Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans (10 page)

“Well I recently got out of the military, the
Navy actually.  I worked on the flight crew on an aircraft carrier.  I’m not sure if you have those or not, but I guess you must since Federation language seems to have a word for them.   Since getting out of the Navy I have been working helping to redesign the system for draining the water out of New Orleans, a city on Earth that is partially below sea level.”

“Why did you get out of the
Navy?” Lieutenant Commander Wanoll asked.

“I had completed my term of service and didn’t care to reenlist.” I responded

“What was your rank when you left the Navy?” Lieutenant Commander Wanoll asked.

“I was a Lieutenant”
I responded.

Captain
Maxette asked,  “You said parts of this city you call New Orleans is below sea level, are many cities on Earth below sea level?”

“Very few actually, I know there are in Holland, but outside of that I do not know of many.
”

“Holland?” Commander Thimas said questioningly
, “is that another planet?

“No sir,” I replied
“Holland is a country or territory on Earth. Earth is divided into countries or different territories, each with its own governmental systems and politics.  Each country is divided into smaller regions and those into still smaller regions as well.”

Kala asked, “What about your family?”

“There’s nothing much to say there.  My dad was killed in a military operation in the Middle East, he was a Marine, I was a teenager when that happened.  My mother died shortly after that from lung cancer, and I went to live with my grandparents.  My grandfather died just before I went into the Navy and my grandmother died two years later.  I have no siblings, I did have an uncle, but he drank himself to death.”

“Drank
himself to death?” Kala questioned “He kept drinking liquids until it killed him?”

“The liquids he was drinking were
alcohol based and he developed a disease that is common on our planet for people who consume too much alcohol, it’s called Sclerosis.”  I responded.

“You had no mate?”  Commander Thimas asked.

“No sir, I never found the right woman.” I responded.

I noticed the
Captain seemed a bit relieved when I answered the last question and he said, “Tibby I am sorry to have to tell you this, but there is one thing more you need to know.  Like I told you, Roiax dropped in and out of Gravity Wave drive into FLT drive and back and forth several times.  When you travel using a Gravity Wave you travel in relative time with the rest of the universe but in FTL you travel in relative time to your ship.  I do not know if this is part of your science knowledge of understanding or not.”

“Well sir,” I began, “I do understand that with FLT drive that time flows at different rates relative to how fast you are moving compared to another object is moving
. Gravity Waves are new to me though.”

“Well suffice it to say for the moment that even though you can travel faster on a Gravity
Wave, relatively speaking if you were to travel four days on a Gravity Wave only four days would pass at your destination as well, but in FTL speeds depending on just how fast you are traveling a week or more could go by.   What I guess I am trying to tell you is that since you left Earth, even though to you it was only a little over two weeks, nearly twenty years have passed back on your Earth.  The ship was duplicating the path and speeds Roiax used, only in reverse, to get back into Federation territory.” The Captain stated and stared at me watching my reaction.

Up until this point I hadn’t really thought about Earth
.  I never stopped to wonder what people were thinking when I didn’t show up to work and I simply disappeared.  Possibly they found my boat in the swamp.  Mound Island would have disappeared but no one would really take notice of that; the murky water would have filled in the deep hole. But no one would notice that at all. It would no doubt be believe that I had fallen overboard and gotten eaten by a gator if they found my boat, otherwise I would just be one of the missing.

“Well Captain,” I began “I do not think they recognize Federation currency back on Earth so if I am going to be rich I think I will need to stay in the Federation Territories
, if they will let me.”

I saw a huge smile appear on the Captains face and from the corner of my eye I noticed Kala’s head turn toward mine and I noted a smile on her face as well.

The Captain spoke, “I have a feeling you will not have any problem gaining citizenship in the Federation Tibby, none at all!”

The rest of the meeting went pretty much with me relating the events of my discovery of the ship and how
I got onboard and the events that followed,  occasionally one of the officers would ask me a question relating to information in the ship’s records with regards to my testimony to clarify some point.

Eventually the Captain said
, “Tibby I apologize but when was the last you slept?” 

I had not realized it but I was starting to droop with fatigue and honestly I had no idea how much time had transpired since I had left the
TRITYTE
.  “Well I had been awake about six or seven hours before you contacted me on the ship and I’ve not slept since then.”

“That was over
twelve hours ago so you’ve been awake at least eighteen to nineteen hours,” the Captain said, “you must be exhausted.”

“To be honest Captain I can feel myself starting to fade
,” I replied.  

“
Major Kalana, “the Captain said “would you see Tibby back to his quarters.  We can resume tomorrow afternoon once Tibby has had a good rest.”

Kala
replied “Yes sir,” As she rose to her feet and turning to watch me as I rose from my chair. 

As we headed for the door the Captain said
, “We’re about three weeks out from the Capitol now Tibby, though you are not Federation military under my command you are a guest on my ship, I would respectfully ask that outside of the persons in this room that you do not discuss any of the details of what was spoken here, for all of our safety.  I think you understand why now.”

“Yes sir,” I said
, “I think I do, and you do not need to worry I have no intention of telling anyone.”

Once Kala and my body guards had returned me to my room and the guards had
been stationed back outside my door, Kala entered with me and asked if I had any questions before she left for the evening.  Despite being as tired as I was I didn’t want her to leave, but could think of nothing I could say to keep her there longer that would not come across as an obvious move on her.   So I simply said, “no I could not think of anything”.  Kala then walked to a panel in one wall and touched the framed edge of it and it slid aside to reveal a door.  Kala said, “our separate quarters are connected by this door.  You can lock it from this side if you desire privacy for some reason, but it is preferred that you leave it unlocked so I can reach you if needed.” She then proceeded to show me how to open and close the panel and how to lock it.  She told me that should I need anything that Piesew Mecarta or the staff could not provide or handle that she would be available around the clock to assist me.  As she stepped into her own quarters and closed the panel from her side I was fighting the thoughts trying to enter my mind on just what she could do to assist me.  Wearily I stumbled into my overly large bed room with the bed large enough to sleep everyone that had been in the conference room and with room to spare.  I barely got my clothing off, letting them fall to the floor, and crawled onto the bed before I was sound asleep.  That night I dreamed of a naked Kala and myself naked floating down a wide river on my bed as though it were a boat.  In my dream Kala was running her fingers through my hair as she recited poetry to me about a ship with a stolen cargo while over head the
TRITYTE
was flying with millions of dollars blowing out the open hatch.

I was awakened in the morning by the voice of
Piesew “Greetings sir Renwalt, I am most sorry to awaken you, but it has been ten hours since your meeting of yesterday with the Captain and Major Kala thought perhaps it best if I awakened you and see to your personal needs before you meet with the Captain again today.”  I rolled over on the bed to see Piesew moving about the room as he spoke picking up the clothing I had dropped there as I went to bed.  Just inside the door of my room stood one of my body guards, neither he nor Piesew seemed in the least concerned that I was lying naked in the bed.  I realized that I had not even bothered to get under the covers but had fallen asleep on top of them.  I yawned and said.

“Thank you Piesew I guess I should eat something before I meet with the
Captain again.  Could you get me something?  I’m not familiar with your foods yet. Perhaps you can just bring me something that is considered appropriate for this time of day.”

“Major Kala
asks that I tell you that you are invited to join her in her quarters to dine once you have fully awakened.  Of course if you do not wish to do so I shall tell the Major and I will bring you food as you requested.”

While Piesew was talking I was watching the guard inside the door, he reminded me of the guards at Buckingham Palace in England, standing ridged, his eyes never moving nor his face ever showing any expression or indication that he was even aware of our conversation.

“Oh…” I responded to Piesew’s “Tell the Major I gladly accept and as soon as I have showered and dressed I will be most pleased to dine with her.   Oh and Piesew, could you choose something appropriate for me to wear for today?”

“Indeed I can Sir Renwalt
, I shall lay the items out on your bed while you shower.”

“One more thing Piesew
, you need not call me Sir Renwalt, Tibby or Tib will be fine.”

“That would be most inappropriate for my position and frowned upon by most people and the staff in general Sir
.  If you do not mind I will continue to call you Sir Renwalt, but I am most flattered by the honor you show me with your request.”

While the shower I took was refreshing
, it was not nearly as enjoyable as when Kala had been there previously.   I found myself staring at the spot where she bathed the day before with a sense of longing that surprised me.

After bathing I returned to the bedroom to find the
room immaculately straightened out from my night of disrobing and sleep.  Piesew had laid out a deep blue colored outfit identical to the black one Kala had picked out for me the night before and I wondered if there was some significance to the cut.  Walking into the closet I found that a large percentage of the outfits, though different colors, were similar in cut.  I had not seen many of the occupants of the ship so far, having only passed through one large common area on my way to my quarters with Kala, but I could not recall seeing anyone else so attired.  I made a mental note to add this to my list of things to ask Kala about.

Piesew
had indicated that I should just go to Kala’s suite after I had finished dressing so after a quick glance in the mirror to admire how great I looked in the Federation styles I moved to the panel and door that separated Kala’s suite from mine.  I was surprised to find both the panel and door already open and preceded in calling Kala’s name as I entered.  Kala’s accommodations were similar to my own, perhaps a bit smaller but equally as lavish.  I noted though that where my suite had a definite masculine feel to it Kala’s held a more feminine sense and many items I noticed seemed to have a flavor that reminded me of her.

“Hello Tib
, I trust you rested well.”  I heard Kala’s sweet voice come from my left and turned to see her there in her typical gray uniform, stripes and all.  “You look quite handsome in that blue outfit, did you chose it yourself?”

“T
hank you,” I replied, “but I fear I cannot take credit for its selection, Piesew laid it out for me as I showered.  I noticed many of the outfits in my closet are of a similar cut and design, yet on my brief trip to these quarters I saw no one else wearing anything similar.  Is there some significance to this uniform that I should be aware of?”

“Yes the
re is,” Kala answered as she led me to her dining room by a small glass atrium similar to the one in my own suite, in fact I realized it was the same atrium only seen from a different perspective and situated that you could not see into either suite from the other by looking through the atrium.  “Moving you about the ship with armed trooper guards could cause a lot of questions if you were dressed otherwise, but the cut of the outfit you are wearing is that worn by most government dignitaries or ambassadors that generally have body guards.  By wearing that cut of clothing few people will pay you much attention and only think you to be another ambassador or dignitary from one of the many planets in the Federation.”

“But what if we should run into another dignitary or
ambassador, won’t they recognize that they do not know me and that I am not an ambassador or dignitary?” I questioned.

“First of all you
are
a dignitary, whether you realize it or not.  Your significance to the Federation is greater than any other person; so you are a dignitary.  But as for being recognized there are millions of planets in the Federation and no one knows all the representatives or what they look like.  The only thing that may seem odd is that you have four body guards which is very, very, rare for any dignitary. It may cause some to wonder who you are to be of such importance, it’s another reason we wish to minimize your contact with the rest of the ship as much as possible for now.”