Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals

SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA

BOOK 3 – PIRATES OF GOO’WADDLE CANALS

Cover illustration by Dale Musser

Edited by Christine Thompson
and Susan Uttendorfsky

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2014 by Dale C. Musser

SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA

Book 3 – PIRATES OF GOO’WADDLE CANALS

In life, it is usually the simple things that give us the most pleasure — the loyalty and companionship of a good friend, enduring love and time with family, and peace and serenity.  These were the things I reflected upon as I lay on a grassy bank by the lake with the warm sun on my bare skin, a gentle breeze whispering through the trees, carrying the scents of the forest along with the sounds of birds and small animals singing and chirping about whatever it is that concerns small birds and animals.  Next to me, Kala sighed.  “I think I could stay here forever; it’s so peaceful and relaxing.”  I didn’t lift my head, but I could hear her swirling her feet in the water.

I rolled over on my side and propped myself so I was facing her.  She was seated on a log next to me at the lake’s edge watching the small circles of waves made by her toes.  Kala is one of the most beautiful women I have ever known.  Back on my home world of Earth, she would have been an enigma for anyone trying to guess her ethnicity.  She had that tanned olive complexion one could associate with a Hispanic, Native American, Italian, Persian or Polynesian, but her light gray-blue irises and almond-shaped eyes belied those probabilities.  She had long, straight, black hair just slightly longer than her shoulders, the most kissable lips, and a figure that was…well, perfect.  We had been hiking to this secluded location on our estate on Megelleon daily for several weeks, where we enjoyed swimming in the cool water and sunning on its sandy beach.  It was one of the few places where we were able to get away from everything and truly be alone together.

“Tib, the past few weeks have been wonderful, but I wake up every day expecting it to end and to discover we are under attack by the Brotherhood again, or that some new crisis has befallen the Federation and Admiral Regeny is calling you to come to the rescue.  The two of us actually being able to spend time together is better than any dream I’ve ever had.”

I laughed.  “I know what you mean.  The last communication we had from the admiral was that the solbidyum shipments were progressing nicely and that nearly a thousand shipments have arrived at their destination uneventfully.  Eight hundred and seventy-four planets in the Federation now have their solbidyum reactors up and running.  There have been no new uprisings or mutinies from the Brotherhood, and the admiral reports that many of the Brotherhood members in this sector have turned themselves in under the amnesty program offered by the Federation.  Regeny said testing and cleaning of Brotherhood members from the military and Federation ship crews is growing exponentially, and several hundred ships have now been certified as being free of Brotherhood members.  The availability of the drug, God’s Sweat, has been drying up since we shut down the Brotherhood’s labs on Alle Bamma, and we have ships to guard the planet and prevent their return.”

I sighed and got up off the ground.  After seating myself next to her, I took her hand in mine and we sat there, staring out over the water.  Kala placed her head on my shoulder, and I thought for a minute that we might spend the rest of the afternoon sitting there.  But then the sound of Kala’s wrist communicator began beeping from the pile of clothing on the ground.  “I guess I had better take this; I told my assistants not to contact me unless it was really important.” She walked over to her clothing and retrieved the communicator.  “Kalana here.”

“Kalana, this is Balinga.  A message just arrived from Commander Wabussie requesting a meeting with Vice Admiral Tibby and Admiral Regeny tomorrow, in the admiral’s office in the capital, and he wants confirmation right away.”

Kala turned and looked at me.  “I guess we spoke too soon.”

“If it were the admiral requesting the meeting, I would be tempted to not go.  But I since I am the one who suggested Wabussie head up the Federation Security Organization, I feel obligated.  Tell them I’ll be there—I only hope I am not going to regret this.  Find out the time of the appointment.  It’s interesting that Wabussie is calling and not the admiral.  It can only mean that the FSO agents must have uncovered something.”

Kala and I dressed and began walking back along the trail through the forest to the main house on the estate.  As we walked, I said, “There is one thing from Earth I wish we had here—an animal called a horse.  It’s a large mammal with four legs – a majestic animal.  It was one of the first creatures domesticated by humans and was used for transportation and pulling farm equipment.  Once our society advanced technologically, horses became more like giant pets, but people still enjoy riding them.  I think you really would enjoy riding one.”

Kala laughed.  “Tib, I would enjoy doing anything with you.  But let’s get back to Wabussie—what do you think he wants?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m willing to bet it involves the FSO.  Three months ago when we left Plosaxen, the FSO agents were trying to infiltrate the Brotherhood, as well as several of our own government offices and organizations, in an effort to get leads on the extent of the Brotherhood’s infiltration within the Federation.  I would think by now they have some solid leads and surveillance in place.”

By the time we reached the main estate house, the sun was low on the horizon.  Kala and I had only had a light lunch of fruit that we had taken with us earlier on our hike, and now we were nearly famished.  “How about we dine on the patio and watch the sun set?” I suggested.

“I like that idea,” she replied just as her wrist com beeped again.  “This is Kalana,” she said with a sigh. 

Balinga said that Cantolla was requesting to meet with me that evening.  I suggested to Kala that we invite Cantolla to join us, as it would be a convenient time.  Kala looked at me with a crooked grin while telling Balinga that we would be dining on the western patio in about an hour, if it was suitable for Cantolla.  When we first met Cantolla, I had not known that she was a lesbian, and I thought she was flirting with me.  In fact, she had been flirting with Kala.  Later, she apologized to both Kala and I, saying she was not aware of the relationship we shared.  Since that time, she had not made any other advances toward Kala, and she had become a good friend to both of us. 

Cantolla was a brilliant scientist I hired to advance the capabilities of the learning headbands used by the Federation.  She had accomplished the task just in time for the headbands to be used in giving the martial arts skills to the troopers that they used in the recovery of the
DUSTEN
after the Brotherhood had captured it.  Cantolla and A’Lappe, working together, had developed the instant two-way communication system now being incorporated into Federation ships.  Prior to this invention, the only way to communicate over long distances was to send the messages via a gravity wave (GW) message pod.  That could take months; if a reply was required, it would be an equal amount of time before it could be received. 

A’Lappe and Cantolla were both working on improving the instant communication system they had discovered.  While it did allow two individuals to connect and communicate over the vast distances of space instantly, it was not possible to send or receive visual images or sounds, and only one person could receive the information with the receiver at a time.  The message was sent and received at both ends by users wearing special headgear.  It transmitted the messages by reading the thoughts of one mind and sending them into the receiving person at the other end.  The exact workings of the machine were a mystery, however, to both Cantolla and A’Lappe, even though they each had their own theories.

After a shower and a change of clothing, Kala and I adjourned to the western patio, which was elevated over a beautifully landscaped garden to the north and the lake to the west, providing a beautiful view of the sunset on the water.  Once the sun set, the ground lighting in the garden presented a relaxed, soothing view. 

Kala and I were a few minutes early, and when Piebar, the house majordomo who always insisted on serving me personally, asked what we would like to drink, I was surprised when Kala stated that both she and I would have afex.  Just a few months earlier, she had chastised me for requesting this drink—one that was nearly identical to Earth’s beer.  I was told that it was a drink of the “common man” and not considered to be proper in public or formal settings.  Nevertheless, I made no pretenses in imbibing afex, and apparently my preference for it—regardless of the scene—was setting a new trend within social circles of the Federation.  It was becoming increasingly popular for persons to drink afex in public these days, but I was still surprised when Kala ordered the drinks. 

Piebar was just returning with two frosted glasses of afex when Cantolla appeared.  Although neither Kala nor I had informed Cantolla that our diner that evening was to be casual, Cantolla seemed to have figured it out.  She arrived wearing an outfit reminiscent of summer casual attire back on Earth: a pair of white shorts and a short-sleeved pale yellow blouse made of some silk-like material.  The outfit accented her tanned skin and her chestnut colored hair.  She was about 1.75 meters tall and had a natural, self-assured manner in the way she carried herself, which you know immediately that she was a woman accustomed to being in charge.

“Tibby, Kalana, I’m so glad you could see me on such short notice and that you suggested we meet here.  This is such a lovely spot in the evening, and a great place to relax and dine.”
As she spoke, she moved to the table as Piebar helped her with her chair. 

“May I get you something to drink?” he asked Cantolla.  I saw her glance at our drinks and a slight grin twisted the corner of her mouth.  “Ahh, yes, Piebar, I think I shall also have an afex.”

“Very well, ma’am.” He went off to get the drink.

“You know, Tibby, I really am glad you have managed to break this tradition of afex being a drink only consumed out of the public’s eyes.  I went to a conference last week in the city, and at the dinner that night, nearly a quarter of the guests had afex with their meal.  You would not have seen that most places in the Federation prior to your arrival.”

“So, you wanted to meet with me to tell me I am changing the social rules of the Federation?” I chuckled.

Cantolla laughed.  “No, Tibby, I wanted to meet with you to discuss several other things.  The first is about A’Lappe and the second is about the waves created by the reverse magnetic force field.”

“A’Lappe? Don’t tell me we are back to you not wishing to work with him again,” I said rather disappointedly.  When Cantolla was trying to develop the instant communication system, she had balked at working with him.  But in the end, it was the talents and cooperation of both that had brought to fruition a working unit.  While I knew Cantolla admired A’Lappe’s skills, she was proud and didn’t like sharing the glory.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that at all.  After working with him on the Deep Space Communicator, I realized that we complement each other in research.  We approach the problem from different perspectives, and when we combine the two, we see things that we overlooked before.  Working with him is a great boon to progress.”

“Deep Space Communicator? I’ve not heard that term before.”

“We just started calling it that recently.  Most of the time, we simply call it the DSC.”

“Well, then, what is the issue with A’Lappe?”

“I’m not sure it is an issue, more of an enigma.  Everyone wonders where he comes from—I know you do, too.  A’Lappe refuses to discuss his past before his association with Galetils.  Well, my curiosity got the best of me.  The other day in the lab, A’Lappe received a cut on his finger—just a minor scratch, really, but he did lose a few drops of blood.  While he was gone to apply some antiseptic, I used one of the drops of blood to do some DNA sampling.  Tibby, there is nothing in the known planets of the Federation that matches his DNA, or even comes close to it; in fact, for all I know, his DNA isn’t even from this universe, or possibly this dimension.”

“How can you be sure of that? The Federation only covers a small portion of this galaxy—there are billions of other worlds in it.  Surely it’s possible that things evolved differently on some of those worlds.”

“Different, yes, but not like this.  Higher life forms evolve from lower ones, and as they do, they carry DNA strands from earlier life forms—even though some of them no longer serve any known function.  Also, there is a commonality in all DNA chains in the galaxy: the double helix of the DNA all spirals the same way.  But not A’Lappe’s.  His is completely unique, with a reverse twist.  There are other differences
, as well, and not one common chromosome or similar chromosome to anything in our galaxy that I can find.  This is totally against the odds.”

“So what do you think? Do you think he is an artificial life form created in someone’s lab?”

“To be honest, Tibby, I hadn’t given that a thought, but I highly doubt it.  No, I think he’s from another dimension entirely.  I think that also explains why he has certain knowledge not known in our dimension.”

“Have you said anything to him about this?”

“No, I’m almost afraid to.  First of all, he would be angry about me doing a DNA test without asking him, and second, I worry what his reaction might be.  Obviously he doesn’t want anyone to know, and I think the reason is because he has scientific knowledge he’s withholding for some reason.  If we knew he had traveled between dimensions, he might believe we would try and get that information at any cost.  Tibby, you talk about Relative Physics, or, as you call it, Quantum Physics.  From what I can tell, that information is the norm where A’Lappe comes from.  There is no telling the knowledge and abilities he has at his disposal.  What he is giving us is small in comparison to what he really knows.”