Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (45 page)

Eed was staring
in disbelief as Z cut off the com. "Do you always call each other
all those ... names?"

"I get all
excited just thinking about her! You should hear us when we can get
our hands on each other!

"It seems I
really did stir up a stingerhive by reporting that place. I really
owe those people an apology. I never dreamed that anything like
that could happen."

"You are
approaching the next listed gate" came on the holovid screen.

Eed looked at
the gate, nodded and suggested, "I will have to leave you now. Just
go on down the road a ways and you'll find an inn. Good
fortune!"

Z grinned and
hit him with a stunner beam. He drug the limp body onto his
floater, lugged the skootskimmer into the brush and headed for
T6.

"I was
wondering why you didn't do that when you first came to him," T6
greeted.

"I wanted to
know where he was going, first. See if there's a ship at the
estate, unless you've already found it."

"There's no
ship at that one. There's one at the estate behind you and one on
an estate across the peninsula."

"I MEANT the
one back there. That's where he was going."

"What?"

"He was going
to trust a stranger? Then he found it was the one who caused all
the trouble at Rock House?

"Naturally, he
would go to another place, go in while saying a cordial goodbye to
me, wait until I was on down the road, then go back. If I was ever
asked if I met him on the road I would then say he went onto that
estate. No one there would know what the troopers were talking
about. He and his friends at the other place could be off-planet
and far away."

"I'll have to
learn to think deviously. Maita says to take him directly to the
Fleet ship. He's already under death sentence. They'll put him on
the nearest probe. Maita waited before letting me put Dorn and
Klewt on the probe because it says they'll be implicated if we get
Eed. We got Eed."

"Find who owns
that estate and who's supposed to be there now. I'll deliver Eed
and come back to visit. The floater didn't detect any radio or
anything broadcasting from the scootskimmer. It didn't identify us
to anyone.

"Did he use
anything en route?"

"He called once
on standard com to say the Klonter's would be calling sometime this
evening. He called ... why didn't I check it out then? He called
that estate back there. I could have been way ahead of you!

"It's supposed
to be unoccupied this time of the year. It's a vacation home owned
by some company called Clarbon Ventures, on Netdel. Ever hear of
it?"

"I think these
people are a bit too sure of themselves and are a lot too smug. Or
they were! I doubt they'll feel quite so safe and clever at the
moment."

He came in over
the port and went to the Fleet ship, who were called by T6 to
announce Z's arrival with the criminal, Eed. Z neutralized the
stunner's effects and Eed sat suddenly bolt upright to stare at the
two Acnian troopers who were on either side of him.

"Eed of Jorn,
we place you under arrest on a proved charge of criminal
conspiracy. Please show the good sense not to resist and...."

"Hypnotize
him!" Z suddenly screamed.

The Acnians are
T-hypnotics. The trooper knew who Z was, so didn't hesitate. Eed
suddenly went rigid. Z nodded at the Acnian.

"You will
answer all questions truthfully, immediately, and completely," the
trooper said, then nodded at Z.

"Where and what
is the poison you were trying to take?"

"Second molar,
left side. Sodium acid cyanide."

The trooper
called to a medoff (Medical officer). Z decided to take a chance on
getting Maita mad and asked, "Who is on the estate there on Long
Toe Peninsula?"

"Wordt."

"Who is the
boss of this whole conspiracy?"

"I don't
know."

A Feach came
down the ramp then to ask what the problem was. The trooper told
about the cyanide in the tooth and the Feach had Eed open his
mouth. She looked at the tooth, called something in Feach (It was
some kind of nitrite. Z wasn't very familiar with Feach) and waited
with Eed sitting on the floater with his mouth open. Another Feach,
Krone, came to watch and handed a bottle to the one working on Eed.
She sprayed something into his mouth, then reached in with a small
forceps and lifted out the tooth. She sprayed again for a few
seconds, then wiggled each tooth in turn.

"Okay. It's all
neutralized," she declared. "I don't see why you worry if he's
going to be executed anyway."

"Because he's
going on the probe and may NOT be executed," Krone said. "Well,
Agent Z! It seems we've accomplished quite a lot here!"

"We haven't
even started very well," Z cautioned. "This is the sort of thing
Tab does best, but he's busy on another case."

"Ah, yes,"
Krone replied. "Tabori. He will always be a hero to the Feach. The
fact you are so closely associated with him and with the emperor
means you must perform very well, indeed, or you will disappoint an
entire race!"

"Perhaps not
half so much as I would disappoint myself," Z agreed, understanding
the Feach humor from his talks with Tab. "Maita would put me in
need of the services of Feach if I screwed up too much. I still
might, so keep the emergency room ready!"

Krone
chuckled.

Imagine a nine
foot tyrannosaurus chuckling and you can imagine the instinct of Z
to run screaming from the scene. Luckily, he had been around all of
the beings for years (Hundreds of them) and didn't react to those
feelings anymore.

They talked a
moment more as Eed was taken to a cell close by his friends, Klewt
and Dorn, all of whom were being taken on to Sentah to the judge
machine there that was responsible for this whole case. They had
feared they would have to let Klewt and Dorn go until the Zurn who
told Z there was a plague claimed he had been given direct orders
to say just that. To divert a Hospital ship without medical cause
was a serious crime. Such a thing could result in thousands of
deaths.

The Zurns were
nothing more nor less than hired guards, so they were released.
They would be very wary about what they did in the future. Repeat
offenders were NOT coddled nor given excuses in the empire, they
were returned to their home planet in exile from the empire. This
was a shame that was felt by the race in toto. They were generally
treated very strictly by their own kind.

"They're not
bad people," Krone said. "They're a young race and are impatient,
both personally and racially. It makes for conflicts. They will
mature, I am sure. Look at how the Bentans have matured in only a
couple of hundred years! You, having been part of the taking of the
pirate worlds, know that far better than I!"

"Yes," the
Acnian trooper replied. "Meeting others does that.

"We may depart
for Sentah?"

Z bid them
farewell and went to T6, who checked the floater very carefully
before sending him onto that estate. All they knew was they were
supposed to meet someone by the name of Wordt and possibly others.
They would have to await results of the probe on Eed, but may have
to fight this one. When Eed didn't show up when he was supposed to
there might be extra precautions.

Z decided he
would rest and go in the morning, but T6 said he would go now and
could grab rest on the floater.

"This may be
your only opportunity to get inside the estate without being
detected," T6 explained. "The later Eed is the more nervous they'll
get. We have to be ready. I'll show you where the ship's hidden.
It's not visible.

"They may try
to leave, so be ready for that. I'll handle them if they take off.
You try to prevent their leaving.

"I doubt
they'll leave so long as there's still a chance Eed will show up,
but that time limit will soon pass. Maybe you can blunder in as
Lion. They won't know anything about the rest of it. Liahr may be a
name they've heard."

"That would be
one blunder too many. This'll have to be handled differently. I'll
make some kind of plan before morning. If I don't have results from
Eed I can't act, you know. Wordt hasn't legally done anything
yet."

"He's occupying
that place illegally."

"A small
misdemeanor, if that. He's a board member of the corporation that
owns the place."

"Harboring a
fugitive?"

"That's a
reason I almost wish I'd let Eed go there for. He didn't harbor
anyone. Eed never got there.

"Is he
mentioned in any way by anyone else – on the probe or
otherwise?"

"Not a word. So
how will you handle all of this? It doesn't seem you have any grip
at all on any of it!"

"I'll have to
play it by ear."

"Are you gonna
start that crap again?"

"What start? I
never stopped!"

They bantered a
bit while Z ate a good meal and cleaned up. He got aboard the
floater and headed for the estate, thinking T6 was getting very
good at the game. It was nice to be that close to another being –
even if it was a spaceship!

The floater had
to move very cautiously onto the estate from the mountains in the
rear, away from the road. There were fewer detectors there. The
mountains were close to impassible. There was a scanning-beam
locator, a form of radar, fixed beams and trip traps. This place
was prepared for action! They were expecting some kind of trouble
for some time. Those sensors and weapons weren't new. These people
knew they would someday be in big trouble and would need a fortress
with its own private little spaceport. No one here could plead
innocence, but it wasn't enough for what Z needed at the time. As T
Six said before he left, "Misdemeanors ain't gonna cut it!"

Z found a spot
in a shed beside the bunker where the ship was hidden. He could
"see" the entire area from the house to the bunker as well as all
the lawns around, which covered several acres. There were lights in
three places inside the house and a portion of the entrance road
was lit. They still expected Eed.

Good! Their
plan would have to be on hold until Eed showed up or until they
could be sure he wouldn't. They would be getting very nervous as
the night dragged on.

Z settled down
for the long Bypass night. The floater would awaken him if he was
needed.

Deeper and Deeper

Z had no idea
of how long it had been since he dozed off. The small plug in his
ear awakened him with, "Are you planning to sleep all night or do
you want to know what's happening out there you lazy oversexed
bum?"

T6 had a
floater on the mountains behind and a focused light beam device to
call in to Z's place in the shed. It had various sensors around
that transmitted through the same floater. Z wouldn't answer
directly, because that would make detectable sounds. He used the
coder keyboard on the floater to speak.

"What's going
on, Cookiekins?" he asked.

"The quarry's
getting sorta nervous and is snooping around, Sugarlips," T6
replied. "There seems to only be one Jornian here – that would be
Wordt – without even a Zurn bodyguard. Does that seem odd to you,
or is it what you expected, Honeybuns?"

"Not expected.
Now I want to know exactly what that probe will show. Something's
going on here besides the obvious. I wonder! Is there a gang
war?"

"I don't know
what you mean, exactly. Do you mean criminals fighting criminals?
Why?"

"A power
struggle, I'd say. Little old Eed was in the process of working his
way into the Sentah six. Maybe someone didn't exactly like the
idea."

"I assume the
Sentah six are the board of directors. Klewt and Dorn were both on
that board. So is Wordt. That leaves Hoed, Lang, and Bast on
Sentah. What was the plan?"

"Kill either
Klewt or Dorn – or both – and take their place. That would mean one
of them did something to anger or scare the bigger bosses. None of
it could happen without their blessings. The fact there aren't
guards here tells me something, but I'm not sure what, at this
point."

"I think Wordt
there will get nervous and will leave. Friend Eed should have been
here hours ago. He'll suspect something's wrong. See if you can
prevent him from getting to the ship. There's only the entrance
through that shed you're in, and one big door opens with a motor to
let the ship in or out. I'm sure you can blockade the small door
there and perhaps do something to the big door."

"I'll
disconnect the motor's power. We have to keep this turkey here
until we get Eed's readings.

"You know what
I hope?"

"I don't even
know what the hell you're saying! Every time you say something I
have to look through thousands of idioms!

"What do you
hope?"

"If Eed's
actually making a power play, then he'll know the identity of at
least one of the higher bosses! The six are his direct bosses now.
He'd have to know at least one of the higher bosses before he could
dare to try such a move. Put a tracer on this ship just in case he
decides to go to a meeting."

"Agreed. Are
you going to sit there until Wordt walks in on you? He's heading
directly to that shed!"

Z pushed open
the door into the blackness of the "hangar" and drew the floater
in. He closed the door carefully and let the floater locate the
motors to the main door. They were above and drew the door upward
where it accordianed near the top. He sent the floater up to
quickly cut the power leads to the motors while he hid behind some
boxes. The floater did its job and hung tightly against the top of
the structure among the machinery and equipment there. The sensor
pickups and weapons controls seemed all to be up there. That meant
there was no more than a control board inside the house to control
the entire defenses. The floater could access all the functions. Z
could use the system, himself, if necessary.