The Mystery of Ireta (60 page)

A
GROAN
restored Kai to his surroundings, a groan he echoed for his skull pounded with an intensity that surpassed any previous affliction. He was aware of other discomforts, a suffocating heat, of being drenched with sweat and unable to focus his eyes. These discomforts were understandable for the sun was directly over their heads. It had rained heavily and recently to judge by the fetid humidity and the rusty mud surrounding the depressed triangle of dry ground on which they reeled. Varian was clinging to Kai, blinking to focus her eyes, and Sassinak was leaning against Aygar. On the ground crouched Cruss in an attitude of such dejection that Kai felt a detached pity for the heavy-worlder.

“Commander Sassinak!” Fordeliton’s glad cry roused them from their stupor. “Commander!” He rushed toward them, Lunzie and Florasse right behind him. “You’re all right? You’ve been in that conference for four-and-a-half hours!”

“Conference?” Sassinak frowned.

“Don’t expect sense from them now, Ford!” Lunzie paused to look in each face before she took Varian and Kai by the arm and gestured Ford to assist his commander. “Let’s just get them out of this sun.”

“What did those Thek do?” Florasse demanded. She was looking not at Aygar but at the pathetically crumbled transport captain.

“Exactly what he deserved, I suspect,” Lunzie replied.

“Aygar?” Florasse turned the Iretan by the arm, giving him a little shake. “He’s in shock.”

“Quite likely. Get him in out of the sun. He could probably use a stimulant, but he’ll be himself in an hour or two.”

“But what’s happened to them?” Florasse stared with growing anxiety at the bowed Captain Cruss.

“They’ve been in a Thek conference, an unusual experience. Aygar will tell you what’s pertinent when he recovers. Now, get him out of the sun, woman. C’mon, Ford!” Lunzie led the way to the pinnace.

In the relief provided by the relatively cool darkness of the little ship, the three people visibly relaxed.

“Shouldn’t you give them something?” Fordeliton asked anxiously as he swung the pinnace toward the cruiser.

“I will when we get back to the ship. Some of that Sverulan brandy would go down a treat, I’m sure.”

“Did your buffering work?”

“I don’t want to put it to the test just yet.”

Taking her hint, Ford lifted the pinnace for the short flight back to the cruiser. By the time he had landed, Sassinak thanked him, rose and calmly walked out of the pinnace and up the gangway to the cruiser. With equal calm and slight smiles on their faces, Kai and Varian followed her. Fordeliton hastened after them while Lunzie, able to smile now that her friends were recovering, brought up the rear. With no hesitation, Sassinak led the way to her quarters. There she made straight to her desk, taking her seat and swiveling in a fluid motion to her console.

“Pendelman? Recall the Wefts from the heavy-world transport. Secure all patrols. That ship will be taking off shortly.”

Then Sassinak swung about, blinking uncertainly. With an exclamation of impatience, Lunzie looked at Fordeliton.

“Where does she keep her liquor?”

Fordeliton opened a cabinet near him, brought out a bottle and glasses. Lunzie poured hefty shots and handed them around. Then she motioned for Ford to pour drinks for them.

“We could use a jolt, too, after all this excitement.” Then she lifted her glass. “To the survivors!”

Responding automatically, Sassinak, Varian, and Kai drank, emptying their glasses. The stimulant took immediate effect. Color came back into their faces and their expressions regained their old liveliness.

“Well, now, my friends, what have you to
report
?” Lunzie asked, heavily stressing the last word.

Sassinak frowned slightly, looking with surprise at the glass in her hand, at the others seated opposite her. Kai sank deeply into his chair, almost dropping his brandy glass while Varian, recognizing what she had in her hand, took a healthy swig, looked to Fordeliton for a refill. He quickly passed the bottle about. Then they all began to talk at once, abruptly recalled their manners, and fell silent until Sassinak chuckled.

“Can I assume from your reactions that the buffering worked?” Lunzie asked.

“It did, indeed, respected ancestor,” Sassinak said. “I did recall the patrols and the Wefts, didn’t I, Ford? Good, that was, I believe, my first order. Did Cruss survive?”

“Barely!”

Sassinak chuckled. “He took quite a beating.” Her fingers gingerly touched her temples. “We all did.”

“Despite our clear consciences and pure hearts,” Varian added with a sly grin at Lunzie.

Sassinak depressed the comunit button. “Pendelman, request Lieutenant Commander Dupaynil to join us. And didn’t we just get exactly the information we needed. Cruss spilled his guts. Not that I blame him.”

“Then you know who’s behind the piracy?”

“Oh yes.” Sassinak smiled beatifically. “I’ll wait until Dupaynil gets here. Kai and Varian have been covered with glory, too. Which is only fair.”

“Yes, apparently we rescued Ger in the nick of time.” Kai took up the account, grinning broadly. “Ger was the Thek left here as a guardian—”

“This planet’s a zoo, Lunzie. A sanctuary for the dinosaurs. The Thek have been stocking it for millennia—even before the cataclysm,” Varian broke in excitedly. “Trizein, and all the other buffs were right, the critters are from Mesozoic Terra.”

“Ger was caught in a massive earthquake,” Kai said, “and buried so deeply that it was unable to summon help. It had all but exhausted its substance when the Thek started looking for it.”

“You see,” Varian went on, “the Thek surveyed Old Terra eons ago and were entranced by the dinosaurs. Long before the animals were threatened with extinction by a climatic cataclysm, they had imported them to Ireta which they knew would permanently provide the proper environment. The Thek even
brought
the Rift grasses for the dinosaurs since Ireta has no natural vitamin A. Dinosaurs are Thek pets.”

“Suitable combination, I expect,” remarked Lunzie. “Both have insatiable appetites.”

“Dimenon was exactly right when he said the Thek were gorging themselves. They were!” Varian said with a crow of laughter.

“Originally Ireta was slated to be a Thek feeding ground,” Kai said, taking up the tale again, “because of all that raw energy being released after every good earthquake or tectonic shift. That’s why those old cores had been put down. Ger was in the process of digging them up. By the strangest coincidence, the old core we first uncovered was actually close to Ger when the
quake
trapped it. There’s a Thek dating device on those cores, and when the Thek ingested them, that’s what they were looking for. But the searchers were having a free meal at the same time. Young Thek, especially, have to be closely supervised or they’ll strip a planet!”

“What!” Lunzie half rose from her chair while the three who had endured the Thek conference favored her with smug expressions. “You can’t possibly imply that? . . .”

“That’s my interpretation, Lunzie,” Sassinak agreed. “We got
comprehensive
,
Thekian
explanations though what we were supposed to remember related only to our personal involvement in this adventure. Part of the explanation was a large wedge of Thek history.” She gave Fordeliton a stern look. “Which, if you value your rank and role as a Disciple, Lieutenant Commander, had best remain locked in your head. In their youth as a species, the Thek were driven into space by their insatiable appetites to discover planets which would supply their need for raw energy. They find the transuranics especially succulent. Even then, fortunately, they had a regard for developing species. Otherwise, a planet with no emerging life-forms would be reduced to bare rock by Thek hungers.”

“The Thek are the
Others
,” Lunzie gasped.

“That is the inescapable conclusion,” Sassinak agreed. “Thek are nothing if not logical. It became apparent in a millennium that, if they couldn’t curtail their appetites, they ran the risk of eating themselves out of the galaxy.”

“No wonder they have an affinity for dinosaurs,” Fordeliton exclaimed with a whoop of laughter.

“We may all be grateful that the dinosaurs did not evolve into space travelers,” Sassinak replied.

“And grateful, too, that the Thek have preserved them. But what will happen now?”

Varian beamed. “Because we are ephemerals, short-lived and vulnerable, we would not make the mistake the Thek did, in leaving only one guardian . . .”

“You mean, zoo keeper,” Kai said.

“So I have the option to stay on Ireta,” and Varian’s expression was tinged with awe, “as a planetary protector. I can study the giffs, all the dinosaurs, and even the fringes if I feel like it. I may have as much staff as I require.” She turned to Kai expectantly, her eyes twinkling. “Tell ’em your good news, Kai.”

Kai grinned shyly. “Ireta is restricted, of course, as far as the transuranics go, but I, and my ‘ilk,’ as they put it, have the right to mine anything up to the transuranics for . . . is it as long as
we
live? I’m not sure if the limit is just
my
lifetime.”

“No,” said Lunzie. “By ilk, the Thek probably mean the
ARCT-10
for as long as it survives. You deserve it, Kai. You really do.”

“Curiously enough,” Sassinak said into the respectful pause that followed, “the Thek did appreciate the fact that you all have lost irreplaceable time. In doing so, of course, you set up the circumstances which retrieved the lost Ger and the forgotten planet. Thek justice is unusual.”

“What about Aygar and the other Iretans?”

Varian shot a quick glance at Kai, whose expression was of resigned disapproval. “The Thek lumped all humans in one group as survivors. In a sense, that’s correct. Aygar plans to stay.”

“He made that plain, Thek or not.” Kai’s tone held grudging respect.

“And the Thek will permit a limited support group for us and however many of Aygar’s Iretans plan to remain.”

“I wonder if some of them might consider enlisting in the Fleet,” Sassinak mused. “Wefts are excellent guards, but Ireta produced some superb physical types. Ford, do see if we can recruit a few.”

“Tanegli?” Lunzie asked.

“Mutiny cannot be excused, nor the mutineer exonerated,” Sassinak answered, her expression stern. “He is to be taken back to Sector Headquarters to stand trial. The Thek were as adamant on that score as I am.”

“And Cruss is being sent back?” asked Ford.

Sassinak steepled her fingers, a satisfied smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Not only sent back but earthed for good. Neither he, nor his crew, nor even any of the cryo passengers will ever leave their planet. Nor will their transport lift again.”

“The Thek do nothing by halves, do they?”

“They have been exercised—if you can imagine a Thek agitated,” Sassinak went on, “about the planetary pirates and patiently waiting for
us
to do something constructive about the problem. The intended rape of Ireta has forced them, with deep regret, to interfere.” A polite rap on the door interrupted her. At her response, Dupaynil opened the door, surveying the group quickly. “On cue, for I have good news for you, Commander. Names, only one of which was familiar to me.” She beckoned the Intelligence officer to take a seat as she leaned forward to type information on the terminal. “Parchandri is so conveniently placed for this sort of operation . . .”

“Inspector General Parchandri?” Fordeliton exclaimed, his expression shocked.

“The same.”

Lunzie chuckled cynically. “It makes sense to have a conspirator placed high in Exploratory, Evaluation, and Colonization. He’d know exactly which planetary plums were ready to be plucked.”

Kai and Varian regarded her with stunned expressions.

“Who else, Sassinak?” Lunzie asked.

The commander looked up from the visual display with a smug smile. “The Sek of Fomalhaut is a Federation Councillor of Internal Affairs. One now understands just how his private fortune was accrued. Lutpostig appears to be the Governor of Diplo, a heavy-worlder planet. How convenient! Paraden, it will not surprise you to discover, owns the
company
which supplied the grounded transport ship.”

“Doubtless others in his fleet will meet the same fate,” Lunzie said.

“We could never have counted on uncovering duplicity at that level, Commander,” was Dupaynil’s quiet assessment. He frowned slightly. “It strikes me as highly unusual for a man at Cruss’s level to know such names.”

“He didn’t,” Sassinak replied equably. “He was only vaguely aware that Commissioner Paraden was involved. The Thek extrapolated from what he could tell them of recruitment procedures, suppliers, and what they evidently extracted from the transport’s data banks.”

“And how can we use the information they obtained?”

“With great caution, equal duplicity and superior cunning, Dupaynil, and undoubtedly some long and ardent discussions with the Sector Intelligence Bureau. Fortunately, for my hypersuspicious nature, I’ve known Admiral Coromell for years and trust him implicitly. However, knowing where to look for one’s culprits is more than half the battle, even those so highly placed.”

“You will keep us informed of your progress, won’t you?” Lunzie asked wistfully.

“By reliable homing capsule,” Sassinak replied, but her grin quickly faded into regret. “I have been given sailing orders, too. So, Fordeliton, brush up on your eloquence and see whom you can recruit from among the Iretans. Kai, Varian, Lunzie, if you need any more supplies to tide you over until the
ARCT-10
arrives, it will be my pleasure to oblige. Just have them loaded into the pinnace. I’ll have Borander deliver you back to your camp. Just one more thing—” Sassinak swiveled her chair about, fingering the digital lock on a cabinet behind her. She extracted first one, then with a shrug of her shoulders, two more of the distinctive square bottles of Sverulan brandy. “Clean glasses, please, Ford, for I’ve a toast to propose.”

Glasses were found, generously filled with brandy. Sassinak rose to her feet, the others followed suit.

“To the brave, ingenious, and honored survivors of this planet! Including the dinosaurs!”