Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (107 page)
Read Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition Online
Authors: CD Moulton
Tags: #adventure, #science fiction, #flight of the maita
"I didn't pay
much attention to what's being grown, but the floaters should be
able to tell us. They've recorded everything there in detail. I
suppose they really are doing something like that simply because
that's the type of people they are. They would smuggle the stuff
out from habit when it would be to their advantage to move it
legally."
"The floaters
already reported the Khloovsht," TR replied. "I built the whole
scenario around it. It's there in the quantities we suggested. What
are we going to do on Froltzar?"
"We're going to
expose this to the people there so they can handle it themselves
without undue embarrassment to themselves or the Isliponans," Kit
said. "The people get along too well to let something like this
mess up their relationship.
"Head for
Froltzar!"
"You got it!"
TR replied. The two ships got clearance and left atmosphere
together.
They arrived at
Froltzar together and landed at the empire diplomatic field.
"Let's get into
the records so we can hand the authorities here the facts," Tab
said. "Kit and T Six, you get the news media into it. They'll have
files. I've got holographs of most of the ones we want to identify.
TR and I'll meet with the authorities for crossreferences and we'll
check for the spice sales."
"... we've
identified thirty one of your most wanted criminals for you and
told you where they are," Tab finished at the meeting of the
authority on Froltzar. "All the empire asks is that you handle the
situation carefully and in such a way that your good relationship
with Islipona isn't jeopardized."
"I hope we can
do this in a way where the Isliponans never know about it," the
Inspector General replied. "It is a shameful thing that we allowed
the worst dregs of our race to almost contaminate that beautiful
place! The Isliponans are the best friends we have in the galaxy
and we do this to them!"
"You didn't do
a single solitary damned thing to them!" TR's floater said. "Don't
get this guilt complex started. Just go in there and remove them.
Tell Glarch you'll see that no such thing happens again and forget
it. I know damned well the Isliponans will. I think you should make
arrangements to grow the Khloovsht there in a kind of joint venture
with them. There should be profit for both worlds in that."
"It'll help to
repay a little of the great help the Isliponans have given us," the
IG agreed. "We depend on their world for much of our food. We
couldn't survive as a race without such help. It will be good to be
able to offer something in return!"
"The Isliponans
enjoy your company," Kit said. "They feel the food is trade for
some of the good things your race gives them. You produce a lot of
the things they use themselves. They're the first to admit they're
naturally lazy and would do without if someone else didn't produce
those things."
"It is strange
that we are such good friends," the IG said. "They are mammals and
we are reptiles. Perhaps the differences are the basis of our
interest in one another. All of Froltzar extend our friendship and
great respect to the empire and our great thanks to its agents, the
T-K Detective Agency. We deeply appreciate your help and your
discretion in this matter. We are proud to be part of the
empire."
TR knew the
period of obligatory praise would start so sent a message through
the floater that an emergency had come up and the agents must leave
immediately. Froltzar would handle what was basically a Frolt
problem and blah, blah, blah. The ships left atmosphere for EC in
less than a quarter hour.
"They'll take
care of this and will be stronger for it," Tab said. "Another
rather satisfying conclusion to a case!
"We ARE getting
rather good, aren't we?"
See
You Later!
Perfect 3
wasn't all that bad in reality. It was just that the name made one
react badly, but that was the way it was and nobody was going to
change it! Tab, back to being a Swaz and Kit, again a Kheth were
lazing around the pilot's dome on TR, who was linked with T6 on the
pad. They had just heard that Maita and crew would soon be back on
EC so would go there to exchange stories with their friends.
Kit was working
perfectly – as was T6 – in the agency and now all enjoyed the
business. Things like the Leen case, particularly the two days on
Islipona at its conclusion, then the case there could show them
much about the reactions of mammals such as Z. They could be
adjusted to react in the same manner from the same stimuli.
Tab wanted to
talk with Thing about the logic system of the Ejahds and about some
of the things he'd learned on that ship. Kit wanted to make a few
pointed jokes with Z now that he could understand the underlying
sexuality in Terran language. Time was on their side. They worked
well together and could work as well with Maita, Z and Thing so
they could all enjoy the excitement and adventure for as long as it
would last.
That could be a
very long time.
Flight of the
Maita
Book 23
On the Dome
(c) 1988 by C.
D. Moulton
The crew decide
to go exploring while Tab and Kit are getting settled in the
detective business. The Krofpth are discovered.
Critic
comment
This is better.
Nice little adventures, and Library is explained.
More than
readable. – PA
Contents
On the Dome
Let’s
Go!
Maita,
spaceship, intelligent being, and emperor of the Maitan Empire
(through no desire of its own), watched on its sensors as Tab/TR
and Kit/T6, two robot detectives designed and built by Maita and
their ships, one of which was built by Maita, went into orbit and
soon flashed into TTH drive.
Kit was new and
was built as partner and part of T6, the ship Maita didn't build,
but a ship who developed independent intelligence through the
random replacement of parts with components designed for another
purpose. TRD-60 was designed to be intelligent and independent, as
was Tab. This trip was to be to teach the robots to work
together.
Maita was often
referred to as a "mother hen" type worrier by Z, the Terran member
of the "crew", who was abducted from Earth three hundred MGS
(Maitan Galactic Standard) years ago and who had been one of the
two permanent organic members of Maita's crew ever since. The other
organic member was Thing, the Mentan empath. Thing was a squarish,
rubbery being with tentacles and eyes on stalks. It was one of the
most intelligent beings ever discovered and the empire covered
almost the entire galaxy in size, though much was still
unexplored.
The two
organics were on Maita right now, having come to say good fortunes
to Tab and Kit and their ships. The organics and machines honestly
cared for one another and worked well together. They played word
games among themselves that were based mostly on insult and
one-upmanship. People often thought they were about to come to
blows if they weren't familiar with the game. Z and Thing also
played physical jokes on one another as well as on the machines,
but the machines had to take care if they joined in those because
they were virtually indestructible while the organics were
comparatively fragile. The organic members of "The Emperor's Crew"
could be rebuilt almost entirely in the med machines, but the brain
was not rebuildable. The robots could be totally rebuilt, but the
experience of the individual was what made him an individual and
those parts of the mind couldn't be replaced, making death as true
a description of what destroying the brain was to a robot as to an
organic.
Maita had
speakers over the entire ship as well as on floaters the crew often
used, Thing more than the others, as its tentacles weren't all that
great for moving about on smooth surfaces.
The ships and
robots were linked when in close proximity to one another through a
type of very finely tuned gravitic/radio transception that few
others could intercept. (The ships would invent a new tuning
concept on gravitics during their adventures that would make a
system that it was as close to impossible as those things can be to
intercept.)
Thing, being an
empath who breathed through filter membranes couldn't speak
directly so Maita designed circuits into its floaters, TR, T6 and
even Tab and Kit as well as in itself to translate for Thing. As
Thing used the same speakers as the rest of the ships a system was
worked out three hundred years ago to differentiate between Maita
and Thing. Neither used “normal” breaks in inflection or pauses to
indicate paragraphing or thought separation so whatever either said
was in one long paragraph. This was of necessity at first but,
though it no longer was, they still used the system from pure
habit.
Thing had a
melodic middle "C" tuning fork sound ([ – ]) before and after what
it said, while Maita used a bell tone (*). Maita was designing a
system in the galactic fastcom system that wouldn’t carry those
tones for any other station so the forms would soon be known
throughout the empire and no one could realistically hope to
impersonate either of them. The system would be carried on a
fractal wave base that Thing was designing.
It had been
quite some time since the group had gone exploring and things were
running themselves very well, thank you. Maita was more a
figurehead anymore, as machines ran the empire, which was one big
trading guild for all practical purposes. Only the crew and the
Zulians (That's another story) knew the emperor was a machine. Some
cultures wouldn't like to know a machine was why the system
worked.
Z and Thing
were kept in excellent physical condition by Maita's medical
machines so there was no reason they should ever die. There was no
danger of their becoming bored, the great curse of long life
because they figured that, should they explore one new planet every
day in this galaxy, they wouldn't get to all of them in millions of
years. There was always something new. They had one other great
advantage: There were sockets in Z's earlobes in which he could
wear what appeared to be fine quality diamonds, but which were, in
reality, fully programmed data input chips. The sockets were wired
directly to Z's brain so he had full use of everything on the
"diamonds." Maita could use the probe on anyone of any type, then
edit language and customs for the immediate use of the crew, Z
through the crystals and Thing and the others through direct
broadcast. Knowledge, skills and abilities were also programmable
onto the chips.
Another thing
was that Z could be modified to a large extent in the medical boxes
on TR, T6 and Maita to be indistinguishable from many beings.
Coupled with the language and intimate knowledge of the society he
could accomplish great things among those beings.
The medical
"boxes" were used to implant the sockets for the crystals as well
as for medical and modification reasons. There were occasionally
other beings who traveled with Maita who were also implanted with
the data sockets to facilitate their interaction with the crew.
They decided
before coming to see their friends off that they would next explore
on the galactic central sphere, which was only very slightly known.
Maita needed to be doing something to take its thoughts from Kit
and Tab so announced they could leave at any time.
[ I'm ready,
Maita. Everything's much as I want it and will take care of itself.
]
Thing had
planted vast gardens under the ocean on Empire Center. It was from
a high pressure planet so enjoyed working under two to three
kilometers of water. The augmented membranes made breathing almost
as easy in liquid as in gases.
*It's up to
you, Z. How soon can you be ready to go?*
"I have some of
Joe's People to take care of things, so I'm ready. Let's get this
play on the stage!"
Z had an island
on EC where he brought plants from hundreds of planets, most of
them in forms that were like the orchids of Earth, which he had the
galaxy's finest collection of – off of Earth itself, of course –
well, he had a lot of things that were now extinct on Earth so he
had a more complete collection of species as well as a huge
inventory of hybrids he'd crossed himself. He also raised types of
camellias, bromeliads, and allied types of plants. He’d found many
that seemed identical to familiar plants from Earth in appearances,
such as what seemed to him to be amaranthus, but were actually very
different genetically. The amaranth looked, smelled, and even
tasted exactly like the amaranth of Earth. The crew used it – or
its identical structure made with the atomic architect aboard the
ships (Minus toxins for whichever being was to eat it) – in many
recipes. They had never found a plant or animal native to one world
that would cross with even the closest form from another world
(except in cases where the lifeforms were earlier transplanted in
bioforming experiments where a basic gene construction matched) and
probably never would.
"There's no
reason to stay here!"
*Then we're
off!*
"We get accused
of that all the time!"