Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids (40 page)

“Tibby, I thought all the Cantolla Gates were guarded,” Regeny said.

“They are supposed to be,” I said with some confusion, “Sisopan and her men must be somewhere here on the ship?”

“Sir, they haven’t gone to the
MAXETTE
,” Báihuā said over the vid link.

“What do you mean?  We watched them go through the portal,” I said.

“Yes but that gate doesn’t go to the
MAXETTE.
It goes to the
NEW ORLEANS
.  When it was created, the originating end was made on the
NEW ORLEANS,
and only the second gate at the storage locker was set up to correspond to its partner on the
MAXETTE
.”  I realized she was right, when I had A’Lappe create the gates I never told him to relocate the first gate to the
MAXETTE,
and it still was on the
NEW ORLEANS
.

“I need to get to the
NEW ORLEANS
as quickly as I can; we’ve no idea what Sisopan and her companions will do on the
NEW ORLEANS;
and security on the
NEW ORLEANS
is not anticipating any enemy coming through.  Sisopan is about the most dangerous of all the enemies that could get through.  There is no telling what she will do.”  In my mind, I was wondering if Kala and the twins were safe.  “Marranalis, contact the
NEW ORLEANS
and let them know there are enemies aboard if they don’t already know.”

“Yes, sir,” he responded.  I didn’t bother to reply and headed straight to the gate and through to the
NEW ORLEANS
where we entered a scene of chaos.  Alarms were going off, and troopers and guards were racing down corridors.  I turned to one of my guards, “Send the alarm to all our connecting gates and tell them to close their gates until we give them the all clear.”  I raised my wrist com to my mouth, “Padaran; this is Tibby, what’s the situation?”

“Sir,” Padaran’s voice came back,” we have intruders aboard; there’s been some explosion in the area where A’Lappe’s and Cantolla’s lab is, and the main access to that area was closed by the explosion.”

“Are Kala and the twins all right?” I asked.

“Yes, sir, as soon as I learned there were intruders aboard, I had security remove them to your estate and instructed the estate to close their end of the gate.  They are safe.”

“Padaran, the intruder is Sisopan and two of her Reduviids.  They are about as dangerous as anyone we could ever encounter.  Don’t try to take them prisoner; if you can take them out do so and don’t try to get them to surrender.  I don’t think they know where they are; they saw a gate and went through it; but if they figure out where they are, Sisopan will do her best to take out the entire ship.  Alert your men to shoot to kill.  Where are they at the moment?”

“I’ve been tracking them on the monitors in the communications room that A’Lappe set up near the bridge.  At the moment, they are aft of the lab area.”

“Are A’Lappe and Cantolla safe,” I asked.

“Cantolla is at the estate; A’Lappe called in and says he’s secured in his quarters.  I told him to stay put; it’s about the most secure an area and hard to find as any space on the ship.”

“Thank the stars for that.  Have there been any casualties?”  I asked.

“Yes, sir, Padaran replied, “They are killing everyone they encounter.  So far, they have killed eight people that we know of.  I’ve sent two teams through the transit tubes to the aft end of the ship, and they are working their way forward.  They should soon be encountering Sisopan and her cohorts.”

“Is Jenira with Kala?  I asked.”

“Sir, I don’t know.  I’ve not been able to locate Jenira since the boarding.”

All the time I had been talking to Padaran, I had been working my way toward the bridge and the communication room.  When I arrived, I entered to find Padaran and several security people following Sisopan and two rapidly moving Reduviids with her on the vid screen.  “Let me talk to them and see if I can get them to surrender,” I said.

Padaran opened a ship-wide communication channel and stepped aside.  I stepped up to the microphone and said, “Sisopan; this is Admiral Tibby of the Federation forces; give yourself up, and we won’t have to kill you.”

Sisopan only paused a second, and then she and her two companions continued on.  “Sisopan, we know where you are, and it’s only a matter of time before we reach you and kill you.  Give yourself up and save yourself.”  Sisopan turned and shot out the camera.  We picked her and her companions up a few minutes later as they entered one of the atrium areas.  Immediately Sisopan stopped and looked about and started to laugh.  Her two companions stopped and looked at her like she had lost her mind.  “This is his ship,” we could hear her say over the intercom system.  “His…!  Tibby’s ship!  We’re on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  If we can find their solbidyum reactor, we can vaporize the ship and him with it.”

“Won’t we blow ourselves up with it?”  One of her companions asked.

“Maybe, and maybe not; I have a plan, but I’m not saying what it is.  I need to know where we are on this ship.  See if you can find a chart; there should be one on a wall nearby that shows the ship’s layout and see where the cameras are in this area and shoot them.” Seconds later, the camera stopped working.

“Our guards should be reaching that atrium area about now,” Padaran said as he switched the vid screen view to one from a body cam on one of the security forces advancing on Sisopan’s last location.  One of Sisopan’s companions appeared on the screen, and immediately the troopers opened fire, killing him at once.  There was a brief pause, and we could see the body lying on the floor, there was a streak of something flying through the air and a bright flash, and the camera image died.  Padaran adjusted the camera views and instantly the image of the hall leading into the atrium area appeared, showing five immobile members of the ship's security lying dead on the floor.  A minute later, Sisopan and her last companion could be seen moving among the bodies.  I saw Sisopan reach down and take something from the belts of two of the security team and hand one to her partner.  They continued going in the direction the security team had come from.

“What did she take,” I asked of no one in particular?

“Their cloaking modules,” Padaran replied.

“Why weren’t our men using them?”  Someone in the room asked.

“If they did, they might shoot each other, or members of the second security team by accident if they got into a battle with the intruders.”

Padaran spoke into his com link to his second security team in the area, “There are two hostiles left.  They have managed to kill Security Team One and are heading in the direction of the aft transfer tubes.  They have cloaking gear, so be careful.”

“Can’t you evacuate the air from the aft end of the ship and kill them that way?” someone asked.

“We don’t know how many of our crew are back there,” Padaran said.  “There could be as many as a thousand of our people back there.  Right now, they have sealed themselves in rooms and compartments while our security teams try to find the enemy.”  He turned to me and said.  “I’m sending more security people in.”

“It’s your call, you’re head of my security,” I replied.

By now, all the screens in the room were monitoring some area of the aft end of the ship.  Live body cams on my advancing security team showed the images of what was in front of them.  Unexpectedly, there were flashes of light, and the views on the screens shook and then were stationary.

“They got our team,” Padaran said.  “They’re dead.”  As he was speaking, Sisopan and her companion uncloaked, and they could be seen standing about three meters in front of the bodies.  The images were skewed as the cameras were on the bodies lying on the floor, but it was still clear to see.

“See, I told you these things would work,” Sisopan was saying.  I noticed some movement on one of the screens, and I realized one of the security teams was still alive, if only he had time to get his gun and shoot Sisopan.  I reached past Padaran and activated the microphone, “Sisopan, you can’t get away, give yourself up,” I said, hoping it would distract her long enough for our man to get a shot off.

“You won’t get me that easily,” Sisopan said as she scanned the ceiling looking for security cameras.  There was as flash of laser fire and Sisopan’s companion dropped to the floor; in an instant, Sisopan spun, leveled her gun, and fired, and the image on the screen from the live guard dropped.  Sisopan fired several more shots into the already dead troopers, and she vanished.

“Now what do we do, Tibby?”  Padaran asked.

“Seal off all the corridors in that area and send in more of our men,” have them send in drones with infrared cameras.  Sisopan may be cloaked, but she’ll still have a heat signature we can detect.”

For the next several minutes, we stared at cameras with images from around the aft sections of the ship, but we saw no one.  Then we detected the sounds of a struggle going on in one of the large open mall areas.  Our cameras recorded the sounds, but we didn’t see anyone, though occasionally we would see objects knocked over or disturbed.

“What’s happening, Tibby?”  Padaran asked.

“I’m not sure.  It seems like two cloaked people are tussling,” I said.

I had barely finished uttering the words when Sisopan appeared where no one was seen before, and her cloaking device went flying across the room.  She was obviously wrestling with someone else who was cloaked.  She managed to swing her foot around in a kick, and when she did Jenira suddenly appeared, as her cloaking device flew across the room, dislodged by Sisopan’s kick.  Somehow in the tussle Sisopan had also lost her gun and now stood there helpless.

“So it’s you!”  Sisopan said angrily, “The sweet little doesee from Goo’Waddle.  Oh I have so wanted to meet you and to spill your guts for what you did to my lover Shydak.”

I saw Jenira stiffen a moment when she heard Shydak’s name; a slight smile curled her lip, and she drew her two catas and tossed one to Sisopan.

“Oh no,” Padaran cried, “What is she doing?”

Sisopan caught the sword by the pummel and swung it about testing its balance.  “Nice cata, doesee,” she spat, “I’m going to enjoy slicing you to ribbons with it,” and she attacked.

If Jenira thought this would be an easy battle, she was mistaken.  Sisopan showed a mastery skill level with the cata that suggested many hours of practice and training, and she managed to avoid Jenira’s moves with an almost instinctive skill.  Jenira, likewise, was avoiding Sisopan’s attacks, but even in her fights with Nybidong, I hadn’t seen her fighting at this level of intensity before.  As I watched, I noticed Sisopan trying to reach something on her belt with her left hand as her sword clashed with Jenira’s.  “What’s she doing with her belt?” I asked as Sisopan brought her left arm up and sprayed something into Jenira’s face.  Jenira jumped back, swinging her sword in a blocking move just in time to catch Sisopan’s blade.

“She sprayed something in Jenira’s face!” Padaran cried.

We could see Jenira blinking her eyes and still swinging her cata blocking Sisopan’s fierce attack.  Jenira closed her eyes while still fighting and deflecting Sisopan’s sword.

“She blinded Jenira,” I exclaimed, “Jenira can’t see.”

Sisopan’s blade caught Jenira on the leg, and blood could be seen running down her calf, but Jenira fought on.  How she was able to fight with her eyes closed was astounding.  I knew that Jenira often practiced blindfolded, but that was practice; this was for real and with a skilled and angry opponent.

I have to admit I was mesmerized watching the battle, how Jenira knew where Sisopan’s attacks were coming from was beyond belief.  I would have expected to see Jenira panic when she was blinded, but she didn’t.  She fought calmly, her head high, and I knew she was listening to every sound in the room.  She must have been able to tell where Sisopan’s sword was by its sound in the air.  As they fought, I saw Sisopan smile and begin a flurry of moves that had Jenira backing into a corner.

“Sisopan is trying to force Jenira into the corner where she can’t swing her sword,” I said.

Padaran reached for the com and shouted into it, “Jenira, she’s backing you into a corner!”

Jenira didn’t seem to hear Padaran, and she kept retreating with Sisopan fighting harder and faster as the grin on her face spread into a wicked smile.  By now, the tip of Jenira’s blade was hitting the wall on one side as she fought; still, she managed to block Sisopan’s blade.  Before we knew what had happened, Jenira was square in the corner, and she was pinned so she could not swing her cata.  Sisopan drew back her cata to thrust it into Jenira, and she said, “This is for Shydak, doesee, then she stiffened, slumped, and fell backward on the floor in front of Jenira, who stood there with her cata in one hand pinned against the wall, and a bloody dagger in her other outstretched hand.

Jenira swung her sword about looking for Sisopan and finally dipped her blade and tapped it about the body on the floor.  There was a commotion, as several of the ship’s security team rushed into the room.  We could hear one of them call out, “Jenira, are you all right?”

Jenira dropped her sword and dagger and signed, “I’m blind, I can’t see.”  Immediately a trooper rushed to her side and looked at her eyes.  “Get her to the med unit now,” he said to his men.  They began to assist her, but she stopped them, “My catas.  I need my catas," she signed.  One of the troopers retrieved the blades that had lain on the floor and he placed the pummels in Jenira’s hands.  She swung both her blades over her shoulders and into their scabbards.  “Thank you. Now you can take me to the medic,” she signed.