Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition
Page 129
The otherworlder was insane if it was judged on their standards, but was confused by many things they said and did. What would happen if the Prlnth suddenly discovered that the bunch of them were operating on a system of logic they couldn't hope to understand? What if they started doing things that the Prlnth would consider to be totally insane? They would dare not act. Z might actually fission their generators – and what if ANY of them could do it?
The wait for the arrival of the carpet/floater was interminable, though the reality was that it was less than half an hour. It was just past midday so their plan could begin on one phase as soon as they discussed what everyone would be expected to do. Kurk knew about them, but Fale would be kept in character much better if it thought it was dealing with demons and wizards as it knew them.
Maita sent a silent empathic message to Thing, who found the possibilities amusing. It could even be fun! The golems would be there in a few minutes! If THAT didn't convince the Prlnth the lot of them were crazy nothing would!
A new communications system would have to be arranged quickly. The golems' floater could be programmed only to a small extent so, as the people aboard the ship were unsuspecting at this point, micro-relay floaters were sent inside to cover as much of the Jornian craft as they could, which was most of it. Special light transmissions would ensure direct beam transmissions would go undetected.
When the golems were there Thing gave the instructions.
"I have a quesdion," Fale said, puzzled. "Why all of zis zubderfuge? Izzn't Boss able do handle all of ziz?"
[ Boss is in a very bad position. You know how deeply he cares about people and those children are in grave danger. Boss could easily handle this if he took chances with their lives. You and I both know he would never endanger innocent people. He's in contact with Yes and No, but this is something we'll do on our own. It's because we all care for Boss so much that we'll try to work this out. You know how much he likes a joke so we can even make it fun. He laughs in the face of death, but we can't forget he would allow himself to be killed to save those children. ]
"I'm gonna have a say about using those kids in this!" Kurk snarled. "That demon, no matter how powerful, is gonna directly face me! Those otherworlders, too! They're in this to their ears!"
–Oh, don't be so damned stupid, Airbrain! Boss says the otherworlders have no choice! You're gonna screw this up! I just know it!–
+Now, No! Kurk is frustrated by the necessary inaction of the moment. He will think it over and come to the right decision without your sour derision.+
+AHHH, stick it in you nose, Slime Breath!+
[ Both of you shut up! Kurk, it's true these otherworlders have no choice. Don't do anything we may all regret. You were with Boss earlier so you know a little something of what he's trying to do. ]
"I know," Kurk replied. "As obnoxious as No is about it I could let my stupid temper screw it up. Yes is right, too. I'm frustrated. My instinct is to go in there and start tearing the place up!
"I know the weapons they have. The lasers – and worse – and Boss wouldn't be there to turn the beams so I'll do what you want. Boss will enjoy it, too, I think. He'll see the humor in it. As you say, nobody loves a joke more than Boss!"
"Zhust zo we know Boss is zafe," Fale agreed. "Zhat iss zhe mosd impordand zhing!"
[ We all agree with that! Extrx, you're very quiet? ]
"I have to get used to this all over again every time we do anything," Ehrak replied. "I think I can do it. We have to hope the demon in there will react the way we plan. It's not going to think like we do, you know."
[ THAT is the main thing we have to make it realize! Well, if everyone knows his part let's get started. ]
*
Kurk jumped up from his seat as soon as the golems gave him the message to get to the castle. He was more than ready to see a little action. The golems were funny and educational, but he didn't need that education. He knew Emperor Maita was controlling them. It was a great show, but Boss – or Z – was doing something that could be a bit too foolhardy.
The clamshell floater took Kurk and Ehrak quickly to the castle where the two ran for the dining hall. Fale flew in as they arrived so Maita would have to be careful what he said there. He worked it out well, though, and Fale would accompany them to the dark continent on the carpet that was still in storage in the hold of the emperor's ship. Kurk had heard about that magic carpet and knew it was another gravitic floater in disguise.
They arrived at the rendezvous with Maybe where a plan was made that didn't seem to make any sense whatever – but was one that would be fun. As the plan unfolded Kurk saw what they were trying to accomplish.
Some weakness would have to be determined if they were to stop the dangerous scheme these Prlnth were working on. To make it permanently safe seemed impossible at this point if only because Maita and crew wouldn't do what would make it safe: Attack the attackers. Destroy them completely. Kurk had no twinge of any moral sense about doing that. What the hell? The Prlnth were perfectly prepared to destroy this planet and its people with their greed for free power.
They didn't know they were endangering the entire omniverse, but the fact they would kill off a population on a whole world made them beyond his contempt. Z had argued that it may be only a few of them who would do this, but the technology belied the fact there were more than a few involved. The receiving of all that power spoke of massive funding and building on the receiving end. Most pressing to him personally was the fact that he liked children. These slimeball sleazy Prlnth were directly threatening to kill those children to force Z to do their bidding.
That was also beyond his contempt. For even making such a threat they would pay a very high price. That was beyond the bounds of anything so far as Kurk of Hades was concerned!
The report said the child, Bet, had even defied the Prlnth in his name. He couldn't let the kid's faith in him down! That name was going to eventually strike fear into every one of those Prlnth.
The plan Maybe was laying out was fantastic! It was totally crazy! Incredible they would even consider it! It might even work!
The golems flew in, so they would be used. Maita used No to tell Kurk he must control himself or he would ruin the whole thing and would probably get Z killed on top of it. Maita knew how frustrated he felt and said so in that strange way.
There were to be sensors and spy floaters inside the Jornian ship to control the golems, who were to have a major part in this crazy play. Maita may be forced to stay inside the ship by circumstances beyond his control, but he damned well participated almost as much as if he were right there with them!
Kurk felt truly "at home" with these people of the empire. They were a tight group, but he was as much as a part of that group. He felt that he somehow belonged and he'd never felt that way before.
Z was pushing to let the Tlorgians into the empire. It would happen. Maybe he would even be allowed to go to another world aboard the emperor's ship.
New Zule! He had to meet a Zulian! The stories he had been told about those people made it #1 foremost in importance that he actually meet one of them – after this was over, of course.
This was hardly the time to daydream about what would happen after Tlorg was a part of the empire. If these Prlnth weren't stopped there wouldn't BE any Zulians or empire or anything else.
Well, he had the first part in this crazy drama so he might as well get started. He grinned, saluted and headed for the Jornian ship with the golems not far behind.
*
Ehrak was totally confused as to what could be accomplished by all this playacting. The plan seemed more silly than anything else, though Thing was taking it seriously. Maita, through the golems, had added greatly to the plan. Only Ehrak and the Frome, Fale, couldn't understand any of it.
Then it slowly began to make sense. It first seemed a slapstick joke with a strong possibility of Z ending up dead, but now it seemed more and more to be a solid plan. Maita and Thing knew about these alien form
s of psychology. They were now analyzing what Z had learned about the Prlnth and were planning to use it against them. Thing would be able to add a lot because of what it learned through its empathy.
Fale suddenly laughed its barking laugh as it dawned on it what they were doing. It intended to enjoy this and to learn from it. Its confidence would add to the game – but it didn't know Z could be harmed, killed, in truth, by the Prlnth. So far as it was concerned the wizard Boss was invincible and would play with these arrogant demons and otherworlders.
If everyone didn't play his part to perfection what would Maita do? It would fail from any of a thousand points and this wasn't all that smart to even try, but the phenomenal luck, a result of the skills of this tight group, was legendary. Tom's memories were urging Ehrak to join into this fully and to allow himself to enjoy it. If he were to die here that was the way of things. No one had planned for anything more than a vacation. It was no one's fault this had happened. It was fortunate they were there or the omniverse would have suddenly ceased to have ever been shortly.
Ehrak wished with all his being that he could be what his famous ancestor had been, that he could thrill to this huge challenge.
Ehrak was too insecure. He was NOT Tom.
He could be! This was the chance to break the bonds of civilization – overcivilization – that were making life boring to his entire generation. His part in this could be important. He could be a part of saving the omniverse! Slight courage never fame won! He was going to go into this thing with the attitude in his memories! He was going to become the personality Tom had been. He was going to do this thing, he was going to enjoy it, he was going to be able to tell his own children of the exploits of yet another of their ancestors!
When he first submerged himself in Tom's personality at the fountain it was one of the finest feelings he had ever known. Wrestling in the fountain with Z and Kurk and the others lacked one exhilaration that was here: He was in no danger in the fountain.
Ehrak was surprised to find the danger added so much to the whole thing. He had never known danger before, had never known the feeling described as having your heart trying to fly out of your mouth before. He was most surprised to find he liked all of this!
He looked up to find Thing watching him with one eye. Of course the little empath knew Ehrak just became a person on his own. He had thrown off the thin cloak of his conservative civilization and reverted to what was, by the omniverse, what a Zeenan was MEANT to be! Maybe he would revert back to what he was before this moment once the crisis was past, but there would always be one major difference in him: He knew what it was to really be a part of something. He knew what his heritage was along those lines.
He also knew he was deathly afraid. That was the most important part of it. He had often heard that bravery was acting in spite of fear, that to act without fear wasn't brave at all, but now he knew exactly what that meant.
Kurk saluted them and went trotting off toward the Jornian ship. Fale rose into the air to perch on a large limb high in a nearby tree where it could watch Kurk's progress. The golems rose to follow as planned. Ehrak returned the salute with a grin.
"Gramps, you're gonna be proud of me!" he said under his breath.
Thing gave the victory sign with its tentacles. Ehrak felt the mental grin that came along with it.
Show Time!
Z was locked in a room near the center of the "needle" type ship. He knew the farmer and his family were in an adjoining room because he saw the girl, Klee, being led inside. He wasn't sure whether the sorceress, Zaft, was in that room or in another.
What was Maita planning? There was no way he could know, but he was positive the crew would think of something. Meanwhile he might as well keep the Prlnth off balance as much as possible. This would be as good a chance as any he could expect to experiment with the magic he reprogrammed in from the crystal made from the sorcerer Tee on that first trip to Tlorg. He sat, cupped his hands and made the bright blue flame appear. That was real magic or some kind of psy power. He knew how to do several other things, though he didn't know precisely how it really worked. The power to ground any energy was from a different sorcerer on a different world, brought to him by a machine. He could use that, but there was no reason to provoke the Prlnth so long as the children were being held.
This magic worked, according to his personal theory, through some power to affect things through dimensional planes. What was done was actually very close to nothing in his case. The true magicians on Tlorg had more of the psy ability so could affect much bigger things. The machines could mimic the psy power in some cases, too. TR had done so and that insane machine on EC (Tristar) had most certainly been able to do a lot. That device had been designed and built by a race who had a tremendous psy ability so that was logical. That machine had been mostly a gestalt amplifier.
Hell! It had moved at least two STARS!
It had also moved a miniature monopolar tunnel diode from a machine being used to attack it. The diode was less than half a gram. They had all worried it would soon decide to remove a few molecules from their nervous systems, something the wizards here on Tlorg could do, thus killing them.
The spell to make the flame was accomplished by moving a bit of heat from anything close at hand and making it stay above the hands. The light bending spell was a matter of making ionized air flow around your body in a peculiar way. The portals were opened by making a small static charge move in a certain pattern through various resistances.
Moving an electron or a photon was as much as he could do. He could teleport a short distance, but that was terribly dangerous. It was out of the question. It was the only spell he knew that used large amounts of energy.
How damned stupid! Z knew how the locks on these doors worked. They were electromonopolar relays! Move one lousy positron to the diode rejection point and the door would open. It didn't matter that he didn't know for sure which side to affect. He could try both.
Now, how to make use of getting out of a locked room without making them decide to kill him or giving them reason to scan his body for the shields? He may need those defenses at any time. They mustn't suspect the ability to use them. That meant figuring out what Maita would do and acting in concert with it.
First off, Maita would reject doing anything done before if only because the Jornians may know about it. Maita would react in a purely logical way – but Thing wouldn't and logic was the last thing they would need here! Maita would defer to Thing on this, then fret and worry like a mother hen whose chicks were threatened until they were all safe.
What was Thing going to do?
Thing was going to decide Z would continue the wizard act so would assume he was going to remain apparently unconcerned with anything the Jornians or the Prlnth threw his way, yet he would show outrage because the farm family was threatened. He made that clear when he sent the recorders' information.
This could be fun – if the Prlnth was confused enough to be off balance according to plan, but didn't decide to kill them to avoid any possible trouble from unexpected quarters.
Be outrageous, but do NOT be threatening.
Z moved to the lock mechanism, studied it and wished he had the ability the wizards here on Tlorg had to sense electrical movements. Like with the grounding of the power sphere he would have to test around a bit.
He moved a small charge around the area where he knew the lock diode was located. The door slid silently upward, he then closed it again. Because he bypassed the switch there would be no indication on the monitor board the door opened or closed.
Good! There was an idea! Might as well get started!
He again opened the door, slid out and reclosed it, moved along the hallway, stood for a moment outside of the room where the farmers were being held, decided this wasn't the time, then proceeded along the hall until he came to the mess room door. Most of the Jornians were seated around a long table drinking gincha. He moved silently behind them, then said, "Excuse me, please?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. There is nothing to drink in my quarters and nothing to be seated comfortably on. I wanted to tell you I will gather some of those things from my chariot and will return so do not be concerned with my short absence. I wanted to know if you would like some of the fine wine? I know from what I was served earlier and on my previous visit that you have none of the better quality beverages."
"Uh!!!" Nax said. "Guhh! How did you get out of the room? That door is electronically sealed! It sounds a warning if it's opened!"
"Get out? Door?" Z asked, feigning puzzlement. "Oh? Was it locked? I don't generally bother to open doors as it is far easier to go through the walls so I didn't know there was a lock. I will have to open the door to re-enter with my wine and pillows so your warnings will tell you then?"
"Through the WALL!?" Froh cried. "That wall is solid TitChroPlat! NOTHING goes through it!"
"Oh, don't be silly!" Z chided, smiling brightly. "It is only metal. I will return in a moment. Would you like some wine?"
He turned, strolled casually out to the floater (Where he quickly slid the passive recorder disk into the slot for Maita's enjoyment – and Thing's edification), picked up a few larger pillows, a container of wine, some glasses, some sweetcake and returned to the Jornian ship as the Jornians came running out with lasers in their hands. They stood around not knowing what to do as he strolled as casually as before up the ramp, into the hall and to "his" room. He cocked his head to the side as he studied the closed door, then turned to ask them how it was opened, explaining he couldn't carry liquids and solids through the wall at the same time.