Trade World Saga 1: Manual Interpretation (28 page)

Brad stripped the mask off the general who was coming around and stripped the mask off the soldier he had hit in the solar plexus and got the gas cylinder again and gave them both an extra shot of gas to keep them asleep. Then he bound and gagged all the soldiers, locked all hatches and turned up the outside field. It wasn't until then that Brad buzzed Andrew to report.

"My God! I haven't heard from you in an hour and a half. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything here so we're taking a short break. "What's the situation?" Andrew asked desperately.

"I'll give you the details later. The ship is secure again but I have a sleeping crew to wake up. Just buzz me when you are ready to come back. I'll give you status reports every thirty minutes," Brad said and they both signed off. Brad headed back to Lounge Two.

When Brad got there, he was amazed to see that Rett had gotten a large oxygen cylinder and was already administering oxygen to revive Susan.

"Why are you here when I told you to stay in the lab?" Brad asked harshly, even though he was pleased.

"I anticipated that you might be unsuccessful and I might need help from these crewmembers. I prefer them to the military." Rett said boldly.

Well, Brad thought, -- altruistic to the end. He chuckled and asked Rett to go get another oxygen apparatus so they could revive the crewmembers faster. Susan was coming to and wanted to know 'what the hell happened'. Soon Rett came back with another oxygen cylinder under one arm and Susan looked at him in amazement. Those cylinders were usually pushed around on a dolly.

The crewmembers revived; with only a few bruises and splitting headaches to show for their ordeal. Brad told them what happened as they revived.

"God, I feel guilty." Susan told Brad confidentially. "I was in charge of the ship and I should have known that hatch was open. I never even thought about them using a gas."

"Don't let it get to you. Old 'Hawkeye' has used gas before or he wouldn't have thought of it either. I can't see why the World Government would let him try to take over during negotiations. They don't know what is happening here but I doubt it would make them that worried. You saw how easy they fell for the gas routine themselves and they were carrying masks. I'll bet the civilian in the expensive suit is the key. Let's wake him up and try to get some answers. Brad said, reassuring her.

"Get him apart from the others then while I call Andrew and see when he is coming back." Susan said.

Brad left and Susan called Andrew. He told her he was winding up negotiations and sounded really excited. He also said he was tired and needed a drink. Since he was coming straight back, Susan went to meet him at the forward airlock.

"Well, fill me in," Andrew said as he came aboard.

Susan went through the details that Brad had told her and then called Brad up to the control room.

"You've been busy," Andrew said to Brad, who was walking into the control room. "How long are these fellows going to be out? What's this about one of them being a civilian?"

Brad grinned. "Most of them will be out another two to three hours depending on the amount they inhaled, concentration in the air and other factors. The doctor is reviving our fellow in the business suit. How are the negotiations going?"

"The negotiations are almost over. Let's walk down to sickbay and I'll tell you and Susan about it on the way," Andrew said. "You'll find this hard to believe but we're ready to write up an agreement and sign it. They have done it so many times that they really know what they're doing. Our microelectronics are driving them crazy. They want to get their hands on the technology but don't want us to trade with anyone else. What's so pathetic is that they want all these concessions and admit that this spiral arm is too far out for them to enforce their regulations."

"It seems each planet must set up and enforce their own trading regulations. This agreement applies to trade on all affiliated planets and in open space. They recommend that we set up an off-planet center to regulate all planetary trade. It would serve as a quarantine and customs center for whatever regulations we set up. Ah, here's sickbay. Let's see what this fellow had to say," Andrew said as he saw a middle-aged gentleman sitting up on the examining table.

"Hello, I'm Captain Andrew Williams. Welcome aboard, Mr... ?," Andrew said extending his hand to the man who, because of his eye and cheek structure, appeared of mixed Asian descent.

"You're... ...You're that renegade General Alexander warned me about," the man said holding a hand to his temple and looking up at Andrew in surprise.

"I wouldn't call myself a renegade but I'm sure the good general did. May I ask who you are and why you are involved in an attack on this ship?" Andrew said sternly.

"What attack? This ship is World Government property anyway. I was sent to offer apologies to our alien friends and negotiate a settlement award for any damages for the World Government," said the man.

"So you're a diplomat; that's something. All the damages this ship has sustained can be repaired without outside help, thank you. This crew also has an agreement where this ship is our property, equally divided between the crew," Andrew said.

"No, no. I'm here to settle with the aliens on any monetary basis they will accept for the damages we have caused
them
. I'm not aware of any agreement about your crew and this ship. All I know is that you are using this ship without the sanction of the World Government."

"No doubt," Andrew quipped.

"I also know you are in contact with representatives of a possibly hostile...uhm...government. I'm here to work out the possibility for these - people - to exchange diplomatic personnel so we can open normal relations with them," said the diplomat.

"What is your name sir?" Andrew asked again.

The little man swelled with pompous pride. "My name is Raymond Oshira." My mother was Australian," he added when everyone looked faintly amused.

"Nice to have you aboard Mister Oshira. Excuse me, but how were you going to communicate with these aliens?" Andrew asked.

"I am an Oriental language expert. I'll use sign language if I have to, but if these aliens are advanced enough to fly between the stars then they probably can read my mind," said Oshira.

"Yes, no doubt. My associate here will brief you on the situation," Andrew said motioning Brad over to him.

"Brad, I'm not going to let this clown botch up this treaty. He wants to pay them for attacking us. Brilliant. I can see him trying to use Japanese and sign language to negotiate a treaty with that alien commander. See if you can show him our contract with the World Government concerning this ship. Then brief him on the activities of our General Alexander and some of the facts of our encounter. Just keep him out of my hair until tomorrow evening. Teach him
Trade
. That will take twelve hours at least to absorb. I've a feeling that Alexander tried this little takeover on his own, without authorization. If he did, we're in luck. Get him up into my cabin and bring him around. Susan, come with me; we've got work to do," Andrew said.

GENERAL INTERRUPTION

General Alexander awakened lying on a bed in a small room. He sat up quickly when he remembered where he was, but his head started spinning. On the third try, he was successful and a short while later, made his way to the door. It wouldn't open. After searching all his pockets and finding nothing useful, he began searching the room. All cabinets were locked but he found a stiffened piece of steel and he palmed that in case he couldn't find a better weapon. He was still searching the room when Andrew stepped in.

"Hello General. I hope these accommodations are suitable. I am afraid we didn't have much advance notice of your arrival," Andrew said.

"Do you realize what you've done? Where are my men?" the general asked.

"I fully realize the consequences of our actions. I wonder if you realize the consequences of
your
actions. Your men are fine, though one has several cracked ribs and a concussion," Andrew said.

"You criminal...keeping me and my men prisoner...as well as your other crimes..."

"As soon as you are fit general, you'll be allowed to leave. Minus your firing pins however... I'm afraid you'll have to explain what you mean by
other
crimes,
" Andrew said.

"You know full well what I mean. I demand to leave now!" the general raged.

"You'll be let go in a group when our surgeon certifies your health. We are healing the man who was damaged first," Andrew replied.

"What? Well you won't get away with this." the general stormed.

"Did you have orders to attack and take over this ship? Why did your men attempt to kill members of my crew?" Andrew asked quietly.

"My men had orders to take you alive if possible. If they attacked you, it was to defend their life. I knew that you were consorting with these aliens. I couldn't allow this to go on any longer. You stole that ship and aren't under any governmental control so I knew I had to get control any way I could. That's why I used the BN3 Knockout gas," the general said.

Andrew nodded and turned away to encourage the general to continue talking.

"I knew that if I waited for those governmental bureaucrats to get off their asses ...we would all be sold down the river to those aliens. I'm still going to stop you, ...you've just put it off," the general said defiantly.

"So it was under your orders that we were attacked. I was wondering how you got some of that gas; I thought it was internationally banned along with biological agents," Andrew said.

"A resourceful man can always find a means to obtain needed items," the general said. "Unfortunately it didn't work this time. I don't know what you are doing over there but we intercepted messages between this ship and several computer complexes. When you started getting information about international treaties, I knew I had to get a man, a diplomat, from the World Government to negotiate. I wasn't going to let amateurs handle anything that delicate so when he got here I would use that for an excuse to regain control of this ship. With my record,
I
should have been given this ship to command, anyway; not you. You... ...You...You're not even military," the general added and finally quieted.

"If you're finished sir, I will return all your men to your command as soon as I've seen to the condition of your injured soldier. That will take about fifteen minutes and then you'll be free to go," Andrew said and keyed the intercom next to the computer console and told the ship's surgeon to expect him and for him to get all the soldiers ready to leave. Turning back to the general, he said, "As a matter of fact, why don't you just follow me down to see your men and you can all leave together."

"You think I'm going to follow you into some kind of trap. I'm staying here," the general said emphatically.

"Suit yourself. I'll send your men up here. I'll be back in a few minutes," Andrew said and left.

General Alexander tried the door but it was unlocked and slid open. They'll not get me that easy, he thought. He sat down on the bed again.

TREATY TALKS RESUMED

Andrew walked into the lounge and saw the soldiers playing computer games, reading or eating snacks and talking with Ling.

"Gentlemen, I hope Ling and the rest of the crew have treated you well," Andrew said to the soldiers who stood up but were unsure how to treat him. "Your general is fine and you will be able to leave in just a few minutes as soon as Specialist Pederson is released from sickbay."

"One of the soldiers who had not joined in any activities stepped out from the corner where he had stood and spoke, "When you woke me up, I saw some of your crew hauling Pederson on a stretcher. His face was all bloody and you could see his shoulder was dislocated."

"I assure you he will be fine. I'm on my way to sickbay now to see him," Andrew said and saw the mouths fall open in astonishment while looking past him.

"Pederson!" said the soldier who had been talking to Andrew.

"Hi fellows. You ready to leave or shall we wait until breakfast?" said Pederson with a huge smile.

"I saw you all bloody and banged up. Now you've got a gal on your bad arm and you've got a hell of a suntan. You want to explain it to us?" said the puzzled soldier.

"Well, I remember seeing this big gray goon and then the lights went out. When I wake up, it's twenty days later for me or so they tell me. Before you ask, I'll tell you. They keep you asleep, and exercise, and sun you while you're out. They feed you intravenously and you're weak when you get up but you're healed. I woke up to find this young lady bending over me. They keep you inside a field that has a relative time factor of thirty or thirty times faster than normal. I'm just quoting now," said Pederson. "They treat you right."

"Gentlemen, you can pick up your weapons outside from that man," Andrew said pointing to Tod, "and I'm sorry but we've removed the firing pins. This young lady will escort you to your general and then you may leave together. I'm sorry about this misunderstanding. Good evening."