Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (179 page)

"Zhat iss
drue," Fale replied. "I will dry do zday oud of zhigd of zhe
ozzerworlderz. Zhu can dell me whad do do. I will do anyding for
Boss. I zee whad he iss doing. Iss gread fun!"

"It's also
deadly serious, Fale," Ehrak warned. "Boss would allow them to kill
him to help those people in there. Don't forget that. Boss always
faces danger with humor.

"Maybe, we know
you're closest to Boss so you be the leader in this. Just tell us
what to do and we'll do it."

[ I'm going to
continue Boss's act. He's playing the 'who cares?' game like he's
amused at the schemes of the Prlnth so we'll confuse them even
more. All of you know how the wizards used to challenge one another
so what we'll do is act like I'm trying to get Boss's power for
myself. The Prlnth will expect us to come to rescue Boss so it'll
get more and more confused as we go along. We must do things it
can't understand. ]

"Maybe I can
come in with the same scheme," Ehrak suggested. "I have some ideas
of my own about how to do some of this. If they think they can play
you against me and both of us against Boss we'll have a lot of
options open they never even took the time to consider!"

"Zhes!" Fale
cried. "Maybe will have zhe golems and Kurk wid id! I can be wid
Extrx! Zhat will make id look like a war!"

"A war among
sorcerers and demons!" Kurk said. "I can feel I'm being left out
somehow so I can make any deal I want! Better! I can still be
totally loyal to Boss! We can stage some real battles among
ourselves!

"There has to
be some way for Boss to know what's going on so he'll know how to
react."

–
Hey,
Dungbreath! You forget we're here? You think maybe we can't
communicate with Boss?–

[ I'm sure you
can once we're inside of the ship, but you don't fool me! You're
limited to getting information FROM Boss while separated, but you
can't get it back TO Boss! ]

+Now, Maybe.I'm
sure No wasn't attempting to deceive anyone. This is too serious
for that.

+We can
communicate with Boss, but we must wait because the demon is
watching him. When the time is right we will tell him what he must
know.+

That was good!
Thing knew Maita had found a way to activate one or more of the spy
floaters hidden inside the Jornian ship so Z would be able to
coordinate his own actions with theirs.

[ Fale, please
go as quickly as you can to survey the mine sites. We'll wait here
for your return. ]

The others
explained where Fale was to look, it took off and Thing explained
to Kurk that there was a spy device inside the ship Maita could use
to communicate with Z when he wasn't being watched.

[ I hope Maita
can give me some kind of sign if Z needs a distraction. We can
cause one for him. This floater I'm on can fire some very
interesting weapons, but we'll have to refrain from hurting the
Prlnth or each other. ]

"I'll come in
at a sign from Maita that Z is ready for me," Ehrak said. "I can be
outside where a floater can come to me. I'll have a portable shield
in place. The floater can protect you so we can produce some
special effects that will REALLY be SPECIAL!

"Maita, can you
make something spectacular and send it over on a floater?
Fast?"

*Yes! Very
fast! I know the perfect thing. A magician should have a magic
wand. I can design it so it will self-destruct if taken apart.
There are radioactives being mined at the third mine so maybe you
can stop that project, Ehrak. You'll have some time while Thing's
setting up all of this at the ship. Crude methods will suffice
well. As a matter of fact, the cruder the better.*

"Right! I'll
get that started right now!" Ehrak agreed. "Some form of primitive
explosive?"

*At the
surface. They can't detect better once we've caved the whole thing
in. Fale will see that no one is in the mine, I think. They're
limited to using servos mostly so we don't care about that.*

Ehrak melted
into the forest, reminding Thing of Tom. Many years ago Tom was
able to seem to disappear right in front of one's eyes in these
settings.

Fale soon
returned to say only golems were at the mines so the group went
toward the ship. Fale would go around to await Extrx on the far
side of the encampment while the others would go right on in. It
was getting interesting.

*

Ehrak was
feeling deep exhilaration now. He almost instinctively moved in a
new manner, thought in a new manner and acted in a new manner.

Thing,
therefore Maita, had not said one thing against his taking a strong
role in this and it WAS a good idea to magnify any confusion. Thing
said Fale would be waiting at the far side of the ship for him. He
was to get rid of that radium/uranium mine on his own. He was given
responsibility and was now accepted as a part of this group. It was
a good feeling!

He moved very
rapidly and silently through the forest, came out above the mine,
watched for a few long minutes, then went close. The guard machines
were being handled by Maita's floaters so he could go in among the
mining machines. There was some trmpthm on the floater – enough for
this – and a number of old-fashioned nitrate explosives were there
in case they were needed. The trmpthm would do the job while the
nitrates would leave evidence it was locals who had done the
damage. Good.

Ehrak waited
until an ore carrier came out, dumped its load into the hopper and
started back inside. He put the trmpthm and a detonator on the cart
with a set pulse timer, waited until the cart disappeared inside,
then placed the nitrates in what seemed to be the best places. He
lit the fuse on the nitrates then headed at a steady trot for the
ship. He had gone about a half kilometer when the charges went off
almost together. The ground jumped under his feet, but he never
broke stride. He was soon at the agreed spot where he saw Fale in a
tree. He waved a signal to the Frome, then sat to catch his breath
and to take stock of the area. whisper from midair and above told
him Maita had secreted a floater in the tree. He found it and
whispered that he was ready.

*The wand is on
its way. Maybe five or six minutes. Thing and Kurk are making a
good impression, I guess you could say. The golems are driving the
Jornians crazy while the Prlnth is becoming more and more confused.
The wand is various colored lasers as well as some gases and a
projectile weapon. There are several small buttons on the base. You
can figure them out pretty well, I think.*

"I'll try,"
Ehrak answered. "My problem will be to explain where I got the wand
to Fale."

*Call Fale
down. I'll handle it! You can put the wand on the limb above you
where it can't be seen from beneath.*

Ehrak signaled
for Fale to come as soon as the wand arrived and he had it placed
on the limb. He said they must be ready for a sign from Boss as to
when to cause their diversion. While he was talking Z's voice came
seemingly from nowhere.

"Fale, Extrx,
my dear friends! I thank you for your concerns for me and for these
innocent people here. I am using a farseeing spell now that is
somewhat hard to control from inside of this ship so I will only
say I am aware of what you and the others plan. The golems keep me
very well informed.

"If you will
look carefully above your heads along the low branch there you will
find a wand. Extrx, you will please use that wand because you have
been trained by me to do so. You know its power. Be most careful
with it. I think you will recognize it.

"I must go.
This is a difficult spell from in here. We will speak directly
soon, my friends."

"I know this
wand!" Ehrak said, lifting it down from where he had concealed it.
"It's Boss's own! He made it! It holds more power than you can
imagine! Now all we have to do is wait for the signal."

"Zhes, my
friend," Fale replied. "I am glad iss do zhu do use zhe wand. Iss
doo much power for me! Boss musd drusd zhu compledely do give zhu
zuch power."

"Boss knows I
would gladly die for him," Ehrak said. "We've been together for a
long time and we've done a lot together over the years. This is far
more serious than even I know, I think. This wand isn't a thing
Boss would let out of his own hands, as a general rule – even to me
or to Maybe, who has the real brains in our group. Even Boss always
says Maybe's smarter than all of us added together!"

Z's voice came
from the air again, "My dear friends, I think perhaps Maybe and
Kurk could use a distraction or two right now. Try to time it so I
have at least a quarter hour to do what I must do. I plan to get
the people out of here and to safety, then I will join you. The
major problem here is not so immediate, but I wish that no one be
harmed. Please be most careful.

"Extrx, use
only the sensational and dramatic powers of the wand. Maybe has a
wand of its own and will do the same. Kurk will do what he can and
the golems will add to the confusion greatly.

"Thank you, my
friends. This is important to me."

"Zhes, Boss!"
Fale cried. "We will do anyzhing zhu zay! Zhu be careful, doo!"

"I assure you,
my friend, I will!" the voice replied.

"Come on!"
Ehrak said. "Let's get this play on the stage!"

*

Kurk followed
close behind Maybe while the golems followed above. This all seemed
a bit silly, but it was also going to be fun – if no one got hurt.
The object to confuse the Prlnth couldn't fail with this and Z
would have time to act if they started fighting among themselves to
distract the Jornians. It would have to seem random, but they would
also have to select their targets with care. If they could knock
out all communications from the spaceship he ... no, that wouldn't
mean anything. The Jornians had already taken care of that.

Kurk didn't
doubt for a minute the Jornians were there under force. Lahst told
Z her lifemate would be killed if she didn't cooperate and Z was
expected to do as he was told because the Prlnth was threatening to
harm the farmers so it was within the pattern of things. Maita had
the ability to simply open the big portal, send through truly
massive energy beam weapons and eliminate the problem for all time.
There was a direct threat to everyone everywhere, not only to this
one planet. Kurk simply didn't understand why Maita would pause,
much less refuse to handle the problem in the most direct and
effective way.

The Prlnth
planned beforehand to kill everyone on Tlorg. They didn't deserve
consideration. They made the choice of how the rules were so there
shouldn't be any hesitation in following those rules THEY made
against THEM! The argument that Maita's group would then be no
better than the Prlnth was both superficial and silly. The Prlnth
had already made the rules. There could be no reasonable objection
if anyone else followed those rules. It was a way Kurk's own race
had solved a huge trade problem among the different nations on
Hades a few years ago where one nation could send products to
another while placing silly restrictions and taxes against the very
nation they traded with. The law was passed in his own nation under
which the nation who had closed markets to his was allowed to make
all the rules of trade between the two nations – only both sides
were to play with the same set. If there was a tax on imported
products into Krollehr the exact same tax rate would be applied to
products FROM Krollehr, effectively destroying Krollehr's markets
with almost every nation where such unfair trade practices were
imposed. In very short order trade opened up. Everyone profited in
one way or another.

This was no
different: Allow Prlnth to make the rules. If the rule was that
Prlnth could destroy a population on Tlorg Tlorg or its
representatives could destroy the population on Prlnth. Show over.
Maybe was supposed to be the most logical one as well as the
smartest, but it couldn't see that simple point. Why?

Perhaps it was
Kurk who was missing the point, but there was no logic in the
argument. If there was no other point in the omniverse where the
same thing could happen it would certainly be smartest and safest –
and easiest – to solve the problem quickly and permanently. That
was logic.

Kurk saw Maybe
signal time for everyone to get into character. Maita would have
reported to Thing's floater that Extrx and Fale were now
approaching the far side of the ship. A few minutes ago Kurk felt
the temblor from the explosives that closed down the radioactives
mine.

Kurk felt deep
affection for the strange brave little being. There was no doubt
whatever they were all in mortal danger here. It was a personal
danger, but Thing hadn't paused the smallest part of a second when
it learned its friend was in trouble. Perhaps Kurk didn't
understand the reasons for certain of the strange actions going on
around him, but he DID understand loyalty and love. He understood
courage. There was no shortage of any of that among these people.
It even extended to the Frome and to himself. The proof of his
logic process about that was that he responded in kind to them. He
hadn't hesitated to put his own life on the list in support of Z or
to put his complete trust in Thing.

The Jornian
ship was ahead just past that line of thick shrubbery. Thing had
them wait with a signal until it received the report from Maita
that Extrx and Fale were in position and Z knew what was about to
happen. Kurk went carefully to the edge of the shrubbery where he
could see the ship through the leaves. There were two Jornians
watching the clamshell floater from the entrance ramp of their
ship, but no one else was about that he could see. The Jornians
seemed a bit nervous, watching in all directions outside while
keeping a very close eye on the entrance to the ship – as though
they expected someone to come from behind them. It would seem Z had
made them extremely cautious.