Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (42 page)

“And how is it that the Federation hasn’t installed them on all their ships?”

“I suspect it’s because they haven’t been able to get to all their star ships yet; most of the ships are light-years apart. Some are so far out that even with our fastest GW message pods it will be years before they learn of them.  Right now, there are outer regions of the Federation which still have not received word about the return of the
TRITYTE
and the solbidyum; you can hardly expect them to know about the RMFF’s and cloaking devices let alone to have installed them on their ships.  However, you would have to ask Admiral Regeny that question, as I don’t have the actual answer for you.”  The bar stayed green, and I could see Roritat slump slightly.  I saw one of his men lean over and say something to him, and then he turned to me with a more triumphant look on his face.

“So you have this cloaking device on your ship the
NEW ORLEANS
?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“And just how did you come to acquire this device?” He asked.

“I don’t see what this has to do with the charges against me, but I’ll answer it anyway.  It was discovered by a member of my crew.”  I answered.

“I see,” Roritat said as he stared at the green bar on the screen, “and would this crew member happen to be named A’Lappe?”  His question took me by surprise, other than those on my ship and a few members of the military knew of A’Lappes existance .  For a moment, I expected the bar to turn yellow or red as I answered, “No it isn’t,” and then suddenly I realized that it was in fact Kerabac who had made the discovery, A’Lappe only perfected it.   bar stayed green, I could see a look of amazement and disappointment cross over Roritat’s face as he turned and looked at the man who had just spoken with him.  I was beginning to ponder just how Roritat knew about A’Lappe and why he asked the question, as it really had nothing to do with what I was being accused of.

“Let me ask you in another way,” Roritat began, “Do you have a crew member on the
NEW ORLEANS
named A’Lappe?”  I was in a dilemma now; A’Lappe didn’t want his existence or whereabouts known to but a few, he had told me the Brotherhood was looking for him and wished to exploit his knowledge.  If I answered the question truthfully it would reveal his whereabouts, but if I lied the machine would reveal it, and his whereabouts confirmed; either way it was a giveaway.  I noted Roritat had a grin of satisfaction on his face, and the look of his colleagues indicated they believed he had triumphed in some way.  I was opening my mouth to answer when Justice Mastoeth interrupted.

“Leader Roritat, I fail to see how this question has any relevance to the charges against the First Citizens.  This A’Lappe is not mentioned in the briefs you presented the Senate, nor, to my knowledge is he an enemy of the Federation.  Unless you can show some relevance significant to the charges against First Citizen Tibby, I’m ruling that he need not to answer your question.”

Roritat looked stunned by the Justice’s ruling as he turned and looked back at his associates in the box with him; they also looked stunned.  He turned to me and started once again.

“We’ve all heard you say that your ship has Reverse Magnetic Force Fields and that several of the Federations ships now have RMFFs as well; up until your arrival in the Federation the technology for RMFFs was known but there wasn’t a sufficient power source to power one of these units.  Now suddenly, there are 10X fusion reactors that are being produced by several companies in a license to you; where did you acquire the technology?”

“Leader Roritat,” Justice Mastoeth once more interrupted,” I do not see where this information is relevant to this hearing; unless you can show relevance the accused need not to answer."

“Honorable Justice, it is possible that Tibby stolen this technology. If so, determining that would go a long way in proving our accusations.”  Roritat said.

“Very well, you may proceed, but keep your questions in line with this hearing.”

“So Tibby, how did you acquire this technology?”  Roritat asked.agan.

“I purchased my ship,
NEW ORLEANS
, from the shipyard at Nibaria; it was being built for Galetils, the industrialist, who died before I arrived in the Federation.  I purchased the ship with all its contents from the Nibarian ship yard for the outstanding balance owed them.  One of the things Galetils’ company was developing was the 10X fusion reactor.  It was Galetils’ intentions that the ship would be equipped with the RMFF and a 10X fusion reactor to power it.  It was also his intention to use the ship as a yacht to entertain as well as a platform to demonstrate both the RMFF and the 10X reactor to the Federation military and other prospective buyers.  The information for the building of the 10X fusion reactor was already aboard the ship when I bought it; all we needed to do was construct it.”  I breathed a sigh of relief as the bar on the vid screens stayed green.  While it had been A’Lappe who designed and built the 10X reactor, he had worked for Galetils trying to develop it, and he was aboard the ship when I bought it, so technically I had not lied, but I realized that Leader Roritat was looking for a lot more information than just what it would take to get me charged with crimes against the Federation and humanity.  Something more was going on here other than what was being presented as the cause for my inquisition.

Leader Roritat asked a few more questions, which seemed to be relatively meaningless before he changed to questioning on another area.

“Shortly after the event on the
DUSTEN,
you and First Citizen Kalana went to Plosaxen, where you put on one of your acrobatic combat shows for Admiral Regeny and others.  Isn’t it true that you had set this event up to show yourself superior, and that you paid the two men who were your opponents to allow you to defeat them?”

“No sir, that is not true.”  I answered as Leader Roritat continued, “And isn’t it also true that you and First Citizen Kalana’s injuries were because of an accident due to a lack of rehearsal, and the two men who were killed were innocent victims of your misjudgment and your desire to appear better than everyone else?”

“No sir, both men who attacked Kalana and me were Brotherhood assassins; Kala had to be placed in stasis to prevent her death until we could get the cure.”

“Oh yes, the cure, your alibi for going to Alle Bamma, where you destroyed the pharmaceutical labs stole spaceships and took the planet for your own.”  Roritat continued his accusations.

I leaned forward in my chair and replied, “Alle Bamma was under the control of the Brotherhood, and they were using it to produce the street drug known as God’s Sweat; they had enslaved the natives of Alle Bamma and forced them to harvest the plants they used to make the drugs.  Yes, I destroyed their drug labs and freed the natives; as for dominating the planet, it was the citizens on the planet that decided that I should be their spokesman in all matters concerning the planet, and that was witnessed by Legal Federation representatives from a Federation Star Ship.”

“The Brotherhood again— tell me, Tibby, what is your hatred of the Brotherhood really about?  It seems that you’re the only one seriously having encounters with them, and you go out of your way to track them down and attack them.”

“You want to know what I have against the Brotherhood?”  I said angrily.  “I’ll tell you, the Brotherhood are pirates, thieves, warmongers, and drug pushers who enslave people and exploit them, not help them.”  I noticed Justice observing the truth bar on the vid screen and I glanced at it to see it was still displaying green.

“The Brotherhood are thieves?  Unlike you, I suppose.  Tell us that you didn’t try to steal a ship from the ship yard at Gaimse!”

“I tried to reclaim my own ship that was stolen by the Brotherhood and taken to Gaimse, so they might reverse-engineer it,” I said with perhaps a bit more anger than I should have, but the truth bar remained green.”

“Your ship?”  Roritat said with a mocking tone.  How do you figure it was your ship?”

“It was my ship because it was my design; it’s called a Mirage Fighter, and I paid for it, and I had it built in the ship yard in Plosaxen.  The ship was scheduled to be delivered to one of the Federation’s Starships when it was stolen by Brotherhood operatives and shipped to Gaimse, where the Gaimseian’s were expected to reverse-engineer it and build copies for the Brotherhood.  I went to Gaimse to retrieve the ship, but it had been taken apart.  To protect the design and secrets of its new and faster design from falling into the hands of the Brotherhoods, I blew up the ship.”

“You expect us to believe you were building this ship for the Federation?”  Roritat asked in an incredulous tone.  “I’ve heard how you are building your own military fleet for some nefarious purpose.”

“You can check it out for yourself; several hundred of them have already been supplied to a number of the Federations Starships.”  I said… I noted everyone now was staring at the vid screens and the green bar being displayed.

“The Federation isn’t paying you for any ships; we haven’t authorized the expense for new ships!”  Roritat exclaimed.

“Which is why I am lending the ships to the Federation military; the Brotherhood is amassing fleets of ships all around the perimeter of the Federation territories in preparation for a full-scale invasion.  There is no time to waste waiting for debates and long approval processes to decide whether the Federation will buy one or two ships to try out when hundreds are needed now!”  I said emphatically. I could hear the buzz of conversation through the hall as I finished. 

“By whose authority— who told you that you could lend ships to the Federation?”  Roritat exclaimed.

“Admiral Regeny and the admiralty review board.  I don’t know the particular article or paragraph giving him the authority to do so, but he assured me that he has the right, and since there is no cost involved to the Federation, he is not required to get approval.”  I responded.

“What?  He can’t do that… it’s… it’s treason!”  Roritat exclaimed.   “He’s exceeded his authority.

“Actually, Leader Roritat,” Justice Mastoeth interrupted, “the Admiral is quite within his rights per Federation laws to make such a decision. The First Citizen is correct.  Admiral Regeny doesn’t need the Senate’s approval nor is he required to notify the Senate of any such actions beforehand.”

For a few moments, it seemed that Leader Roritat was choking, but eventually he cleared his throat and began again, “Were there any senators aware of these ships being built and supplied to the Federation?”

“I’m quite certain that a number of them were aware; all the senators of the planets where the shipyards building the Mirage Fighters are located were familiar with the contracts to build ships on their planets.”

“And just who are these senators?”  Leader Roritat demanded.

“To be honest I’m not sure who they all are.  I only pay for and own the ships, I leave the details to my attorneys and the Admiralty to work out.  I don’t even know where they all are being built.”

“So then how do you know the shipyard on Gaimse wasn’t building the ship you thought was stolen was for the Federation all along, and you didn't blow up a sanctioned shipyard?”  Roritat asked.

“Because it was the Admiralty that told me it was stolen. Furthermore, none of the contracts to build the ship are outside the Federation territories.  Since the ship was not the Federation’s technically they had no right to go outside the Federation to retrieve it; I, on the other hand, being the legal owner, had every right to go and retrieve it wherever it was!”

Roritat looked like he didn’t know what to say and he stood staring at the floor for a long time. At last, Justice Mastoeth said, “Leader Roritat, do you have any more questions for the First Citizen?”  Roritat seemed startled by the question and then said, “Ahh, yes your Honor, I do.  “Now then Tibby, explain why, if you had succeeded on your mission to prevent the secrets of your Mirage Fighters from being reverse-engineered that you went to Goo’Waddle, joined with the Ruwallie Rasson pirates and the androids in destroying the government there and taking over the planet.”

“I went to Goo’Waddle in an effort to recover a stolen solbidyum shipment that was intended for the planet Lasalt,” I answered.  There was a loud gasping sound from the senators in the hall followed by the buzz of conversation.

“How is it no one has heard of this shipment being taken?” Roritat demanded.

“Because the Admiralty wanted to avoid panic within the Federation; planets were expecting delivery and situations were volatile in some areas that were awaiting shipments.  The Brotherhood was telling outer planets that the Federation intended to withhold some shipments and only give the solbidyum to more prosperous worlds.  If the Brotherhood intercepted those shipments and the planets didn’t receive them, it would have appeared the Brotherhoods statements were true, and it would have turned many planets against the Federation.”

“You don’t really expect the Senate to believe a tale like that now, do you?

“Why don’t you ask the Senator of Lasalt?” I said.  “I’m sure he will verify their shipment was stolen and there was a delay of several months until we could retrieve it.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Roritat said quickly.  “I’m quite sure the shipment was delayed, but I doubt it was because the Brotherhood took it.”

I could see where I was being led into making a statement that would make me look like a liar; or where I would have to compromise the truth if I were not careful.