Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (145 page)

"There are
those delights one find in the person of a lovely, intelligent and,
er....

"There was a
storm. It was not very violent, but it was not a small thing,
either. It came late on the day before I sailed away from that
delightful place, leaving the air clean, but the sea filled with
the detritus of such squalls so familiar to sailors. The storm was
gone and all was right. The world was again a beautiful and
interesting place. The air was clean and the sun washed and
brightened a world renewed by the violence and majesty of nature.
These ocean storms are cleansing things.

"We sailed
close by an island which seemed at once familiar, but which was
also not like any place I had ever seen before. It was much like
the feeling one has when something is brought to the attention and
the feeling of 'I have been here before' is strong, yet you know at
the same time you have, in fact, never been in that place.

"The top of the
little island was covered by large sandstone boulders in a muddled
pile. They were of a dark rotted stone that somehow were greatly
misplaced in that clean new sea.

"Then it dawned
on me! This was the island of the beautiful castle!

"I noted our
captain and crew were staring at the island in awe so asked what
was happening to cause such a reaction. The captain explained there
had been a castle on that island but two days past when he sailed
in! It had seemed a truly magnificent structure and the entire
crew, being new to that particular route, had remarked on the
fineness of the construction and the rarity of the materials
used.

"We stopped at
the next inhabited island, a small place with few people.
Fishermen. Honest, hardworking people. People who live near the sea
and harvest the bounty tendered to those who respect nature and the
ways of it. The captain asked about the fine castle and the people
made a religious sign and spat in the direction of the place,
saying it was a witch castle on a witch island and that it wasn't
real – any of it.

"I thought of
the things I had examined on the place and of the flaws and
inconsistencies as the wise man of the village told the captain the
sea storm was caused by a sorcerer who hated the witch. She had
become weakened over the years and was not longer able to withstand
the demons in the storm. She had greatly raised the ire of the
elementals when she misused those things they offered. One must
always give to receive freely and the witch gave nothing and took
much.

"It is said in
those places that, though it be quite true the elementals are
exiled by the arts of the great magician of old, Felchthen, they
can be called forth by great evil. While I do not believe in
elementals, yet there was the evidence before me. If the castle was
gone the witch was dead. A boat would be sent to investigate and a
large celebration would be held to thank the gods of the sea for
finally cleansing the little island of such great evil if, indeed,
the castle was gone and the island was again restored to its
natural place in the greater scheme of things. The elemental would
be appeased and would return to its place in the stone.

"We sailed on
to Larport Station, but I have never been able to decide what
really happened there. It did and does remain a fantastic enigma.
Was there a witch and a sorcerer? Was it merely an illusion? Do
such things still exist in this age or was there a castle there
with a charming hostess who was washed away when the center of a
small but powerful sea storm hit the island? Was she but a slightly
eccentric and wealthy woman who was misunderstood by the local
ignorant people who cling to the old ways? Is that kind of thing
really in our dark past or does it continue into what we call the
light of our new day? Are we free of old ideas or will we always
have them hovering in the fringes of our beliefs and fears?

"Perhaps the
elementals, witches and sorcerers do exist and perhaps they do not.
All I can determine for certain is that the QUESTION still
exists!"

He told several
stories, thrown in seemingly at random. He timed them so the
maximum number of people heard at least one of the tales.

Thing suggested
he start these ideas so he was sure he knew what it planned at the
end of this. In all cases there must be the defeat of the evil one
and the exposing of all the wonderful things people thought they
saw as trickery.

He was able to
get a distance away from the city on occasion with Thing and the
pullcart for discussions. He also sometimes went to the palace
where he told stories to Hisla and Narum. They became friends of
sorts, though they were a little suspicious of this Larj who seemed
to be much too idealistic and too knowledgeable about far too many
things.

He did make
some suggestions as to how to help the people of the city, though.
He had visited many places and had seen many problems solved in
many ways. He offered a strange sort of hope things could be made
better.

The Jornians
were making good on the problem of the scabby rots – having no
recourse. They even used a device to make a hole in the rocks to
let a small clean stream come very close to the city's walls,
giving the people good water if nothing else. Z suggested to Narum
that a ditch in the center of the streets that was deeper at the
end outside of the city would take much of the filth away. Planks
could be laid across the ditch for people to cross and a lock could
be placed in the little stream. The water could be diverted at
night to wash the ditches clean. It would cause a buildup of trash
and filth on the lower end of the field, but it was at least then
out of the city.

It was a total
of twelve days later when Kemat and Lape came back into town
pulling a cartload of pink gold. They came first to Larj to see why
the streets were being dug up and to see if the scientists were
keeping their word. Little Zonn climbed all over them, then they
went on to the palace with the ore. They were met there by the
scientists and by Narum and Hisla, who were looking more hopeful
now.

The robots knew
everything about what had happened while they were gone, of course.
Maita had filled them in when they returned.

They left the
ore at the palace and said they had another full load on the boat.
Tab said they would go that afternoon to load it and would return
on the morrow with it. Larj and Zonn would go with them so they
could be told of all the things that happened while they were gone
and could give reports as to whether the scientists were keeping
their promises.

They unloaded
the large cart and headed out of town. Thing was acting smug so Z
knew whatever it had decided with Maita was the cause of this had
pretty well been proven. It was fairly obvious that a plan had been
reached and agreed upon.

Larj picked up
his own little cart and they set out a bit past midday along the
road to Dockside Station, Zonn riding Kemat's shoulder. When they
were a short distance from town Z said he felt another of the
devices of the scientist was close so they searched the carts
within sight of the city to find the little transmitter the robot's
sensors had located immediately. Z took a pole that was there for
the bean farmers' use and hung the little radio on it, then they
went on. Z couldn't wait until they were out of sight of the city
to hear what the robots found on their little excursion. He was
anxious to know what this was really about!

The
Mission of Kit and Tab

Tab and Kit
went to their individual ships and soon were above atmosphere. The
instructions from Maita told them to head for two widely separated
worlds – worlds that weren't on regular shipping schedules among
the traders. That was the point.

In any large
society – and a galaxywide empire is indeed a large society – there
are things which operate on the fringes or just beyond the fringes
of the general law. In the Maitan Empire there were independent
traders along with those of the trader's guild. This group served
an important function in its own way. It kept many beings who were
operating in a manner that would be frowned upon (at the least) by
the guilds, but which placed those beings into a situation under
which the empire could keep tabs on them. They were forced to stay
within certain bounds by the fact that to go beyond those bounds
could well result in the fleet coming in to clean the area up.

A subculture
had evolved in that group. It was a violent and hard life, but
that, too, was a need of some people. What Maita and Thing had
worked out was the most likely way the Jornians had ended up on
Savaraj. It intimately involved this subculture, which could well
be the place where such people would be found. It was the most
likely place where an escape pod could have originated its flight
that wouldn't ever be reported. It was the place where members of
the culture would possibly NOT want to be found and rescued for any
number of reasons.

There was one
way to find out and perhaps it would also show why all this had
happened. Maita was sure Savaraj was NOT the only place involved
and that there was a very dangerous scheme behind it.

The best place
to look for the reasoning behind a group who were deliberately
hiding and who were going to such extremes to make themselves
invisible to others in other places could well be in a place where
such a psychology was the norm. There was the distinct possibility
those involved were trying to escape both normal society and this
one. There was the possibility neither group would accept whatever
they were doing.

*

Tab headed for
the world Garnod. TR changed him into a Jornian simply because that
may well be the best way to find out about Jornians in this
situation. He landed at the rough field after TR put on one of its
own disguises and checked into the field headquarters where he paid
the fee that would guarantee the ship was watched and would still
be there when he returned. TR could take care of itself, but it was
far better the people here didn't know that. It was definitely the
kind of place where ships would be in danger of being hijacked.
That was the point in coming here. That was the kind of people and
the kind of outlaw lifestyle they were seeking. It was the
strongest likelihood to be where their target group came into this
equation.

There were
several places where he may be able to find what he wanted to know,
but he went to another type of place first. A good detective tries
not to be obvious. He checked into a hotel that was much used by
Jornians. It was run by a Bentan who kept all records personally.
Most businesses in that place were run in such a manner. The places
would hardly use empire machines.

After checking
over the room he went to a nearby restaurant, then to a gambling
house that also dealt in drugs of various types and alcohol. He
ordered grain alcohol and citric acid with a fructose sweetener and
sat watching a game of Upshot. Z liked the game and had taught it
to him, calling it stud poker, which was a game played with cards
much in the way this was played. It was easy to see how the
cheating was being done and the game was for low stakes.

There was a
Stars and Comets board so he sat at it and waited for an opening.
This was a standard challenge. He hadn't punched odds on the
computer so it would be assumed he wanted living competition.
Fortunes were won and lost on the game so anyone with a good
"stash" who thought he was smart could take the challenge.

The game would,
as Z said, make chess a child's game. Tab was a robot with a
built-in advantage no one knew anything about.

Finally, a
Jornian woman sat and smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow and asked
what stakes she liked. She shrugged so he said ten credits a point.
That shook her a bit. Most people would at least play one
low-stakes game to see what they were up against. There were twenty
thousand points per game so one credit per point was high
stakes.

Tab played just
well enough to stay a few points ahead of her. She was soon working
very hard on strategy, but was still losing.

She said her
name was Ilah and he said his name was Ford. The better players
could make their moves and talk at the same time so Tab kept a
light conversation going about any number of little things. He
slowly increased the pressure on her until her concentration was
more absorbed by the game than by what she was saying. He got his
questions in at various times during the four hours of the
game.

There were
people drifting in and out all the time, but no one was winning or
losing enough to hold attention for long. When the game was over
Ilah owed Ford one thousand thirty five credits. She elected to pay
only part of it in cash and to pay the rest by sleeping with him.
That was another of the ways business was done in the area Tab – or
rather Maita – chose to try to find the facts about Savaraj and why
there were Jornians on that restricted world. The actual goal
wouldn't be forgotten for a single instant.

Tab and Kit are
very well-made machines. They can perform, and perform
exceptionally well, in any area of social interaction. During the
night he found the rest of what he wanted to know. Ilah wasn't
aware she told Ford anything at all. She was only aware that he was
a great diversion and she was exhausted and satisfied in the
morning. She felt, all things considered, she had come out far
ahead in that deal!

In the morning
Tab left for Grlaq.

**

Kit followed
the same basic pattern except that he got into the Upshot game and
played all night and into the following day, feeding alcohol and
two mild drugs to the others. He consumed quantities of both things
but wasn't affected, of course, being a robot, but Maita or the
ships had built in a resistance to those things in Z because he
often helped with the detective work and this was a common ploy by
either side.