Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition Page 35

  "You will take a crap in the stream? Why?"

  Z was flabbergasted. He had mused about the machine having intelligence before sleeping last night. This as much as proved it!

  "I meant I'll bathe in the stream after taking a morning crap elsewhere. I'm surprised you would note the lapse in the language form."

  "T Six anticipated that and forty two other likely statements you would make and programmed the answer," the floater explained.

  "Anticipated it? How!?"

  "When T Six programmed the book, 'I, Robot' into the reader it felt you would consider the fiction and would logically – to you – think about intelligence in machines. I was to await the language and to answer with those responses designed to startle you.

  "Gotcha!"

  "I take it that was programmed, too? The 'Gotcha?'"

  "Yes. I am now to say, 'Take what? Where?' and to tell you to knock it off with the idioms."

  "Knock what off? Of where?"

  "I am to ignore answers to programmed illogicalities."

  They soon landed by the stream, where Z was surprised at how stiff he was. He swam in a small hole for a few minutes to loosen his muscles, jogged for a few minutes, then climbed back aboard the floater to eat the delicious sandwiches, which were amaranth bread and fillings from several worlds. Maita had installed the atomic architect in T6. Now it could exactly duplicate anything in its records.

  Maita had indulged the tastes in foods of all those who had been crewmembers. Z tended to be the gourmet among them. Maita often pointed out it was as easy to synthesize Nemeedian Gold Wine as it is to synthesize tea, so why not the wine? It was also possible to remove extra calories and other poisons as the foods were produced so it didn't make him fat or end him in a medbox. They once figured what a typical meal Z and Thing shared would cost in a restaurant IF it were possible for one restaurant to have all of the ingredients. The figure in Maitan credits was more than most large businesses earn in a year.

  Z shook his head. When there was nothing to do his thoughts often strayed around into unexpected paths. He knew he should be making some kind of plan for when he arrived, but knew nothing whatever about what he might find.

  The floater stopped to inform him their destination was around the next bend and to say it would be following his orders exactly from this point onward. It was programmed to react to emergency situations only, now.

  "Well, I'll want you to compute the best course of action for you to take when I'm not aboard and have given you no orders," Z instructed. "I want you prepared to take independent action if this backfires in any way – 'Backfires' means that things happen opposite to what I planned. It happens to me a lot. That's why you'll find it fun to work with me!

  "Send a small visual sensor to a point that'll allow me to see what's on the other side of the hill. Make it something that's hard to detect. Also, trace anything they're using so we can counter it."

  "There are many sensors in the ground and on the hills around here. They are generally unsophisticated. I will counter them as we go. It is possible there are passives such as direct visual devices that I cannot detect. I am trying to compute where they would be logically and am avoiding likely places."

  "Good! We'll communicate with the holoscreen and keyboard once we leave this protected spot. They may have sonics detectors."

  The screen showed two Ternz ships of the shortened needle type side-by-side against a dug-out bank. There was a camouflage screen across overhead. No one was visible around the ships or anywhere else in the little dell. Z assumed they were asleep or were doing something inside.

  "Are there caves?"

  "None that I can find. This is very sandy soil. It wouldn't make caves. It is always possible they have fused some of the soil into walls, making small cave-like chambers, but I cannot find any."

  Z watched the place for awhile, but nothing much seemed to be happening. He asked for the general layout of the area to be put on the screen. The floater had sent out very small passive sensors to map every inch inside of the dell.

  "We'll go around and come in through this little cleft," Z decided, then changed his mind. "No, we won't. That's a little too convenient. We'll go across to the right about a third of the way and come in from the rear of the ships. If I can see a way to cross from the hill to the ship I can be pretty sure they won't have sensors under there. I can do all kinds of neat things from there. I'll want to grab one of them after I find a way to disable the ships. We can then go straight back to T Six at altitude and fast. I want to know who's boss of all this and where to find him.

  "Let's go around, okay?"

  The floater went outside of the ring of hills and came across in a little depression, then down to a spot where the floater would be hidden. Z slipped off the seat and carefully looked over to the ships. Nothing was moving.

  The pods held the ships about a meter above the sand. He could get under and stay hidden. The ships both had atmosphere control vanes.

  He saluted the floater, then dodged under the nearest ship. There was absolute silence. Nothing moved as he crawled forward toward the port, which was open. There was nothing moving inside, so far as he could see.

  Z sat to think a moment, shook his head, went to the rear of the ship and dodged over to the other. He repeated the crawling to find this ship's outer portal open, but the airlock inner door was closed. He could hear a slight scraping and thumping inside.

  He could figure both of them were in this ship. The other one was open. He could get inside and could probably deprogram its navigational computers so it would refuse to move. That would disable it as well as could be hoped.

  He went back to the rear of the ship again to dodge back to the other ship. He crawled forward, carefully scanned the area with his eyes, listened to hear nothing, then slipped around and up the ramp. He moved to the side to look back at the other ship for a minute. In case they had some trap here, he wanted to know it!

  No one came. Nothing happened. He looked around the room. It was pretty standard as an entrance with a closed door rearward, a short hall with a closed door at the end and a closed door forward.

  The rearward door would be to the engines, the one on the end would be to the bunk room, the one forward would be to the salon and pilot's quarters.

  The pilot's quarters were where Wordt put the files in the ship across the sand. Z knew the layout of this one would be the same. Maybe Bast, if that was who had brought this ship here, had some files of his own in there.

  Z carefully pushed the door opened and slid inside. He closed the door again and hit the light switch.

  "It's about time you got here!" Wordt greeted, pointing the heat laser right at his stomach. "Liahr, I presume? We've been following you since you arrived across the hill there. Your floater, VWPA issue, I take it?, found all our little protectors except a very simple thing. One little string that rang a bell.

  "We have a very old-fashioned periscope to watch you.

  "Now you're going to answer some questions. If we like your answers you might even stay alive!"

  A Few Answers

  Z looked at the two Jornians for a moment, then grinned. There was no way he could contact the floater from in here. He would have to stall.

  He could use simple devices too. One such was that the floater would keep very close watch on this place. All he would have to do would be to let it know the Jornians were on this ship. It would instantly compute odds and would contact T6.

  "I never saw either of you – I take it you are Bast? – except in one place where I saw Wordt, here," Z replied. "He didn't see me.

  "So, how did you find out who I am?"

  "We'll ask the questions!" Bast snapped. "You've complicated a very simple and profitable business! Somebody's going to pay for that!"

  "Please don't allow Bast's bombasts (Snicker) to bother you, Liahr," Wordt said. "We will accomplish far more without these unprofitable threats. We have an operative working in the VWPA who has reported th
at some strange empire bureaucrat was making an investigation on its own and had recruited you. It’s now working to expose our little venture for personal advancement with the empire police – who apparently won't allow it onto the force because it's such an unusual lifeform. It worked with a Maitan called With on Sentah, but that officer was recalled to some world called Snojahb or something such. The Mentan remained and has been working on its own with the VWPA. It is our good fortune it chose a certain chief inspector as its aide."

  Thing! Z thought. Little guy, you're learning! I'll never live down that 'snow job' thing, though.

  Z thought a moment, but he must know more of what Thing had said. He looked expectantly at Wordt.

  "This won't get us anywhere!" Bast said. "This guy called the fleet down on our heads at Netdel! I don't know what the hell Eed's told them!

  "Just what kind of things did Eed tell you?"

  "You have to admit that Eed was far too stupid to be where he was," Z answered conversationally. "Have the Zurn tell tourists there was some kind of plague at Rock House? Someone was bound to call Hospital! That would be as much as automatic."

  "Was that records idiot you?" Wordt asked. "Eed sent the one transmission over the system that told me he was coming to Long Toe. He told me about some idiot who was trying to make a name for himself by throwing the whole sector into a plague panic."

  "Oh, everyone knows about Nurk," Z said, grinning again. "It was sheer luck he answered the comcall. He's a lousy government test bureaucrat, you know. There's no way to get rid of him, but this time he may have gone too far. He had a Fleet ship take him and the Feach to Netdel, you know. That will get back to the emperor and he'll be stationed on Drove or something. If Maita gets mad enough he'll find himself exiled on some backwater world like this one."

  "Who the hell cares!?!" Bast shouted. "He wasn't a damned VWPA operative! That's all we wanted to know! Just answer the damned questions!"

  "Are you in a big hurry to go anywhere?" Z asked. "You can't leave this planet without being detected. The satellite will see to that little detail."

  "Yes," Wordt agreed. "We have planned to stay here awhile, so relax, Bast. There's no reason to make this unpleasant. Liahr isn't in a hurry – I'm in no hurry – you aren't going anywhere – relax!

  "Liahr, you were called a Kappin. I've heard of Slentayll and its three races. You're new in the empire, so why are you with the VWPA?"

  "Because we're used to investigative procedures on Slentayll. The Kappins are. Mammals seem to have an inordinate love of crime and the chase. The emperor thinks we can learn from other races and vice versa. The vacation worlds draw all kinds. It's a good area for us to teach and to learn."

  "I can't believe you're discussing some crazy empire scheme to train cops!" Bast cried. "We have to know what they've learned from Eed!"

  "The only item we learned from Eed we didn't already know was one name," Z answered, deciding to take a chance. "Your big boss. Moodad."

  It was like he had hit them both in the gut. Wordt actually dropped the laser, but Z figured the odds and just sat there. He had less than a fifty-fifty chance of reaching it.

  Wordt recovered first, reached down to pick up the pistol and laid it on the console beside him.

  "I don't think I'll need this. You seem to have better sense than to try anything. I can move very quickly.

  "You may have put us in a completely untenable position here – or Eed did.

  "What did he tell you about Moodad?"

  "Nothing. All I know is what the report said. Moodad. Eed, as I said, gave us the name. That's all I know about."

  "I see," Wordt said. "And our reaction told you the rest. There's nothing to lose now on that path. I'm going to ask some very specific questions of you. I think you can realize the position you're in, so please don't make this any harder than it already is.

  "Tell me what you know of our operation."

  "First let me say I'm far from the only one who knows about Moodad,. I simply read a report. That report is open to all investigators – and to Emperor Maita if he wants to look through it.

  "We know pretty much how these things work. I can be called a specialist because we have the gangsters and criminal syndicates on Slentayll and have had them for centuries. They're popular in or fiction literature. Action things.

  "You run the gambling, what you'll call 'protection,' loan sharking, forced prostitution and probably illegal drugs, at a minimum. The easiest part to find is the gambling because, to do it right, you must control casino gambling, not just the little games. A casino is a very visible place.

  "Your victims in the loan business are the next visible part – and gave you away there – then the prostitution. The drugs were there all along, but the increase is automatically noted. It's very simple and very predictable. If you stayed small you could get away with it, but you never do.

  "The Zurn were a mistake in that the emperor then considers you have deliberately attempted to improperly manipulate an emerging culture. He gets furious about that sort of thing."

  "I don't need any lectures about the syndicate!" Bast snapped. "Do you know where Moodad is?"

  "I told you we only have the name!" Z snapped back. "Really, Wordt! I'm trying to get along with you, but I've had more than enough of this one."

  "Go outside, Bast!" Wordt ordered. "You aren't helping with that!"

  Z almost let a sound escape, but controlled it. If Bast went outside the floater would note it and where he came from.

  "He'll answer my questions or I'll fry him where he sits!" Bast yelled.

  "Oh, really?!" Z cried. "In case it hasn't occurred to you, the whole VWPA Special Forces Department knows where I am and who I'm after. Do something that stupid and you’ll end up frying, too!"

  "They'd have to find me first!" Bast snapped (He snapped a lot).

  "In case you didn't notice we found you here in a matter of hours. You can be sure we'd find you within hours anywhere in the galaxy."

  "Get out of here, Bast!" Wordt ordered. "Things are bad enough without your stupid temper making them worse!"

  Bast slammed out of the room. Z could only hope they weren't playing the old "good cop – bad cop" routine on him and that Bast wouldn't be in another room listening. It was important Bast went outside of the ship.

  "What are we going to do with you?" Wordt asked. "This is a terrible spot to be in. I hate this kind of thing."

  "Can we just drop the acts?" Z suggested. "You blasted Eed on that...."

  Uh-oh! Now he let Wordt know they knew Eed was supposedly shot by Wordt. Wordt thought he had killed Eed on that autocar and that no one could know it.

  "I wish you hadn't thought of that," Wordt said with a very sinister look. "We were getting along so well!

  "Bast, get the files from my ship and let's get out of here. I'm afraid you won't be leaving with us, Liahr."

  That would get Bast out of the ship, at least. Now Z must stay alive long enough for T6 to do something!

  "The facts are still the facts. Kill me and the emperor will find you. The trade of talents is his idea. He's perfectly aware of me as an individual. You know how he is. He'll feel responsible for my death. He'll turn the whole galaxy backward on its axis to find you."

  "Yes, that's a problem. We'll find a way to buy a bit of time with you. Maybe I'll lock you in my ship after draining the power so you can't call out. If I can get two hours I can be free of you."

  "Why not just let me take you on in? So you'll be exiled on Jorn. It's better than ending up dead."

  "I'm candidate for execution. You know that."

  "You now know full well you didn't kill Eed. We have him."

  "I also know full well about the conspiracy law. Our VWPA operative told us about that. We can be put on the probe. We're already under warrant.

  "Liahr, we have absolutely nothing to lose except for getting the emperor personally involved. That would happen if we kill you, automatically. Please don't make that necessary. I w
ould, personally, enjoy slow-frying you, but that would be counter-productive."

  There was a sharp high scream from outside, then an amplified voice announcing, "This is the Empire Ship 'Scammer' above you! You are surrounded! Place your weapons into the hands of operative Liahr and come outside! Now!"

  Scammer? T6 was ... doing what? It hadn't had time to get here yet! What was going on?

  Wordt looked shocked, then grabbed the laser.

  "Outside, Liahr! Now! I won't kill you, but I'll damned well show you more pain than you ever thought possible! Out!"

  Z wasn't about to argue. He headed for the door. There was a strange tingling along his spine as he knew terror. It wasn't a foreign thing to him, but it wasn't that frequent, either. Wordt was capable of anything. He was capable of shooting a person in the back, then killing himself in revenge.

  Z hit the ramp and dropped solidly and hard onto the sand to one side. He rolled under the ship, then heard the lock closing. He ran toward the other ship as Wordt rose on gravitics, then blasted out through the atmosphere. The floater was sitting above the other ship. Bast was unconscious on the sand with a box of papers strewn about. He was very close to where his ship had taken off. Z didn't really need the blood running from his mouth and nose to tell him that the gravitics lifting the ship had crushed him.

  The floater came down to him.

  "T Six will meet him before he gets far enough out to use the drive. I placed a tracer on the ship as it rose. We will wait here for T Six to return."

  "It's too bad Bast was crushed. I would like to have put him on the probe. Maybe Wordt will have all the information we need.

  "Why did you do this?"

  "Was I miscomputing?"

  "No. I just want to know the methods you used."

  "I saw Bast come from the ship and enter this one. I computed there had been some kind of trap waiting for you. As Bast was moving in what seemed unnecessary haste I computed there was some kind of emergency from their point of view. You were inside of that ship and there was an emergency. It was most likely that you WERE that emergency.