Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (129 page)

*Because she
has spy sensors at Lee's and not at the others so she'll know the
ship wasn't Lee's. It also gives her something extra to worry
about. If there's something going on with the food supply and Lee
seems to have managed a deal with a food grower? Where does that
leave her? How can she ever regain control of things if her
installations are destroyed AND the food supply's out of her
hands?*

[ Neat! Exactly
what an Immin would do. Join with someone, get the upper hand, then
get rid of the one who helped her. Right the hell straight down the
damned line Immin! ]

"Good job,
Maita! 'll make a sneaky snake out of you yet!"

*I'm trying to
get Lee to use her computer, too. I've tapped into all of them. I
want her to get suspicious of Gar. You two get ready to lead those
natives away from the compounds. Fast! It's getting late and will
soon be night. I'm afraid we have to abandon the idea of making
them think they did this because it's going to happen too fast, I
think. Gar thinks she's been directly attacked so she'll damned
well retaliate – with a direct attack. I want these people safe
when that happens! Ideas! I want a way to get those natives to
safety and I want it now!*

[ After dark I
can use a laser on the rear of one compound and Z can take another.
We can use a separate floater to disable the alarms and can lead
the natives out and to the mountains where you can protect them
with floaters. You can give them floater protection all the way. If
we can get them inside of caves or a solid safe place we can
protect every one of them. ]

"Right! You
take Lee and I'll take Gar. That's the first attack, but there
won't be any fighting before morning. The missing slaves'll be one
more indication that they're at each other's throats. The
installations, the psiltripium, the food supply and now the slaves!
I'll go after Gae and you go after Sic after we finish with this
here. We have to be fast and accurate and we have to finish it in
very short time or there may be trouble.

"Maita, check
through the computer records of all of them. If they have some
plague or hidden nuclears planted around we have to know about it
and we have to protect this world.

"Let's get this
show on the road! Positions, everyone! Lights! Cameras! Action!

"Be careful,
little guy."

[ I will. You
too, Z. ]

They loaded the
floaters with what they would need and waited, then set out soon
after complete darkness. The two small moons gave very little
light, but the special floaters had excellent night vision screens.
Z went through the trees among the upper branches where there would
be no effective alarm sensors. He stopped behind the blank compound
wall, a smooth plastic structure more than five meters in height,
after moving around it as far as he dared to see where guards and
entrances were located. The secondary floaters moved silently to
make a bridge for the alarm beams and to locate a place on the wall
where there were no internal sensors, then he used a pencil laser
to cut a hole large enough for the natives to move through. He had
the language crystal inserted in his earlobe socket when he slipped
silently into the compound. The place was sealed from outside and
there were no guards inside. He very carefully awakened some of the
beings and explained he was there to free them. He spoke their
language flawlessly. It took convincing, but he got some to believe
him, then they helped to get the others out. It took more than
twice as long as he planned, but they were able to move silently
away. They were starting to go into the forest when Z stopped and
looked back at the hole in the wall. He thought about it for a few
seconds, grinned, and went back to replace the section melted out.
He used the floater to recast around the spot and finish it to look
like the wall hadn't been disturbed in any way, then returned to
the people near the mountains. He found the caves Maita had located
earlier with floaters and got the people inside, then saw Thing
coming in the distance, leading its troops. When everyone was
safely inside they went where Maita had defense floaters deployed
in case the Immins came looking for their slaves. There was no way
any Immin or sensor device could approach that area without being
detected in plenty of time for defense.

"I had a little
trouble convincing them to come. I guess to them I look too much
like their tormentors. You had to come farther so I guess it wasn't
so hard?"

[ I was so
different they were ready to believe me. I had an idea that took a
few minutes though. I put the plug back in the wall and sealed it
in to look like the compound wall had never been breached. I
figured a little mystery wouldn't hurt anything. They'll have to
wonder how the natives got out through a solid wall! ]

"Great minds
think alike! I did the same thing. I'm going after Gae's slaves.
I'll be on a different place altogether from Sic's so don't get in
any trouble. We have this at a point where we can slag those ships
and all the Immins around them so DON'T take chances!"

[ I'll be very
careful, Z. You do the same. ]

They separated,
Thing to the mainland and east while Z went to the shoreline and
west. They were a little more than five hundred kilometers apart.
Dawn was breaking when Z returned to Maita. Thing was asleep in the
pilot's chair so Z picked it up and slid in under it. One eye came
through the tentacles to look at him and he felt a warm glow, then
slept until nearly noon.

Maita said not
much was happening except everyone was breaking out their weapons.
It looked like a purely defensive posture for all of them.

*There are a
lot of nasty messages flying back and forth. The natives are
staying in the caves for now. The Immins are accusing and
threatening one another. I'll send floaters to start a – oooh
nooo!*

[ What's the
matter?! Maita! Send to me! I didn't like the sound of that AT ALL!
]

*I'll put it on
the speakers. It's my fault! Holy novas! You'd think I would know
by now! I don't ever learn any more than those Immins do! I should
have left defined orders! Great skidding asteroids!*

"...in ships on
planet DS three oh four one C! This is the Guild Trader ship
'Iconoclast' in orbit!

"I repeat!
Immin ships on planet DS three oh four one C! Reply
immediately!"

[ Great gulping
black holes, Maita! They'll be shot down! They don't guess at the
strength of these Immins here! ]

"Who are you
two all of a sudden? Batman and Robin? Maita, they know to shield,
surely!"

*They were told
not to make contact, damnit! Oh hell! This is impossible!*

The speakers
came on again.

"Immin ships on
planet DS three oh four one C! This is Guild Trader ship
'Iconoclast' in orbit! Your attack on an unarmed vessel spells your
doom! Your use of nuclear devices makes you outlaw in the entire
galaxy! There is a fleet of sixty trader ships coming here. You
will be offered one – and only one – chance to surrender
unconditionally and that chance is now. We have contacted Empire
Center. The fleet is en route.

"Surrender now,
outlaws, or we will gleefully turn you to vapor! Reply now Immins!
This is your last chance! This is your only chance! You have
exactly thirty seconds!"

*They've
contacted the empire and the traders guild. That's true, but they
weren't supposed to...*

Another voice
came on the speakers.

"This is the
Zeenan, Captain Zorz, aboard the Guild Trader 'Iconoclast' in
orbit, Immins. No one need tell you what Zeenans think of Immins.
Our captain is from the world, Newlitch, which you very nearly
poisoned free of intelligence. There are also four ships deployed
around the planet with Acnian captains. You will need no
introduction to the Acnians, either! We are under empire orders to
locate you, but not to contact you. I tell you this because Captain
Harp has become suddenly ill and has taken to sick bay, leaving me
in charge. It seems his door locks jammed and he can't get out of
there to rescind my orders. Zeena is not a member of the empire and
does not bow to their decrees except as we wish. I now choose to
ignore that decree not to contact or to act against you.

"We have
scanned and see you have native population among you. You will
release them at once. Should it eventuate that you have harmed
those people in any way you are beyond hope. I say that as a
Zeenan. You know what a Zeenan's word means.

"Surrender now!
If you attack us we will retaliate finally and totally! THAT, too,
is the word of a Zeenan!"

[ Maita! Call
that ship and tell them to back off! This can't happen! It must not
be allowed! ]

"Hell, no!" Z
yelled. "Let me talk to Zorz!"

*I have them on
a secure beam. You can say what you wish, but I'll give empire
orders if I must. Thing is right.*

"So is Zorz!
Zeena isn't a member!" Z said. "Zorz? This is the Terran, Z. I'm
here with the emperor and Thing. We found this nest and have
removed the natives from the compounds during the night. Just be
damned sure you only slag what's inside of those colonies! Don't
damage anything outside of the compounds."

[ Zorz! This is
Thing! Withdraw! They'll use nuclears here! Withdraw! ]

*This is Maita,
Zorz. I will agree I can't make decrees to the Zeenans, but please
consider what Thing stated. It's of gravest concern to me and I'm
sure that Z didn't stop to think of the nuclear problems.*

"I didn't,
Zorz!" Z agreed. "Be careful!"

"Emperor?" Zorz
asked. "I know you have never made any decrees aimed at Zeena, but
I will defy you. I won't do anything to cause them to use nuclears,
but I will never allow any of those ships to lift, either!"

"Zorz!" Z
called. "How good are your shields? Can you shield fusion?"

"Easily," Zorz
replied. "What do you suggest?"

[ Yes! Provoke
them! Make them fire their missiles at you in space where you can
explode them harmlessly. ]

"Our
instruments tell us there are two on the way!" Zorz said.

"Get them as
far from atmosphere as you can," Z instructed. "I doubt they have
very many of them."

*Each ship has
four. All the rest were on the psiltripium world.*

[ You have six
to go. ]

"Both of those
were from the colony on the western point of the continent," Zorz
said. "I take it they have no more?"

*Right.*

"Fine!" Zorz
said.

[ What's going
on? ]

*Zorz!
Wait!*

"There is no
more colony on the western point of the continent as of this
moment!" Zorz replied. "I wish to say the new focused neutron beam
macro-miner operates somewhat better than projected, vaporizing
EVERYTHING for a depth of one quarter kilometer when finely
focused."

[ How will you
control it for mining? It will vaporize your ore. That is far too
much energy for a localized point of contact to survive. ]

"At a time like
this you talk about MINING!?" Z yelled. "You’re out of your
ever-lovin' MINDS!"

*They expand
the focus and it only penetrates a few feet at a time. I would
think perhaps they could rheostat the power input to where you can
control the vapor point quite finely, burning away much of what
isn't wanted and leaving your ore. Maybe it could even purify
it.*

"Are you all
crazy?!" Z cried.

Zorz laughed
and said, "Well, we have to pass the time some way while we try to
bait them into firing at us. We can change power input and output
and focus. It's Zeenan. It's the finest available anywhere.

"We're getting
lock-ons from two ships, both on a large island near the equator
and perhaps two thirds of the way going from east to west off the
continent where the others are located."

[ That's where
we are. Close. Be sure you tight-focus properly. It's sorta
important to us. The natives are perhaps a kilometer past us to the
west. I will order a Zeenan in the name of the empire to NOT
endanger those people. ]

"Fair enough!
Shield energy weapons if we get all of either place's missiles!"
Zorz replied. "Comp says two from one and one from the other. I'll
get the one that shot both as soon as we lead their bombs away.

"My mate's
tail! What was that?!"

*Cobalt
wrapped. Planet cracker. Are you damaged?*

"No. Not
seriously. Going in after that ... cute! Clever!" Zorz said. "They
tried to sucker us. When we approached they fired the other one
from the second base. We'll shield better this time!"

They waited
until Maita made a grunting sound.

*I should have
pulled that floater back farther! That beam is something else!*

"Emperor, the
other base now has a large shield around it," Zorz reported. "What
do you suggest?"

*What kind of
shield?*

"Basic energy
reflector, I'd say," Zorz replied. "Very reflective."

*That, if
it's.... I see. Okay. We don't need to worry about the nuclears if
I do this right. I can use the floater, get below that canopy ...
like ... that! Now I find the antenn.... I can't control the
floater in there! Damn!*

[ What were you
planning? ]

*Grounding the
antennae to the ships with the tug floater.*

"What'll that
do?" Z asked.

"It'll charge
the metal of the ship with energy. Ionizational input energy," Zorz
answered. "I see. Ionize all the oxygen into ozone."

[ And all
flammables ignite! The air will burn out fast and they have to drop
the shield! ]

*But they can't
drop the shield. The short circuit will freeze the circuit. It'll
burn out, but after a certain time. It's an energy shield. Those
ozone fires can't get rid of their heat. It'll be trapped inside
the shield.*

"You have the
views of the ship before the shield?" Z asked.