“Can they be faking the whole thing?”
“It’s possible but my guess is that there are real problems that they’re exaggerating to see how much they can squeeze out of us. That's what I'd do in their position so I assume they think the same way.”
“True. They won't succeed as producers of entertainments if they don't know to use everything that comes along to help improve their bottom-most lineage.”
“But it is far better for us if they don't find ways to keep us from using them. We cherish our role as users, not as those used by anyone else,” Ackack said.
* * *
When he entered the office later and found Ackack at the console wearing an unhappy expression, Delmus quickly asked, “Is something more happening?”
“More than we know and definitely more than we’re supposed to know. We’ve received more show material with this Nerber’s activities but we’re still getting only bits of what his zerpy should be sending continuously. The techs guess that means somebody has tampered with the zerpy Wilburps. They suspect that what should be raw feed has in fact been edited. Like it has been reviewed and only bits sent on. That could mean the good stuff, if there is any, is being kept back for use by whoever has messed with the zerpy. But from this distance without direct access to Wilburps they can’t be sure.”
“At least that gives us enough material for new episodes to calm the audience demand. We can deal with the rest of it later.”
Ackack said, “The interference on the total-listening-in-on-their-every-word system we had secretly arranged for has stopped. Before you say that’s good, it stopped because the whole system has shut down. We could have done that but we didn’t. That has to mean that the crew found out how to do so.”
“If the system wasn’t giving us useful stuff what difference does it make what they did to it?”
“It’s one more indication that they’re learning all the twists and turns of what we made sure was an almost ridiculously over-complicated operational system. Sooner or later they seem determined to get to a point where we have only those remote controls that they agree to allow. That’s a formula for dealing with equals, not for being in control. I don’t like this erosion of our advantages over them,” Ackack admitted.
“Maybe it’s time for us to turn Zink loose in there.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. We had that zerpy slipped onboard Whizybeam exactly in case this kind of problem developed. We’re the masters of this operation and of that big piece of hardware so we have the right to know everything that’s happening and the right to have the last say in what gets done.”
“We’re prudent guys so we accept that with changes they’ve made in the operating systems what was programmed into our secret servant might now mess things up, so we’ll only turn it on long enough to see if that happens,” Delmus said. “Analysis of the ship’s recent records suggests they lost power and controls several times in a short period. They got things back on with different fixes each time but they may be vulnerable to any signal disturbance.”
“We need to be practical. It’s more important for us to stay in control than for them to survive,” Ackack said.
“We just don’t say that too openly.”
Ackack’s fingers flew across his keyboard. “I’m sending out the activation code now.” He sat back. “The experiment code named ‘Zink snoops’ has begun.”
“Should we have done that while we were still talking to them? Maybe that way we could judge by their reactions if their sensors noticed any change.”
“If they do but those don’t seriously disable them they’ll try to keep us from knowing they’ve noticed. They’ll be contacting us soon again to continue their program of complaining about the equipment and pretending that they’re worried about being captured or killed by the inhabitants though. They don’t realize how obvious their strategy is.”
“Also we’ll hear about it if they complain to the Power Players so that’s a backup way for us to check,” Delmus said.
“Our guy inside the Peepees’ operation says Gopgop and Uldene are very interested in some cutting edge technology company but he couldn’t learn which company.”
“Bips fump! If they’re going to make a move for P.D.Q. we won’t have a chance to buy in at a good price.”
“He’s trying to get more details. Maybe it’ll be another company and that’ll distract them and tie up their ready money and make it easier for us. See, I can dream.”
“Did you get an untraceable message saying to visit the ground level souvenir store in this building at about this time?” Delmus asked.
“Yeah. I’m not sure what it means but it’s mysterious enough to tweak my curiosity.”
“Why would someone want us to go down there among the common workers and the routine visitors?”
* * *
Several minutes later Delmus, Ackack, and Parbam stood off to the side of the A.D.U. souvenir store, a room cluttered with racks, tables, and wall displays of junk items with the names and faces of major characters in the company’s programs on them.
Parbam said, “There’s not much chance anyone will notice me talking to you here. I have a reminder from the governors. If you let out word of their involvement in your Far-Out Show there will be unpleasant consequences for a lot of guys but especially for you. The program to assess the inhabitability of the distant Earth isn’t something that can be discussed in public. Also they depended on the signals your zerpies collected over the years about how things are and how things work on that planet. Their predecessors told the public your interpretations were accurate and credible. If they’re embarrassed because of bad information that came from your company even in the past they may feel it necessary to create a distraction. You would likely be feature attractions in that. I won’t spell it out but I’m sure you’ve seen some of the earlier events. Think about this and be very careful about everything you say to others and be completely honest in what you tell my bosses about how truly hospitable that planet is for Ormelexians.” She walked away.
Chapter 25
Uldene touched a button on the Power Players office control console and Techim disappeared off the view-screen. Then he and Gopgop swiveled nervously side-to-side in their chairs.
Uldene said, “So the ship’s back in operation which means A.D.U. still has a show to promote and air but the crew won’t admit how they tried to undo the company’s remote controls of all the systems. We get good information for what we pay Techim. She’s an ideal spy. Well placed to know at least most of what they’re doing over there; tech savvy enough to be able to send us untraceable update messages; and greedy enough to have no loyalty to them.”
“Now we have to be good enough actors that when we talk-talk with the A.D.U. guys or the governors we don’t give away how much we know although we’re not supposed to.”
“While not outright denying what we know so that would come back on us as a lie to those guys later.”
“It’s encouraging to know that they’ve received more new show material from the far place. That should reduce the immediate danger of a civil disturbance,” Gopgop said. He thought, Now if I were more certain that you’re not the reason I’m getting so little useful information from our paid sources I wouldn’t be so worried about what’s going on behind my back.
“We still don’t know why information sources that should be keeping us better informed aren’t helping but there are so many things we don’t know about and no clear paths to answers.” Uldene went on, thinking, Which doesn’t rule out you messing things up behind my back to keep me in the dark while you set yourself up for the payoff. I can’t prove anything against you yet but if I find hard evidence there will be some shouting at the least.
Gopgop brought up the image of a naked earth couple in the opening part of a sexual encounter. “The A.D.U. guys have invited our opinions about whether and when to show the public some strange material from the far planet. It’s earth inhabitant pornography.
What do you think?”
The two said nothing and showed little reaction as they watched the sequence for several minutes, through to his full spouting climax and her gasping, writhing, faked orgasm.
“It’s weird. Like watching a lesson in how to assemble furniture or to open a closed door. If there were nothing else to watch I might be bored enough to turn it on but after a first time I wouldn’t be searching it out or recommending it to others,” Uldene said.
“Something exciting would be a crowd pleaser, this is only a last resort distraction. With enough promotional buildup it might get an audience but on its own it wouldn’t hold them. My recommendation is that they don’t advertise it and they tuck it away for an emergency.”
“If they can get their creative guys to alter, edit, and enhance it, including adding a voice-over commentary to suggest that what you see is actually what we’d do, it might have some limited use. I agree, tell them to save it for a disaster.”
Gopgop blanked the screen and they sat in silence for a long minute, each revolving his chair a bit and pondering how to broach the subject that was uppermost in his mind right now.
Finally Gopgop said, “We should use Minx to find out what’s happening and why we’re not getting better information.”
“I agree. I didn’t know if you’d agree but it seems like a sensible thing for us to do. We paid to have that secret zerpy sneaked onto Whizybeam so it makes sense to use it when things are so confusing.”
“With the changes the crew are reported to have made, it may for surely true cause problems but the only way to know is to try it. We activate it and if Techim reports that things suddenly went crazy we turn it back off. They should never know what we did, only that the problem resolved itself,” Gopgop said.
“Techim did say some new signal source kicked in very recently making a few complications but the crew were able to adjust things so it didn’t make a disaster. They’ll be trying to locate that source so it’s a good time to slip in another that we’re assured they can’t identify.”
Uldene entered code via his keyboard then sat back. “Done. The secret snoop code-named Minx is on the job analyzing all that’s going on aboard Whizybeam.”
“The governors are edgy. That’s never good news for us. If the unexpectedly hostile conditions on this planet Earth spook them they might declare the concept of off-planet adventure shows too risky and ban them. We put our reputations on the line by vigorously supporting such shows. Our best bet would be to start to distance ourselves from the whole idea before the governors say anything publicly.”
“But reacting too vigorously too soon will put us in the center of the fuss. We have to make sure the governors get the most accurate information we hear and remind the A.D.U. guys of the order not to leave bodies or equipment behind to be examined by the inhabitants. Beyond that it’s a wait, see, and look for others to push the blame on situation,” Uldene said.
“At least the personal warning from the governors gave us an opening – if we can go anywhere with it. Have you found anything about the device their rep called her Sproingy?”
“I’ve been using every resource I know of. I can’t find any leads. Of course I’m not using that name or any reference to the governors in my searches.”
“It’s possible that a tech presently working in the field of zerpy development might know something but we can’t trust even our regular workers. Parbam’s warning scared me.”
“From most sources ‘Don’t even try to find out about this topic’ is a hard to pass up challenge; from the governors it could be for truly real life-saving advice,” Uldene agreed.
Gopgop said, “Being a power player is exciting and for surely true has big rewards but it's scary when you don't know all you need to know to be sure of what you should know. Wow, what did I just say?”
“I didn't try to follow it closely so it's okay. You often get that loopy way when you're stressed,” Uldene said.
“This could be such a big opportunity but it could all fall apart in a slap of your feet and ruin years of dirty tricks and underhanded deals.”
“I personally went to the tech room unannounced and checked things. I couldn't find anybody's recorded talk, secret or in official open sessions, that makes the situation more certain.”
They slid their chairs into position and circular ceiling portals opened so each was sitting in a strong light beam. They quickly relaxed.
Gopgop sighed, “Ah, for surely true I need a pick-me-up after so much worrying.” After a moment he continued, “Keeping those new developments in mind I propose we split the differings. That's a tactic that has served us well over the years. We take more control of A.D.U. but not full control. We increase our profits in all areas but make it easier to shift blame to the guys in nominal charge there if things fall apart.”
“Plus that will make it easier for us to sell off our part of the company in a hurry to the amateurs always eager to buy into whatever's the fad of the hour. I'm glad you suggested this, Gopgop. I was thinking the same thing but didn't know if you'd be receptive.”
“I'm seeing the governors later at a social thing not a formal meeting. I'll tell them we support their planetary exploration program but we can't keep their role in things secret if there's a crisis. I know how to make subtle threats.”
“You've dealt with them many times so you know how to read them to decide how to proceed. As long as they don't try to keep us from profiting as much as we can without taking a big risk it'll be good.”
“Also when word of my mentioning this gets back to the A.D.U. guys, as it will, they'll recognize that we intend to leave them in nominal charge with a suitable piece of the profit for their efforts so they should decide not to try to undermine us,” Gopgop said.
“They know they're gonna be blamed if there are big problems but if they cooperate we can soften the impact on them. They know how things work. They're likely busy themselves setting things up to shift the blame to someone else.”
“Meanwhile we're supposed to do something to quiet the masses before they go into riot mode. Any suggestions?”
“I do have an idea. We should use our company’s position for what it lets us do. Here’s what I propose.”
* * *
Gopgop, looking stern and concerned, sat in front of a wall with “Power Players” in large letters on it as background. He faced a hovering zerpy that was broadcasting his message.
“As consultants to the governors, we Peepees have been asked to confirm the accuracy of the claims being made by the Amuse and Distract U Company about the true origin of their current super hit, don't miss it program The Far-Out Show. There are unsubstantiated and really silly claims by guys who aren’t willing to put their names on them that the show that was aired wasn’t for truly real recorded on a far away alien planet as claimed but right here on Ormelex. As if any Ormelexian could even hallucinate up a place so strangely and confusingly unlike anything any of us has ever seen and then somehow fake making it as the setting. We would like these doubters to explain to the rest of us what all that stuff is that fills that whole world.
“Anyway, the confusion caused by this silly rumor has disturbed the peace of our society so we are hereby asking in a semi-official and semi-formal way that A.D.U. produce reassuring evidence of the origin of the material to reassure everyone that the contestants in their smash hit challenge program are indeed interacting with members of an alien kind on another planet far from our galaxy. The governors have techs standing by who can examine the transmissions, contact the producers, or do whatever is needed to resolve this matter so we can all get back to enjoying the excitement of something never ever seen by anyone on this, or possibly any other planet.”
Gopgop made a gesture and the zerpy revolved away, then floated away. Uldene slid over to him in his own chair and said, “That covers us. We lent our name to the process, calling for clarification as if the A.D.U. guys don't know that's needed while also plugging the program so t
he few who haven't tuned in will do now so to see what the fuss is about. If it crashes we look like we did what we could to warn of trouble, but if it stays big we're obvious promoters fully deserving of the profit we make from it. Jeepers but we Peepees are clever!”
“The pros at A.D.U. will easily show that the material came at first from deep space. They only need to avoid talk-talk of any other problems. Good job. The governors are calmed; we're satisfied; A.D.U. is sort of okay. All good work on our part.”
Chapter 26
Delmus and Ackack paced their A.D.U. office side by side, their feet flapping loudly on the floor.
“Having been a tech I know that area,” Ackack said. “All I found down there suggests we're getting all the transmissions coming from Hasley's bunch or that planet.”
“I'm pretending I'm not worried, but the consequences of the contestants or zerpies being captured would be major,” Delmus said.
“The governors insisted on drastic measures in return for them funding the new show but you never expect to have to do the crazy stuff you agree to. It'll ruin us forever if this goes bad because the inhabitants of a far away planet are more alert and capable than the governors' official reports indicated.”
“Yet saying that the miscalculation was theirs more than ours will only get us in deeper trouble. I know it's politics and they're never fair but I'm still gonna whine about it.”
Both got more and more excited, their feet flopping even when they are standing still.
“We need to turn this around,” Ackack said. “Make the worry an opportunity. Turn what might become a disaster into... an exciting show about a possible disaster! But of course! Go public with the newest twist on intergalactic reality shows. The vicarious danger isn't just to a few eager fools, it affects the future of everyone in the paying audience. Who will dare miss out on the very latest news about whether the Earthlings have taken our superior equipment hostage?”
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