Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals (32 page)

I smiled.  “I think what you did is wonderful, Kala.  Thank you!”

“Tibby,” Tanden began, as his feet danced beneath him with excitement, “did you know that there are six
adjans in a qubex?”

“Ah, yes, I think I do know that,” I said, as my enhanced memory from the learning headband kicked in, letting me know that an
adjan was a unit of liquid measurement used on the planet Sygan.  Tanden had a look of glee as he went running off in the direction of Padaran. 

“He and Padaran have really taken to each other.  Padaran sees him like a younger brother and Tanden looks up to him.”

“I’m glad to hear that.  He’s a sweet boy and he really deserves better than this.  I should have sent him up to the
MIZBAGONA
with the patrol ship
. 
Next opportunity we have, I’m sending him up where he’ll be safe.”

“How did things go in town today?” Kala asked.

We related our events of the day, up to and including the two boats anchored in the canal.

“Yes, they showed up shortly after you left this morning and have been out there ever since.  There were also some men wandering around in the field next to the house that pretended to do some sort of work, but clearly they were more interested in what was going on here.”

“I’m glad we got those Brotherhood men sold off before all these watchers showed up.  No doubt they’re trying to find out what happened to their missing comrades.”

That night, we ate on the patio again.  Unlike the night before when he stayed hidden in the ventilation duct, Tanden sat next to Padaran and chattered like a monkey and Padaran joked with him in return.  It was good to see the boy feel some measure of cheer with his newfound companions. 

From our lookout not far from the patio Endina reported seeing the two boats still anchored in the canal; it was obvious we were being watched.

We did our best to put on a convincing show of a proper Ruwallie Rasson trader and slaves setup, but I was beginning to get concerned that our act was not as convincing as we thought.  The next morning, we loaded up our delivery boat to make new deliveries.  By then both the boats anchored in the canal the day before were gone.  We didn’t observe anyone spying us as we headed to the clubs; and once we reached the
calgana
where we planned to market our wares, we began to relax. 

We were shocked when we reached the first club and the owner coldly rejected the liquor and told us to leave.  Kerabac stayed in character and said that they had made a deal and he expected payment.  Still, the club owner told him flatly he would not take the liquor even if Kerabac gave it to him.  We had no idea what had happened and proceeded on to the next club, only to have a repeat of the same performance.  Kerabac tried to get the man to talk, only to have the club owner and his employees pull guns and threaten to kill us all if we didn’t leave immediately.  At this point we were beginning to fear what might happen when we reached the third club.

We didn’t receive the rosy greeting we hoped for, nor did we get the cold rejection we’d gotten at the previous clubs.  The owner clearly was distressed and angry, and kept glancing about as he let us in the back door to unload our stock.  He even offered to buy what the other two clubs hadn’t.  All the time he kept mumbling, “They think they can tell me what to do…” and “I’m not afraid of those bastards….”

Finally, Kerabac said to the owner, “Is there something wrong?  You seem rather upset about something, and the other club owners certainly have acted strangely today.”

The owner crooked his head and looked at Kerabac.  “I shouldn’t be telling you this, and it will probably get me in a heap of trouble, but we were warned not to do business with you.  I don’t tolerate anyone telling me how to run my business, and I tolerate threats even less.  Think they can tell me how to run my business!  Hmmph!” he huffed.

“The Brotherhood threatened you?” Kerabac exclaimed.

“Brotherhood?  Hell, no! It was your own kin that done it.  Your Ruwallie Rasson brothers!  They came in here last night, telling me any deals I had with you were off and if I knew what was good for me and wanted to stay in business, I should steer clear of you!  I told them to get the hell out of my place and not to come back.  Damned if I’ll let anyone tell me what to do in my own place!”

“Did they say why you shouldn’t buy from me?” Kerabac prodded.

“They said something about you not being part of their cartel – that you’re an
independent
, they said.  Told me if I wanted to do business, I needed to buy from the cartels and not some independent.  I’d watch out if I was you.  You’re cutting into their territory and selling below their rates, and they don’t like it.  They may try and hurt you, so you’d best be careful.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Kerabac said as he handed the man back the money he just paid us.  “You keep this – as a token of my respect and gratitude for the information.”

The man looked at Kerabac with a dumbfounded stare.  “Thanks, I guess.  I didn’t expect that.  I was just angry about them other Ruwallie Rassons trying to tell me what to do.  But you do be careful, I think they may try and hurt you.”

When we left the club Kerabac said.  “I think we need to get back to the estate right away.  I didn’t think of this.  I didn’t anticipate that the Ruwallie Rasson might have formed a cartel of their own here, and what the ramifications of acting outside their organization might be.”

When we got back to the estate, everything appeared normal.  Padaran had been patrolling the area and said he’d not seen anything out of the ordinary.  Kerabac still seemed concerned that there might be problems with the Ruwallie Rasson, but once safely inside the house he seemed to relax a bit.  As evening progressed, it started to rain, so we were not able to sit outside as we had the nights before.  We had barely finished eating when Tanden came running from the front of the house in complete terror to say that men were coming.

“How many are there?” I asked, as Tanden headed out the back door to the slave quarters and his hiding place in the vent duct. 

Before he ducked into the darkness he said, “Very many,” and was gone.

At first nothing happened.  We expected to hear a knock at the door, but all was quiet.  Suddenly, both the front and back doors were blown open and a number of first floor windows exploded.  About two dozen armed men charged into the house from all directions and covered us with their weapons, after which their leader advanced quickly on Kerabac. 

“Alright, you Ruwallie Rasson bastard, where are my men?” he shouted at Kerabac.

“It looks to me like they have us surrounded,” Kerabac said coolly.

For a moment, I thought their leader was going to strike Kerabac.  Instead, he stepped into Kerabac until their faces were only centimeters apart and growled, “Not
these
men!  The ones that I sent to talk to you the other night!  Where are they?  What have you done with them?”

“How should I know?” Kerabac said.  “They certainly aren’t here.”

“This is the last place I sent them, and they never came back.  I can only conclude you had something to do with their disappearance.  Did they make you my offer?”

“They said something about a
jumpy drive
– or something like that – and that they thought I had one.  They encouraged me to agree to deal to accept a large corvette in exchange for my freighter.  Much as I would love a new corvette, I had to turn their offer down, because I don’t have this
jumpy drive
thing they were talking about.”

“Look, you asshole, don’t play smart with us.  We know you used a JUMP drive to elude our ships when you flew here from Ryken.  We got the recording of your confrontation with our ship at Ryken and we have the records of your jumps and reappearances.  We were prepared to pay you well for the technology and you could have been more agreeable and taken it.  You can still take it, if you also return my men
 — or — we can just kill you and
take
the ship.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I have no idea where your men are.  Once they left here, I never saw them again.  As for the ship, it has no jump drive.  And it’s not here, so I don’t think you’ll be taking it.”

The leader’s rage and frustration was clearly mounting and he was nearly at the point of doing serious harm; but it was also obvious that he desperately wanted the jump drive that he believed we had, and he needed Kerabac alive to get it.

“Look, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll produce the ship.  We’re going to be watching you – and don’t even
think
about leaving the planet without checking with us first.  We’ll blow you out of the sky.  You’d better hope that we find our men and that you had nothing to do with their disappearance.  I swear, if any harm came to them, you’re dead.  You have three days to deliver the ship and leave here a rich man.  After three days, you aren’t going anywhere but to your grave.”

With that, he turned and nodded to his men, who began to back out of the room as their leader left.  “We’ll be back in touch with you in three days.  Have the ship ready and don’t try to escape.  You’re a dead man if you do.”

After the men had cleared the property, Kerabac growled, “Get this mess cleaned up!” as he pointing to the bugging device still under the windowsill.  I nodded to Padaran and the others, motioning with my hands for them to make noises like they were cleaning up the broken glass and other debris.  As Kerabac, Marranalis and I slipped out to the slave quarters to speak privately I was amused to hear Padaran mimicking our voices as though we were still in the room having a conversation. 

“What do you think of that?” asked Kerabac.

“I think we need to find that solbidyum quickly and get out of here.  Let’s hope they don’t find out where their brothers are.  I got the idea that their leader was doing his best to restrain his actions and that he really wanted to destroy us, but he can’t as long as he thinks we have a jump drive.  I’m glad we don’t have the
RASSON BEDAN
anywhere that they could find it; otherwise, I think they would have simply killed us on the spot.  The good news is that, with all the attention we’re getting from the Brotherhood, word is bound to have reached Logden by now and he got to see us as his only hope of getting off this planet.”

“You’re assuming he’s still here,” Marranalis said.

“I’m pretty sure he is – and he knows time is running out for him.  If he has any idea what’s happening on our end, he knows the heat is on us, which means the heat is also on him to make his move.  I suspect he is really getting desperate about now.”

It was warmer than usual that evening — at least warmer than it had been at any time since we arrived on the planet.  I really had no idea what typical seasonal temperatures were like on Goo’Waddle.  Kala and I sat outside together on one of the broad lounge chairs.  It was impossible for anyone outside the estate to observe us where we were seated and everyone else had either gone into the main house or to the slave quarters.  We could hear Tanden and Padaran laughing as Padaran tried to teach Tanden a song.  It wasn’t long before Kerabac came out of the main house and joined them, teaching both of them a few new tunes.  It made me smile to hear to them singing, knowing that, for the first time in years, Tanden was having a good time.

“Tibby,” Kala began as she gently ran her fingers across my bare chest, “what are your plans for Tanden when we leave here?  You do realize there is every possibility that his father – and maybe even his mother – are already dead.”

I stiffened when she said this.  It was a thought I had not wanted to address.  “We don’t know that, and we won’t know that until we have exhausted every effort to find them,” I said.

“Nevertheless, it’s something you need to recognize.  Suppose you manage to find his sister, and they are the only two left of his family.  What then?”

“Then we will take them back to Megelleon with us,” I said.  “They can live on the estate.  We’ll get them a proper education and eventually some training; and when they grow up, they can decide for themselves what they would like to do.”

Kala pulled closer to me and laid her head on my chest.  After a long silence she said, “Tibby, have you given any thought to us having children of our own?”

Most men I knew back on Earth would have balked at this sort of question, but it had been on my own mind for a very long time. 

“Yes, I’ve given it a lot of thought.  I want us to have children of our own – to raise them and travel the universe with them… see new worlds and have great adventures together.  But right now is not the time for that — not with all the things going on within the Federation and with the Brotherhood.”

“My mother used to say that if you wait for the
right time
to have children, you will never have
any
.”  Kala pinched my arm.

“Ouch! That hurt!” I exclaimed, as Kala got up off the lounge and walked off.  I couldn’t tell if she was angry or if she was playing; but I felt it might be best if I stayed out on the lounge awhile longer before going back into the house to confront her.  I must have been more tired than I realized, because I drifted off.  I had probably been asleep several hours when Marranalis woke me.