Stranded on Haven

by William Zellmann

  My excited state didn't last long. While waiting for the steam pressure to build, I had to get dressed for our meeting. Business attire on Haven had evolved to become particularly uncomfortable, with high, stiff collars, cravats, weskits, knee-length jackets, and ridiculously tight tubular trousers that made sitting difficult and uncomfortable. I also added a false mustache to my eyeglasses. Photographs of me had appeared in all the major newspapers and magazines, and I wanted to make certain I wouldn't be recognized. By the time we had ridden that blasted train into the city, and a hansom cab to the huge, smoke-wreathed Cellia Metals smelter, sex was the farthest thing from my mind.

  Two men awaited us in the President's small, cluttered office. The President, Raj Trunt, was a large man with a full brown beard and a florid complexion. He introduced the other man, a grizzled, gray-haired man with a large scar covering his left cheek, as "Fil Tarp, our Chief Metals Engineer".

  Trunt looked us both up and down appraisingly. "So, you represent the star man. Do star people usually include women in their business discussions?"

  I put on a surprised expression, though Heidi had warned me that most Haveners considered business a male domain. "Why, yes, sire. We are here as representatives of Jerd Carver, the Star Man. I'm sure you can understand that it is difficult for Messer Carver to travel without causing a ruckus. I'm afraid that Messer Carver regards gender as irrelevant to business discussions. If my colleague's presence is a problem, I'm sure she will be willing to wait in your outer office."

  The big man waved dismissively. "No, no, it's not a problem, though it's rather unconventional."

  I smiled. "I'm afraid that by Haven standards, Messer Carver is most unconventional. However, if it is no problem, perhaps we can get down to business." I turned to Tarp. "Tell me, sire, how much do you know about aluminum?"

  Tarp straightened in his chair, and his eyes brightened. "Aluminum? It's an element, of course. On Old Earth, it was usually obtained from bauxite ore, and used in a number of useful alloys. Apparently, our ancestors brought quite a number of items made from the alloys, but nearly all of them have corroded to uselessness, though there are a few pieces in museums.”

  He shrugged. "We have plenty of bauxite on Haven, of course, but the techniques for smelting and processing it have been lost. I gather that the processing requires temperatures we have been unable to produce in a production setting."

  "Thank you, sire," I replied with a nod. "That agrees with Messer Carver's information." I paused before launching into my pitch.

  "As I'm sure you're aware, Messer Carver's ship, Startrader, carries over fifty thousand tonnes of general cargo. It also carries a computer, a thinking machine that contains a huge amount of knowledge, more than all the libraries on Haven combined.

  "While everything aboard Adventurer belongs to the people of Haven, Startrader and its contents are the property of Messer Carver. To support himself on his new home here, he is beginning to dispose of some of that cargo.

  "But Messer Carver is also very conscious of his duty to promote the development of Haven as a whole." I gave each of the men one of the printed booklets.

  "These booklets describe a book Messer Carver assembled from Starhopper's files on the mining, processing and alloying of aluminum."

  Trunt looked incredulous. "You're selling books?"

  I merely smiled at him. "Not exactly, sire. In her cargo, Startrader carries twenty tonnes of orbitally-refined, laboratory pure aluminum metal."

  Tarp's eyes widened, but that was the only sign of his flare of excitement. "What is 'orbitally refined'?" he asked.

  "It means that it was refined in a factory orbiting a planet, in vacuum," I replied. "With no atmosphere, there can be no atmospheric contamination, and orbitally-refined metals are as pure as those the best laboratory on Haven can produce." Heidi reached into my valise and removed a shiny silver ingot. I lay it on Trunt's paper-covered desk atop what looked like ledger pages.

  "This is a sample of the metal itself," I continued. "Messer Carver is offering twenty tonnes of the pure metal, plus a copy of the book described in those booklets. He also offers a guarantee: If you are unable to process the shipment into saleable alloys using the book, Messer Carver offers to obtain whatever information is missing at no further charge."

  Trunt snorted. "Twenty tonnes isn't very much metal."

  I nodded. "Yes, it would only constitute a single small order. But consider: this is laboratory-pure metal, much purer than you could produce yourself. Aluminum is typically shipped in that form, since it is usually used in alloys, and that level of purity minimizes shipping costs, and simplifies alloying. In this case, though, I would assume that most of the aluminum would be consumed in experiments, learning to work and alloy the metal while you learn to mine and smelter your own supply."

  Tarp's eyes were gleaming as he fondled the ingot. Even Trunt looked impressed, though he tried to hide it. Aluminum had been a sort of 'holy grail' of Haven's metals industry for centuries. "How much?" Trunt asked, feigning indifference.

  I pasted my smile back on. "Ah, well, I'm afraid that's where Messer Carver's sense of duty becomes a factor. He is not interested in creating a monopoly on Haven. What the purchaser will be buying will be the twenty tonnes of metal, and a temporary head start.

  "Since he only has a small quantity of the metal, Messer Carver will be making this an auction, limited to the three largest metals companies on Haven. The high bidder will receive the shipment of pure aluminum, and as many copies of the book as are required. The book will also be issued on the open market, but only after the winner's alloys appear on the market."

  Trunt frowned. "I don't like it. Just set a price, and we'll see if we can meet it."

  I shook my head. "I'm afraid my instructions are clear. Every mining and metals company on Haven will eventually be able to use the book to learn to process aluminum into metals and alloys. However, the winner of the auction will have an enormous time advantage. He will have twenty tonnes of the pure metal on which to experiment, and advance information on mining and processing aluminum. In other words, the winner will gain several years' head start in bringing aluminum to market. But he will not be buying a monopoly on the knowledge, and the book will be copyrighted by Messer Carver in all six nations, so he can ensure open distribution.

  "So, gentlemen, Cellia Metals has one month to examine that sample ingot, the booklet, and have your lawyers examine the contract. After thirty days, you will have to decide whether to bid, and how much. To ensure confidentiality, a representative of Messer Carver, either us or another, will return at that time to receive your bid. None of the other bidders will be told the amount of your bid, or indeed, whether or not you chose to bid. And you, of course, will not be given that information on the others.

  "The metal will be delivered by lander, and the winner should expect that to produce a lot of excitement. The winner will be responsible for providing sufficient security to permit safe delivery of the metal." I handed Trunt a separate paper spelling out the conditions of the auction, and we began preparing to leave. Trunt was frowning and glancing at the paper, and his dismissal was preoccupied and abrupt. Tarp barely raised his eyes from the ingot he was caressing.

  This time we did use Heidi's reservations, and while the hotel didn't offer showers, it did offer hot baths: a bellboy carried in buckets of hot water and poured them into the bathtub. We had an excellent dinner in a quiet, rather opulent restaurant. I let Heidi order for me; I had no idea what I'd get if I ordered a 'steak'. She ordered me something which she said was 'goat'. I thought it more closely resembled a cross between pork and chicken. Still, it was delicious.

  I had rather assumed we'd be sharing a room; even when Heidi booked a separate room for herself; I assumed it was for appearance's sake.

  But she sighed. "Jerd, I will sleep with you if you really wish, I told you that. But wouldn't you rather be able to tell Jess or Ellie that we had never had sex, and be telling the truth? That sort
of lie can haunt you for years."

  I still can't believe I let her talk me out of it. By the time I slid between crisp, clean sheets I was furious with both of us.

  The next day was no better; in fact, it turned out to be my worst day on Haven since Len attacked the International Zone.

  It started when the President of Cellia Teas refused to see us, despite the fact that Heidi had arranged an appointment. He sent his secretary back out with the message that he "wants nothing to do with the troublemaker from the stars".

  I was angry and humiliated, and Heidi was furious. The man was, she told me, an unreconstructed Len loyalist, and since Len's death he had been something of a pariah in Cellia City's business community. Heidi told me with a satisfied smile that it was an open secret that the company's shareholders were doing their best to force him out. At present, he controlled just over 50% of the shareholder's votes via proxies; but the minority shareholders were busily trying to convince their peers that they should revoke those proxies and join them in voting the President out. That didn't make me feel any better, but it seemed to cheer Heidi as we walked toward the nearby train station.

  I was lucky; at the critical moment, my attention was on the sounds around me. I was trying to calm down, and had turned my attention to my surroundings. I was just thinking how different the sounds of Cellia City were from any other planet I'd ever visited; the low roar of dozens of flitters, air cars and ground cars was replaced here with the clop-clop of horse's hooves and the rumble of iron-shod wagon wheels on the cobblestone street, punctuated by the shouts of street vendors selling everything from hot food to hats. Somehow it created a relaxed atmosphere, a slow, patient pace totally unlike the hectic pace of modern galactic civilization.

  There was a lull in the wagon traffic, so I was able to hear the soft patter of feet rushing toward us while trying to be silent. My slum reflexes didn't fail me. Without even thinking about it, I clamped down on the handle of my valise just before the snatcher tried to grab it, and braced myself.

  The snatcher expected to snake between Heidi and me and snatch the valise from my hand at a dead run, making it almost impossible to catch him. Instead, he found his feet literally running out from under him, and he landed on his back with a wet thock as his head hit the hard wood of the walkway. It dazed him, and it was a long few moments before his eyes cleared and he became aware of Heidi's knee on his chest, and the tip of her fighting knife pricking his neck.

  He was a kid, probably in his early teens. Looking at his dirty face and ragged clothing was like looking into some sort of time portal. This kid was me, only fifteen or so years ago. I smiled at him and shook my head. "If you're planning to become a snatcher," I said, "you'll have to invest in a quieter pair of shoes. Now, beat feet!" I nodded to Heidi and she removed the knife from his neck and rose to her feet. But the knife was still held in a combat grip, and its point still pointed at the kid's belly.

  The kid rose slowly to his feet, his eyes flicking between me and Heidi. He stood tall, nodded to me, winked at Heidi, and left at a run.

  After the rude treatment at the tea company, we realized that we had revealed a connection with the 'star man' twice now, and the kid's attack reminded us that we had been careless to simply walk the few blocks to the train station. We agreed that we should take some security precautions. The large station featured several ticket booths, and Heidi and I made the rounds of them. We separated and bought tickets to several destinations in different directions from different agents. We also bought tickets, separately, for destinations farther down the line than Gorn Creek.

  And we watched for followers. I didn't see any, but I didn't let down my guard; the good ones would be taking pains to not be seen. So, we waited until our train was actually moving before jumping aboard. We watched, but no one got aboard after us. We relaxed, smiling at each other.

  The day was warm, and we had our choice: we could lower the windows to allow in cool air, but which also let in choking smoke, or we could leave them closed, and swelter in the heat. It wasn't a pleasant ride. Once arrived in Gorn Creek, I had to doff my suit jacket and slide under the steam carriage to light off the boiler. Then, of course, we had to wait for it to build a head of steam. By the time we were able to climb into the carriage and accelerate into the welcome breeze, we were both covered in sweat.

  When we finally reached the safe house and shut down the steamer, we were both hot, tired, dirty, and hungry. Luckily, Heidi had been foresighted enough to buy some sweet rolls and fruits from vendors in the train station. Wolfing down the gritty rolls, I made a mental note to bring some self-heating meal packs down from Startrader for future use.

  While eating we discussed it and decided to wait until dark and slip out and back up to Startrader where we could get hot showers and air-conditioned comfort. Meanwhile, we contented ourselves with washing the worst of the grime from ourselves and our clothing with water from the pump, and discussing our experiences in Cellia City.

  We agreed that our visit to Cellia Metals had been a success. "They didn't like having to bid, but their mouths were watering over that sample," Heidi said. "You're obviously offering them something they want very badly. If the same is true of the others, you may end up with some very large bids; more than they would offer or pay without the competition. I thought you weren't a businessman."

  I shook my head. "I'm not. But I had no idea of the value of the item I was trying to sell, so I decided to let the market decide it for me."

  She smiled. "Sounds like smart business to me. Is that what you're going to do with the choc?"

  I shook my head. "That's a completely different case. The reason choc is so easily available on ships is that it's grown in the air plant. That variety is specially bred for an enhanced CO2-Oxygen cycle. What I'll be offering Dr. Aram's Teas and Juices is support and help with an experiment." I shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know how the trees will react to normal soils on a planet. Lisa tells me there's little chance of a problem, but it's still an experiment. So, I'll ask for a price for the seeds and the books, but it will be a low price, with a refund guarantee if they can't get them to grow. But the moneymaker for me is if they are successful. In exchange for that low price, I'll be asking for a piece of the action, maybe some stock. You tell me I've got a big nest egg. So now, I'm looking for long-term returns."

  Rural people on Haven are 'early to bed' types. By eleven o'clock, we judged it safe to lift off and start the two-hour flight up to Startrader. By the time we arrived, we were too exhausted to do anything except head to our cabins for a quick shower and to collapse into our beds.

  By the next morning, I'd had plenty of time to become irritated with Heidi's ability and tendency to avoid the very sexual availability she simultaneously offered; so breakfast was a stiff and uncomfortable affair. But it didn't have time to develop into awkwardness.

  We had business to attend to in the International Zone. Heidi had made it clear that she was serious about resigning as my assistant. But now that I was in full "entrepreneur" mode, I definitely needed an assistant, or at least a secretary. A private secretary.

  My plan was to interview Jess and Ellie, and perhaps Terry Havens. I doubted that college girl Cara Tenner would find a private secretary's job exciting enough for her, but like Terry, she seemed to be "on my side". If necessary, I could possibly even consider Becky. Of course, her being an East Brent agent argued against that. Even if she agreed to resign, Could I be sure she wasn't reporting my every move? I hoped I wouldn't become that desperate.

  After a short argument, Heidi agreed to distract Andrea Parelli so I could talk to the others. I still plugged the listening tubes, though. The Zone was full of new faces now, mostly Director Toray's staff. I had no doubt that staff included a number of Duke Richard's best agents.

  Jess came in wearing one of her regular pilots' coveralls and none of her now-common, poorly applied makeup. I suspect she had become convinced that Heidi and I were lovers.

 
I sighed. "Jess, I need to have some straight talk with you. I'm convinced you're not an experienced agent; I suspect George Cass mostly wanted you to learn to fly a lander."

  Her tone was challenging. "You want it straight? Yes, those were my instructions. And he did not order me to sleep with you, although he hinted at it. I think he knew I'd quit if he tried to order me to do … that."

  I nodded. "I believe you. And you might eventually get the chance to learn to fly a lander; but not if you're working for George Cass or President Curran." she started to speak, but I waved her to silence. "Here's the situation. Heidi is resigning as my assistant." Her head came up and an interested look crossed her face. "She will remain as my bodyguard," I added hurriedly, "But it has become obvious that I am going to need a full-time personal assistant, or private secretary; call it what you will.

  "You see, I've become convinced that everyone is right; eventually Duke Richard will gain access to space. When he does, I'll be on my own, and I suspect I'll become a fugitive, since I'll do everything in my power to deny him the access to Adventurer that would permit King David to conquer Haven. I have some surprises for him when he does finally get control of a lander, and he's going to want very badly to capture me. And the International Zone won't stop him.

  "So, I cannot depend upon my contract with the University; they will cut that off immediately, and even if they don't, they'll have surveillance on the bank to track any withdrawals. I have to be able to disappear.

  "And that is what Heidi and I have been doing lately: making preparations for that inevitable situation. I can't go into more detail at the moment. With Heidi resigning, I badly need someone to help me with that." I sighed. "But I can't use a woman who's also an agent of Westin." she started to interrupt again, and again I waved her to silence.

  "You should hear the whole thing," I continued. "If and when I disappear, anyone close to me becomes a target for kidnap and possible torture from very hard people seeking information about my whereabouts. That means you'd have to go into hiding, too. I'm sure Heidi can arrange a new identity, and I can make certain you're financially secure, but you'd be cut off from everyone you know. You'd even have to give up flying, at least until the situation resolved, which might take years.