by Ken Pence
“Has anyone talked?” Andrew asked. “You said mate – not girlfriend – they were married?”
“I know when anyone talks in the progeny and I said mate because they have – many – many times. Married in the human sense? Not many species do that. They pair but it is a legal pairing. They go everywhere together…sorry. I am distracted right now.”
“What have the Ylee tried?”
“They have tried cutting torches, laser, fast neutron, disruptors, kinetics, and even explosives. They have tried flying over and tunneling under. They have apparently tried chemicals, temperature, and even radiation (one spot is really hot). They’ve tried talking at it – in many – many languages. They’ve tried different field merging techniques, different wavelengths with different modulations. None of it worked. They couldn’t get in. They left most of their equipment and it looked like they left it in a hurry,” Lee said.
“What makes this so much more interesting is that our rescued Ylee never mentioned this little project. Wait,” Andrew paused and keyed his Dex. “Play back the interview with the Ylee.”
The Dex played back the conversations with the rescued Ylee.
“Yes. I did remember it correctly. They said we caused the destruction of their base of operations. Then they said we brought unnecessary attention to this planet. They were here for that Enclosure. We will probably get Ylee troops here sooner or later. Do you think there is any reason we should not colonize this planet?”
Lee paused. “I can think of no reason other than the Ylee may return and we don’t know their intent or weaponry. We think the dimensional pulse weapon Octi showed us would not affect our coated ships. We have not duplicated the weapon yet but should soon be able to do so. We should have it completed in another few days,” Lee said.
“Put Rett and Shiv on the project to get into that enclosure. I need you with me,” Andrew said.
Lee waited for Andrew to continue and raised his eyebrows.
Andrew chuckled at his human mannerism. “Okay. I need you with me because we need to go on into the Lagoon Nebula. I need my best people with me. I want to leave our last settler group here. We have mostly coated ships in the expedition now. I’ll leave ten here but want to press on with forty. We need to figure this out here. That enclosure is the key to this quest. Send someone to re-interview those rescued Ylee if you need to do so. They may be more willing to talk after a week on that water moon.”
“You still want me to come along. Have you decided where we’ll go? Who will be in charge here?”
“The crux of the matter…” Andrew said and let out a big sigh. “I think Lieutenant Commander Rich Darby should be in charge with Rett as second. I think we ought to go to KW Sagittarii or KW SGR (1745-28). It’s a huge M type star that is 6,500 light years from here. It’s 1,460 times the diameter of Sol.”
“Yes. It is a supergiant star so we can find it. Is that it?” Lee asked sarcastically.
“That was sarcasm. I am so proud of you. Yes. It is easy to find. I want a big target but …a few of the charts we downloaded, when Octi made their exploratory raid for the slaves, showed a large trading center on one of the large moons. Notes on the charts showed that many races come there to trade.”
“A good reason. How will we get a line on lamlee when we get there?”
“I have no idea but we need more information and we are not getting it here. We have never visited a major center before. We should be able to get more information there.”
“That is a terribly weak argument but now I see why you need me.”
“Why is that?” Andrew said.
“You will need someone to tell you what we need to do?” Lee Post said.
“Whom have you been working with lately?” Andrew asked.
“Tech First Class Seward.”
“Figures…Lieutenant Commander Post. Commodore Williams recommends that you limit learning human mannerisms from Seward.”
***
The refitted Allung planetoid Patton joined the forty, coated ships of the expedition. The newly minted Antares served as the flagship for the sortie. The Phoenix was to stay in overwatch at Mu Sagittarii. The scout ship was not going to try to sneak in this time. They decided on a new approach. A destroyer and a frigate would go in first. They would re-transmit all ship contacts to us so the ships waiting out of sensor range could safely approach.
***
Captain Shuler commanded the destroyer, Ramses and Commodore Andrew Williams was on board. Captain Marie Leslie commanded the frigate, Starburst. They broke out at KW Sagittarii about in the orbit of the second planet, a gas giant. The started scanning and immediately came up with the location of the large trading moon because of the huge volume of traffic that lit up the screen like a star. “
“Wow. That is a lot of traffic. I wonder how close we’ll get before they hail us.”
“We’ll see soon enough…take us in,” Andrew said.
They had gone closer to the moon when two destroyers appeared alongside.
“They are hailing us,” the comm officer said.
“Acknowledge them,” said Shuler.
“They say we need to send out a transmission at a certain frequency and modulation…like a transponder code for navigation control.”
“How hard is that to do?” Andrew asked.
“No problem with our software defined radios – done Commodore. The Starburst is doing the same and we have transmitted the particulars to our waiting ships. The two ships have acknowledged and are moving off. They are directing us to a holding location for pre-screening.”
“Pre-screening? I can’t wait,” Andrew said as they approached the trade center.
***
They had entered the trading center and the navigation controls took over and directed their ships to the pre-arranged coordinates. It was a decent system but not as nice as at Earth. They did not have long to wait before the local trade officials arrived and messaged that they were awaiting entrance.
Captain Shuler arranged for the local inspectors to arrive at the port bay.
They arrived in a small shuttle and stepped out – damned if they didn’t carry clipboards – electronic but still clipboards.
They were Irixians – who would have guessed.
“We are here to inspect your ships,” said the official. Two Irixians had come aboard – one was obviously a security feature – he was big.
“Not going to happen, excrement head,” replied Commodore Williams.
“You don’t understand,” said the official. “I have the authority to inspect every ship that comes into this system. Why do you insult me?”
“You deserve it. How nice for you,” stated Commodore Andrew Williams in Trade. “Not going to happen here.”
“I will ban you from the system,” said the official.
“I suggest you rethink your policy,” Commodore Williams suggested.
“What do you mean?” asked the Irixian.
“I have one hundred battleships ready to enter your system for peaceful trade. Are you ready to handle that number?” said Andrew.
“No one has that number. Where is your planet of origin?” asked the Irixian.
“We come from 10,000 light years from here. We are from Earth.”
“Never heard of it,” he said. “You will need to be open for inspection.”
Andrew talked to his Dex for a second. “Not going to happen,” he said in Trade.
“You will be banned from our system,” said the Irixian.
“Check with your scan techs,” Andrew said.
There was a short delay. “Twenty battleships have entered our system. They have the required transponder codes,” the Irixian turned to Andrew. “Are these your ships?”
Andrew spoke into his Dex. “Check with scanners now.”
There was a short pause. “Are these ships yours?”
“Twenty more this time. Yes. They are mine. Do you want eighty more?” Andrew said and spoke into his Dex.
/> The official listened to his communications for a few moments. “Twenty more ships have entered the system. One ship is an enormous planetoid. I think they must be yours,” said the official.
“Do you still want to inspect my ship or will you get on with the rates of exchange, lists of cargo and the like? I will be happy to ask you your authority with 200 battleships or… we can do this like a civilized being. Will forty three ships suffice or will 157 more be needed to elicit your attention?” Andrew said.
“Forty-three will be sufficient. Where is your planet of origin, its origin, and what do you have as a medium of exchange?” said the Irixian.
“We are from Earth – that is 10,000 light years from here along this arm of the galaxy.”
“That is the area prohibited because the Allung control that area…that area is prohibited,” said the official. “No one comes from that area.”
“The Allung have been eliminated in that area. We are the race that eliminated them. We wish to trade. What do you require?”
There was a long pause as the Irixian received notice that twenty-one more ships had transferred into the system. One of the new ships was reported as gigantic. Was this an invasion? Who were these beings?
“What is your medium of exchange?” Andrew asked to pull the official’s attention back to the present.
“We trade information. That is the universal medium. We have a database of information showing what we have. We also list common exchange rates for elements. We do not allow beings without credit to land. What do have to pay port fees and other charges that may arise?”
“We have commercial electronic devices, some unusual beverages and foods. We have some elements and we have many areas of knowledge,” Andrew said and turned around and took a 50-centimeter long, gray box. “Here is a sample of what we offer.”
“It is heavy,” the official said turning the box from side to side. “What is in it?”
“It has some samples for you. You swipe your finger across it like this…” Andrew demonstrated. “Then the seam will appear and you can swing it open. You just swipe your finger the other way to seal it.” Andrew said table and a small table rose from the decking. “You try it and then we will examine the contents.” Andrew placed the box on the table.
The Irixian picked up the box and swiped his finger across and then gently opened it. He placed the box on the table and began to lift out items as Andrew explained what they represented. The Irixian security officer sidled over to get a better look. His stoic presence had lost out to his curiosity.
“That is a bottle of red wine. It has 8 percent alcohol content for drinking. It is made from one of our many fruits.” Andrew said as the official stood the bottle up on the table and reached in to get another item. “That is a video player showing scenes from our home planet. It has many scenes,” Andrew said as the scene from snow boarding down a mountain had the Irixian leaning right and left as the snowboarder careened down the slope.”
“I have seen snow before. So your planet is cold,” stated the Irixian.
“Keep watching. The next view was from a jet ski in the Florida Keys followed by whales breaching. The next view was a skydiving team with the new inertialess belts that the military loved.
“You use false video techniques well,” said the official.
“He was just enjoying one of devices to land without inertia,” Andrew said.
The official pulled out a black rectangle that was actually a technical, graphing calculator that had been developed using Trade symbols and conventions.
“What is this?” he asked and the security officer was leaning forward by this time.
“Touch the button on the bottom to turn it on or off. This is a calculator for engineers. It performs complex calculations and will draw the results. Numbers and formula are entered here,” Andrew said and demonstrated. He also pointed to a place on the screen that gave tutorials. “Touching here gives audio and visual tutorials in its use.”
The Irixians jerked back when the device started speaking in Trade and demonstrating how to use the device. Andrew touched the off button and the device became an opaque rectangle of black plastic. Andrew placed it on the table and pulled a smaller rectangle out of the box.
“This is a much simpler version of a calculator. This only does addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It turns on when you press the red circle on the bottom. It turns itself off when not in use or when the red circle is pressed again.” Andrew handed the calculator to the Irixian.
The Irixian took the thin rectangle of black plastic and touched the red circle. The symbols appeared in Trade and he hesitatingly tried a few. “How long does this last?”
“How long do Irixians live?” Andrew asked and the Irixian looked taken aback.
“Do you threaten me?” the Irixian asked.
“No. No. Just trying to answer your question. A general answer is fine.”
“We live about 150 standard orbits.”
Andrew did a quick conversion in his head. “It should last almost your whole lifetime.”
“What do you do with it when it stops working?”
“You throw it away. These are extremely cheap to make. We often give these away with other trades as a free bonus.”
“Why would you give things away?” the Irixian asked.
“We want repeat business. We give special deals to repeat customers or when we secure new business. It is just our custom,” Andrew said and pulled a glossy catalog and handed it to the official.
“What is this?” the official said and turned the catalog over. His eyes nearly came out of his head. “What is this printed on?”
“We use NuRiz.”
“I have heard of Riz. It is valuable and is nearly indestructible. Riz is only black and white. These pages have color.”
“We manufacture NuRiz. We can print in color and do it inexpensively. We will trade that and many other items detailed in the catalog. There are two others for you to have,” Andrew said and took those out of box too. “I think you have a few more items.”
The official took out a small bar of gold and a small, blue velvet sack with a gold string on top. He put the heavy, glistening bar of gold on the table and then dumped the contents of the bag on the table. Out spilled cut diamonds, rubies, emeralds, blue garnets, and black opals.
The security officer actually squeaked when he saw the gemstones that the official was deftly placing back into the bag. Andrew was surprised that he could move so quickly and accurately. It gave him more appreciation of the Irixians.
“You have one more thing to examine. Pick up the box now that it is empty.”
The official looked at Andrew questioningly and then did as requested. He looked at Andrew and turned the box over and under. He locked it and opened it looking for a hinge.
“This weighs nothing. It has no hinge. What is it made of? Has does it work? Is this material expensive?”
“It is a special lattice of carbon nano-tubes.”
“What are nanotubes?”
“Tiny – tiny tubes of carbon. The lock uses resistive electrostatics. I will not try to explain that but we will trade our knowledge of the technology on how to make these.”
The official placed all the items back into the box, let out a nearly human sigh but his had a type of whistle and pushed the box back toward Andrew.
Andrew picked up the box and handed it back to the official. “These are samples for you.”
“Is this a bribe?” asked the Irixian.
“No. These are samples we give to all major trade centers when first arriving. We require some place we can safely secure two of our ships. We also need a safe orbit for the remainder of the ships. Would you recommend some place we could arrange credit? We would also like a local guide and recommendations on places to stay. You may have regulations or laws so we need those. Would you arrange this information for us on accommodations, credit, security, guides and similar?”
Andrew
continued. “We will replace any of these items you have to use to help us get the best. We always guarantee our products from defects for one Earth year – which is a little longer than a standard orbit. We appreciate the best accommodations. Do you trade for lamlee?”
The Irixian looked like he had been slapped. “Traders or the public are not allowed to own lamlee. The government controls them. No one may trade or own lamlee without a government license. We pride ourselves on being a nonintrusive government. I notice some of your crew is armed. No citizens are allowed to carry weapons. Only the government peacekeepers or troops have weapons. I will send you the information you requested shortly.”
The two Irixians left as fast as Rett without saying bye your leave.
Lee Post came closer to Andrew. “Guess the progeny won’t be going on any outings here.”
“Why would you say that?” Andrew asked.
“He said they weren’t allowed.”
“He also said we couldn’t go armed. That is so much bullshit. I gave him the equivalent of a king’s ransom. That will stir up interest in us. The government will move on us. We are too big of a target for them not to do something. Everywhere we have been – everywhere has tried us. Either lamlee are so scarce here or this is some other deal to control the supply.”
“I wonder what type of response we’ll get,” Lee said.
A Ylee Bit of Influence
“How should we respond?” Preechamix, the Irixian customs official asked council member Thiacham.
“We need to get them a good landing area. We then need to make sure they are followed wherever they go. We will lure them out of their ships – then we can search for lamlee. They mentioned the lamlee – you are sure you didn’t mention them first.”
“No. They definitely mentioned it first.”
“You told them about our weapons policy?”
“Yes. I did. I have already arranged to have them followed. They have a floor at the best hotel. They have a credit line.”
“You got them credit already?” the councilman asked.