Rescue from the Planet of the Amartos

by Dale Olausen

  Jaff nodded. "Go ahead," he said. "Cherrie tries to stay out of Roger's way as much as possible. She complains that he's always telling her what to do," he explained to Sarah after the little girl had left.

  Sarah was rather curious to see for herself the disliked Roger. His name had not been mentioned since some of the crew had spoken ill of him during that first supper on XER, nor had he appeared at any of the later Central Caf gatherings that Sarah had attended. There had been no reason to think about him, but now that she was committed to the Beth, she realized that she, too, would have to live with Roger for some time to come, whether she liked him or not.

  "Here he comes," said Jaff impassively.

  Sarah looked up slowly from the box of tubes and bottles to follow Jaff's gaze to the door. She caught sight of the government man, and suppressed a giggle. The big man munching a sweetbread was absurdly out of proportion with his surroundings. The Beth had been built for spacers, and spacers were small, slim, graceful people. Roger's chunky bulk filled the entire doorway, his hair just grazing the top.

  Fleetingly Sarah felt sorry for him, thinking of what one of the small sleeping cubicles must seem like to him; then she happened to catch his eye, and something in that eye sent fleeing the feeling of sympathy. She found herself watching him warily as he lumbered across the room to where she and Jaff sat.

  "So this is the new crewmember," he said to Jaff while looking Sarah over.

  "Yeah," Jaff replied without enthusiasm. "Sarah, meet Roger Delmen, a Confederation Government biologist from Mallora. Sarah Mackenzie is our replacement ship mechanic; her home planet is Earth."

  "Pleased to meet you," mumbled Sarah.

  Her impression of Roger was not improving with proximity. There was something not right about him; she did not know what.

  "From Earth?" The man's eyebrows shot up and his lips curled into a mocking, if surprised, smile. "That minuscule corner of the universe which claims to have spawned the race? Poor old Earth, with nothing left to boast of but memories!"

  Puzzled, Sarah waited to hear more.

  "No clout whatever in the Confederation!" Roger continued. "Earth is a has-been - if she ever was at all what she claims to be! Mallora now - civilization revolves around Mallora! She's at the centre of the galaxy, and central to the Confederation!"

  "Oh, come on, Roger, cut the crap."

  Jodi had abandoned the game that she and Kary had been playing, and had re-seated herself so that she was now squarely facing the Malloran.

  "Civilization revolves around no one planet," she stated. "Mallora - pah! All Mallora is, is one of the inner planets and even at that - both Janus and Atlantis are her superiors economically. Even the Space Station RES has Mallora beat - more of the galactic trade flows through its markets than through any other place!"

  A sneer crept onto Roger's face as he listened.

  "Hah!" he exclaimed. "Economics, trade - nothing! It's the computers that count! Mallora houses all the central computer banks. Why, Mallora could put an end to all trade and economics across the galaxy by shutting down the computers!"

  "Don't be silly. Not all the computers are on Mallora. And even if they were - well what would that make of you, the Mallorans? A bunch of machine-bound bureaucrats - which, I'm quite willing to agree, you may well be!" Jodi seemed to be enjoying the argument.

  Roger's face turned an angry red.

  "Spacer, there's much more to Mallora than government! You wrong many of the Confederation's most accomplished poets, architects, four-D sculptors and musicians! Mallora is a cultural centre without equal!"

  Jodi grinned.

  "Don't forget Cadella," she said.

  "Cadella! Cadella be damned! It's nothing but a fringe-planet refuge for a bunch of second-rate talent! There's not an artist on Cadella worth his keep!"

  Sarah gasped. How could anybody dismiss Cadella? Cadella was known as the "flower of the universe"; upon her surface a civilization of artists blossomed. It was true that she was a fringe-planet, true that she was a refuge of sorts. A long-gone lover of the arts had chosen to establish on the planet a colony for artists who were willing to live simply, if adequately, in return for an opportunity to dedicate themselves completely to their work. The experiment had been a resounding success! The music, the paintings, the poetry - the art that came from Cadella could not be equalled elsewhere in the galaxy!

  Jodi winked at Sarah and turned to rebut Roger's amazing statement, but before she could more than open her mouth, Jaff cut in.

  "Jodi, Roger, that's enough," he said authoritatively. "You two have been through this argument more times than I care to remember. I don't want to hear it again. So just leave each other be, will you?"

  Jodi shrugged, and turned her attention back to the game board, but Roger glared at Jaff.

  "Don't you order me around, medic," he spat. "You're no boss of mine!"

  Sarah waited tensely while the two men locked stares. To her intense relief, the Malloran was the one to give way; with an angry glance towards Jodi whose concentration seemed to be entirely on the game board, he began to shuffle towards the door. Jaff kept a stern eye on his back until he disappeared.

  Jodi and Kary collapsed, giggling, on their game table.

  "Did you hear that, Sarah," Kary asked after she had her laughter under control. "Mallora's the centre of the Confederation! Mallora is a cultural centre without equal! Can you believe it?"

  Sarah shook her head. "The man sounds a little off," she agreed, giving her head another shake.

  "Off! He's crazy. Unfortunately he's not all that different from many Mallorans. They have a reputation for egotism," Jodi explained." If we'd had any idea that we'd get saddled with a Malloran we never would have agreed to take a government rep on board."

  "And once his term is over," added Jaff with a grim look, "he's going, and no-one is going to replace him.

  "But in the meantime, you two," he eyed Jodi and Kary sternly, "you'd better stop baiting him. I know that things can get boring in space, but there's no need to amuse yourselves in such a childish, foolish fashion."

  Jodi and Kary squirmed, obviously embarrassed by Jaff's lecture. "We just wanted to show Sarah what he's like," Jodi muttered.

  "Okay, big brother, we'll be good from now on," Kary promised.

  "I wonder," Sarah mused, half to herself, "what he bragged about while he was on Mallora?"

  "Oh, likely about how rich a daddy he has," Jodi answered. "Come on, Kary. Play the game. It's your move."

  *****

  After the first omega-jump Sarah chose to retire to her sleeping cubicle after all. The medical kits were all filled, the card players had all noisily gathered, and she had drank more coffee than was good for her. Unlike the rest of the Beth's crew, she had worked hard during the few weeks before the ship left XER. She was tired, and after a few hours, the commotion in the lounge began to get on her nerves.

  When she was told that the interval between the two omega-jumps would last for several hours, she decided to visit the library and borrow a few vids to peruse on the scanner in her private quarters. Even if she fell asleep, she knew that a buzzer would alert her before the second hop. She would not be jarred into consciousness by the weird bodiless sensation that omega-travellers had to endure for the split-second that the transfer from one place to another took.

  However, she barely had started scanning the first vid, never mind settling down to sleep, before she was interrupted by a light knocking at the door.

  "Come in."

  It was Cherrie who entered. "Sorry to disturb you, Sarah," she said, "but you're wanted in the Control Room. Dad said that it's important."

  "No problem."

  Sarah set the scanner aside and stood up.

  "Oh Sarah! What's that you're wearing? It's beautiful!" The little girl gazed upon Sarah in amazed admiration.

  "This?" Surprised, Sarah fingered the heavy fabric of the nightdress that her grandparents had given her for her birthday. Cherrie
nodded and Sarah shrugged. "It's a called a nightdress," she explained. "Haven't you ever seen one?"

  Cherrie shook her head. "Never," she answered.

  "They're quite common on Earth," Sarah added."It's quite an ancient way of dressing for the night-time. And convenient. See, I'm covered from neck to toe so I don't have to bother changing - I can go to the Control Room just as I am."

  Cherrie nodded. She slid her hand over a portion of the thick, soft material. "I want one," she said. "Maybe Mom will agree to get me one."

  She grasped Sarah's hand and pulled her out into the hallway, grinning. "Let's go to the Control Room," she cried dragging Sarah along.

  Rounding a corner she suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Sarah bumped into her.

  "What...?"

  It was Roger coming towards them, almost filling the narrow corridor. Sarah gulped, steeling herself for an unpleasant encounter even as the small hand clutching hers squeezed her fingers painfully. She pushed the child to force her to keep on walking and at the same time composed a cheerful expression onto her own face.

  "Well, hello there, Roger," she politely greeted the Malloran as they approached him, then stopped to wait for him to move aside.

  He did so, leaning his big bulk against one wall, but disdained to respond to Sarah's greeting. Instead he stared at her intently, his face screwed into an expression that she could not read. As quickly as they could, the two girls slipped by him, with Sarah acutely aware of his close breath on her neck as they passed him. She half turned to throw a quick glance at him before hurrying away and saw that he was still staring at her.

  Something about that stare - Sarah let Cherrie pull her along at a half-running pace. She could not wait to get away - something about the man's behaviour had made her acutely aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing underneath the heavy nightdress. She felt exposed - yet the nightdress had to be the most chaste item of clothing that she owned!

  "Whew!" Cherrie came to a breathless stop at the Control Room door. "He really gives me the creeps!"

  Sarah nodded and grabbed hold of a wall to steady herself while recovering her wits. She spoke sternly to herself. It was not her problem that the Malloran had the personality of a mutated menkil-beast! There was nothing to be gained by letting him upset her like this. She determined to keep her cool whenever she next had to confront Roger. She drew a deep breath to regain her composure and knocked on the Control Room door. What did Dav and Ginette want?

  Cherrie tackled the small matter of the nightdress immediately.

  "Look, Mom," she shouted as soon as she and Sarah had entered the Control Room. "See what Sarah's wearing? She calls it a nightdress. I want one, Mom, oh can I have one, please?"

  Ginette stared at Sarah's outfit curiously. "Say, that does look comfortable," she commented. "Is it from Earth?"

  "Yeah."Sarah felt somewhat embarrassed. "It's an ancient garment, still quite common - because it's so handy, I guess. My grandparents gave it to me as a present and I wear it a lot. They used to say that sleeping in it would save me from nightmares, so I've worn it a lot."

  She snapped her mouth shut, a little ashamed to have rattled on about her personal life.

  "Well, if those things keep nightmares away then Cherrie will have to have one," Dav stated, looking curiously at the garment that Sarah was wearing. "Where can one buy them, I wonder? Besides Earth, that is; Earth is rather out of our way."

  "I should imagine that they are available on RES," Sarah said. "Is there anything that a person couldn't find on RES?"

  The marketplaces of Space Station RES were famous throughout the universe for the abundance and variety of the goods that were bought and sold there.

  "If we can't find a nightdress for Cherrie on RES then they're not to be had anywhere but Earth," Ginette agreed, laughing. "Okay, Cherrie, it's a promise: next time we stop on RES we'll go looking for a nightdress for you."

  "Oh thank you!" Cherrie gave each of her parents a hug and skipped happily out of the room. After she had gone Ginette walked to the door and locked it.

  "Tell us, Sarah Mackenzie," she began as she returned, beckoning Sarah to a seat, "how are you at keeping secrets?"

  Sarah sank into the chair and watched as the Navigator and the Captain seated themselves across from her. She took a moment to turn the unexpected question over in her mind.

  "Not bad," she finally replied. "I guess my brother, Cam, was the last person with whom I had occasion to share secrets. We kept everything between just the two of us - " she grinned at the memory, " - and we kept a lot of secrets."

  Ginette smiled.

  "Fair enough. We're going to be counting on you not to broadcast what we're going to tell you to anyone outside the Beth's crew. That includes Roger. Understand?"

  "Yes, I do." Sarah nodded vigorously.

  "What we're going to do," Dav said, "is tell you what our present voyage is all about. Once we have reached our destination and you have given the ship whatever attention you deem her to need, you will be expected to help us with our work outside. To be of help you will have to know what we are doing."

  "Of course." This was exciting.

  "All right." Dav and Ginette glanced at each other.

  Then the Captain plunged on. "Would you happen to know anything about amartos?"

  Chapter Five

  Dumbstruck, Sarah stared at the Explorer ship captain. "The Witches’ Stones, you mean?" she asked once she had found her tongue.

  Dav and Ginette exchanged another look. After a moment Ginette turned to Sarah with a grin.

  "It sounds like you have a good idea of what we're talking about," she commented.

  Sarah nodded. "The vid-library on XER doesn't have much of a selection, but it does have a vid titled Rare Gems of the Universe. I whiled away a few idle hours going through it."

  The XER library had been a small, shabby place, tucked away in an obscure corner of the Space Station. The XER Authorities had not encouraged the lust for knowledge in the residents, but Sarah had developed one, years ago, on Earth.

  Searching through the library had been one of the first spare-time tasks she had set for herself on arrival at the space station. She had found the scope of available vids disappointing, but the day that she had punched out the word "gemology" in response to the computer's subject query, the robot had lumbered to her cubicle with a surprisingly hefty pile of old-fashioned viso-tapes. She had quick-scanned a goodly number of them before coming across one that seemed promising: Rare Gems of the Universe. Sure enough, towards the end of the tape she had come across the image that she was looking for.

  For a long time she had stared at the picture of a beautiful green and gold jewel, thrilled to watch the golden flames, seemingly alive, snake around inside the green stone. Finally, almost reluctantly, she had turned to the accompanying text.

  "The amarto is the rarest gem in the universe," she had read, "and is considered by many to be the most beautiful. It is prized for its beauty, its rarity, and the unusual properties that it is claimed to possess.

  "Some people believe that an amarto can greatly increase the extrasensory abilities of a person who is able to 'key' into it. 'Keying' refers to the creation of a rapport between a stone and an amarto-sensitive person. The process of 'keying' arouses within the jewel the golden fires which give it its unusual beauty.

  "Terrans first came into contact with amartos on the planet Kordea. On Kordea the gems are highly valued for their ESP-enhancing properties alone. A caste of wise women, known as the Witches, use the stones to greatly expand their mind-powers. Hence the common name for amartos: the Witches’ Stones.

  "Most amartos that we know of are in the hands of the Kordean Witches, although a few have found their way into the possession of gem collectors and connoisseurs of beauty. Most of these gems originate on Kordea although small quantities have been found on two other planets."

  Sarah had skipped the technical data giving the names of the suns and the omega-coordin
ates of the two planets. Instead, she had switched back to the image of the amarto only to see it disappear from the screen to be replaced by a dull, green stone of same shape and size. Puzzled, she had pressed a button to give a split-screen view of both the picture and the text.

  "An amarto in its 'unkeyed' state appears to be nothing more than an unremarkable, green pebble," the text had stated. "When found in its natural state it is always 'unkeyed' and therefore not easy to identify. It becomes a thing of beauty only after an amarto-sensitive person has 'keyed' it. It was once believed that only the Witches of Kordea had the talent required to 'key' amartos, but recent evidence indicates that a tiny percentage of Terrans also possess the required sensitivity. This is of great economic significance since every amarto which is not used for extra-sensory purposes must be 're-keyed' periodically, if it is to retain its beauty. An amarto which is handled only by non-sensitives eventually loses its golden fire, and therefore its beauty. The lack of a good working relationship between the Kordean Witches and the Terrans has, in the past, created considerable problems of 're-keying' for collectors."

  Sarah had re-tracked the tape to where the green and gold stone dominated the screen.

  "A Witches’ stone," she had whispered, watching the golden flame curl in on itself, and then spread out to fill the whole gem. "Still, seeing it on tape is not the same as seeing it in real life... This one doesn't behave like the one that I saw on RES...."

  "Beautiful jewels, aren't they?" Ginette's question startled Sarah back into the present.

  "Are we after amartos on this trip?" she asked bluntly.

  Dav laughed. "It just so happens that, yes, we are," he answered.

  Sarah stared at him, and then at Ginette. "Well," she said, arching her brows, "this sounds...impressive. Or maybe the word should be incredible. How...? Why...?"

  Ginette threw back her head and laughed.

  "A few standard years ago," she began, "on an uncharted planet beyond the fringe of the Confederation, we happened to befriend some non-humans. We discovered that these creatures, who lived a very simple life, produced superb art - beautiful paintings and sculpture. They didn't value their art particularly highly, so they were delighted to trade it for goods that their simple society could not produce. We took their stuff to RES, and had collectors fighting for the privilege of buying a piece. Naturally we began to make regular stops on their planet, buying up whatever the inhabitants had to offer.