Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans

by Dale C. Musser

  To the people of the Federation, please be assured that the Federation still maintains power and that the traitors to the Federation will be brought to justice for their actions.”

  When the speech was over, the Admiral said, “Doesn’t anyone here ever eat, I’m starved.” Everyone chuckled and Captain Stonbersa sent a message to the dining room to have a meal prepared. The Admiral, his staff and many of the crew of the NEW ORLEANS that had participated in the events of the day all headed to the dining area in a roar of comments about what had just been witnessed. Members of NEW ORLEANS crew took over stations on the bridge under Reidecor’s command while we all dined.

  While we were dining Kala asked me, “Tib do you think the rebels will surrender?”

  “No,” I said, “they are too far into this now to surrender; if they surrender most of them will be court-martialed and executed. If they are not, they still we be put out of the military and probably imprisoned for a time and will live the rest of their lives in disgrace. They will rather take the slim chance that they might somehow win or escape than the alternative.”

  “It’s all such a shame,” Kala said, “I’m sure I know a lot of those people and before the return of the Solbidyum they were my friends, when I was watching Commander Thimas on the vid earlier I had a hard time thinking of him as the same man that the Captain and I used to dine with on the DUSTEN. At one time I even considered him as a possible mate, but he never knew that.”

  “Really, you and the evil traitor Commander Thimas.” I said trying to do my best imitation of Admiral Regeny.” Kala laughed and punched me on the arm.

  Everyone had finished eating when a message came from Reidecor on the bridge for the Admiral.

  “Sir there is a new vid being broadcasted on the surface about the events of today; do you wish it on the vid screen in the dining room?”

  “Yes if you would please,” Regeny responded.

  The screen at the end of the table lit up and the image of Elige appeared on the screen mid-sentence “...Federation had an hour to respond and if they failed to do so the consequences will be swift and severe. At the time the rebels did not know that the Federation was taking action against their headquarters and far from being the impotent group the rebels were claiming, the Federation backed up their earlier claims by blowing up the rebels’ underwater base in the Western Ocean. The nature of the weapon used is unknown and of a magnitude that has our military experts thinking the Federation used some new secret weapon heretofore unknown to the public, or that the rebel base had a huge stockpile of some explosive materials. Tidal waves were created all around the shores of the Western Ocean and many small coastal towns were flooded and buildings destroyed. We have heard that there have been some deaths and many are injured, though the numbers yet are unknown. While we cannot speak to the necessity of the action against the rebel base, many are questioning if it required the magnitude of power used in doing so.

  Just moments later the Federation again struck again wiping out nearly all of the rebels captured fleet, save for the DUSTEN which has close to ten thousand civilians and dignitaries aboard. Admiral Regeny offered the traitors an opportunity to surrender, but so far there has been no response from the rebels on the DUSTEN. At this time no information is available as to what ship or ships the Federation used in their actions against the rebels and experts are mystified as it was believed that all the Federation ships capable of assisting in this standoff are out of system and cannot get to Megelleon for some weeks. Whatever the Federation is using they have shown the rebels that they still have the ability and strength to dominate the situation. “

  “What have I done?” I asked in horror. “Thousands injured and dead!”

  Kala put her arms around me but I stiffened.

  “Tibby it had to be done,” Admiral Regeny said, “don’t blame yourself, this is war and it’s hard not to have civilian casualties. I approved the action. I could have stopped it and taken other actions.”

  “It was my plan, and because of me people have lost homes and lives. When this is over I will see that everyone who has lost a home will get a new one worth twice as much and I see they receive more than just that, maybe I can’t give back lives but I sure can make it easier for those who survived!” I said.

  Kala took hold of my hand and said, “Tib I know you will, if you would like I’ll call back to the Estate and get my assistant busy starting to set things up to do that.”

  “I really would appreciate that Kala, thank you,” I said.

  “Tibby, don’t let this weigh you down. First of all you had no way of knowing what the effect was going to be of blowing up the base, and second of all it had to be done.” Kala tried to reassure me.

  “She’s right Tibby,” Regeny said, “and before this is over we may have to make a lot of other difficult decisions on which many lives may depend. That unfortunately is the nature of war.”

  Just then Cantolla came into the dining room. “Tibby I think I may have it,” she said, “But we will need you to go through all your movements one more time.”

  “This could not come at a worse time or a better time either I guess. I’ll be there as soon as I can… I have no idea where you are set up on the ship though.”

  Kala said, “I know where they are Tib, I’ll show you when you are ready to go.”

  “She has what?” Regeny asked somewhat off-guard.

  “I’ll explain later Admiral, but if she is right it might help answer our problem of how we are going to rescue the DUSTEN.”

  Just then Reidecor voice came over the intercom in the dining room saying, “Another broadcast coming from the DUSTEN.” Immediately the screen went to a view on the bridge of the DUSTEN, Commander Thimas was there with a less cocky attitude and a rather desperate look on his face.

  “It is regrettable that Federations chosen the course of foolish action that they have, unfortunately they are forcing the Brotherhood to resort to more painful actions to convince them we are not afraid to take on more drastic means to prove our resolve. I call your attention to this vid being broadcasted live from one of the cargo airlocks of the DUSTEN.” A view of one of the smaller cargo airlocks area appeared with about one hundred people inside’ some dignitaries, some trooper and others simply occupants on the DUSTEN. As Commander Thimas continued talking the red lights on the cargo airlock doors began flashing indicating that the doors were about to be opened, people began screaming and panicking. “Every hour that the Federation delays in meeting our demand, one hundred citizens of the Federation will be placed it an airlock and jettisoned into space.” As he continued speaking people began choking and gasping as the air in the compartment was being sucked out. Then with a sudden whoosh the doors opened and the bodies floated out into space. “It is not the wish of the Brotherhood to be unduly cruel but we will not hesitate to use whatever force and method is required to attain our goals. The puny acts of defiance the Federation have shown in its attack on our base in the Western Ocean means nothing. It is but one of many bases we have located on planets throughout the Galaxy and the Federation would be wise to give up its futile attempts to stop us, rather they should be looking to meeting my demands and surrendering. Many lives including their own can be spared if they follow my demands. I have brought their ex- Captain Maxette here to the bridge so everyone can see what will happen to each and every one of the Federation officers who continue to defy me.” The screen displayed Captain Maxette being dragged into view on the bridge, he was bloodied and bruised but still was able to walk and stand erect. From somewhere off screen Commander Thimas produced a pair of shears and walked toward Captain Maxette. “Now tell everyone Ex- Captain Maxette, who is the Captain of the DUSTEN?”

  Captain Maxette responded defiantly, “I am!”

  Thimas struck the Captain full in the face and the two guards restraining him held him while Thimas forcefully bent the Captains wrist down so he could not close his hand and then placed the shears over his little finger. “No
w EX-Captain Maxette, who is the captain of the DUSTEN?” With every bit of resolve Maxette had he said, “I AM!” There was a crunching sound heard and the shears severed the Captains little finger and he cried out in pain. On board the NEW ORLEANS I could hear the officers watching gasp and I heard the Admiral say. ”By the stars, the man is insane”

  “Tisk, tisk, EX-Captain,” Commander Thimas was saying, “I fear that wrong answers will get you nowhere and will only result in the loss of body parts.” Then he turned back facing the vid screen and addressed his audience. “The things you see here being done to the EX-Captain are the things that every Federation officer who defies me will receive.” Then turning back to Captain Maxette and placing another finger in the shears repeated. “Now who is the Captain of the DUSTEN?”

  “I am,” Captain Maxette said through clenched teeth.

  Commander Thimas was heard to emit a loud sigh and another crunch was heard as the Captain cried out in pain again, blood could be seen spurting away from Commander Thimas who blocked the view of the Captain’s hand.

  “I fear that like the Federation, EX-Captain Maxette has not endured enough loss yet to recognize the futility of resistance.” Commander Thimas said as he turned toward the vid screen, the front of his black uniform and his hands clearly showing the blood that had gushed over him when he cut off the Captain’s finger. “You have one hour to turn over the Solbidyum container, one hour or more people go out the hatch. I want it delivered in the TRITYTE, no one onboard, we will take control of it remotely and bring it aboard the DUSTEN. In the mean time we shall have to see if we cannot get EX-Captain Maxette to recognize who the Captain of the DUSTEN really is.” The vid screen went blank.

  Kala was hanging on my arm, her face buried in my shirt and she was crying. The officers of the high command all appeared to be in shock.

  Admiral Regeny said, “The man’s gone mad, did you notice he switched from talking about the demands of the Brotherhood and switched to his demands and his wants? We might have been able to negotiate with the Brotherhood, but how do you deal with a madman? Every life on the DUSTEN is at stake as long as he is there, to say nothing of what he could do to the Capitol and Megelleon itself. There is enough firepower on the DUSTEN to turn Megelleon into a ball of fire. What can we do?”

  “What he said, Admiral,” I answered, “we give him the TRITYTE and the Solbidyum container.”

  “Have you gone insane too,” the Admiral said looking at me with shock on his face, “Do you have any idea of the threat to the Federation and all its citizens if that nut has that much power under his control? Let alone the Brotherhood whose full intentions are not known!”

  “I didn’t say we would give him the Solbidyum,” I began, “only the Solbidyum container, that’s all he asked for, as for the TRITYTE the Solbidyum in its reactor has already been removed and Corporal Luinella is installing a small fusion battery that will give the ship enough power for short distances under impulse power, but not enough power for GW or light speed, nor enough for the weapons. Actually I am not even thinking of giving him the Solbidyum container, but an exact replica of it with me and seven others tightly crammed into it. I seriously doubt that anyone aboard the DUSTEN has the codes to open the real container and I suspect it will take some time before they try, so we would be safe inside. We would need a means of opening it from within. They will most likely leave the container in the TRITYTE for the time being. Thimas won’t want anyone but himself getting too close to it, so he’ll have the guards posted off ship, probably around it.

  Once we know we are aboard the DUSTEN we’ll wait until we think things are clear and then well exit the container and take out the guards, then open the bay doors, the NEW ORLEANS will be close by, cloaked but as soon as we open the doors the troops here will have to move quickly with the patrol ships and move over into the DUSTEN as soon as the RMFF shield is dropped. They will have only about a minute or less to do it. The NEW ORLEANS will be too close for the DUSTEN to fire on it, but I doubt they will see it because I suspect that Thimas is going to want to make a speech gloating and with all eyes on him no one will see us moving. We can get one hundred men aboard and take out as many of the Brotherhood while Thimas is making his speech. Hopefully, if the loyal troopers over there are still alive we can get free them and regain control of the ship before Thimas finishes. Taking the bridge will be the hardest part. Is there any way to disconnect the fire controls for the bridge from elsewhere in the ship?”

  “Not easily,” one of Regeny’s staff answered, “the system has redundancy built into it and unless you get all of those tuned off at once, as soon as you do one they will know on the bridge because it will set off an alarm.”

  “In that case Captain Stonbersa, I suggest you place the New Orleans in harm’s way between the DUSTEN and the planet so that the RMFF shields will take the hits in case Thimas decides to try and exact revenge on the planet.”

  “I understand Tibby,” Captain Stonbersa said grimly.

  “Well Admiral?” I asked.

  “I can’t think of anything better and unless someone else can I think of something better than that I think we need to get moving on it right away.” Regeny said.

  “We only have one problem,” I said sadly, “We can do it in the allotted hour, we will need more than that, and I do not think there is any way we can keep Thimas from pushing more people out of the airlock.”

  “Let me work on that issue, you just do whatever it is you need to do.” The Admiral said.

  “Tib are you sure about this, you could get killed,” Kala said.

  “Kala, if I don’t do this and more people get killed I could not live with myself. Right now I am having a difficult enough time trying deal with all the lives that were lost in the taking out of the Brotherhood base in the Western Ocean. If I do nothing now all of those who died in the tidal waves will be meaningless deaths, I could not live with that.” Kala hung her head, “I understand Tib; do what you have to do.”

  The first thing I did was track down Lunnie. She was just about to seal the Solbidyum container in a compartment when I stopped her. “Hold up Lunnie, I have another task for you. I need you to build me an exact replica of this container, at least from outside exterior. It needs to have a device that looks like the locking mechanism on it just like the real thing. I need it to be able to be opened from the inside.”

  Lunnie looked at me like I had lost my mind and asked, “What are you planning now?” I told her as quickly as I could and asked how long it would take.

  “We have the materials in the ship’s shop and with the cutting machines we have, in all I would say about three hours, and that’s working like hell to get it done by then.” Lunnie answered.

  “Lunnie, every hour on the hour, Thimas is going to push one hundred people out of the air lock on the DUSTEN. He’s already killed one hundred that way and he’s torturing Captain Maxette by slowly cutting off his fingers and who knows what else since then, do what you can but we need it NOW!”

  Lunnie responded that she would and pulled some device out of her pocket and began scanning the Solbidyum container taking measurements. While she was doing that I called Kala to give me directions to where I might find Cantolla and her team. Kala told me it was in one of the gyms that I was familiar with on the ship and I met Kala there moments later.

  As we entered Cantolla and her staff were gathered around a table with the headband and some instruments, Cantolla turned and noticed us on our entry and said, “Tibby I think we have it. We decided to increase the number of input and output leads in the headband so that information is going into portions of the brain that control muscular functions, we’ve tested it using ourselves with other physical skills and it seems to be working. All we need to do now is have you record the signals again.”

  Dakko excitedly added “Oh my, oh my yes, Tibby, most assuredly we have it this time,” while Rivez in his less enthusiastic manner nodded his head and grinned.

  “Let�
�s get to it then, if this works this time it couldn’t have happened at a better moment.” I answered.

  Once again I had to run through all the movements I could think of and once again poor Marranalis got tossed about as a test subject. By now he had been sent flying through the air so often he knew what was coming and now landed on his feet or in a reasonable position that would allowed him to quickly regain his balance.

  After nearly an hour we were interrupted by Captain Stonbersa appearing on the vid screen saying, “Another broadcast is going out from the DUSTEN,” and then the image shifted to the Bridge of the DUSTEN and the image of a clearly demented Commander Thimas.