Solbidyum Wars 3: Pirates of Goo'waddle Canals by Dale Musser Read Free Book Online Page A

central avenue ahead of you.  It looks like it could be an attack.  Advise you take alternate route.”
    “Understood,” Marranalis answered.  “You know what to do!”  Then he said to us, “From here on, we will need to maintain radio silence until you are safely returned to the capital hangar and inside the ALI .” 
    I was beginning to regret my decision to go out for dinner.
    Our driver suddenly turned down a side street heading off at 90 degrees from our intended route.  We appeared to be heading around the outside of the capital complex.  We had driven nearly two thirds the way around, having passed many of the entrances into the complex and I was beginning to wonder just where we were headed, when our driver slowed down and turned into a narrow entrance that may have been used for service deliveries.  We entered the tunnel and drove along slowly.  Several small delivery vehicles appeared from time to time and occasionally a small ground transport like our own.  Eventually we turned into another tunnel and progressed until we came to a sentry post indicating we were entering the governing section of the capital complex.  A sentry came out of the guardhouse and approached our driver.
    “What business and authorization do you have to enter here?” the guard said, peering in the window at the driver.
    The driver didn’t say anything but simply handed over an ID badge with a clearance code on it.  The guard slid the ID into a slot on his vid pad and then stiffened and looked a bit frightened.  “Ah, yes, sir, you’re cleared to enter.  Please proceed and… uhh, have a good evening.” With that, he activated the gate and we drove into the secure area of the capital complex.
    “Keep your cloaks active until we reach the ALI ,” Marranalis directed.  “We should be safe here, but one never knows.”
    We drove another twenty minutes before we pulled over into a parking space near one of the internal tram stations.  When we got out, we had to continue holding hands and follow our driver into one of the tram cars.  Once inside, our driver inserted his identification card into a slot and punched some code into a keypad. 
    “This tram will head straight to the hangar without stopping,” he said.  The ride lasted another ten minutes, during which time we could feel the tram make several sharp turns and changes in elevation, as though it were going up and down in an elevator.  Eventually we stopped and the door opened to reveal that we were in the hangar area only a short distance from the ALI .
    Troopers stood around the ship at the ready and a challenge was called out: “Identify yourself and state your business!”
    To my side I heard Marranalis say, “It’s OK to drop your cloaks now.”
    As we did, the lead trooper challenging our arrival snapped to attention and saluted.  “Welcome back, sirs.  We have been expecting you.”
    We quickly boarded the ALI and, moments later, Marranalis had us in the air.  Once airborne, he activated the ship’s cloaking device and then began making contact with his surface units.  He turned the cockpit com on so we could hear the communication.
    “…moving down the central avenue when we were barricaded in by a number of very large vehicles.  We were ambushed by a small but well-armed force.  They opened fire on the escort transports, pinning them down.  Two large transport vehicles on each side of our transport opened panels on the sides of their vans and began to fire on our transport.  Fortunately, our armor plating was strong enough to prevent them from doing serious damage to it, and we were able to return fire with our side guns.  Federation Special Operations troopers were deployed throughout the area on standby and they quickly swept in with Lieutenant Commander Sokaia personally leading the intercept operation.
    “The fight lasted only a few minutes.  We’ve suffered only a few minor wounded.  No casualties.  The attackers didn’t