Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet (21 page)

They came to an observation lounge with the planet spread out before them.

"Can we sit and look a little?" Lee asked.

"Certainly. Living planet is beautiful, no?" Trader asked. He'd been the quiet one so far.

"That is a kindness, your offering to pay for us, but I hate to see you do that," Lee said, uncomfortable. "Do you people value platinum?"

Talker looked to Trader to answer. "Yes. We make, produce, a lot. But we
use
a lot."

"Here," Lee said, digging in her belt purse. She got the bonus hunk of metal they'd all been given and handed it to Talker. He passed it to Trader who looked at it and returned it. "Let me know when our credit against that runs down. We have some purified and in standard weights, but that's a mineral specimen we collected along the way."

"I brought some coins, but thank you Lee," Gordon said.

"I accept your payment arrangement and yes, that is good money. You trade other metals?" he asked, tossing the piece in the air and catching it, gauging it's weight.

"Our whole civilization is built around metal working. We'll trade in just about any of them. But that's pretty much for the future. We didn't bring massive amounts with us. Just enough to maybe pay for stuff like our hotel. I think you'd like to see one of our smaller fabricators working. Knowing
how
to work metals better may be more valuable than the metal itself."

"But once you show us how," Talker stopped, uncertain how to say it. "You can charge to show, but then what is good... what is advantage for future, except to sell metal?"

"Don't any of your people treat processes as property? I mean can you own a process?" Lee asked.

"If can keep secret." Trader said with a shrug.

"Have your people work on the idea of patent, trade mark, copyright and the whole idea of intellectual property," Gordon suggested.

"That a lot. That
is
a lot. Our people got many words to know. Need time to work. What are
claims
you said you posted? Claims on systems? Mean star systems?" he asked Gordon.

"Where we come from, all the worlds that know each other, all the governments, agreed to respect the ownership of new worlds and new sources of things, such as where we found a source of platinum. Once you file a claim you have ownership rights. The others won't try to take any of your claim and they all pledge to protect your claims you make from being taken by others. We have a place to go register finds and the explorer who finds new things gets a very large chunk of the new find, the sponsoring government administers the development of planets, but simple mining claims can be developed by the finder or sold fee simple. They can make personal claims to land and other things on planets. The government who is the protector of the ship that made the discovery gets to auction off the rest of the land and things like rights to open a spaceport for ships to land and the operation of things like communication satellites and navigation aids in the new system. The discoverer gets a cut on everything though."

"Ah, you don't just keep all you find?"

"That's how it used to be, but the bigger government or bigger company could take your discovery away, or steal some of it. So people wasted much of the value of a find guarding it against loss. The new system has resulted in much less waste of resources. The value of the discoveries goes into good things for our societies instead of being wasted on fighting or avoiding fighting. And people explore who wouldn't, if they had any doubt they could hold on to their discoveries." Gordon said.

"This... is... complicated. It will require much talk and lot... a lot of new words. And it needs people not here. What I see... is... people for our governments must talk to people for your governments, before we are both say we own same star systems. That bad."

"Yes, we mark our finds. We will need to reach some agreement to respect the other's marks," Thor said. "I don't want to see us fight. It's bad for business. Which is why we made this agreement."

"That...might be welcome. If it work for us. We never had need... before. It has only been... a problem who own what since Biters... the Biters found."

"Aggressive are they?" Thor asked. "We sort of noticed since they told us to stand still and expect to be boarded." He made rumbling grunt that was almost a growl. A very distinctive Derf sound that said what he thought of that.

Trader shrank back a little from that, but Talker nodded, if awkwardly. It was obviously a learned gesture as much as any word.

"You are difficult thing," Trader admitted. "You carry arms on ship, but not eager use them. We have to look you... look Biters. We don't want two problems not one. We don't want
trade
one problem for badder problem," he stopped and checked his pad searching for a better word, "for... worse one... Ah! We don't want to trade one problem for a worse one," he finally decided.

"You are traders. How long time wait if we want talk... to... you government people? If you send, ask them come now? We worry Biters make trouble, they know we wait talk more you people... 
If
they know we wait."

"We have two representatives from governments along with us. There is the third Mother of Gordon's tribe or clan and the government of Fargone also sent an observer. You are welcome to talk to them, but we don't have anyone from the actual agency on Earth that administers claims. Just remember they have no authority over our fleet. This is a private venture, not government."

"No government people for Hinth? Talker asked.

"They are only recently leaving their Home world much. We only have four among us, but I believe you'll see many more of them and much more official representation in coming years. Neither do we have anybody from the Earth Humans, and their interests are
not
the same as Fargone Humans."

"But the two you have... they answer questions?" Talker asked. "Allowed?"

"Yes, both their governments send out ships that make use of the claims. In a way they can give you more honest opinions about it as users, instead of trying to sell a system they control."

"Then we get... will get, more workers and start ask... asking more questions.

"OK, I'll have them asked if they will do that and arrange for them to be put on the same ship and given a place to work and equipment," Gordon agreed.

"That is... good," Talker agreed. "I also ask...
will
ask for more people be assigned talk them." He sighed in frustration. "I will also ask for more people to be assigned to talk to them." He considered the phrase carefully and decided it pleased him. His com alarm called for his attention.

"Ah, I am told say... inform you we got no patent, no copyright. Our people say
whole thing-whole idea
difficult. All strange. Don't see how work. They say all agree same your translators we have, I quote,
trade secrets
."

"Well, that will slow things down, but it's by no means a deal breaker," Lee observed. "If it takes more time for new ideas, new ways of doing things to be absorbed, it gives people time to adjust."

"That may be... maybe... good," Talker said. "Too much change be... can be... difficult.  Need time adjust."

"I see a little line of white up near the top of the globe there," Lee pointed out. "Is that the place where the ice and snow comes down from the pole, sticking out of the round part?"

"It is. You got good eyes. Hard see here."

"Is it higher altitude? Is that why it holds the snow?"

Talker and Trader both needed to consult their pads.

"Higher, yes," Trader agreed. Most high place on planet."

"Highest," Lee supplied. "We sort of guessed that."

"It changes weather for top half the planet," Talker said.

"We met a race on the way here. They have been cutting a notch in a mountain range," Lee demonstrated doing so with her hands, "for at least three thousand, maybe four thousand of their years. Very determined people. It has already changed the weather on the downwind side of the mountains."

"You met
another
race... between home... and... here?" Trader looked alert, maybe alarmed.

"Yes, but they were not star-faring. They had satellites, but did not seem to have gone to other planets in their system," Gordon assured them.

"You trade with them?" Trader asked.

"No, we had too many differences. They wanted us to just give them whatever we had, with no exchange, nothing back to us. We declined to land."

Talker and Trader turned their heads in unison and looked right at each other. If they hadn't both been making the same noise they would have thought they were having some sort of medical emergency. It was Badger laughter.

"I guess we not so strange after all," Talker decided when he could talk again. "Now these others, they
strange
. But I am made happy. I see you didn't
take
from them. Could you?"

"Militarily? Well sure," Thor told him. "Three towns ran the whole world. Take them out and you have conquered them. But to what end? We didn't even know if they
had
anything worth trading for. So we left and may stop again another time and see if anything has changed."

"The Biters would take what they want with threats. Would
try
."

"That might work
once
. Then the people learn to hide what you want, or just stop making it if they know it will just be stolen, er taken. Going down to the planetary surface and taking it from the natives could be pretty rough too. And sooner or later they will find somebody tougher than them who will just kill them rather than let their stuff be taken. It is a shortsighted way to do things."

"Yes, well I think
is
later and Biters... Biters
found
those people," Talker said. Was that amusement he was displaying? This time Trader did the nod.

"I would hope they do not
push
us that far," Gordon said. "They should have learned something from trying to board us."

"Yes, they should. I understand that... word. But you
should
know they maybe slow to learn."

"Thank you for the warning, Talker. We will be cautious."

"What is the swirly thing there straight below us?" Lee asked, calling their attention back to the planet."

Talker consulted his pad again, but he had nothing apparently.

"It is much air and water, spinning," he said, making a swirling motion with his hand. "Much energy and very fast from our star heating water. It looks like little from here, but to be there is very different. It can... no, it
be
dangerous."

"Oh, it's a
storm
," she supplied.

"More than just a storm," Gordon told her, "it is a hurricane. Providence has a stretch of ocean that should generate cyclonic storms like that. Your island you claimed may have them pass over, so you will have to find out how bad they can be and make allowance if you build anything there."

"This Providence. Is Providence the world of Lee's kind? Humans?"

"Not the Home World, no. The Home World is called Earth or Terra in some languages. We discovered Providence and as we were telling you we have claims upon it, not just the planet and system, but private claims. Lee has five tracts of land reserved to her and I have two myself, besides some claims for plants and system claims. There is a gas giant suitable for fuel mining. It was an excellent find as living worlds are not that common. If you see one of our people wearing a green gem on their voyage rings you know they found a living world," Gordon said, giving his ear a flip so his rings rang and the Badger's eyes were drawn to them.

"But no thinking race?" Talker asked.

"No. We would have no claim if it had  people."

The Badgers inspected the earring and looked at Lee too, comparing them, before checking for some words on their pads.

 Ha-bob-bob-brie  seeing what they were doing lifted his neck wire and jiggled his voyage rings.

"Oh, same?" Talker asked. He seemed a little uncomfortable with Ha-bob-bob-brie.

"The same, but I have no ear... uh, outside parts, to hang them on. I assure you I hear just fine though. He did a definite squint, which was the first gesture Lee had seen which she suspected was a sign of amusement  in a Hinth.

"What is blue you wear, she does not?" Talker asked Gordon.

"I discovered a water world, before I ever knew Lee's parents or her. It is a valuable find, but not like a living world. A water world takes a long time to introduce life to it."

Traders eyes got big. "You would make a whole world over?"

"We'll try. None of the worlds being terraformed are anywhere near finished and stable. When we can walk around bare faced and breath it will be done. It takes a long time to plant grasses and put tiny plants in the oceans and begin to put oxygen in the atmosphere. Give it a few hundred years."

"But, yes, it need... take... generations to do. The living now, never see end," Trader objected.

"Do you not have inheritance?" Gordon asked. "Check that word please."

It took them a few minutes for the translators to help. "We do, but none of us
own
a world."

"Ah, well none of us own a
whole
world," Gordon agreed. "But we have companies that last longer than any individual and the Claims Commission that oversees how a world is developed will give contracts to a company to seed life on a world. The company then gets quite a few of the better benefits of land and licenses to develop resources  on the world. They may spend a fortune doing so, but they start making a profit quite soon. I doubt any have such a contract who don't have a positive cash flow in eight to ten years. You can own an interest in such companies and leave that to your heirs."

"We really must look... examine... these ideas in detail," Trader told him. "They different what we do, but they may be worth... adapt... adapting."

"When Humans came in contact with Derf we adapted many ideas. Some of the most profitable things are not goods you can hold in your hand, but ways of doing things. Derf had no concept of granting a license to act for you to another, but now we have power of attorney and even partial power of attorney to do one narrow thing. Now my Mothers send a trader off to do business for the clan and he can bind the clan to a contract without running back and getting their approval. Before the Humans showed up business went slowly at any distance from all the running back and forth getting the clan chop stamped on the contracts. Most just didn't bother to trade with anybody beyond a day's travel except the most important needs. Now it is common and we wonder why we didn't think of that ourselves."