Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (5 page)

“Yes, well that seems to be the problem,” Regeny butted in,” there are some in the Senate concerned about the ethical treatment of the prisoners of war, and demanding evidence they are being treated humanely.”

I looked at both the Admiral, and Leader Tonclin in astonishment, but before I could speak, Tonclin continued, “I fear the Senate is demanding a group of senators be allowed to see the prisoners and to visit their place of imprisonment.”

“I see,” I said, “how soon do they want this to happen?”

“If you could make it happen tomorrow, it wouldn’t be too soon,” Regeny said, “I’ll tell you, Tibby, I can’t figure this bunch out.  None of them want the prisoners of war held on their planets, fearing a raid from the Brotherhood to free them, but then they moan that we are holding them outside the Federation.  Every last one of those senators would have our hides if we’d released the prisoners.  We just can’t win!”

“Yes,” Tonclin stated, “but in defense of the Senate, even though the prisoners are prisoners of war, many of them are citizens of the Federation, and many have families in the Federation who are concerned about them, even if they are traitors and mutineers.”

“All right,” I began, “Here’s what I propose.  Make arrangements for fifty senators to go as a fact-finding committee and to see the prisoners and how they are being cared for.  I will have some of our engineering team set up a separate Cantolla Gate, specifically for this visit; one here in the Senate building and one at the lunar prison facility.  We will take the Senators through the gate, and they can visit the facility and talk to the prisoners, after which we will bring them back here and those same gates will be disassembled.  I suggest you send a vid crew along with them to record the event, and so it can be reported through the news; that way citizens can see the facility for themselves, many will get glimpses of their relatives held there.  That should allay any false ideas of the place.”

“But aren’t you concerned that the prisoners or images of the facility will alert the Brotherhood to the location of the base?” Tonclin asked.

“No, not really, everything has been painted and remodeled since the Chinese were there.  There are no windows to the exterior Moon surface.  No one can see space, so they will not be able to identify any stars or see Earth, and none of the prisoners or even the guards know where they are, so I do not think we have anything to fear.”

“How soon can you have this all set up?” Regeny asked.

“In four days, I would think.”

“Very well, then,” Regeny said with a relaxed smile, “Let’s make it happen.”

It was late in the afternoon when I returned to the
NEW ORLEANS,
and I headed to my suite.  As soon as I entered I heard, “Daddy” and sound of four feet racing across the floor.  I scooped the twins up in my arms and glanced across the room at Kala sitting in a large cushioned chair looking a bit tired, but she gave me a big smile.

“So how was your day?”  I asked her as I bounced the twins up and down.

“Tiring! Jenira wasn’t here, and I had the twins all to myself. Tibby I tell you those two wear you out if you have them all to yourself for a day.”

“Daddy, come see,” Lunnie said as she wiggled in my arms to get down.  I set both her and Reidecor on the floor, and immediately Lunnie started running toward their room while Reidecor looked at me and repeated Lunnie’s statement, “Daddy, come see,” and then he too took off in the direction  of their playroom.  I followed, and as I passed Kala, I leaned down and gave her a kiss.  “I'll be right back,” I said, and she laughed.  “Not if Lunnie has her way, you won’t.”  I entered the playroom to see Lunnie standing beside an odd-looking construction made of sticks and blocks.  The entire arrangement reminded me of old toys from back on Earth called Tinker Toys and Lego Blocks, but this seemed to be some sort of combined set.  The entire structure seemed quite abstract but there was some semblance of form to it, indicating intelligent design, and not just random pieces stuck together.

“See Daddy?”  Lunnie said pointing.

“Wow!  That’s beautiful,” I exclaimed hoping the praise would make them happy, “did you make that?”

“No!  Reide did,”  Lunnie had taken to calling Reidecor, ‘Reide’, as she hadn’t been able to articulate his entire name, and I had a feeling that Reide was going to stick, and she would most likely call him that the rest of their lives.

“Wow Reidecor, you made this all by yourself?”  I asked, and to be honest I was somewhat amazed because there was some symmetry about it indicating intentional thought about the design.

Reidecor nodded and ran to the structure and pointed.  “This is Lunnie’s room and this is mine,” he said as he pointed out two areas within the structure.  As I looked at it closer, I realized that it was patterned sort of like our underground house on Desolation, and what Reidecor was calling his room was the outer room and the inner room he was calling Lunnie’s.  He even had a corridor leading out of the second room that went to a third room that Reidecor pointed to and said, “Don’t walk in there, Daddy. You will fall in hole.”  I shook my head.  Could Reidecor be remembering this place from nearly two years earlier?  He would only have been about a year old then, maybe he was brighter than I gave him credit for.  I turned to Kala and said, “Did he make this all by himself, or did you help him?

Kala held her hands up and said, “Don’t look at me.  He did the building with Lunnie’s comments, but I didn’t touch it.”

“You realize what this is, don’t you?”  I asked.

“From the way Lunnie and Reidecor were talking, I think it’s where we lived on Desolation.”

“Yes, but Kala, at this age, kids don’t normally have this level of understanding of space relations, and skill enough to construct something on this level, at least not kids from back on Earth.  Is this normal for children in the Federation?”

“I don’t really know, Tib, I can find out if you want me to.”

“So, are we set to go dancing in the lounge tonight?” I asked.

“I was planning on asking Jenira to babysit,” Kala answered.

“Ah, you won’t be able to get Jenira, she and Padaran are entertaining Nybidong this evening; in fact, they probably will be at the lounge as well,” I answered.

“Nybidong?  Isn’t he the Ruwallie Rasson Jenira defeated last year in her challenge in the right to wear and use catas?” 

“The very same,” I answered.

“What is he doing here?  Don’t tell me there is another challenge and Jenira is fighting him tonight?” she demanded somewhat anxiously.

“No, no, nothing like that at all!  He’s here as a leader of the mercenary group from Goo’Waddle assisting the Federation in its fight against the Brotherhood.  He also met with Padaran and me, and said the Ruwallie Rasson from Goo’Waddle wish to petition to join the Federation.  After the defeat of Tondor by Padaran, and then Nybidong’s defeat by Jenira, have the Ruwallie Rasson are thinking that perhaps it’s a sign from their gods that they should be part of the Federation after all.  Oh, that reminds me,” I said through a grin, “Nybidong says the Ruwallie Rasson is now claiming that Jenira is one of them, well, at least a descendant from a Ruwallie Rasson.  According to Nybidong, they traced Jenira's linage back, and one of her great grandmothers several generations into the past was once a concubine of one of the greatest Ruwallie Rasson warriors; that’s why she could defeat him.”  I laughed.  ”They are also trying to trace Padaran’s heritage as they are sure the only way anyone could ever defeat a Ruwallie Rasson is if that person has Ruwallie Rasson blood.”

“Oh my,” Kala said laughing, “but it’s not impossible.  Jenira could have Ruwallie Rasson heritage you know.”

“Yes, I realize that, but think back to when we first went to Goo’Waddle.  Endina is half Ruwallie Rasson, and while they gave her more status in their thinking, than whites or other races, they continued to see her as inferior to themselves.  Now, they are willing to grant Jenira Ruwallie Rasson status, not just as a woman, but equal to a male, even if she only has one drop of Ruwallie Rasson blood.  All so they can save face, and rationalize their beliefs.”

“I get what you are saying,” Kala said, “but I would recommend you not express that thought around any of the Ruwallie Rasson; at least none of the ones from Goo’Waddle.”

I felt a tug on my pant leg and looked down to see Lunnie looking up at me.

“Daddy, come and tell me a story.”

“A story?  What story do you want me to tell you?” I asked, knowing full well that when Lunnie asked about a story, it was always the same story she wanted to hear and that was about a muralam on Desolation, and its antics hunting for food.  Lunnie had never forgotten the night we left the
ALI
and moved to the site on the mesa and how she saw the muralam running across the desert floor.  I was beginning to wonder how good a pet a muralam might make and getting one for her as a pet.

I sat down on the floor near where Reidecor was making adjustments to his assembly of sticks and blocks to tell Lunnie her story.  While he seemed focused on what he was making, I could tell he still was listening to all that was being said.  More and more I was finding myself being amazed at the differences between Lunnie and Reidecor, and the depth of intelligence both seemed to display.  I hadn’t really encountered many children since leaving Earth, and I was wondering if children in the Federation were more advanced than the Earth children I grew up with, or if Lunnie and Reidecor were above average.  I was just finishing up my tale to Lunnie when Kala walked across the room.

“I just spoke to Lánhuā Mao; she said we should just bring the twins over to her suite on our way to the lounge.  Her baby is Lunnie’s and Reidecor’s age, and they love playing together.”

“Lánhuā Mao?  Her baby?”

Kala laughed, “Yes, Tibby, remember we talked about this before, allowing crew members to have their families aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
and children here.”

“Well, yes, but we never talked about it again and well, I haven’t seen any children running through the ship.”

“Do you see our children running through the ship?”  Kala responded.

“Well, no of course not, I mean you or Jenira are here with them.  They are not out running about,” I said.

“So why would you think the children of others would be out running through the ship?  Don’t you think they would care for their children likewise?”

By now, I was starting to feel pretty stupid, and I answered, “I guess I just hadn’t thought about it.  But who is this Lánhuā Mao, and can we trust her with the twins?”

“Oh Tib, sometime I wonder about you.  Lánhuā Mao, was one of the women we rescued from the Earth’s moon, she was one of the women that Ming had impregnated.  She decided to keep the baby, and he is really cute.  Besides, you will like the baby, she named him after you since you rescued her and the others.”

“WHAT?”  I exclaimed, “After me!  She named him Thibodaux?”

Kala laughed, “No, she found Thibodaux too hard to pronounce.  She's named him James, using your second name.”

Lunnie had been listening to Kala, and abruptly she asked, “Mommy, are we going to see James?”

“Yes, you and Reidecor are going to go over to James’s place to play while Mommy and Daddy go out for a while.  Do you like that?”

“Yay,” Lunnie and Reidecor both said as they jumped up and down in excitement.  Obviously, both twins knew James quite well.

Since I was aboard my own space yacht and officially, as far as I was concerned, off duty, and Kala and I were going dancing, I decided to wear some more casual attire.  I selected a nice pair of slacks and one of my crew neck shirts.  I was really starting to miss wearing these shirts since I became an admiral.  Kala and I dropped the twins off at Lánhuā’s on the way to the lounge.  As soon as she opened the door I recognized her, and realized she was in Jenira’s Women with Swords group that comprised the bodyguards for Kala and the twins.  She had barely opened the door before Lunnie and Reidecor burst through the door and ran to James, laughing and screaming.

I was leading the way to the lounge, when Kala diverted me, saying that it had been moved to a new location on the ship.  I asked why and when this had happened, and she explained that it was relocated recently because so many people were going there, they could not all get in.  So they had moved it to a new location on the ship that was larger.  We were still some distance from the lounge when I began hearing the sounds of dance music playing, and I was surprised that I recognized many of the tunes, as they were from back on Earth during my days there.  Kala explained that since the Mars colony refugees had come to the Federation and shared music in their data cubes, Earth music became quite popular.  At the moment, it was music from the 1920’s and the 1960’s that seemed to be popular.  The Charleston had been revitalized along with dances of the 60’s.  As we neared the door, I could hear the tune, “Charleston Charley” blaring away. As we entered the dance floor, I noticed it was packed with crew members dancing away in Charleston fashion.

“Oh, Tib, you never taught me this dance, “Kala shouted over the din of the music.

“It was a dance way before my time,” I shouted back, “but I do know a few of the steps.  My mother taught them to me, but I seldom danced them, as few people during my time danced that dance anymore.”

“Well I want to try it.  It really looks like fun,” she said as she took my hand practically dragging me to the dance floor.  One thing I had learned about Kala shortly after we met was that she had a quick memory for dance steps and was a great dancer.  I was a bit rusty when it came to the Charleston, and while I knew the dance and its steps, I wasn’t as proficient with it as I was with other dances.  Nevertheless, I pulled it off, and we had a blast dancing.  Kala was laughing and grinning the entire time.  When the music finished Kala said, “I’m glad I wore a dress that allowed me to do that.  Had I worn something longer and tighter I would not have been able to do some of those kicks.”