Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (17 page)

Almost instantly Commander Cefvoux said, “Admirals, we need to get you both out of here immediately!”  His comment was followed by another blast from the opposite direction down the corridor followed by another rush of air and dust.  One of Cefvoux’s men was on a com link talking to someone, and he turned and said, “Sir, it appears, we didn’t get all of the enemy, there are some still holed up here. They have accessed some remotely controlled explosive devices here on the base and are detonating them.  I’m getting reports of casualties and injuries from two different squads at the moment.”

“Admirals, if you follow me, I’ll get you to the temporary Cantolla Gate and get you both out of here,” the Commander said.

“Sir,” the troopers with the communication gear interrupted, “I’m afraid the Cantolla Gate is out of action.  The first explosion destroyed the site of the gate.  I don’t think you can even make it to any of the entrances we have open at the moment.”

“How about the tunnel where the special ops team entered the base?”  Cefvoux asked.

The trooper spoke into his com link and then listened a moment and replied, “That way is still open, sir.”

“Good!  Admirals, let me get you some guards and get you out of here.  Obviously, we have some more mopping up to do,” the Commander said just as another explosion rocked the base, this one evidently much closer as bits of the ceiling broke and fell into the corridor near us.

Moments later, we were being led down tunnels by a squad of troopers and followed by another full squad.  We hadn’t left Commander Cefvoux more than three minutes when there was a loud explosion from back the way we had just traversed, and I hoped that Cefvoux wasn’t in that area.

“They must have planted bombs here in their base the same way they did on the
HAPRIN
and some of their other ships we've captured,” I mumbled.  Wabussie must have been near enough to hear what I said, and he replied, “It certainly looks that way.  I wonder if they are using remote detonators, or if they have some sort of timing device that is triggering them?”

It took us just a little over ten minutes to reach the location of the access tunnel our troopers had used to enter the base, and another thirty minutes to make it to the surface, where a transport waited to take us to the
DUSTEN. 
As I was about to board the craft, I turned to the senior officer in charge of the squads responsible for our safety.  “Is there any word from Commander Cefvoux?”  I asked.

“None sir!  Once you’re safely in route to the
DUSTEN
we’ll go back in to look for him.”

As soon as we were underway Wabussie turned to me and said, “Admiral, if it wasn’t for the potential data we might find in there I would recommend we should extricate the slaves who have been found in that base as quickly as possible, pull out our troopers and blow that base to the other side of the universe.”

“I agree; unfortunately, the data we might retrieve from this base is too important for us to do that.”

Our transport had no sooner docked on the
DUSTEN
and the door opened, before Captain Marranalis came up to me.

“Sir, are you all right?  Commander Cefvoux contacted us to say you were being evacuated from the base as explosions were taking place inside, he was abruptly cut off, and we’ve lost all contact with those inside the base.  The temporary Cantolla Gate set up by our troopers in the base is no longer working.”

“We’re fine, but I don’t know about Cefvoux.  Get more squads transported here immediately and get them down there.  We need that base secured as fast as possible,” I responded.

“Yes sir,” he said as Admiral Wabussie and I headed to the War Room.  We had barely entered the room when a communication officer came up to me and said that they had just received word from the surface, and that Commander Cefvoux was safe, though he had been injured by some flying debris.  The Commander was still in action, even though he was bandaged up and had an arm in a sling.  Once things were secure he would be transferred to a med unit on the
DUSTEN
for restorative treatments.  There were two more bomb blasts inside the base over the next four hours before the base was finally secured and all resistance quelled.

“It seems like the Brotherhood would rather destroy something than lose it, even if there was a chance they might regain it,” Marranalis said.

“Yes, I suspect that’s Ming’s doing,” I answered, “If he can’t have it, he will make sure no one else ever does.”

About four hours after I returned to the
DUSTEN,
I received word that the planet was secure and the enemy had surrendered.  After that there were no more explosions, though more bombs had been located.  I had expected that the explosions might have been placed to blow up the Tottalax weapon-suppressing headgear. However, that was not the case.  Instead, the bombs seemed to have been placed to blow up the God’s Sweat drug supplies and the command centers and data bases.  Fortunately, the bomb locations in the database area didn’t really destroy any data, only the equipment housing it.  Before morning of the following day, the scientists aboard the
DUSTEN
had managed to free the data chips from the wreckage in the Brotherhood base and to access the information contained in them.  With the records from the cubes, we could pinpoint over 100 enemy strongholds throughout the galaxy.

I was going through the data with my officers when I realized I had not seen Kala and the twins for over three days.  I was so busy with the battle and planning that I had barely slept or eaten, and when I had slept, it had only been a few short naps on a sofa in my office.  I had used the shower and clothing replicator in the small bath attached to my office to get cleaned up a few times, but I really hadn’t gone back to the
DUSTEN
to check on Kala or the twins.

“Marranalis,” I said, “I’m going back to the
NEW ORLEANS
to see my family.  Unless there is some major issue you or Captain Wanoll can’t handle, I don’t wish to be disturbed.”

“Yes sir,” Marranalis replied.

I was tired and looking forward to a few brief moments with my family before I took a long nap, but when I entered my suite aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
, my family was nowhere in sight, but Kala had left a note for me on the bed.

“The twins and I are at our estate on Megelleon.  We have a surprise for you.”  That was all the message said.  As much as I wanted to sleep, I really wanted to see my family more.  With the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” in tow, I headed to the Cantolla Gate aboard the
NEW ORLEANS
that provided direct access to my estate on Megelleon.

I was barely through the gate and oriented before Piebar was there to greet me.

“Honored First Citizen,” he began in his customary address to me, “It is so good to see you returned here to your estate.”

“”Thank you Piebar,” I replied, “would you happen to know where Kalana and the twins are at this moment?”  Piebar was the major domo on my estate, and he seemed to know where everyone was and what they were doing at all times.

“Indeed so, I do,” he replied, “First Citizen Kalana and your progeny are at the agricultural laboratory at the south end of the estate.”

“Ah, right!” I said while realizing that I had totally forgotten we even had an agricultural laboratory.  Kala would have shaken her head and chastised me for not remembering that.  “Is there a transport available to take me there?” I asked.

“Most certainly, sir.  If you’ll come this way,” he said as he headed off in the direction of the estate hangars.  Once airborne I was informed by the pilot, “First Citizen Kalana has instructed me that I am to darken the windows so you cannot see out until after we have landed.”  I was starting to wonder now just what surprise she could have waiting for me at the agricultural labs.  Perhaps a new and larger genetically modified fubalo with even more tender and succulent steaks, I thought as my stomach growled.  I was barely off the transport when I heard the laughter and high-pitched screams of delight from the twins.  I could not see them, but the sounds seemed to be coming from the other side of a nearby building.  Following the sounds, I rounded the building and was stopped dead in my tracks.  There was Kala astride one of the most beautiful jet black horses I have ever seen.  Kala had the horse trotting back and forth in front of the twins as Jenira tried her best to hold them back, and they made all sorts of sounds of delight.  Kala spotted me and quickly called out, “Tibby, are you surprised?”

“Surprised…I’m… well… where did you get the horse from?”  I stammered still somewhat in shock.

“Well, where do you think I would get one?”  Kala asked grinning, “The scientists from Earth cloned him using the genetic materials we brought back from Earth’s DNA and seed bank.”

“But… how did you learn to ride him?  Who broke him in and trained him?  I asked.

“Raymond Peters, he taught me.  He’s the one who trained Thunder,” she answered.  By now, she and the horse were at my side, and I reached out and stroked it.  While I didn’t know Raymond Peters, I did recognize the name as belonging to one of the members from the Mars colony, a Native American from the Nez Perce tribe.  I had served in the Navy with a Native American named Peters, who said he was from the Nez Perce tribe, and in the back of my mind I was wondering if they might have been related.

Kala continued talking, “I remembered you once telling me about horses on your planet and how you wished we had them here so we could go horseback riding.  Well now we can!  I got the scientists here working on the project before we were stranded on Desolation.  I didn’t want to tell you until the horses were grown and trained.”

“Horses?  You mean there’s more than one?”  I asked.

“Yes, there are three to be exact.  This is Thunder.  He has a twin named Lightning, and a sister named Cloud.  The names were Raymond’s idea.  He said horses should have names from nature, and that it was a custom among his people to name horses accordingly.”  I had to laugh because I knew from my experience with the Native Americans I had served with in the Navy, that often times what they related as being tribal customs were simply things they made up on the spot, but it was as good of a reason as any.

“So where are the other horses?”  I asked.

“Raymond is saddling up Lightning at the moment, in that building over there,” she said pointing in the direction.  Raymond has a funny name he calls the place where the horses are kept.  He calls it a
barn.
  Is that an Earth term?”

“Yeah, a barn is a place where domestic farm animals are sheltered and fed.  They also were used to store feed for the animals as well.  However, barns on Earth didn’t look anything like these buildings.”  Indeed if anything these buildings here looked more like modern two-story office buildings with large windows on the outside, unlike the barns of Earth.  As I was looking at the building, I saw a man riding a horse identical to the one Kala was riding.  He had exited the building and was heading toward us.

“It’s a pleasure to see you, Admiral,” Raymond said as he drew near, “First Citizen Kalana said she was hoping you would show up today."

“Thanks, Raymond, I don't think I ever had a chance to talk with you personally on the
NEW ORLEANS
, but I had always intended to.  When I was in the Navy back on Earth, I served with a guy named Styels Peters, who was from the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho, any chance the two of you are related?”

Raymond’s eyes grew large with a look of astonishment and he said, “My dad’s name was Styels and he was in the Navy.  Are you the same Tibby he used to talk about?”

“Well, if he told you the story about the two of us having to jump overboard to keep from being run over by a runaway forklift on the flight deck of a carrier, I am.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Raymond muttered in English, “you must be the same one then because he was always telling that tale and how the two of you were pulled out of the water by a passing boat with bikini-clad  girls in it.”

“Ha, did he also tell you they were two of the ugliest women ever to don bikini’s?”  I asked laughing.

“No sir, he didn’t.  He always made them sound like real beauties.”

I laughed some more and then added, “Yep, that was your dad all right; every time he told that story the women got more beautiful.  The truth is they were so ugly looking that we both almost jumped back into the water once we got a good look at them.”

We chatted a few minutes until the horse began getting eager to run.  “Here, why don’t you take Lightning for a gallop?  I’m assuming you can ride?”  Raymond said.

“Yes, though it’s been years since I was last on a horse,” I responded.

“Don’t worry sir, what you forgot the horse will make up for.  They both are good horses and well trained,” Raymond responded as he dismounted and held the reigns out to me.

I patted Lightning’s neck before climbing into the saddle; both horses were truly remarkable looking, and I had a feeling they were from the finest stock Earth had before its demise.  Lightning snorted and stamped his feet, not in a nervous way but in a way that let me know he was eager to take off running.  Once mounted I rode over next to Kala and said, “Shall we take a ride?”

“I was thinking more like a race,” she said, and with that she and Thunder took off across the wide-open field.  Lightning didn’t even bother to wait for me to give the commands to go and immediately took off behind Thunder, leaving me hanging on for dear life.  I knew how to ride, and even at a full gallop I seldom had any problems riding in the past, but it had been years, and I felt a bit awkward for the first few minutes.  I was so busy trying to get myself properly situated in the saddle that I didn’t try to instruct or guide Lightning, and just let the horse run free.