Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (94 page)

Kit knew what
Tab had instructed TR to do to the furs. This might come in handy –
and if the plan failed for any reason he could still come in with
the weapons and they could continue from that angle. Now it was up
to Tab.

*

Tab received
the update from Kit as he carried the last of the furs to the car.
He grinned and went to meet Zayz at N-Out-N to pick up the cash. It
would be a matter of planting an idea – which Kit had done. There
would be no need to trace or to follow the stuff to the Immins. The
next load would be something that would be needed in too much of a
hurry for them to worry about traces.

TR contacted
Fleet and had five full battleships dispatched for help with a
small containment action. Maybe Maita wouldn't be bothered with
that. If it was exploring out there it wouldn't want to come back
anyway and hadn't received any distress or aid message from anyone.
The battleships would lay off a ways beyond possible detection and
would wait for instructions. TR and T6 would be in constant
communication with Fleet command and could have them in place in
very short time.

Tab left the
merchandise with Zayz and took the credit chits back to TR where he
spoke with Kit for awhile. Now they would wait.

Two days
later TR reported that it had worked. There was a fastcom
information request that was automatically shuttled to TR and T6
through the empire system if it came from this area of space. Tab
and Kit were linked and read the exchange.

~Request:
>Information:>Hospital:>Virulent diseases section:
mammals:

Message as
follows:

Word of
plague, skin blistering and rot, death, great pain. Mammals of
Maitan, Bentan and related races. <~?~> Is plague on
Travittia N102/-1/57929 <~?~> How transmitted <~?~>
Treatment

~ Private
trader this code.~

TR replied:

~Private
trader NT104T56:

Request
<~?~> plague:

Message as
follows:

Plague on
Travittia called "Loose rot virus" transmitted through contact with
animals and animal products contaminated.

Treatment:
>~!~< Immunization.

Treatment:
>~!~< Serum TLRV-M371263 type A or D. >Do not use serums
in combination.

~ Hospital
HVDSM~

That was the
end of the transmission. It was less than three minutes later Kit
was contacted and was asked if he carried any serum TLRV-M371263
types A or D. Kit replied he stocked that serum, he thought, and
waited a minute while he was supposed to be checking his list.

"I got type A,"
he said. "It's the stuff my carrier was taking to Trav ... to the
plague."

"We know
it's Travittia," the voice answered. "Some people traveling out
here purchased a few fur pieces that seem to have somehow been
contaminated. We need serum!"

"Oh, I don't
have enough for a whole planet!" Kit cried. "The way that stuff
spreads you'll need tons! Call Hospital! Quickly!"

"How much do
you have?" the voice asked. "We're very limited in those who may
have been exposed. We have isolated them and there are only a few
of us out here who may have the virus."

"Well, I have
two hundred sixty doses," Kit replied. "Most of it's immunization
though. The actual serum – maybe twenty doses."

"That will do
fine!" the voice said. "There are only the four who handled the
furs who actually have it now and the comman ... one other. We can
use immunization on the other two hundred thirty! I'll send Foest
for the serum!"

"Oh, it's in
the stasis chamber," Kit replied. "It's one of those things that
have to be used within minutes of removing from the stasis chamber.
The immunization stuff can be kept, but not the serum."

There was a
pause and the background sound of an argument.

"Can you
deliver to coordinates?" the voice asked. "You will be well
paid."

"Okay," Kit
said. "Let me put the recorder on and you tell the ship exact
coordinates. I don't want to work out that stuff and the ship has
it programed in anyhow."

If he
showed up at the coordinates the serum would be grabbed. He
wouldn't live two minutes and knew it – but then, he had no
intention of showing up. He direct-linked the fastcom through
himself and let the coordinates be fed directly to the Fleet ships,
then he said he would meet Tab and TR there.

It was over
relatively quickly. When Fleet came in they were attacked all out
and destroyed two of the large Immin ships. They captured the other
large ship and traced the smaller one. There were three Immins and
Foest aboard.

"So you had TR
add a substance that Immins are strongly allergic to," Syntar said.
"Their queen – or whatever they called this one – started itching
and blistering soon after she played around on the furs. The more
she itched the more she scratched and the more she scratched the
worse she blistered! Kit suggested plague and she panicked. Kit
also said he had serum aboard T Six. She called Foest, came to
Glrvcch and the rest is history."

"But what
happened to the Immins the fleet captured?" Leilanta asked.

"They were on a
planet that wasn't going to be harmed by a little colonization,"
Kit answered. "Fleet destroyed any chance they had to leave the
place and quarantined them there. There's an empire warning
satellite to keep anyone from approaching. There were only sixty
one males and four females among the survivors. They'll die out
quickly. They can't breed there."

"What about
Foest? And Zayz and her friends?" Syntar asked.

"They liked the
Immins so much we decided it wouldn't be right to deprive them of
each other's company. Zayz and Foest are on the planet with them.
The others were only charged with various ethics violations. They
had no idea Immins were involved. They wouldn't have had anything
to do with that. Zayz and Foest worked directly with Immins and
knew exactly what they were doing."

"Well, it seems
there is SOME poetic justice!" Leilanta exclaimed. "You'll have to
watch now and again in fifty years and again at two hundred and at
two fifty. That's as long as the Immins would use the stasis field.
I think there's very little likelihood of anymore, but then, we
thought we were rid of them for the past hundred years.

"What was the
military buildup all about?"

"It was the
result of Bentans coming in with their companies," T6 answered. "In
their always complete methodical way the Rrnslth checked all
previous records of the results of that kind of companies coming
into an area in general and Bentan companies in particular. They
decided they needed the strong economic boost and could increase
police units to contain the criminal problems. This is another case
of being called to a place where we're needed, but for a reason
that's not really related."

It sometimes
turns out well. There were very careful checks all over the galaxy
and no other Immins were found. Tab/TR and Kit/T6 stayed two days
on Plamaita, then were changed back to their standard form before
they headed back to Perfect 3. Maita, Thing and Z weren't on EC so
there was no point in going there. Kit felt he was finally learning
how this detective business worked. He could look forward to the
next case.

Sixth Case

The liner
"Wavewalker" rose high on the crest of a wave, then shuddered as it
slammed toward the trough, cutting the next wave in a geyser of
exploding water and foam. The shock-absorbing pads between the
outer and inner hulls absorbed most of the force and turned it into
heat, which was rapidly dissipated through the circulatory system
built into the pads. The ship sluiced slightly sideways as the
computers fought for stability. There was a short moment of
peaceful intermission before it rose high on the crest of the next
wave.

Nord Flar of
Sorvich carefully made his way along the covered companionway and
automatically braced his strong tail against the decking as he felt
the ship begin to roll forward for the next jolt. While it was true
the pads absorbed most of the shock, they didn't absorb it all. The
ship was constructed to withstand this battering but, even so, this
storm was something far beyond the ordinary.

These sudden
typhoons were a feature of the planet Gliszon. This eighty percent
water world was known for the violence of its storms, but the wild
beauty of the place and the excitement and adventure made it a
vacation not to be forgotten, even when the storms were only
normal.

The shock came.
Flar resumed his trek toward the dining salon. He would take eleven
steps while the ship was relatively becalmed between the waves,
holding the tail somewhat backward, hold it normal for six, then
drag it for nine before lifting it to balance against the next
fall. It was a pattern he wasn't consciously aware of. He was
moving forward on the ship from his cabin, about one third of the
way from the stern on the second deck.

Quite a few
wouldn't be in the dining salon. Some found that rough seas
interfered with their ability to enjoy food, though Flar rather
liked the sensations. It seemed to him mammals were most affected
while reptiles such as himself were not affected. Some of the
strange unclassifiables and most of the amphibians weren't affected
at all negatively.

Brace with the
tail.

Boom!

There it
was.

Now the slight
sluice to the right, now calm.

What was that?
Had someone failed to brace properly and been knocked to his knees?
The sluice could bounce a person off of the walls quite painfully.
Flar went quickly to the person leaning now against the side of the
walkway. It was an Eacheron or one of those types. They were
generally quite at home in these conditions.

"All you all
right?" Flar asked and the man turned to stare with wide glazing
eyes at him for a short moment before pitching forward onto the
deck. There was the hilt of a knife standing out from the base of
his throat!

"Muhh ...
aiigh!" the man said.

He tried to
push up from the deck, then fell again and was still. Flar stared
for a split second in horror, then raced to hit the emergency
button. The automatic timer said 17:52.

. . . .

Tor stepped
into the cabin and looked at his mate sitting against the wall on
the bench reading some silly romance periodical. Mai was a very
beautiful woman and, yes, he was jealous. People paid entirely too
much attention to her. She was beautiful even on Khret, where all
the women were exceptional. The other Khret male aboard the ship
(That they had met) preferred far too many compliments to her and
the Eacherons, who were the same race, paid far too much attention
to her. Even the Kheths, who were a different race entirely, found
her attractive.

Tor wasn't sure
he approved of these relations among different races, but he
wouldn't pass moral judgement so long as it didn't involve Zia Tor
– or Zia Mai, either. What involved her automatically involved
him.

That damned Bo
character was case in point. He was an Eacheron at least, but he
had really gone too far with his chasing after a promised woman. No
one could blame her mate for saying or doing as he had done.

"It's seventeen
fifty five," he said. "Shouldn't we head for the dining salon?"

Mai stood and
stretched, then smiled at him. "We'll get a good table, I think,"
she said lightly. "This storm will keep a lot of people away. I
hope the entertainment is better tonight though. I don't much like
that fast music. It interferes with my natural body rhythms or
something. It makes me nervous in some odd way."

Tor handed her
the dining cape and she draped it around her shoulders, then
stepped to the door.

"There's a tear
in your cape!" Tor said.

She pulled it
up to look, then flung it to the bench and went to the closet.
"I'll insist the tour line pays for that!" she snapped. "I only
wore it once! They shouldn't leave snags about on these ships!"

She draped
another cloak over her shoulders and they went into the hall and
around the corner. There were several people around someone on the
deck.

"Someone seems
to be hurt!" Tor exclaimed as they came to stare at the body on the
walkway.

"Good Hovah!
It's that Eacheron who was so nice to me!" Mai cried.

. . . .

Kap drummed her
fingers on the table and tapped her foot. This was far too much! –
or she wanted to leave that impression to others, at least. Let it
be known that she was about out of patience with his always being
late and with his always showing too much attention to any female
but her! SHE was the one who had come on this trip with him! If he
wanted to pick and choose among the other passengers he should have
come as a single!

The fact she
wanted to do some picking and choosing herself could well be lost
to onlookers in that kind of game. There was that Kheth, Kwold, who
could probably show her a thing or two. She'd heard the Kheth were
fabulous sex partners. Even Tor, the Khret colonist, was some kind
of exceptional – to look at. He would have to be pried away from
that insipid overly-pretty little thing he was lifemated to for an
afternoon or something. Kap didn't want to break them up or to own
anybody, just to borrow him for awhile.

And what
would the Sorvich be like? Nord Flar? From what she saw he was
certainly not second-choice!

She had made a
big deal about letting people know exactly when she arrived so
they'd see how long she waited for her supposed lover! "He was
supposed to be here at a quarter til!" she had cried when she asked
the waiter servo which table he had reserved – in front of several
other passengers, of course.

"Well! It's
exactly a quarter 'til! Where is he? – and this stinking ship! Look
what I've done to my scarf! How did that happen! Isn't anything
going to go right on this trip? What a stupid place to have a
damned bush! Somebody's going to pay for that! It's ruined!