Second Variety and Other Stories (16 page)

"It's armed, don't forget."

"We'll catch it as it lands. They're stopping at each planet in order. We'll go all the way in to the
fourth planet." Shure moved rapidly, bringing the command chart into position. "When they land on the
fourth planet we'll be there waiting for them."

"They may put up a fight."

"Maybe. But we have to find out what they're loading -- and whatever it is, it belongs to us."

The fourth planet of the Sirius system had an atmosphere, and some water. Shure landed his
cruiser in the ruins of an ancient city, long deserted.

The Adharan freighter had not appeared. Shure scanned the sky and then raised the main hatch.
He and Barnes and Nelson stepped outside cautiously, armed with heavy-duty Slem rifles. Behind them
the hatch slammed back in place and the cruiser took off, soaring up into the sky.

They watched it go, standing together with their rifles ready. The air was cold and thin. They
could feel it blowing around their pressure suits.

could feel it blowing around their pressure suits.

"Makes you realize we're still Terrans, even though we're light years from home," Nelson said.

"Here's the outline," Shure said. "We can't blast them. That's out. We're after their cargo. If we
blast them we'll blast the cargo along with them."

"What'll we use?"

"We'll shoot a vapor cloud around them."

"A vapor cloud? But --"

"Captain," Nelson said, "we can't use a vapor cloud. We won't be able to get near them until the
vapor has become inert."

"There's a wind. The vapor will dissipate very quickly. Anyhow, it's all we can do. We'll have to
take the chance. As soon as the Adharan is sighted, we must be ready to open fire."

"What if the cloud misses?"

"Then we're in for a fight." Shure studied the sky intently. "I think it's coming. Let's go."

They hurried to a hill of piled up rocks, remains of columns and towers heaped in great mounds,
mixed with debris and rubble.

"This will do." Shure crouched down, his Slem rifle held tightly. "Here they come."

The Adharan ship had appeared above them. It was preparing to land. Down it settled, its jets
roaring, exhaust particles rising. With a crash it struck the ground, bouncing a little and finally coming to
rest.

Shure gripped his phone. "Okay."

Above them in the sky the cruiser appeared, sweeping down over the Adharan. From the cruiser
a blue-white cloud shot, drilled out by pressure jets directly at the black Adharan ship. The cloud
reached the parked freighter. It billowed around it, fusing into it.

The surface of the Adharan hull glowed briefly. It began to fall in, eaten away. Corroded. The
Terran cruiser swept past, completing its run. It disappeared into the sky.

From the Adharan ship figures were emerging, jumping out onto the ground. The figures sprang in
all directions, long-legged, leaping wildly around. Most of the figures hopped excitedly up onto their ship,
dragging hoses and equipment, working frantically, disappearing into the vapor cloud.

"They're spraying."

More Adharans appeared, leaping frantically up and down, onto their ship, onto the ground,
some this way, others in no particular direction at all.

"Like when you step on an ant hill," Barnes muttered.

The hull of the Adharan ship was covered with clinging Adharans, spraying desperately, trying to
halt the corrosive action of the vapor. Above them the Terran cruiser reappeared, entered a second run.
It grew, swelling from a dot into a tear-shaped needle, flashing in the sunlight from Sirius. The freighter's
bank of guns jutted up desperately, trying to align themselves with the swiftly moving cruiser.

"Bomb close by," Shure ordered into his phone. "But no direct hits. I want to save the cargo."

The cruiser's bomb racks opened. Two bombs fell, singing down in an expert arc. They
straddled the inert freighter, bursting on both sides. Towering clouds of rock and debris rose up,
billowing over the freighter. The black form shuddered, Adharans sliding off the hull onto the ground. The
bank of guns fired a few futile blasts and the cruiser swept past and disappeared.

"They haven't got a chance," Nelson murmured. "They can't leave the ground until they've got
their hull sprayed."

Most of the Adharans were beginning to flee from their ship, scattering onto the ground.

"It's almost over," Shure said. He got to his feet and stepped out from the ruins. "Let's go."

A white flare burst up from the Adharans, showering sparks in the sky. The Adharans milled
aimlessly around, confused by the attack. The cloud of vapor had virtually dissipated. The flare was the
conventional signal of capitulation. The cruiser was circling again, above the freighter, waiting for orders
from Shure.

"Look at them," Barnes said. "Insects, big as people."

"Come on!" Shure said impatiently. "Let's go. I'm anxious to see what's inside."

"Come on!" Shure said impatiently. "Let's go. I'm anxious to see what's inside."

Nelson and Shure and Barnes gazed at it in revulsion. "Lord," Barnes muttered. "So that's what
they're like."

The Adharan stood almost five feet tall, enclosed in a black chitin shell. It stood on four slender
legs, two more weaving uncertainly half-way up its body. It wore a loose belt, holding its gun and
equipment. Its eyes were complex, multi-lensed. Its mouth was a narrow slit at the base of its elongated
skull. It had no ears.

Behind the Adharan commander a group of crew members stood uncertainly, some of them with
weapon tubes partly raised. The Adharan commander made a series of sharp clicks with its mouth,
waving its antennae. The other Adharans lowered their tubes.

"How is communication with this race possible?" Barnes asked Nelson.

Shure moved forward. "It doesn't matter. We have nothing to say to them. They know they are
illegally here. It's the cargo we're interested in."

He pushed past the Adharan commander. The group of Adharans made way for him. He entered
the ship, Nelson and Barnes following after him.

The interior of the Adharan ship reeked and dripped with slime. The passages were narrow and
dark, like long tunnels. The floor was slippery underfoot. A few crew members scuttled around in the
darkness, their claws and antennae waving nervously. Shure flashed his light down one of the corridors.

"This way. It looks like the main passage."

The Adharan commander followed close behind them. Shure ignored him. Outside, the cruiser
had landed nearby. Nelson could see Terran soldiers standing around on the surface.

Ahead of them a metal door closed off the corridor. Shure indicated the door, making an opening
motion.

"Open it."

The Adharan commander retreated, making no move to open the door. A few more Adharans
scuttled up, all of them with weapon tubes.

"They may fight yet," Nelson said calmly.

Shure raised his Slem rifle at the door. "I'll have to blast it."

The Adharans clicked excitedly. None of them approached the door.

"All right," Shure said grimly. He fired. The door dissolved, smoking into ruins. It sank down,
leaving an opening wide enough to pass through. The Adharans rushed around wildly, clicking to each
other. More of them left the hull and poured into the ship, flocking around the three Terrans.

"Come on," Shure said, stepping through the gaping hole. Nelson and Barnes followed him, Slem
rifles ready.

The passage led down. The air was heavy and thick, and as they walked down the passage,
Adharans pressed behind them.

"Get back." Shure spun, his rifle up. The Adharans halted. "Stay back. Come on. Let's go."

The Terrans turned a corner. They were in the hold. Shure advanced cautiously, moving with
care. Several Adharan guards stood with drawn weapon tubes.

"Get out of the way." Shure waved his Slem rifle. Reluctantly, the guards moved aside. "Come
on!"

The guards separated. Shure advanced.

And stopped, amazed.

Before them was the cargo of the ship. The hold was half-filled with carefully stacked orbs of
milky fire, giant jewels like immense pearls. Thousands of them. As far back as they could see.
Disappearing back into the recesses of the ship, endless stacks of them. All glowing with a soft radiance,
an inner illumination that lit up the vast hold of the ship.

"Incredible!" Shure muttered.

"No wonder they were willing to slip in here without permission." Barnes took a deep breath, his
eyes wide. "I think I'd do the same. Look at them!"

"No wonder they were willing to slip in here without permission." Barnes took a deep breath, his
eyes wide. "I think I'd do the same. Look at them!"

They glanced at each other.

"I've never seen anything like it," Shure said, dazed. The Adharan guards were watching them
warily, their weapon tubes ready. Shure advanced toward the first row of jewels, stacked neatly with
mathematical precision. "It doesn't seem possible. Jewels piled up like -- like a warehouse full of
doorknobs."

"They may have belonged to the Adharans at one time," Nelson said thoughtfully. "Maybe they
were stolen by the city-builders of the Sirius system. Now they're getting them back."

"Interesting," Barnes said. "Might explain why the Adharans found them so easily. Perhaps charts
or maps existed."

Shure grunted. "In any case they're ours, now. Everything in the Sirius system belongs to Terra.
It's all been signed, sealed and agreed on."

"But if these were originally stolen from the Adharans --"

"They shouldn't have agreed to the closed-system treaties. They have their own system. This
belongs to Terra." Shure reached up toward one of the jewels. "I wonder how it feels."

"Careful, Captain. It may be radioactive."

Shure touched one of the jewels.

The Adharans grabbed him, throwing him back. Shure struggled. An Adharan caught hold of his
Slem rifle and twisted it out of his hands.

Barnes fired. A group of Adharans puffed out of existence.

Nelson was down on one knee, firing at the passage entrance. The passage was choked with
Adharans. Some were firing back. Thin heat beams cut over Nelson's head.

"They can't get us," Barnes gasped. "They're afraid to fire. Because of the jewels."

The Adharans were retreating into the passage, away from the hold. Those with weapons were
being ordered back by the commander.

Shure snatched Nelson's rifle and blasted a knot of Adharans into particles. The Adharans were
closing the passage. They rolled heavy emergency plates into position and welded them rapidly into
place.

"Burn a hole," Shure barked. He turned his gun on the wall of the ship. "They're trying to seal us
in here."

Barnes turned his gun on the wall. The two Slem beams ate into the side of the ship. Abruptly the
wall gave way, a circular hole falling out.

Outside the ship Terran soldiers were fighting with the Adharans. The Adharans were retreating,
making their way back as best they could, firing and hopping. Some of them hopped up onto their ship.
Others turned and fled, throwing their guns down. They milled about in helpless confusion, running and
leaping in all directions, clicking wildly.

The parked cruiser glowed into life, its heavy guns lowering into position.

"Don't fire," Shure ordered through his phone. "Leave their ship alone. It isn't necessary."

"They're finished," Nelson gasped, jumping onto the ground. Shure and Barnes leaped after him,
out of the Adharan ship onto the surface. "They don't have a chance. They don't know how to fight."

Shure waved a group of Terran soldiers over to him. "Over here! Hurry up, damn it."

Milky jewels were spilling out of the ship onto the ground, rolling and bouncing through the hole.
Part of the containing struts had been blasted away. Stacks of jewels cascaded down and rolled around
their feet, getting in their way.

Barnes scooped one up. It burned his gloved hand faintly, tingling his fingers. He held it to the
light. The globe was opaque. Vague shapes swam in the milky fire, drifting back and forth. The globe
pulsed and glowed, as if it were alive.

Nelson grinned at him. "Really something, isn't it?"

"Lovely." Barnes picked up another. On the hull of the ship an Adharan fired down at him futilely.
"Look at them all. There must be thousands of them."

"Lovely." Barnes picked up another. On the hull of the ship an Adharan fired down at him futilely.
"Look at them all. There must be thousands of them."

Most of the fighting had ceased. The remaining Adharans were being rounded up by the Terran
soldiers.

"What about them?" Nelson said.

Shure didn't answer. He was examining one of the jewels, turning it over and over. "Look at it,"
he murmured. "Brings out different colors each way you hold it. Did you ever see anything like it?"

The big Terran freighter bumped to a landing. Its loading hatches dropped down. Jitney cars
rumbled out, a fleet of stubby trucks. The jitney cars crossed to the Adharan ship. Ramps dropped into
place, as robot scoops prepared to go to work.

"Shovel them up," Silvanus Fry rambled, crossing over to Captain Shure. The Manager of Terran
Enterprises wiped his forehead with a red handkerchief. "Astonishing haul, Captain. Quite a find." He put
out his moist palm and they shook.

"I can't understand how we could have missed them," Shure said. "The Adharans walked in and
picked them up. We watched them going from one planet to the next, like some sort of honey bee. I
don't know why our own teams didn't find them."