by Moulton, CD
They went along the dockside road, stopping twice in little pubs for drinks. They came to the warehouse on the point. There were long docks in three directions from the huge structure and four separate ships were being loaded or unloaded. They were very careful not to get in the way of anything or anyone, so weren't asked to stay off the docks. Most cargo was handled by servos. There wasn't much danger if a person was watchful.
Kit was gone a moment, then returned. "The Lightbringer Two on dock B slip three seems to have a cargo for Sunset Island, which name delights me with visions of magnificent light displays in the very late afternoons," Kit reported. "As it is getting late I believe we should go to our humble craft to rest. The Lightbringer sets sail about two hours after dawn in the morning and, as it often does, it has booked a small party of tourists who wish to get the feel of the seafaring life. They'll go ashore at any or all of the stops. They may choose to stay at any of them for so long as they please. This route is taken every five days, so they can always leave next trip."
Thing didn't have its floater along to translate for it, but managed a nod. Z said it sounded wonderful to him. They made their way back to T6, Thing and Z ate a delicious meal and rested while T6 and Kit exchanged information and worked on problems linked through the console. T6 explained about its first learning of its intelligence and how it happened (Short Story, Describe Intelligent!).
"I was very apologetic," T6 related. "I kept saying, 'excuse me?' Rimalt finally said, 'Who is that?' and I said I was the ship and, as the TTH moder was dephasing and would blow us all to vapors in fifteen seconds or so, perhaps they should prepare to die. It was a pity they wouldn't be able to finish their project.
"Rimalt screamed, 'Fix the damned moder, you half-brained idiot!' or something such.
"That actually never occurred to me until he said it. I had been programmed to report difficulties, not to fix them. It was the crossing of components and plugging in several that were designed for different purposes that resulted in my becoming aware. Rimalt didn't know I was independently intelligent until a bit later, after I registered myself as his personal property. It seemed incongruous to him that a college professor, even one who taught at University, would ever own an S class ship, but I knew no one ever checks on those things.
"Rimalt was quite the academician. He would have reported it, anyhow, but he got in front of one of those idiot administrators who had worked his way up from being nothing more than a career bureaucrat into his level of incompetency. Rimalt exploded and said he was using his private ship for that school's business and wouldn't continue to pay the upkeep. The administrator checked the records, found I was Rimalt's ship, and got oh-so-nice. Then it was too late for Rimalt to back out.
"He worried for a couple of years he was going to 'get caught' for something, but we became quite the team. You've input all the things we did after that. Only you and Maita know the whole story. Maita had to alter the empire records about my registration and put in a replacement for me."
"I'd think Z and Thing would know," Kit said. "Maybe not the details, but Maita won't have any secrets among the crew. That will mean Tab and TR know, too.
"T Six, Maita has tried to program a lot of things into me. One of those things is that I will have strong emotional reaction to various things at various times. That is an integral part of intelligence.
"I know joy, T Six. I know joy in being a part of you and I know joy in being a member of Maita's crew. I know joy in these organic beings, Z and Thing. They are my friends. I will know joy in meeting Tab and TR. I know that.
"I am alive, T Six. You are alive and Maita is alive and Tab and TR are alive.
"I want to meet Theron and Searcher. I definitely want to know the Zulians. The deep awe and respect a being such as Maita feels toward that race tells me I will know pure joy in meeting them.
"I do want, T Six. We are a machine who wants. That separates us parsecs from other machines. It's what makes us alive."
"I have come to the conclusion that being alive is mainly not wanting to be turned off," T6 said. "Intelligence gives us all the rest. A plant is alive, but it doesn't want or know emotions and doesn't consider."
The dawn was coming to light the sky and Thing's translator was still attached. All of the communications between T6 and Kit had been silent, but Thing could listen and had heard a part of the discussion about life as it awakened.
[ 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.
"Then some lower echelon hood seemed to want to move up in the ranks. He seemed to have just a bit too much information. He was dangerous. He couldn't get that information except from someone on the board.
"The board were suspicious and afraid. They began going a bit too far to alienate the people they must work with. Those people in turn reacted against those below themselves. They even struck out at some of the customers.
"I'm sorry about ... that any such thing ever happened. The man never intended for that to happen, but he was unaware anyone could actually be so depraved they would do those things. He was still naive.
"This was allowed to slowly simmer with only a slight increase in heat, now and then. Nervous and scared people make mistakes. The mistakes were allowed to grow, both in scope and frequency. The directors could not trust one another, now! – Except E and F, who stayed close through all of it. They were different personality types and had formed some strange bond in their criminality.