A Larger Universe (40 page)

At the edge of the field they passed through a gate and
joined a moving throng of vehicles darting from intersection to intersection. 

When they had taken their seats in the taxi, the driver had
lowered a bar across their laps:  “For your safety,” the driver had hissed. 
Now, Tommy gripped that bar with both hands, his knuckles white.  He looked at
the other human passengers.  The warriors’ and Sisle’s faces were stiff, but
their tight grip on the bar betrayed them.  The artisan made no effort to hide
his fear:  his face was pasty white, and he had one arm wrapped around the bar. 
Leegh sat in a special split seat that accommodated her tail.  She seemed
completely unconcerned, until Tommy noticed that she had the claws of her feet
dug into the rug covering the floor. 

The Toble driver stood in front, swaying as the vehicle
jerked, with two “feet” on the floor, two “feet” holding bars to its left and
right, and two “hands” grasping control rods to its front.  The only sounds
they heard from the street were of engines revving, tires screeching, and
breaks squealing.  No one honked.  No one yelled curses as their taxi was,
repeatedly, almost involved in collisions with other vehicles speeding down the
narrow streets or with the skyscrapers’ walls, just below the moving lines of
“walking” Toble above them.  

An image from Earth came into Tommy’s mind: 
Waterbugs! 
Waterbugs skating across the surface of the inlet behind my house!  They never
run into each other, either!

Reaching the city’s thriving electronics and electrical
parts district was a relief.  Their driver pulled the taxi into a parking
garage and then showed them the entrance to an underground mall that stretched
along several miles of tunnel.  They had no problems finding the items on their
list.  Leegh knew which stores would have what they needed, and, at each, she
made a quick purchase and had the item loaded into the vehicle. 

As they shopped, the artisan spoke only to confirm the
purchase of the correct item.  Sisle and the warriors remained silent.

When they were done, Leegh wanted to go shopping alone and
insisted they separate.  She took two of the warriors and left Tommy at the
lander to do as he pleased. 

"I've never seen Leegh in such a hurry," Tommy
said, scratching his head "but maybe that's good.  Now, we can do some
shopping on our own."  He turned to the artisan who had remained with
them.  "Do you want to come along?"

"No, Master Tommy.”  The artisan grinned hesitantly. 
“The ride in that vehicle terrified me.  If you don't mind I’ll stay
here."

Tommy watched him for a moment.  Then he took a deep
breath.  "Out of curiosity, are you planning on running from the ship?  I
wouldn't stop you if you are, but I would like to know, so I can turn in the
other direction."

Both of the warriors made a deep grumbling noise, and the
artisan whitened.

Tommy glared at the warriors.  "If I tell you to,
you’ll turn in the other direction, too."  He looked back to the artisan. 
"Don't worry.  I’d just like to know."

The artisan looked at Tommy's feet, "You don't
know?"

"Know what?"

"When an artisan leaves the ship, he's forced to
swallow a capsule.  The capsule attaches itself in the stomach until released
by a device on the ship.  If I don't return, they’ll send a signal, and fire
will consume my body from within, leaving nothing but ashes."

The air suddenly didn’t seem quite so clean or warm.  Tommy
swallowed.  "I didn't know."  He remembered a conversation he’d heard
soon after he arrived on the ship.  "But I should have.  How can you stand
what the lords do to you?"

"I wouldn't run, anyway, Master Tommy.  My family is on
the ship, and what would I do here?  Only the Toble can work.  I’d soon
starve.  I'll be here when you come back.  You may be sure of it."

Tommy shrugged and led the way to the taxi stand for another
vehicle.  "Take us to the electronics district," he told the driver. 
"I have some gadgets I want to buy," he added to no one in
particular.

This driver, if anything, made the trip even faster than the
first.  Tommy decided to hold on and try to enjoy the ride.  People paid to
ride a roller coaster, after all, and so far he hadn’t seen an accident. 
Before his kidnapping, he had never been farther than three hundred miles from
Atlanta.  This was his first visit to another planet! 

When they got to the district, Tommy had the taxi driver let
them out at one end of the tunnel so they could walk from store to store.  He
also paid the driver for the rest of the day and asked it to wait.

In the electronics district, he searched for proximity fuses
for the missiles he was planning.  He also had a list from several guilds for
replacement parts. 

He'd asked another guildmaster about how things changed on
the ship.  The guildmaster told him that one of the lords would see something
she liked, usually here on Toblepas, and she would buy everything as a unit,
leaving the artisans to deal with the mess.  Some Nesu had purchased the radar
units on the ship that way many years before.  The new technology had taken
months for the Communications Guild to understand and install.

And, of course, Ull had obtained the computers and Tommy on
Earth in the same way.

In each of the shops, the proprietor, always one of the
Toble stick people, confronted him silently soon after he entered the store. 
He quickly understood they knew about Nesu, but humans wandering alone were
outside their experience, and they didn't want riffraff.  When he spoke in The
People's language and showed his credit credentials, money removed all
obstacles.

The warriors followed him dutifully.  At each store, one
waited outside, and one stood inside the door to watch as Tommy dealt with the
proprietor.  The first few times, Sisle followed him in, but the activity on
the tunnel “street” interested her much more than electronics, so he told her
to wait with the outside guard.  The Nesu didn't allow women off the ship, and
her head jerked toward every noise and flash of light.

Then Tommy entered a store he later thought of as
The
Little Shop of Horrors
. 

After recognizing Tommy as one of The People, regardless of
his appearance, and following a credit check, the proprietor broke the
routine.  Instead of following him to answer his questions, it leaned closer
and hissed through its vertical slit, "I see you are using an old model
controller.  We have much better models now."

At first Tommy didn't understand what the Toble meant, then
he realized two of the creature’s eyes were focused on him, and two were turned
toward the Warrior standing at the door.

He means the band around the warrior's neck.
 
"Uh, yes.  Perhaps you will show me what you have?"

The Toble led the way deeper into the store, the bottom of
the log that was its body waving back and forth between its four legs. 
"May I see the detonation device you use?" it asked.

The sight of the small cylinder in Tommy’s hand elicited a
clicking sound as the two sides of its mouth snapped together.   "Those
are wasteful."  It held up a cylinder little different from Tommy's except
for a button on the side.  "This model will do everything that will do and
also can be aimed at a specific individual.  Why destroy all the valuable
property near the culprit?  It has three clicks instead of two.  The first arms
the directed beam.  The second and third clicks have the same range as the
first and second clicks in the one in your hand."

The creature moved to a table covered with metal neck
rings.  "These offer even more control by administering pain at various
levels in addition to the explosive charge.  You would need a more
sophisticated detonation device of course."  Its black fingers displayed a
slightly larger cylinder that included a small dial opposite the button. 
"This detonator has the directed and area features plus pain control.  The
dial is graduated from zero to ten.  With the cylinder's end closed and the
dial set to zero, nothing happens.  Point the cylinder at a collar wearer and
turn up the dial to deliver an increasing amount of pain."

Tommy tasted bile rising into his throat.  "Does this
work with all species?  How is that possible?"

"All of the known species have a nervous system
sensitive to electrical stimulus," it hissed.

"Uh," Tommy said.  "I don't have
authorization to replace our collars or cylinders.  I do have an order for
several of the devices used to install and remove the collars, and turn them on
and off."

"A loss for both of us," the proprietor sizzled.  "You
would be much happier with the newer models."  It led the way to another
table.  "These are the collar activators appropriate for the older models
you are using.  I fear they are no longer in production and are
expensive."

"Of course," Tommy said.  "Does the unit come
with instructions?"

"Yes," it said and reached under the table. 
"I have them in the language of The People."

Tommy took the proffered pages and leafed through them.  The
devices on the table fitted the collar on the slave and activated the explosive
device, or deactivated the explosive device and removed the collar.  He read
the deactivation and removal process more carefully. 
The explosive must be
deactivated before the collar’s removed!  The collar can be worn with no one
realizing it's inactive!

Tommy made a quick decision.  "I will take four of
these.  And I have decided to take a few of the new models for testing and
presentation to the ship's council.  Sixteen will do, I think.  And sixteen of
the collars and detonators with the pain dial.  Of course, I will need an
activation device for those, too.  Perhaps you will get the larger sale, after
all."

The proprietor dipped on its front legs toward Tommy. 
"Thank you."

"One thing," Tommy said.  "When you register
this sale, would you list everything in one lump sum as ‘controllers’?"

"I would be pleased to do so," the Toble said. 
"Now, may I show you our line of shock prods?  They are effective for
crowd control inside a ship."

Tommy couldn’t repress a shudder.  "No thanks.  This is
enough for now."

With his purchases loaded and companions seated in the
vehicle, Tommy leaned forward to the driver.  "Some of the other beings I
have seen here are vaguely like us.  Is there a district specializing in
clothing for that species?" 

Thirty minutes later, Tommy held clothing in front of Sisle
and had her try on what he liked.  He bought thirty outfits, mostly too large
so that they could be altered.  Some were similar to the tunics Sisle already
wore and some had pants, which no warrior female or male ever wore.  Some
included shorts, which from their expressions the two warriors thought were
scandalous.  He also bought two outfits that would pass for one piece
swimsuits.  Tommy wanted Sisle to swim.

Tommy knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he was happy. 
When he removed the collar, he would know whether she liked him or not.  If she
didn't, he thought he could live with that.  He just had to know.  As for the
clothes, he couldn't be faulted for trying to affect her decision by giving her
presents, could he?

He made one purchase for himself.  One of the shops in the
district sold leather satchels.  When he found one with a false bottom covering
a secret compartment, he bought it.

The artisan lander pilot was waiting on the ramp when they
got back.  Their lander was the last on the ground, and Leegh had been fuming
for over an hour.  The pilot helped them stow their purchases, and fifteen
minutes later the lander was on its way to the ship.

When they docked with the asteroid, Leegh immediately called
a meeting of her two relatives, Tommy, and the guildmaster of the
Communications Guild.  The People did not intend to build the devices; that was
what humans were for. 

Tommy said little until the discussion turned to deployment
of the finished sensors.  The originals had been assembled into satellites, and
everyone seemed to be assuming these would be, too. 

"Leegh," Tommy said, "you are forgetting that
we may have to leave suddenly.  We may not have time to recover
satellites."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Several installations on the surface of
The
People's Fist
and
The People's Hand
."

Leegh crossed her arms and seemed to draw into herself. 
After a few minutes, during which her relatives and the humans waited quietly,
she said, "With the sensors that close to each other, we will be able to
detect objects the size of this ship out to ten light seconds.  That should be
acceptable, most of the time.  We will have the option of launching the
satellites if we need more range."

Leegh dismissed the human guildmaster then turned to her
relatives.  "Now for the interesting part of this meeting."  She
turned and began writing complex formulae on a white board with a marker. 

The other Nesu watched closely, but Tommy couldn't follow
the mathematics.  Finally, through the discussion that followed, Tommy
understood what this was about.  Leegh believed she could create a tunnel
through the higher dimensions to travel as the Kadiil did, through a wormhole. 
She hoped the equipment she had obtained on Toblepas would confirm her theory.

One of the Nesu, Leesh, whistled softly, and Leenh quickly
joined her.

“No!” shouted Leegh.  “We can do this!  We must do this!” 
She turned and dove into the water, creating a splash that reached the base of
the white board.

Tommy stood and shook water off his clothes. 
Where can
we go that’s beyond the reach of the Kadiil?  If we already had a wormhole
device we could jump away.  Since we don’t…
 
  

#   #   #