Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (45 page)

“You’re not planning on giving them Cantolla Gates as well, are you?”  Kophious asked.

“Not exactly, I’m thinking more along the lines of allowing them to use our gates and the transfer hub station.  We’ll set up an embassy on Goo’Waddle, with a gate protected by Federation troopers.  We’ve already given them the DSC systems, so they can instantly communicate with each other and us.  It’s old technology, and while it appears the Brotherhood still hasn’t figured out how it works, they do have a number of DSC units they captured from us, to study.  So we’re not really losing any advantage but actually gaining some from the Ruwallie Rasson’s assistance.”

“All right,” Regeny said, “I’ll agree to it; but the stars help us if the Ruwallie Rasson decides to start using the technology for piracy against Federation ships.  Is there anything else you want to give them?”

“Yes sir, I want to give them our sensor program that allows us to see cloaked enemy ships.”

“Hmm, I’m afraid I am going to say no to that one, Tibby.  I don’t know that we can trust that information in the Ruwallie Rasson hands.  One of those pirates are likely to sell the technology to the Brotherhood for a small fortune.  We need to keep that one under wraps for the time being.”

“Admiral, without that technology, the Ruwallie Rasson are helpless against the enemy, as the only ships they can effectively shoot and damage at this time are the Brotherhood fighters, and those now have been cloaking as the starships do.  So the Ruwallie Rasson has no one to shoot at without the technology.  Do you want me to thank the Ruwallie Rasson for their assistance so far, and tell them that we no longer need their help?”

“By the stars, Tibby, I hate this.  All right, I see your point.  However, please make it clear to their leaders that this is top-secret information, and I personally will be coming to collect their gonads if they let this technology slip out.”

“I’m sure Padaran will stand at your side if it ever comes to that, Admiral,” I added.

I saw Regeny wince as he realized that he was threatening the top Ruwallie Rasson leaders, when his nephew was the top Ruwallie Rasson leader.

“The next thing I wish to discuss concerns you, Captain,” I said looking at Slater.

“Based on the information at hand, and judging by Ming’s latest tactics, I think the Brotherhood is planning to engage in terrorist activities similar to what existed back on Earth.  I don’t think the Federation has any idea what that’s like, and I suspect there will be a lot of panic about it if it's not handled right.  I’m going to need your expertise in training troopers to deal with terrorists, and we’re going to need them very soon if what I suspect is true.”

“That’s no small order, Admiral,” Slater said.  “Back on Earth in the early days of terrorism the United States overreacted in all the wrong ways.  As a result, the terrorists basically were winning, at least from their point of view, and were encouraged by it.  As America drew into a shell and placed restrictions on its own people, the terrorists rejoiced, seeing it as a victory.  Essentially the U.S. was punishing its own citizens, while doing very little to go after the terrorists.  It took nearly twenty years before it was realized you needed to hunt out and find the terrorists wherever they were and destroy them. It was in those later years that a quote of Benjamin Franklin became very popular. ‘
Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one’. 
Negotiating never worked with the terrorists.  If you want to fight terrorists here, you will need to do the same.”

“Wow,” Stonbersa exclaimed, “who was this Franklin fellow?”

“He was one of the founders of the nation Tibby and I came from back on Earth,” Slater said.

“I agree with you, Slater,” I said, “and we will be going after them and taking them on their own ground, not waiting for them to come and hurt us first.  Windsor and Irribis were just the beginning phase of that.  We now have information as to the locations of another Brotherhood base as well as the one where they are building asteroid-ships like the one they used to attack Weccies.  I plan for us to go there and take out their bases, and any ships we can.  I want you to work with Captain Mazone and Commander Cefvoux in training the special ops troopers for fighting terrorists.  I want you to increase the number of special ops troopers to five times what it is now.”  I saw Slater's eyebrows rise when I said this.  “Do you think you can do it?”

“I’ll do the best I can, sir.”

“Good, you’ve done a great job so far.  I am sure you’ll do the same with this as well.”

“Admiral Wabussie, the FSO is going to need to expand.  They have been doing an outstanding job, but if we’re going to be fighting terrorists, you’re going to need a lot more agents.  You, Admiral Regeny and I will need to go before the Senate to see about getting additional funding, but if they won’t pay for it, I will.  I certainly can afford it.  Kala tells me my wealth is growing faster than I am spending it, even with all my efforts to spend it.

“I also think we need to look at dividing up the fleets more.  Three fleets aren't enough to handle all the territory in the Federation with a war going on.  We’re going to need more admirals, more ships, and I think we need at least eight fleets for now.  Admiral Regeny, you obviously have the final say on that, and of course we’ll need to approach the Senate about that also.”

“Tibby,” Regeny sputtered, “I don’t know if I can handle all of this.  The scope of what you are talking about is overwhelming.  If it weren’t for you, I couldn’t handle what we have now.  I am afraid I’m not really cut out to handle a war on the scale of things at the moment, let alone larger.”

“Admiral Regeny, with all due respect, I don’t think you have a choice.  You’ll just have to delegate more of your responsibilities to other lower ranking officers.  NO, don’t look at me like that; I’m talking about OTHER officers,” I exclaimed.

The arrangements with the Weccies for me to go to their planet went much quicker than I anticipated.  Apparently, the Weccies were really in a panic about establishing a higher sense of security.  Our FSO agents were getting information that word of the attack on Weccies was spreading like wildfire throughout the galaxy, and the bank on Weccies was seeing a run of withdrawals.  The Weccies wanted to stop that as quickly as they could.

The only major hang-up in setting up the event was the Weccies didn’t want my security team to be armed with laser rifles, or any mechanical, or explosive weapons.  The Federation was adamant that we must have at least eight bodyguards for the event.

Oddly, it was the Weccies that came up with a solution acceptable to all.  They were more than willing that my bodyguards could carry swords and even mentioned Jenira as an example of what they would accept.  Of course, Jenira was thrilled, but the Federation wanted at least half of the security team to be military, and Jenira wasn’t in the military.  I thought about creating a special military unit just for Jenira and her Women with Swords; but then reality hit, and I realized that Jenira wasn’t someone who would take orders well.

That’s when Padaran came to the rescue.  He pointed out that we had a number of Ruwallie Rasson mercenary warriors on the
NEW ORLEANS
, who were part of my personal security team.  All of them were well trained with their catas swords, as well as martial arts.  I could use two of them plus Jenira and himself as part of my security team, and have four of the best swordsmen with the Federation as the other four.  I didn’t know how that would work, as typically Federation troops didn’t carry swords.

Then Kerabac said that he knew there were a small number of Federation troopers who did practice with swords, more as a hobby and a means of exercise than anything serious, but he was sure they would be able to meet the need.  Kerabac passed the information on to Marranalis, and two days later about a dozen troopers showed up on the
MAXETTE
for testing to see which of them could best serve as the other four guards.  I had Padaran, Kerabac, and Jenira come over to the
MAXETTE
to test and select the ones they believed to be best suited for the job.  Of course in Jenira’s mind, none of them were suited; and she kept saying that anyone of her Women with Swords could have easily had beaten three of the applicants at a time in a contest.  She may have been right, but I wasn’t about to waste time testing that claim.  We needed the guards immediately, as the Weccies wanted to meet in two more days.

Finally, four were selected, but Jenira insisted that she be allowed to give them more training right up until we went to Weccies.  Padaran seemed relatively pleased with the selection, and Kerabac thought they would do as well.  Regeny was happy that at least four of the bodyguards would actually be Federation troopers, and I was unhappy because once again I was going to be in the middle of a parade.

It had been centuries since anyone other than a Weccies had set foot on their planet. Kala and I, plus the bodyguard unit, arrived first on the
SOKAIA
via the Cantolla Gate.  The ship was still in orbit around Weccies, and while the ship was still on alert in case the Brotherhood tried to return, the atmosphere was cordial.  We were greeted by Captain Lakalin, “Tibby and First Citizen Kalana,  welcome aboard the
SOKAIA;
a pleasure to see you both again.”  I had to think a moment when he said “again”, and then I realized that both Kala and I had met him before, when the
SOKAIA
was re-commissioned.  “Good to see you again, also,” I said.

“Do you wish to freshen up before being transported to the planet?  I’ve arranged for you to have the dignitary suite aboard, as long as you might require,” Lakalin said.

“Thank you for the offer, Captain, but I fear we won’t have time, and we’ll be going straight to the surface.  Tell me, Captain, how have things been here since the attack?”  I asked.

“The Weccies have been in a panic and call every hour wanting to know if there are any new signs of the Brotherhood.  They’ve been working like crazy to restore the mine fields even though they know the mines won’t stop a shielded ship.  They have been very cordial with us though, and have offered to supply us with anything we might need.  I’ve thanked them and informed them that won’t be necessary, and that with our replicators and the Cantolla Gate, we can take care of all our needs.”

“Has anyone from the ship been down to the surface?”  I asked.

“No sir, the Weccies have been quite emphatic that only you and your party will be allowed to go to the surface.  We have conducted a lot of scans of the surface, though.  I honestly don’t know how they live down there.  The planet is mostly rock and barren.  There is only one lake on the planet.  Our scans seem to indicate there is more water, but it’s beneath the surface.  They have several space ports, mostly for their military ships.  It seems like everything is pretty much underground.  The only place where anything resembling buildings appear is at the space port where you will be landing.”

“Sounds like a great place to visit,” I said.

“Frankly sir, I’m glad it’s you going and not me,” the Captain said, “the place seems cold and eerie.”

Captain Lakalin accompanied us to the hangar bay, where a sleek though rather plain looking Weccies ship awaited us. A thin man with dark hair and hawkish features greeted us, “First Citizen Admiral Thibodaux James Renwalt, and First Citizen Kalana of the Federation.  I am Captain Staggernet of the Weccies Planetary Defense; please come aboard, and we will transport you to the surface.”

It was a bit awkward boarding the ship with all the security team, as the ship was rather small, and it was a little crowded with all of us inside.  I was accustom to the liberal use of space in the Federation, and the Weccies ships were far more frugal with space.  It reminded me of flying back on Earth in my days there, in tightly cramped airplanes, especially with troopers the size of Earth football players.

I had been expecting that there would be more crew aboard the ship, but other than for the Captain and one other crew member, there were none.  Kala commented, “Tibby, this is all rather strange; usually when a ship is sent to pick up a dignitary for transport to a planet’s surface, they send an attaché to act as a host and to assist with any details or needs.  I must admit that during my time as an attaché, I never had to deal with the Weccies, but still this seems strange.  I would have thought they would have had a more luxurious ship for transporting a dignitary.”

“Yes, but you forget that they haven’t had to transport any dignitaries to their planet before.  So there was no need for an attaché, or an impressive transport,” I said.

“Yes, you’re right.  I hadn’t thought about that,” she said as she leaned back into her seat.  “Do you think everything down there is going to be this drab?”

“We’ll know soon enough,” I said with a grin.

When we landed on the planet, the ship we were in taxied into a hangar built into the side of a mountain, and onto an elevator platform.  We could see what was going on through view ports in the sides of the ship.  This was unusual, as very few space ships I had seen in the Federation, other than huge luxury ships, had view ports.  We descended about 2000 meters before the platform stopped, and the ship taxied a short distance before halting.  When everything was secured, the Captain opened the door and led us out into a large cavern carved from the rock.  A few other ships similar to the one we arrived in sat nearby.