Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (2 page)

“Do you think it’s another attempt at a diversion like the one they tried at Kendrop and Gochian?”  Marranalis asked.

“I don’t see how it could be if they have already fled the area.  No, I suspect there is something else involved here, and I suspect that Ming is behind it.

“Speaking of Captain Slater, does anyone know his whereabouts at the moment?”  I asked.

“He was with Admiral Regeny yesterday, sir.  It’s possible he may be on Megelleon.  I suspect that Admiral Regeny will want him at the meeting here later.”  Marranalis replied.

“Hmm, I hope so.

“I need to get something to eat before this meeting.  Marranalis, come with me; I have just enough time to grab something before Regeny ties us up for the rest of the day.”

During my meal, I had Marranalis fill me in on the routine details of the fleet, and other matters of importance.  He informed me that the ships we had sent out a year earlier to create ship-sized Cantolla Gates near Windsor, were reporting back that they were nearing their location and would be able to have ship's transport through them within three days.  This was good news for us.  I wanted to send a few scout ships to survey the planet for defenses before we attacked it.  The intelligence we had on this planet indicated this was the planet where the Brotherhood manufactured the components used to protect them when the Tottalax weapon was in use, as well as being a Brotherhood stronghold.

“That’s good news,” I said after hearing the ships were near Windsor.  I need to remember to discuss that with Regeny when I meet with him.  We need to get a recon team ready to scan the planet.  Maybe if we’re lucky, we may be able to get Wabussie to set some operatives on the planet for some intelligence gathering as well.  In the meantime, see if you can locate some special ops troopers to send on a recon mission there.  I’m going to suggest to Regeny that we send a frigate with several squadrons of patrol ships and fighters through first, and the recon team can use them as a base there until we are ready to send a strike force through.”

We were finishing up our meal when Marranalis shifted the topic.  “Tibby,” he began, and I knew we had shifted from military mode to friendship mode, because he called me Tibby instead of Sir or Admiral, “when was the last time you and Kala visited the entertainment lounge on the
NEW ORLEANS?
  You both used to visit there quite often to dance and listen to Kerabac and A’Lappe sing.  The crew always looked forward to you and Kala being there and teaching us dance steps from back on your home world of Earth.”

“I honestly don’t remember the last time Kala and I were there,” I replied, “It has to have been over two years ago.  Is it possible it’s that long?”

“It is sir, and if you don’t mind my saying so, I think you and Kala both need to at least make a visit there, not just for the sake of crew morale, but for yourselves as well.”

“By the stars, Marranalis, you’re right.  Let me contact Kala and make arrangements, so she can get a babysitter for tonight, and we’ll be there.”  I raised my wrist com to my mouth and said, “Kala, see if you can find a baby-sitter for this evening, you and I are going dancing at the entertainment lounge on the
NEW ORLEANS
.”

“Oh, Tib, that sounds wonderful!”  Her voice responded through the com link, “I can’t remember the last time we were there.  Why it’s been years.  It was before the twins were born, and they are almost three now.”

“Please, don’t remind me,” I said with a chuckle, then I added, “Wear something sexy and something easy to dance in.  We have a lot of dancing to catch up on.”

After I had disconnected from Kala, I headed to the conference room where the meeting with the admirals was to take place.  Admirals Regeny and Wabussie were already there when I arrived, as was Captain Slater.  Admiral Kophious and Admiral Stonbersa arrived moments later, and after we were all seated, and foccee served, Admiral Regeny spoke up.

“I’m sure you all are aware of the attack at Caldemic last night,” he began.  “However, what I doubt you have heard is that nearly 90% of the population of the planet was killed.  Only a small handful of miners and farmers in outlying regions survived the attack.  This attack came as a total surprise to us and caught us completely off guard.  Wabussie tells me that none of his FSO operatives had any advanced information that even hinted at this attack.  We were in the dark about the motive for this violence until just shortly before this meeting; a passenger ship arriving at the scene to make a routine visit, found a satellite beacon there playing this message.”  He pressed a button on a remote control in his hand and the vid screen at the end of the room lit up, and Ming’s face appeared on the screen.  Last time I had seen Ming on the screen, he had been wearing a gaudy outfit of a deep ruby red and piped with gold trim, this time he was wearing an equally outlandish costume of gold fabric with some elaborate metallic emerald hued brocade patterns, in the shapes of dragons, on both sleeves. 

“Tibby, I warned you that someone would pay for your actions against me at Spelhes, Kendrop, and Gochian, and now I have kept that promise.  For every one of my troops you killed or captured, I have killed thousands here in return.  Thwart me again and more will pay elsewhere, I promise you.

“You may believe you have crippled us at the battles of Spelhes, Kendrop, and Gochian, but those were only minor setbacks.  Now we have newer and stronger ships.  We are more powerful than ever.  We know about your star doors, or whatever you call them, but even they cannot help you against the armada we have prepared.  You do not have enough ships or gate contraptions to save you.  Next time we meet I will have a surprise for you, Tibby, one you will not find so easy to defeat.  However, I don’t want to tell you too much, after all, I want it to be a surprise for you.”  The screen darkened.

“By the stars, the man is insane,” Admiral Kophious declared.

“Yes, and all the more dangerous because of it,” I said.

“What do you think he meant by a surprise for you, Tibby?”  Admiral Regeny asked.

“Admiral, “I began, “I have no idea.  A new weapon possibly.  Knowing Ming it could be anything.”

“I think I may be able to shed some light on that,” Admiral Wabussie began.  “Our FSO agents have been picking up rumors that the Brotherhood has been building a new ship that is nearly twice the size of our largest starship.  It is said to have five times the hangar areas of a ship like the
DUSTEN,
and it can carry over 30,000 troopers.  It is heavily armed with just about every type of weapon imaginable. The rumor is that the Brotherhood have taken one of the solbidyum reactors, from a Federation planet or ship they captured, and are using it to power the ship.  It’s alleged to have a functioning RMFF and cloaking as well.”

“Let’s just hope they don’t have Cantolla Gates and the new communication systems we have now,” I replied.

“We have no reports along those lines at this time.”  Wabussie volunteered.”

“This is bad,” Regeny said, “really bad.  Caldemic was a pacifist world, the citizens did not believe in war and had no defenses.  If the Brotherhood went there and destroyed innocent and helpless people like this, it will be terribly demoralizing to the other pacifist planets in the Federation.  They may simply decide to surrender to the Brotherhood and face their fates as slaves rather than face annihilation.”

“Maybe,” I said, “or they will see that while there is nothing wrong with wanting peace and striving for peace, that you cannot stand idly by thinking tyrants won’t bother or touch you simply because you are a pacifist.  I hope they will see that sometimes the only way to stop a bully or tyrant is to stand up against them and fight.”

“I hope you are correct, Tibby,” Regeny said, “the Federation military has been up against the opposition of these pacifists for years, and if they had their way, well, we’d all be under the control of the Brotherhood right now, because there would have been no one to stop them.”

“Exactly, Admiral,” and that’s the message we need to convey now.  Hopefully, the pacifist planets in the Federation will see that.”

“So what actions do you think we should be taking at this time?” Stonbersa’s voice came from across the table.

“As soon as we get reports back from our recon teams after they have scouted out Windsor, I want an armada ready to attack and take the planet.  I want it done with stealth, negligible collateral damage, and minimal casualties.  Let’s capture the planet and use it as a Federation outpost.  We’ll show the Brotherhood that we can take their worlds, too.”

There was a look of shock on the faces of almost everyone in the room except for Captain Slater, who said, “You do realize that Ming will be totally outraged by this?”

“I’m counting on it,” I said.

“Ming won’t stand for it.  He'll come back fully resolved to destroy the planet rather than let the Federation claim it,” Slater stated.

“Precisely!  And when he does we’ll be waiting for him.  Instead of us running around hunting for Ming and the Brotherhood, we’re going to set the battlefield and make them come to us.”

“Tibby, I don’t mean to ruin your plans here,” Regeny began, “but Ming could wait a year or more before he decides to come back and destroy Windsor.  We can’t afford to have a fleet of ships tied up there waiting for him to return while he is elsewhere attacking other Federation planets.”

“I don’t plan for us to have an entire armada sitting there waiting for him," I replied.  My idea is to have a number of patrol ships set up further out, just beyond Windsor’s solar system, with gravitation detecting equipment that will spot the Brotherhood ships arriving.  As soon as they are detected, we will rush ships through Cantolla Gates to Windsor from wherever they are, and have them waiting when Ming gets there.  We won’t need to have more than one or two frigates, a few hundred fighters, and patrol ships in place, plus whatever troops we have on the ground.  We can have a fleet there in a few hours, if and when they are needed.”

“But what are you going to do once the Brotherhood arrives?” Admiral Regeny asked.  “It’s a stalemate.  We have cloaked and shielded ships, and now the Brotherhood does also.  You don’t think Ming will attack us with unprotected ships again, do you?  True, neither side has RMFF capabilities for fighters and patrol ships, and we may, I repeat, MAY, still have the advantage of the gravitational detectors which allow us to target their smaller ships.  However, we don’t know that the Brotherhood hasn’t figured that out, and even so, if they keep their smaller ships aboard their starships, it’s only a stalemate at best.”

Regeny was right.  I hated to admit it; he was right.  In frustration I blurted out, “We’ll do something.  Let me talk to A’Lappe and Cantolla about it.”

“Tibby, A’Lappe and Cantolla have done incredible things the past five years, but you can’t expect them to keep pulling nasal hairs from the beaks of muhening birds all the time, you know.”

“He’s right,” Stonbersa interjected.  "A'Lappe and Cantolla have made huge scientific advancements, so much so that the Federation Science Committee wants to give them recognition as being two of the foremost scientists today. However, you can’t expect them to solve every problem every time.”

I sighed and rubbed my eyes with my left hand.  I realized I was feeling very tired.  “All right, I concede, it’s asking a lot of them.  However, let me try to see what they come up with.  In the meantime, I want to see things moving forward as though we have a solution at hand.  I still want us to take Windsor, even if Ming does come back and destroy it later.  Does anyone object to that?”  It was silent about the table.  “Then we are agreed.  We move forward with this and hope we can come up with a viable plan for defeating, not stalemating, the Brotherhood when they try and retake or destroy Windsor later.”

“Wabussie,” I said as I turned to him, “Do you think you can get an operative or two down on Windsor?  We could have the recon teams drop them off.  I’d like to know what's going on down there before we make any attacks.”

Wabussie replied, “Actually, I have two there already.  They should have arrived last week, but I’ve not received any reports from either of them since before they arrived.”

“Is that something we should be alarmed about?”  I asked.

“No, not really, at least not so far.  They have orders not to make any reports, unless they have something major to report.  The fewer times they contact us the safer their cover is and the less likelihood there is of them being discovered.  I should be receiving a report soon.  However, we’d like to get one about every four to five weeks, just so we know the operatives are still alive and doing well.”

“So I’m taking it that the operatives have some access to a new instant communication system?”  I said.

“They are using the DSC communicators.  The messages are instantaneous and impossible to intercept.  The system is ideal for covert intelligence operations, except for the fact that we cannot convey visual data,” Wabussie replied.

“I’ll want to know as soon as you hear from them anything that they have to report.”

After our meeting had adjourned, I headed to my new office/headquarters area aboard the
DUSTEN.
This was something different as in the past Admirals aboard the flag ships had their suites with a small office, but they never had a full office headquarters/command area with staff, and they tended to conduct most of their meetings in any one of the large conference rooms aboard the starships.  However, now with a war going on and all the activity associated with running not only the first fleet, but being in command of all three fleets, I needed a full-time staff and dedicated meeting rooms.  I also needed these offices close so everything could be run efficiently.