SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA) (33 page)

“I don’t understand it,” said Hotyona.  “If they want slaves, why are they killing them?”

“My guess is they’re trying to intimidate them into surrendering.  By killing those that flee and showing that the captured remain alive, they’re sending a clear message to surrender or die,” explained Kerabac.

“What do you think they want the Allebammians for?” Hotyona asked.

“Like any slaveholder, they want the natives to do some sort of work that they don’t want to do themselves,” Kerabac answered with a great deal of disdain in his voice.  Earlier generations of Kerabac’s people practiced slavery; and though his planet had since joined the Federation and abolished the practice, many still held the old views and prejudices.  Some even continued to keep slaves, though they had to do so away from their home planet.  Kerabac’s personal experience made him very knowledgeable about the topic, including the motives behind the slaveholders’ actions; but he never spoke of it without showing visible discomfort, repugnance, and perhaps a bit of shame on behalf of his people.

We had been following the trail for about an hour when we noticed the jungle foliage seemed to be thinning.  We assumed we were arriving at another of the many lakes that dotted the planet; so we were somewhat surprised when we reached the edge of a large clearing.  Several tall structures were spaced at intervals around the clearing; over which a tent of camouflaged netting was draped.  Approximately 50 troopers could be seen moving about the area where about a dozen patrol ships and another dozen or so armored ground transports were parked.  There was also one much larger ship that was about the size of a corvette but of a different configuration – the likes of which I had not seen before.

“What kind of ship is that?” I whispered to Kerabac.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, Tibby.  It looks to be well armed, from what I can see of the torpedo tubes and gun hubs.  It appears to be a new ship; so I would say it’s a new design by one of the non-aligned planets that specialize in arms manufacturing.  It looks deadly, that’s for sure.  It’s nothing that would be able to harm the
NEW ORLEANS
,
but it could do serious damage to the
ALI
in a firefight.”

“What do you think we should do?” asked Hotyona.

“Well, for right now I suggest we move around the edge of this clearing and over to the other side to see what’s there,” I said.

“I agree,” said Kerabac.  “I think we need to see as much as we can before we make any decisions as to what we will do next.”

We slowly began to work our way around the edge of the clearing, staying very mindful of the presence of Brotherhood troopers and guards.  As we moved around the perimeter of the encampment, we saw groups of natives restrained by the electrified collars who were being forced to perform different tasks – carrying boxes, clearing brush and felling trees, and digging in the ground to prepare for enough foundation installations to support several structures, the functions of which we only could guess at.  We reached the halfway point around the clearing when we noted a large building within the compound into which the enslaved natives carried bales of some sort of vegetation and then exited empty-handed.  We also noted members of the Brotherhood in white lab clothing who came and went from this same building.

“What do you think they’re doing in there?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” said Kerabac.  “It appears they’re processing that plant material for something.”

As Kerabac replied, several armed Brotherhood guards directed a single-file line of natives out of the building who were burdened with sealed shipping boxes, which they carried across the compound and into a small freighter.

“I think we need to find out what’s going on in there,” I said.

“If I knew what plant it is they’re processing, I might be able to tell you what they’re up to,” said Hotyona.

“You two stay here,” I said.  “I’m going to cloak and sneak into the building for a look.  I’ll try to get a sample of the plant for you, Hotyona.  If I’m not back in two hours, you two head back to the
ALI
and seal yourself inside until the
NEW ORLEANS
arrives.  Don’t let them blow this base up with the natives inside.”

Kerabac and Hotyona concealed themselves in the dense foliage along the clearing edge as I activated the personal cloaking device and jogged across the clearing to the far side of the building.  As I moved along the side of the building, I passed some exhaust pipes that emitted strong chemical odors.  The smell was overwhelming and left me feeling a bit light-headed until I was able to get past the last of them and pause to breathe in some clean air.  I noted several locked doors as I made my way around the structure; but the one into which the natives were carrying the bales of leaves was standing wide open.  There was a period of about two minutes between lines of natives where there was no one in the doorway and I used that as an opportunity to slip inside.

Immediately inside the door I stepped to the side to let my eyes adjust to the darkness, after which I noticed the glow of artificial lighting coming from a corridor a few meters ahead.  I followed the corridor a short distance to a larger room where the bales were stacked.  A guard watched over four naked natives who dropped the bales into a shredding machine that emptied to a conveyor, which then moved the shredded material to another machine.  Here the material was dumped into a large hopper that apparently squeezed all the sap out of the plants.  The sap was collected in vats arranged on yet another conveyor that moved in a circuit to the adjoining room through a hole in the wall.  I carefully snuck past the guard and opened the door into the next room.

Inside the room I could see the vats moving along the circuit until they emptied into a larger vat.  Two of the men in lab coats stood at a nearby banister, apparently making adjustments to some instruments.  Under the watchful eyes of a guard, a small native carrying a container poured some powder into the vat.  As the guard and native left, I quickly slipped through the door behind them and into yet another room.

Here I could see more technicians in lab coats, this time taking samples from a tap on a line that came through the wall from the vat and subjecting the liquid product to various chemical tests.

I heard one of them say, “Excellent.  We should get top money for this batch,” as he examined the changing colors inside a test tube.  “Those poor suckers on Sepra are so addicted to this juice that we’ll soon have all the wealth of that planet in our pocket.  They’ll be so broke and addicted that they will do anything we ask for a fix.  We’ll be able to use them for cannon fodder against the Federation while saving our t
roopers for mop up operations.”

All the lab workers laughed.

By this point I estimated I had been cloaked for about twenty minutes, so I needed to start making my way back to Kerabac and Hotyona before the cloak expired.  Getting out of the building was not as easy as getting in.  Just as I arrived at the exit, a large group of natives and their guards arrived with bales of plants.  I had to retreat back into the bale storage room and squeeze myself into a corner where I would not be bumped by anyone as the natives filed in and out of the room.  To make matters worse, the natives stacked several bales in front of me, virtually trapping me in the corner.  Realizing my cloaking device might fail before I could get out, I turned it off.  I was concealed behind the bales, so I wasn’t concerned about being seen.  Fortunately I didn’t have to wait too long before I saw the top bale begin to move away from the stack and I quickly reactivated the cloaking device.  It took another few minutes before all the bales were cleared away and I was able to make my way to the exit.  Even then it was a close call, as another group of natives bearing bales were almost ready to enter the building.  Once outside, I stopped briefly to wait for the last native to approach the entrance before plucking a leaf from the bale he was carrying.  The guard stood at the opposite side of the native, so there was no risk of him seeing a leaf suddenly leave the bale and vanish into thin air.

As I approached Kerabac and Hotyona, I spotted several troopers sneaking up on them.  It was obvious that the troopers planned to capture the
pair; otherwise they could have shot them from where they stood.  Kerabac must have heard a noise or noticed something that clued him in to their presence, as he suddenly turned to see three Brotherhood troopers with guns trained on him and Hotyona.  Both Kerabac and Hotyona raised their arms in surrender, while I quickly moved up behind them.  With a swift series of martial arts blows I took out two of the troopers.  The other was distracted stunned long enough at the sight of his partners dropping to the ground to allow Kerabac to lunge forward and knock him to the ground.  Unfortunately the sound attracted attention of other troopers in the clearing, who turned all at once to see the scuffle.  Kerabac rendered his opponent unconscious with a solid blow to the jaw as I uncloaked and told both Kerabac and Hotyona to follow me.

We sprinted into the jungle in a direction away from our ship.  Behind us we could hear yells as an alarm was issued and more troopers joined in the chase.  When we reached a large
I’aban tree that had roots sloping up to the trunk like a set of stairs, I quickly led the others to the top and then instructed them to cloak and remain still.  Just as we cloaked the first of the troopers in the pursuit appeared below us.  We were standing on a branch just a little above the troopers head height; and had we not been cloaked, we would have been in plain sight.  As it was, we were able to remain in this obvious location, invisible and ignored, as the troopers scoured the dense vines and brush beneath the surrounding trees.  Eventually they all moved off deeper into the jungle, reporting to the other pursuers that the area was clear.

I was beginning to worry, as I had no idea how much time I had left on my cloaking device.  We uncloaked and descended to the jungle floor to head back toward the compound in the direction of the
ALI
, all the while keeping an eye out for Brotherhood troopers.  As we approached the clearing we had to cloak twice, as we spotted small bands of troopers heading in the general direction of the first group of pursuers.

Just as the last of the troopers receded from view
, my cloak failed.

“I sure hope we don’t encounter anymore of the Brotherhood before we make it to the
ALI
,” I said.  “My cloak has used up all its power.”

“Once we get around the compound area we should be free of them, unless they sent out troopers in all directions,” said Kerabac.

Just as we made it past the clearing, one of the daily showers broke loose with a vengeance.  The rain was pouring down so heavily that our visibility was restricted to only a few feet.  There was simply no way to clearly discern our heading and we soon faced a greater chance of getting lost than finding the ship.  The hammering of raindrops against the jungle canopy was so loud that we couldn’t even communicate with each other.  As we passed by the base of an I’aban tree, Kerabac grabbed both Hotyona and me by the arm and nearly dragged us into a space between the large roots at the base of the tree.  Suddenly we found ourselves standing in a large and surprisingly quiet room-like space inside the tree.

“I think it might be wise for us to wait out the rain here,” said Kerabac.  “If we try to continue traveling in this storm, I’m afraid we will get turned around and end up wandering right back into the Brotherhood camp.”

“Thanks, Kerabac,” I said, truly grateful to be out of the torrent.  “I have to agree with you.  I think if I’d have stayed out there much longer, I’d have started to grow gills.”

We stood quietly for a moment, each of us appreciating the relative dryness of our refuge as we shook the sogginess from our clothes and hair.

“Oh, before I forget, Hotyona, I believe you want to look at this.”  I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out the leaf I had taken from the bale and handed it to him.

Hotyona showed great curiosity as he took the leaf and walked over near the entrance to our root shelter where there was a bit more light.  He looked at it briefly, first one side and then the other, then he sniffed it before tearing off the tiniest bit and putting it in his mouth.  He only held it there a brief moment before spitting it out.

“It’s very alkaline,” he said.

That was the last intelligible utterance that came from him for several hours, as his head suddenly began to bob and sway
.  His eyes expanded and pupils dilated and his jaw hung open loosely as he began to drool.

“Um, Hotyona, are you okay?” I asked.  Hotyona turned his head toward us and grinned.  Then his gaze drifted off as though he were watching something floating by.

“Oh, shit,” said Kerabac.  “I don’t know what the scientific name is for this plant, but I know what the street name is.  I remember the scientists on the expedition team discussing it when I was here years ago.  The natives use it in their religious practices.  Its sap is highly hallucinogenic.  The natives will only use it under the supervision of their shaman – and then only once or twice a year because of its additive properties.  Persons who become addicted will literally starve themselves, taking more and more of the drug without eating, until they finally die.”

“That would explain what I saw and heard in the lab,” I said.  I related to Kerabac the comments I had overheard and what I saw inside the processing plant at the compound.