Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (37 page)

“Yǎnjìngshé will be here soon,” Láng answered.  “She said she was going to make Tibby pay for how he has treated you and will bring you something you highly prize.”

“I would highly prize being out of here!”  Ming declared.  “We must find a place not in this Federation that Tibby talks about.”

“Yǎnjìngshé has been using their learning headbands and says she has learned how to navigate and fly their ships and she is sure she can get us to worlds not part of the Federation.  She believes we can sell this ship of Tibby’s for a handsome sum of money and establish ourselves in a safe place, or we can use this ship to raid other ships and accumulate wealth.”

Unexpectedly, I could hear Marranalis and his men coming through the tunnels from the other side of the
ALI
hangar area.

“Silence,” Ming ordered Láng.  “We need to hide somewhere."

“Back there in those tunnels,” Láng said.

I heard them coming my way, but before I could get out of sight Láng spotted me.

“Look out Ming, it's Tibby.”  Láng shouted as he lifted his arm to fire with one of the weapons they had taken from the guards when they escaped.  I reacted instinctively, and before he had a chance to get off a shot, I fired, burning a hole through his chest.  Láng buckled at his knees and then dropped face down on the deck, dead.  Instantly Ming raised his arms shaking and cried out, “Don’t kill me! Don’t shoot!  See-- I am unarmed,” he sobbed.

It took all my restraint to keep from killing Ming on the spot; I was gritting my teeth so tightly that I am amazed I didn’t break a tooth.  Behind Ming in the tunnel I saw Marranalis and his men rushing forth; two of them grabbed Ming and put him into restraints while Marranalis and another checked out Láng’s body on the deck.

“This one isn’t going to be going back to a cell, he’s dead.”  Marranalis stated.  “Why didn’t you kill this other piece of filth as well?”

“Believe me, I want to, but I think he will suffer more if kept alive in a Federation prison for the rest of his life.”  I replied.

“Where is Ming’s woman?”  Marranalis asked.

“Láng said that Yǎnjìngshé went someplace to do something to make me pay for my treatment of Ming,” I responded as I began pondering what that might be.  I doubted that she would have the ability to do anything to blow up the ship, the only thing that she could do that would really hurt me was…. “Kala!, she’s going to harm Kala!”  I lifted my wrist com to call Kala.  “Kala, Yǎnjìngshé is headed your way; she plans to harm you in some way.”  There was no reply.  “Kala, did you hear me?”  Silence was my reply as I took off running down the tunnel back the way I came and toward my suite.  As I neared our suite I suddenly saw a raised panel in the tunnel above me; it was obvious that Yǎnjìngshé had used this as a way into our suite.

Cautiously I climbed up through the open hatch to find myself standing in the bath area of my suite.  From deeper inside our suite I could hear Yǎnjìngshé’s voice.  “So lovely you are,” she said tauntingly as I crept closer.  “When I am finished with you, you will not be so pretty for Tibby anymore.”  As I crept nearer I could see part of Kala’s form lying on the floor, but the rest of her body was hidden by the bed.  For a moment I got a glimpse of the top of Yǎnjìngshé’s head on the other side the bed, and it was obvious that she was kneeling on the floor by Kala’s body.  Kala’s head was turned toward me her eyes open, but she appeared paralyzed and unable to move or speak.  “Tibby ruined Ming’s feast,” Yǎnjìngshé said in a bitter tone, but now Tibby’s children will feed him, a just payment I think.”  I saw Yǎnjìngshé hand raise just above the top of the bed, a knife in her hand,  I tried to aim and fire, but before I could, Jenira flew into the room behind Yǎnjìngshé, her two swords a blur as the came down in a stabbing motion.  I rushed into the room to Kala; Jenira looked up at me for a second as I reached Kala’s side.  I glanced at Yǎnjìngshé to see both of Jenira’s blades protruding, one on each side of Yǎnjìngshé body between the collarbone and the neck and straight down in her body.  Yǎnjìngshé’s head hung forward and it was obvious that she was dead.

I looked back at Kala, her uniform top had been pulled up to expose her pregnant stomach and Yǎnjìngshé’s blade lay on the floor beside her where it had fallen when Jenira had struck.  I looked back at Kala and noticed a small dart stuck in her neck.  Quickly, I reached down and checked her pulse at her neck.  She was still breathing.  I lifted my wrist com to my mouth as I spoke, “A’Lappe, Kala has been shot with a poisoned dart and seems to be paralyzed.  I’m taking her to the med unit; meet me there, and if you get there before me, notify Dr. Danjuma we are on our way.”  By the time I finished my message, Marranalis and three of his men had entered our suite.  They helped me pick up Kala, but I insisted on carrying her myself, and with her in my arms I rushed out the door and down the corridor toward the med unit.  In my mind, I found myself praying, praying to a god I still was not sure I believed in, but was slowly coming to rely on more and more in my life.  I was so distraught that I nearly passed the door to the med unit before I realized it.  A’Lappe was there; he and Dr. Danjuma helped me place Kala on a bed.  A’Lappe pulled the dart from Kala’s neck as I watched. I felt guilty that I had not thought to remove the dart myself.  A’Lappe took the tiny object and placed it inside a little boxlike device he had in his hand.  “It’s some sort of venom,” he said, “but I am not familiar with it.  It must be something from your Earth.”

“Let me see that,” Dr. Danjuma said.  A’Lappe handed her the device, and she looked at the screen as I stood feeling helpless.  I felt a hand reach out and take mine; I looked over to see Jenira standing there, she looked at me and then back at Kala.

“I think this is spider venom,” Dr. Danjuma said as she reached for her vid pad.  “I’ve downloaded all the records from Earth in here; let me check this composition of the data we have.  “Yes, here it is.”  She sighed.  “We’re in luck-- the poison is not fatal, it only causes paralysis for a few hours without treatment; but if we can duplicate this compound," she said as she handed her vid pad to A’Lappe, “we can bring her around in just a few minutes.  “A’Lappe looked at the information on the vid screen and then went over to a wall unit that looked much like the food synthesizers about the ship.  He punched some data into a touch pad on the unit, and moments later a small vial with a light-green tint to it popped out of the machine.  A’Lappe placed the vial in an injection gun, walked over to Kala, and placed it against her neck; there was a muffled sound as the pressurized liquid was released from the injection gun and into Kala’s veins.  “She should be coming around real soon.”  While he was saying this, Dr. Danjuma was passing another instrument over Kala’s abdomen,” The babies seem to be okay, the poison doesn’t seem to have harmed them.”  I breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly found myself trembling.  I felt Jenira squeeze my hand and I looked at her.  She smiled and nodded toward Kala; I looked to see Kala’s eyes moving and looking at us and a faint smile on her face.  I rushed forward and felt Jenira let go of my hand as I reached out for Kala.

“Kala, I was terrified that Yǎnjìngshé had killed or harmed you.  I got there just as she was about to… well…, but I couldn’t get to you without her seeing me and stabbing you.  Jenira saved your life,” I said looking back at Jenira, who had now moved up beside me at Kala’s side.

“I know,” Kala said slowly and softly, her voice almost a whisper.  “I could hear everything, but I could not move or focus my eyes.  I could hear what was happening.”

“What did happen?”  I asked.  “I mean, how did she get you?”

“I was in the room where you left me; the music had stopped when I heard a noise back in the bathroom.  I got up to go check what it was; I entered the bedroom and felt something sting my neck, I reached up to see what it was and then suddenly I found myself falling to the floor. Yǎnjìngshé had already gotten into the bedroom and was hiding behind the wall when I entered the room, and she shot me using a small blow gun.  Tibby, she was a wicked woman.  She was going to take our babies for Ming to…”  I pressed my fingers to her lips to stop her.  I didn’t want to hear her say those horrid words.

“I know Kala.  I know.  However, Jenira stopped her.”

“How did you get there?”  Kala asked Jenira.

Jenira began signing.  “Tibby saw me in the corridor earlier and ask me to come and stay with you.  I was delayed by one of the Chinese women I met in the corridor; she was all upset about Ming’s escape and terrified that Ming was coming for her.  I took her to the lounge area where several of the other women were and left her with them before I went to your suite.  When I got there I opened the door and entered; I didn’t see Kala anywhere’ but then I heard Yǎnjìngshé talking in the bedroom.  I snuck up quietly and saw Yǎnjìngshé’ about to cut Kala; that’s when I killed her.”

“Thank you, Jenira,” Kala said as she slowly moved her arm out and reached for Jenira’s hand.

“But Tibby, how did you get there?”

“I found Ming and Láng in the hangar by the
ALI
; Yǎnjìngshé thought she could fly it because she used the learning headbands, but she didn’t know the ships were secured and could only be opened by a few people.  She left Ming and Láng to come for you, not knowing they could not get aboard the
ALI
.  I overheard Láng mention that Yǎnjìngshé said she was going to do something that would hurt me to get even for Ming, and I suddenly realized she was coming after you.”

“What about Ming and Láng?”  Kala asked.

“I shot Láng; he tried to shoot me and I got him first.  Ming practically wet himself trying to surrender when he saw Láng go down.”

Jenira tugged on my arm and I looked at her.  “You should have killed him,” she signed.

“Maybe so, but I think he will suffer more if he is a prisoner in the Federation for the rest of his life; killing him would be too easy on him.”

Kala recovered quickly and within an hour, other than for a bad headache, she was back to normal.

Early the next morning we received another message from Commander Wabussie. It was rather cryptic and only said that a lot of new information had been obtained by field operatives and that the data was being correlated. A picture was forming that didn’t look good.  He inquired about our estimated time of arrival and said that at the first opportunity he needed to meet with me and Admiral Regeny to go over the information.  By now, we were only a day away from Megelleon, so I had Verona convey the information to the commander that I would be able to meet with him and the Admiral in two days.  By now we were close enough that we were beginning to pick up broadcasts from various Federation worlds, and even though we were receiving them a day or two late, it was giving us an opportunity to catch up on the news. 

Kala and I were relaxing in our suite when we received a message from the Commodore to check the Federation news broadcast; Leader Roritat was being interviewed, and he was talking about me.  Kala quickly activated the vid screen and the image of well-groomed man with snow-white hair and a toothy, gleaming white smile appeared on the screen.  He had piercing blue eyes and reminded me of the evangelists and ministers that used to be seen on TV back on Earth.

“…no Cleainsta, what I am saying is that I think the Federation has placed too much stock in this Tibby fellow.  We’ve given him immense wealth and power, and I personally think it was a big mistake.  Look at all the problems he is causing.”  The camera view changed to the face of Cleainsta; I recognized her as having been a news reporter on the
DUSTEN
at the time when the Brotherhood of Light had captured the ship.  She had apparently gotten a promotion and was now working at the news station in the capital.

“Excuse me Leader Roritat, but with all due respect, you weren’t here when the
DUSTEN
was taken by the Brotherhood and when they attacked the capital.  Thousands died and more would have died had it not been for First Citizen Tibby.”

“Cleainsta, Cleainsta, Cleainsta,” Leader Roritat began in a condescending tone as the view switched showing him leaning back in his chair with a huge grin on his face.  "That incident on the
DUSTEN
was the random act of a mad man and a few of his followers and had nothing to do with the Brotherhood, I am sure.  That a few of them happened to have been members of the Brotherhood is hardly a reason to place the guilt of what happened on millions of other peaceful Brotherhood of Light members throughout the universe.  This Tibby fellow has made it a vendetta to go about attacking and disrupting the life’s of innocent members of the Brotherhood based solely on the acts of a madman and a few of his twisted followers who happened to have once been in the Brotherhood.”

“Begging your pardon, Leader Roritat,” Cleainsta interrupted, “but I personally was aboard the
DUSTEN
when the event happened, and it was not simply the work of one madman and a few of his followers; how do you explain the attacks that have gone on since then, where the Brotherhood captured Federation ships and attacked a few outlying planets of the Federation?  We have reports that a number of planets have been captured as well as Federation military ships.”

“Phah!  Those are just rumors that only justify the hostile actions of this Tibby and his band of thugs.  Look at what they did at Alle Bamma, a planet not even a part of the Federation.  The Brotherhood had a peaceful operation going on there, producing pharmaceuticals needed to treat various diseases throughout the universe.  Tibby went in and destroyed their operation and took over the planet, kept the place for himself and won’t allow anyone to set foot there!” Leader Roritat stated with his brows furrowed and a look of indignation on his face.