Stranded on Haven Page 14

  “This man is a nothing; a common sailor washed ashore on Haven. He has even stooped to blackmail by threatening to withhold access to Adventurer. He is little more than a criminal, and he has no business here. Throw him out and let’s get on with choosing a leader for this ‘university’!”

  Chapter 7

  And essentially, that’s what they did. I was escorted from the room. Suddenly the International Zone, once my domain, was simply a place I was allowed to live. I was told they had actually discussed how much rent to charge me!

  I was actually something of a captive audience, of course. I was the only person on Haven who wasn’t a citizen of one of the nations. I had no passport, and no chance of getting one unless one of the nations allowed me to immigrate. Terry Havens mentioned that I could become a citizen of Refuge merely by stating the intent. I could, she claimed, merely hop over to Refuge, the only city in the nation of the same name, and produce some form of identification. By one of Refuge’s few laws, they could not refuse a request for citizenship.

  But that wouldn’t work. If I became a citizen of Refuge, or any other nation, it would allow them to pigeonhole me. Right now, I was outside the governments’ usual frame of reference. But If I became a Refuger, say, New Home could insist I be kicked out of the International Zone and sent ‘home’, to be dealt with by some low-level functionary. It appeared that New home had decided their best course was to take me out of the picture, and then go about taking over the Council. And, of course, once I was reduced to a private citizen, say, in Refuge, it wouldn’t be hard to arrange a kidnap that couldn’t be traced to New Home.

  I could retreat to Startrader, and literally conduct business from ‘on high’, but that was no answer, either. Aside from an occasional ‘sneaked’ trip to planetside cities, it would be a life sentence to solitary confinement. I might as well head off for Hadley sublight. At least that would only take thirty years.

  So, I’d been outmaneuvered. Even so, I was still a powerful, ever-present fact of Haven life, now. They could appoint all the bureaucrats they wanted to run their university. Without my cooperation, they couldn’t even get to their campus; nor could any of their students.

  The more I thought about it, and got used to the idea, though, the happier I became. Instead of dealing with bunch of political appointees, I’d have only one well-educated academic type. Or perhaps an educator and an administrator. Either way, they were more likely to be able to understand the issues that would need solutions than were a gaggle of bureaucrats. And if the bureaucrats did have to get involved, they would be the ones facing them down, not me!

  Still, I prayed that they would select someone with a brain, not just some policy-spouting rulebook robot. A project this size needed a man with intelligence, imagination, and drive, not some fool waving a rulebook and explaining why things were impossible, or some submissive drone who would simply take an easy ‘no’ for an answer.

  Doctor Sana Toray was a tall, distinguished looking man with a hawk nose, a former Chancellor of the University of New Home. And before we even met, I knew we weren’t going to get along.

  The Council had set up a reception for Doctor Toray in the Zone, even flying in caterers and waiters for the occasion. It was interesting to note how the different council reps dealt with me. Those from Westin and Cellia were all smiles and friendliness, while those from New home and East Brent were cold, distant, and formal. The Cornwells were somewhere between, with some of them quite friendly, and others rather more distant. And, of course, the Refuger ignored nearly everyone. Oh, he greeted me, but that greeting was his only contact with me.

  But of course, I was very interested in the new Chancellor, so I watched him. I tend to judge people by how they treat others, especially those lower in the social pecking order. He was almost obsequious to the New Homers, all smiles and nods; though there was a detectable difference in his treatment of the New Homers compared to the East Brents. His greetings to the Westins were hearty and enthusiastic, to the Cellians cool and wary, and to the Cornwells friendly. He ignored the Refuger completely, except for a quick handshake on introduction.

  But it was his treatment of the servers that was most telling. Maybe it’s my slum background, but I’m very sensitive to social slights. To Toray, the waiters and servers were simply furniture, and he ignored them completely, except to snap at them if anything did not meet with his instant approval. Those not his social equals or superiors were simply less than human to him, and he felt free to deal with them as he pleased. I suspected he would regard me as a social inferior; little more than a truck driver, and caretaker for the orbiting ships. Still, as our hosts approached with him, I hoped for a pleasant surprise.

  Alas, it was not to be. As we shook hands he merely said, “Ah, yes, Messer Carver. I’ll see you in my office tomorrow morning at 900 sharp.”

  I put on a slightly puzzled expression. “Oh, yes,” I said, “You’re that professor that’ll be teaching the courses. Well, I can’t make 900, but I’ll drop by when I can. We do have an office for you. One of my assistants will show you where it is.” I turned and walked away, ignoring the fury in his bright red face.

  As I expected, promptly at 900 the next morning, a commotion in the outer office announced the arrival of Doctor Toray. I heard Ellie’s voice through the door, “No, sire, you will not go into Messer Carver’s office unannounced!” A moment later, she slipped through the door, threw me a smile and a wink, and announced, “Doctor Toray” just as the door was pushed open and Toray came boiling in, followed by a smaller, rounder man.

  “Carver! How dare you? How dare you humiliate me in that fashion? I am Chancellor of this establishment, not simply a professor, and you were well aware of it! You work for me!”

  I smiled and shrugged. “So fire me. Or, better yet, I quit. Find someone else to do my job.”

  Toray’s eyes widened and his face turned red with fury. His mouth worked, but he was apparently too shocked to form a reply. He spun on his heel and fled out the door.

  “Very effective, Captain, and very amusing,” came a strange voice. I whirled to see the man who had come in with Toray. “However, it might be useful to at least give the impression of trying to get along with him. There were worse choices, you know.” He paused, coughing into a handkerchief. He was a fairly small man, portly, with a round, red face and a permanent smile; a jolly-looking little man.

  He grabbed my hand in both of his, and hung on for dear life. At least that was the way it felt. His excitement was almost embarrassing. “Messer Carver!” he gushed. “How wonderful to get to meet a man from the stars! I never dreamed such an honor would befall me during my lifetime!” He stopped for a fit of coughing. “We have so much to talk about! There’s so much I want to know!” I was grinning from ear to ear. It was impossible to dislike the man, or to interfere with this force of nature.

  His eyes were wide with excitement. “I’m very sorry we were unable to meet last evening,” he said as soon as he stopped coughing. “I’m Ollar Canva, Former Chancellor of New Home University. For my sins, the King asked me to accept the position of Assistant Chancellor under Doctor Toray.”

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Doctor Toray, Just call him ‘sire’ and pat him on the head once in a while. I expect to run the actual operation, while he spends most of his time among the rich and powerful in New Home, pushing for additional resources.”

  I frowned. “Additional resources? I understand we already have pretty much a blank check.”

  Canva nodded. “True, but when one is building an empire, there is never enough. No, Doctor Toray will be pushing for endowments for chairs and scholarships; all set up to be under his direct control, of course. At any rate, I would expect that he will insist on a large, impressive office aboard Adventurer, but he will spend little time there.”

  I ushered him to a chair and noticed Heidi, standing in the corner of the office, laser in her hand. I assured her it was all right, and introduced he
r to Canva. “Call me Ollie,” he said. He shook his head. “Amazing. Such a beautiful young lady! And a bodyguard! I imagine your body needs much guarding!” Heidi blushed.

  “You know, sire, that there will be listening tubes and agents listening in?” I asked quietly into his ear. “All of my ‘assistants’ except for Heidi are agents of one or another of the nations. I left the listening tubes unplugged. It was important that the agents not realize they could be shut out.”

  The smile faded a bit, and he bobbed his head. “Of course. Of course. Fools. All of them,” he said softly. He broke off for another coughing fit. Obviously, Doctor Canva was not a healthy man. “Duke Richard even tried to hint how convenient it would be if I were to give certain ‘students’ from New Home access to, well, his term was ‘interesting’ data.” He continued in a louder tone, head shaking. “Fools. The treasures aboard Adventurer are not to be used for petty gain by petty politicians. Knowledge must be shared! You’ve done very well, young man. I was quite excited about developments in Cornwell. Fuel from animal dung! Wonderful!” Finally he paused and lowered his voice again. “Is there a way we can talk? In private, I mean?” he continued in a lower tone.

  I nodded, lowered my voice. “I know where all the tubes are, and we can plug them temporarily. But that is a limited ability, since the agents will know the tubes are blocked. I try to leave them open as much as possible, so the agents have something to report. Otherwise, they’ll think of something more imaginative. Aside from my office, I’m afraid that only the landers or the ships can be considered secure. But I agree that we must talk.” I raised my voice again. “May I suggest a tour of Haven in a lander?"

  The smile was back, even wider, and his head bobbed. “You certainly may! But what about Adventurer?”

  I nodded. “We can visit her as well, Doctor Canva. However, I suspect it might be better politically if I took Doctor Toray first. After all, he is the Chancellor, at least on record. Besides, I suspect I’m going to enjoy the look on his face when he learns he’ll have to strip naked and undergo decontam to go aboard.”

  His eyebrows raised. “Naked? I say, you do take your decontamination seriously, don’t you? I’m a biologist. I’ve worked in sterile labs that required washing and clean clothing, but never nudity.”

  I explained, and he understood immediately. “Of course, of course! I am a biologist, you know. Or I was.” The last phrase had a mournful tone.

  “But of course it will be worth it!” His voice dropped. “I assume we can talk freely, there?”

  I nodded and replied in the same soft tone. “Of course, Doctor. I doubt the technology exists on Haven to spy on the ships. And if it did, Startrader’s Artificial intelligence would spot it immediately. Of course we can take a ride in a lander any time we need real privacy.”

  In a normal tone, I began explaining about Jane and Lisa. I had to stop twice for bouts of his coughing. We got comfortable, and I offered him a choc, while I got a caf.

  Canva sighed. “All right, Messer Carver. Or is it Sire Carver?”

  I smiled. “On Haven, it’s Messer. But please, call me Jerd. Or just Carver.” I smiled. “I was just a cargo jockey. Mostly I answered to ‘hey you’!”

  He nodded, laughing aloud. “Thank you Jerd. I’m Ollie. Forget all that other junk. I’ve retired out of it. Now I just bumble around as I will.” He took a sip, stopped, and stared at his cup. “What is this? It’s wonderful!”

  I smiled. “It’s called ‘choc’. I’ve yet to meet someone on Haven that doesn’t like it.” I gestured at my cup. “I have something called ‘caf’, and I’ve yet to meet someone on Haven that does like it!”

  He was still staring at his cup. “If you can make this stuff, your fortune is secure! It’s much better than our fruit teas.” I made a mental note to check with Lisa as he took another sip, reluctantly put down his cup. “Well, I suppose we’d best get to business. You know, of course, that my primary job is to keep you under control, whatever that means, while simultaneously draining both you and your ships of all their knowledge and cramming it into Haven’s students.”

  I nodded. “Ollie, I have been completely honest with the people of Haven ever since I arrived. Haven is my home, too, now. What I’m hoping you can do is help me try to keep the flow of information going in a rational and responsible manner; one that won’t result in wars and horror. I’ll freely admit that Toray scares me. He’s precisely the type of social-climbing, self-centered person I’ve been afraid would be appointed.”

  I made up my mind. “As far as I’m concerned, you are the University, and I’m very relieved to have someone responsible to work with. I should tell you that it will take centuries to drain Adventurer and Startrader of their knowledge. Long before that, I expect Haven will be a starfaring planet again.”

  We spent over an hour talking about our mutual aspirations and plans for the ‘Space University’ before Ollie asked about taking a ride. Our talk was often interrupted by Ollie’s coughing fits. I was sure that Startrader’s med bay could help with that. But I didn’t yet know this man. Would he be friend and ally, or tricky, deceitful enemy? As I said, I have a lamentable lack of faith in my fellow man. But if he was to go into space, I had to make certain he’d survive the trip.

  I hesitated. “Ollie, how is your health? Your pardon, but you are of an advanced age for Haven, aren’t you? I don’t mean to pry, but it might be wise to take precautions.”

  Ollie sighed. “Oh, I’m not offended, Jerd. Yes, I’m on the high end of the life expectancy charts now, and the doctors’ faces keep getting gloomier and gloomier. I take a dozen pills a day, just to stay alive.”

  I nodded. “All right. If you agree, I’d be honored to take you on a tour of Haven. But I would prefer to use a lifeboat to visit the ships. It has equipment to deal with medical emergencies, and I’d rather not have to come back and tell the Council that I killed their Vice Chancellor.”

  Ollie chuckled and shrugged. “I have my share of stubborn pride, Jerd, but it doesn’t extend to risking my life. I would be delighted to ride your lifeboat.”

  First, though, a tour of Haven and some private talk. I ushered him to the gig’s copilot station, but first he had to examine the ‘bot Lisa had sent to pilot.

  “Ah, yes. I’d heard about your ‘mechanical men’. But this one looks very human. Except for the head, of course.”

  I nodded. “Yes. We use many robots, though few are completely man-shaped. Most are in any form convenient to their function. Some are huge stationary machines; some are too small to be seen without special equipment. Nearly all are shaped to fit the need. The human-shaped ones are expensive and fairly rare. The ones aboard Startrader are designed as servants for the wealthy. The theory is that a man-shaped robot can use tools made for men. But that is actually a limited virtue. Robots are so expensive that it is better in the end to let form follow function, and design tools to match. Luckily, Startrader carried two dozen servitor robots and a dozen sex ‘bots as cargo.”

  “Sex ‘bots.” Ollie chuckled and shook his head. “I find it fascinating how many human accomplishments have ended up being used for sex. I would like to see one of your ‘sex ‘bots’, though.”

  I shrugged. “You will.” I shrugged. “Once your university gets going, I expect I’ll have a shortage of pilots. Actually, sex ‘bots are just servitor robots like this one, but with specialized bodies and programming. Lisa can program them for other duties, just as she can this one here.” This one was man-shaped, but his head was a featureless silver plas ovoid. I grinned. “So, don’t be surprised if you board your lander one day and find that your pilot is a spectacular blonde.

  He smiled. “I can hardly wait.” He slid into the seat, and I activated the crash shield that would keep him in his seat and act as a cocoon in case of emergency. Then I took the seat just behind him.

  The gig impressed Ollie as much as it had impressed Jess. I learned that he’d always been afraid to fly on airships, so he’d only see
n aerial views of Haven in grainy images called photographs. I took it easy, but I took us high enough for Ollie to see the outline of the east coast of West Continent, and then dropped down and spent a few hours giving him a flying tour of it. He enjoyed it immensely, though he seemed bothered by the pall of smoke that hung over every city.

  He also briefed me frankly on Toray. As I suspected, he was a ‘political professor’, one of those whose advancement in the academic field had come from his ability to raise budgets and secure grants, not educate students. “His field is Sociology,” Ollie said, “but he hasn’t taught a course in decades. I doubt he even understands about the vacuum of space, or the danger of contamination. That’s why I was actually asked to sign on as his deputy.

  “In any area besides grant writing and glad-handing donors, the man’s a complete fool.” Ollie raised his eyes to me. “But he’s very vindictive, Jerd. I suspect you’ve made a nasty enemy. He will do anything in his power to discredit you, now, and he’ll be looking for a way to get control of the landers, so he can get rid of you.” He shrugged. “I’ll do what I can to calm him down, but I don’t know how much that will be. He doesn’t much like me, either.”

  Finally, we returned to the International Zone, and Ollie went off to soothe Toray. I asked him to offer a trip to Adventurer as a peace offering.

  The offer was accepted, though with little grace. “He knows he has no choice,” Ollie reported, “but despite his words, he did not accept your apology, and he will be looking for ways to hurt you.”

  Nevertheless, when he appeared for the trip, Toray acted as though nothing had happened between us. He was coldly formal, and actually got angry when I explained the decontam requirements.