He interrupted his own musings once again for a moment as he steered the crawler around a group of large boulders, locally known as Ummerti’s Graveyard. It was called that because a stubborn and quite unlucky Volting and his five-man gang tried to rob a water caravan at this spot, not knowing that it was not a water caravan but a war party of the local lord coming back from punishing one of the independent settlements in the Glagadrinn.
Five men against a well-armed war party... well, that was why the rocks were named that way.
These rocks were the last outcroppings of the Bentryidnn Mountains, thirty kilometers behind him. From here on out, the Glagadrinn desert stretched over 3000 miles in almost every direction, with featureless dunes and sand.
There were a few small independent settlements all over the place. To the far northeast was the Galgus Settlement, right at the entrance to the Mitiro Caves where the most precious commodity could be found in a large underground lake—fresh cold water. The Galgus were a weird kind, often called the Brown people, never seen without their brown mantles. No one knew how they looked underneath. They barely talked and if they did, it was in a strange labored way. They weren’t native, that was certain because they weren’t here when the first local lord showed up only about 150 years ago. No one, however, knew where they came from. He had no problem with them. He could go there and purchase his water for much cheaper rates than in Alvor’s Cove canyon city, and they even showed him the underground lake a few years back.
Now as the Ummerti’s graveyard was behind him, all visible trails faded. The constant wind, sand, and dust obliterated any tracks in a few hours. One could get lost out here, even with good nav-equipment, because some of the dust was laced with fine metal and played havoc with most nav-equipment. He didn’t need that anyway. By now he knew this desert better than he knew space. In 700 kilometers he would pass Mount Hagir, the very place he needed to reach for this trip
He had learned to read the sand and the dust and knew how to stay clear of drift sand-bog that could swallow his crawler and him in seconds.
There weren’t many career choices on Alvor’s Cove. You could be a slave merchant, slave guard, shop owner, water merchant, food vendor, lord guard, lizard hunter, or desert scavenger. This was basically the entire list of professions
To become a merchant, he needed much more capital and would need connections to suppliers. To be a lord guard, you needed to be family; the local lord only trusted family. Lizard hunter or slave guard did not appeal to him due to the stench, so all that was left was desert scavenger.
At first, it seemed to him a fool’s job. What could possibly be out there except sand and dirt?
When his money had almost run out, he made friends with an old scavenger. That old man showed him the ropes and taught him to read the desert. After the old man died, he took over his business.
Alvor’s Desert held many treasures, subterranean water sources, Tutu Cactus buds eaten by the tame lizards, and Tutu Cactus flowers very rare and hard to find but eaten by the locals for their intoxicating, dream-inducing effects. Tutu Cactus roots reached far into the ground, and it was hard work to dig them out, but ground to a powder it became very valuable and bought by Togar males as an aphrodisiac. There were open petroleum pits; the stuff wasn’t worth much, but it always paid for the trip getting it and supplied him with cheap fuel. There was the Dawal Lizard. If you were lucky enough to find one and even luckier to survive a fight and kill one, then you had a load of good meat, bones, and blood that sold for top coin. This and a thousand other things could be found in these endless deserts.
Of course, like every desert scavenger, he dreamed of finding the Nakh. Legend had it that out here somewhere was a buried Celtest ship. Celtest artifacts were the single most valuable commodity in the galaxy and would make anyone even finding just a piece of Celtest metal a rich man.
No one doubted that there was a Celtest ship, as Bulmag the Grarr had found a Celtest artifact almost ninety years ago and became a very rich man and with his find, started the whole desert scavenging business in the first place. The only sad part of this story was that Bulmag the Grarr did not enjoy his riches for very long. He was robbed blind and murdered, but then almost all stories of Alvor’s Cove ended in a similar way.
Sometimes he dreamed it would be him finding that Celtest ship. In his dreams, it was fully operational and filled with the most wondrous technology. He would then take the ship out from the sand and fly it in Union Space and destroy everything he could find. Of course, this would always be a dream, and he knew he would end like the old man, simply sliding off the seat behind the crawler’s controls and dying. It wasn’t very far from here where he had buried the old man.
But all in all, this was preferable over suicide, and today he’d already earned more than he did in a month. Today he actually had passengers, two Kermac no less.
He had an office in town, the Office of Ban-Ho Desert Exploration and Transport Services LTD. His office was nothing more than a cavern burned into the side of a canyon wall, but it had a real door and a desk with chair. It also was his home, where he slept when he was in town. He was especially proud of the long business sign that he had glued to the rock face above his door. It was illuminated and had cost him 98 Polos. He had just exchanged the old man’s name for his, and he had no idea what LTD meant, but it sounded very important. That his sign would actually do what it was meant to do, advertise his business and bring him customers was something he would have never thought possible. Yet the two Kermac that were now riding in the back stepped into his office and told him they wanted to use his transport services.
Why the Kermac wanted to go to Mount Hagir was anyone’s guess, but none of his business. He knew that a tribe of Browns lived there, and there were rumors about a space ship that was landing there. He had passed the mountain many times and dealt with the tribe that lived there on occasion
It was still a long drive, but his crawler was reliable. He had plenty of fuel, water, and provisions. Thanks to the generous payment of his passengers, all his strong headlights worked again, and he would drive through the night. In his old Scout flyer, he would have done 700 kilometers in less than an eye blink. Now it would take almost two days.
Their bodies rocked back and forth whenever the crawler rumbled over something other than soft sand. The wayward Dai had tried his best to make his passengers comfortable. He had put thick mattresses on top of a wooden bench he had screwed to the cargo bed and even placed the hard-shell canopy on it. He hadn’t used it since the crawler was brought to this world and they had purchased a real air conditioner of Union manufacture with a ZP cube that would last for decades. For the price they paid for the air conditioner, you could buy a luxury skimmer or a nice apartment on Kermac Prime, but without it, neither one would have made it that far. Everything was dirty, dusty, and hot. Everything smelled and sweated, and to their own disgust, they found out that Kermac, too, still had sweat glands.
Vinacvier, the slightly older of them, said, “It works!” He tried to put as much of the annoyance he felt into the tone of his voice, partly because he could not find the balance to meditate and partly because he felt insulted by his partner’s constant checking of his beard, where the mind shield was hidden.
He rolled his eyes and added, “Leave your beard alone. I will not probe your mind!”
Haforneun did not let go of his beard and touched the little hidden contact, to run another diagnostic cycle, and he said, “How would you know my shield is working or not if you had not tried to probe my mind?”
Vinacvier shifted his position, trying to find a more comfortable one and said, while checking his own, “Because it is of finest Kermac technology, and it is just like my shield. I know of only three cases where they have failed in recent years.”
Haforneun was not convinced, and a little paranoia was always a good thing. For all he knew, his partner could really be an Agent of the Ministry of Control. There were rumors that they had ways to deactivate psi s
hield generators remotely. It was them who oversaw the manufacture of all Kermac Psi Beards anyway. Haforneun knew of those whispered stories no one dared to think about, for one innocent thought, overheard by a MOC agent and wrongly interpreted, could send someone like him to the mind-eraser chair and all his years of loyal service to the Ministry of Information would mean nothing. That about forty percent of those sent to the mind-eraser did not survive the procedure was seen by most as a blessing.
Like everyone, Haforneun was forced to witness a ME sentence carried out, as it was mandatory for all Kermac. He had seen intelligent men turned into drooling empty shells that were incapable of even speaking a single word. Mind-erased victims never lasted long and died after a few months.
Vinacvier, his partner on this mission, was, like him, from the Ministry of Information-Field Activity division. It was a big ministry but still, he had never seen Vinacvier before. He sometimes wondered how the Saresii, the only other civilization he knew where everyone was a Telepath, got along so well, and as far as he heard completely without mental shields.
The former Wizard of Information, the one who so suddenly went into retirement, told him once that the Union had strict laws that prohibited the unwanted or uninvited active probing of another mind and that offenders were severely punished. Haforneun was interrupted in his musings by his partner, who used several low life curse words as the crawler bumped over another obstacle.
He then said, “I sure hope this coward of a Dai knows where he is going!”
Haforneun had monitored most of the Dai’s thoughts and nodded, “He does. He knows this forsaken environment like few others and his mind is clear and open. He accepts Kermac superiority and does not even question our reasons to come out here.”
Vinacvier raised his head and looked through the dirty little window from where they could see the driver. “We will eliminate him after he serves us!”
Haforneun was now certain his partner was not of the Ministry of Information. No seasoned field agent would say that. He objected to that, saying, “It would be unwise. The local lord has warned us not to engage in any activities we have not paid for, and you were too cheap to buy the kill license!”
Vinacvier snorted his words in the most arrogant tone as he said, “I am not paying one million in Polo Chips to some totally inconsequential lower life form on a similar inconsequential planet. I will punish this local lord and make him dig out his own innards for his insolence before we leave!”
Raising his hands, trying to temper his partner with the gesture for patience, Haforneun said, “This world might not be as inconsequential as you make it. There are Celtest artifacts out here, and it is here we going to meet the Purple Worm. I doubt he chose this world at random for this meeting.”
Totally ignoring the subtle hand signs, Vinacvier made a brushing commanding gesture and said, “All the more reason we should set up a base of operations here, take over the local crime lord’s control, and search for the Celtest artifacts with modern equipment and tear this dustball apart.”
Haforneun was almost tempted to openly ask his partner if he was a MOC agent; they always talked that way. Blind to the fact that the universe included others, not just the Kermac; again he objected by saying, “It is unwise to provoke a war. We know for a fact there are agents of the Nul and the Shiss operating here and it would be foolish to assume the Union has no eyes and ears on this planet.” To Haforneun, it was frustrating to hear the response of his partner, who was full of ignorance.
Vinacvier said, “I extended my mind, and I have not sensed any Shiss, Nul, or Union spies. The only shielded minds I encountered were a few Sojonit priestesses, and I have a good mind to visit the temple after we are done with this. Now that would be Polo coins well spend!”
Haforneun actually raised his voice a notch as he protested, “The funds made available to us are meant to pay for information gathering, not personal indulgences. I should report you!”
Vinacvier touched his beard and said, “No one really pays much attention to a 67th tier Kermac Information Field Agent. The Grand Wizard is quite displeased with your Ministry and the recent failures, and there were a lot of necessary personnel adjustments lately. On the contrary, a 58th tier Kermac Control Ministry Agent with direct orders from the Grand Wizard will find open ears. So keep your constant objections to yourself, or it could happen you find yourself free of all thoughts and personality. I heard a good mind wipe can ruin a fine career permanently.”
Haforneun said, “So you are a MOC agent!”
“Naturally, do you think we let you bumblers of the MOI mess up even more?”
Haforneun smiled coldly. “Fortunes turn quickly since our Wise Grand Wizard has declared himself the voice of the Democratic Party. It is success and results the Grand Wizard counts and not attempts.”
Vinacvier wiggled his finger. “You walk on dangerous ground, my subordinate MOI agent.”
The MOI agent kept smiling and said, “Do you know what we at the MOI do better than you at MOC?”
Vinacvier made and insulting gesture. “Nothing of course!”
“We gather information, and it is clear to me now that you have not heard the latest news or information that is. The Grand Wizard is not pleased at all that Project Conck has failed. Was this not a project the MOC was conducting all on its own, with trillions of GDP and resources lost? I wonder what the Grand Wizard will say to that. Perhaps some necessary personnel adjustments are in order.”
Vinacvier could not keep his mouth from gaping. “How do you know this?”
Haforneun lost his smile and said, “I am of the Ministry of Information; it is our business to know things.”
Vinacvier knew his partner didn’t lie or make this up and he was quite right; it could mean personnel changes. Ever since the Grand Wizard had returned from his secret trip to Koken so much had changed.
He said much less arrogantly, “What happened? The project went so well!”
“I have not heard many details, but it appears that Takkian Civilians discovered the Conck and found it to be their kin and their god. A delegation of the Big Four is on their way to confirm that the Conck is related to the Takkians and this area of space will become Union.”
Vinacvier could not ask any more questions as a sudden jolt shook both Kermac to the bones and the crawler came to a sudden stop.
They both realized they had not paid any attention to the thoughts of the driver and now the driver was gone. He could no longer sense him anywhere.
They grabbed their weapons, dialed their psi power amplifiers too high, and with activated personal shields, they went outside.
There was a single being, and it wore a purple cloak over a deformed-looking body. The figure said, “I decided to change the location of our meeting. Instead of the mountain, we can do it right here. Especially since you have a Special Strike team landing at the mountain as we speak.”
Haforneun had no idea there was supposed to be a Strike team. Mounting a military operation in this region of space was not a good idea. He was told to normalize relations so cooperation could be achieved. The Worm had deep connections into the Union and even though their last cooperation failed, it was believed that failure was due to missed communication. He glanced over to his associate, and Vinacvier was not surprised in the least.
“The strike team will make sure you cannot leave this planet, Worm! A few hundred kilometers mean little to the team and they will be here in moments.”
The Purple Worm laughed. “Maybe that is the real reason your species is on the decline. Kermac always rely on other species to do their fighting for them. Do you know I have a spy satellite in orbit, a wonderful little device recording a Kermac Cruiser in orbit around Alvor’s Cove? I think I’ll broadcast that now, along with a few nice close ups of the strike team all across the galaxy. You might be interested to know that the local lord is already calling the Togar and the Nul for help. I wonder what will happen if the Nul and the Union receive evidence
you violated the treaty again.” The Purple Being turned to walk away into the night. “Was nice to meet you two, I guess it will be the last time I see real live Kermac.”
Vinacvier activated a communications device in his beard and yelled, “Abort mission. I repeat, abort mission and retreat as fast as you can to Kermac Space.”
The Worm said, “That was a wise decision.” Then the Worm raised his arms and the sand all around came to life with hundreds of heavily armed sand-colored beings rising from the dust. The shrouded beings were totally undetectable, even by the psionics of the Kermac
Still, they weren’t defenseless and Haforneun said with an amplified voice, “I was sent here to re-open our cooperation and do it on an equal footing and sharing all information. I must apologize for my partner, but we are Kermac, and we are not to be trifled with.” He gathered his psionic energies and created a cutting thought, splitting a nearby boulder. “I can do this to minds and bodies as well!”
The Worm declined his upper torso and spread his arms. “Then let us converse in more amiable settings.”
The brown creatures did not move like humans, more like primates, and they began to erect a tent.
Vinacvier whispered, “I did not know you were one of the few talented ones who could form a cutting thought.”
“There is much you don’t know.”
The tent went up fast, and the Worm invited them inside. Chairs had been placed and one of the brown creatures brought in a case of Kermiliq inside a cooler case. Another provided small tables and cups.
The Worm gestured the Kermac to have a seat. He sat down across from them. “Help yourself to the Kermiliq, it is genuine Kermac. It is cooled, and I assure you not tampered with in any way.”
Haforneun was still furious that he was kept in the dark and took one of the bottles, opened it, and did not bother with a cup. He knew it was very primitive and without manners, but he was thirstier than he realized. The slightly tart taste and the moisture of his favorite drink did wonders to his mood and condition.
Eric Olafson: Space Pirate Page 44