by Ed Charlton
What have we gotten ourselves into here?
Footsteps came toward the door of the interview room. The door opened, and the helmeted figure called into the room. “Eat now.”
Jim looked up in surprise.
Marhan nodded and slid off the bench. “Let’s take a break, monkey.”
Tella stood and shrugged to Jim. They followed the tall canid out.
They were led to a large mess hall. Several helmeted figures, seemingly identical to their guide, were sitting sipping drinks through straws and talking in low, clipped voices.
Marhan sat on a bench in front of a table set with a large bowl of brown lumps. He gestured to Jim and Tella to sit with him.
“Are you hungry? They can bring protein if you wish.”
“What is it?” asked Jim without enthusiasm.
“Fungus.”
“Is it spicy?”
“No.”
“I’ll pass. Tella?”
“A drink would be welcome.”
Marhan barked something Jim did not understand to their guide. The guide walked over to a counter and brought back two drinks with straws. Jim sniffed the cup and held it up to the light. It was cloudy and brown with a musty smell.
“What is this?”
“Fungus juice. You expected spring water or rain freshly caught dripping from jungle leaves? You are in a rock, Able. You are in a concealed base. Everything brought in is at the risk of discovery. Make do.”
Marhan lifted a lump of food, tore at it with his teeth, and rolled it around with gentle snapping of his jaws until he had it all in his mouth. It was clear the food was not enjoyable.
Jim took a deep breath and tried the drink. It tasted as it smelled. Tella drank without comment.
“Who are these guys?” asked Jim.
“I don’t know,” replied Marhan quietly. “They are a match for your Rapaxan masters in their arrogance. They can speak Standard, but they choose not to. I have never seen one without its visor down. I suspect they keep this area lit for my benefit. There are other areas I am not allowed in, where the light is very low.”
“It’s dim enough here,” said Jim.
“Huh? This is low for you? Earth must be very close to its star. You will find Gul darker and colder than this. You are like the Jorrs, blind and coddled in warmth! These are space-born. They have all been bred, I’d guess, in long-range ships, or holes like this one.”
“If they do not use this place normally,” said Tella in a whisper, “why are so many of them sitting around here?”
Jim looked round the mess hall. There were four groups totaling nineteen aliens, including their guide. He noticed they were all armed. “Are we that dangerous?”
Marhan shook his head. “You puppies! Of course you are ‘that dangerous’! The Rapaxans are liars and cheats. These maggots here did not know what you were. If they had thought a single monkey would come, I might have been made to deal with you myself and not waste their time. But you...” For the first time, Marhan looked directly at Tella. “You are a different matter. Once they knew that you were on board, this place locked up tighter than a Jorr’s ass. I had no idea the Praestans Rapax would be so stupid as to send such a one to a place like this!”
“How did our hosts know? We didn’t advertise it,” Jim asked.
“As soon as you took off your suits! It’s a wonder they didn’t simply open the airlock again.” Marhan smiled and tore another lump of food.
“Do you know what they do here?” asked Tella.
Marhan shook his head, his mouth still full of fungus. Swallowing, he said, “My guess is they watch the Stap-Bal-Ird Alliance. Who for, I don’t know. As I said, I have limited range here.”
Jim sat and thought. He felt a calm about where he was and what he was doing. He remembered Madhar Nect, the Turcanian scientist, and a beautiful morning spent on the dock of her waterside house. The memory echoed deep inside him; he had been happy for a few minutes then. He wondered if he was feeling something similar here. As he thought about that, several things seemed to fall into place.
The Praestans Rapax had no need to support Marhan’s revolution. They already had him where he could do them no harm. Marhan was a fool, but not that much of one. He knew his danger and yet did not seem to be afraid. If he was no threat to them, then he was no threat to Jim or Tella. Jim noticed the aliens around him. Several were watching them, probably monitoring, or perhaps in some way recording their conversation. The interview room, of course, was bugged. They would not miss a trick as far as knowing what transpired there. He filed away for later reference the idea that a team of space-born aliens, who thought themselves above using Standard, was currently employed to spy on a leading industrial power. That, and the fact that the Rapaxans held some sway over them.
Jim had an image in his mind, a fleeting image of the Praestans Rapax sitting at the center, untouched, while a circle of their surrogates wove their web for them. It was clear why they suddenly revealed an interest in Earth and its External Intelligence Agency. The idea of being just one more alien used by the Rapaxans dissipated the happiness he was feeling.
Another image that slipped into focus was of Tella, some months before, lecturing him about how he had been in the wrong job. Marhan fit into the same picture; perhaps he, too, had been someone in the wrong job. Perhaps Guls had the same problem managing resources that Tella felt humans had. He saw Marhan as potential wasted, like himself.
“Jim?”
It was Tella, leaning toward him, a frown of concern on its normally bland face.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“Sure, why?”
“You were gone with the cobblies!” laughed Marhan.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something. I’m fine.”
Marhan was watching him, his nostrils rippling.
“Marhan, can I have a few minutes with Tella before we resume?”
Marhan nodded, slid off the bench, and strode off.
“What is it, Jim?”
“I think, maybe, we should just be honest with Marhan—tell him we don’t know what we’re doing.”
Tella’s pale color deepened, but it said nothing, waiting for Jim to explain.
“I don’t think it can do any harm.”
Tella was silent for a few seconds more. “I’ll trust your instincts, Jim. What makes you change your mind?”
“The Rapaxans. They’re not going to let Marhan out of here, are they?”
“I do not see why they would. He knows too much about them.”
“Obnoxious and arrogant though he is, he deserves better.”
Tella shook its head and smiled. “Humans are strange creatures.”
Their guide returned them to the interview room.
***
“Just a couple of things, Marhan, if you don’t mind.”
“Quickly, Able. Time is passing.”
“How did you confront the Praestans Rapax?”
“I went there.”
“Where?”
“Beta Oraga Rap. I took a ship and went to them.”
“They let you nearer than a few light-years?”
“I had a functioning craft. I had the correct sink created. I was flying something they recognized. What else?”
“If we go to Gul, where will the original plans be?”
“In the design shed of the Traknho’ flight range, building Forty-two. They are under constant guard. The engineers use copies—many, many copies. You will not retrieve every one.”
“How will we find this Trakenhow range?”
“Traknho’, Traknho’, Earth-monkey. Get it right or be lost in the wastes.”
“How do we find it?”
“It is not visible from above. North of the equator, some thirty degrees. We have three continent
s. One has high mountains running into the polar cap. It is at the southern end of the mountains in Marlolori. It is a sealed area. No craft arrives unchallenged.”
“We’ll have a stealth flier.”
“The craft I built are such, but they can see each other. Do not underestimate the resourcefulness of Tanna Gul. What else do you need?”
Jim looked into the canid’s deep black eyes.
“I need you to understand something.”
Marhan frowned, the hairs of his eyebrows bristling.
“About what?”
“If it comes within my power, I will get you out of here,” said Jim quietly, though with no hope that his words would be just between the three of them.
“Fine words, monkey. I will judge your deeds.”
“You give me no reason to like you and every reason to let you stew in here. But you and I are not so different, Marhan. When you realize that, your attitude may change.”
Marhan looked at Jim, unblinking. “Go to Gul; validate what I have told you. Why waste more time with me?”
Jim shook his head. The interview was over.
Chapter Two
“Jim, what are you doing?”
Tella was leaning back in the flight seat. The drone was beneath them again, but control was still with their alien hosts as they sent the flier back out of the asteroid belt.
“I’m applying something I learned during my long years at the Office of External Affairs.”
“From the redoubtable Elizabeth Curacao?”
“Of course. You know she insisted on having printed copies of every document? Every damned report I wrote I had to deliver by hand, on paper.”
“A curious throwback...perhaps to a less fast-paced time?”
“Oh no. It took me a long while to realize what Liz was up to. She was as up-to-date as any of her peers. She just used different techniques to enable her to keep her advantage.”
“Go on.”
“She could do more damage with a penciled note in the margins of a page than she could ever do with a weapon. And, more importantly, she could do it with almost no trace. Who would ever bother to scan back a printed copy? When I think of the number of assignments I was sent on where my only instructions were scribbled on the bottom of a page! All untraceable, unverifiable, and if anything ever went wrong, nothing to do with her.”
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m writing down how to get back to that asteroid.”
“On paper.”
“I doubt they will allow any electronic trace to survive. I’m sure that interface with the drone will ensure our logs are deleted. And I don’t want to be seen taking copies of them. So I’ll do it Liz’s way.”
Jim smiled, and Tella nodded approval.
“You know, Jim, in ancient times Neraffan-jong like me had secret ways of recording things. Our tales, histories...many things. During the persecutions it meant the difference between our culture’s survival and the ultimate victory of the Cott. We had great libraries and institutions once...” Tella sighed and closed its eyes. “All gone. All gone.”
***
Once out of the asteroid belt, the drone returned control to the flier.
“Where to?” asked Tella.
“You’re the boss,” Jim replied with a shrug.
“You are R546...today.”
“Yeah, I can tell how this will turn out. I make the decisions and do the work; you get the credit.”
“Of course. Why should it be otherwise?” Tella smiled.
“I think we have to go see the Rapaxans. I don’t think we know enough yet.”
“I am not convinced they will let us visit. Otherwise, why send us here?”
“Hah, maybe it saved them having to talk to Marhan?”
“Reason enough, perhaps. Does the drone have any suggestions to offer?”
“We can ask.”
Jim entered a series of commands into the navigation control.
“It actually has two destinations programmed. I’m impressed!”
“The Tanna system and...?”
“Beta Oraga.”
“That is an invitation. Let’s go.”
***
It took five days of traveling to reach the home worlds of the Praestans Rapax. The drone again took measures to throw off any craft that might have attempted to follow them.
The stars of the Oraga cluster were only small bright pinholes in the blackness when the drone brought them to a halt.
Jim listened, waiting for the chemical thrusters to engage.
“What’s it doing?”
“We are stationary,” replied Tella. “This is not good. We may be a hazard to other ships on approach to the system.”
Jim examined the screen showing the navigation interface.
“At these coordinates, it says we wait. I hope they know what they are doing.”
“There!” called Tella, pointing to the sensor display. “What are those?”
A series of small objects was coming directly toward them at high speed.
“How many are there?” asked Jim.
“Twenty...one,” counted Tella. “And they move fast. Brace for impact!”
Jim clutched the arms of his seat and held his breath.
“Well?” he said, squinting to see the sensor display better.
“They are taking up positions around us.”
“And look at that!” said Jim with a laugh.
“They are communicating?”
“Oh yes. That system I didn’t activate in the interface—they’re trying to use it.”
“Score one point for the Earth-monkey,” Tella said with a smile.
Jim sighed and then said, “Now let’s see what they do.”
The flier shuddered, and several alarms sounded simultaneously.
“Ah, how subtle.”
“We are under tow,” confirmed Tella.
After a few minutes of towing, a message came onto the communications console.
“Our masters?” said Jim.
“Please, Jim. Our customers,” said Tella.
The symbol of the Praestans Rapax was displayed on the screen. After another minute, the words ‘Daum Robertus Graffen’ appeared beneath it.
Another alarm sounded, and Tella quietly said, “Two more craft have joined us. They are large, heavily armored, and their weapons are primed and locked on to us.”
“Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Daum Robertus. Welcome to the home of the Praestans Rapax.”
Jim was looking at the face of an elderly male humanoid. His gray hair was cut short, but his white eyebrows were long and unruly. He had gray-blue eyes that sparkled as he spoke. Jim felt that he truly meant his welcome—an odd feeling amid the threat of destruction.
“Daum Robertus, I am James Able from Sol Earth. Your gunships are threatening us. Please have them stand down. We pose no danger to you.”
A brief frown passed across the old face. “Ah, yes. Please do not be alarmed. They have strict instructions not to open fire until we have had a chance to speak. It would be unfortunate to end our acquaintance so abruptly.”
Jim glanced at Tella to see if it thought this was as odd as he did. Tella held its finger to its lips to caution Jim to be careful of what he said.
“How do you come to be in the company of our guide drone?” Daum Robertus continued.
“You requested that R546 follow this drone.”
There was a slight movement to Daum Robertus’s right. He held up a small pad partly out of Jim’s view.
“We had indeed anticipated the arrival of R546. But...”—the face looked earnestly out from the screen—”we understood R546 to be a singular designation. Please explain the presence of another in your craft.”
“Ah.” Jim gla
nced again at Tella. “I am with Tella...a companion...who has been of...assistance to me on previous such engagements.”
The Rapaxan also paused to choose his words.
“You will perhaps understand that my Brothers, whose responsibility is our security, are...less open to surprises than I may be. This...particular surprise...is causing a...special kind of upset. I’m afraid I must ask you some more questions before...anything untoward happens.”
“Please continue. I’m sure this is just a...misunderstanding.”
“Indeed. Good.” Daum Robertus nodded repeatedly. “Your companion is a Neraffan.”
Jim thought, That isn’t a question. They already know.
He said, “That is correct.”
“Neraffan-cott?”
“Neraffan-jong,” replied Tella.
Daum Robertus shook his head.
“You must realize that bringing such a...companion to a place where security is a concern...is, shall we say, unwise?”
“I can understand to an extent, yes. But please remember that it is you who have asked us—asked me—for help. It’s my choice to make use of other resources. That’s how I’ve worked successfully before; that’s how I expect to work on this occasion.”
Daum Robertus’s eyes glanced above his screen, perhaps to someone observing the conversation, and then back to Jim.
“Yes, I perhaps see now how it is you have had such success...if you employ such a resource as this. So much I understand. But now, you must know that your companion can never be allowed free access to our facilities.”
“I was not expecting free access to your facilities for myself,” Jim said with his best poker face.
Daum Robertus’s eyes flashed, and the slight smile that wrinkled his face made him seem kindly. “I am glad to be conversing with someone of discernment and intelligence.”
Jim felt himself color with indignation at what he saw as transparent flattery.
“’Daum Robertus’ is how you prefer to be addressed?”
“Ah, yes. Daum is my title. Daum Robertus will suffice. And your name again is...?”
“James Able. You may address me simply as Jim.”
“Jim, very well. And your Neraffan is known as Tella?”
“Correct. Now, we need to meet with someone in charge of our current activities. That’s you?”
