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

by Moulton, CD

  In any large society – and a galaxywide empire is indeed a large society – there are things which operate on the fringes or just beyond the fringes of the general law. In the Maitan Empire there were independent traders along with those of the trader's guild. This group served an important function in its own way. It kept many beings who were operating in a manner that would be frowned upon (at the least) by the guilds, but which placed those beings into a situation under which the empire could keep tabs on them. They were forced to stay within certain bounds by the fact that to go beyond those bounds could well result in the fleet coming in to clean the area up.

  A subculture had evolved in that group. It was a violent and hard life, but that, too, was a need of some people. What Maita and Thing had worked out was the most likely way the Jornians had ended up on Savaraj. It intimately involved this subculture, which could well be the place where such people would be found. It was the most likely place where an escape pod could have originated its flight that wouldn't ever be reported. It was the place where members of the culture would possibly NOT want to be found and rescued for any number of reasons.

  There was one way to find out and perhaps it would also show why all this had happened. Maita was sure Savaraj was NOT the only place involved and that there was a very dangerous scheme behind it.

  The best place to look for the reasoning behind a group who were deliberately hiding and who were going to such extremes to make themselves invisible to others in other places could well be in a place where such a psychology was the norm. There was the distinct possibility those involved were trying to escape both normal society and this one. There was the possibility neither group would accept whatever they were doing.

  *

  Tab headed for the world Garnod. TR changed him into a Jornian simply because that may well be the best way to find out about Jornians in this situation. He landed at the rough field after TR put on one of its own disguises and checked into the field headquarters where he paid the fee that would guarantee the ship was watched and would still be there when he returned. TR could take care of itself, but it was far better the people here didn't know that. It was definitely the kind of place where ships would be in danger of being hijacked. That was the point in coming here. That was the kind of people and the kind of outlaw lifestyle they were seeking. It was the strongest likelihood to be where their target group came into this equation.

  There were several places where he may be able to find what he wanted to know, but he went to another type of place first. A good detective tries not to be obvious. He checked into a hotel that was much used by Jornians. It was run by a Bentan who kept all records personally. Most businesses in that place were run in such a manner. The places would hardly use empire machines.

  After checking over the room he went to a nearby restaurant, then to a gambling house that also dealt in drugs of various types and alcohol. He ordered grain alcohol and citric acid with a fructose sweetener and sat watching a game of Upshot. Z liked the game and had taught it to him, calling it stud poker, which was a game played with cards much in the way this was played. It was easy to see how the cheating was being done and the game was for low stakes.

  There was a Stars and Comets board so he sat at it and waited for an opening. This was a standard challenge. He hadn't punched odds on the computer so it would be assumed he wanted living competition. Fortunes were won and lost on the game so anyone with a good "stash" who thought he was smart could take the challenge.

  The game would, as Z said, make chess a child's game. Tab was a robot with a built-in advantage no one knew anything about.

  Finally, a Jornian woman sat and smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow and asked what stakes she liked. She shrugged so he said ten credits a point. That shook her a bit. Most people would at least play one low-stakes game to see what they were up against. There were twenty thousand points per game so one credit per point was high stakes.

  Tab played just well enough to stay a few points ahead of her. She was soon working very hard on strategy, but was still losing.

  She said her name was Ilah and he said his name was Ford. The better players could make their moves and talk at the same time so Tab kept a light conversation going about any number of little things. He slowly increased the pressure on her until her concentration was more absorbed by the game than by what she was saying. He got his questions in at various times during the four hours of the game.

  There were people drifting in and out all the time, but no one was winning or losing enough to hold attention for long. When the game was over Ilah owed Ford one thousand thirty five credits. She elected to pay only part of it in cash and to pay the rest by sleeping with him. That was another of the ways business was done in the area Tab – or rather Maita – chose to try to find the facts about Savaraj and why there were Jornians on that restricted world. The actual goal wouldn't be forgotten for a single instant.

  Tab and Kit are very well-made machines. They can perform, and perform exceptionally well, in any area of social interaction. During the night he found the rest of what he wanted to know. Ilah wasn't aware she told Ford anything at all. She was only aware that he was a great diversion and she was exhausted and satisfied in the morning. She felt, all things considered, she had come out far ahead in that deal!

  In the morning Tab left for Grlaq.

  **

  Kit followed the same basic pattern except that he got into the Upshot game and played all night and into the following day, feeding alcohol and two mild drugs to the others. He consumed quantities of both things but wasn't affected, of course, being a robot, but Maita or the ships had built in a resistance to those things in Z because he often helped with the detective work and this was a common ploy by either side.

  He won enough to make it likely he wouldn't leave the game and managed to keep the two Jornians in the game by seeing they won just enough to balance what they lost. Any time they looked as though they might leave he ordered another drink and stick.

  He got his questions answered and, just before noon, left the planet Gorlag. He arrived on Grlaq to find Tab's contact waiting as soon as T6 located TR on the field. T6 landed on a pad next to that occupied by TR and made tightbeam contact. No one knew anyone. That was to be the rule here. Tab was being called Ford and was at the Wanderlust Bar where outlaw trader ships found their cargo hands.

  T6 contacted Tab to tell him that Marq, as Kit was calling himself, had arrived. Kit went to the place where he saw Tab in his Jornian guise bantering and bragging with a Bentan and an Eacheron. He received the name "Star Striker" and knew he wasn't to worry about that ship. He was to find another likely vessel to investigate.

  The information both Kit and Tab had been able to get out of their respective sources was that several Jornians had gone to Grlaq looking for work and hadn't returned – sixteen years ago. Ilah was a typical follower of the traders and was at an age that would have put her in her prime then and the people in Kit's game were resident gamblers. They had been there for more than twenty five years and kept up with the gossip as part of the game. There were always stories of shanghai operations out here, but there were few actual cases so the facts were easy to extract from the fiction. The fiction was vague second and third hand news while the facts were known directly. The robots knew how to sift through rumor and innuendo to find the small core of truth.

  Kit's news was about two Jornians while Tab's was about four Jornians so Tab was the likely one. Now they must try to trace which ship the Jornians at Savaraj had joined, then why they were on the world. It would be nice to know why they refused rescue, too. That was the greatest oddity about the situation. They could have been rescued within hours at anytime. It would be nice to know how they managed to be on Savaraj when there was no ship lost in that area at that time. Various ships were lost close to that time in other areas, but nothing within pod reach of Savaraj. THAT kind of information could be checked and known with great accuracy.

  Kit checke
d with the bartender as to which ships were in and hiring. He was told the "Star Striker" and the "Gnome" were the only two at the moment, but there were others many times. Either ship would hire Jornians.

  He asked if there were many Jornian-owned ships and was told they were rare and recent. There hadn't been any a few years ago.

  There was nothing to lose so he said he had some friends who had come out fifteen or twenty years ago and were never heard of again. He asked if many ships had been lost back then along the regular routes.

  "Don't know of any," the bartender replied. "You don't take chances with your ship. Had some ships then, and still do, where people went out who didn't come back. It didn't happen to people who did their jobs and didn't try any funny stuff. Had a couple of trader ships hijacked about that time, but it stopped sudden like when a crew came in and killed a few who were supposed to be behind it. Said some of them tried to hijack a friend of theirs and they found out who was behind it.

  "We sort of handle those, uh, LEGAL problems ourselves out here. That way they don't STAY problems if you get the way the ions flow. People will get away with exactly what other people let them get away with. Establish right where the wall is, let everybody know whoever climbs that wall will never live to tell about it and nobody climbs the wall if you get the way the galaxy spins.

  "Never did find out which ship it was, but it ain't exactly smart to ask. You'll be smart to listen a lot and talk a little and don't ask questions about nothin'! You must be new around here, or you'd know that."

  "Thanks," Kit replied. "I AM new out here (He could be sure any regular bartender would know that!). I'll remember that."

  He found a Captain Laht from the "Gnome" and talked about a job but it was a new ship with a new crew so he said he wouldn't be much good, as he had to learn.

  He had an idea. Something that bartender said may be a key to the whole thing, but how to find out? It was certainly a time when it wouldn't be smart to ask questions!

  *

  Tab talked to the captain, but turned down the job, explaining he was more interested in being an equipment specialist than in being a laborer. Labor, he could do at home. He had enough put by that he would wait for something that would hold his interest.

  Kit came in and spent a bit of time with the bartender. They seemed chummy enough, then he talked with the "Gnome" bunch, but that was a new ship so didn't fit the pattern.

  Nothing to do but wait. He went back to TR. He would stay on the ship instead of at the hotel. Most people who owned a ship would opt for that. Kit must have found something, but they wouldn't be able to directly communicate here much. They had no idea what kind of detectors there were in the area – or who was using those devices. The bugchasers wouldn't be effective because of so much interference from the normal machines in use.

  Kit was on T6 so he strolled over and called. Kit came out and they talked about where each was from, then went inside T6 for a drink. When they were inside it was safe to talk.

  "I saw you light up in the bar," Tab said. "What?"

  "See what this sounds like," Kit suggested. "There were a number of hijackings around the time our crew disappeared. The Jornians had no ships out here then but they do now. It would be pointless to look for a Jornian ship so our Savaraj bunch were crew on another ship or something on that order.

  "A bunch came in and said they'd caught the hijackers on some ship and knew who was behind them. They killed a bunch of people and there haven't been anymore hijackings. That's how they handle those things in places like this. It's important to keep the empire out of it.

  "There were no ships lost at that time."

  "Then maybe our four Jornians were hijacking ships and were caught," T6 said. "That would explain why they don't want to be found. There'll still be people looking for them. Hijackers were probably involved in killing some of the crews on ships they took over. It'll explain the crooked nature of them, too. We'll have to find why they were allowed to take an escape pod. These people would've killed them, not exiled them. They sure as hell wouldn't let them take a pod in the area of a restricted planet. That would be a sure way to get the empire fleet coming down on the bunch of them like frflls on a gzeebub!"

  "Maybe they made a deal," Tab suggested. "'Let us have a pod and go and we'll tell you who's behind it.' They wouldn't dare to return then, either. Their own people will be looking for them. The only thing that doesn't fit anywhere is the area the pod was released."

  "I think I know a good way to find which ship it was – or one who knows all about it," Kit said. "Tomorrow, we'll have to find out which ships NOT to ask for a job. We'll need to know which ships won't hire a Jornian under any circumstances. Anyone who had that kind of negative experience with Jornians would never again trust one of them. Period,"

  "I see," Tab agreed. "That would be the best way. You handle it from morning to noon and I'll handle it in the afternoon."

  They parted company. In the morning Kit didn't discover much, as few came to the bar. Tab decided it would be quicker and easier to talk to other Jornians than to talk to all the captains so got into a friendly card game with a Bentan and two Jornians. He played a few hands and talked about looking for a job to ship out on. Something that would use his talents as a navigator and planner and not so much his abilities as a laborer. He needed to make some money, but wasn't desperate.

  "Any really good ships to try for?" he asked. "I can stay around for awhile. I'm not hurting yet."

  The Bentan mentioned four very good ships, but said the fact they were so good was enough to guarantee they wouldn't have any openings. If they're that good they have a permanent crew AND a waiting list of available hands.

  "I guess I'll have to try them as they come in," he said. "Any to stay away from?"

  The Bentan again answered with three very hard captains to work with. "...and don't bother with the 'Asteroid A'," a Jornian said. "That rockslug won't let a Jornian near his ship.

  "It's not that it would be any particular problem, you know, like maybe mismatched atmosphere or gravity or light or something. He's just got a bad attitude against us for some reason. In the twelve years I've been around here I never found anyone so bigoted against Jornians. He was always like that, I guess. Some people just are. Maybe some Jornian got the best of him in a deal and he has a grudge for all of us since. There are some very sharp shysters among the Jornians. Truth is truth."

  "Not some new ship?" Tab asked innocently. "I hear new ones want all crewmembers of their own race sometimes."

  "Hah!" the Bentan said. "Old Sarnof, he's the captain there, he's been around thirty five – forty years! Had a run-in with some Jornians fifteen – twenty years ago's what it was. Been a bastard to 'em ever since. Don't have no idea what it's all about and don't much give a damn. Everybody's got prejudices. Most won't admit it, but I ain't about to trust one of them Freenz bugs. They might be fine people like Maita says, but to me they're bugs and always will be. Acnians, too.

  "Sarnof's okay. Tough and old-hand all the way, but he'll give you his last chit – except Jornians."

  "Sarnof?" Tab asked. "Mome or Feach?"

  "Naw. Ain't no Feach out here," the Bentan replied. "Certainly no Momes. Not many Kheth and no Swaz.

  "Eacheron. He's straight. Got a good run and don't play the game no more. Don't need it. Got a lot of respect all around. Knows everthing and says nothin' bout it. Smart. Better than the empire guild captains and gets better profit.

  "Now, Jankrin, another Eacheron, is another story. Smile in your face and scam you out of your last credit."

  Tab played a few hands longer, then went back to TR. Kit soon left the pads and Tab left a few hours later. They met out of the system.

  "T Six, Kit, we have to get Maita to locate Captain Sarnof on the 'Asteroid A' somehow. He's supposed to be dead straight," TR reported. "Tab's calling now. There's a good chance our Jornians are from that ship. I've already told Maita about the rest of it. We can figure it except for the fact
Sarnof would never let the Jornians take a pod to a restricted planet."

  *Sarnof is on Krome. He has a fastcom code. Try to talk to him, but use the probe if you must. He's a good man, I think.*

  They headed for Krome and found the ship at a warehouse. They decided to be honest and say they were empire agents and they had to know. There was a whole society in danger from them.

  "Then they made it to a world?" Sarnof asked.

  "They're ruining a world," Tab agreed. "We've killed one of them, but we have to be awfully careful how we do things or they'll destroy that culture."

  "I'll tell you all about it," Sarnof said, leaning back and taking a short nicstic from a package to chew. "We were on the standard run when the five of them tried to seize the ship. Klarg, my nav officer, got one of them, but they'd dropped the ship off the route before we even started fighting back, took us so much by surprise. We didn't know where we were even close.

  "When Klarg dropped the one and got the helm the other four dodged into the hold. I reset the moder to retrace and return us to Grlaq. We could deliver the ones who were hijacking ships – or their bodies. Just as we saw them lock themselves into the hold I hit the evacuation switch to pump the air out...."

  Explanations

  "The Jornians felt the air going and jumped into the emergency pod. They were able to leave the ship seconds before it jumped," Tab reported. "Sarnof didn't know where they were in the hold area. He didn't know the pod was gone until he was back at the pad. We have a pretty free hand here now, but we have to be very careful about this culture."

  "I can't help but wonder if we'd be smarter to just get this done here as quickly as we can, then head for that world, Grlaq," Z said. "If those outlaw traders are going to dump this kind of problem on this kind of world it's time they found a new kind of business."