Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (74 page)

"I got the
original idea for this right here when that oven screwed up," Jak
said, just to make conversation. "Seems like ten years ago. I
didn't even realize I had an idea at the time. I didn't know I had
found ... anything until Mi...."

"I don't know
what's going on anymore!" Hal protested. "Have you really found a
cure? Is Mi suffering a nervous collapse?"

Suddenly Jak
snapped his fingers and laughed. "If I know what Mi's doing in
there we've found one together! Neither of the methods is totally
effective by itself.

"You and Mi
getting married after this?"

He was back to
normal. Jak Tall's emotions didn't stay extreme for very long.

Hal thought
about it for a few minutes. "I guess so. I considered we're already
married in fact. Just lack the legal paperwork. You know how that
goes."

"I talked to
Enn Far this morning. He's going to place you into nomination for
the first constitutional chairman at the constitutional signing
ceremony. It won't make any difference if you don't want it, you
know."

"Are you
serious? Why me? Why not Sop or, better yet, you?"

"Because I’ve
refused. Let's say there are some things in my past that would make
me a bad selection. Also, I'll refuse where you feel the sense of
duty. I've already done more than my duty and know it. We'll just
say my past disqualifies me."

"Let's don't.
There's nothing in your past that would disqualify you."

Jak grinned and
argued, "Oh, I'll wager I could come up with something! I wouldn't
accept it and that's that! You'll accept because you feel it's the
duty of whoever the people want to serve. I don't. I feel all that
kind of duty was used up when I came here. I don't owe the race
anything. They owe me if this thing works. I'll bring that to their
attention if they force me to. I don't owe any man or any race
anything.

"I plan to stay
here on these islands and to do things I want to do. I get ideas
like this microwave thing and this is the first time I've been in a
position to act on the things I think up. I think it's only fair
the government leaves a certain part of this equipment here. These
people out here have earned it.

"You see?
That's the difference between us. You think you owe the Kroon
people something even though you've saved them from extinction. I
think they owe me.

"I damned well
KNOW they owe me!"

Hal nodded.
"I've always been a sucker. I was suckered into this right from the
first. I guess you're right. If they ask I'll do it. I tend to
think of it as a great honor, not so much a.... You don't really
think there's any chance they'd elect me, do you?"

"Oh, yes!
You'll definitely be elected unless Far is," Jak answered,
grinning. "The least either of you will be is vice chairman and Enn
damned well intends to see that you're chairman. He's had enough.
Then you can see the people on these islands are left alone. We've
earned that!"

"The
constitution forbids me showing any kind of favoritism." Hal
grinned. "I'll have to make the islands a reward the people who
stay will own. They can restrict who comes here. It will be a
matter of local law, not national.

"I suppose
you've thought all I have to do is say the horrible strain of virus
that escaped here isn't curable and I can't come to the mainland to
serve."

"That would
mean the others would be forced to stay here. Fat chance," Jak
dismissed the suggestion.

They laughed
and went to Mi's lab where Hal studied something in the screens
while Jak dozed in a chair. When the com buzzed Hal answered and
said they'd be right over. Jak joined him as they went to the
isolated lab and in to find that Mi and Su were in the isolation
chambers.

"Use the
irradiator about medium dosage," Mi called. "Then you can go away
again."

Jak saw there
were six infected rodents in the chamber, shrugged and set the
controls. They waited the three minutes exposure and called that
the machine was off.

"How long?" Jak
asked.

"Give it an
hour until you can check the first slide series," Su answered.

"Hal, Mi says
to call Enn and tell him we may need something he won't believe.
Don't tell him we may have the cure, but tell him we'll need ten
people with the infection to be shipped here.

"Jak, I told
her we can move the chamber. Can we put it on Sand Island? Can we
get power out there? How fast can we have a building up? It isn't
too delicate is it? The chamber? Not really isolation, but a place
for ten people to sleep and eat for ten days. Anything where they
won't be too uncomfortable."

"I'll get a
portable generator out there and make a chamber big enough to hold
a person. We can plug the units here right in. It can be up and
ready before noonmeal."

"We'll know for
certain in ten days," Mi called. "You two can leave us to our work!
We're busy! Is all you males ever think of sex?"

Jak and Hal
laughed and went out to bide their time. In one sixty-minute
century they'd have the answer.

* * *

Sop Lett spent
some time with the farmers and fishermen on Tekif and found he had
spent his whole life underestimating these people. They were really
quite intelligent if not well-educated. They were able to work out
very interesting ways to solve their problems, had built piers
across the lava reef by the simple expedient of drilling holes into
the glassy substance and setting wooden poles deep into them. The
fit was tight and the piers were surprisingly steady. The end
sections floated on pontoons that could be retracted for
defense.

The bridge from
Long Island to Tekif was a marvel to him and he at first feared to
go onto it, but it was quite strong and safe. He now knew the
cables would hold tonnage.

They'd told him
many days past they wouldn't want to leave when this plague was
cured. He felt they had every right to stay as the place would be
self-sufficient. They had well-served their nation and the
scientists and technicians on these islands and deserved whatever
reward they requested. He had that morning told Enn Far about them
and Far agreed that this small group of people were among the most
dedicated and caring people on Kroon and they had performed a
service that couldn't be estimated in value. He had just delivered
title to the islands to these people. They were to hold joint title
to all of this as were their heirs in perpetuity. It was to be
divided among them as they saw fit after the science people were
gone, though any of the scientific crew who wished could remain to
be part holders of the title.

"Chairman Far
did this now as he would not have that power after the constitution
is signed into effect," Sop explained to the group. "The new
government will be required to honor all signed agreements,
contracts and treaties made by preceding governments. This title is
a signed contract. It must be honored by the government. That was a
condition in the constitution."

"Ehyep!" the
fisherman acting as spokesman said. "Thot mean it's our'n?"

"These titles
say it belongs to you and your children and that no one comes here
unless you say they can."

"Why'nt jist
say so?" the fisherman returned. "We'nt speak no fancy
lawyereeze."

Sop laughed and
said, "It's your'n fer life!"

Then they all
got drunk together and had a party. Sop woke in the morning in a
fisherman's house. His head was splitting and he was more nauseous
than he had ever felt before. It was almost midday. The sunlight
hurt his head. The voices hurt his head. The attempt to think hurt
his head.

He staggered to
the kitchen and asked where everyone was.

"Had ter git
tha breaklight fer scooters," the woman answered. "They's gone
after sunup."

"You mean they
all went fishing before dawn?" He grabbed his head.

"Ehyep. Allus
does. Ut's what we does."

"But ... how
can they do it? That alcohol makes you too sick to move!"

"Yep, but only
if'n yer tries ter drink all'n it."

"But everyone
drank it!" Sop said. He'd have to quit talking or his head would
fall off of his shoulders.

"We'ns teks a
drink en meks it last. City folks try ter drink all'n it.
Here."

She handed him
a glass of ugly brownish green liquid. He was sure he was dying
anyhow so he drank it down. It tasted as awful as it looked, but he
didn't care if he died on the spot. If it helped it would be
because it was worse!

He went out and
was halfway across the bridge when he realized his head wasn't
hurting anymore and even his stomach didn't feel much of anything
at all. He was totally numb to pain or discomfort.

He later found
it was a simple anesthetic distilled from the leaves of the glamp
plant. It would become addictive if overused, but the fisherpeople
had better sense than to overindulge in most things "civilized"
society abused.

He found the
whole place in a huge uproar about something Jak Tall had done, but
he felt so tired and listless he went to bed. It could wait. It
would have to wait.

* *

Mi checked the
results again and again. It had worked. It had actually worked! The
plague was beaten. The plague was cured!

Well, if it
worked on the people it was beaten. There was no reason it
wouldn't. She stood in the microwaves and felt nothing. It tingled
a little and was warm, but that was the extent of it.

Jak had
everyone working on Sand Island. They would be ready for the ten
volunteers early that afternoon. They decided to give out the story
Sand Island was chosen because there were none of the rodents there
and it was an easy place to isolate people. Jak, Su, Mi and Hal
would be the only ones who would go onto that island while the test
subjects were there and would wear their isolation clothing, though
it would be hot. The subjects would believe that it was for THEIR
protection and no one would dispute that.

The copter soon
landed and the subjects were immediately led into the structure
where they were quickly injected with M14 and blood samples were
taken. This was planned and was as much as routine before they
started the process. Mi's normal meticulous attention to detail
would be observed. There would be no mistakes made here.

Three hours
later the subjects were asked to stand in a little arch for three
minutes, then to go to their rooms. Half an hour later they were
again injected with M14 and new samples of blood were taken, then
one hour later more samples were taken.

They noticed
they were nervous and impatient and could become extremely
irritated by minor things for the next day and a half, but it
wasn't on the order of rage. It was controllable with a little
effort. There were test samples taken every day from each of them
for six days, then a small bit of nerve tissue was taken from each
of them. The obvious great excitement of the researchers was
growing day by day. It was infectious and the subjects were all in
better and better moods as the time passed.

The eighth day,
Jak, Su, Mi and Hal strolled into the house without protective
clothing.

"I am proud to
say that it now appears you are completely free of the plague!" Hal
announced. "We are all free of the plague on these islands.

"We had to test
to be sure the method cures all strains of the virus. That was the
real purpose, as you probably suspected. We'll have to wait to see
if there are any other effects, but your tissues show definite
regeneration. You're totally free of the plague! You're cured!"

One man moved
to the front and asked if he could speak with Tu Hupp. He insisted
it was most important. "She's my daughter, you see. She ran away
and came here to find a cure for her brother and for me. Now she
has! I must see her!"

"Tu has had a
very definite and positive effect on the research," Mi agreed. "Tu
injected herself with the original serum to test its safety for use
on Kroon's people – without our knowledge – because she felt it was
a thing that must be done. We would be hesitant to use the serum
until we knew if it would be deadly to people."

"Yep! That
sounds like her!" the man agreed. "Impetuous! She was always such
an impetuous child!"

"She's all of
that!" Su said and went to the com to ask that Tu immediately come
to the subject house and to bring a recorder editor machine.

"I won't tell
her you're here," she said while they waited. "The reunion will be
a surprise to her. She'll think I just want a secretary for some
reason."

Mi took Hal's
arm and led him out and back to the labs. Jak Tall came along and
they discussed how to best get the machines out to all the world.
The hormones were being produced everywhere at that time and the
machines were easy enough to build as they used the wave generator
from a standard microwave oven, only with a modified control
stage.

"Sop has a
printer that'll handle the schematics and will be able to print us
thousands of copies in a day," Jak suggested. "I can use the thing
and have enough schematics ready in two days for distribution to
the whole damned world.

"I want to
announce this breakthrough my way. It's to be ready for release
soon? Are the tests complete enough?"

"I'd say we'll
have enough to let it out within five days," Mi said.

"I'm going to
do it a little early!" Jak decided. "Just a tad early!"

Chapter
ten

* *

Mi and Su
worked through the night and the people on Sand Island cooperated
completely and why not? They were cured of the plague! They could
expect a normal lifespan! There was an increased likelihood of
nervous system disorders in advanced age, but they were far more
likely to reach advanced age. All things considered, this was
wonderful beyond the wildest expectations of only two tendays
ago!