The Icerigger Trilogy: Icerigger, Mission to Moulokin, and The Deluge Drivers (86 page)

The middle-aged beam technician rubbed his golden crew cut. A single long, silver earring dangled from his perforated right earlobe. “A
private
call? First priority?

That means clearing the lines between here and wherever you want to call to.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“You know what that’ll cost? The amount of time and energy involved? Even if it’s Drax IV, and that’s the nearest world with a receiving station, the number of relays involved are …”

“I don’t want to talk to Drax IV. I want to talk closed-beam to the House of Malaika, which is located in the city of Drallar, on Moth. Can you set that up?”

The operator looked mildly offended. “I can set anything up—if you can pay for it. Right through Santos V and Dis and on to Terra. You’re talking a lot of parsecs, friend.”

“Devil take the parsecs. Set it up.”

The operator shook his head. “I don’t touch button one until I have some kind of financial clearance.” A hand hovered over instrumentation that had nothing to do with chatting in null-space.

Ethan swallowed. “Enter code twenty-two double R, CDK.”

Warily, the operator entered the information. “Mighty short code. This wouldn’t be some kind of joke, would it? I wouldn’t put it past Marianne and the guys.”

A few moments fled before the words “Unlimited Credit” appeared on the small tridee screen near the operator’s elbow. His eyebrows lifted. He gaped at the two words but nothing else materialized, no elaboration, no explanations. Just the two words.

“How’d you gain access to an account like this?”

September put just enough of a Tran-like growl into his voice to be intimidating. “You a cop or a beam operator?”

The man shrugged and turned to his instruments. “Hell of a distance,” he grumbled. “Have to patch in fifty stations at least.”

“You can set anything up, remember?” Ethan taunted him gently.

September leaned close and whispered, “How
did
you get hold of a code like that?”

“Colette du Kane,” he reminded his tall companion. “Remember her? She said if I ever needed anything, to use that code.”

“My kind of woman.” September had not forgotten the plump industrialist’s daughter who’d been marooned on Tran-ky-ky in their company. She’d proposed marriage to Ethan only to be turned down.

“Let’s not make fun of her in her absence,” Ethan chided his friend. “Especially since she’s paying for this.”

Despite his boasting it took the operator ten minutes to set up the call. Outside the communications bubble the functionaries who’d mocked Ethan cooled their heels while trying unsuccessfully to peer through the opaque plastic dome.

The static-filled screen in front of Ethan cleared slightly and the first sound filtered through. It was distorted and incomprehensible, not surprising considering the distance it had to travel. The operator cursed softly to himself as he adjusted his instrumentation.

Deep-space beams traveled in the mysterious region known as null-space, while KK-drive ships ploughed their way through space-plus. Sandwiched in between were stars, nebulae, and people in the region called normal space. Glory and a lifetime of ease awaited the physicist who could find a way for a ship to travel in null-space, a discovery that would reduce the travel time between the stars from weeks to minutes. Unfortunately, everything that ventured into that insane dimension came out scrambled, like eggs: Experimental animals sent through null-space arrived at their destination as soup. This muted the enthusiasm of potential human followers. So far, pictures and chatter were all that the Commonwealth’s men had figured out how to put back together again.

The picture cleared, revealing a figure as massive as September but not nearly as tall seated behind a hardwood desk. His complexion was ebony and his beard rolled out over his chest like waves across a beach. Though his frame occupied most of the image Ethan could make out a few details behind him. There was the desk of inlaid rare woods, a glass wall, and in the distance a city glowing with light. Drallar. Only a name on company documents until now. No reason for salespeople in the field to visit Moth. Actually, he’d heard it was something of a backward world, largely unpopulated, successful only because of its extreme laissez-faire attitude toward commerce. As a result it was headquarters for a number of major trading houses, among which was the House of Malaika.

Maxim Malaika regarded his caller across a distance of some seven hundred parsecs. The awesome gulf reduced his booming voice to a whisper.

“
Faida,
but this is a surprise. I don’t take calls from lower-level field representatives, but then they usually don’t call from such a distance.” He paused while he glanced at a monitor whose screen was hidden from pickup view. “Tran-kee-kee, is it?”

“Tran-ky-ky.” Ethan delicately corrected the pronunciation.

“And I
never
get calls from lower-level field representatives that they are paying for. I am intrigued, Mr. Fortune. What prompts this extraordinary communication on your part? You must have concluded quite a sizable transaction or two to justify such a transmission.”

“Actually, sir, I haven’t sold a thing in nearly two years.” Malaika said nothing, nor did his expression change. He was accustomed to receiving explanations. Now he awaited one.

Ethan told him how he’d been outbound on the long run from Santos V to Dustdune when he’d stumbled into the kidnapping of the heiress Colette du Kane and her father, how they’d taken care of the kidnappers but crashed on the world called Tran-ky-ky, how they’d subsequently managed to strike up a friendly relationship with some of the natives, and how they’d spent the last year and more just surviving.

More than surviving, they’d set in motion the unification of fiercely independent city-states, thus putting the Tran well on the way to forming a planetary government capable of applying for associate status within the Commonwealth. The Tran proved to be intelligent, eager to learn, ready to adopt new ideas. As long as corrupt officials like the late Jobius Trell could be kept away from them, they should develop rapidly.

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Malaika approvingly. “A developing race is a consuming race.”

Ethan hesitated. “Then I still have my job?”

“Still have your job? Of course you still have your job. You did what you had to do. I’m sure you did not crash on this world on purpose. I don’t fire competent people because they’re caught up in circumstances beyond their control. I am impressed with your resourcefulness and skill in surviving. I am so impressed I’m not even going to dock you your base pay for the past couple of years. Of course, you gained no commissions during that time but there’s nothing either of us can do about that.”

Ethan was speechless. It was more than he had any right to expect.

Malaika leaned forward and his face filled the distant pickup. “And who is the large economy-size gentleman standing next to you, Mr. Fortune?”

“Just a friend. Skua …”

“Davis,” September said. “Skua Davis.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Davis.” Malaika frowned. “That face. I’ve seen that face before. Have you always worn a beard, my friend?”

“Not always.” September eased a couple of steps backward, taking himself slightly out of focus.

Ethan’s expression twisted slightly. There had been several occasions when his friend had alluded to a checkered past. Ethan had pressed for details without ever obtaining any. Well, Skua’s privacy was his own business and as his friend he was duty-bound to respect it.

“I can’t thank you enough, sir.”

“Yes, you’re welcome.” Malaika reluctantly shifted his attention back to his employee. “Great things are in the offing for the House of Malaika, young man, great things. This past year has been rich with the unusual. I have done some traveling of my own, entered new markets, overseen the expansion of the company. Also met this extraordinary child, a young adult really, wise in some ways beyond his years and in others the epitome of the naive.” He shrugged. “But why burden you with the details of my life when yours has obviously been so much more interesting.”

“Not by choice it hasn’t been, sir.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you. I guess that’s everything then, sir. The
Spindizzy
is due in orbit here next week and I’ll be on it. I’ll make contact with my district representative as soon as possible. I don’t think it would do any good to try and resume my normal route where I left off, not almost two years late. For all I know my samples are a year out of date. Is Langan Ferris still my supervisor in this area?”

“Yes, Ferris is still out your way,” Malaika said indifferently. “But why the rush? What’s your hurry to be away?”

“What’s my hurry?” For an instant Ethan forgot whom he was talking with. “Sir, I’ve been stuck on this ice ball for more than a year. I’d like to get back to civilization. I’d like to converse in Terranglo instead of Tran, enjoy some civilized company and companionship.”

“Think of how you’ve positioned yourself, Fortune. Think of it! From what you’ve told me you’re uniquely familiar with the natives and their ways. With their culture and their desires, their wants. You’re best qualified to advise the new Resident Commissioner on how to deal with these Tran.

“If this local federation or union or whatever it is continues to mature and grow, these Tran will be ready to apply for associate status within the Commonwealth in a very short time. If they are accepted it means that their world will be upgraded from a restricted Class IVB to a IVA. They might even qualify for a special Class II. That means they would be allowed access to reasonably sophisticated goods and services. Goods and services which outside concerns would bid to provide.” Ethan tried to inject an objection but Malaika raised a hand and rushed on.

“You have gained the trust of these people. I do not need to tell you how important trust is when you’re trying to sell somebody something. You know the natives and what they would want. You could so advise the new Resident Commissioner.”

“Please, sir.” Ethan found he was starting to sweat. It was clear where Malaika was heading and Ethan searched desperately for a side road. “Any company rep could do what I’ve done. I’d be glad to brief anyone you decide to send out here. Myself, I’m looking forward to getting back to my old routine.”

“Old routine. It defines itself.” Malaika leaned back in his chair. “That’s for your average, mildly competent, unimaginative salesman.”

“But sir, that’s what I
am
.”

“Your modesty does you credit, Fortune. I couldn’t begin to ask a man like you, who’s been through what you’ve been through, accomplished what you’ve accomplished, to go back to the dull, boring grind of visiting the same old places and talking to the same old customers. I wouldn’t dream of asking it of you.”

“Ask it of me, please.”

Malaika went on as though he hadn’t heard the last: Perhaps he hadn’t, though Ethan doubted it. The head of the House hadn’t missed anything else.

“I envy you, Fortune; yes, I do. To have enjoyed the experiences you have and emerged from them wiser and more knowledgeable is something the rest of us, chained to our computers, can only imagine. The life of a travelling sales rep is clearly not for you, no, clearly not.”

“Begging to differ with you, sir, but I don’t have an adventurous bone in my body. Everything that’s happened has been an accident, and I’m tired of living an accident.”

Malaika nodded. “I understand, truly I do, Fortune. You’ve tired of aimless wandering, you’re tired of being bounced around the surface of a backward, primitive world. You want some stability, want to know where you’re going to be from day to day. You want a regular routine again, want to know that tomorrow’s work is assured and not radically different from what you’ve done today.”

Ethan relaxed a little. For a while there he feared he wasn’t going to be able to make his point. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want, sir. If it’s not too much to ask.”

“Of course not. We are in agreement, then.”

Ethan sat up straight in his chair. “We are?”

“Certainly. Taking into account all that you have told me, I have no choice but to appoint you as full factotum representing the House of Malaika on Tran-ky-ky. You will supervise the establishment and growth of a full-scale trading operation. With your unique knowledge and experience to draw upon, we will have a near monopoly on trade with the locals before any of the other great houses so much as get wind of the possibilities there. There are
possibilities,
I take it?”

“Yes sir, but as to the need for a permanent representative …”

“Every world no matter how recently opened to trade requires a permanent representative. A lucky man I am to have someone well qualified already on the spot!” Again Ethan hastened to argue and again Malaika overrode any incipient protests.

“Naturally such a promotion and increase in responsibility carries with it a hefty rise in salary. You can look forward to a better and earlier retirement, Fortune. You will have people under you to supervise. No more worrying about lost commissions and an irregular income.”

“Even so, sir, I …”

“Don’t thank me, don’t thank me. You’ve earned this. It’s an opportunity that comes rarely to one your age. Normally one serves twenty to thirty years before being appointed a factotum. And after our monopoly has been secured and you’ve trained a solid core of new people to handle the business, the House would consider transferring you to another world. Paris, say, or New Riviera.”

Ethan hesitated. By themselves the promotion and increase in salary weren’t sufficient to make him consider staying, but the possibility of obtaining both and then taking them with him to one of the paradise worlds, that was something worth thinking about. More than that, the offer was tempting. A factotum on a world like New Riviera could make an enormous amount of money while working in the most congenial surroundings the Commonwealth had to offer.

Even so, the memories of the bone-chilling arctic cold, the unceasing wind, and the more prosaic dangers of Tran-ky-ky were far fresher in his memory than tridees of warm beaches on unvisited worlds. Not that he didn’t have a choice. He could accept promotion and promise or he could quit and take the next ship one way to Drax IV and start looking for a new profession. Drax IV was a nice civilized world but not a major one. Jobs there might not be so easy to come by.