The Unscheduled Mission (5 page)

“I hate him,” Arn growled. “He leaves a slime trail.”

“No,” Sartenna told him, “Harat Jance is from Nardoxon, not Nojaren.”

“Excuse me?” Arn asked.

“The natives of Nojaran are pseudo-gastropods,” Sartena explained. “They look like giant slugs.”

“Lovely,” Arn growled. “Are they good negotiators too?”

“They have their diplomats, why?” Sartena asked.

“In which case I might get along better with a slug who at least looks like one,” Arn told her. He turned toward Dannet, “I thought you said he would try to get us to come to a hasty agreement.”

“I thought so,” Dannet admitted. “I don’t understand why he’s trying to slow this down.”

“He is trying to anger us,” Terius told them patiently. “It is something the Mer nation has come to expect when dealing with Galactics, present company excepted, of course,” he nodded toward Dannet and Sartena. “Our records have several recorded instances of talks where they provoked us until we lost our tempers and then used such momentary lapses to exact penalties or to get us to agree to terms we might not otherwise agree to.”

“See?” Arn told the others. “We may as well be talking to a slug.”

“I don’t know,” Park considered. “This guy isn’t that straight forward. I’ll bet he can’t pour himself a cup of coffee without first trying to trick it into jumping out of the pot on its own.”

A few days later, Park, Arn and Terius tried a new tactic. They came forward with a fully written treaty and presented it to Jance. “Here’s what we’re willing to agree to,” Arn told him. “The only part that is negotiable is just how much back rent you owe us for the use of Luna.”

“You have no claim on the Moon,” Jance told him coldly.

“Actually,” Dannet cut in as he had several times, “Luna has already been conceded to the Humans and their allies.”

“That does not mean the Alliance owes them anything, least of all rent for a base these people,” he made the word sound dirty, “have never so much as visited.”

“Regardless,” Dannet maintained, “Luna was surrendered by the acting governor and all monetary claims were agreed to. The only point of uncertainty concerned just how long Lagina Base has been occupied.”

“My people have looked through the records that were provided,” Jance told them, “and even if we were to concede the Moon, and we certainly do not, these claims of the entirety of Sol System are specious to say the least since you have given us no proof of your people ever having been beyond the fourth planet.”

“We sent numerous probes to the outer planets,” Park argued, “and to various Transneptunian objects, into the Oort Cloud and even into interstellar space.”

“Only manned flight counts in claims of possession,” Jance told him.

Park looked at Dannet. “I’m afraid that’s correct,” the young captain admitted.

“But it’s obvious we must have traveled throughout the system and then gone to the stars,” Patty argued. “Otherwise where did all the
Alliance humans come from?” Iris made a mental note to have Sartena explain the scientific uncertainty on that count.

“That is circumstantial evidence at best,” Jance replied smugly.

“It’s a pretty convincing circumstance, if you ask me,” Park told him. “And since when is circumstantial evidence not admissible as proof? Sure it helps to have a witness, but last I checked even Bristle-Cone Pines don’t live a quarter of a billion years.”

Finally, after they had been there over three weeks, Jance agreed tentatively to discuss the Humans’ claims. “But I will have to send home for clearance before we continue these talks.”

“What?” Arn blew up yet again. “Didn’t your Galactic overlords even send someone empowered to treat with us? What sort of game do you think you’re playing?”

“I was sent to treat with the Mer,” Jance tells them. “My job was to broker a new treaty with them. I have repeatedly told you that you have no known official status within the
Alliance and so before I can discuss anything of substance with you, I must consult with my superiors.”

“Yeah?” Arn asked nastily. “Well, when you do, you tell them we expect the first back payment on your Luna rent to be delivered before we start.”

“No,” Jance shook his head. “We will pay nothing until the talks have been concluded.”

“Possession of Luna and the matter of rent was already established,” Dannet reminded them all yet again.

“Perhaps,” Jance replied, “and perhaps not. There is some question as to whether the acting governor had the ability to concede that monetary restitution was in order. That is something else that must be established before we procede.”

“A governor is the voice of the
Alliance in his territory,” Dannet argued.

“True,” Jance allowed, “But Gount was only acting while Governor Therent was incapacitated. As acting governor, Gount was not appointed by the Confederation Diet and therefore did not have full gubernatorial powers.”

“Since when?” Dannet challenged him.

“This is an extraordinary situation, young man,” Jance told him calmly. “At such times only a duly appointed governor can make such concessions.”

“I never heard that,” Dannet told him.

“I imagine there is much a man your age has not heard,” Jance replied coldly and once more left the room without paying attention to the rounds of protests that erupted behind him.

“Dannet,” Park told the young man as they were preparing to return to Earth, “I really think you and your people ought to use this opportunity to go home. There are enough ships to take you all and we have no need for hostages.”

“No,” Dannet disagreed. “It is only because we are your hostages that Jance is taking you so seriously. I can see that now even if I didn’t before.”

“You call this taking us seriously?” Park laughed.

“He came here, didn’t he?” Dannet countered. “He negotiated with you as well as the Mer, right?”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that after I have conferred with my superiors,” Park replied in a perfect imitation of Jance.

“Right,” Dannet grinned, “but we really should stay until this is settled, and besides, my ransom has not yet been paid.”

“We don’t want ransom,” Park told him.

“You would insult my father and family if you refused,” Dannet replied. “Oh, I understand by now that you don’t mean to, but that’s just the way it is.”

“Sounds horribly medieval,” Park grumbled lightly. “Well, nothing new under the suns, huh? If that’s the case you’d better finish packing. Having stayed on board
Trenisi
, Iris and I are ahead of the rest of you there.”

The trip back to Earth was uneventful although Park found the thrill of seeing the approaching planet never waned and he spent the trip as always on the bridge in what he called the “Captain Kirk Chair” which had been built for him, complete with a retractable cup-holder.

“What next?” Arn asked Park a few hours later while Tina was still adjusting their orbit in preparation for the approach to Van Winkle Town.

“I imagine we land and have dinner,” Park replied. “Would you and Patty like to come over? I have some grazer steaks in the freezer.”

“Be serious,” Arn told him.

“I wouldn’t invite you if I didn’t mean it,” Park replied. “Okay. The next step is to wait. Jance isn’t going to meet with us until there’s been enough time for his report to reach whatever central world his government is on and a reply comes back. Hmm, remind me to ask Dannet where the Alliance Confederation Diet meets.”

“Why? Are you planning to attend the next session?” Arn asked.

“I would if we had a star drive,” Park laughed. “Can you imagine the reaction if we just strolled in there?”

“If you manage it, be sure to bring Marisea with you,” Arn advised. “That teenager has more sense than any three adult politicians.”

“Of course she does,” Park chuckled. “You don’t see her running for office do you?”

“Seriously though,” Arn continued. “What do you expect to do while waiting for Jance to come back to the table?”

“Me?” Park asked. “I plan to get back to my work. It’s been a while, but you may recall I’m in charge of the explorer corps of our colony. I think it’s time I got back out into the field.”

“Is that really necessary anymore?” Arn asked.

“Of course it is,” Park replied firmly. “The Atackack territory only covers about one third of Pangaea and the Mer haven’t really explored much beyond the coastal regions. Most of the supercontinent is unknown territory to everyone and there is only so much you can learn from satellite images. For that matter, you know the Mer satellites don’t cover much of inland Pangaea on the same constant basis they do the coast. And if most of Pangaea is unknown, Australis is almost a complete mystery. If we want to know what this world is like, we’re going to have to go look for ourselves.”

“So you’re going to go off into the wild again?” Arn asked.

“Sure, Iris and I need a vacation,” Park shrugged. From her weapons console nearby, Iris snorted. “Well, maybe that’s the wrong word, but think about it. After our battle in space we got whisked off on a good will tour of the Mer cities and then straight up to those useless treaty negotiations. “We could use a change, a chance to do something constructive for the colony.”

“So where are you planning to go?” Arn asked.

“We’ve explored the area around Van Winkle pretty extensively,” Park replied, “and so far as we can tell, the plains between there and the
Western
Mountains
is as homogenous as any two thousand mile stretch of land can be, but we’ve just barely started getting a good look at the
Atlantic
Mountains
which are practically next door.”

“We don’t have any vehicles that can get over them except the jet,” Arn pointed out. “Our helicopters might make it over the lower passes on the interior of the range, but they don’t have the range to get there and back.”

“They do,” Park disagreed, “but only if we had a set destination and did most of our exploring on foot. Our fuel for those birds is still limited though. We haven’t done any exploring for petroleum to distill and frankly we don’t really need to.”

“Then how do you plan to get there and back?” Arn asked.

“The Mer have excellent vehicles for that purpose,” Iris chimed in. “They may not be very interested in the continental interior, but that doesn’t mean their flyers can’t operate there. Do you remember Taodore’s boat?”

“The one that floated over the portages downstream from us,” Arn recalled. “Yes. He gave it to the bug, didn’t he?”

“To Okactack,” Iris corrected him sternly. “Yes. Well, most of their vehicles are equipped with the same anti-gravity or suspensor technology. That’s not so surprising considering they depend on their personal suspensor belts to get around. Anyway, I’ve arranged for a, well, the best translation I can come up with is ‘buggy.’ It’s a sort of recreational vehicle that’s vertical takeoff and landing and suspensor-driven. It’s like Taodore’s boat but more powerful. I’m assured it can get over the mountains at least theoretically.”

“Theoretically?” Park asked.

“Well, it’s a suspensor drive and that means it needs to push against the ground to rise up,” Iris explained. “If the ground beneath us is too steep we will have trouble staying level, but we should be able to find passes through which we can travel comfortably and it almost definitely should get us deep into the range and out the other side should we want to.”

“I’d like to,” Park remarked. “A cross-sectional survey of those mountains will tell us a lot about how they formed.”

“I thought we knew they were formed by two continents bumping up against one another,” Arn remarked.

“Most likely, yes” Park agreed, “but this is actually the first time we know about that we can have records of that land before and after the collision. I’m sure it’s been done before – probably millions of years ago – but the Mer don’t have those data. And who knows what sort of life we might find on the inner range? It’s an entirely different ecosystem from the plains, you know.”

So you’re off again, just the two of you?” Arn asked.

“I’ve invited Dannet and Sartena,” Iris told him. “They’d both like to see more of Earth while we’re here and this will be a nice little camping trip.”

“On an unknown world with unknown dangers all around,” Arn pointed out.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to get bored,” Park laughed.

“I’m going too!” Marisea Waisau told Park and Iris the moment they mentioned their plans. “It wasn’t fair you left me here while you went into space.” Marisea was sitting next to Park, half cuddled up with him as she often was while at their home. One arm was across his shoulders and her tail was draped over his lap, effectively pinning him to the sofa unless he cared to dump her off. Park and Iris had developed a remarkably close relationship with the young Mer shortly after meeting her and her father. Park had become the teenager’s
tamovir
, a sort of official escort in her debut as an adult among the Mer and some of the other species of humans. The bond between a young woman and her
tamovir
was both intimate and normally for life. Iris, by giving Marisea her first piece of jewelry, a small golden charm with the Hebrew letters spelling “Chai” or “Life,” had filled in as a mother figure for the teen on that same occasion. Consequently Marisea lived with them as much as or more than she lived with her biological father.

“Trust me,” Park assured her, “that was no pleasure trip. But you can come with us to the mountains if you want, but what about your current boyfriend?”

“Joridore? He’s going back to Thurentip for the summer,” Marisea replied with a casual shrug. “And this is more interesting than he is.”

“The whole dating scene getting boring already?” Park chuckled.

“Frankly?” Marisea countered. “It’s not as much fun as I always imagined it would be. Most of the boys are actually quite boring. Joridore is better than most, I suppose, but his main goal is to enter the government. That’s what most men and women of his standing do, I suppose, but I always had Dad as a role model and I think exploring and science is more interesting than bothering with the latest inter-departmental intrigue, don’t you?”