Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids (10 page)

“What do you know about his estate?  Do you have any information about it – its size or value?” Norcar asked.

“No, sir, I don’t.  However, I’m sure we can obtain that information,” I added quickly.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Norcar said.  “As part of our banking functions, we keep that sort of information on hand about all our clients – even you Tibby.  I’m sure we have complete plans to Rinncal’s estate here, as well as a detailed register of all assets he has at the estate.”  I could see Norcar’s hands moving over a terminal keyboard as he spoke to me.  “Ah, yes, here we have it.  Are you sure you want to do this, Tibby?  It’s a considerable amount.  You’re looking at billions in Federation credits.”

“If it gets me Sisopan and I can find the scientist and rescue him; it will be worth every credit!” I exclaimed.

“All right, let me look into this.  I'll let you know something in a day or two, if you can wait that long,” Norcar said.

“Excellent, I’m confident that we can work something out.”

“As am I,” Norcar said with a grin.  “I’ve wanted to take a nice long vacation and Epsirt sounds like the perfect place.”

I expected that it would be several weeks, rather than a day or two, before I would hear anything more from Norcar; so I was delighted when, only a few hours later, I received a data packet from him containing information that the Weccies had on Rinncal’s estate.  I must say I was impressed.  His Epsirt estate was almost as large as my estate on Megelleon.  The estate was indeed beautiful.  In spite of the fact that approximately two-thirds of Epsirt was ice-covered, the equatorial region offered a temperate climate year-round with daytime temperatures of about 25.5C and low nighttime temperature of about 12C.  The images provided by Norcar showed the estate complex surrounded by large areas of green grasses and trees of all sorts and sizes.  Streams and fountains were found throughout the property, as well as colorful flowers and birds.  Rooms were lavishly decorated and expensive pieces of art could be seen in every space.  The Weccies report stated that, at any given time, a number of slaves were held on the property.  Epsirt was outside the Federation and slavery was permitted on this world. Rinncal had long since been known for his habit of keeping slaves – mostly females – and based on the images of scantily clad women contained in the records, the larger part of them were retained more for pleasure than manual labor of any sort.  The Weccies report stated that many of the slaves had been sold off after Rinncal went to prison, as he was no longer able to make use of them.  He’d also reduced his staff to grounds and housekeepers, and the estate had not been visited by anyone since his incarceration.  Among the records Norcar had included a recent itemized list of monthly maintenance expenses; even with the radical reduction in staff, the cost was still very high.  After reviewing the remaining data in the report and receiving additional details from Narcar, I had no doubt that Rinncal would take the offer to sell, especially after Norcar related to me that Rinncal’s businesses were not doing very well.  Since his conviction, he’d lost nearly a third of his wealth.”

Norcar made arrangements to contact Rinncal through the regular legal and penal channels, taking his time, in order to make it look as though his interest was genuine.  Because of Rinncal’s financial woes, Norcar felt it best that we start out with a lower-than-market offer, so it would appear we were trying to take advantage of the situation.  Norcar fully expected Rinncal to turn it down in anticipation of getting more by holding out.  We were shocked when Rinncal accepted the offer within two days without stipulations or any further negotiation.  I transferred the funds to Norcar to close the deal and Norcar initiated arrangements to take possession of the estate.  However, due to the legal red-tape on Epsirt, it was expected take over a month to close the sale and finalize Norcar as the estate’s owner of record.  In the meantime, I had my hands full with other Federation matters.

It wasn’t until three days after the twins left for Megelleon that Kala and I finally had a chance to enjoy breakfast together.  Just to sit quietly and watch Kala read Jenira’s as I sipped a cup of foccee was a rare delight.  Kala kept herself sufficiently apprised of Lunnie’s and Reidecor’s daily activities via Jenira, who monitored them both constantly in case of trouble.  Lunnie seemed to be having a great time, per Jenira’s reports.  She went riding regularly with her friends, each of them choosing their most beloved horse or pony from the small herd we now maintained on the estate.  Reidecor and Rory spent their time hanging about the cove, exploring the base of the cliff and, according to Jenira, spending a good deal of time looking at rocks.

“You know, Tibby, in many ways Lunnie is like my sister,” Kala said abruptly, “but in others she is quite different.  She looks so much like my sister when she was that age; only her hair has a slight red tint, where my sister’s was strictly blond.  I’m guessing she got that red bit from you.”

“Oh, now you’re trying to tell me I’m her father?” I exclaimed with mocking humor.

“Yeah, like there could be any doubt about it,” Kala laughed.

As she examined more images of the twins sent by Jenira, she said, “My sister never had the interest in plants and animals that Lunnie does, but my mother sure did.  My sister was more mechanically minded, but not nearly to the degree that Reidecor is.  Reidecor’s interests are more focused, like my dad’s.  By the way, did A’Lappe tell you that Reide duplicated the Tottalax sleep weapon two weeks ago and cast everyone in the engineering section into a five-hour slumber?”

“Yeah, I heard about it from Kerabac.  He was less than happy to find out that no one was awake to man the monitors.  I had a talk with Reide about it; I don’t think anything like that will happen again,” I said, hoping all the while that it wouldn’t.

“I need to report to the
MAXETTE
,” I said as I finished my last bites of breakfast.  “Stonbersa and Kophious have been reporting more strange activity along the borders of their sectors.  Something is brewing with the Brotherhood and I fear they may be planning some major offensive.  By the stars, I wish we could get our hands on the information needed to boost the speed of our ships to match theirs.”

“Maybe you should try their tactics and steal one of theirs to see how it works,” Kala said.

“Oh, and how do you recommend we do that?” I asked, as I realized that her suggestion actually made some sense.

“Well, where do they get them built?” she asked.  “My guess is they’re still using the Markazians; so any one of their shipyards would probably have at least one ship awaiting delivery that you might be able to steal.”

“You may be right,” I said, while mentally kicking myself in the ass for not thinking of it.  It seemed that, as I got older, I over-analyzed everything and was easily stymied by the self-imposed complications.  Kala, on the other hand, went straight for the simplest solution.

Marranalis was waiting for me when I entered the War Room with daily updates.

“Both Admirals Stonbersa and Kophious have sent reports that the increased activity along the Federation borders in their sectors is continuing.  Stonbersa believes that the enemy is trying to entice more ships across the border to test their detection equipment; however, Admiral Kophious thinks there might be another agenda, and that it’s a ploy to draw more Federation troops into those sectors while they stage a strike somewhere else.”

“Do we have any comments from Admiral Wabussie and the FSO about this activity?” I asked.

“No, sir, but Wabussie did send word this morning that the FSO is about 85% certain that Sisopan is on Epsirt.”

“No new word from Norcar?”

“None, sir.”

“Any additional news?” I asked.

“Yes, sir, a call came in a few minutes ago from Captain Felenna at Alle Bamma.  She said they’ve been observing some unusual activity in the region and it’s on the rise.  Also, a swarm of meteors is moving in a single trajectory toward Alle Bamma.  She believes they pose no real threat to the planet, because your private ships stationed there can destroy them.  However, she has expressed particular concern about these meteors, as they don’t appear to be natural.”

“Hmm, I don’t like the sound of this.  We have a ship-sized Cantolla Gate in that sector, correct?” I asked as I mulled over the options.

“Yes, sir,
you
do, but it’s not a Federation-sanctioned gate.  May I remind you, sir, Alle Bamma is a non-aligned world.  If you’re thinking of responding to investigate with Federation ships, you might find yourself before a Senate hearing.”

“You’re right.  I forgot that.  Well, I guess I will need to send Kerabac and the
NEW ORLEANS
.  There’s nothing in the rules that says I can’t send my own ships there, now, is there?”

“No, sir, I don’t believe there is.”

“Oh, contact Wabussie and find out whether we have any information as to where the Brotherhood is getting their ships built these days and contact me once we have the data.”

“Yes, sir.  Where will you be?” Marranalis asked.

“I’m going back to the
NEW ORLEANS
to get in some much-needed martial arts practice with Padaran,” I replied.

I had begun a regular regimen of sparring with Padaran five years ago, when I discovered that I was getting quite out of shape and realized that my own martial-arts skills were outdated.  Admiral Slater and other Earth colonists had contributed a number of more modern techniques that were unfamiliar to me.  So I decided to learn them from Padaran in our sparring matches.  Padaran, who had always given me a good challenge on the mat, learned to execute the new moves with ease and immediately assimilate them into his own routines to create some of the most formidable fight sequences I had ever seen.  Where once I had been the master and Padaran the student, our roles were now reversed.  Padaran was the undisputed master, when it came to martial arts in the Federation.  For a long-time, martial arts had been something only used by Federation troopers and my own security staff.  But in recent years, the practices had gained in popularity among civilians as well as armed forces and, most recently, we had begun to encounter Brotherhood troops who demonstrated significant martial arts skills.

As I worked out with Padaran, I couldn’t help recalling the first time I’d met him.  He was this skinny, awkward-looking youth, who volunteered without hesitation for an incredibly dangerous mission to Goo’Waddle.  He shocked me even then with his proficiencies in hand-to-hand combat; between his genius and his fighting abilities, he almost single-handedly brought the mission to a successful conclusion.  Since that time, he had filled out physically in a way that more accurately complemented his keen wit and had ultimately developed into the impressively brilliant, muscular specimen that was now serving as head of my personal security forces. 

Padaran was more skilled than I was, there was no denying it.  I liked to blame my lesser ability on the fact that synthetic nerves now replaced my own on nearly every major part of my body – and they weren’t quite as efficient as my own had been.

“Tibby, you need to focus less on trying to anticipate my movements and relax.  Let your counter-actions be automatic responses to my attacks – more like reflexes,” Padaran said as he helped me back up from the mat he had just thrown me onto.  How often had I said those exact same words to the hundreds of people I instructed over the years?... and now Padaran was telling
me
.  I cursed myself for my stupidity and over-eagerness, as I and regrouped and released myself into relaxed stance before Padaran made his next move.  This time I caught him mid-move and sent him flying to the mat.

“Much better, Tibby.  Now let’s try it again, shall we?”

“Padaran, have you ever sparred with your Uncle Regeny?” I asked.

“The Admiral?  I don’t think he’s ever taken a martial arts lesson in his life,” Padaran said as he lunged at me unexpectedly.  I blocked his attack and countered, only to find myself being taken down by a skillful new move on Padaran’s part.

“Why do you suppose that is?” I asked, as Padaran helped me up off floor.  “He’s very fond of martial arts.”

“As an observer, not a participant,” Padaran said.  “Uncle Regeny doesn’t like to participate in anything competitive where he might be defeated.  It would crush his ego to be thrown down even once in a martial arts contest.  Have you ever seen him take part in any sort of contest?”

“Uh, no, now that you mention it, I haven’t,” I said.

“And you never will.  Once, when I was a kid, Uncle Regeny came to our house for dinner.  I was learning to play chess and wanted him to play a game with me, just so I could show him I knew how to play,” Padaran began.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you beat him!” I said.

“Not the first time we played, but by his next visit I’d gotten better and I beat him in the second game.  He’s never played another chess game with me since, even though I’ve asked him dozens of times.”

I had to laugh at the image of a young Padaran besting his uncle in chess.  “Well, one thing I do know, your uncle is very proud of you and your accomplishments,” I said.

“I know,” Padaran said humbly, he’s always rooted for me and tried to help me.”

“Padaran, it’s just occurred to me; I've never met your parents.”

“They’re coming for a visit next week.  They plan to stay on the
NEW ORLEANS
; I’ll introduce them to you.  I know my mother would be excited to meet you.