Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (156 page)

"I guess we
don't know how. We get excited when they inspect us so completely
and that's when the women get excited – when they return the
inspections – but we don't touch and rub all over each other
constantly like they do so they don't react to that sort of
contact. Sexually."

"They probably
react to pheromones," Z suggested. "From the way those two fool
women are acting it's a good thing they don't know how to create
the right smell! It might be a lot more than they can handle!"

Kilk laughed
and they went into the cave to discuss the other projects. Z was
having some trouble controlling his urge to tell Kilk just what he
thought of anyone who would even consider using the Shar for
food.

Well, he could
understand that. They were considered to be wild animals, but the
fact the Jornians would try to seduce them, then talk about using
them for food was disgusting to him. Z had never cared much for the
idea of bestiality – well, not in the constricted meaning of the
word. Not when it was sexual acts with a dumb animal. He had truly
loved Etel, a woman of a different race than the Terrans. She was
his intellectual equal if not his better and that made a hell of a
lot of difference to him.

Now, Tab would
be the type to let the women be successful in their seduction
attempts. Would that cause a stir or what?!

In one way Z
was greatly relieved now. There had been no deliberate damage to
the Shar. They wouldn't be harmed by any of this unless there was a
biological agent that escaped Maita's research, which was highly
unlikely. Maita's researches were thorough to an unbelievable
degree. The fact the disruptors weren't ready for use was another
very important plus, too. Maita could come in and move the Jornians
out without much danger to the Shar. There would have to be a
lesson in this for anyone else who thought they'd try any such
scheme, though. Z didn't envy Maita's having to decide how to work
this one. There were certainly problems enough, from a lot of
directions.

Captive!

[ Maita, do you
have any idea at all what the guys are doing out there? ]

Maita had
finished the empire business and had pretty well exchanged all the
new information with Searcher it had collected since the last time
it conversed with the research ship four years past. It was now in
the trench about two kilometers from the fumarole mining dome.
Thing came aboard with several strange new lifeforms it wanted to
transplant to EC.

[ I can put
these by the fumaroles west of Sunset Island. Any news? ]

*The floaters
show Z has already landed with TR in the encampment. He was seen
with one of the Jornians several times inspecting various
facilities. Tab and Kit are in the stream nearby and come out to
meet with some of the Jornians from time to time. They seem to be
friendly. There are no slaves here and the Jornians aren't doing
anything to harm the natives in any way. If I didn't know better
I'd think that those Jornian women are seeking sexual relations
with our robot friends. They seem a bit too anxious to join in
certain of the identification rituals of the Shar.*

[ DO you know
better? I simply can't picture Tab turning down any opportunities
along those lines! ]

*That's the
main reason I feel I'm misreading the situation. He IS turning them
down. They're feeling all over him and Kit and the attentions are
returned, but there isn't any sexual.... I don't know.*

[ I wish I
could communicate with ... Maita! I can go into the stream and
directly communicate with them through their internal circuits!
]

*You'd be
detected coming up that stream if you left it and the water's too
strong for you to get up the falls, I'm afraid. They can handle it.
I'm sure the Jornians haven't done anything here except to take the
dangerous chance of bringing contamination. My tests haven't found
anything. Things don't add up too well at this point. If the
original plan was dominance of the Shar for labor or anything
something's happened to change the plan. I hope Tab and Kit or Z
can find what's really going on. I could go in and clean this mess
up, but I wonder if that would result in ME doing the damage to the
Shar the Jornians are NOT doing.*

[ No doubt
we'll be called fast if there's any emergency. It's just that I'm
nosy and like to know what's going on. I wouldn't put it past Tab
and Kit to be trying to bait us about the sex situation because
they know we're watching with the floaters. I refuse to worry
unless we get an emergency call of some sort. ]

*Me, too. All
we can do is wait.*

*

"It's totally
impractical, Kilk!" Z snapped sharply. "Why do you think we could
even handle an empire of our own? All you have to do is research
Library to see what we're doing can't work! You can't hold power
with military threat! It never lasts!"

"The Krofpth
did exactly that!" Kilk snapped back. "For more than three hundred
years!"

"A little
empire of less than five hundred worlds and they'd already lost
control before they had the sense to see they were spelling their
own doom!" Z shot back. "I've studied it and can't see any way it
will work. The Maitan Empire is already too big and is already run
on lines that preclude our ever making this kind of thing work. The
only way we could do this is to have the people behind us and they
certainly don't have any reason to want to be rid of what they have
now. The reason I dropped out of this before was because I saw how
screwed up it was getting. Now I'm against it because of what it
could do to the Jornian race. No one's going to join with us so
long as we want all the power. There's no purpose in it so long as
we DO demand all the power. It'll have to fail and that isn't
anything I want dumped on my progeny!"

"We're talking
about six to eight hundred years from now," Kilk replied. "That's
plenty of time for them to work out the details. So long as we have
the inner drive we can't be defeated! Time is on our side!"

"Uh-huh. Like
it was for the Immins?" Z asked sarcastically. "I assume you've
studied that much, at least? You are aware what chance you're
taking for the whole race? You are aware we could end up
quarantined to Jorn? You know we could be declared outlaw as a
race?"

"Grot, what are
you trying to do?" Kilk asked. "Sabotage the whole thing? What
chance does our race have of being anything more than just another
little bit of galactic dirt except for this? I feel we're destined
to lead, not to only be another race among the thousands who're
used by this emperor!"

"Tell that to
Zeena or Feach or New Zule or any of dozens of other races who're
far above being what you'd have us become!" Z cried. "You don't
even know what race the emperor is! I think that's to keep others
from attacking them. People like you are and like I once was. It's
been said by all who know the emperor that he hates the job, but no
one can deny he's found the right way to do it. Let the machines
handle the details. If we start this military thing again
Jornians'll be classed with Immins and Pweetoos. Don't you see that
the empire can call out the Acnians and Feach and the traders will
follow if asked? Do you seriously think we can hope to fight an
entire galaxy? Have you even considered that no one's ever going to
accept us as something that is, as you said, 'destined to
rule?'

"It doesn't
make any damned sense! Look at you! Look at what you've already
done to this world in the name of hiding from the emperor! What
right do we have to destroy this race before they ever get
started?"

"Wait a damned
minute!" Kilk shouted. "We've been more than careful not to do one
thing to hurt them! We haven't done one single solitary thing to
hurt the natives! They even SLEEP with us, for the cosmos'
sake!"

"Yeah?!" Z
shouted back. "You told me you tried to make slaves of them –
beasts of burden – and failed! Then you talked about using them for
cattle! Breeding them for slaughter! Just who in hell do you think
you're fooling with that 'we aren't hurting them' crap?! There are
hundreds – thousands – of worlds we could use where we wouldn't
hurt anyone! You tell ME what part of your mind you've had removed
that will allow you to overlook little things like the destruction
of a race that you also say you like!

"I came here
thinking this would be a possible thing. I came here thinking I
could be part of it and, just maybe, we'd grow up enough in six
hundred years to be deserving of rule, but you talk of using people
for food! I can say flatly that I've reconsidered my position. I
can't believe anyone could be so callous!"

"They aren't
people!" Kilk shouted in return. "They're simple dumb animals! I
like milkbeasts, too, but I also like steak!"

"Milkbeasts
aren't going to evolve intelligence and you know it!" Z snapped
back. "This isn't even in the same general area of discussion."

"You'd turn
your back on your own race?" Kilk snarled hotly. "You'd sit back
and let your own race become another used puppet of the Maitan
Empire? And you have the gall to accuse ME? Just who the hells do
you think YOU are?!"

"The only
puppets in the Maitan Empire choose that role," Z argued. "Any race
with the drive to become something DOES become something! I've been
traveling for fifteen years. I've been all over the empire. Where
the hell have you been? Here?"

"The Maitan
Empire let's any race advance to the point where it's most useful
to THEM!" Kilk argued. "Zeena makes the ships and stuff, Feach
gives them medical crap, Ternz makes moders, Chee-il has gincha.
It's all for whatever is good for the empire, not what's good for
Zeena or Feach or Ternz!"

"So you prefer
to have Jorn known for NOT producing anything worthwhile?" Z asked.
"I see you left out New Zule – the most respected of all of us.
They do produce the best electronic and monopolar equipment there
is, though. What about Parf? Just how is art so important to the
empire? No matter where you go if you're a Parf you have automatic
deep and honest respect.

"Have you ever
seen a Parf? They're about the weirdest looking things imaginable,
next to the Zulians. Have you ever even SEEN a Zulian? They look
like tube worms with tentacles, yet every race that comes in
contact with them loves them! I've met more than one of them! I
know! I've met a Parf and I've met Feach and Zeenans. I've met
Acnians!

"You want a
crazy feeling? Look into those compound eyes, knowing the thing
there can hypnotize you with a glance!

"They run the
fleet – but only because the emperor asked them to. They're known
and respected more because they're the first to offer aid to any
race anywhere who needs it. THEY control the military strength in
the empire, but they're not going to sink to the level of the
Immins! Why do YOU want to be thought of in the same thought as
Immins?

"I didn't feel
this way at all until I came here."

Kilk turned and
stamped angrily out of the room, slamming the door behind himself.
Z heard the bar drop and knew he was trapped by his anger. He'd
gone too far.

Well, he let
his temper get the best of him again! He never learned! He had no
way to call TR or the robots or Maita or anyone so he could hope
Kilk wouldn't decide to get rid of him inside the caves. If he were
taken outside one of the floaters would be watching and he could
signal for help.

It would be
most interesting if Kilk tried to board TR. Maybe that would be the
thing that would rescue him. TR would think nothing of putting Kilk
on the probe and that would be that!

He checked over
the room, which was hewn out of the rock of the cavern wall. It was
toward the back of the cavern so had a whole mountain between him
and freedom. He wasn't going to get out of there easily.

There was
electricity for the lights and there were sockets to plug into. The
wires were inside steel conduit. There was an intercom unit, but he
certainly wouldn't be able to call anyone.

Damn! There had
to be some way to get out or to get a message out!

He went around
this tiny room he'd been assigned. There was a mattress and springs
on six short wooden legs. There was a lamp on a small wooden table
and the main fixture in the ceiling. There was a rug of sorts.
There was the intercom. There was a ventilator – he could get a
hand in there, but not much else. There was a chair with cast iron
legs and back and a padded seat. The table was put together with
long woodscrews.

That would do.
He took the cord from the lamp and cut it close to the lamp base,
then used his pocketknife to work one of the screws from the table.
Maita would have floaters monitoring for this sort of thing. He
just hoped the Jornians didn't do wide range monitoring
themselves.

Wrap one side
of the lamp cord around the woodscrew for a few turns and the other
side around the leg of the chair. Plug in the cord and throw a
spark across the wire ends.

Dit! Another,
Dit!

It would work –
if he had time.

*

Kit separated
from Tab and moved far up the stream, checking to see if there were
more installations of any type, but found nothing. There was a mine
not far from the creek that was using a cave in the rear of the
mountain for a refinery.

Well, maybe he
would be accepted here as he had been back at the encampment. There
was only one way to find out!

He climbed the
bank to lay for awhile in the sun. He knew he'd been seen. Some of
the people there – there were six he could see – waved at him.
There seemed to be only males, but the information pod about the
Jornians said the females didn't do physical labor to a great
extent. That was common among mammalian societies.