Free SWEET HOME ALLE BAMMA (SOLBIDYUM WARS SAGA) by Dale Musser Page A

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    “Senator Tonclin, our reason for inviting you to dinner this evening is to discuss the matter of delivery of Nibaria’s solbidyum and its reactor.  We need you to make secure arrangements for the transfer of these items with as few people knowing about it as possible.  You will also need to arrange very tight security at the facility where you locate the reactor, as there will be those who will try to steal it from Nibaria.”
    Senator Tonclin had stopped eating when the admiral mentioned the phrase, Nibaria’s solbidyum .  “How soon would this delivery take place?” he asked with a tone of alarm in his voice.
    “It could take place at any time, Senator.  If you have a facility and ample security in place, we could deliver it tomorrow.  We can give you two weeks to prepare, if you require; however, we would prefer that the transfer take place as quickly as possible for security reasons.  No one knows that this shipment is about to take place or that Nibaria and Megelleon will be the first two planets to receive delivery.  My own staff is seeing to arrangements for security on Megelleon and a location has already been prepared for the installation.”
    “Nibaria has a site that was prepared for the reactor over 500 years ago; however, when it appeared that the solbidyum was lost and would not be recovered, the space was used to store sensitive archived material.  The area is very secure and well-guarded, but provisions must be made for the archives to be moved into another secure facility.  This could take a week, provided there is a quick resolution to the relocation of the archives.  But if I may ask, Admiral, do you have enough ships here to guard the delivery of the solbidyum?  Please excuse my ignorance, as I do not wish to question the High Command’s judgment; however I must look to the safety of my Nibarian people.  I would have thought you would need an armada of ships to protect the cargo.”
    “Senator,” the admiral chuckled, “I can assure you that we have all the security and protection we need to make the delivery to you securely here at Nibaria.  Right now our enemies aren’t expecting us to be able to deliver the solbidyum at all, which is one of the reasons we wish to do so – and as quickly and quietly as possible.”
    “Secrecy won’t be a problem on Nibaria, sir.  As you know, very few people from other Federation planets ever visit our surface, because our atmosphere is poisonous to humans.  Likewise, few of us ever venture to other worlds.  Although we have no problems breathing your air, things do not taste or smell right in your atmospheres, which is disturbing and uncomfortable to us; so we seldom venture beyond our own moon.  We have run tests on our citizens and have not found one person on our planet to be a member of the Brotherhood, probably because none of us have ever been in contact with anyone from that organization long enough to be recruited.  Our communications off world are generally restricted to commerce and trade, so the risk of information leaking out from Nibaria is negligible.”
    “That’s good to hear, Senator.  I was not aware that you had tested your people.  It’s interesting that none of your citizens were indoctrinated by the Brotherhood.  I wonder if that holds true of the other non-human worlds.  It would certainly make things simpler for the Federation if it were.”
    By now we had finished our meal and I noticed that Chanina was getting fidgety and perhaps a little bored.
    “Senator , would your daughter like to see the ship?” Kala asked, also having noticed Chanina’s restlessness.  “I think we can arrange a tour while we discuss some of the details related to the transfer of the solbidyum.”
    The senator looked at his daughter and she nodded her head with excitement.  Tonclin chuckled, which in his case was actually better described as a high-pitched screech. “I believe a tour of the ship would be the second