Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (181 page)

They went to
the clamshell floater where the Tlorgians were herded aboard.

Bet could hold
it in no more. "Oh, Kurk! I said over and over that you'd come to
get us out! I knew it! Didn't I say so? Didn't I?"

"We knew Boss
would never allow us to be harmed," the father agreed. "You had
great faith in your friend and he has done as you said. You
children have been very brave. I'm proud to be your father!"

"There's still
great danger," Z cautioned. "Fale, please take the chariot with
these people to their home, then return here with it when they are
safe. We will come to visit as soon as we have taken care of the
otherworlders and their demon.

"Chariot!
Please take direction from Fale, this Frome. It is a true friend!
This I request as a friend.

"The chariot
will go where you say, Fale. It has been before to the farm of
these people so simply ask it to take you there, then ask it to
return here when they are safe. It will do as you ask.

"Come, Kurk. We
have much work to do. Good fortunes!"

The clamshell
closed as soon as Fale said, "Djariod! Dake uz do zhe home of zhese
fine beebles, bleeze!"

Z went back
into the ship after a conference with Kurk and back to his room.
Kurk said he wanted to have a little fun in the stasis room because
the people in there wouldn't know he'd been away. Z checked the
things in his room, then went out again after closing the door.
There would be no record on this ship saying either that door or
the one to the farmers' quarters was ever opened. He then went up
to the pilot's room where he attached the recorder from the floater
Maita had waiting there to the main computers. As soon as it was
finished he went quickly down to the stasis chamber room, stood in
the doorway watching for a few seconds, then went in to say, "Thank
you, my friends!"

He then turned
to the stasis chamber where Nrkll was clearly agitated, glanced
over the Jornians and said, "I hope you have enjoyed the little
show. My friends can be rather entertaining, can't they?"

*

Kurk entered
the ramp port with Thing and the golems, went through the process
as planned, moved close to the door to wait for Ehrak's big
entrance and slipped quietly out when everyone was paying attention
only to the fighting demons. He met Z and the hostages in the hall,
went with them to the chariot, saw they were safely away, then
returned to the stasis room. Attention was about to be allowed to
be lost in part at the time Z might be detected in the workings of
the ship.

Oh, well! Kurk
made a flying tackle of Ehrak from his position beside the door.
The two went down in a heap, the wand flying across the floor.
Thing swooped down to grab it up and to make gleeful statements
about having the real power all in its own tentacles. Kurk and
Ehrak made a good tumbling show, rolling around and overturning the
furniture. They drew it out until Z came to the door to announce it
had all been a show, then lay in a heap on the floor, laughing like
fools. This had been the most fun yet. Ehrak was a greatly skilled
hand-to-hand combatant so they had an expert match. Ehrak's skill
balanced well the superior physical strength of Kurk. They both
enjoyed the bout.

The farmer and
his family were safe and that was the first priority after the
safety of Maita's crew. Kurk knew he would have lost control if
anything happened to those people, but what was this silliness
about? They weren't any closer to solving the main problem than
they were before so far as he could see. The same danger was there.
The Prlnth was still the same threat it had been – but Maita seemed
to think they could solve this one short of destroying Prlnth
itself.

Kurk couldn't
see it. There wasn't any other reasonable way. There was no way to
move a black hole. There was no way to move Tlorg and there was no
way to move Terra. The only other option was to move Prlnth, which
was even farther fetched (Was there any such term?) than moving
planetary masses or more in N space! Why not get the whole mess
over with and be done with it? What would Z hope to accomplish by
giving some silly speech to that Prlnth? The answer wasn't a thing
that was going to change.

It suddenly
made sense, so Kurk went to stand close to the golem which placed
them where they could avoid being heard by any of those who were
listening to the argument.

"Maita?"

*Yes?*

"You can't send
a large planet splitter through the portal because the placing of
that much of the energy of our type into that plane would do
exactly what we're trying to prevent, right?"

*Yes, but that
isn't the only reason we won't do it. We wouldn't do it if we could
short of that being the only possible way we could see to save
Tlorg. I could possibly do that in that extreme circumstance. Thing
might be persuaded it was a necessary thing. Its logic would be its
salvation, but we could never let Z know we had done it.*

"Just because
that's the way he is?"

*Just because
that's the way Z is.*

*

Maita was happy
with the way it turned out. It also learned a great deal about the
various beings they were dealing with. The Frome was almost back to
the ship in the floater. It was a bit more simple than the Pluton,
but was a good kind of friend to have. Loyal and trustworthy. Z was
right about these people. If anything survived this thing Tlorg
would be invited into the empire first order of business.

There was one
more minor detail to be handled. What had they actually
accomplished? Z wanted the records of the ship read. It was done,
but it could have been done in a much simpler way. All of this was
fun in its own way, but there had to be more than that. As much as
they enjoyed these silly things there had to be a very important
purpose to it even with the Terran. Z was now arguing with the
Prlnth about what was done and what was planned.

The dramatics
were unnecessary. The rescue of the family was the only thing that
was important. There was that, but it was also a thing that could
have been done without all the extreme theatrics.

The group was
at the rendezvous point. Maybe Z would explain what it was all
about now.

*

Z came
from his clamshell floater with the others. It had been crowded,
but the closeness was nice.

"Let's hope we
found what I think we did!" he said. "I guess you're wondering what
this was done for. Let me explain.

"We've been
wondering from the first time we came here about the way the
otherplaner might think. We would want to base our actions toward
the otherworlders and the Prlnth on some kind of logic that could
make it reveal its weaknesses. We didn't have a basis on which to
even begin. All we knew was that it has no tiny compunction against
destroying Tlorg. There was simply no way we could determine what
would or wouldn't work in this case ... so! I decided to confront
Nrkll. I wanted to see how it would react to direct argument.

"You know what
happened when I arrived. The Prlnth took as hostages those who I
had shown any caring for. It also took the sorceress, Zaft, to show
it had no fear of magic.

"I had to do
several things after getting my temper under control. I got the
idea to demonstrate that my magic is much more powerful than the
science of this otherplaner, but to make any real inroads into this
I had to learn several things. To learn those things meant we would
have to do something to give me some understanding of this being. I
had an idea that would tell me most of what I must know while also
turning this being's own methods against it. Why should WE have to
go so far toward understanding IT? Wouldn't we accomplish as much
or more by shaking its confidence in its knowledge? It was
downright arrogant when it talked with us! Nrkll had as much as
bragged it had us figured to the last degree. It said that because
of my reputation I would suffer anything to save those it had taken
as hostages. In shorter words it could manipulate me at will.

"Our little
show did everything it was designed to do. Nrkll is totally
confused as to what we are and to how we'll react, we've stopped
its ability to open that portal cold for quite a while now and it's
at last convinced it can't compete with my magic. It hasn't any
vague idea of how I could possibly get out of that room myself,
much less how I got the others out – and I never set off any of its
alarms. It again worries about our ability to remove its
energy.

"I now
understand a great deal about how it thinks. It's truly alien. It
has, or it had, total contempt for us and for everything on this
plane. We were considered less than they because we have different
dimensional angles. We were even less because we allow emotions to
control our actions. We were less because we would allow the Prlnth
to destroy this world.

"Fale, Kurk, I
wish to thank you for your help in this. It's something I couldn't
have done alone. Your courage and caring mean more than you could
ever guess to me.

"Maybe, Extrx,
I never doubted for one moment I could depend on you. We have a
strong basis for mutual trust built over time.

"Golems, you
played your parts to perfection. To you also I offer thanks.

"I think Fale
and Kurk should know the heat or cold we use on the golems doesn't
actually harm them in any way. The golems are made to show people
things, to teach lessons in a comical way. I find that comedy is
usually remembered much more clearly than a serious lecture.

"Now I must be
alone to meditate, to explore what must yet be done. Thank you, my
friends. I love each of you dearly."

And that is one of the hardest things to learn to say I
have ever found
Z finished in his mind.

Z climbed into
the clamshell floater. Maita would take the golems back to Teeme
where it could complete the corrections of the court system. Fale
would go back with the golems to Teeme.

When Z was
alone in the floater he spoke to Maita.

"What did you
learn from reading the ship's sensor records?"

*I don't really
know what you're looking for, Z.*

"Well, it's
possible I don't understand everything about the planal distortion
bit. I don't. I admit it.

"Is it true you
wondered how that ship was brought through TTH nineteen? Didn't you
figure such a movement of mass could have caused the very thing
we're trying to prevent and wouldn't this have all been
nonexistence since the first attempt?"

*Not
definitely, but it was a strong possibility. Oh!* There was a
pause. *I see. The external sensors on the Jornian ship recorded a
hell of a lot usually not even checked by computers unless an
alarm's sounded. The ship was transferred through TTH nine.*

"And that
means?

"I'm guessing
and admit it, but it seems to me this is as important as anything
we've learned to this point. It's our answer, isn't it?"

*It could be
part of it. What do you propose?*

"I think Thing
is the only one here who can say for sure, right?"

*Probably. I'll
discuss it with Thing right away. It's a possible way out of an
impossible situation. What do you propose?*

"I don't know.
It does seem we have to study every chance we get, which means we
need more time, which means we have to keep the Prnlth off balance,
which means we have to teach it fear. I think we've done some of
that!"

*We've done
some of that!*

*

Thing rose on
its floater to a position in the branches of a thick tree, then
climbed onto the spreading limbs. It would have preferred to climb
on Ehrak, Z or Kurk, but when Maita sent an urgent message for it
to find an isolated spot where it could do some intense thinking
and calculating it moved to the nearest comfortable spot.

So Z had a
purpose for all of this playacting they had done on that ship. He
had found something. Something vital.

The floater was
hovering close enough the empathic silent communication could be
used. Thing found a comfortable position in a crotch, settled and
began the communication.

[ I'm ready,
Maita. What do we have? ]

*Z found some
things that seem important to me, but you can handle the abstract
math that I can't. Not so quickly. This is what we know to this
point. The ship was transferred through TTH nine, not TT....*

[ Nine?! You're
sure? ]

*Very.
Positive. Z used the diversion you were causing in the stasis room
to attach a lead to the ship's external recorder computation
sections. The ship was transferred through TTH nine. It was never
in TTH nineteen.*

[ I've
repeatedly tried to determine why we still exist if that much mass
had been placed in TTH nineteen. None of the math would quite work.
Go on. ]

*Z thinks you
can work out a way to use the information. He has an idea that
isn't formed very well, but he's sure there's something there.*

[ Z studied the power storage spheres intimately
(Flight of the
Maita
) when
we first met. The spheres shunt energy through TTH nine. Mass
doesn't exist in that plane, either, but the ship passed through
that plane. It IS mass. I know what his suspicion is, I think. Let
me work on the math. It's complicated. It's as complicated as
anything I've ever come across. It'll take some time, Maita. Z has
given us that with the playacting and the magic and the rest of it.
Let's hope I can work this out relatively quickly. I know what I'm
looking for. Here's as good a place as any. ]

*I'll keep
watch over you. I'll tell Z what's happening. Z will tell the
others what's going on. They can spend a little of their time
exploring this place. Z can look for orchids, Ehrak likes
spelunking – remember how Tom liked the caves here – and Kurk will
enjoy accompanying either of them. Would you be more comfortable in
the ocean?*