Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (175 page)

How confusing,
but Thing knew Kurk had a true affection for it and for Ehrak along
with a respect and liking for Z and Maita. He had some real
fondness for TR.

There must be
some misreading of Kurk. All of this seemed to be
contradictory.

Thing moved
close to Ehrak, noticing the great fear was much lessened now.
Ehrak took these things as personal dangers and threats – anything
that threatened the Zeenans in any way was a personal threat to
him. He was fighting his growing fondness for Kurk on one level
while encouraging it on another. He deeply admired, was almost in
awe of Z. He was fiercely loyal to Maita and Z and even to Thing
itself, was fondest of Thing, confusing that fondness for
respect.

It was good in
Thing's estimation that it was so radically different from these
peoples. They were all aware of its mental abilities, but somehow
that didn't really register on their consciousness. All these large
beings seemed to feel protective of it. That wasn't so bad!

It was really
sad that even after three hundred years Z couldn't truly allow
himself to become emotionally involved with anyone – though he
sometimes did anyhow. The love he shared with Thing and Maita was
always strong. He couldn't really accept the fact that those he had
loved in the past all died of old age while he chose to live on.
Thing had learned early that life was choices. It was often
"either-or" and could seldom be both.

Z had slowly
become more able to share love with those who wouldn't give up the
right to die to be with him. He had first learned that he could
love another being from another race with the Zeenan girl, Etel.
They had grown away from one another, but that wasn't a painful
thing. The Maitan girl who bore his son (Which he knew nothing
about) was a bit more painful, but that was because of the obvious
fact the races were, sociologically, vastly different ones, though
the Terrans were of Maitan stock (How else could they have
interbred?). Z didn't know the students Hofulnike and Karltomater
Helniften studying xenobiological science right there on EC were
his own grandson and granddaughter.

The trouble
with all this was in these three hundred plus years there was no
true constant among the various peoples Thing used its talents in
studying.

No objections
from here! That was what made life interesting!

Z and even
Maita seemed to think people had basic ways of reacting to
situations and that those "rules" fit any race anywhere, but they
were very wrong! Perhaps these otherplanal beings would point out
to them how wrong they could be. Thing had spent the time in the
presence of those two indistinct, spiky, nul-colored beings using
its basic talents. It admitted it had been inaccurate to suggest
they were evil. They simply didn't recognize those not from their
plane as having any importance whatever. That was certainly
understandable. They "looked" out from their semi-stasis chamber to
see what must look like printed comic page characters moving
around, like two dimensional characters look to us. It wasn't easy
to take them seriously.

There was
Loosta below. The team would stop to tell King Dihn the problem was
under control, but not by any criterium finished. Not yet.

Later they
headed on toward Teeme where the golems and the four Fromes met
them upon landing at the castle with hundreds of questions. Maita
had used the demons to good advantage while the crew was busy on
the dark continent. There were now records of exactly where all the
sorcerers and sorceresses were and what they were doing. There were
quite a few who had been recruited to work on power generation.

Well, it would
be nice to be able to relax for a few days, to enjoy Tlorg as a
vacation.

*

Maita carefully
checked through its records, communicated with the main machines
running the empire, crossreferenced everything, checked the sensors
left on the dark continent and did a few thousand other operations
while welcoming the crew back. This was far from over. The others
didn't realize this must be stopped for all time right now. If
there was even the least small possibility these people could do
this again they would eventually do so. The differences in the math
on that plane would never let them see what could happen. If there
was only some way to move something, somewhere – but what? And
where?

There was no
way to move Tlorg.

There was no
way to move either black hole.

There was no
way to move the world in TTH19, though it would be possible to
annihilate life on that planet, but even to save the omniverse
Maita could be no part of such a monstrous plan even though those
people planned fully to do that to this planet right here.

Z or Thing
might have some ideas. Thing's logic and Z's lack of that process
often made rather short work of what first seemed insoluble
predicaments to Maita. Sometimes they didn't.

Well, there was
still time. They had a whole twenty eight to thirty days for them
to save the omniverse! That should be time enough to relax and
enjoy a little vacation!

One thing was
certain. It was a damned good thing a machine couldn't panic!

Unreal Realities

*I don't think
you understand the seriousness of this situation, Z.*

Z was lazing
around the pilot's seat in Maita's control dome with Thing curled
in his lap. Kurk and Ehrak were off exploring the mountains, the
golems were down in Teeme helping with the courts, the Fromes were
dispersed back to their normal places and all seemed well with the
world.

"I tend to
agree with Kurk in one important way," Z responded. "If it happens
we won't know a thing about it. I certainly don't WANT it to
happen! I'll do all I can to prevent it. I do agree with Ehrak that
it would be an unbelievable waste."

[ I would be
saddened by it if I were to somehow escape the overall fate of the
omniverse. This CAN'T all be for nothing even though we are all
perfectly well aware it IS. The universe, as well as the omniverse,
is a great uncaring thing. Philosophers are so very wrong to look
for deep meanings because none of it HAS any meaning, deep or
otherwise. ]

*On the largest
perspective that may be quite true. That's something that's
entirely relative. It has meaning locally in that we can affect
this one galaxy in such a profound way. Perhaps it's simply a
personal thing, but I want someone to look back a few millennia
after I'm gone, after we're all gone and remember the history of
the Maitan Empire. I want it known for the time that remains in
this plane that what we accomplished was good. We've accomplished
so much! We've freed peoples of an entire galaxy, on thousands of
worlds, to know one another without fear or suspicion! THAT is
worthwhile regardless of the overall picture!*

"I don't regret a minute of it, Maita," Z agreed. "It DID
happen. That can never be taken away. Remember the Ithians
(
Settling
In
)? The
people on Kroon who said that there may or may not be gods, but
should they exist they're irrelevant?

"Maybe there
are gods – and maybe the Ithians were wrong. Maybe they're relevant
– in that they'll remember after all of this is gone. Maybe that's
a god's function."

[ That would be
to speculate that gods are outside of the omniverse. We would be
too small to notice in this one little galaxy. ]

"Not
necessarily," Z argued. "Maybe the gods aren't outside of the
omniverse at all. Maybe they're between universes, between the
planes."

*Between
planes? Where the transmats work? On the interface? Interesting
theory. Stupid, but interesting.*

Z grinned. Such
rough statements were actually affectionate in their strange
relationship.

"Why stupid?" Z
asked. "Solely because you have no imagination doesn't mean
anything depending on it's stupid."

[ Sheesh! This
whole conversation is stupid. If the omniverse is gone the
interfaces are gone. Who cares about supposed gods? We'd all like
to be remembered, but a little bit of math will show the attempt to
shunt power will be made again among the billions of galaxies. The
conditions simply couldn't exist only in this one. It doesn't make
any difference at all which one does it, it'll be done. ]

*When you
consider there's only this single point in this galaxy where this
is at all possible – all other angles from the black holes are in
unusable places – this galaxy has one chance in sixty billion
stars. If we consider that alone there should be one point in each
galaxy on average. That’s seventy four billion plus chances for it
to happen. This galaxy is maybe twelve billion plus some years old.
Assuming it will happen once in twelve billion years among all of
that means we have almost twelve billion years to go, which is
enough.*

"Except the
odds aren't all that well spaced," Z pointed out. "It could be
fifty billion years or it could be tomorrow."

[ You're
overlooking something else. Consider that the point in TTH nineteen
must be occupied. If the same stats hold true in TTH nineteen that
hold here that means one world in thirty two point seven three nine
five one so we have only three percent possibility or two point two
chances in twelve billion years. They must also have a race on the
planet at this point who can open a portal to show them the way.
Remember – the two points must be at rest relative to one another
because of the drift factor. They have to have a second point to
grab a large power source or they’ll have to find one already on
the point that corresponds to Tlorg. The chance of finding a race
capable of opening such a complicated portal is diminishingly
small. Earth never had the ability to go beyond Hades and Targ. It
never reached Frome. I doubt there's another race in this galaxy
who could open that portal. It's at the limit of this race's
abilities. I would tend to believe there would be only one chance
in ... mmmmmmmm, say seven hundred nine trillion, four hundred
forty three billion, eight oh four million, two hundred ninety six
thousand, eight hundred one and two third years, give or take a
couple of days. The omniverse can't sustain that long. It'll become
unstable due to dimensional compression physics in about two
hundred thirty billion years. That would be long enough to be
remembered, eh, Maita? ]

*Well, I'd
hoped for more, but you take what you get. You're sure of the
math?*

[ Certainly!
]

"Now I'm really
scared!"

[ NOW..?! Why?!
I'd think you'd be relieved that it can be effectively stopped
here! ]

"BECAUSE if we
can stop this the danger is as much as gone forever! Don't you see?
I always thought that if it can happen here it can happen a hundred
million other places so we're only buying a little time. We've
saved worlds and even the galaxy, in a way – from slavery or worse.
Those were things that could be stopped, that would crop up again
now and then, but that we could do something about. I was going on
the theory this was some inevitable thing so I could be flippant
and could agree with Kurk's viewpoint. Now it comes down to the
simple fact that we're successful here or the omniverse dies. It's
up to us alone. It won't ever happen if it doesn't happen here.
That, as the popular hippie expression was when I was kidnapped
from Earth, is HEAVY!"

*It's a
responsibility we could well do without, but then most of them are.
I have no fear we can't stop this one thing this one time, but we
have to find a way to remove the danger entirely. That means we
mustn't act prematurely or all could be lost. We also can't hope to
depend on convincing the otherplaners it's so dangerous because
they'll try to find a way around the objections. The math in that
plane CANNOT show them the danger! Someone WILL try again. We have
to do something at this point or we have to find a way to move a
black hole. I don't have to tell you what the odds of that amount
to, do I?*

[ Give me a
minute and I'll figure them. ]

"Did it ever
occur to your amazing brilliance that numbers that have to be
written as high exponentials have no meaning to most minds?" Z
asked.

[ It's
basically for my own amusement. Maybe one chance in forty two
sextillion times ten to the twenty thousandth power, plus or minus
four thousand. ]

*That has no
meaning to me, even. We need new ideas and we need them quickly.
The power charge and storage will help for a time, then the damage
Ehrak and Kurk did to the facilities will give some more time, but
we can't depend on buying a few days here and there forever. Time
will run out that way. I don't want to damage this planet, we can't
move a black hole, we can't move anything in TTH nineteen so all we
can do is blast Earth to vapors so the angle will change from that
end!*

[ Sheeesh! That
would be disastrous to Mars so we can't do that, either. ]

*We do need
ideas, guys. We'll go back to meet with Nrkll and Krll. Maybe
something in their end of it will work.*

Z was deep in
thought, then stood, stretched, put Thing on his shoulder and
announced, "I may have the faintest glimmer of an idea!"

Relaxing Captivity

Z came in alone
in the clamshell to land at his now familiar spot near the Jornian
ship. Thing, Ehrak and Kurk were still at the castle for the time,
though all of them had objected to Z's going alone to the ship.

Maita would
monitor the whole thing so could move right in should help be
needed. If anything went wrong inside of the Jornian ship it would
be for him to find the way to signal for help. If it was truly
critical all stops were out and he would signal with the call built
into his skull and activated by his tongue against two teeth in a
special pattern.