“A lace crystal knife!” Hana exclaimed. “That’ll buy a lot of Shelonian electronics! The warehouse owners will love getting it; they’ll get a bundle for it from some collector or another. Apparently, lately it’s been hard to come by with long enough, straight enough, pieces of lace crystal to make into knives, so they’ve become rarities. There used to be—but that was well over a decade ago—a Free Trader who brought really good pieces of lace crystal, and amber salt crystals also, from some obscure planet in the Wilderness. Unfortunately, some Space Lanes mafia group, or something—the details are a little hazy—wanted in on his action. Instead of giving up his secrets, the Trader died, and his secrets died with him.”
Hana shuddered.
“Those crooks would have been better off just buying the stuff from him; there’s lots of profit to go around in lace crystal, and amber salt crystals. But no, they wanted the whole she-bang, and ended up with nothing. And a man died, unpleasantly; that’s how the story goes.”
Kati and Lank exchanged glances. Neither of them said anything, but Kati did find herself wondering if the “mafia” had some way of finding out if, and when, someone tried to follow Darla’s ex-partner’s tracks. If the prize had not grown in the telling of the tale, Zeke’s discovery had been a rich one, definitely worth waiting for. Would the criminals have left a beacon or a message buoy somewhere on the route, the part of it that they had known Zeke to use, to be triggered by any ship which retraced it? The Team would have to be very careful not to fall into a trap, long before they were on the way to Wayward.
“Maybe,” she said to Lank while they were moving their possessions from The Spacebird to The Spacebird Two (and Mose and Hana were busy doing the opposite with their things), “we can use some of the amber salt crystals, or lace crystals to worm our way into useful circles once we get to Wayward.”
“Hm,” Lank replied thoughtfully. “That might work, if we go about it the right way. We’ll be able to make like we’re well-to-do folk.”
“Yeah, except that can be dangerous. Incite envy, and all that. Although I’ll admit, it would be fun to resurrect Lady Katerina for a bit.”
Lank laughed. He had heard stories of Lady Katerina, and her servant, Mik.
“Not sure that I could perform Mikal’s role, though,” he said.
“No need to,” Kati laughed. “These days Lady Katerina is travelling with her nephew and niece, and an Uncle Llon, as well.”
“Hey, we can all be Tarangayans,” Lank added. “So long as Llon doesn’t mind. Where is he anyway?”
“He said that he wanted to commune with the Planetary Spirits of this world. He thinks that he might be able to get useful information from them. Don’t ask me more than that; I’m just glad that he’s along to do the Spirit communications. That stuff could get awfully time-consuming on Vultaire, as I recall.”
Ciela was spending some time with her mother and siblings before moving into The Spacebird Two permanently. She had gone with Lank to do the parts shopping, and was keen to learn everything and anything that Lank could teach her about space ship engines. There was no question of her ability to follow his lead, Lank had assured Kati. If she could work with Xanthus Hsiss’ laboratory equipment, he had said, she could learn the ins and outs of the space ship engines. She was certainly enthusiastic; Kati was certain that had she asked, the girl would have already joined the ship, forgoing family time, but Kati was not about to encourage that. Ciela’s relatives had the right to spend a little time with her before she shipped out, what with the date of her return so uncertain.
*****
Mose and Hana were the first ones to leave Jorris’ property. Before they lifted, Lank spent a while with them and The Spacebird’s computers, which he had not purged of all of Darla’s information. What he had left there were the instructions about how to use the debris field controller as a defensive weapon, and the simulator which could be used to gain facility with the process. He demonstrated these to both Mose and Hana neither of whom, it turned out, had any familiarity with the manoeuvre.
“I was told that it’s to be used only as a last resort, and never against a warship,” he explained to them. “But the woman who taught it to me did say that it has been known to occasionally save a Free Trader in serious trouble.”
“You’re not expecting your enemies to shoot at this ship, are you?” Mose asked, doubtfully.
“No, but my informant did tell me that Free Traders often lead dangerous lives, so I thought that it was only fair to pass the word on. Our enemies want to take Kati alive, so they’ll not shoot before they talk. And when they start talking, you can make it clear that you’re not us; you only bought a cheap ship from a couple of scared goofs.”
“Well, our old ship has a debris field controller, too, so you’ll be able to play this trick if you need to,” Mose said.
“One of the first things I checked,” Lank laughed. “I’ve already downloaded all this stuff into its computers. And I’ve spent some time on the simulator; all I have to do is get used to The Spacebird Two, and I’ll be ready for the unexpected.”
Mose and Hana gave him doubtful glances before they said good-bye. Lank suspected that they were glad to go back to their settled routine as not very inquisitive Free Traders, and leave the adventuring to the likes of himself, Kati and Ciela. And Llon, of course, although he was not at all certain that Llon qualified as an adventurer. He was not sure as to what Llon qualified, except as a useful fellow to have around.
*****
Kati tackled Llon once they were in space.
The Spacebird Two was purring like a contented cat, after Lank and Ciela had lavished tender, loving care on her for two days. Kati had turned the living spaces, almost exactly like those of the first Spacebird, only shabbier, into a comfortable place, and had refurbished their food stores with local greens, and sea food. Thornberry juice concentrate had been on her shopping list, too, to Lank’s delight, and Ciela’s disdain. Now they were enroute to Spacebird Two’s first stop, the Space Station Plata, which from Mose and Hana’s information, sounded like it was a cut, but only a cut, above the Qupar Station.
“We won’t be doing any sight-seeing there,” Kati warned the young fry. “It’s a business stop; we make our transactions, and take in as much of the Shelonian gadgets as we can comfortably fit on board. Then we continue on our way.”
“You’re not going to let that lace crystal knife go for a small load of Shelonian electronics,” Lank protested. “That Station Peace Officer on Qupar said that it’s worth the price of a house on the Station. That’s got to be big money, Kati!”
“For our purposes I’d be willing to let much more go,” Kati answered. “However, as a sop to your Tarangayan thrift, I’m prepared to ask the warehouse owner to hold onto our credit, for future transactions. Besides, I don’t want to attract attention by behaving like some Madame Moneybags—although something akin to that we all will be after our buying and selling is finished—so you have nothing to worry about.”
“That’s good, Kati,” Lank said, sounding relieved. “Considering how you got the knife, and what you’ve already done with it, I’d hate to see it sold cheaply.”
“I’ll just be glad to get it out of The Monk’s hands,” Kati sighed. “He was good the last time, but he cannot be trusted, there’s a fact. That’s why I would have been perfectly happy to have it turned into a fish-knife on the Maldos Chain.”
“Some fish-knife that would have been,” muttered Ciela.
Apparently she had heard of lace crystal knives.
Determinedly, Kati turned to Llon who had followed the exchange in silence.
“So, how did the communing with the Tarangayan Planetary Spirits go?” she asked him. “Anything new and/or useful to us?”
“A few things, possibly,” Llon answered with a smile. “The Tarangayan ephemera are akin to the Ocean Sister you got to know on Vultaire, in that they are wildly energetic—water in large quantities seems to contribute to that sor
t of exuberance. So it was a little difficult to get hold of anyone’s tail, so to speak.”
Kati could sympathize. She remembered her first experience with the Ocean Sister. It had been hard to get a thought in edgewise as the water spirit had danced around her, communicating its distress about the things that were being done to her islands, her seas and rocks. That communication had taken hours, but had not accomplished as much as Kati had hoped. It had not been until the Ocean Sister had become acquainted with Xoraya who had been under the mind-tangler, and out of her body at the time, that communing with the apparently female Spirit had become easier. The Xeonsaur had been able to calm it down, Kati was not quite sure how, but had been very grateful for the result. Especially since Xoraya had drawn on the Spirit’s energy to facilitate some of the feats that she and Kati had accomplished together.
“But you persisted?”
“I persisted. And in the end I received some impressions about the various visitors to the world. Scientist Hsiss was an object of curiosity at the beginning, considered a welcome addition, useful to the human inhabitants of the Maldos Chain. But when he started bringing in the others, he created, at first, confusion, and later, outright worry in the Spirit associated with the Chain. Some of the people he brought in were tainted according to this Spirit, which, to the best of my knowledge, means that they were allied, on their own worlds, with something malevolent. The boss-man especially (that would have been Gorsh) and those most closely allied with him, this Spirit characterized as being greedy, childish, and having little concern for the good of the life-forms around them. The woman who came only once, (Milla, of course), the Spirit regarded with pure contempt. The words I got in relation to her were greedy, petty, vindictive, manipulative; there were others but you get my drift.”
“Low cunning,” Kati muttered.
She recalled having read or heard the term somewhere, somewhen, probably in that other life which she had lived before she had been abducted.
“Yes,” agreed Llon, “only worse. Your run-of-the-mill people displaying low cunning are usually just afraid, and lacking in self-confidence. They think that to get what they want, they have to manipulate people into giving it to them, rather than earning it through love, work, or creativity. They don’t understand that they are deserving, just like everyone else, and that often they gain whatever it is they’re looking for because they are loved, or esteemed, in spite of all. Milla does feel that she has to manipulate others to get what she wants, but she also thinks that she has the right to punish those who refuse to go along with her wishes—assuming, of course, that she is in a position to wield power over them.
“She is unlikeable enough that even her husband, nasty piece of work that he is, doesn’t much care for her. He married her for her property—she inherited a considerable Estate from her parents whose only child she was. She was pleased at the time to marry a dashing man, one that she would not have attracted without her wealth—nor his greed. He has been building on her assets ever since, making their combined wealth more and more his all the time. He wants sons to leave it to, but that has been the one flaw in herself that Milla has neither been able to deny or to overcome. Her family is not fecund; many of her ancestors on both sides spent a lot of time doing business on the Space Trade Lanes, and too much time in space can sap the human ability to reproduce. So, even though her family is an established one on Wayward, and were landowners, they were not known for good genetics. Besides which, it seems that they were part of an elite which interbred too much within their own circle.
“And Gorsh is not much better; he also comes, partly, from space-faring stock, and has continued that life himself, although, in marrying him, Milla married outside of the elite group to which she belonged.”
“Sounds like you got whole life histories of some of the people we’re interested in!” Kati exclaimed. “I thought you said that you didn’t get much!”
“How useful Gorsh and Milla’s life histories are to us remains a question,” Llon said with a shrug. “The Tarangayan Water Spirits do, however, agree that the planet ought to enter the Federation orbit, as soon as possible. There does seem to be agreement among the numinosities of the galaxy that the Star Federation offers the best hope for the peaceable growth of the human tribe, at least in this era.”
“Well, Gorine and Jorris should be working on that,” murmured Ciela.
“Even as we talk, no doubt,” Kati agreed.
“Do you want to know what the Water Spirits thought of you and yours, Kati?” Llon asked with a crooked grin.
Kati sighed.
“Not really,” she replied. “Although I suspect that you’re going to tell me anyway. It’s not going to change my mind about anything, including what we’re going to do.”
“Hah!” Llon laughed. “A smart, resourceful, loving, headstrong woman, that’s what the Spirit I communicated with, termed you. Well teamed with that half-Lamanian, half-Borhquan Agent, who is intelligent, passionate, and resourceful, as well as thoughtful. Xoraya the Spirit described as a wild card of sorts, important to human history, as well as to her own people for a long time to come. Lank and Ciela, you are her own children, and she is immensely proud of you, and expects great things of you, now and in the future.”
“Well, that’s considerably better than the treatment Gorsh and Milla received,” Kati laughed, a little ruefully. “Although, I will admit to having my own regrets, about certain things done, or not done.
“Like I wish I had been a little more on the ball in the recent weeks, and didn’t allow myself to be manipulated into the spot that we’re in right now. Llon, you, Mikal, and Xoraya did it very nicely, didn’t you—you set up a situation where Mikal and Xoraya were snatched up by Gorsh’s men while Lank and I—plus you—were left behind, to do what, exactly?”
Ciela gasped. Lank gaped.
“Well,” Llon said, “Mikal did tell me that you’d figure it out pretty quickly, but we thought that it didn’t matter once everything was in motion. To do what, you ask. Well, precisely what you’ve set out to do. Both Mikal and Xoraya thought that you would work out a way to follow them, and in a fashion that would not leave traces for Gorsh’s minions to pick up. And here we are, in an unregistered ship, off to do some trading that is going to open for us doors on Wayward which would otherwise be banged shut in our faces. Meanwhile those two hope to team up mentally with Xanthus Hsiss, and your little friend, Murra, to do some damage to Gorsh’s operation from within. And even if Gorsh has his malevolent forces keeping them from communicating mentally with us, that won’t last long, once we’re all on Wayward. Wayward has its positive Planetary Spirits still—it could not exist without them—and we’ll be able to tap into them, four strong, possibly. What the other four will have done in the meantime should only strengthen that.”
“What was the idea behind keeping Lank and me out of the loop?” Kati wanted to know. “That does irk me, you leaving us to think that we’d escaped capture merely by happenstance. Although, Mikal did seem suspiciously keen on having me accompany Lank to Crescent City; only I was so glad at the time that he was being understanding, that I didn’t think to look for ulterior motives.”
“There were a few ideas involved,” Llon replied. “The first one was that both Mikal and Xoraya thought that you would not want them to take risks that you could not share, and staging the capture did carry some pretty substantial risks.”
He turned to look at Ciela.
“You were there. You saw how it went. It was pretty scary, right?”
Ciela nodded, her lips compressed into a line.
“She’s beginning to understand the dangers of what she so eagerly signed up for,” The Monk subvocalized sharply. “Reality check time.”
“The next thing was that you are needed on this side of the equation, Kati. You’re the strong ESPer, and you have an emotional investment in Mikal, so once he starts being able to use his ESP while under the mind-tangler, it ought to be easy for the two of you t
o keep in touch. Plus you are, as the Planetary Spirit said, a very resourceful woman. We need those resources here and now, and not in Gorsh’s harem. Which statement brings us to the last item: Mikal would not be able to act effectively and efficiently if he knew that Gorsh had you in his power, and in his bed.”
“And hoeing tubers for Milla,” Kati muttered. “She’s got a thing about tubers, that woman.
“But what’s this about Mikal being able to use his ESP powers under the mind-tangler? This is completely new to me; will someone enlighten me, please?”
“Ciela, you worked with Scientist Hsiss on this,” Llon said. “Can you tell Kati what it was he was trying to do? And what he thought that particular version of his drug could do?”
“I can try.” The girl was obviously glad to be asked to participate. “I suppose that you’ve heard that he was trying to create drugs that would affect human states of consciousness. He wanted it to be possible for people to have control over physical pain, as well as emotional distress, using their own mental powers.”
She stopped to think. The others around her waited quietly while she ordered her thoughts.
“The mind-tangler was a part of the process of coming up with something like that. He hadn’t finished his work at the time of his kidnapping. He said that in return for getting ingredients and the human test-subjects, this Gorsh character had asked to be informed if he happened to come up with a drug that would put people under very quickly. One version we came up with did do that; that was the mind-tangler. It did more than that, though; the tests we did showed that it, slowly, eroded people’s barriers to psychic communications. So we were on the right track, Scientist Hsiss figured. He thought that if he could do a little tweaking to that property of the drug, he’d move towards getting the sort of mental control that he was looking for. Of course he would have had to do something about the business of people going comatose, since, unlike Gorsh, he wanted his users fully alert.”
Showdown on the Planet of the Slavers Page 17