Hwang had just made the closest thing to an irresistible offer one could propose to a Tran. Trade in sophisticated goods like electronics was still forbidden on Tran-ky-ky save for a few simple devices which would eventually break down. Nails and swords would last on a world where steel was more valued than gold. Even one as homesick as Hunnar would find it hard to turn down the offer.
“You can also tell them,” Blanchard continued, “that they would be expanding their knowledge of their own world and extending the hand of friendship and union to new peoples.”
That was as much an appeal to him as to the Tran, Ethan knew. By going along he would be doing business, making new trading contracts, perhaps finding new goods to buy. In a civilization like that of the Commonwealth, where electronics and goods and services were available cheaply and readily, exotic handicrafts and artwork were among the most highly prized of new goods.
Why the hell not? He was stuck here anyhow.
“I’m still not sure if this is a good idea or not or if it wouldn’t be better taken care of by some kind of remote survey craft, but I’ll put your proposition to Hunnar and his people. They have the right to turn you down themselves.”
“That’s all we’re asking.” She glanced up at September. “What about you, sir?”
“Me wishes all of you the best of luck, but my ship departs orbit at oh-eight hundred tomorrow morning. I’ll wave on my way outsystem. I’ve been cold long enough.”
Hwang was persistent, stubborn, or both. “The region where we’re going is warmer. That’s the problem.”
“Your problem, not mine. I’m off to where it’s warm all the time. Maybe I’ll regret not taking you up on your offer—in a year or two.”
She turned to Ethan. As far as she was concerned now, September had already departed. “I’m sure you’ll put our offer to your Tran friends as openly and honestly as we have put it to you. I only wish I could convey the importance of ascertaining the cause of this meteorological disturbance as rapidly as possible. There are crucial contradictions that require immediate resolution. Try to convey that to your friends along with our offer of cargo and transportation home for those who won’t come with us.”
“I’ll make sure they understand all the details. Why don’t you come with me since you feel so strongly about it? Tell them yourself.”
She shook her head. “I’m not good with people and I don’t know the language. None of us do. In that way our translators are electronic crutches. Speaking in person is infinitely more effective than talking through a device. Besides, these are your friends. It’ll sound much better coming from you. If they agree to help, then maybe I’ll be able to think of them as my friends as well.” An approving murmur rose from the scientists.
“We’ll see,” Ethan said, “but I can’t make any promises. As to convincing them of the urgency, that’s going to be tough.”
“I’ll take care of that,” said Williams quietly but confidently. “You soften them up, Ethan, and I’ll finish the argument off.”
Ethan looked dubious. “Hunnar Redbeard and Captain Ta-hoding are going to take more than just softening up when I try to convince them it’s not time for them to return home.”
“We’ve been a long time gone.”
As Hunnar finished his little speech his sentiments were echoed by the other Tran in the room. They included Balavere Longax, senior warrior among the crew of the Slanderscree; Ta-hoding, her captain; Elfa Kurdagh-Vlata, daughter of the Landgrave of Sofold; and Hunnar’s two squires. Ethan and Milliken Williams spoke for the staff of the research station while a dour Skua September glowered in the background. Ethan had asked him to join them and since his shuttle’s departure had been postponed to an early morning liftoff, he couldn’t very well decline. But he wasn’t happy about it.
The humans required survival suits for this extended parley, but to the Tran the temperature in the transition room was positively tropic, barely a few degrees below freezing.
As Hunnar sat down Ta-hoding leaned over the plastic table. “They wish us to take them where, friend Ethan?”
Williams unrolled the map Cheela Hwang and her colleagues had prepared. Transfers had been made from the survey satellite’s infrared photos. He wondered how the Tran would react to it, never having seen their world from above. They navigated by wind and stars, landmarks and tradition. If any could make the mental leap necessary, it would be those in this room. The concept of maps was not unknown to them, but aerial photography was something else again.
Tran measured distance in units called satch, and he’d had the outpost cartographer put all measurements on the crude map in those familiar numbers. It helped.
Elfa eyed the map uneasily. “No one has ventured so far south and east. That region is unknown to us.”
Ethan thought she looked wonderful in her furs and leathers. Exotic, very feminine in a feline sort of way, and wholly alien. You’re anthropomorphizing again, he warned himself.
“Until you made the journey in the Slanderscree no one from Sofold had ever been this far east before, either.” He used a finger to trace a route on the map. “We’ll head south to Poyolavomaar. That much is familiar territory and we can resupply the ship there if necessary. From there we turn southeast until we cross the equatorial ice pressure ridge—the ‘bent ocean’ as you call it—somewhere in this vicinity. Then it’s straight on to the edge of the southern continent. The continental plateau runs almost due east-west at that point and we’ll be able to keep the west wind hard behind us. I doubt we’ll run into anything we haven’t already met up with.”
“That is a promise oft disproved before,” Budjir quipped softly.
Ethan rerolled the map. The research department’s publications section would have copies prepared and laminated prior to the icerigger’s departure.
“It’s not like Hwang and her people are asking you to sail them to the south pole. They’re going to make the trip worthwhile. Each member of the icerigger’s crew will share in the profits to be realized upon your return home to Sofold.”
“What of those left behind who wait anxiously for word of that long-delayed return?” Balavere Longax inquired. His fur was tipped with silver and his beard gray instead of ruddy.
“The humans here intend to hire the best ship available to take a portion of the Slanderscree’s crew back to Wannome. They can report for all.”
“No other merchant vessel has ever made such a journey. Until we came to this place the people of Sofold had no knowledge of Arsudun, nor they of us,” Ta-hoding pointed out.
“Exactly. Now that the route is known and the journey once completed, other Tran should be more willing to attempt it. The owners of the ship we hire will be well paid.”
“We had the wind always behind us.”
“The return trip will involve more time and less danger, since the obstacles are now known. Those of your crew who make this journey will do so in comfort. Others will raise the sails and cook the food. When you stride together into the great hall at Wannome to speak of our adventures you will be honored. There will be more honor to come when the Slanderscree finally returns weighted down with its cargo of metal.
“I’ve talked to the metallurgist in charge of the smelter here. She’ll be glad to fulfill your requests for spear points, nails, small tools, and pipes. Whatever you wish. The humans who want to engage your services will pay for everything. With this one cargo Wannome will leap beyond its neighboring city-states in wealth and prestige. It will make it easier to strengthen the new union. When the people of Ayhas and Meckleven see the benefits to be gained from membership, they’ll rush to join.”
“You tempt us, friend Ethan,” said Balavere. “You tempt us greatly. Were it not for the need to inform our loved ones and our Landgrave that we still chivan o’er the oceans of our world, I would be inclined to stay with you myself. Such a cargo as you describe has never been imagined. I would like to be the one to unveil it.”
“As friend Ethan says, i
t is not as though we are being asked to sail ’round the globe.” Suaxus-dal-Jagger clearly had no doubts as to which course they should take. “What his friends propose is a journey no longer than the one that took us from here to Moulokin. Those lands also were unknown to us until we visited them. By making the journey we gained knowledge and allies. Why should not this one prove similarly beneficial?” The squire grinned, showing razor-sharp canines.
“And if there is to be a fight or two along the way, why, it would keep us from boredom. That is the only place I fear to visit.”
“I should think you’d had enough adventure to keep you from boredom for the remainder of your life.” Elfa’s gaze shifted from the exuberantly enthusiastic squire back to Ethan. “Still and all, your scholar friends offer a city’s ransom in payment for a little transportation. Long as it has been since my father has seen me, I know what he would advise.”
Hunnar had been studying his right paw, extending and retracting his claws. Now he looked up to where Skua September leaned against the door that led back into the outpost complex.
“What think you, friend Skua? Should we accept this proposition?”
“Yes, what do you think?” Balavere asked.
September let his gaze touch on human and Tran alike. “I think you’re every one of you fools. Some of you are furry fools and some of you smooth-skinned, but you have warm blood and idiocy in common. I think Ethan’s a fool for risking the dangers of your world on still another journey into unknown regions. I think the rest of you are fools for not returning home right now.”
“We know what to expect, Skua,” said Williams, adjusting his glasses. “It would be discouraging if we didn’t encounter one or two new things on such an expedition.”
“Something new ain’t what would worry me. Surprises wouldn’t worry me. What would worry me, Milliken, is that sooner or later a man’s odds will catch up with him. You don’t go give those odds any help against us. Fate’s already on their side. Me, I’ve been tiptoeing on the far edge of disaster most of my life. Just because I haven’t fallen off yet doesn’t mean I’m going to start dancing. I don’t think you should go.”
Williams turned to the watchful Tran. “Certainly there may be dangers to be faced. This is your world. I believe Cheela Hwang and her colleagues when they say that it may be in danger. The kind of danger that can reach across oceans and continents. We seek an explanation because events that cannot be explained have a way of coming back to haunt you. We must find out what is happening to the weather along the edge of the southern continental plateau.”
“What threat could it pose to us in far distant Sofold?” Budjir wanted to know.
Williams struggled to persuade. “I realize you’re still trying to grasp the concept of a world as one place, a single home. It took my people even longer to do so, to their detriment. A world is like a living organism. What happens on the other side of the globe can affect us here in Arsudun. Think of it as a creature without arms or legs. If one area is infected and not treated in time, the infection can spread and kill the whole body. We need to find out if this is an infection of that kind.”
“The scholar speaks truth. I agree with him,” said Balavere.
Hunnar and Elfa exchanged a look. She nodded once, slowly. But the final word did not rest with them. Not here, on this matter. This was not an affair of state. He turned to the captain of the Slanderscree.
“What of the ship? What repairs would have to be made before she could undertake such a journey?”
“None, Sir Hunnar. The ship is sound. While I would rather return home myself, the thought of another long journey does not frighten me. Our vessel is solid. She could use a thorough cleaning, but then what ship could not?
“The thought of sailing so far south with less than a full crew does not cheer me, but it can be done. No reason be there why thirty could not handle her well enough, particularly if we take our time and put out anchors early.”
“We’d like to reach this place as quickly as possible,” Williams commented, “but our actual speed would be up to you. Whatever’s affecting the climate isn’t going to alter radically one way or the other in a day or two.”
Ta-hoding looked content. “As long as we are not hard pressed, then, I see no reason why we cannot send half our complement and more home to cheer those we have left behind. We know her well by now, our icerigger, and those who agree to crew her on this voyage will be volunteers. If those who do so are promised a greater share in the promised cargo, I foresee no difficulty in securing willing sailors.”
“Naturally the captain’s share would be proportionately larger,” said September from his corner.
Ta-hoding coughed, looked slightly embarrassed. “It would not be unnatural. It is the traditional manner of such payments.”
“Clearly there would be plenty for all.” Hunnar shook a massive paw at Williams. “This will be the last place the Slanderscree docks before the familiar portal of Wannome harbor. Absolutely the last! The lamentations of my family echo loud in my ears.”
Williams nodded assent. “I promise. After this you can all go home, richer as well as wiser.”
“It is settled then,” said Elfa. She glanced up at Ethan. “But this I say to both of you: This is a thing we do not for the fortune your metal wizard has promised to us, nor out of friendship which has its limits. This thing we do because Milliken Williams asks it of us. Because we owe him a debt that has not yet been repaid.”
“Truth!” declaimed Balavere Longax loudly.
Ethan knew what they were referring to. If not for the schoolteacher’s application of some ancient practical knowledge, both the battles for Wannome and Moulokin would have been lost. Elfa, Hunnar, and the rest of the Tran owed Williams not only their independence but their lives.
“Yes, well.” The teacher dropped his eyes and voice and tried to vanish from view. “Anyone else in my position would have done the same. I just happened to be in the necessary place at the required time.”
“Anyone else I do not know,” said Hunnar. “Milliken Williams I do know. You overdo your modesty. This then is our repayment. We Tran do not like to leave debts lying loosely about where consciences can stumble over them in the night.”
“We’re all set then.” Ethan pushed back his chair. “Milliken, why don’t you deliver the good news to Hwang and Blanchard and the others? I’m sure they’ve chewed their nails down to the quick wondering what our friends’ answer will be.”
“With the greatest pleasure. They’ll be delighted for a minute or so. Then they’ll get to work making preparations for departure.”
“Yes, preparations,” said Ta-hoding. He didn’t rub his paws together but came close. “And while provisioning is going on I can meet with your metal wizard to discuss what we will want in the way of cargo for our trip back to Sofold. In that way it can be ready and waiting for us as soon as we return.”
Elfa was smiling. “It will be good to return home with something more than stories to give the people.”
Laser-bright, the sun of Tran-ky-ky cast the rocky features of Arsudun island into silhouette as it rose in the east. Ice particles bombarded the glass sealing in the second-floor observation deck that overlooked the shuttle runway.
Ethan watched as the shuttle rose from its underground hangar like a skeleton from the grave. It rested on wide blue ice skids, the stern of the sleek delta-wing shape pocked with rocket and jet exhaust ports. It would accelerate rapidly down the smooth runway, using standard jets to carry it into the upper atmosphere where ramjets would take over and increase its velocity further. Beyond the envelope of frigid air that cocooned Tran-ky-ky, rockets would take over and propel it into orbit where it would be overtaken by its mother ship. After passengers and cargo had been distributed, the KK-drive would be activated, tugging the interstellar craft out of Tran-ky-ky’s system and into that strange region known as space-plus, where faster-than-light travel was possible.
As he stared, the shu
ttle’s stern glowed with life. The thunderous roar of the jets was muffled by the thick glass. The ship began to move forward. Slowly at first, gradually gathering speed, its great weight forcing the skids through the ice onto the solid stelacrete beneath. Behind him other members of the outpost’s complement turned away. The once-a-month departure of the shuttle was not enough of a novelty to hold their attention longer.
They chatted easily, relaxed, their thoughts back on the business of the day. Ethan’s rode aboard the shuttle, alongside the large, extraordinary gentleman who’d been his close companion and friend for the year and more they’d spent surviving on this frozen world together.
Carried aloft on a column of superheated air, the shuttle lifted from the far end of the runway. Ethan followed it with his eyes until it vanished like a lost leaf in the perfectly clear blue sky. He continued to stare into the distance until the echo of the little vessel’s thunder faded in his ears. Then he turned away from the window.
There was plenty to do. Establishing a formal trading station would require the completion of an enormous quantity of paperwork, no matter how accommodating the new Resident Commissioner. If he started on it immediately he might be able to scratch the surface before the Slanderscree departed for the southern continent. Then there were specialized computer programs to be ordered, files to be set up, requests for personnel to enter. If he were lucky and everything he needed reasonably available, he might be able to relax in three or four months. If he could at least get some programs operating, it would look to Malaika’s subalterns like he was doing his job.
It was going to be a lonely one. Administration and supervision demanded he read, not shake hands or other appendages. The most entertaining computer program was a poor substitute for close companionship.
The Icerigger Trilogy Page 71
