Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals (15 page)

“Start moving us out and away,” Commodore Stonbersa ordered.  “Keep us cloaked.  They will spend dozens of fruitless hours searching for us in the immediate vicinity.  I see no reason for us to inflict more damage here; we’ve accomplished what we came for.”

“I agree.”

Marranalis stepped up beside me and said, “Somehow, I don’t think the task of retrieving the solbidyum will be quite as easy.”

“I suspect you’re right; but until we get there and assess the situation, I’m not going to start anticipating anything in particular.”

Over the next few days A’Lappe examined the contents in the vid pad that I picked up at the Gaimse shipyard.  On the third day after the raid, he came to me in my study in his usual clandestine fashion by way of his cloak and a hidden doorway.  As always, I detected the faint cedar scent in the air and, without turning to look in his direction, I said, “Is there something you need, A’Lappe, or are you just observing to see how many times I scratch my ass?”

“How do you do that?” he demanded.  “How can you tell when I’m here? No one else on the ship seems to be able to detect my presence, but you always seem to know.”

“You have your secrets and I have mine.  Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?”

“I’m going to figure it out sooner or later.  Just you wait and see.”

I had to smile to myself, because I doubted that he would ever figure it out.  Individuals are so accustomed to their own smell that they don’t even know it’s there.  What did amaze me was that no one else picked up on the aroma of cedar in his presence.  Perhaps something specific to my Earth DNA allowed me to smell A’Lappe when others could not.

“So, what is it you want?
Or is this just a social visit?”

“I thought you might be interested in a summary of my findings from the vid pad you brought back from Gaimse.  I’ve reviewed all the data, and from what I am able to ascertain, the
Gaimseians hadn’t gotten very far with their analysis of the ship’s engine or other technical features.  They had barely begun producing schematics, much less defining the guts of the design.  I also found a number of communications between the engineer who, I believe, was the owner of this pad, and others, including someone apparently representing the interests of the Brotherhood – a man named Shydak.  There appeared to be a conflict between the Gaimseians and the Brotherhood about payment.  The Brotherhood wanted a set of plans for the fighter, as well as a completely built craft, in exchange for allowing the Gaimseians to have access to the ship and its design.  The Gaimseians didn’t want to turn over any plans, but conceded that they would provide the Brotherhood with one built ship and a guaranteed discount on all future ships that the Brotherhood decided to order; but they wanted to retain the plans and full rights to build more fighters and sell them on the open market.  In the last communication from Shydak to the Gaimseians, he was threatening to come to the shipyard and seize the fighter by whatever force necessary and take it someplace else to complete the reverse-engineering and construction.  I think it is safe to assume that the Gaimseians might suspect our raid at the shipyard was the Brotherhood following through with their threat.

“I also found reference in one of
Shydak’s earlier messages that the Brotherhood was about to come into considerable wealth.  They were planning to use this wealth to purchase as many of the latest and best ships as they could get their hands on.  Then, about the time of the solbidyum heist, he suddenly changes his story and starts indicating in his communications that the Brotherhood is having some problems with securing the resources to their wealth and that there would be some delay in payment.  So it seems that Shydak and the Brotherhood were either not the ones that intercepted the solbidyum shipment, or they can’t secure a buyer with the funds to pay them.”

“That is interesting news.  If the Brotherhood doesn’t have the solbidyum, that means they are probably looking for the people that do, just like we are.  I think you need to see if you can hack into the Brotherhood communications and monitor them again.  It might not hurt if you could train some of our security people how to do it as well, so you can filter several channels of communication at once.”

I could tell A’Lappe didn’t like this idea, but he could see the value in it and I was sure he would follow through.  A’Lappe enjoyed having the edge, in terms of technological gadgets and exclusive access to certain information, so to have to reveal one of his secrets was not something he relished. 

I continued, “If the Brotherhood suspects who has the solbidyum or has any clue as to where it is, and if we have the opportunity to gain that information from them and beat them to the solbidyum, all the better.  We don’t know what we’re up against, but maybe we can find out from the Brotherhood.”

With everything that had been going on in the previous couple of days, I had spent very little time with Kala, and her absence was becoming annoying.  So I was delighted when I returned to our quarters to find her there waiting for me.

“Tib, come with me.  I have a surprise for you.”  She took me by the hand and led me out the door and through the maze of corridors and compartments on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  The ship is so large that were I to start out in the morning with the goal of traversing every corridor and compartment, I wouldn’t be able to finish by the end of the day.  So I was not surprised when the journey with Kala took longer than usual.

“Just where are we going?” I asked.

“Wait and see; you’ll like it!”

I always hated when people say that, because the frustration of the wait usually outweighs the joy of the surprise.  “Really, now, would it destroy the wonder of whatever it is if you told me before I saw it?”

“Yeeesss!  Now stop being a pest and just be patient.”

“Don’t we have some sort of transfer tubes on this ship that could take us here faster?”

“Tib, stop being difficult.  You know very well we have transfer tubes, but I thought it would be more fun to walk.”  Kala was just far enough in front of me, as she held my hand to drag me along, that I could enjoy the view of her luscious hips as she marched along.

“I must admit, watching your butt sway back here is making the journey more enjoyable.”

Kala turned her head and smiled at me as she gave an extra exaggeration to her hip motions.  I resigned myself that I was just going to enjoy the view until we arrived at our destination.  Eventually, Kala stopped at a compartment door that appeared to be the entrance to a cargo space.  She placed her palm on the security door lock and the door slid to the side so we could enter. 

I was dumbstruck for a minute.  For the life of me, it felt as if we had exited the ship to find ourselves standing in a small, earthen depression in a forested area surrounded by rocks and a small stream with a rock pool.  A breeze carried the rich scent of the forest and I could hear birds singing off in the trees somewhere.  It was only with the utmost inspection of the sky that I could see that it was artificial – a dome, but the illusion of being outdoors was so great that it was breathtaking.

“Well?  How do you like it?” she asked, as she bounced up and down on her toes.  I had never seen Kala like this before.  She was almost like an excited teenage girl instead of the mature and controlled Major Kalana, military attaché for the Federation – the image of Kala that people saw most of the time.

“I…I don’t know what to say.  How did you find this place? Why is it here?”

“First of all I didn’t find it — I had it made.  And the reason it’s here is so we have a place where we can get away and be alone.  The door is coded to only allow access to you and me.  No one else on the ship can get into this space.  I’ve had the botany crew secretly working on this for months.”

The whole time she was telling me this she was shedding clothing.  I wasn’t exactly sure where all of this was going, but I had an idea. So I began shedding my clothing as well.  Kala walked over to the pool.  The banks were lined with heavy, velvet-like green moss.  She stood for a moment with one foot on the bank, extending the other to reach her toe into the water. 

“Perfect,” she purred.  “Not too warm, not too cold.”  She waded out into the water and settled down on an underwater rock that made a bench long enough for two persons.  I followed her.  The water was cool, but not unpleasantly so, so I waded slowly into the deeper water and seated myself beside her.

“How did they duplicate the sun?” I asked curiously.  In the sky dome above us a bright sun sent down rays of light that filtered through the trees and leaves to cast dark shadows on the ground.

“I have no idea.  But I know that we can have a sunset, a starry sky – with or without a moon or moons – or we can opt for a cloudy sky, and even rain.  Of course, the temperature is adjustable to suit our wishes.”

“What made you decide to do this?”

“I really enjoyed all the time together back on the estate at our secluded lakeside sanctuary, and I thought how nice it would be if we had such a place that we could take where ever we went.  Then I thought about all the vacant compartments and spaces on the
NEW ORLEANS
and, well, next thing I knew, I had A’Lappe and Commander Stonbersa looking into having this space outfitted just for us.”

I wondered at all I was seeing around us.  I felt Kala’s eyes on me and turned to see the most beautiful smile on her face.  Had I not already been madly in love with her, I would have fallen hard for her in that very instant.

“I don’t know what to say.  This is beautiful.  Wonderful!”

“Tib, you don’t need to say anything.  Now let’s go over there and see if that moss is as soft as it looks.”  She took me by the hand again and led me to the mossy bank.  My earlier assumption as to where all this was leading proved itself to be correct.

For the next several days, Kala and I practically hid out in our paradise aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
.  We came out early in the mornings to check on the status of things, get something to eat, and return to our paradise for a few more hours before emerging for another meal and updates on any new happenings.  On the third day I found Wabussie eagerly awaiting me as we opened the door.

“Tibby, we’ve received word from one of our operatives that the Brotherhood is sending a lot of ships and personnel into the area of space around Ryken, Yentum and Goo’Waddle.  Our agent tells us they’re stopping every ship in the area to board and search for someone or something.  So far, they’ve released every ship they have searched, offering no explanation for the interception, and have departed with nothing more than a brief apology for the detainment.  Needless to say, this situation has a lot of people in the area quite nervous and angry.”

“Good.  If the locals are upset with the Brotherhood, all the better for us and more favorable for the Federation.  I think we can safely assume that the Brotherhood is searching for the solbidyum.  I wonder why it is that Logden, or whoever has the solbidyum, hasn’t tried to sell it yet?”

“Yes, that bothers me also.  It’s possible, I suppose, that the thief still doesn’t know what he has in his possession.  Or maybe he is just being very cautious as he tries to figure out how to sell the solbidyum and still keep his skin.  He might even be trying to negotiate with the Brotherhood from some undisclosed location; but we know they are cash poor at the moment and would need to sell the solbidyum themselves in order to have enough money to buy anything.”

“Has A’Lappe said anything to you about messages he may have intercepted with the Brotherhood thus far?”

“No.  I didn’t know he was even doing that.  To be honest, I’ve not seen him in a few days now.”

“I asked him to look into intercepting Brotherhood communications; he’s done it successfully in the past.  I also wanted him to train several of the crew in his methods so we can have more ears listening.  I wonder what he’s been up to.”

“Maybe that’s what he is doing,” Wabussie said while adjusting his collar.  “I saw him with several of your crew a few days ago as they entered one of the vacant compartments not far from the bridge area.  Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen any of those crewmembers since then.  A’Lappe hasn’t even been performing in the ship’s lounge the past two nights.”

“I guess I’d better find out what our little genius is up to.”

I activated my wrist com.  “A’Lappe, this is Tibby.  I would like to meet with you for a few minutes to get an update on your progress.”

One of the interesting things about the wrist com that I didn’t fully understand was how, before I finished saying the name of the person I wanted to address, the communicator calculated the recipient’s identity and opened a link to that person’s communicator.  Kala tried to explain it to me once — the microsecond delay that adjusted on the other end so that the person’s name didn’t get chopped off when the link opened and the caller was already in the middle of speaking. But I still couldn’t grasp how that worked.

“Ah, Tibby,” A’Lappe’s voice came back over the com link.  “I was just about to contact you for a demonstration.  If you would care to join us in the room across the corridor from the bridge conference room, I’d be happy to bring you up to date.”

“I’m on my way,” I said, all the while wondering just who “us” was. 

When I reached the compartment, the first thing I noted was that a security palm pad had been added outside the door.  I placed my palm on it and the door immediately opened.  It was obvious upon entering that A’Lappe had been very busy indeed.  The compartment was only about seven meters square.  Two console panels were set up along each of the three walls.  A row of comfortable-looking chairs lined the remaining wall, where the door was, obviously meant for anyone in the room that wasn’t occupying one of the consoles.  In the center of the room was a circular console with A’Lappe seated on a swivel chair that allowed him to scan the room.