Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price (10 page)

“By the stars, you’re right.  I hadn’t thought of that.  I’m due for a treatment in two days and if I postpone it, I’ll most certainly start to show signs of mental deterioration and people will become concerned.  What am I going to do?”

“I don’t know.  I just thought I should point it out to you.  Maybe A’Lappe has some insight.  Also, sir, the
GLOMAR ROSA
has arrived at Tombosem.  You were planning to go to the surface to meet with Krossden.  How are you going to do that now?”

My wrist com began to beep before I could reply.

“Tibby here,” I answered.

“Admiral, Ming has just broadcasted an open message to you over the intergalactic media channel.”

“By the stars, what now?  More threats?  Or is he boasting this time?”

“A bit of both, sir.  Do you wish me to send it to your vid unit in your quarters or do you want to view it here?”

“Send it here to my quarters,” I said.  “What else can go wrong today?”

It had been a few years since Ming had addressed a message directly to me.  In fact, it was a few years since he’d last sent a communication to the Federation at all.  Ever since the battle at Glomar Rosa, he’d been strangely quiet; and knowing Ming, that didn’t bode well.  The only time he had anything to say was when he was issuing a threat, a boast or a demand.  I wondered what kind of madness it was going to be this time.

I was immediately shocked when Ming’s image appeared on the vid screen.  Apparently, Ming was not receiving age-retarding treatments, as his appearance had taken a turn for the worse.  A gray pallor replaced his former complexion and the skin hung loosely on his eyes and skull.  He had become thin and appeared quite feeble and I noticed that his entire body was consumed with a slight tremble.  His eyes, however, still shown with a dark malevolence that made me shiver.  Even though I knew the message was recorded, I still felt like Ming was looking directly at and through me, scrutinizing the changes in my appearance as closely as I was his.

As he opened his mouth to speak, I noticed that his teeth were stained and yellow.  I suspected that Ming didn’t trust anyone to touch him or treat him for fear they might kill him.  In spite of all this, his hair was still jet black, though it’s quite possible that he kept it dyed.  There was no telling with Ming.

“I heard you escaped my little trap for you once again, Tibby.  You really have become an annoyance I can no longer tolerate.  The destruction of my palace on Domagota and the deliverance of your pathetic fleet at Glomar Rosa, where you also destroyed a large number of my ships, are situations that shall not meet with impunity, nor will such events be permitted to happen again.  I fear you leave me no choice.  I must again punish all of you in the Federation for your refusal to surrender and for allowing
you
, Admiral, to stand in the way of what inevitably will be my conquest of
all
the universe.”  Then he laughed in a strange, unnatural way that I found unnerving.

“Thus far I have been kind in allowing the drug God’s Sweat to be distributed within the Federation territories.  Those of you who enjoy it know its euphoria and those of you who have tried to escape it know its horrors.  I fear that, until you are eliminated, Tibby, I will have to curtail its availability to those in the Federation who partake in this delightful substance.”

Ming laughed nervously again and then suddenly contorted his face into its more familiar maniacal expression as he again addressed the desperate drug addicts who would become his next weapon against the Federation.  “As you writhe in agony, recognize that it is because of Tibby and those who follow him that you suffer; and that if you wish to escape your misery, you must do everything in your power to
kill
Tibby and
destroy
the Federation that continues to thwart my invasions and prevent my rise to emperor of the universe!  You must destroy government buildings and military bases!  Kill
anyone
who dares to wear a Federation military uniform!  Destroy their families and their homes until they surrender and until I am the ruler of the Federation!  Once you have done this, I will restore your access to God’s Sweat.  And know this, Tibby, I have rebuilt my fleet and my armies.  I am mightier and my forces are stronger than ever.
I am coming
.  And this time you will all surrender or
die
.”

I noticed that Ming’s address was erratic, directed first at me, then at the Federation, then the drug addicts, then back at me and the citizens of the Federation, as if he kept losing his train of thought or forgotten exactly who it was he wanted to threaten.

“You may also be interested to know that Fass Hakwin has worked out the secret of your Cantolla Gates.  Very tricky,” he laughed.  “He tells me he never would have cracked the secret of it had he not been reading up on Earth sciences and theories of quantum mechanics.  Apparently, most of this science was unknown to the Federation.  It’s taken him some time to discover out how to coordinate the sympathetic particles that make the gates functional, but now that we know how, you can expect to be seeing more of us,
Rear Admiral Thibodaux James Renwalt
.”

The transmission disconnected.

“By the stars, Admiral, if the Brotherhood knows how to make Cantolla Gates, we’re in huge trouble,” said Marranalis.

“Yes, I feared the day he’d get hold of that technology, but it was inevitable.  Our only hope will be to get to him before he builds enough gates to overtake the Federation.”

“Admiral, do you believe he really broadcast this message throughout the Federation?” asked a very distressed Marranalis.

“I’m certain of it.”

I paused a moment to think.

“Do you remember Bandur?  He was one of the crew members on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  The
Brotherhood deliberately compromised him with God’s Sweat years ago in hopes of inducing such a strong addiction that he would do anything, even assassinate me, in order to be able to restore his access to the drug.  The effect of the drug on him was so great that he committed suicide to escape the power it had over him, rather than succumb to Ming’s terms.  If he is any example, it’s going to be chaos and destruction throughout the Federation in a few days when the God’s Sweat supply dries up.”

My wrist com beeped again.

“Tibby here.”

“Admiral, Leader Pheosa is on the vid and wishes to speak with you.”

“Very well.  Put him through,” I answered.

Leader Pheosa’s image barely appeared on the screen before he began to speak.  He was clearly rattled.  “Admiral, I assume you’ve seen Ming’s Federation-wide broadcast.  His threats and demands are surely causing a ripple of panic across every world in the Federation.  Rioting and destruction is going to rule the streets as these addicts scramble to get the remaining God’s Sweat… and who knows what will happen when the drugs start to run out!  We have to do something!”

“Yes, sir, I realize that, but I haven’t had a chance to think it over.  I assure you it’s the top priority, and we’re arranging a meeting with my top officers and advisors to see what we can do,” I replied.

“You do realize that you only have maybe twelve to twenty-four hours before things turn to anarchy,” said Leader Pheosa.

“Yes, sir, I am painfully aware of it.  We will do all we can to take action before everything is out of control.”

“I’m sure you will, Admiral,” said Pheosa nervously.  “May the stars be with you.  Please keep me informed as to the plan of action.  If you and the Admiralty deem necessary, I will broadcast a state of emergency and impose any martial law or curfew measures you feel are in order.”

“Thank you, sir.  You will be the first to know.  You may want to let the Senate know you have spoken with me, otherwise I’ll be getting calls from them all day long and I won’t be able to address the problem at hand.”

“Ah, yes.  You’re right.  I’ll do that right away, Admiral.  Thank you.”

I turned to Marranalis as the vid screen went dark.  “So much for me getting some rest.  We may as well go back to the War Room.”

“I think you should call in Howebim, sir.” said Marranalis.  “The Federation Office of Investigation has an entire database of information associated with suspected drug users and suppliers within in the Federation; and as the head of the FOI, Howebim’s input will be invaluable.”

“I agree, Marranalis.  Contact him and ask him to join us as soon as he can get here.  Oh, and contact Padaran as well.  I think we’ll be needing his services.”

“Right away, sir.”

“Oh, and order foccee and food for delivery to the conference room.  I doubt we’ll be getting any breaks today.”

I was pretty much expecting to see Howebim and Padaran show up within twenty to thirty minutes.  Instead, it was nearly an hour.

“My apologies, Admirals,” said Howebim as they entered the conference room where everyone was assembled.  “Both Captain Padaran and I were at the base blast sites on Plosaxen when you called. It took me some time to get to one of the functioning gates and then we needed to go through the Central Hub Station to get here.  Everything’s still a bit hectic and security is still elevated, so it took longer than usual to make our way here.”

“You’re here now, and that’s what matters,” I said.  “Have a seat, both of you.  Have you eaten?  We can have some food brought in.  We’ve just finished ourselves while discussing how we’re going to address Ming’s threats and the consequences that are no doubt already beginning to unfold.”

“I’m afraid we haven’t seen his broadcast.  We only just briefly heard about it while we were in transit.”

“That’s alright.  We’ll play it back.  It won’t hurt for the rest of us to review it.  While we’re at it, Marranalis, can you see to it that a copy of this is sent to A’Lappe and to Doctor Danjuma on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  I’d like to hear their comments on Ming’s appearance and behavior.”

By this time, I was starting to experience much longer periods of intense pain and was wincing frequently.  Marranalis had suggested earlier that I get some medication and rest, but the rapid progression of events didn’t permit it and I didn’t anticipate a lull in the activity anytime soon.

“Marranalis, while you’re talking to A’Lappe would you relate to him that I’m having a lot of pain from my fractured ribs and I can’t be interrupted to visit the infirmary.  Ask him if he can recommend any kind of pain control that won’t put me to sleep or impede my thinking.  I need something to keep me going the next several hours.”

“Yes, sir,” he said with a knowing expression.  It was important that whatever medication I was given wouldn’t have an adverse impact on the treatments for my synthetic nerve rejection.  Only A’Lappe would know how to handle that complication.

“You do look pretty bad, Admiral,” Wabussie said to me quietly.  “Are you sure you’re alright to continue?”

“I’ll be fine.  It's just these broken ribs.  I feel like I’ve been kicked by a rookaromba.”  A rookaromba was a creature that was slightly larger than a human.  It had three legs – a larger, stockier one in the front and two sleeker ones at the back.  This unusual animal moved in a strange but rapid hopping motion using the front leg first, followed by the two hind legs that hurtled in unison past the first.  The front leg was also used in acts of defense and aggression and could deliver a strong kick that was, in many cases, fatal.

The replay of Ming’s message was coming to a conclusion as the guard outside the door announced that Pieamar had arrived with food, which he served to Howebim and Padaran as dishes from the earlier meal were removed.

“So now you know what we’re up against,” I said.  “Immediate action is required, so right now we need to compile information from every available source, formulate a plan and initiate action to prevent Federation-wide anarchy and rioting.”

“Yes, I see that.  How do you want the FOI to proceed?” Howebim asked.

“Well, the priority is to disseminate the FOI’s intelligence regarding all known God’s Sweat users and suppliers to our bases and deployed forces across all Federation worlds.  We also need to mobilize as much enforcement as possible to safely locate, detain and isolate as many of these individuals as possible – from the public and from each other – using whatever legal charges we can muster.  Thankfully, we’ve been able to clear a lot of the prisoners out of the Lunar prison over the past two years, so we have a great deal of temporary holding space.  It’s not going to be easy.  These individuals are probably already manically trying to buy up and stockpile drugs, but the real violence and desperation will start within 20 hours, maybe less.”

“Excuse me, Admiral, but the FOI doesn’t have enough personnel to pick up one tenth of the people who would be on that list – not in twenty days, much less twenty hours,” said Howebim in shock and dismay.

“I didn’t think you would; hence Captain Padaran’s presence for this planning session.  Padaran commands highly trained troopers stationed at our ground bases all around the Federation.  Most of them should be able to assist in the operation.  Even then, I know we’ll be coming up short, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’ll be able to assign FSO agents to assist as well,” said Wabussie.

“If necessary, we may need to rely on second-year cadets at the JAC bases to join the effort.  I’m not sure what they can do and I certainly don’t want them involved in combative situations; but perhaps they can provide administrative support by processing the addicts that we
are
able to detain,” I added.  “Marranalis, I know Commander Ircart has his hands full, but make contact with him and determine how many second-year JAC cadets are enrolled at each base JAC campus across the Federation.  For the sake of working out some numbers, I’ll take a shot in the dark for now and say we have maybe a couple of trillion.”