RAEFF (Jim Able: Offworld Book 6) by Ed Charlton (best books to read fiction .TXT) 📗

Daum continued. “Tanna Jorr—the inner sibling, warm and hospitable—much like our planet here or Sol Earth, Jim—birthplace of a spacefaring, though conservative, canid race. And here, Tanna Gul—the outer of the pair and root of our present predicament.”

The display slowed, enlarged, and centered on the planet revolving slowly. Jim noticed the three continents that Marhan had spoken of. He could even see the snowcapped mountains, at the southern end of which he and Tella, and now apparently Brother Tamric, were to travel.

I need to talk to Tella about having this kid along with us.

“Tanna Gul is a troubled world. It is populated by canids also, but of a thoroughly different character than their neighbors. Brought out into space too early by the more advanced Jorrs, the cultural shock has had deep repercussions in its inhabitants’ present-day attitude. In part, the wars that have been fought across its continents for multiple generations have, at their heart, that original tragic mistake. Of more immediate concern to us is the effect of those wars upon the flora and fauna of their world. A global catastrophe is underway that will destroy all the major orders of life on Tanna Gul. The canids have already, in large part, moved below ground as the farming and water production facilities have been taken into protected caverns and constructed tunnels.”

Daum Robertus paused before continuing.

“They first approached us with a wild, but bold, suggestion. Their biologists, foreseeing the disaster and knowing their various governments’ inability to prevent it, approached us to build what you would term, Jim, an ark.”

“An ark? You mean, like from way back...to put the animals in?” Jim forgot to close his mouth.

“Indeed! Massive containers to reproduce the climatic conditions to allow the survival of selected ecosystems, or simply to store seeds and samples. Rarely do we get such an ambitious and challenging proposal.”

“But...that’s not possible. Even if technically...”

“Technically? It is done.”

The display reacted to a subtle movement of his finger. Four massive ships appeared in orbit around the planet.

“Everything was ready. After we had arranged for certain celebrations to take place here, our customers underwent a transformation. The wars ended abruptly. One country, Muthlec, spanning the northernmost continent, declared itself victorious. We had dealt with scientists, mainly, and had avoided political entanglements. We knew too little of this Gul-Raeff who had swept to power, first in his own country and, then, his world. We now realize our mistake. The party that came to accept the ships, and to thank us for our work, was not made up of the guests we were expecting.”

Brother Amalis took up the story.

“They made some changes in the personnel they sent. We thought little of it since those who did not attend remained at home to make arrangements for each ark’s final configuration. The spies they sent were far more capable than we had imagined. Their operation was carefully planned and seamlessly executed. One, for instance, made general inquiries about our designs for the arks. Another made inquiries about our quality control at the design stage. Other inquiries—and perhaps some intuitive guesswork—gave them enough information to target our design library. It was months before we found what was missing. They did not take documents for an existing production model. They selected the design from a canceled order, one they guessed was unlikely to be monitored.”

“This design is for a warship?” asked Jim, knowing the discomfort the question would cause.

“We do not build warships here,” corrected Daum Robertus. “Our customers, however, insist on having the option of placing armament modules on their craft. This is something we neither encourage nor condemn.”

“Being someone who has looked the wrong way down some of your own weapons, pardon me if I say that’s of little comfort.”

Daum Robertus smiled and said, “Did we shoot you?”

“I guess not...”

Daum Robertus shrugged and smiled again.

Brother Amalis continued, “The first we knew of our loss was the approach of a working prototype of the canceled craft. Its pilot was Ernot Dirl Marhan.”

Daum Robertus said, “Our first question to you, Jim, is, how credible is this Gul?”

Jim was dimly aware of the layers of meaning hidden under the question. “Did you talk to him?”

“I did,” replied Amalis.

Not giving anything away, are you?

Jim held Amalis’s gaze for several moments before replying. “Marhan has resourcefulness and skills beyond his station. That he could leave his world with a working craft says a lot for him. Is he credible? About what? Leading a revolution? I doubt it. About the fleet? Sure.”

“It is your assessment that the ship he brought here was one of many?”

“Yes. His account of his role is consistent with a large organization building on a large scale. That he could ‘borrow’ one craft, and have parts specially made, and get away with it speaks to both his skills and the size of the operation.”

“Please go on,” said Daum Robertus quietly.

Jim was alarmed by the way the whole room was hanging on every word he was saying. “I...was thinking that it shows the kind of organization that is top-heavy—a centralized command and control. If the responsibility is placed too high, the lower levels allow things to happen simply because no one has specifically told them not to. I can imagine Marhan manipulating underlings to get what he needed, and each of them thinking that it was not his or her place to stop him. His account, to me, rings true.”

Daum Robertus sat back in his chair, glanced at Amalis, and said only, “Interesting.”

Jim waited, wondering if he had just made a fool of himself.

Tella leaned forward and asked, “May I?”

Jim was glad of the distraction. “Sure.”

“Brother Tamric, why do you wish to regain possession of the original plans? We learned from Marhan that many copies have already been made. Is it not too late?”

Tamric waited for a nod from Daum Robertus before answering.

“There is...information...that can only be gleaned from a detailed examination of our original works but not copies. Insights might be deduced about our methods that we would prefer not