by Ken Pence
He went into the back and pulled out some classics with photos, heavy weapons manuals, military training manuals, and cookbooks. We had to turn down any duplicates because of space limitations – not really – we were going to scan them all. We left and promised to bring a LOT more when we returned...with all new books and in Trade. We said if he came to Earth to trade with manuals and books with photos we would make him a rich man. We told him he did not need to bring more than one of each book. Though puzzled by the statement he was almost dancing when he saw us to the door.
It was about time to pick up Phillips and get all acquisitions back to the Victoria. The proprietor of the facility working on Phillips said it was going to take a little longer so we swapped out our soldier and headed back. The shuttle turned visible as we approached and we loaded everything on board and washed up. The produce we had ordered showed up in a couple of carts pulled by four of the scraggliest looking beings, we had ever seen. We gave them each a duralloy coin and they looked stricken. It took a while to explain to them that we didn’t want their bodies for unnatural purposes and this was a tip. We told them it was our way of thanking them for doing such a good job and the coins were for them to have – not their employer. We went back in and told them to give this bottle of wine to their employer with our thanks. We explained how to open it and said we would be very displeased if they drank it. We told them we would not tell their employer about the coins if they would make sure he got it and they explained how the bottle was unsealed. They promised and hid the coins.
We didn’t know until later that a couple of bruisers stopped them on the way back and demanded everything we had given them. Afraid that they might lose their coins and make us angry if they lost the bottle they instantly charged the bullies. It was so unprecedented of an attack that their biting, gouging and scratching saw their arrival at the vendor’s store with the wine unscathed. When the vendor heard how they had stood up to the bullies – he gave them all a large block of bread and extra meat for their trouble – both foodstuffs were a little old and it served a better purpose. The four went to sleep full and happy for the first time in a long time.
The Earth group all went back to wait for Phillips. The proprietor came out in a few minutes and he was pacing. “We have done what we could but he had some chemicals in his system – the being held up four small capsules. They were implanted near lymph nodes in his body. These were releasing a chemical into his system. I am sure it was supposed keep him from aging but it is not correctly formulated. It prevented my work from improving his life expectancy more than it did. We were able to improve his skin and get rid of the near blockages in his blood vessels but those are easy. Should I call your crew member out and give him the bad news here or privately.”
Andrew was touched by the proprietor’s concern but Phillips had been 90 and taking all these weird drugs trying to keep from aging. “What is your title? We call people that have intimate knowledge of the workings of the body a Doctor. It is held in high esteem in our culture. Would you mind us calling you that? We do not even know your name?” Andrew said.
“My short name is Ky. Doctor Ky sounds very good. We are usually referred to as medical technicians,” he said and touched an intercom to tell his assistant to send Phillips out. “I will tell him the news here.”
Phillips came out and everyone gasped at the drastic change to the man. He looked 35. His hair was dark and his skin was taut and firm. He had lost the circles under his eyes and the loose skin.
Doctor Ky went over to him and handed him the four little implants. “We were not able to achieve what we had hoped because of these poorly calibrated drugs in your system. You will not live your full potential life span.”
Phillips looked crestfallen. “I feel great. How long do I have to live?”
“No being can tell you that but you said you were 90 planetary revolutions old already,” Doctor Ky said.
“Yes, that is right,” Phillips said.
“Then unfortunately you only have about half that left before you’ll age rapidly and die,” the Doctor said. “The drugs you took kept us from correcting the balance that keep away cell mutation and cell death.”
“You mean I have 45 more years – left to live.” Phillips said.
“Yes. I am sorry I could not do any better,” Doctor Ky said.
Phillips started whooping and jumping up and down. He saw himself in the office mirror – stopped for a moment – and then ran around the room jumping up and down and hollering.
“He did not take it well did he?” stated the Doctor.
“You did great Doctor. I want to make you a proposal. I need more medical knowledge for my crew. I will hire your services for a week and buy all of your equipment if you will record your skills for us. We will teach you all we know about our medicine if you will teach us how you did this treatment. We have nothing like this on our planet and are behind yours in that area,” Andrew said.
“No one knows where the teaching cylinders come from. I could not go with you. It would be too much of a burden for me. You also do not have enough in trade for these skills that have taken me a lifetime to build,” Doctor Ky said.
“We know where the cylinders are made and can make them ourselves. Here is one we recorded on how to make the electronic circuits for the devices we showed you. Are lamlee valuable?” Andrew asked.
“You know they are or you never would have been able to pay for your field neutralizer,” Doctor Ky said. “I have sources too.”
“We have lamlee Doctor,” Andrew said as a soldier handed him a sack. Andrew reached in, pulled out a handful of lamlee and gave them to the doctor. “Keep these just for considering our offer. We want to make you the richest medical technician on this planet.”
Medical technician Ky started to say there were a couple of other techs who might be as qualified as him but he thought – richest Doctor on the planet you mean. “I will tell you in the morning. Take him somewhere to sleep. The boost I gave him will wear off soon and he will sleep. No alcohol and clear fluids for one planetary revolution. His appetite will soon return and he will need food intake of a much younger man. It will now cost a lot more to feed him with his metabolism changed as it is.”
They trooped out and only the automatic defenses on Susan’s, and Ling’s suits kept them from getting their butts pinched by Phillips.
The Marmut following the group ran back to report to the old trader. He was out of shape for all this skulking around but this was worth reporting.
The old trader came out and said, ”Well?” He was upset thinking about these Earth beings. Their trade would unbalance many things that had been stable for years.
“They bought cloth and jewelry. They left one with the Medical technician and spent quite a bit of time there when picking him up. They bought a wide selection of single weapons of various types and even bought a field neutralizer. They spent most of their time in the used bookstore and left with a huge cart filled with books. I could not see their titles. They bought produce and had it delivered to a shuttle,” the Marmut said and he was unsure how to phrase the next statement. “When they went to the area near the green warehouse – they had a small craft waiting for them. It appeared to have two crewmen in armor waiting for them.”
“Yes. Tell me about their craft,” the trader said.
“It was invisible and when they approached it appeared,” the Marmut continued.
“Invisible?” the trader thought it impossible but the Marmut had always been a reliable source. “You say it turned visible. Tell me about it.”
“It had a ramp that was a little wider than this,” the Marmut said and stretched out both arms. “It think it could hold maybe twenty beings your size or about ten and cargo. It had an odd gray surface and looked like a rectangle from the side. The front was slanted only a bit and had clear sections in the front. They just left the medical technician’s shop and are walking back to their craft.”
“How did they pay for
all this material?” the old trader asked.
“They gave out many of their catalogs and brochures...I got one of each myself. They are marvelous. They paid with more calculators, lights, and small moving picture players but they paid for the produce with games,” the Marmut said. “Yes games. They had little devices that showed fascinating images of creatures and you battle them. The sounds and vibration are huge and the images look like you are there fighting the creatures. You pick up weapons as you fight the way through each level. I almost lost them because I was so fascinated by the game,” the Marmut said.
So...they are warriors and everything they do prepares them for combat...Interesting. “Is that all?”
“They paid the weapons dealer with lamlee,” the Marmut said with emphasis.
“Lamlee! You are sure?” The trader asked.
“Quite sure. He said they had a sack full.”
“Invite them to my dwelling for the feast. Send an assistant ahead to tell me how many I can expect and in what armor. Go now,” the trader said. He sent for his young partner. This changes things. Lamlee.
The young trader rushed in and he too had had the group followed. He explained he had seen the scene player they gave for jewels and he had wanted one for himself. He did not know about the lamlee but jumped on the point that the older trader had missed. The older trader asked him what did he miss. The young trader said, “They only bought one of each weapon.”
“So,” said the old trader.
“That means that they don’t need more weapons. They are just looking at anything that might give them trouble or it was something they had not seen before. They plan to copy anything new to them. They can make anything better if they know how to use lamlee,” said the young trader. “What do we do now?” he asked.
“I think we will have a large dinner soon at my house. Please call your two trade ships and put them under my command. I will call mine too. Hurry! We cannot let this opportunity pass.”
***
A strange hooded creature came up to them as they were taking Phillips back to the shuttle. Phillips was about to wind down because he was not jumping around any more and looked completely out of steam. The creature who looked like a short coffin shape covered by a brown robe that bent upward and had two arms attached, invited them to dinner and gave them a drawing of the location. It was a map of the trading port with the trader’s home circled. Fran photographed it and gave it to the shuttle pilot. Her MemDex transmitted the map and location of the trader’s home to all the others. Andrew told the pilot, in English, to take off after they left and deposit Phillip and the cargo on the Odin and come back for them near the trader’s home but on stealth mode. He said he would.
The creature, who had given them the invitation, fascinated Fran. He was a Marmut, she thought. She had only taken the training cylinder on the Marmut because they were so unusual. They had four thick legs and their body bent upward with two thin, but strong, dexterous hands. They were known to have a keen intelligence and had a great appreciation for art. Most of their race were considered artists. They were to be referred to as Naesta or Master in English.
“You are a Marmut are you not?” Fran said in Trade hoping she was correct and was not insulting the creature as the group walked toward the trader’s home for dinner.
“Yes,” he said wondering why she asked.
“Naesta, I have a great admiration for your art and your knowledge. How long have been living here?” she said in Marmut.
The creature stopped and looked at her. “Why did you learn my language?” he replied in turn in his own language. It had been many turns since he had been called Naesta. It was a very good feeling.
“Naesta, your species is known for its art. I am but an amateur but the language training I took also showed flashes of how you see and appreciate the beauty around you. I hope they appreciate your talents here...Here -- I want you to have this token,” and she handed the being a small, flat 8 X 12 cm rectangle of plastic. “The training I received let me see things better than I ever have before. This is a way of expressing my thanks to you. I cannot give it to the one who made the cylinder but you are here.”
The Marmut was very touched by her token but it puzzled him since it was just a blank square of dull plastic.
Fran said, “Hold it in the light. It is powered by visible light. I hope you like it. It is from my Earth. I do not have one for other worlds yet but I will make them when I return home.”
The Marmut held it up to the light. A scene of a high cliff sprang to life and you could see the water as it fell down a straight cliff. You could see avian creatures diving into the water – one came out with a wriggling silver creature in its mouth. The tall vegetation moved and the mist drifted at the bottom. He was just beginning to absorb this scene when it changed to a barren mountainside with mountains all around and covered by snow. It was just barren – no – the clouds moved and the view changed as the clouds opened up. There was a brief glimpse of a valley below and great manors built into the side of the mountain.
Another view change, and he was sliding down the snow on a piece of something – almost straight down on top of the snow. The view swung back and forth with snow spraying into the air. He was swaying with the movement down the slope and he quickly put the rectangle into the shadow of his robe. “How is this possible? How long will what powers this last? This is an extravagant gift.”
“It is very inexpensive on our home world but I like it and thought you would too. Please keep it. Think of us when you view it. Any light powers it. It should last a hundred years if not broken. It is not as nice as the sculpture or painting your people are known for but it is all I have. I thought you might like it,” Fran said.
“Thank you. May I see you without your helmet,” the Marmut asked.
Fran removed her helmet and put it under her arm. She smiled at him. The light hit her at an angle.
The Marmut thanked her and started walking again. He did not want her to see that she had touched him deeply. He had been on this planet many, many years...too many he thought if there were creatures like this out in the galaxy. He had been much too jaded and cynical lately. He held the little rectangle up to the light and the tears pored down his face.
Fran was a little disappointed when the Marmut turned away from her and just kept walking toward the trader’s house. He had seemed to like the little photo frame she gave him. The Marmut language training had given her a glimpse of this species’ talent. Maybe this one was not an artist. She felt better for it anyway. She had meant everything she said.
The trader’s home – mansion – wasn’t disappointing. There were beautiful gardens leading on curved paths and the front was lit with lights of many colors that reflected off diagonal support columns that looked impossible. It was a riot of shape and color. They entered through huge doors that looked like they came off a Greek temple. The interior entrance foyer opened into a several large room offsets that were curved and ornate. They were directed to large circular room with low rectangular table set into a semicircle and all facing a wall that showed beautiful sculptures and paintings. Fran was drawn to the collection. Some were on lighted stands and all were exquisite. The most beautiful ones were made of colored glass and they were of animals, beings and plants that looked like they were moving using some type of optical illusion.
The whole crew walked among them – they were magnificent.
The old trader walked in and welcomed them. He said he was glad they were beings that appreciated art.
Andrew said what all of them had been thinking. “These are wonderful. They are magnificent. Forgive me if I say that your collection takes my breath away. Where did you get these? We saw nothing like it in any of the shops.”
The trader laughed as he pushed his hood back and exposed his reptilian appearance. “I have collected these from all over in my trades. The blue glass one is my favorite.” He raised his arm with all his digits pressed together and pointed at a display
case near the center.
It was simple. It showed some type of tree but was made all of transparent blue glass. The limbs started moving and the leaves gently swayed if you looked at it for any length of time. It was living sculpture.
“It is wonderful,” Fran said. “Thank you for showing it to us.”
“Will you not sit...” said the trader as he indicated the cushions around the tables. The food will be out shortly. I must admit I quizzed the medical technician on your dietary requirements. He said you were omnivores. I will try to give you a sample of some of the better food and drink. Only ingest what you like. I will explain its name and origin for you if you like it,” he laughed,”...or if you want to avoid it again in the future.”
Servants began bringing dishes of food and pitchers of chilled beverages and began laying them out. They just piled it up until it covered all the tables like an old, Russian feast table. Fran had installed biological sensors to indicate whether food was safe, questionable or unsafe after the Tau Ceti meal. Andrew indicated all the soldiers might also eat too and they sat and removed their helmets. There was one dish that all the non-Vegans liked. Their host named it and said it was cooked unborn avian embryos and cooked-chopped hind leg muscle of some animal.
Susan leaned over to Andrew and whispered, “Green eggs and ham.”
Andrew laughed and passed it on around the tables.
All laughed and this disquieted the host.
“Is my meal so funny?” he asked.
“Forgive me, please. This dish – it is delicious by the way – is described in one of our old, children’s books. The person in the story keeps running away from someone trying to get him to eat it. When he finally does – he finds it delicious. This dish made us think of that story – we too find it delicious,” Andrew said.