Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (212 page)

"So you see,"
Tab was explaining, " Fel was as much an inspiration to us as Mar
was. We've destroyed the fungoid on Kuhlicht and will destroy what
there is left of it here. It is defeated. We animal forms of
intelligence have triumphed over the plant form.

"These amazing
people, the Klaft scientists, have repeatedly risked their own
lives and their sanity to defeat the fungoid. They've been in the
power of the thing.

"Fel (For Kit
had never shed that disguise so the Klaft didn't know he was
anything but a Grandish. They agreed the stories of Klist Mar were
essentially true as stated. It was a small bit of a subterfuge that
Tab was an agent of the empire in disguise as a Grandish) has saved
their lives again, much as Mar did. It was Fel who thought of those
spores hidden on Givzoo's ship. He found part of them.

"Now we'll make
a new facility right here on Grandish to do further research into
controlling these types of lifeforms when they again appear as they
inevitably must. It'll be the first use of the facilities Fel has
proposed. Fel financed Givzoo and his crew since first we were here
in the name of all Grandish so the first project was a rousing
success. That's something noted by the emperor himself.

"The Zeenans,
who incidentally are VERY impressed with the quality of products
produced here, are building a ship to specifications for the group,
which will be called the Grandish Project, or Project Grandish. The
Zeenans were so impressed, as a matter of fact, that they're
contracting designs of parts to be used in their ships. Those parts
are to be produced here on Grandish.

"People of
Grandish, you are now partners with the Zeenans! Only the Mord, the
Freenz and the Zulians share such a lofty distinction!"

"Another thing
is the Feach have expressed a desire we allow them to send
researchers to aid in the Grandish Project!" Kit announced proudly.
"We're partners not only with the Zeenans, but with the Feach! AND
with the Parf!"

"All in all I'd
say it's a rather auspicious start," Looph continued. "I don't
think there is any other race – except the Zulians, of course – who
are partners in ventures with the Zeenans, the Feach, the Freenz
AND the Parf! There aren't that many races with all the various
necessary qualities in so many different areas.

"I have
designed many more items for the vacation worlds while waiting for
TR to come back to take me to EC with these magnificent blocks
given to me by the workers here at the plant. Though I enjoy this
place and love the people I AM an artist, thus I'm a slave to such
things as the texture of the light on EC. I have explained the
three differently colored suns to you. I wish you the fondest good
fortunes. Rest assured I will return here from time to time."

Tab and Kit
took Looph and the Klaft to Koosd that evening where they all
traded stories with the people at Veen's, then returned to the
plant the following morning. Kit informed them he had decided to go
into the mountains to work with the Klaft scientists for a year or
so. He told the people the same thing at the plant when they
returned there.

Tab took Looph
and was soon gone. The Klaft waited with Kit at the plant for
several more days until a message came from T6 that the research
center was ready, then they left, leaving Djin and the two
engineers in charge of the plant.

Givzoo and
Volich gave out various stories from time to time about the
research and about Jarj Fel's part in it. Nortich left Grandish to
teach at University after another halfyear, but there were several
Feach working by then at the facility. Givzoo and Volich decided
Grandish was a perfect place to raise a family – and did. Klaft and
Feach came regularly to the facility as did many other races.

It was nine
years later the work was completed there. The Grandish Project
moved to Hummolt to stop the mutation in the dingysmeller weed that
was threatening to devastate the agriculture of that world and to
destroy its economy. They then moved to more and more things, added
several ships and crews and became affiliated with Hospital and
University, though the funding was always from Grandish, which
prospered as had Feach and Zeena. The reputation of the Grandish
was as good as those races, too.

Kit returned
several times in the guise of Jarj Fel, called on the plant, stayed
a few days, then moved on. The last anyone ever heard of him he was
taking a special ship out to a world where a plague was killing off
the population. The stories of his heroism that came back to
Grandish were the motivating force behind the making of the statue
that Looph designed to stand beside that of Klist Mar at the number
one plant.

Tab/TR and
Kit/T6 meanwhile had any number of adventures together as well as
with Maita and crew, the first priority of which was constantly
rechecking for the regrowth of that fungoid, though that was done
in six years. There was no further trouble from it. The techniques
learned in working with it were to serve many hundreds of years
later to save many other cultures. There are almost no instances of
anything happening only once in the empire. That was, perhaps, true
in other galaxies in other times. It was, perhaps, that very same
research that saved many other cultures. Information that was
stored in Library, another of those worlds whose name denoted
exactly what they were, was never lost.

Who is to say
that Tab, TR, Kit, T6 and Maita weren't then the agents who saved
those cultures? Who is to say that Z, Thing and even Kurk, the
newest and most terrible in aspect of the emperor's crew, weren't
also there and active?

All we can say
is for all the rest of the recorded history of the galaxy it was
under the aegis of the Maitan Empire – and there was always an
Emperor Maita.

And the
Zulians, of course.

Mannerless
Clod Meeting

Tab and Kit stepped from the transmat onto the Terran, Z's,
terrace. They had kept it secret they had returned from their
little adventure while they spoke with Maita in the caves where
Maita and the other ships, TRD-60 and T6, stayed while on EC. Z was
sitting on a cozy comfortable chair by the waterfall reading an old
murder mystery from Earth taken not long after he was abducted from
that world more than three hundred years past. Tab could see the
title,
Florida Quartet
, and the line saying it was a CD Grimes
mystery.

Z was abducted
from a place called Sarasota, Florida.

The two robots
crept up carefully behind Z where they were about to scare a few
centimeters from his growth when there was a [ Whoop! ] from behind
them and the tentacles of the little Mentan, Thing, wrapped around
both of them.

That startled
Z, who dropped the book and turned over his glass of Nictian Blue
Wine. He sprung up to grab onto the robots in a bear hug.

There was a
coughing sound behind them so the two turned to be startled
themselves. If robots could be scared out of their growth, as the
old expression went, that would have done it!

The soft bell
tone that indicated Maita was about to speak sounded from the
speakers built into the place. Maita used them, Thing, who had no
direct speech, used them and TR and T6 used them.

TR and T6 had
their own "voices," but Thing had a tuning fork sound to indicate
it was speaking while Maita used the bell. This form wasn't
necessary anymore, but was habit of the past few hundred years so
it wouldn't likely change.

*As Z and Thing
are clods when it comes to manners, I will introduce you to Kurk,
our newest member of the crew. The one in the form of a Kheth is
Kit and the Swaz is Tab. The ships are here with me. TR, who you've
met, and T Six.*

The two robots
studied the strange "demon" from Tlorg openly, extending their arms
for the customary greeting contact. Thing moved onto Kit's
shoulder.

[ Kurk joined
us during the Tlorg thing. He's from another plane, but prefers it
here. ]

"I hear you
saved the universe while we were merely saving the empire," Kit
said with a grin.

[ OMniverse,
you twit! That's OMniverse! We don't have the time to fool around
with mere UNiverses! ]

Thing wrapped
its tentacles around Kit's head, blocking off the vision receptors,
one of its favorite tricks. The whole crew played tricks and jokes
on one another constantly, most of which were childish, but
fun.

"What was that
thing you were up against?" Z asked. "Maita said it was an
intelligent fungus, but you never know what the hell Maita's
talking about."

*What I'M
talking about?! YOU'RE the one who's famous for not making any
sense! Besides, it WAS an intelligent fungus! Ask Looph!*

"Is Looph still
here?" TR asked. "I brought her the blocks she wanted."

"She's the
Parf?" Kurk asked. "Yes. She's down by the ocean painting. She's a
fantastic talent. All of the Parf I've met are. She's told us all
about it so don't let these clowns draw you into anything.

"I would've
sorta liked to have seen and talked to an intelligent fungus,
myself."

"Take it from
me, you wouldn't!" Tab replied. "It was a very nasty customer."

[ That's one of
Z's idioms. We get in the habit of using them. Nobody quite knows
what they mean, but what the hell. ]

"I know," Kurk
said, grinning around the long sharp teeth. "I've had quite a bit
of experience with his misuse of several languages."

"So has TR!" T6
threw in. "You should've heard the mixture of French and Spanish we
were all subjected to on Grandish!"

"Don't you ever
stop with the insults?" Looph asked, coming from the path onto the
terrace. "Oh! Thank you, TR!"

A tug floater
came from the transmat with twenty variously colored blocks of
Grandishian glass.

*Looph
presented us with a set of originals, all signed, of the kinds of
things she's doing for the Grandish. We're getting to be major
collectors of fine art!*

"The emperor
should have the best collection in the empire," Looph chided. "Why
else bother being emperor?"

Tab, who was
looking at the blocks closely, suddenly let out an explosive little
noise and grabbed one.

"Huh! Great
exploding galaxies! That's a fungoid spore!" he cried.

[ Hah! Got you!
]

*Really, Tab.
You don't think we'd bring that stuff right here on Empire Center
without first checking it over, do you? You sterilized the whole
ship, didn't you, TR?*

"Er, that is, I
think I did," TR stammered. "Uh, it's just that, uh, maybe I forgot
– but only with the glass!"

"Oh, no!" Tab
cried. "You can't fake it with me you pile of reject diodes! You
overdid it!"

"I think the
whole bunch of you are lost somewhere between the planes!" Kurk
said. "It's the quality I find most endearing about you.

"Do you have
any more of that wine – or did you manage to spill all of it,
Z?"

They joked and
played on into the "night" (When the red sun was up). It was good
to be able to relax and to not worry about the end of the omniverse
or intelligent fungoids that wanted to rule this universe for
awhile.

They all knew
it wouldn't last.

C. D. Moulton’s
works are available on most major outlets as printed or e-books. CD
writes the CD Grimes, PI, mysteries, the Det. Lt. Nick Storie
mysteries, the Clint Faraday mysteries, the Flight of the Maita
science fiction series, books on orchid culture and many others of
many types. Mystery, adventure, intrigue, science fiction, humor,
fantasy, paranormal, mild erotica, and factual.