Man Who Used the Universe (24 page)

He traveled by marcar from Cluria. Soon the car slipped free of its tube and raced across a field of ripe, waving grain. The wheat concealed the magnetic repulsion rail, which kept the car aloft and moving forward.

Chaheel studied the well-cultivated fields with interest. He knew that many years ago this world of Evenwaith was a cesspool of pollution, which was forced to import such products as grain because they couldn't grow in the poisoned atmosphere. He knew also that Loo-Macklin was the one principally responsible for cleaning the planet's surface. Looking at the endless fields of golden wheat, the clear blue skies, it was difficult to imagine what this land must once have been like, choking under a permanent pall of dioxides and particulates.

It was no wonder Loo-Macklin was idealized by many humans and had been raised high within their society. His greatest accomplishment, of course, lay ahead: the silent subjugation of the Nuel.

His status and intent would have given him access to secret government files and records, all of which he no doubt employed to enhance his business dealings. The government would find it repayment enough, and his competitors could only wonder at his seeming prescience. All little things, insignificant things, beside the vast evil the human intended.

A spur off the main marcar rail dead-ended atop a rocky bluff overlooking Evenwaith's South Sea. Automatic switching devices made insect-noises beneath the tall cliff grass as Chaheel's car was shifted to a private rail. Then he made a breathtaking descent down the cliff face, leveled off, and found himself skimming over the waves booming on shore.

Glancing out the side of the car he could just make out the rail running beneath the surface. Ahead lay a large, igneous plug whose vertical gray sides rose sharply from the sea.

The core of the long-extinct volcano, which comprised the island, was wholly owned by Loo-Macklin. From twisted lava rose his private estate, a forest of thin, gleaming towers coated with precious reflective metal enamels. Sunlight turned the island into a forest of wild mirrors.

As he neared the fortress home, Chaheel decided the towers were more than merely decorative. No doubt, many contained components of an elaborate defense system. That was only to be expected. It was hardly likely the most powerful human in the eighty-three worlds of the UTW would chose to live in a defenseless fairyland.

That did not trouble Chaheel Riens. He never expected to get off the island alive.

He was compelled to endure several checks of his person. Not all the polite guards who scanned him for weapons and made certain of his identity were human. There were two of the tall Orischians and one Orophite. No Nuel, however, much to Chaheel's relief.

They found no weapons on the psychologist because he was carrying none. From the beginning he'd assumed anyone as important as Loo-Macklin would maintain an elaborate system of personal protection and had given up the idea at once of trying to smuggle anything lethal, even a sophisticated biological agent, into the great man's sanctuary.

His plan called for something as simple as it was primitive. Though no athlete and half a foot shorter than the human, he was a good hundred pounds heavier. He would wait for the right instant, work his way as close as possible to the creature, and before any automatic device or living guard could react, he would throw himself on Kee-yes vain Lewmaklin and break the man's neck.

What happened subsequent to that did not concern Chaheel Riens.

The room they ushered him into as he flexed his powerful tentacles a last time was obscenely large. The soaring, vaulted ceiling was several stories high, forming a peak of transparent gemstone, which permitted the entrance of an altered sun. It curved down in a fine sweep to meet a broad, transparent wall supported by glass buttresses. It was far too large to be called a window.

Beyond lay a panoramic view of setting sun, endless ocean, and the curving point of headland known as the Mare's Eyes. Evening approached and the lights of expensive bluffside homes began to wink on, sprinkling illumination on the edge of the continent.

He flowed on relaxed cilia across a floor of richly polished wood composed of millions of hardwood chips gleaned from all of the eighty-three worlds. Probably some from the worlds of the families as well, he thought bitterly.

At the far end of this cathedral-like office, a man sat on either a very small couch or very large cushion. He sat motionless until the psychologist had drawn quite near. Then he rose, smiled, and extended a hand.

Patience, patience, the psychologist warned himself. It's too early, too soon. Now is when his protective devices will be most alert. Relax this monster, relax his shields, relax the conversation. Then slay him.

"Chaheel Riens, it's been many years." The monster's hand touched a tentacle and exchanged liquid with the psychologist. Chaheel felt unclean but forced himself to handle the exchange calmly.

Then he took a moment to study Loo-Macklin. The body appeared unchanged, unusual for a human of his age. It looked very much as he'd seen it years ago in the Birthing cavern. Some skull fur was missing, however, mostly in front of the head. It had not been artificially replaced, a crude bioengineering technique the humans clumsily practiced. The most noticeable change was in fur color, which had faded from gold to white.

There were a few additional wrinkle lines in the face, comparable to the changes that took place in a Nuel's skirt as it aged. And that was all. He measured himself carefully against the human. It would have to be quick. He doubted Loo-Macklin's security personnel would permit two attacks. The human was very strong for his kind, but Chaheel had weight and two extra limbs on his side. There should be no difficulty.

"Good to see you again," Loo-Macklin was saying cheerily. He turned his back on the Nuel and waved toward the sky. A large cylindrical metal cylinder rose from the floor. It was brightly lit in changing patterns. Tiny spigots encircled its upper section. "Can I offer you some liquid or near-liquid refreshment?"

"No, thank you," Chaheel said. "I will take up but little of your time."

Loo-Macklin shrugged and waved emptiness again. The floor obediently swallowed the cylinder.

"I was told you wanted to question me for some report you're preparing. Something on the psychological effects of human/Nuel commercial interaction, I believe. I've always been interested in stuff like that. Be glad to answer any questions I can."

Truly you will, thought Chaheel. He was examining the room for the location of the expected surveillance machinery. It was well-hidden and he couldn't locate so much as a spyeye.

Well, no matter. It would only take a second to slip all four tentacles around that fragile human neck. Then it wouldn't matter how many cameras or weapons were trained on him. Only an instant. A little pressure and he and Loo-Macklin would experience the last moment of life together.

All my work, he brooded. All the research, all the old desire to found a family of teachers, lost in the need to slay a single alien biped. How ironic are the workings of the universe.

If Loo-Macklin suspected Chaheel's intent he'd given no indication of it.

"Now, what is it you wish to know?" He turned from the ocean wall. "How may I help you?"

You can come just a little closer, Chaheel thought. What he said was, "There are certain aspects of trade in luxury goods which I find especially interesting. It's a question of perception on the part of both races. Neither seems certain what the other regards as luxury versus necessity."

"Which, do you think, my imagined plan to poison the food of your now-unborn falls under?" asked Loo-Macklin casually, hands folded behind his back.

Chaheel nearly jumped for him at that moment, except that the Nuel are not constructed for jumping. They move slowly and tirelessly on their hundreds of thick cilia, but always they move close to the ground. The Nuel record for the high jump was somewhere under ten inches.

"You know. A thousand curses on your family line, monster, if you know."

"Just found out recently," Loo-Macklin informed him. "Good thing, too. The man could have ruined everything. Fortunately, he drinks a lot. Alcoholic stimulants make humans voluble. But I'm sure you, as a student of our culture, are aware of that.

"Anyway, I found out about your little meeting. I don't expect you came here to chat about commercial interactions or psychology, did you?"

"No." Chaheel saw no reason to prolong a failed deception. "What I do not understand is how you managed to neutralize the lehl," he said, sorry only that he'd failed and certain now he didn't stand a chance of getting within grasping distance of the man before some hidden weapon cut him down.

Loo-Macklin grinned narrowly. An honest and rare grin. "Who said it had been neutralized?" He rubbed the back of his skull.

"It has to have been," muttered the psychologist, "or it would have killed you long before now, because you have contradicted the thought it was sensitized to."

"Who says I'm contradicting it?"

Chaheel's well-ordered mind was coming apart. He wanted to scream. This human's dealings were more complex than the maze of coming-of-age tunnels on Merenwha.

When he could not find a response, Loo-Macklin gently tried to help him form one.

"You met with this Lindsay, the programmer. He told you certain things, supplied you with certain stolen information."

"A great deal of information," Chaheel finally said. "I had it all checked prior to processing. Everything he gave me is truth." A glimmer of confused hope began to rise within him. "Can you deny that?"

"No. Not the meetings, the discussions. Those all took place. The only thing that's missing is the fact that I'm not going to do anything contrary to the best interests of the Nuel." He tapped his head again. "Wouldn't want to upset my little passenger."

"You say that poisoning the minds of our children is not contrary to our best interests?" the psychologist replied sarcastically.

"I have no intention of poisoning anyone. But my government thinks otherwise. I will supply you with some of the 'additive.' It does indeed seem to produce the gradual softening of competitiveness the stolen information talks about. But what the government scientists I've been working with do not know, because they have no access to Nuel patients, is that upon introduction into the Nuel system the chemical bonds holding the additive together are broken down in about ten months time by your body's enzymes. The resulting three components are harmless. They remain in the Nuel bloodstream for several years, but affect nothing. Certainly not the minds and motivations of your children."

Chaheel felt dizzy. A Nuel could faint, but it could not fall over. Nevertheless, he wished for some support.

"I . . . I understand this not, Kee-yes vain Lewmaklin. Why would you go to such elaborate lengths to prepare a false attack that can avail you nothing?"

"Who says it avails me nothing? Truly are you full of misconceptions, Chaheel Riens." He seemed to be enjoying his visitor's confusion.

"Here I am," he gestured widely with massive arms on which the hair had also turned white, "a single human being, working closely with mankind's most dangerous enemies. I visit the Nuel worlds, ostensibly on missions devoted only to commerce. I talk with the heads of families, Families, Great Families. I have tightly bound myself to the Nuel by business dealings.

"Don't you think, psychologist, observer of human culture, that among the Board of Operators who run the government of the eighty-three worlds there might be at least one as suspicious of my motives as you? Wouldn't it be sensible for one or two among them to wonder if I might not be doing more for the Nuel than merely facilitating their business activities within the UTW? Are they less observant than yourself?

"Come now, Chaheel. Exchange positions with me truly. How long did you think I could keep the intelligence agents of the UTW fooled? They are not stupid, as your own people of the family Si know. I had to do something to put their minds at ease.

"Now, as a psychologist, what method would you suggest? How might I relax them utterly?"

"By concocting a plan," Chaheel said slowly, reluctantly, "that would make them believe you were working for the interests of humanity."

"I live in a universe of amoebas," Loo-Macklin murmured to himself. Then, to his guest, "You see it now. It was not meant to be easily seen. Of course that's what I did.

"This mysterious 'additive' that Lindsay told you about was truly created by my own chemists. The testing on it was done by a tiny staff working directly under my supervision and instructions. It was then turned over to Nuel bioengineers working for a firm I control, to make certain of its harmlessness. I will give you the name of that family firm if you wish, so you can check for yourself." He laughed. "If the Si functionaries guarding its privacy will admit you, that is.

"The Board of Operators is convinced that within fifty years they're going to face a race of pliable, drugged Nuel who'll do exactly as they're told."

"Fifty years, human scale," mumbled Chaheel. "Do you think that will hold back the Board of Operators' more warlike members long enough for you to deliver on your promises to the Council of Eight Families?"

"I don't know. I'm doing all I can. Push too hard and the entire effort will be uncovered. Patience is all that will make my efforts on behalf of the Families work. The Si, at least, understand that."

"I'd heard, but not believed, that they had finally made you an honorary family member. Such an honor is unprecedented."

"So I was told," said Loo-Macklin.

Chaheel Riens tried to unknot his thoughts. "Truly would you give me the name of the firm among the families which is aware of and has tested this supposedly subverting additive?"

"Truly, Chaheel."

"But could you not somehow . . ."

Loo-Macklin cut him off impatiently. "You forget the lehl, psychologist. It sits where it was placed, monitoring my thoughts, protecting the interests of the Nuel."

"Then this whole elaborate structure you've put in place, the entire plan to insert this additive in our food supplies, is simply a deception, a means to ensure the human government of your loyalty to them while in truth you are helping the Families?"