Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (38 page)

“Leader, I hate to disagree with you, but the evidence brought back by the Federation legal team which went to Alle Bamma clearly stated that the Brotherhood was producing the illegal drug God’s Sweat on Alle Bamma, and they had enslaved the inhabitants there, forcing them to harvest and manufacture the drug.  The native population there now recognizes First Citizen Tibby as their representative spokesman.”

“That’s more rubbish generated by this Tibby character.  Where is the evidence for this?  Has the flow of this God’s Sweat drug ceased since Tibby took over the planet?  No!  And I’ll bet if you investigate, the amount of God’s Sweat on the street has probably increased, and Tibby is the one behind it all.  He’s a warring barbarian from a crude non-aligned world. He just happened to stumble on the
TRITYTE
and the stolen Solbidyum, and for this, we make him a wealthy hero; he repays us by attacking innocent people and trying to achieve even more glory and wealth.

“Just look at his last exploits; we hear he flew to Gaimse, a non-aligned world, mind you, and he attacked a shipyard there, apparently while trying to steal a ship.  When the Gaimseian’s military fought back, he blew up their shipyard and fled like the true coward he is.  Then where does he go?  To another non-aligned world, Goo’Waddle, where he joins up with Ruwallie Rasson pirates and surviving renegade androids, sworn enemies of the Federation I might add, and overthrew the legal government and took over that planet as well.  No, Cleainsta, this man clearly is no hero; he is a menacing thug.  Anyone can see the pattern here, three planets, and all non-aligned worlds with weak defenses.  He’s doing exactly what he claims the Brotherhood is doing, trying to create his own empire.  And just where is he, anyway?  No one has heard of or seen him for months.  I’ll tell you this, when he does return, I fully plan to have him before a senate hearing. If I have my way, he will lose his First Citizen title and his wealth will be confiscated and distributed among those he has offended, the Brotherhood, the Gaimseian’s and the people of Goo’Waddle.”  The Leader sat back in his chair once more with a satisfied look on his face.

The view switched back to Cleainsta, who displayed a displeased look on her face, “Well, Leader Roritat, I personally disagree with your assessment of things, but I’m afraid we are out of time.  However, we have a video archive of all the events surrounding the
DUSTEN,
as well as documentation about attacks on other ships by the Brotherhood.  We also have archives on the activities of First Citizen Tibby and his crew that I think you should have a look at; they paint a far different image of First Citizen Tibby than the one you present.”

“Oh I will look at them; in fact, I will probably subpoena them for use at Tibby’s Senate hearing, that is, if he ever comes back.”

“Well, thank you, Leader Roritat, for being here today; I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but unfortunately we see things quite differently.”  Cleainsta said looking once more into the camera.

“I’m only trying to set the record straight.”  Leader Roritat said from off the screen.

“By the stars, Tibby,” Kala exclaimed when the show was over, “that man clearly is being spoon fed by the Brotherhood.  It certainly has a Brotherhood slant on it.”

“I’ll have to agree with you, Kala.  It makes me wonder just how the Brotherhood is getting to him and influencing him.  I wonder if any of his staff are Brotherhood members and manipulating his thoughts.  He came here from the outer regions of the Federation.  I’m betting none of his staff have been tested for their loyalty to the Federation.”

While we were talking, the programing on the vid screen had switched over to the news of the day. Kala and I were so engrossed in our conversation that I almost missed hearing the commentator say, “And in other news, the Senate today began debate on whether to cut military spending by nearly 40% and to downsize the Federation fleet.”

“WHAT?”  I exclaimed as I stared at the screen.  “That would be suicide!  With the Brotherhood planning their attacks, the entire Federation would be at their disposal.  We’ve got to do something to stop this.”

“Tib, what do you think you can do?” Kala asked with concern.

“Well I don’t know… maybe fund more military ships myself and let Admiral Regeny have them for the military.  Make the ships smaller but more powerful so a reduced military could handle them until the Senate realizes how badly they need a strong military and not a decreased one.”

Kala responded, “Oh I’m sure Leader Roritat would have a field day with you building up a fleet of war ships.  In fact, I am surprised he didn’t mention in his diatribe about your Mirage Fighters.”

“I think I need to make contact with the Admiral.  I’m going to the bridge to prepare a DSC call to him right now.”

As soon as I was outside of our suite, I used my wrist com to call Jenira.  I knew she would not respond, but I knew she would listen.  “Jenira, this is Tibby.  I need to go to the bridge, but I don’t want Kala being left alone.  She is in our suite, would you go and be with her until I get back?”  I know it sounded silly, but after Yǎnjìngshé’s attack on Kala, I didn’t want her being alone; at least not until Ming was off the ship, and the babies were delivered, and Kala was back into fighting shape again-- or maybe never.  I wasn’t sure, but I certainly didn’t feel right about leaving her alone and unprotected at the moment.

Instead of going to the bridge, I went to the monitoring center that A’Lappe had set up specifically for intercepting and monitoring Brotherhood communications.  I wasn’t expecting him to be there, as I felt he would most likely be working in the lab with Cantolla; but when I arrived, he was seated at the central command console busily monitoring activities.

“First Citizen,” he said when I entered.  I noted that A’Lappe always called me Tibby when we were alone but in the presence of others he tended to address me as First Citizen.  “What brings you to our busy center this day?”

“I was wondering if you have picked up any interesting chatter from Brotherhood ships recently.”

A’Lappe blinked his large eyes in that typical mannerism that he had and said, “Actually, there has been some increased activity the last few days and references to Shydak being at Megelleon to meet with their number-one man in the Brotherhood.  But nothing that is very useful, I fear.  No names, dates, times or locations.  We don’t know if Shydak is meeting him on the surface or in a spaceship in orbit around the planet.”

“I wonder if their leader might be the same person spoon feeding Leader Roritat the ideas that I am a barbarian thug.”  I said.

“Ahh, you heard that.  I was wondering if you saw that on the Federation broadcast.”  A’Lappe added.

“Unfortunately I did. I get the distinct impression that Leader Roritat is not in my fan-club”

A’Lappe chuckled, “I’m sure that once the great leader gets to meet you in person, his mind will change.”

“The way he sounds he would like to see me in prison.”  I replied.

“A’Lappe, I want you to see if you can contact Admiral Regeny for me on the DSC system.  I need to talk to him about several issues.”

“Certainly, Tibby, but may I ask why you aren’t going through Verona on the bridge?”

“That’s a reasonable question, and to be honest, I’m asking myself the same question.  I have the highest confidence in Verona, but for some reason, I feel more comfortable with you making the connection.”

It took nearly 15 minutes for A’Lappe to contact the DSC operator at Admiral Regeny’s headquarters and for the Admiral to get to the operator, but at last A’Lappe gave me the go ahead.

“Admiral,” I began, “the news just reached us today about the Senate hearings to discuss reducing the size of the Federation military budget and its men and equipment as well.  What’s the status with that, and where is this coming from?”  I had to wait a few minutes for the information to be transferred from A’Lappe to the operator at the Admiral’s end and then for the Admiral to respond.

“It’s not looking good, Tibby,” A’Lappe relayed the Admirals message, “the effort is being aggressively pushed by Leader Roritat and about two dozen senators.  Right now the senate is split about 50/50 on the issue, but with the recent comments that the Admiral has been making about you, and his push to defame you as well as the military, it could sway the balance and the Senate could go along with Roritat on this.”

“Admiral, you can’t let that happen; everything we are seeing and hearing out here indicates that the Brotherhood is preparing for huge attacks, and they have allies with weapons we don’t know how to defeat.  Even as it is, the Federation may not have enough power to stop them; we need more ships, not less, and more manpower as well.”

“I agree;" A’Lappe relayed from the Admiral, “but we need to demonstrate that to the Senate in a clear way, or else we will all be carrying rocks for the Brotherhood.  Senator Tonclin is doing his utmost to talk to the senators and get them behind us, but there are nearly one million senators, and he only gets to talk to a small handful.  It would take him a life time to see them all individually.  Wabussie says he is getting new information from field operatives that may sway things for us if we can get solid evidence and present it to the Senate, but he hasn’t told me what that evidence is.”

“We should be arriving at Megelleon later this evening.  We have a prisoner we need to turn over to the Federation for crimes against sentient life forms; cannibalism, slavery, murder, and forced pregnancies being but a few.  After he is transferred, I’ll be going to my estate while the
NEW ORLEANS
is taken to Nibaria for repairs.  After a good night’s sleep, I’ll come into the capital to meet with you, Wabussie, and Tonclin-- if you all are available tomorrow afternoon.”

“I hope your prisoner didn’t commit all those crimes aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
."  Regeny responded.

“No, but he committed enough.  Two of his co-conspirators are dead.  I’ll tell you all about it when we get together tomorrow.”

“I’ll see to it that there are troopers ready to accept delivery of your prisoner and transport him to a proper holding cell pending trial.  You and others will have to file formal complaints at the time of the transfer.  Kalana should be able to provide the forms you will need to fill out before you arrive.  The forms will all be available on your ship's computer,” A’Lappe said, relating the Admiral’s words.

I had decided that before we disembarked at Megelleon, I would have one last meeting with the refugees.  I arranged with Piesew to have another buffet-style dinner with all of them.  Unlike the first dinner, people seemed more animated and happy.  As soon as Jenira entered the dining room she was instantly surrounded by a gaggle of her Chinese fans.  Kala informed me that Jenira had actually been training some of the women in her sword techniques.  I noticed a lot of smiling faces and heard a lot of laughter.  Once everyone was served and I had finished my food, I stood up to speak.”

“Within a few hours, ships will be arriving from the surface to take Ming down to a prison cell in the capitol complex until he stands trial.  I want to thank all of you who came forward to sign criminal complaints and provide recorded testimony against him.  We have every reason to believe he will be found guilty and incarcerated for life.”  There was some cheering and clapping when I said this.  Kala still found applause instead of foot stomping strange and amusing, but she didn’t say anything.

“Once Ming is off the ship, you will all have the opportunity to leave the ship. I have set up accounts with funds in them for all of you which should be sufficient to see to your needs for at least a year, and if at that time you haven’t found employment, it may be possible that we can assist you in other ways.  You all have options; some of you have already taken employment with me here on my ship, and some of you will be going to work at my estate on the surface.  All of you have a choice of staying on the ship here, or going to the surface and staying at my estate or going into the city and seeking accommodations.  Again, regardless of which option you have selected, there are people here on my staff who will be able to assist you.  If you have not already made arrangements or need assistance, please contact Kalana immediately after we finish here and she will get you together with the person best suited to help you.

“It has been an honor meeting you all. I regret that not all of your journey with us has been pleasant, but I hope that compared to what you were going through on Mars or the Moon that things here were an improvement.”  Again there was a round of applause.  “I’m hoping that at some point in the near future I can have the opportunity and honor to entertain you all at my estate and to see how you all are getting along.  Once again, let me say it has been a real honor getting to meet you all.”  I sat back down expecting my speech to be the end of the event but that was not to be the case.  Two of the Chinese, a man and a pregnant woman stood up, and the man began to speak.

“First Citizens,” he began, bowing slightly in the direction of Kala and me.  “We wish to express our most heartfelt appreciation for all you have done and are doing for us.  The conditions we lived in under Ming on the Moon were most oppressive and cruel.  Mai Ling and I,” he said nodding toward the woman next to him, are husband and wife, but Ming told us that our marriage no longer existed under his rule and we were not permitted to be together nor speak to each other.  Many terrible things took place on the Moon and we will not forget those things.  Dr. Hughes has been most helpful in guiding us in ways to deal with what we suffered, especially for the women who suffered in the most horrible of ways.  We cannot thank you enough nor repay you for the tremendous service you have provided us, but know that you will always remain much loved in our hearts and minds.  We are forever in your debt.”