Freedom's Ransom Part 26

'Yes, a coordination of efforts and resources,' Zainal said, approving what he had seen. 'For instance, we traded medicines from one coordinator's sphere of influence to another's in Africa, and we got coffee beans, which turned out to make a remarkably tradeable item on Barevi.'

'Catteni like coffee?' Iri asked Zainal in his dry way.

'You should have seen what a few pounds of beans could buy us. And you will. I plan,' and Zainal could feel enthusiasm return, 'to obtain coffee bean plants on our next visit to Earth and try them in the southwest, near the Masai lands.'

'I do like a cup of coffee or three in the morning,' Iri said. 'You didn't bring back an espresso machine, did you?'

'No, but I'm sure I can trade for one on Earth. Whatever it is.'

Iri sighed again and put a veined hand with swollen knuckles on Zainal's arm. 'You get to my age and you find that food is about the only thing that tempts you.'

'We have coffee, from the Kenyan mountains, and the milder bean from Santa Lucia.'

'You spanned continents with no problems?'

Zainal nodded. 'Surprise was our main advantage. We were, however, met with courtesy. I'm not so sure how other Catteni groups would be received.'

'Doubtless with suspicion?'

'Possibly, until we clear their peaceful arrival with the Watch Dog security force. I don't know how they would now rebuff a hostile force, but they would know before it reached Earth. Kris said, "once bitten, twice shy". There is also the matter of resources. Catteni enterprise has been cut back considerably since the controlling force is inactive.'

'Kamiton and the others are having more trouble with the transition from the Eosi?'

Zainal nodded and the judge went on. 'History supports the supposition that it's one thing to have a revolution and another to recover from it. Earth is doing the better job. This time,' the judge remarked succinctly. 'And if they have, it will be the first time in the long struggle of humanity. May I live to see it!' He gave a long sigh. 'What else do you plan, Zainal?'

'I plan to use our ships to run between Earth and Barevi, and to start an orderly collection of the products of Catteni mining worlds.'

'What about the rest of our missing folk?'

'That will take far more organizing - and exchanges - than I can currently contemplate, but I was able to secure lists of which slave ship went where. Exchanging workers may be more difficult, if not downright impossible. Your species is admirably suited to the work required to keep such planets and facilities operating. Earth needs the mineral resources as much as Catten does. A little compet.i.tion might be beneficial. What I envision is cooperation, too, between Catteni and Terrans.'

'Politics has always made strange bedfellows,' Iri remarked.

Zainal did not quite understand his reference as it might apply to their two species, especially as he saw nothing strange about having Kris as his bedfellow.

'Coordinators run Earth, you say?'

Zainal nodded.

'I must think how coordination can best be extended.' He patted Zainal's arm again as they came to the main settlement of Retreat. 'You have done well. You are thinking. It is thinking men we need right now.'

'There is much our two races can exchange to the benefit of both.'

'Then we need more coordination and cooperation.' The judge dismounted from his motor and looked inquiringly at Zainal. 'You called a meeting for this evening?'

Zainal nodded.

'We will then coordinate efforts.' The judge strode away, nodding right and left at those who greeted him.

Zainal went to the main dining room, aware that he was hungry, and hungry for Botanic food. A nice juicy roasted rock squat would taste fine right now, and some tubers. Seed potatoes were another item that he must try to return with. And other Earth vegetables that might do well. Hadn't Kris said one of their drivers had farmed nearby? There was still so much to do and plan. Would he ever be able to drop back to Botany and stay put? Why must duty keep calling him away to attempt the impossible?

Because that was what he had undertaken to do and felt responsible for completing. He wondered if that was what had driven the Eosi. But he was not Eosi: he was a Botanist - no longer a Catteni, but of, and for, this world. And of and for this world, he would do everything possible so that it would continue with all its promise and plenty.

A hand caressed his shoulder and he looked around to see Kris beside him in line waiting to be served.

'Rock squat, please,' he said, pointing to the browned segment he liked. 'You'll never believe how important those rock squats were to us in our travels,' he told the server.

'Really?' The woman was surprised. 'Nice to see you back, Zainal, Kris. And thanks for the coffee beans - even if we still have to ration them.'

'Not for much longer,' Zainal said with the airy confidence that suddenly enveloped him.

Kris also chose rock squat and as they picked other selections from the salad bowls, she paused to point out Bazil and Peran, sitting with Brone and looking very pleased with themselves.

'I think the teacher is being taught,' she murmured, since Brone's head was turning this way and that, constantly observing those in the hall.

As they looked around for a table, they saw other members of their crew dining with friends and relatives. Floss, Clune and Ditsy were, however, alone at a big table to which Kris and Zainal made their way.

'Good to be home, isn't it?' she said conversationally.

'Well, it's nice not to have to be...' Floss shrugged.

'Apprehensive?' Clune asked, reaching for her hand and smiling down at her.

'Yeah, that's the word. Everyone likes my dress,' Floss added, stroking the fabric down the front over one hip. 'No one has one like it.'

'Nor are they likely to,' Kris said.

'Aren't we going back to Africa?' Floss asked. Clearly she wanted to get more brightly coloured material. It did suit her.

'That's up for discussion,' Zainal said in a tone that suggested an end to that subject.

'We'll have to,' Clune said, lifting his cup of coffee to his lips. 'I'm as addicted to this stuff as everyone else.' He took a sip. 'We'd get clearance just by promising to ensure a supply of coffee.'

'There's more to be done than that,' Ditsy said with some scorn.

D'you miss Ferris?' Kris asked.

'Yeah,' Ditsy said in a bleak tone, slumping in his chair and laying an arm on the table to prop his head on, in a totally disconsolate mood. 'Never thought he'd desert me for a dentist!'

'Speaking of that, we never did get one of his dentist friends to come work here on Botany,' Kris said in mild self-reproach.

'There are a lot of things we didn't get to do,' Zainal said, 'this time!' He gave a sharp nod of his head to indicate that he intended to perform at a higher level soon.

'Think of the things we did do, Zainal! Not too shabby,' Kris replied. Lord, was everyone down in the dumps? Post-something-or-other depression? Kathy Harvey very much wanted to achieve more miracles of repair on satellites, especially with that nice young fellow at the green coords - Wendell? Wasn't that his name? Yes, John Wendell. Kathy had been mopey now and then. It was Jax who had clued Kris in to her interest in the attractive young communications expert who was worlds away from them right now. Oh, well.

Many people came up to have a few words with them and the general drift of the comments suggested to Kris that the majority of Botanists were impressed with the visible results of this first mission, even if it had not been as successful as Zainal had antic.i.p.ated. He had returned the remaining gold nuggets and flakes to Mike Miller, who had been extremely surprised to receive them. He'd also asked about what other metals were available in good supply: not that anything wouldn't be welcome on ore-starved Earth.

'Shucks. You coulda used it all, Zainal. We don't need it here.'

'I couldn't use it all, Mike, as most countries are no longer on a gold standard. Coffee beans were more acceptable. And the copper, tin, lead and zinc.'

'Who'da thought it?' Mike said, slack jawed with surprise, but he carefully signed a receipt for the gold, and Zainal told him the combination of the digital lock on the safe box.

'Got more of those lesser metals if you need them.'

Zainal did not remark on that, which implied that Mike, for one, approved of further expeditions. Kris smiled and thanked Mike.

'You know,' she said, 'I got the impression from the green coord that the problem might not just be that there is no transport for what resources Earth has left. They need more miners, too. I suspect he could use all who would come.'

She could see that Zainal was turning things over in his mind. He'd been doing a lot of thinking lately, more silent than usual - even for him. Still, she had a few things to ponder herself.

This time she'd bring a lot more flour and rock squats. She began to itemize the other natural supplies of Botany's bounty in terms of how they would trade on Earth. They could share more until Earth recovered its own agriculture.

So Leon Dane's appearance at their table seemed only natural to her, and she broached the subject of their mission to Kenya and the typhoid epidemic. She knew that Leon and his staff had been busy trying to catalogue the therapeutic herbs and roots of Botany. They had done so to provide alternatives for the medicines they'd used on Earth. So far there had been no epidemics of anything except for measles. That had run its course - through the creches, of course, but there had been no serious side effects for any of the children.

'Is it true that some pharmaceutical companies are still operating down on Earth?' Dane asked, sliding into an empty chair and sipping his coffee. 'Best thing you could have brought back,' he added with a grin. 'Really good beans, too.'

Kris sniffed. 'You have some of the Kenyan robustas. My nose got better in Barevi.'

'So I heard,' Leon said with a broad grin. 'So, can I possibly get some stuff on your next trip?'

'You a.s.sume there will be one?' Zainal asked, raising his brows in surprise.

'h.e.l.l's bells, man, I think that was just the start. You are going to bring back coffee plants, aren't you?'

'Where'd you hear that?' Zainal asked.

Leon scratched his head, contorting his face to aid his memory. 'Dunno now. Probably Sarah McDouall or possibly Chuck. He reminded us about the equatorial peninsula. She thought it would be climatically appropriate for coffee beans and maybe even bananas and sugarcane. Say, that unrefined brown sugar you brought in is the best treat. I did scrounge an orange.'

'Good for you, Leon.'

'Bananas went down well in the pediatric ward. Not that the kids knew what they were. They just liked the taste.'

'Wish we knew more about banana and coffee culture,' Kris said, wistfully.

'Just give us a chance. 01' trial and error is a great instructor,' Leon said airily.

'Ain't it just,' Kris replied, sneaking a glance at Zainal to see his reception of such ideas.

'We'd have to trade for what you need,' Zainal was saying. 'Maybe something you've been using here on Botany would work.'

'I'll get Sarah to do up some botanical files and slides and see how we can send specimens for their investigation,' Leon said, and slapped his hand on the table as he rose to his feet. 'Gotta go. Just wanted to say thanks.' He drained the last of his coffee and detoured on his way out the door to put his cup in the dirty dishes basket.

'I wish we could do something spectacular for Earth,' Floss said. 'While you were off in Manhattan, we got to talking to some of the airport crews. None of them knew anything about Botany or the Catteni forced colonies. I think everyone wanted to smuggle on board the Ba.s.s-1 and come back here.'

'Neither world is problem-free, Floss,' Kris said.

'No, but we got a better deal going here than they do,'

Floss remarked. 'C'mon, Clune, I'm due for my shift.' 'And me for mine,' Clune said, checking whether the other mugs on the table were empty before clearing them off, deftly slotting his fingers through the handles. Zainal turned a surprised expression to Kris. 'She's due for kitchen cleaning and she goes willingly? My, what is it you say about wonders?'

'May wonders never cease,' Kris said. 'I think she learned something from our travels.'

'It would appear so. Now, my dear heart, we have some planning to do.'

'I rather thought we might. You've been very thoughtful lately.'

'More of my' - he raised his right arm in an expansive gesture - 'wild imaginings.' He leaned over and kissed her cheek. 'I have time before the Farmers collect their harvest. And we have gathering of our own to do.'

Just at that moment, Gino Marrucci entered the mess hall and came over to Zainal with a clipboard, on which a sheaf of papers fluttered from the speed of his entrance.

'Hi, glad I caught you, Zainal.' He looked down at his notes. 'Got supplies lined up for all of the KDMs and the KDLs. Did you plan to use Baby, too?'

'She should be ready to fly in case we need her. Did Peter and Aarens manage to figure out a long-distance homing device?'

'Not for the distances we'll have to travel.'

'Well, we can use Baby to check out that old Eosi excavation on our moon.'

'D'you think an Eosi actually hid stuff there, too?'

'It's a remote possibility,' Zainal admitted.

'So were the bread-loaf chests in the junkyard,' Kris reminded him. He gave a diffident shrug.

He went over the supply sheets with Gino and initialled the crews. 'This is all contingent, you know,' he reminded Gino.

'Every kid, including your own, is out hunting rock squats and the kitchen is prepared to roast and toast until they're all done.'

'Hope someone finds some nests and eggs. We can get an incubator for the trip out and present them with rock squat chicks,' Kris remarked. 'Personally, I don't like rock squat eggs but they're better than nothing.' She had a vision of rock squat farms taking over from the piggeries on the Secaucus meadows, and Murray as a squat farmer. She giggled and waved off Zainal's look of inquiry. There was of course the problem of bringing alien life forms to Earth. The first incursion had not been a success.

Zainal got touchier and touchier during the afternoon and she worried about him. He had done so much already. What did he expect of himself? Certainly far more than others expected of him.

Sally Stoffers called in briefly to deliver a note.

'There never was a quotation on the stock market for the value of Catteni bunts against American dollars or English sterling. But Mike suggested we use the gold rate as a standard: those coins are twenty-carat gold, just enough impurity to keep them from being too soft for use or clipped.' She handed him her note. 'That gives the equivalent, and it's far more than we borrowed from Mike Miller. That doesn't even include the jewellery, just the coin. The stones in some of those necklaces and rings and stuff would buy what's left of Manhattan. If it was still on the gold standard.'

When Zainal finally decided it was time to go to the evening meeting, he looked more woebegone than ever and Kris couldn't think of anything to cheer him up.

'I didn't get everything I said I would get,' he remarked as they reached the hall. Then he squared his shoulders and walked boldly into the meeting.

It was even better attended than the previous one, which encouraged Kris even if Zainal did not seem to notice. Brone sat in the front row with the two boys, who waved wildly to catch their father's attention before Brone murmured something to them. They both sat on their hands then and tried to contain such unCatteni-like reactions. Ditsy, Clune and Floss sat behind them, and Floss, her hair trimmed and neat around her face, wore the second of her two new dresses: the bright blue patterned one. Their shipmates had taken seats in the same row and were beaming at the entrance of Kris and Zainal, which caused a ripple of comment throughout the hall.

Dorothy Dwardie, Dr. Hessian and the other members of the Botany Management Board, including Worry, took their places on the platform, so this time Judge Iri Bempechat was last in, raising his gavel, preparatory to starting the meeting. A respectful silence fell over the hall.

'As you know, Zainal and his exploratory crew have safely returned and our coffee mugs are full. He wishes to explain in detail what occurred and why. Please give him your complete attention.'

Zainal did not go up on the platform but faced the audience on their level.