psychic or anything like that,” I said.
“Still, it’s almost unbelievable that your mind figured this out while you were asleep,” Marranalis replied.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant dream, I can tell you that.”
It was about an hour later that Wabussie called me, “Tibby, by the stars! How did you figure out that the Brotherhood had discovered the locations of the Cantolla Gate station and were preparing to attack it? I’ve been having our team of FSO agents going over the data and it looks like you are correct. How we missed it, I am not sure, but if what we are seeing is correct, the Brotherhood will probably attack in three to five days.
“I’m guessing three days,” I said while wondering at the same time if I wasn’t being a bit cocky in making that claim.
“But how did you figure it out?” Wabussie asked.
“Honestly, it was merely a hunch,” I said.
“A hunch? You’re kidding, right?”
“No, not really.”
“By the stars, man, you pulled off one hell o
f a magic trick with this one. Admiral Regeny said you already have the station being relocated. Won’t people using it be suspicious?”
“That’s the beauty of Cantolla Gates; it doesn’t matter if they are moving, or stationary, it doesn’t impact the station use. People on the station and people passing through it won’t even know it’s being moved. Right now, there are less than 30 people who know the station is being relocated and only about three know where. People will continue to work there and pass through it and never notice anything different.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. In reality, you could have the station moving constantly, if you so desired.”
“Yes – however, we would need a permanent crew to fly it and with that it would mean needing more persons knowing the ships location increasing the potential information leaks. Even now, with a very limited permanent crew on the station, the Brotherhood managed to find out where it was.”
“So who is in command of the station now that Pynice is being replaced?”
“At the moment, his second in command is responsible. He doesn’t know that Pynice isn’t coming back. He’ll be told when the person replacing Pynice arrives. You have any recommendations for a good officer to take his place?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Captain Dranda Gandrop, she currently is on the list to be promoted to admiral. I think she would be ideal for the position; plus, she has worked in a clandestine position with the FSO in the past and her loyalties to the Federation are very strong.”
“Send me her file; I’ll look it over. If I like what I see, we’ll set up an interview,” I said.
“I’ll have her file to you within the hour,” he said.
By now, it was nearly noon and I decided to try once again to have lunch with Kala on the NEW ORLEANS. Lately I didn’t know what to expect when I entered, so I wasn’t surprised when I opened the door to the sounds of squawking and the flapping of wings. Lunnie yelled out, “Catch him!” as something flew by my head and out the door. Fortunately, one of my ever-present bodyguards managed to snatch the flying object out of the air.
“By the stars,” I exclaimed as Lunnie rushed past me to grab the critter from the guard’s hands, “what is that thing?”
“Thanks," Lunnie said to the trooper. She turned to me, “It’s a Mellapuee, Dad. Isn’t it beautiful?”
I looked at the winged creature in her arms. It appeared to be birdlike only it had fine blue fur with iridescent patterns instead of feathers. “Where did it come from?” I asked.
“Oh, they come from Gorboron. Isn’t it simply the most beautiful thing you have ever seen,” she said as the creature squirmed in her arms trying to get free?
“Gorboron? How did it get here?” I asked.
“Oh Dad, this one didn’t come from Gorboron. This one came from our zoo at the estate.”
“We have a zoo at the estate,” I asked dumbfounded?
“Yes, Tib, you do.” Kala said as she entered the room, “Tib, you still have no idea what you own and have, do you?”
“I guess not,” I answered, “So why is the... what did you say it is again,” I asked Lunnie?
“A Mellapuee, Dad.”
“Yeah… so why is this Mellapuee thing here and not back at the zoo?”
“Your daughter thought it would be a fun thing to bring back for a pet,” Kala said.
“I see and what about Mimic?” I asked. “You already have a pet here.”
“I can have two,” Lunnie said, “I’ll take care of it, Dad.”
“Lunnie, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Kala began. The Mellapuee let out a squawk and it emptied its bowels all over Lunnie. To say it was one of the messiest and foulest smells would be an understatement. Behind me, I heard the guard retching as the stench reached him. The look on Lunnie’s face was priceless as it first went from shock, to horror and finally disgust at the smell.
“Uh Dad, I think I will take him back to the zoo,” Lunnie said with a wrinkled face.
“Be sure to clean this mess up before you do,” I said. Actually, cleaning the mess off the floor would be no problem, as the cleaning bot in the suite would take care of that. However, Lunnie was going to need to shower and a change before she went anywhere. Behind Lunnie, I saw Kala shaking her head with a frown, “I hope you learned something from this, Lunnie.”
Once Lunnie had left the room to shower and change clothes and while the cleaning bot took care of removing the Mellapuee excrement from the floor, Kala looked at me and asked,” What brings you home?”
“Well, I was hoping to have lunch here with you, but the atmosphere here at the moment reeks a bit too much of nature, so how about we go to one of the dining rooms on the ship and have a meal?”
“Oh Tib, that sounds wonderful! Jenira was telling me the other day that the dining room on level three has been serving this great dish from Kaldon and I have wanted to try it.”
“Great, let’s go. By the way, where is Jenira? I’ve not seen her in quite some time.”
“Oh, she’s around. She comes and takes Lunnie and Reide for martial arts training every day and she accompanies them whenever they go to the estate.”
“How are the twins doing with their martial arts training?” I asked.
“Well according to Jenira, a tree rooted to the ground is better at martial arts than the twins are; but you know how critical she is. To be honest, I think they are doing exceptionally well for their age.”
“I’m assuming she and Padaran still spend a lot of time together.”
“Yes, I think so; at least I see them together most of the time when she isn’t here or training her Women with Swords.
“Oh and speaking of the estate,” Kala added, “I needed to go there this morning and there was a package there for you from Stonbersa’s attorney. I had it brought here to the NEW ORLEANS; it’s in your study.”
“What’s in it?” I asked. “I can’t imagine what he would leave me.”
“I have no idea. I didn’t open it. However, it’s fairly large, whatever it is.”
“Well let’s go eat and I’ll see what it is after we’ve dined.”
The NEW ORLEANS had many dining areas. In the early days after I had first taken possession of the ship, only a few were used and operating; but now that the ship was nearly 85% occupied, all of them were operational. Some were cafeteria-like while others were more like restaurants with menus dedicated to specialties. Some only served food dishes popular to particular planets or cultures, while others were dedicated to fast, finger food dishes. The restaurant that Jenira had talked to Kala about was small and definitely had a cozy romantic feel to it. Tables were situated in private little coves with subdued lighting. I could imagine that Jenira and Padaran dined here frequently, where they were out of sight of others.
I have to hand it to Jenira. The food was appetizing and I found myself wishing for more when I finished, even though I was full. During the meal, I informed Kala about events of the morning and about the relocation of the Cantolla Gate station.
“I wondered why you got up so early this morning,” she said when I finished, “I heard you talking to Marranalis on your com link, but I was too sleepy to make any sense of it. What do you think made you have that dream?”
“I guess my mind was assembling bits and pieces of events and data in my sleep and somehow put it all together.”
“Only your mind would do that, Tib,” she said as she placed her hand on mine on the table. “Do you think the Brotherhood will try to attack the old station location?”
“I’m hoping so; if they do, they will have a huge surprise coming,” I said.
“What if Pynice warns the Brotherhood?” Kala asked.
“I doubt he will. I don’t think he knew the Brotherhood plans or cooperated knowingly in what happened. I suspect that someone else was involved. Only three of the crew at the station at the moment even know the station is being relocated. I have had the security team that guards the operation's center at the
station rotated out with new guards with FSO training and they are watching everyone. If anyone on the station realizes relocation is taking place and tries to notify the Brotherhood, they will spot them and take them into custody.
“Now, let’s go see what Stonbersa left me.”
I was surprised at the size of the box in my study when I got there. It was a meter and a half wide, two meters long and over a meter in height. If the door to my study hadn’t been a double door, I don’t know how they would have gotten it inside.
“You were right, it is large,” I said. “Let me see if I can open this container.”
Fortunately, it turned out to be quite simple to open; there was a dial inside a recessed area on one end and once I turned it, the sides separated and it was possible to lift the lightweight panels it was made of away. Inside I found a clear display case containing a replica of a patrol ship. Not simply any patrol ship, as I was to discover when I read the note attached to the case written in Stonbersa’s hand.
“Tibby, if you have received this note, then you should also have received the model that goes with it and it means that I am dead. I hope I died valiantly and in service to the Federation. I cannot express to you the full extent of my gratitude for all that you have done for me. Before you hired me to be captain of the NEW ORLEANS, I believed my career over and that I would die a disgraced ex-military officer, but you changed that. You trusted me and gave me a chance to reclaim my damaged career and took me far beyond what I had ever dreamed of accomplishing when you made me a Fleet Admiral in the Federation. You and Kalana both made me feel like I was a part of your family and I love you both as if you were my own kin.
“I wished to leave you something to remember me by, but what do you leave to a man who is the richest man in the Universe, certainly not money or more property? However, this gift I hope you will cherish and it will give you fond memories. I told you when we first met that I had always been intrigued by stories about the TRITYTE, what I didn’t tell you was I so enamored with the ship that I had built this scaled replica of it. My original version of the ship was a little different from how you see it here. I only had verbal descriptions to go by in building this model and I got a few things wrong; however, after seeing the real TRITYTE, I could take images and measurements and correct my model so it is now accurate in every detail.
Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids Page 24