Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (23 page)

I drank a
little more wine and laid under the cloth cover to "sleep" the
night away. I kept all the passive sensors fully on, of course, and
kept the sensor rhythms going to simulate dreams and sleep
movements.

During the
night several servos came close to scan me and to check everything.
One removed everything from the basket, checked and recorded
everything about it, and replaced it exactly as only a machine
could do. It made a cursory examination of the basket itself, but
the floater was concealed in the base pad, which was filled with
solid light wood (To the sensors), as were most such baskets that
were to be carried in boats so they would float if dumped into the
water for any reason.

There was a
scroll in the basket that informed the head of any village I was
working for the Jurtkep Island tribe and was to be afforded the
courtesies afforded to any diplomat anywhere, or the warriors would
come and teach them manners.

It stated it
diplomatically, but made it plain my route was known and that
should I be late in my scheduled return there would be dire
consequences, as a fully armed and very large war party would come
to find why I was delayed. The scroll was in the common trade
language of the island people (TR learned it with floaters to
various places) that was basically picture depictions along with
some signs used universally on Killit. Even if the brain didn't
know the trade language it couldn't miss the meaning of that
scroll. I wouldn't be bothered here if it was avoidable. Attention
was the very last thing that brain wanted or could afford.

In the morning
I prepared a breakfast of a piece of fruit from the boat, fried two
of the lizard eggs on a flat piece of bronze, and ate some nuts,
also from the boat. I carefully cleaned the area and stowed my
belongings on the boat, then checked around the little beach before
going among the rocks to look around. I went into a small cave for
a ways and found a small vein of gold (Natural) which I dug into,
keeping the precious metal that came out.

I then went to
the boat to put the gold into the basket and took out the map to
carefully draw where I found it.

I replaced the
map and went back to explore the little cave further, then went out
to climb a short way up the side of the volcano to an obvious
pegmatite clay pit. I found a couple of poor quality opals there
(Natural. The brain obviously explored all of this area, and knew
where such things were) and one good one. I went back to the boat
to mark the lode on my map, then climbed the other side of the
cavern entrance for a distance, finding nothing but a strange
orchid-like plant whose seed had blown in on the wind from one of
the older islands. I considered, then took the plant. There was a
better than even chance this mountain would be blasted apart
anyway, the plant had come as seed so there were more, and Z
collected these kinds of plants and would appreciate me bringing
him one. TR could hold it in stasis until we were back on EC, so I
recorded every small detail of the area where I found it.

Strange. It was
an organic thought pattern that I would be in a position where my
own destruction was always moments away and where the entire
civilization on this world was at peril and possibly societies on
many other planets – and I was collecting an odd plant for a friend
on a world clear across the galaxy from here!

TR and I later
decided that much of the success of the entire venture there was
due to the fact the brain decided while its servos showed me
collecting a plant that no machine would ever do such a thing;
ergo, I must be authentic. Just an old Killit out exploring for my
tribe and finding an odd thing to please my mate or some other
female.

I took the
plant back to the boat where I carefully stowed it, marked my map,
and turned back to stare at the huge opening to the cavern. I
hitched my leg and grimaced in pain I almost really felt at that
point, looked at the sun's position, sighed, and sat in the shade
of the cliff to have a small drink of water from my jar, then a
small drink of the wine.

I laid back to
feign taking a restful little nap and to give the brain time to
finish its robot.

After about an
hour I stood, stretched, and started toward cavern entrance. I took
my time, following the path the large rodents of the caves had made
to the water's edge.

I should have
expected such, knowing the brain had used the design before and
would find it rather easy to make a duplicate. The surprised
reaction I gave was probably very much the reaction any normal
Killit would make when meeting anyone in a place where it would be
totally unexpected that anyone existed. I jerked in surprise when I
came around a rock to have a copy of Noobish say, "Hello! Whatever
in the world are you doing way out here?"

Messages

I stared at her
a moment, making my heart race and such for the sensors scanning me
that were built into her.

"What?!" I
exclaimed. "Some woman dressed in clothes like a city woman asks me
what I'M doing in my own land?"

"Oh, no! I
didn't mean anything like that!" Noobish exclaimed. "I was just so
surprised to see anyone here! It's been so long since I saw another
living person, other than those in our party."

"Humff! Don't
see why you'd be here anyhow. Ain't nothin' but rocks and caves and
lizards. Not much for no city woman.

"Where you
from, girl – if it don't make no never-mind if I ask?"

"Why, I'm from
Stormlee! Daddy came to look for gold and I came along. I didn't
know we would be going to these kinds of places. I never knew we
would be so far away from others."

"Stormlee?
Heard of Stormlee day before I set out. Had some trouble there.
Some starker. Had something they call a metal man. Had a word for
it.

"Go-at-em?
Something like that. Said everybody on the islands is to look out
for 'em. There's supposed to be some other starker got away, but we
ain't got much use for no magicians out here. Won't come around
here!"

"How could you
have heard from Stormlee in so short a time!?! I mean, I didn't
know there was any way you could hear from Stormlee way out
here!"

"You come out
from Stormlee yourself! You got a brain, girl, use it! You could of
brought news on your ship, but you should know better about such
things if you're on the open seas, you should. Your poppa should'a
told you about the signals, so if you got lost 'er in trouble.
Shouldn't nobody be on the sea if they don't know.

"Ain't smart!
Ain't smart a tall!"

"Signals?" she
asked. "What do you mean, signals?"

I could almost
hear TR screaming to me not to overdo it, but I wanted to scare
that brain and keep it off balance as much as I could.

"Why, ain't you
been on the ship at night? Not that I seen any ship here, but I
know you seen them with the lantern flashing the words. You had to
if you come on a ship.

"You mean your
poppa didn't teach you distress signal afore he brung you on the
ocean? Is your poppa stupid or just a citybred so's he don't know
no better?"

"Er, the ship
went for supplies and I stayed here with the mining, er, stuff. I,
er, saw the signals with the lanterns, but I didn't, uh, know what
they were doing, uh, exactly."

"Well, I'll
tell you, girl. In one night a message can go from one end of the
land to the tip of the islands and back again with an answer.
They's special long and short signs for different words 'er letters
so's you can spell the words. They ain't one here, 'cause nobody's
here, most times, but from Yeller Peak on Kidjern Island you can
see a light on Cloud Peak on Slorpen – full day sailin' away!

"You take a
polished silver dish behind even a little light, you can see for
half a hunnert kilometers over water, ain't no seafog ta stop it.
They uses big fires and big bowls island to island.

"What I mean
you should know is that you shows a sign, flash, flash, flash,
pause, flash-flash. Like that. It's distress and anybody what sees
it’ll come help. Everbody should know that on the sea if not on the
land, too! Your poppa should'a taught that to you.

"You ever get
in trouble out there, you make the signal. Don't know which
direction, repeat it in all of 'em in a circle till you sees a
flash-flash, which means 'I see you 'n I'm comin'.'

"The ships or
little boats like mine have a thing where they can flash-flash at
certain times so's the watchers knows they's NOT in trouble. No
flash-flash and they come automatic-like. Like tonight I got to
flash-flash from the north end of this here island or they'll come
lookin' for me tamorry. I don't flash-flash and two hours they know
I'm lost clear to the mainland.

"It's silly for
an old man like me who could kick off anytime, but it's good in a
way. If I'm hurt or sick someone will come to know and if I'm dead
they'll be able to get me and bury me all honorable like."

"Oh, how nice!"
she exclaimed. "I heard you people out here look out for each
other! I wish they did that on the continent. If you're not some
important personage nobody will pay you any attention at all."

"That's uhcause
you HAVE important personages! Here, everbody's important, nobody
more'r less than t'other.

"Your poppa
ain't finding 'nuff gold out here to make it be worthwhile, I tell
you. They's a bit in that cave there. 'Nuff to make a ring 'er two
'er somethin', but ain't worth coming far to get.

"I got some
little jools an one good opal, but this trip ain't much for those
things.

"I found some
good egg nests. Them's the things worth all the trouble. Baubles
and gold ain't good for nothin' cept to look at. Can't eat
'em."

"I told poppa
that. I said you can't eat gold and it isn't even warm to wear and
it's heavy.

"It gets cold
on the continent like it never does here. He should look for good
foods and he can sell the food for all the gold he wants – and eat
at the same time!"

"Shows what you
know! You think it don't get cold here you go up to the top of this
mountain come sunset when the clouds sit on there. You'll find out
what's cold.

"I'd think
there was plenty room on the continent to grow all the food anyone
could want. Wouldn't be any reason to sell it for gold. Food
belongs to everbody out here."

"Oh, it's not
that way on the continent. Food is very expensive."

She was trying
to get me sexually aroused! I had been wondering why this silly
conversation and had gone along, but now I saw what she was doing –
or what the brain was doing.

I didn't think
that robot could perform sexually. It wasn't that well made, so
what was the object?

She leaned over
to touch my shoulder and look up into my eyes the way the whores
did on the docks of Stormlee. That's where the brain learned about
this, so I could throw it a little more off balance with my
reaction.

"Honey," I said
dryly. "You got a lot to learn about island people. You want a roll
in the bushes you just say so. It's only dock women who play those
kinds of silly games you're playin' and they don't work on us
island people. Tryin' to hang your dress open is plain silly, when
most of us don't ever wear clothes.

"I'd think you
could figger that out, since I ain't wearin' none. I did say you
wore clothes like a city woman. I didn't say you wore the KIND of
clothes a city woman wears!

"We likes sex
and we enjoys sex. We don't have no money and don't use no money
and no woman can sell sex to no man uhcause there's others who
wouldn't stoop to tryin'.

"Ain't no man
nor no woman out here goin' to pay for somethin' that's plain
natural.

"I'm an old man
whose ticker ain't too good, but I still know a thing er two. I
ain't in bad shape and, if you mean it, we can have a hell of a
good time here – but stop this silly playin' around!"

She looked
surprised, then startled, then made an unconvincing giggle. "I do
flirt, but I don't mean anything by it. I wouldn't want you to get
the wrong idea and to think I would do things like that!"

"Like what?
Everbody does sex things of one sort er another. Ain't no shame
less'n you done made the promise, then you'd wear the ring out here
and nobody'd ever suggest anything.

"I ain't
wearin' no ring. My mate died years ago. You ain't wearin' none
neither, but that don't mean nothin' with city some people. I found
city people who come out here and pretend they ain't never promised
themselves when they have. They've even got some kind of paper that
says they's promised.

"They all yell
about lyin' and shame, but that's as much lyin' as anything. Ain't
got no honor 'cordin' to our code, but I guess we don't seem to
have none 'cording to your code. That's the way of it.

"You ain't
found no gold in that cave you came out'n. It's a dead blowhole an
they ain't nothin but glassrock and pumice in them things."

"Er, no. We
keep the mining, er, stuff in there because it's big and out of the
weather."

"Don't see as
no mining stuff could be any good if'n it kin be hurt by weather.
Not much you city people do makes no sense to me.

"I got to go. I
got to be at Northend come sunset to flash-flash. I'll come back
this way on the morry sometime. Maybe I'll see you then. Maybe your
poppa will be back an I can tell him what I think of a man'd take a
girl like you out on the sea an not learn 'er distress signals.

"Just sort of
half a joke. It really ain't smart, you know."

"Well, you
taught them to me, so I know now! I can tell daddy to never do
anything like that again. He's really a little absentminded. He
means well."

I nodded and
she walked with me to the boat, which I slid off the beach and
rowed to the open water, then unfurled the little sail and headed
north. There was a servo unit on the mountain that wouldn't stray
from me for one second, so I had to be very careful about the
lightbeam transmission to TR. I told it about everything that
happened and instructed it to answer my dual flash signal and to
send some nonsense in return, which I would answer.