Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (24 page)

“I agree,” Wabussie said, “that one thing was bothering me also.  For a while, I was afraid we had an informant either in your crew or on the
DUSTEN
.  It’s nice to know that was not the case.”

“Was there any intelligence in the data from Windsor that indicated why the Brotherhood would be building up forces here on Irribis?”  I asked.

“Nothing solid, but there were indications of them staging strategic strikes from here on a hit-and-run  basis, returning here quickly after their strikes in this sector and leaving us scratching our heads as to where they were coming from.”

“You don’t think then that Tot was brought here as a lure to bring us here?”  I asked.

“Hmm, I’d not thought about that.  However, I doubt it.  From what we know of Tot’s story I think we can surmise that he was brought here, like he said, to get him out of the way of the Tottalax that usurped his throne on their world. Most likely, Tot's sibling wanted him killed but couldn’t personally do it for some reason, and hoped the Brotherhood would take care of it.  Only the Brotherhood decided that Tot may have some future value for blackmailing the Tottalax leaders in the future should they have a disagreement. If they did, the Brotherhood could have threatened to restore Tot to power.  They probably got tired of caring for him and figured it would be safe to let him loose on this planet, as it was unlikely he’d be able to communicate with anyone.”

“Speaking of Tot, I think we should bring him in and talk to him.  I can have him brought to us, and we can interrogate him here together, if you like?”  I said.

“I think that would be a good idea, but how are we going to talk to him?”  Wabussie asked.

“A’Lappe was kind enough to make a special shirt that I am wearing under my jacket.  It displays color patterns that the Tottalax use for communication.  It also has a small camera that translates Tot’s patterns into audible speech we can understand.  Although some things don’t translate between the Tottalax language and the Federation language.  For one thing, Brotherhood translates as
‘sibling group’
,” I said.   “Let me call Marranalis and have him bring Tot to us.”

It was a few minutes after I contacted Marranalis that I saw a startled look on both Halfredies’ and Wabussie’s faces as they stared past me in my study.  I turned in my chair to see Tot floating mid window in my aquarium.  I immediately removed my jacket, so I could communicate with him.

“I am glad you could come and join us,” I said to him, “I hope it is not inconvenient for you.  I trust my crew is providing for your needs, and your accommodations are not too uncomfortable.”

“There is no inconvenience; I will help you.  The accommodations are good and your people do even more to see to my comfort.  I am most grateful.  I was not well treated by our common enemy,” Tot replied, his skin flashing in brilliant colors and patterns.

“That is truly amazing,” I heard Wabussie say behind me as he observed Tot’s skin changes.

“I am pleased to hear you are being well cared for.  These men behind me are associates and friends in the battle against our enemy.  They will be assisting in trying to restore you to your throne.  We were hoping you might answer some questions for us,” I said.

“I have already said I would help.  Convey your questions,” Tot replied.

“First, can you tell us about the spaceship your people use?  We are unfamiliar with its composition.  Does it have any weaknesses?  Our weapons do not seem to harm it.”

“I am unable to help you with this question.  We do not know its composition ourselves as it was like that when we acquired it.”

“How did you acquire it?”  I asked.

“Many broods ago some of my people arrived on the world they occupy now, as colonists from far away.  Their trip had taken many brood cycles, and by the time they found the world we occupy much of our science had been lost.  We settled on our world, and for many years the ship sat at the bottom of our ocean unused.  Then our population began to grow, and our resources began to dwindle.  Our people decided that perhaps we needed to start looking for another world and more resources, and the ship was re-activated.  Much about it, we do not understand, but we know it is impervious to the weapons of other races.  We have traveled looking for other aquatic worlds where the waters are suited for our breeding needs.  The waters on the planet where you found me are unsuitable; the chemical balance will not incubate our eggs.  So far, in our search we have found only one other such world, and it was inhabited by your people,” he said as me looked at me.

“My sibling and many others wanted to kill all the life forms of your world, and introduce the life forms we have on our world to make your planet ours.  However, our laws and customs forbad such actions.  I opposed them, and they exiled me.  With the drug your enemies give my people, females are more receptive to breeding, and the population grows out of control.  That is why my siblings destroyed life on your world.  They need to expand to new worlds to accommodate our growing population.”

“Yes I understand that, but the ship?  Who built the ship originally, and if you didn’t evolve on the planet your race now occupies, where did you come from??”  I asked.

“We do not know.  No one remembers.  We have always had the ship.  No one knows where we came from or how long my race lived in the ship before finding the right world,” Tot said, displaying many flashing colors.

“How many ships do your people have?”  I asked.

“We have only one starship.  We have several smaller ships to transport goods from the ship to the surface and back, but only one starship,” Tot replied.

“That would confirm our thoughts and information,” Wabussie interjected.

“Is there a weapon that is effective against your ship?”  I asked.

Tot hesitated a moment before he replied, “If there is, I do not know of it.  In recent years, since we began looking for another world to inhabit, we have encountered many races. Some of them have been very hostile and attacked us, but none have ever done any harm to our ship.”  I could see that this line of questioning was not helping us any, so I changed the topic, “Were you aware that the enemy, the one we call the Brotherhood, have some sort of base here on Irribis under the water?”

“Yes, when we first came to the planet, I was taken there for a long period before they released me in shallow water, near the island where you found me,” Tot replied.

“How many men are there at this base?”  I asked.

“I do not know.  I only saw a few, but the base seemed large to me.  They have great storage areas with lots of supplies, and there are many tunnels that lead to underwater ships docked up to the base.”

“How many ships are there?”  I asked.

“Again, I do not know, at least three that I was aware of.  There may be more.”

“Do you know where their base is located?  Can you show us where it is?”

“I do not know.  I was not permitted to see outside nor taste its water,” he replied.

“Taste its water?”  I probed.

“If I can taste the water, I can find my way back to its location, but I was not allowed outside the ship, so I have no taste of it to search for it.”

“I see,” I answered as I recalled that there had been fishes back on Earth that navigated oceans and streams to find their way back to their original spawning places; perhaps the same was true for the Tottalax, and they could find their way back to a location by minute taste differences in the water.

“What agreement exists between your people and the Brotherhood?”  I asked.

“They offer my people the compound that makes our females receptive for breeding; in return we come to put people to sleep with our ship.  That is the agreement my sibling has made with them.”

“What are your homes like on your planet?”  I asked.

“On our planet, there is much water, like the planet where you found me.  Our homes are built over the water with parts of them under water and parts above. 

“How does your sleep weapon work, and why did you develop it?”  I asked.

“We do not know.  It was always on our ship.  It does not work against my people.”  He replied.

“Do you think they really don’t know, or that he’s simply not telling you?”  Wabussie whispered from behind me.

“I don’t know,” I answered, ‘it’s possible I guess.”

“Ask him if it’s true their ship is filled with water,” Wabussie said.

“Is it true your ship is filled with water?” I asked Tot.

“Affirmative. We only have a small pocket of air inside.”

“Why do you have these pockets?” I ask curiously.

“Some cargos must be kept in a dry environment. We have compartments with bubbles to store and transport them.”  Tot replied.

“Can you tell us where your home planet is located?”  I asked.

“It is in a cloud in space,” he answered.

“A cloud in space?  Halfredies said questioningly. “What does he mean by that?”

“A nebula, I believe.  When we followed the Tottalax ship from Earth, it led us to a nebula, where we lost it.  Their home planet must exist somewhere inside that nebula.”

“I would think that should be easy to find then,” Halfredies said, “There can’t be too many stars within the nebula and all you need to do is check them out one at a time until you find their planet.”

“How will you defeat them if you find them?” Wabussie asked.

“I’m not sure at the moment, but I have an idea,” I answered.  Then I turned to Tot and asked, “You said that you needed specific conditions for your race to survive; what are they?”

“The waters must have certain mineral contents and must have a specific temperature range.  If we become too cold we become dormant, too hot and our body organs fail and our flesh dies.”

“And the waters of my home planet, which your people attacked, has the right water and the right temperatures?”  I asked.

“Yes, except at the axis your planet revolves about, at those ends the water is too cold.”

“Is this of any significance, Tibby?”  Wabussie asked.

“I think so, it may be the key to our defeating the Tottalax.  We asked Tot more questions during which time he was cooperative in supplying answers, but many were vague, and either he didn’t fully understand our questions, or he lacked the information to answer them.  I was starting to get a picture of the Tottalax as a race on the decline technically and morally as well.  The ship they operated was beyond their current level of understanding; they knew how to fly and operate it, but that was their limit of understanding it.  Much like the typical automobile operator back on earth in my day, who might have known how to drive one, but had no understanding of how it worked or how to service or repair it.  It was obvious the Tottalax were not going to be building new ships like their starship anytime soon.

After the meeting, I returned to my suite on the
NEW ORLEANS. 
I entered to find Jenira on the floor entertaining the twins by blowing large bubbles.  It reminded me of my own youth when the kids would gather outside in someone’s yard and blow soap bubbles.  None of our bubbles were close to these, however.  The bubbles Jenira made were over a meter in diameter.  Lunnie and Reidecor tried to get inside the bubbles, which of course made the bubbles break every time, causing the twins to scream and laugh.  Kala sat upon a chair nearby watching them. Her arm remained sore, and she continued to have some weakness in that arm, but otherwise it was healing nicely.

“How did it go with Tot this morning,” Kala inquired.

“It went well I think, but the information is sparse and not something easy to understand.”

“Daddy look, bubbles,” Lunnie shouted.

“We can breathe in these,” Reidecor said laughing.

“I see,” I said just as Reidecor tried to jump into a large bubble Jenira had just produced.

“Were you able to get any information that is of value?”  Kala asked.

“Tot said the Tottalax planet is inside a nebula.  I think it’s the one we followed them to.  However, we will have to search every star in the nebula to find the one with their planet,” I replied.

“How many stars are there in it?”

“I have no idea. Only a dozen if we’re lucky, hundreds if we’re not.  I don’t recall how many stars there are to be honest, just as long as we find the planet.  I’ll need to get someone checking that out.”

“Tibby, there hasn’t been anything on the news of our event on Irribis, other than showing us in attendance at the performance.  Is the news being suppressed?”

“Wabussie told me after the meeting today that they were trying to keep the information under wraps, they don’t want the people on Irribis getting upset about the possibility of Brotherhood operatives on the planet.”

“Daddy,” Lunnie’s voice interjected,” can we go see the fish man again?”

I looked at Kala questioningly.

“The fish man is what Lunnie and Reidecor call Tot,” she answered.

“Fish man!  I don’t know if he would like that name or not.  He’s an amphibian you know, not a fish,” I answered.

“Yes I know, but I don’t think they understand the difference,” Kala responded.  “Besides he can’t hear, and who knows how the translator translates this stuff anyway.  Would there be any harm in taking the twins to see him?”