Flight of the Maita Supercollection 3: Solving Galactic Problems Collector's Edition (51 page)

[ It's much
more complicated than that, and much simpler than that. There's
life and there's intelligence. A virus is alive. A computer is
intelligent. The whole is much larger than the sum of the parts.
There's curiosity and emotions and an ability to share that aren't
explained, either by life or by intelligence. It's something more
than that. Such things can't be answered. I don't think they ever
will be fully answered. Wake Z up and let's go to Sunset Island.
]

They were at
the docks an hour before the Lightbringer sailed. Its captain
grumbled and cursed about having three passengers she wasn't told
of until almost time to sail, but it was mostly an act. She wanted
company. Kit didn't understand why Z was acting so oddly until
Thing got him aside and explained she was a Zeenan. It was a Zeenan
girl who was the first experience Z had in being what he called "in
love" with a woman of another race. It explained about Z's
inhibitions.

[ I rather
imagine he'll spend a bit of extra time around her. His inhibitions
are very deeply repressed now. ]

They wouldn't
arrive at Sunset Island until late afternoon. The ship's two-man
crew plus captain had nothing to do until they arrived at each
stop. The ship was automatic for most things.

Thing and Kit
played Stars and Comets, with Thing winning very handily, while Z
stayed with Captain Lahlee, talking about Zeena and his old friends
(And heroes) there, particularly Tom, who had been with the crew
for several years. They had met Tom and his brother Bott at the bar
they first visited right here on Frim.

Z was being
careful about who knew what they were doing, but there was
definitely no danger in confiding in a Zeenan! As everyone but Z
knew it was inevitable the relationship would become intimate very
quickly. The Zeenans weren't inhibited about sex. It was as much a
pleasure response among them as it was among most mammals, and Z
was a hero on Zeena. Maitans and Zeenans responded to one another
on a sexual level. Z was basically a Maitan.

When the ship
arrived at Sunset Island Z didn't want to get off, but knew he
must. He knew with certainty he would return here.

They walked
down the ramp with Thing on Kit's shoulder. Maita made a direct
relay on Kit as it had with Tab so he and Thing could communicate
directly.

There was just
a small fishing village there and a road that wound up the side of
the dead volcano that had formed the island eons past.

"I'd say
there's only one road from here and that it leads to Moodad," Z
suggested as a car came along the road to pick up the cargo.

Kit sent a
message to T6 to send the big floater. They were going to need
it!

Moodad

There were two
Zurn on the car. They greeted the dockhands, who were Bentans and a
couple of other races Z couldn't identify quickly, like old
friends, took a large crate and some smaller boxes and headed back
up the road. Kit announced it was such a nice little island they
should stay here until the next trip the boat came around if there
was some kind of hotel or inn. A Bentan said there was a small inn,
but he didn't know about pets.

"Oh, it's
registered with empire as a safe pet," Kit assured him offhandedly.
"It's allowed in all the hotels."

They followed
directions and soon found themselves in a rustic house made of
logs. One entire end was guest rooms, but that meant only four. It
was rare for many tourists to be there at one time.

Kit and Z took
a room on the end with a view of the dock and sea and settled in.
The appointments of the inn were surprisingly comfortable and were
of unquestionably good quality. The people certainly ate well, as
they discovered when they went in to the late meal. They dressed
well and seemed to be in exceptionally good health.

The sunset was
easily as magnificent as they had hoped. The island was a little
paradise. Everyone was friendly and open. They spent a very
comfortable night, then contrived to say they would walk up the
mountain to see the whole place from the heights. The plan was to
walk until they were out of sight of the village, then to call the
floater, which was under the sea a bit farther around the island.
They would send out sensors to look over the entire area. They
would know what they were up against here.

The floater
came, the passive sensors were sent out and the three walked on
upward until the sensors returned half an hour later. There was a
large house about four kilometers farther along on the top of the
mountain. It had a number of smaller houses close below it. The car
that was at the docks the afternoon before was in a courtyard,
along with a number of different people of several different races.
The young were playing in the yard of what was obviously a
school.

"Has this guy
set himself up as some kind of little king or something?" Z asked.
"This isn't making any sense again! I could believe all of it
except the way people are in and out of that place! Anyone seems to
go in anytime they choose!"

"So what do we
do?" Kit asked.

[ We stroll in
normally, typical tourists looking over the island. ]

"That's as good
a plan as any," Z agreed.

They sent the
floater to hide itself not far from the house and went on in,
walking. Thing was on Kit's shoulder. It could use the com circuit
there. No one paid much attention to them except for the normal
curiosity about Thing. Z explained to the children it was a being
from a beautiful world where all the people were very curious and
intelligent.

They went into
the courtyard where they were looking around when an old Jornian
and a Bentan came to them. There were several Zurn with them, one
of whom had been driving the car at the dock the afternoon
before.

"This isn't a
Swaz," the Bentan said to that Zurn. "The Swaz are shorter and
heavier and have a fin down the back. I know several Kheth. This
will be a Maitan?"

"This is Kit.
I'm Shawn," Z replied. "You were expecting a Swaz?"

"You were known
as With a short time ago," the Jornian said. "I can assume that is
Tec in disguise. Perhaps the Kheth's name actually is Kit, but I
doubt it.

"I am Moodad,
and this is Dlort. You may have heard of him from the Swaz, Tabori
R. DeSixtee. Khlor Dlort J. He's a friend. He met with Tab to seek
help through the emperor.

"I can assume
you are agents of the empire?

"Won't you
please come inside and share some of this island's truly excellent
wine? I'm a gourmet. I can say it's not just local pride that makes
me label it fine.

"Tec needs a
translating device, as do all Mentans. I'm afraid I have none
here."

Kit took out a
small box and turned a dial. Soon the floater came to hover
overhead. He took the translator unit out to place it on a small
floater.

[ That will do
nicely. Thank you, floater. You may await us above the gate.
Moodad, I am very confused by all of this. The emperor and myself
were apprised of the story of Khlor Dlort J at the same time. I
would like to know what's happening. ]

"The emperor,
hmm?" Moodad said. "Then you are Thing and this will be Z. You will
be an offspring of Sisstuh and Fesch?"

"They were my
ancestors, yes," Kit answered. "Kit is my real name."

"Mmm, yes,
yes!" Moodad said. "Come! Come! Sit! Have some wine and some of
this fine cheese! I think all of our systems can handle the native
foodstuffs."

Thing placed a
small drop of the food on a plate of the little floater, there was
a pause, then an orange light flashed.

[ It's quite
safe. We traveled a great distance and have been at great personal
peril in all of this. Please explain. I'm sure you know we are here
to arrest you. ]

"For what?"
Moodad asked. "Let me tell you all about it, then we can discuss
the fact you can't arrest me because there are no charges. It's
your job to travel and to take great risks. That argument is
pointless, too.

"I'll tell you
a sort of children's story. Nothing more.

"Once upon a
time there was a man from a world that was newly entering into the
trader's guild of the Maitan Empire. That man was from a very poor
part of his own world. He was determined to gain much wealth. He
had great drive, so wasn't too careful about how he garnered the
money.

"He stowed away
on a large cargo ship until he found himself on a planet called
Frim. It was a vacation planet, but was also an agricultural world.
The people were very nice to this young stowaway and gave him the
opportunity to work and to have many of the things he always
wanted. He did not know most of these people were poor, too, and
that some were criminals. He knew there were games of chance that
required more skill than luck and learned to use those games to
make large sums of money. It was also a good education that would
make it possible for the man to immediately spot someone who was
using the same system to make money many years later.

"This man's
friends told him often that Frim was the wrong place to make truly
large amounts of money. He must go to Sentah – and Netdel – and
Tltle – and Bypass! Worlds of dreams! Fantasy worlds where his
special talents would make him wealthy beyond the dreams of his
greed!

"It is very
costly to travel among the worlds. This man had enough money to go
to Bypass, the nearest world, but he would not have enough money to
start building his fortune. It was possible there would be no work
for this man on these fantasy worlds, that he would never have even
what he had on Frim. In addition, he had grown to deeply love the
world, Frim, and its people.

He worked for
awhile on a boat and found an island which he named Sunset Island.
He vowed someday he would own that island and would live there with
all these various people he so loved – but he could not get the
money to buy that island on Frim. Land anywhere is expensive. On
the vacations worlds, more-so than most.

"Then the
original ship he had stowed away on came again to Frim. It had a
cargo that was not ... something they could either sell or keep,
shall we say. There were six people aboard who owned a small
company that supplied materials to restaurants and casinos on
Sentah. They were losing a great deal of money on the cargo and
were looking for some way to recoup their losses. By chance they
found a young man of their own race on Frim, a man who played their
own choices of games against them and who took much of the money
they had left.

"Upon hearing
of this man's dream, one of these men suggested they would pay his
way to Sentah and all the other worlds, where he could earn all the
money he could possibly want. They would make a pact. This man
would be the chairman of a company and they would be the board of
directors. They would soon be able to make enough money to buy
their own casino! The man could buy his dream island!

"It was done.
The man went to many of the commercial places and consistently won
large sums, but he was smart enough to know that winning too much
at one place would draw much attention to himself and he would soon
find he wasn't allowed to play those games for very much money.

"That ploy was
later used by Tec for the purpose of drawing attention to
itself.

"This young man
grew immensely wealthy over the years and was even able to have all
of his dreams. He bought the island. He had many friends of many
races to share his dreams. He gave them all many of the things that
make life easier, but always taught them easier is often not
worthwhile. They must each do something to make the fact they had
lived important to the greater scheme of things.

"The young man
had money coming in all the time. There were boxes of it sitting
around his home. He gave away many huge sums through friends, such
as Dlort. He understood he owned more than one casino and owned
several very important businesses. He had never seen any of it,
though it was all in his name. He was still chairman of the
board.

"Then one dark
day he discovered he was a complete fool. He found his name, should
it become known, would be despised and reviled on many planets. He
found his dream had metamorphosized into a horrible nightmare. He
was the chairman of the board, all right! – Of a huge crime
syndicate that preyed on the weak. It was a monster that took and
took and never gave anything back.

"The man was
crushed. He sought a way to extricate himself – to awaken from this
horror, but there was none – or was there? This was still the same
man who used his native intelligence and his talents to build this
monument to unbridled greed. This was the man who started with
nothing whatever but a dream and found that dream. This was the
same man who made his life by making things happen.

"These
people on that board of directors were taking the dream away. It
could not –
would not
happen!

"So this man
began to plot and plan on his own. He found these six people on his
board of directors could not possibly trust one another. They were
all criminals. They all knew it. If they would do such a thing to a
naive idiot like mm ... like that not now so young man, they would
do the same kinds of things to one another.

"A word here
there was a deal A had not informed B about. A very large sum
missing from C's accounts after D handled it. E and F always going
off somewhere with equipment. A rumor somehow got started the
equipment could only be for a hiding place. A long-term hiding
place but why would anyone want to hide? The only ones who knew
anything were that select group. Why would any of them want to hide
from the others?

"Little
almost-accidents started to happen. A toy left on a darkened
stairway. A navigation system that failed on an autocar. Odd little
things.