Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (183 page)

Yes, Kurk would
opt for the extended life with them. Thing could feel the
suitability of that for him. This would bring it to three organics
to balance the three machines in the immediate crew. It could be
argued that Tab and TR were separate beings and that T6 and Kit
were also individuals, but that didn't matter. This was a good
match to be added. It was a warmth that only an empath could ever
experience to be touching these two who were fated for sharing an
adventurous life. It was warmer yet for the fact Thing was included
in that warmth.

It was too bad
Ehrak hadn't worked out, but he would have been only a temporary
member as his ancestor, Tom, had been, leaving after a few years to
raise a family. He would be a loyal true friend always, but he
wouldn't ever be a part of the crew. He knew that and wanted it
that way. Thing knew that Ehrak had never intended to get as
involved as he had, but knew there were no regrets, either. There
had been something Ehrak needed to prove, had believed it could
never be proved, yet found the opportunity here to have that proof.
He would return to Zeena a more complete person and a hero in both
his own and others' eyes.

That was it. He
was very afraid, yet acted in spite of his fear. He knew he wasn't
lacking in natural courage and he lived up to his own standards. He
could feel he had as much worth as his famous ancestor and would
never again need to use Tom for a crutch. In short, he had often
doubted his own worth, but now had something that could never be
taken away: Self respect.

It was good to
not have self doubts. Thing had none. Kurk never had that problem.
He was a much simpler person in some ways, but was tremendously
complicated in others. He would never cease to be a fascinating
study – something Maita sensed from the first.

Z, on the other
tentacle, was more a medium-complex type of personality that was
familiar and warm. They shared a deep affection that was more than
either of them. Maita was part of that as was TR/Tab and T6/Kit and
as Kurk would soon be. Life was nice when it was warm from the
inside.

Thing was
exhausted from the mental strain it had labored under. It went to
sleep.

*

Kurk watched Z
and was amused. The Terran avoided touching, was a bit formal and
tried to keep a distance, but it wasn't his nature to be that
way.

They climbed
around, Z getting excited by certain plants and birds and soon got
to the point where it was natural for them to stand close together,
touching, as they examined a rare plant. Kurk could easily lift Z
to the lower limbs of the trees upon which the plants that were his
main interest grew.

They sat,
touching, to rest on a log. It was strange that this being acted in
such a manner. There was much to be learned about and from him.
They were becoming friends in spite of Z's reticence. Kurk could
only too well understand how a person would learn to mistrust
friendship. He had been betrayed by friends – or those he thought
were friends – more than a few times. It was one of the reasons he
so liked Tlorg. People here didn't betray friends.

That wasn't the
problem with Z, though. It was something else. Something it might
take years to learn.

Ehrak had very
quickly become a true friend, though that friendship wasn't of the
same kind as what was developing here. It was a real friendship,
but this was more ... bonding. That was the word. He was bonding
with Z, but would never do so with Ehrak. He had bonded quickly
with Thing, but the little guy was an empath so that was to be
expected. He felt protective of Thing from the very first.

Had he begun a
bonding process with Maita? Could there be a bonding with a person
one never saw? Could there be a bonding with a machine?

That TR ship
was fascinating and had certainly become a friend. Kurk felt right
at home among these.

Kurk knew at
that moment he was going to meet his Zulian and much more. He was
destined to travel among the stars with Emperor Maita and crew.
They somehow belonged together.

Were these
kinds of adventures commonplace to these people? Did they spend all
their time in these dangerous situations?

Well, no. They
had never faced extinction of the omniverse before, though they
admitted to having fought for an empire, worlds, individuals,
races, principles. They had faced no such dangers on their first
trip to Tlorg.

Kurk, whenever
he decided he knew a thing, became comfortable with that thing very
quickly. If it was bad he became resigned and determined to make as
good a thing as possible out of it. If, like this, it was good, he
rejoiced in it. He never tried to deny things as they were or as
they were to be. He knew at once these people would never simply
destroy this world in that other plane to guarantee safety here.
There was probably a lot he didn't understand about the decision,
but he knew it would be fruitless to push for it.

Somehow Z,
Thing and Maita had to all agree on everything they did or they
wouldn't do it. That was a feeling he got. Now he would also be
included in that process. That was also a feeling he got. That
could be worrisome because he didn't think like they did.

Of course, they
didn't always think alike, either. Kurk was sure no one understood
why Z wanted to stage that farce of the demon fights at the Jornian
ship, but the evidence was that Z could solve problems with such
strange methods so everyone agreed. It seemed to have worked pretty
well, note that the Prlnth were totally stymied here.

They were
having some leisure time now to study plants and explore caves.
Maybe was in a tree working on some complicated planal math because
of what was learned in that seemingly purposeless performance (He
still thought of Thing as Maybe, in most cases).

A floater came
to tell them the math was done and it was time to move so they
would head back to the clamshell, then to Teeme. That was so Maita
could be close. Maybe Kurk would now meet the emperor of the galaxy
face-to-face?

As they boarded
the floater Maita announced the Prlnth was gone from Tlorg and the
Jornian ship would soon also leave, whereupon Z got a very smug
look on his face. It would seem he was now fully exonerated for his
earlier actions.

Kurk was glad.
He felt a bit more confidence in the strange ways of these people
he had grown to like so much.

Thing wriggled
down between Kurk and Z in the floater and was soon fast asleep. Z
explained that Thing had been working mentally since three days
before when it climbed into the tree. Non-stop. It was mentally
exhausted. Ehrak was lost in his own thoughts, as Z soon became. So
did Kurk.

*

Z grinned his
relief as he got into the floater. He had been right!

He came to
another decision while climbing around out there, too: He was going
to see that Kurk was taken in as a member of the crew if only for
awhile, though he was sure the big demon would be around
permanently once he got in.

Thing was
exhausted. It curled between Z and Kurk and was almost immediately
asleep. Z explained how Thing worked out a problem, then they were
all silent for the rest of the trip. Z took Thing from the floater
without waking it and went inside the castle. Maita said they
should all rest so they would be fresh for what Z called the "bull
session" they would have in the morning. It was a few minutes
before midnight in Teeme. Z took Thing to Maita and into the
pilot's dome, put it in the chair while he used the showers, then
climbed into the chair to sleep with Thing on his lap. That chair
was the most comfortable place he'd ever found. The two often slept
there when they were on their adventures.

In the morning
he awakened Thing, who said it was reasonably well-rested, then
they went to the dining hall of the castle. Fale was there as were
the golems so everyone would have to stay in character. Maita
warned Thing to use its floater.

They ate a
substantial meal, visited for awhile, then Fale and the golems left
to finish the work with the courts. Thing got off of its floater to
sit astride Kurk's shoulder.

*It would seem
Z was successful in his plans to free the farmer's family. He also
learned a great deal about interplanal movements of that ship,
which led to a new look at some math, which may or may not lead to
a solution to this mess. Z can now explain what he wanted to do
with that farce we staged.*

"I wanted to
confuse the Prlnth," Z replied. "I decided we were going about it
in the wrong direction trying to understand the psychology of a
truly alien lifeform. Why not make IT try to understand US?

"You see, I
didn't need Thing's empathy to know the thing was afraid when we
drained that power sphere. We all heard that wail from the ship and
that was pure terror. We almost killed the thing with something it
couldn't begin to understand. Why not build on that fear?

"I went back
with the plan of doing a few small things to throw it off balance,
but found it had taken the farmer and his children as hostages and
that made my childish temper get the best of me. I determined that
once those people were safe I was going to make life so much hell
for that thing it would be forced to leave.

"When I cooled
down I saw the problem would still be there. All this time it kept
nagging at me that Thing and Maita were both amazed there was still
any omniverse to worry about. The Jornian ship had been transferred
from spot 'A' to spot 'B' through TTH nineteen. If that amount of N
mass had been carried into TTH nineteen a couple of very important
things would have happened. Either or: Either there would no longer
be any omniverse or Prlnth would have no use for the big portal.
They would already have one operational that was bigger than the
one they planned. It was obvious at that point there was a point
not yet plotted on our graph. The black holes, Earth, Tlorg, that
spot not far from here – and Prlnth had to have at least one other
point. The one that ship came through! It couldn't be in a complex
plane, either. I know power sphere construction and use. I studied
every facet of it. It uses TTH nine, which holds no matter as we
know it, only energy at various angles. The Prlnth had obviously
studied power spheres, had even built some under those mountains.
The ship, being matter, couldn't do much in TTH nine – BUT THE
POWER SPHERE THAT IS PART OF THAT SHIP COULD!

"All the Prlnth
did was to move the magnetic and gravitic fields already in TTH
nine to Tlorg. The ship came automatically with it. The ship had no
structural dimensions at the time. It was inside of the sphere
where the distortion fields protected it. The omniverse is a point
and the point is as much inside of the sphere as anywhere
else."

He picked up a
glass of wine.

"This glass is
inside of the omniverse. We know that from direct observation. We
know the omniverse is a point so there is no escaping the fact the
omniverse is inside of the glass at the same time."

[ That's old
theory, Z. It's true, but it doesn't have any practical applic....
Oh! Nrkll found a practical application! ]

*Thing, we do
it all the time. It's how we can cross the interstices to the plane
we want. We produce a small bit of the plane we want inside of the
moder and swing the ship around it. The ship goes inside of its own
moder. That’s why an out of phase moder is so devastating. That's
why no ship is ever heard from again if it dephases. Your ship
blends with the plane you're in. If it's not compatible ... that
was the worst weapon of the Pweetoos. The nova machine. Dephase
inside of a star's mass and throw the dimensionals around at
random. Nothing is left. That's what would happen to the entire
omniverse if that portal were ever opened and allowed to start
transferring energy from N space with several different stress
planal angles from that at its destination.*

[ I meant there
was no practical application before this time for the theory's use
in this plane. That ship never left N space! It was swung into a
point IN N SPACE, then that point itself was moved! ]

"Exactly. I
think maybe that's how the transmats work. Shall we not get bogged
down in theory now?"

*Just one
little thing, then you can finish. What would have happened to
anything between here and the point where that ship was grabbed
while it was being moved?*

[ It would have
its structural integrity collapsed by the unstressed....
Whuhhhhhhh! Whoa! ]

*If it had been
of any size, yes. Proceed, Z. That isn't how the transmats
work.*

"Damn it! Not
until you tell us what would've happened to anything in the
way!"

[ What happens
when structure is removed from an object and force remains? ]

"It would have
created a black hole? Here?" Ehrak said.

[ A black hole,
a small one, heading right for Tlorg! ]

"That would
have solved everybodys' problems in a picosecond!" Kurk agreed. "A
black hole here would have removed the chance of ANYONE ever
opening a portal. The angles would be wrong. There wouldn't BE a
Tlorg, either.

"See? I listen
to what you're saying!"

"Is that right,
Thing?" Z asked.

[ Essentially.
]

"We have to be
certain they never open another portal here no matter what size!" Z
declared. "Where was I?

"I wanted to
scare Nrkll and I did. I wanted to confuse it so much it would
decide not to try this again. I wanted it to think we had all this
power to play with it, but that we were insane. I wanted it to
think we were much too dangerous to it for it to come here. Ever. I
think we can probably do something to ensure that it doesn't come
back."

*The time
differential in TTH nineteen would mean it could wait a couple of
years there and we would all be dead and gone here. I doubt it'll
ever give up its plans for free energy.*