Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (10 page)

“It’s just that I never thought about it before.  I’ve never seen them with anyone, and I’ve never heard either talk about having a bond mate.  In fact, I don’t know anyone that has a bond mate now that I think about it, just the two of us.”

Kala laughed, “Is this your way of telling me you want out of being my bond mate?”

“No, by the stars, NO!  I never want that.”  I exclaimed.

“Good, because I have no intentions of letting you go, either,” she said.  Then she added, “You do know that Captain Wanoll has a bond mate, don’t you?”

“Wanoll has a bond mate?  I’ve never seen her.”

“I don’t know that she’s ever been on the ship, but he does have a bond mate.  I think they have an estate on Plosaxen where she lives.”

“When do they get to see each other?” I asked.

“I have no idea.  You’d have to ask them that question.”  Kala replied.

“I wonder why he doesn’t have her come here and live aboard the ship.  There is nothing in regulations prohibiting it, and lots of crew members have bond mates on the ship.”

“Again, that’s something you would need to ask him.  I have no idea why most people do the things they do,” Kala answered, “I’m just glad that you want me with you.”

It was later in the day that I was seated in my office aboard the
NEW ORLEANS,
when I detected the faint scent of cedar in the air.  At the moment, I was going over some of the reports from Admirals Stonbersa and Kophious.

“What can I do for you, A’Lappe?”  I asked without looking up.

“How do you do it?” he said loudly with a tone of frustration.  I looked up to see him seated upon a chair in front of my desk.  “How do you know when I am around and cloaked?

“Why don’t you tell me?”  I said, “You’re my chief problem solver and person I go to for answers.  This should be a simple one for you to figure out.”

“By the stars, Tibby, I’ve thought and thought about it, and I am baffled as to how you do it!”

“Hmm, I see.  Is that what you came here to talk to me about?”  I asked.             

“No, damn it, I need to talk to you about the
Ginuluvti-Nussfero-rufo;
I got overly excited when I saw it and nearly gave away the information that I am not of this universe in front of Cantolla.  I’m hoping she didn’t catch that remark and start getting suspicious.”

“You’re too late on that account, A’Lappe.  Cantolla has been suspicious about your origin for a long time now.” I answered, as I sat back in my chair with my hands on my desk.

“What?  How?  Did she say something?”  A’Lappe stammered.

“Quite some time ago she came to me stating her suspicions that you weren’t exactly from around this part of the universe.  I said.

“You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“No, I didn’t, but she’s not dumb, or ignorant, A’Lappe.  She's already tested your DNA and knows it’s not from any place she can find in the Federation.”

“My DNA!  I never thought she would become as suspicious as to check that,” he exclaimed.  “What do you think I should do?”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I think Cantolla is someone you can trust. People trust people more when they are open and forth coming than they do if they know you are hiding something.”

“All right, I get your point.  I’ll talk to her and tell her I’m not from around here.”

“So what about this fungus stuff?  I asked, “I take it from your comment this stuff comes from your universe; if so’ how did it get here?”  I inquired.

“That was my first thought, but after examining it, I’ve concluded it evolved here on its own.  I’m trying to recall which planet in my universe it evolved on and then find its twin here in this universe.  It stands to reason it would be the logical place where it evolved here as well.”

“Do you think it was engineered, or is this how it is in its own form?” I asked.

“Oh, it was definitely enhanced to have an accelerated growth rate that would be in line with human speech patterns. If it hadn’t been, all you would get out of it is noise.”

“Do you have any idea where it might have been enhanced?”  I asked.

“It could have been anywhere.  While it would take specific tools and a laboratory geared for this type of work, there are thousands of them about the universe and many of them are not known.  The Brotherhood has hundreds of them, I am sure, just to find ways to improve the plants they use for illegal drugs.”

“What about this ship?  Did you find any traces of it here?”  I asked.

“None so far, but we’ve only started searching.  We’re doing the most critical and strategic locations first.”

“You might want to make contact with Hotyona at Alle Bamma.  His specialty is xenobiology, and he’s had a lot of experience with new and exotic life forms.”  I said.

“Hmm, you’re right.  I’d not thought of him.  He used to work under Cantolla, didn’t he?  Maybe I’ll let her make the contact.”  A’Lappe said as he tented his fingers beneath his chin.

I chuckled, “Whatever works best, A’Lappe.”

After A’Lappe left – simply vanished would be a better word for it, as he liked the melodrama of appearing and disappearing using his cloaking device, I resumed reading my reports.  A’Lappe was strange in that way.  He liked to observe without being seen.  It seemed I was the only one on the ship that noticed his scent of cedar when he was present and realized when he was there.  I should have been more concerned about this habit, as I knew it made many people uncomfortable, Admiral Regeny in particular, as A’Lappe seemed to enjoy unnerving the Admiral more than anyone else.  However, though A’Lappe irritated Regeny, the Admiral had come to respect and admire A’Lappe for his genius.

I was just finishing up my reports when I received a message from Marranalis that our team at Windsor was reporting back that the ship sized Cantolla Gate had been set up and was ready for ships to start passing through.  He had also received word from Admiral Wabussie that he had selected the FSO members for the mission, and they would be reporting to the
DUSTEN
in the next day.  Wabussie conveyed that he had been able to contact Halfredies, and that he was looking into the matter of a Tottalax on Irribis.

“That’s great news,” I said.  “Do we have any updates on the status of the construction of the
MAXETTE
?”

“Actually sir, that was the next thing I was going to tell you.  We received a message from Orcpipin, the general manager at Nibaria, saying the ship was almost ready for commissioning, and they would like to set up a date.  I know you and Admiral Regeny will both want to attend the commissioning.”

“You’re right about that.  Look at my schedule and work out something with the Nibarians for a date for the commissioning.  I’m planning to make the
MAXETTE
my flag ship.”

After I finished talking to Marranalis and looking over my reports, I decided to check in on Kala and the twins, but when I arrived at my suite they weren’t there.

“Computer, can you tell me the whereabouts of First Citizen Kalana?”  I asked.

“First Citizen Kalana is in your personal gym,” the computer answered.

I went to the gym where I was surprised to see Kala and Jenira working out with practice swords.  It was obvious right from the moment I saw them that Kala had been taking lessons with Jenira for some time and she was doing very well.  She was not nearly as phenomenal as Jenira, but well enough to defend herself against most sword-wielding attackers.  The two parried about for several minutes, with Jenira stopping a few times to tell Kala where she was making mistakes or to offer tips.  It was nearly 10 minutes before they stopped for a break and saw me standing there.

“Tib!” Kala said in surprise, “how long have you been here?”

“Nearly 10 minutes,” I answered, “you never told me Jenira was teaching you to use the catas.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise, but now you know.”  Kala answered.

“Well it was a surprise, and you look like you were doing pretty well,” I said.

Jenira looked at me and signed, “Ha!  She moves like an old fat fubalo.  She must work harder and be faster.”

“I see Jenira is a hard task master,” I said through a grin.

“You have no idea how hard,” Kala answered as she rolled the sleeve of her uniform up to reveal bruises where Jenira had struck her arms with the practice swords.

“You were lazy,” Jenira signed.  “Fight harder, and you will not get bruised as often.”  It was easy to see Jenira was no easy task-master.

“Where are the twins?”  I asked.

With Lánhuā Mao,” Kala said, “she is taking the children to the play area located in the aft crew quarters.”

“We have a children’s play area on the ship?” I asked incredulously.  Kala just shook her head, and Jenira put her hands on her hips and looked at me like I had just gotten hit in the face with a pie.

“Yes, Tibby we have a play area for children.  It’s actually several rooms with learning centers built in as well.  They have games and vids to watch, there are even instructors and attendants to teach them things and for them to learn creative crafts. There are dozens of children who use this room every day.  Tib, do you know ANYTHING at all about your ship?  Why don’t you go pick up the twins from the play area and meet me back at our suite in about 40 minutes,” she said as she and Jenira began sparring again.

“Ah, I… Okay I’ll go get them,” I answered as I backed out the door.  As soon as I was outside I asked my bodyguards where the play area was, only to see them shrug and reply they all were single and didn’t have kids.  I used my wrist com to access the ship's computer, “How do I get to the children’s play area on this ship?”

“Follow the flashing light ribbon,” the computer answered, and immediately a light ribbon lit up on the floor with blinking lights leading toward the aft end of the ship.  This turned out to be one of those destinations that would have been better suited to using the transport tubes, but I didn’t know that, or I would have asked the ship’s computer to take me that way.  By the time we arrived at the play area, I had already decided I was definitely taking the transport tubes to return the twins back to our suite.  It would be a bit crowded with all the body guards, but I was sure we could all squeeze into the transport.

I’m not sure what I expected for a play area, perhaps something like a play area at a fast-food restaurant from my Earth days, or maybe a day-care center like on Earth back then, but this was nothing like that.  First of all, it was huge.  There were vid screens all over the walls playing different things.  There were all sorts of gadgets and toys for children of all ages to play with, and I think that’s what astounded me the most.  There had to be close to 100 children in this place, ranging in age from less than a year-old up to about 10 years old.  Video games abounded, there were areas for arts and crafts with instructors.

There was a gym area and young children practicing various competitive sports, but what amazed me most was seeing young children learning martial arts as well.  Around the room, I saw numerous adults that served as both instructors and attendants watching over the children.  I saw several boys and girls about nine or ten years old playing a game that was in some ways similar to basketball, only it used a smaller ball, and instead of a basket mounted high up, there were two holes in the wall at the end of the court about two meters above the floor.  Each team tried to toss the ball through the hole for points.  Each team had six players consisting of three boys and three girls.  The ball could be passed to team players, but the player with the ball could only pass the ball to a player of the opposite gender.

It took me a while to locate Lunnie and Reidecor.  I asked one of the attendants where I might find them and was directed to a section in one of the back corners of the play area.  I found Reidecor first.  He was playing with a set of blocks and parts that could be assembled in different configurations.  I noticed that he was placing some gears on a mounting board and integrating them, so he could observe how turning one gear would affect the direction of the turning of another gear in the sequence.  With each gear he placed on the mounting board, I could see that he was anticipating how it would impact the others.  It gave me a sudden sense of pride at his intelligence, something I had doubted earlier in his life.  When he saw me, he said, “Daddy, come see!”

“What are you making, son?”  I asked.

Reidecor didn’t answer my question, instead he said, “Look, Daddy turn this wheel this way, it makes this one go that way,” then he looked at me and smiled.

“I see, that’s really good.  Where is your sister?”  I asked as I looked about.

“Over there,” he said as he pointed to a large area within the room enclosed by a glass wall.  Inside I noted trees and plants, but I also noted animals ranging in size from quite small to nearly as large as Lunnie.  There were cat-like creatures, birds, and other mammals, and I noticed an aquarium wall behind which numerous aquatic animals swam.

“Let’s go get your sister.  It's time for us to go home,” I said.

When Reidecor and I entered the enclosed room with all the animals, the first thing to hit me was the smell.  It reminded me very much of the smell that I used to experience on Earth in zoos I visited there.  I looked about and eventually spotted Lunnie sitting on the floor petting a monkey-like creature similar to the muralam back on Desolation.