by Moulton, CD
The last reports from Givzoo were encouraging. The control bioform, while it didn't kill the growing fungoids, didn't harm the ecology in any way they could discern. Tab studied the data that was posted, then made a suggestion himself about the experiments.
"I have an idea we may be seeking too much too soon," he sent to Kuhlicht. "If we can simply stop the spores from coming up and if this works as I hope it'll do the job very well. The evidence you sent suggests the bioform actually feeds on the spores from the fungoid. It's not merely a retardant. Can you explain why?"
"Because it produces an enzyme not unlike papain which breaks down protein in the spores," Givzoo answered. "The fungoid must have those chains to incite the growth cycle. The memory encoding takes up most of the room in the spore so the critical energy to induce the embryo's expansion simply isn't there without the proteins.
"I think you're right. We'll study those things that are already growing and the reaction of the bioform when introduced directly into that patch. We've sent a machine out there to burn off all but ten of them. They have a synergic sort of gestalt if there are enough of them. We certainly aren't about to allow these to attain any size. Another twelve days and we'll grow another crop. We'll burn those out."
"Don't take any chances whatever," TR agreed. "If you screw up make it because you got rid of the things too soon, not too late!"
Then there was nothing to do but wait and to help TR and T6 control the growth of new fungoids there on Grandish. They had some early seasonal rains on Harmedt that caused a rapid growth there, but T6 was carefully monitoring that area so was able to stay ahead of serious problems. It was six days later that Tab received the news about his suggestion to Givzoo. He was called to come to TR to receive a communication which surprised him as TR could have sent it directly.
"We're going to Kuhlicht," TR said. "You'd have to be here anyway. Here's Nortich on fastcom."
"Tab?" Nortich greeted. "We now have enough bioform spores to give us a good start. We're culturing it as fast as we can so it will be only sixty or seventy days until we have enough to treat all of Grandish. We'll want mappings and regular reports here. Is there a place where you can make a special test? A place where there's some extraordinary growth?
"It would be rather unwise to use this test in your present location solely because it's closest."
"There were some early rainfalls on Harmedt," Tab answered. "We have a tremendous growth there. It's directly in the jet stream from here."
"Harmedt's a small continent that's partly sandy desert," TR said. "There are only about eighty thousand square kilometers on the continent – more a large island than a continent – and not more than a fourth of that will support the fungoid under the best of circumstances."
"We should have enough spores to treat that entire area, then," Nortich replied. "It would be an excellent test. If we can rid that continent of the fungoid without disrupting the ecology we have won this fight!"
Tab went to report to Looph and the Grandish he was going to Kuhlicht and would return with a test control. If it worked as predicted the empire and Grandish would be safe from the fungoid.
He then went to receive the spores. TR was instructed in the best methods of spreading the bioform. They took the time to modify two special floaters for the project before returning to Grandish. The bioform was spread so there was nothing to do but wait again.
Looph finished the statue. It was placed late at night and hidden beneath a cloth, then was dedicated and shown to an awed silence. The lights were transmitted through the material of the piece which was so lifelike one would expect it to begin the speech of pride and victory at any second. The plaque was set beneath the statue in its special lighted area. The inscribed artwork would make even that flat piece of metal priceless. A glance was enough to show both pieces were the work of a Parf.
Everyone made a speech and the legend of Klist Mar, hero of Grandish and of the Maitan Empire, friend to all living beings everywhere, grew. The simplest thing Tab had done as Klist Mar was given great significance. Veen, Lope, Barst, Djin, Peld – all who had known him were sought out for their stories. The people of Grandish aren't liars, but in Misd there were many who were sure they had known Mar. Their memories built it to the point that all who believed they must have seen him on the streets or in a restaurant were sure they had felt greatness in the very sight of him even years ago when he was a child.
Such is the way of the universe. Such was the aim of the story of Mar's heroic death. Even Maita gave a speech through TR's speakers.
*I am not the maudlin type. I simply wish to take a short moment to state the truth of my great respect for the Grandish. Klist Mar was a focus for the best qualities of your race. You have every right to pride, not only for Klist Mar, but even much more for yourselves. I welcome Grandish to the family of the Maitan Empire. Klist Mar and Grandish have earned a permanent place in the history of the galaxy. Peace be with you always. I have no personal doubt you will each and every one live up to the high standards set for you by Klist Mar.*
Maita doesn't like to make speeches. That was a long one, for it.
Tab and Kit worked steadily with the Grandish, Tab advising them about dealing with the traders guild and Kit pushing for strong worldwide laws to control quality. "We established a precedent with these glasswares," he explained. "We didn't have to go to the empire, the traders contacted us. It's true that Tabori, with Mar's help, got the traders interested, but we must never forget for one moment the thing that made Tab go out of his specialty to get us the markets was the quality of our samples.
"I can say honestly the quality of those first samples, those pieces that got the contracts for us, was the WORST that will ever pass out of our gates! We have the chance here to become as famous as the Zeenans for our products!
"Don't forget another thing: We heard of the Zeenans very soon when the empire contacted us. Everyone, everywhere, knows who the Zeenans are and everyone respects them. We can be as well-known and as respected or we can become another little world among the thousands in the empire. To guarantee our good reputation we must be absolutely certain no product ever leaves the surface of this world that isn't as nearly perfect as the Grandish can make it – and we've proven we can come closer to perfect than anyone else! We can become known and respected on another level, too. For the reason Emperor Maita personally spoke with us. For the reasons the Feach are so well known and respected.
"Because we unselfishly will come to the aid of anyone for no other reason than that they are in need of aid!
"From all I've heard we will never approach the respect and love the Zulians command. No one ever will. We CAN be second to them! Klist Mar has shown the entire galaxy that we ARE a great race. We MUST NOT lose that!"
Tab laughed about the statements and insisted that what was said was all very true, but he didn't think the Grandish had any problem with it. They had better sense than to screw up now. The excellent sense shown by Jarj Fel in noting no one would ever approach the love and respect given to the Zulians showed the race was level and reasonable in their thinking.
TR and T6 monitored the treated continent minutely, finding the bioform was doing the job better than they'd hoped. There was no evidence any fungoids had grown since the third day after the seeding, though the floaters located some that grew before the seeding and destroyed them. They knew the growing plants wouldn't be affected.
When the next communication came in from Kuhlitch Tab was suddenly highly suspicious and immediately felt there was something wrong. He knew it was projected to be a minimum of sixty days before there were enough spores to treat Grandish, but after just twenty seven they called to say there were plenty of the spores ready – and there were enough for Tesfort as well. No one had ever suggested that they treat Tesfort. The fungoid was in the galls there and was no danger.
"This sounds worse than bad!" TR warned when Tab assured Givzoo he would get there right away for the spores. "I hope the spore
s themselves can't use the gestalt ability!"
"Call Kit," Tab suggested. "We're going to have to find out what's happening out there and that means going to Kuhlicht. It also means we can't let the fungoid know that we're even slightly suspicious. I think Givzoo and Nortich are under the control of some form of the plant and this is trickery. Givzoo wanted to be absolutely certain I understood that. That's why he said he had enough for Tesfort.
"When Kit comes aboard we'll go. We're going to be given spores of the fungoid. They'll look the same as the bioform."
They waited until Kit came back aboard, then left for Kuhlicht.
"We have to do something to ensure Givzoo and Nortich are safe," Kit cautioned. "Once that thing feels reasonably safe it'll kill them to see that no more of the bioform are produced.
"How do you think it managed this?"
"Probably worked through Zantoo," TR replied. "It produced a clone of itself, I'd say, and programmed it with everything, then set us up for the rest of it. It knew the bioform could defeat it so it had to do something to survive. I didn't ever really accept it would do some of the things it did before."
"Then we have to find it," Tab declared. "Could it use Zantoo's mind to see what kind of logic we would use in looking for it?"
"It'll be close and will use misdirection," TR answered. "We'll find it. Kit will stay aboard and will stay out of sight. The psy part of your mind will stay open enough that it'll think it has you. I'll have to be extremely careful about using the servos and communications forms. Be sure you don't give out any vital information about me. I'll even go so far as to erase certain information about me from your memory. It can be replaced when this is over.
"You too, Kit."
"Yo!" Kit agreed. "The last thing we need is some trickery that would give that thing a ship!"
They came in on a normal procedure, sitting on the pad next to the still disabled supply ship Givzoo had originally brought in. Nortich came out to greet them with a strange look in her eyes and too much talk.
Givzoo was in the lab with two crates of spores. He looked lost in the eyes, but was being very careful of what he said.
"This crate will handle Grandish," he explained. "This one will take care of Tesfort. I think we should probably go ahead and take care of Tesfort now instead of waiting."
"Do you think we should treat all the worlds where ships may have gone from Grandish since that damned thing first grew there?" Tab asked innocently, but he saw the hope in Givzoo's eyes. "I know that there are several hundred worlds involved, but the new bioform won't hurt anything else will it?"
"We'd have to gather the spores for you," Givzoo replied. "If you'll deliver these safely Nortich and I can work on the next batch. I would think the more worlds we treat, the better."
Tab looked at the maps of the research areas, then asked how the test plots were doing. "I think I'll look them over while I'm here," he said. "That shouldn't take very much time. This was the area where we first found the plots Zantoo had set up, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Nortich said quickly. "There and over here (Pointing to a hillside), but maybe it would be best if you waited until your next trip to get the next batch of bioform spores. Time is very important. We want these growing before any of the others can start to grow."
So. The thing thought it could do something if it was given a foothold (Roothold?) before the bioform started to spread. The thing that was controlling Givzoo and Nortich was in that hill. They understood the reference to other worlds that had been in contact with Grandish. It would buy them time because the fungoid wanted to be spread as far as possible. It wouldn't realize they knew no ships left Grandish other than TR and T6 since the thing first spored in any way that could have reached ships in A Port.
"I understand perfectly!" Tab said. "I'll be back in three days. Is that too soon?"
"It should do," Nortich said. "Uh, if we aren't here at the lab, uh, we'll pack the spores and have them ready for you to take, uhmmm!"
She was trying hard to not say that. She was being totally controlled. Pack the spores for his next trip then get rid of Givzoo and Nortich!
"Oh, no!" Tab said, laughing. "There's NO way I'm going to fool with anything as important as these bioform spores unless you're both right here to guarantee I'm not making a mistake! NO WAY! PERIOD! If you're not both here I won't take ANY spores! I'll wait for you to come back."
"Then we'll definitely be sure to be right here to give them to you," Givzoo promised, relief in his voice. "If that's the only way we can get these bioforms spread, that's what we'll have to do. I'm sure we can make time in our researches for that."
"If there is no other way there is no other way," Nortich agreed, relief in her voice and eyes, too.
Tab took the two small cases to TR after saying he would be sure to be back in three days. Four at most. Givzoo and Nortich stayed in the labs.
"I'm staying here," Tab said quickly as he came into TR. "Get these spores out of here. Destroy them. I'm sure they're fungoid. The big one is in that hill to the east. Get into low orbit where I can call you. Plug in for a quick report."
He quickly plugged into the console, gave a complete pulsed readout, then slipped quickly out and under the ramp. He went out of sight of any sensors to Givzoo's ship and inside as TR lifted from the pad.
* *
Kit placed a few spores on the differentiation analyzer plate so TR could do a comparative study. He, like Tab and TR, had no doubt whatever these were going to be fungoid spores. They were.
"Hmm. Plenty of RNA chains to have the partial programmings," TR decided. "I'd say the gestalt lock among five or six of them would make a working copy of mama. If we spread these things over Tesfort and Grandish there would be hundreds of copies of the original in a few days."
"TR, this means Zantoo's clone or whatever was made a longer time ago than we thought," Kit mused. "That means because we have all these spores that mama, as you call it, is dead. You see what that means?"
"As we're linked I see exactly what you're thinking," TR replied. "These spores don't have the psy talent. Period. I've made a very sensitive pickup for it and it simply isn't there. You see what THAT means?"
"As we're linked I see exactly what you're thinking," Kit shot back with a grin (Both mental and physical). "I wonder how many of those clones there are down there for Tab to stumble into. I suppose it would be out of the question for us to contact him?"
"It is," TR replied. "But I have some VERY powerful floaters low and waiting. If there's any call whatever there's going to be the damndest firestorm down there you ever imagined! I AIN'T about to take any chances. Not where Tab is concerned! He can stand six or seven hundred degrees Maitan without damage – hell, without any discomfort – while that fungus can't stand one hundred!"
"But Givzoo and Nortich can't stand a hundred, either," Kit pointed out.
"Number one, they aren't close to where Tab is," TR replied. "Number two, I can direct the heat so they won't necessarily even know what's happening and, number three, they can look out for themselves. I'm getting a little tired of those two ... oh, great exploding galaxies!"
"Oh for pity's sake!" Kit said as the thought came to both of them through the link at the same time so close that neither could be sure which thought of it first.
"Volich! Where the HELL is Volich?"
There was a mental silence for a moment, then Kit ordered, "TR, get a floater down there with Volich's psy antidote. I'll go in on a personal floater to pick them up. Maybe you can blind the sensors somehow. Do you think Volich is at that hill?"
"Probably," TR answered. "Volich must have found the clones, which precipitated the actions. I was wondering why the thing suddenly started all of that when it could have more easily waited for the regular timing to spread the spores and we wouldn't have been any the wiser.
"Put yourself in the mode Tab uses to outthink the fungoid. Volich stumbled onto those hidden clones. Their secret is out.... Take it from there."
"Uh, so, by its logic ... what?" Kit answered. "I see! There are so many of us and it still thinks we're basically alike in our genetic coding so more will soon find it! Something must be done before that happens, so it...."
"... has one or two of the older clones to immediately begin programmed spore growth," TR continued. "Get those spores out and on Grandish! This world isn't safe because...."
"The bioform is already released here," Kit said slowly. "It will continue to spread through its natural progression and may not be defeatable. This world is useless. In time no fungoid will be able to survive on Kuhlicht. That means Givzoo and Nortich were able to hide the fact the bioform was already on Grandish!"
"No," TR replied. "They can't hide that much from this one. It's learned. They were able to convince it the spores would be confined to the one little continent where it was seeded. They had to do something to let us know this was a setup so Givzoo seized on the idea of spreading the spores on a second world – Tesfort. Then Tab saw a way to keep Givzoo and Nortich alive – let the thing think it was about to be spread on hundreds of worlds! It wouldn't miss that opportunity!
"Your floater's ready. It's shielded like those others and there's plenty of Volich's antidote aboard. There's also a mean little thunderstorm coming up that's going to knock out the power so it'll also knock out the sensors."
"How did you manage to start a thunderstorm?" Kit asked.
"There's plenty of moisture in the atmosphere," TR replied. "A floater with an extreme electrical charge, some special dust for condensation, a heat absorption grid on the floater. It's not all that hard. One would have developed by late afternoon anyway. I'm bringing it in early. Get a move on!"
Kit unhooked the line to the console, went to the hold port, checked out the floater, waited until TR said the storm was close over the lab and hill area and went down. He was able to get in low just as the storm hit with a fury and to skip around on the floater to put it in Givzoo's ship. It fit into the hold folded. He dodged into the lab doors to find both Givzoo and Nortich putting the spores into tubes with little scoops. He came up behind them with the anaesthetic, drugged them into an instant coma, took one under each arm (perhaps a bit roughly, but speed was of the essence), dodged back out to the ship and was away behind the hill opposite where Tab would be. It took a total of nineteen and a third minutes. Six minutes later they were all aboard TR, who moved away more than a plazsi, staying linked to its floaters with fastcom. It wanted to be certain it was out of possible range of the psy before re-awakening Givzoo and Nortich. The scientists confirmed Kit and TR were close in their estimations of what had happened.
