They Also Serve: A Jump Universe Novel Part 23

"We'll see, Jerry," Mary smiled. Smiles like that were the last thing cornered mice saw on cats' faces. "Are you aware of the Land Reform Act of 184?"

"Land Reform Act of 184?" he echoed vaguely.

"Yes, it established limitations on absentee landlords. You know, Jerry, people who own, or claim to own, property, and expect returns from those who actually work it."

Mr. Mumford's eyes grew wide and his mouth began a slow slide south. "In ah, one eighty-four, you say."

"They had a problem back then with landlords tossing farmers off their land or jacking up the rents outrageously, at least in the Richland area. Refuge and New Haven found the practice so objectionable they pa.s.sed a reform act Explains why most farmland is affiliated with either Refuge or New Haven. You aren't aware of this act, are you, Mr. Mumford?"

Jerry nodded dumbly. Mary pa.s.sed two sheets of paper across the table to him. He started reading. "But this law hasn't been applied in more than a hundred years!" he squeaked.

"Kind of like Statute 12.033," Ray offered.

"You'll have to take it to court in Richland," the poor man stammered.

"But Jerry, the Reform Act of 184 is a Great Circle act," Mary pointed out. "Problems with it go to a court in Refuge, right?"

"Right," he whimpered. "I mean, you can appeal to there from Richland."

"And all the time it's in court, you're collecting no rent from us. Not Vicky's part. Not your part. What percentage are you getting, ten percent?" Mary asked.

"Five," Mumford muttered, then looked like he wanted to swallow his answer.

"Couldn't we just agree to a proper rent, and we lease it from you?" Ray asked.

"Yes. Yes, yes, that might be okay with Miss Sterling."

"So, Jerry, name your price."

"One thousand pounds of copper. She'd like that," he beamed. He might not be getting what he'd come for, but from his smile, he figured he was getting something just as good. Ray wondered how far down Vicky had had to reach to find this poor p.a.w.n. Almost, Ray felt sorry for him.

"Is that for a ten-year?" Mary asked, in negotiating mode.

"One year. Just one," Jerry nodded, his eyes lighting up with a blend of greed and servility that washed any sympathy right out of Ray.

"So for a ten-year lease, ten thousand pounds of copper."

"Copper, right; no aluminum. Solid copper."

"The solidest. Now, Mr. Mumford, I have made up a ten-year lease, payable in advance," Mary said, producing paper. "If you'll sign it for Miss Sterling, I think we'll be in business."

"I ought to run this by Ms. Sterling," Mumford muttered as he read the contract through slowly, then produced a fountain pen. "Ten thousand pounds," he said, then hesitated. "And how will this be delivered? I mean, ten thousand pounds of copper on the roads the way things are. A man could get killed."

"We'll be delivering it by blimp."

"On, good." He signed. "I'll just be going now."

"There's no rush, Mr. Mumford, here's your payment," Mary said, offering a pressed plastic credit chit.

"What's that?" Mr. Mumford glared at the offered card.

"Your ten thousand pounds of copper."

"That's just plastic!"

"Yes, Mr. Mumford, a plastic credit chit, activated with a balance of ten thousand pounds of copper. Legal tender for all debts, as provided by the Monetary Reform Act of this very day. It's a lot easier to carry."

"But-but-I can't take that to Miss Sterling."

"Let's see if we can come up with something she'd like better," Ray offered. He tapped his commlink, "Lek, get Vicky on the line. Visual, in the conference room."

"No problem, Colonel. Putting you through." A hologram appeared above the conference table.

"Who is this?" Vicky stared up from her desk. "How did you get my private line?"

"Lots of questions being asked these days," Ray began. "Excuse me if I ask another. What would you like for your ten thousand pounds of copper, rent on our base?"

"Rent, I don't want rent. I wanted you out of there. Mr. Mumford, what is the meaning of this?"

Poor Jerry tried to explain the impact of the Land Reform Act of 184 on his negotiations. Occasionally he actually managed six or seven words in a row without Vicky interrupting him with denials, invectives, or abuse. "You signed a lease-without consulting me!"

"But there is no net out this far. You yourself told me!"

"Then what are we talking on?" Poor Mumford had no answer.

"An extension of the net using radio technology. It allows us access wherever we are," Ray explained placidly.

"More of your d.a.m.n magic."

"That we'd be happy to share with you, for a price."

"Ah," Vicky said, "so now you're ready to share. For a price." She grinned. Ray decided he preferred Vicky without the grin. Vicky sat forward in her chair, a gloat of pure victory on her face. "So, try to sell me something. I've got plenty of your light copper. How about those nice little things that take metal out of mountains?"

Ray shook his head, and was rewarded by Vicky's face metamorphosing into a scowl the envy of any wicked witch. "They're the private property of an employee a.s.sociation. I can't sell them."

"If that's your answer for everything-"

"It won't be," Ray cut off the pending diatribe. He'd heard enough directed at Mumford; he had no intention of letting Vicky get started on him. "What else would you like?"

Vicky didn't hesitate a second. "A mule. You are going to make them. My people heard your men promising mules to the people selling you raw materials."

Ray made a note not to underestimate Vicky's intelligence network. "I don't know if we can spare any mules just now," he said, glancing at Mary.

She shook her head. "We need every one we've got. And there're an awful lot of production priorities ahead of them."

"You owe me a lot of copper. Either give me the copper, or give me a mule." Vicky drove her bargain with a sledgehammer.

"If you wait a few months, we could probably sell you ten or twenty for that price," Mary pointed out.

"In a few months I may be the one selling them," Vicky jabbed back. "I want one now. I want it in perfect condition. Factory-direct condition."

"They are all in near-factory-direct condition. This was our first cruise," Mary said.

"Good. I want one with low mileage."

"I guess that means seventeen," Mary sighed. "It's got the lowest mileage. Paint's hardly scratched."

"I don't care about the paint. Just make sure its parts are in factory-direct condition."

"We will," Mary agreed. "Chief, work up a bill of sale. Ten thousand pounds of copper for Mule Seventeen. Warrant it for factory-direct condition."

The chief's "Yes, ma'am" was overridden by Mr. Mumford's "What about my fee?"

"I'll pay you later," Vicky snapped.

The chief returned with the bill of sale so quickly it had to be waiting on his desk. "Can Mr. Mumford sign?" Mary asked.

"After I read it," Vicky snapped. Mary sent it; Vicky spent a long time studying it. "What's this about *less government-furnished equipment'?"

"Each mule is rigged to carry weapons of various sorts," Ray answered smoothly. "I won't go into what weapons we have mounted on mules. And I won't sell you any."

"Not even for ten thousand pounds of copper?"

"Not even for ten thousand pounds of copper less Mr. Mumford's commission," Ray answered with the force of a Guard a.s.sault brigade commander in negotiations.

Vicky eyed the doc.u.ment for a moment longer. "Sign it, Mumford," she finally said. "I'll have my blimp pick it up."

"We have a blimp leaving for Refuge in an hour," Mary said. "I'll have it drop the mule off at Richland."

"At my compound. I'm sure you know where that is," Vicky said with acid dripping.

"I imagine we can find it on a map," Mary answered.

Mr. Mumford pa.s.sed Mary the signed bill of sale. The chief sent a copy to Vicky. Everyone looked surprisingly happy. "I think we are done," Ray suggested.

"And past done. You've wasted enough of my time." Vicky slapped her computer off, but the hologram did not go away.

"I thought you might want to see what happens next," said Lek's voice from the commlink.

"Yes," Vicky crowed. "Those idiots are even stupider than Mumford. Giving me a mule when they'd already pounded that ninny into nothing. They knew he had zip, and they're giving me the technology to run this planet for the next hundred years. Not a brain cell among them." She stood. "How long does it take a blimp to get here from those star creeps' base?" she shouted.

"Enough, Lek. Gut it," Ray ordered. The holo vanished.

Across the table, Mr. Mumford trembled, stripped of any dignity he might ever have had. "She knew she was sending me here with nothing," he choked.

"Worse than nothing." Mary said. "Guards, dismissed." The armed guard quickly marched out, leaving the room somehow larger. "What Miss Vicky does not yet know, but will find out soon enough, is that she has traded nothing for nothing. Chief, show Mr. Mumford the bill of lading for the delivery of the mules."

Barber already had it in hand. Mumford read it, then looked up blankly. "I don't understand."

"Jerry, this was a voyage of exploration. We ordered standard mules to save money, but had them delivered minus the solar cell and fuel cells so we could install heavy-duty ones. That's what Vicky wanted, our solar and fuel cell technology. We stripped seventeen yesterday and put its gear on a blimp. Vicky's getting a wagon that needs a dog team to pull it."

"Oh, no. I can't take that to her," he breathed, seeming to collapse into himself where he sat.

"We don't expect you to. Need a job? We've got plenty."

"Please."

"Chief, would you take Mr. Mumford over to Personnel and have them see where he can fit into our team? By the way, Mr. Mumford, here is a credit chit for five hundred pounds of copper. I believe that is your percentage from the base lease."

"Yes, it is. But-"

Mary smiled. "Unlike some, we're fair in our business dealings, Mr. Mumford. We get more repeat business that way."

"I imagine you do," he said, taking the chit. He looked at it, then at Mary. "What is this worth?"

"Not much at the moment, but hold on to it. We expect values to change considerably in the next few months."

Only after the door closed on their erstwhile landlord did Ray turn to Mary. "I'd say you've had a very good morning."

"The best, Colonel." Kat was put of her seat doing a cute victory dance. The priest looked up and smiled quietly.

"Want to walk over to the hospital?" Ray offered all three.

Mary glanced at her office and the pile of work waiting. "Thank goodness for Chief Barber and delegation, or no work would ever get done around here. What you got on your mind?"

Ray explained his latest visit from the Dean of Sociology as they walked. "They can turn us off like a light switch?" Mary asked. Ray nodded. The padre made the sign of the cross. "b.i.t.c.h of it is, we probably can't lay a finger on them. d.a.m.n, I feel naked and helpless," Mary frowned.

"Maybe we aren't," Ray said. "Your nanos stripped one of the Teacher's nodes. What would happen if that vanishing box took out three or four in a few seconds?"

"I lost ten percent of my nanos, sir, and we don't have the vanishing box. Then again, we got three search efforts chasing that d.a.m.n box. Our odds got to be getting better."

They found Lek sending data. "What I can't understand," Kat asked, "is why we have so little data from the north side? No media, little news. Why are they so cut off?"

The padre chuckled. "The folks that spread out from Refuge went like with like. Those going north were the most cantankerous, hardheaded bunch that ever walked a planet. Maybe almost as bad as the Puritans that provided the early European settlers to Earth's North America. Now, consider the ones that couldn't stand the ones that couldn't stand the likes of me."

"Evolution in action," Kat tossed back.

"Right. We don't much care for them, and they don't much care about anyone else. If we don't hear from them regularly, most people are only too happy."

"But no newspapers, net?" Ray asked.

"Tools of the devil, trying to seduce their children," the priest shrugged. "Not all of them, but the farther north from Refuge, the more they credit the devil's power, and the weaker their G.o.d seems to be. They view every foreign influence as just teaching their children to rebel against the Lord. As if youth can't come up with enough rebellions on their own.

"Our young men who went north to work in Mark Sterling's aluminum smelter had plenty of trouble to start with, but twelve, eighteen months ago, it got even worse," the padre said.

While he and Kat sorted data, Ray composed a message the captain of Second Chance would not read until after he jumped out. "Captain Abeeb, this is Colonel Ray Longknife speaking to you in the capacity of Wardhaven Minister of Science and Technology and Humanity's Amba.s.sador to Santa Maria. This planet is under interdict and quarantine. Allow no one to land here.

"The people of this planet share it with an artificial intelligence several million years old. Built by those who built the jump points to educate their young, it quite possibly has gone insane from inactivity. It is now, finally, making contact with the Santa Marians. What that contact will result in, I do not know. It may end with all of us dead. Alternately, we may end up as slaves to the machine. I have told the machine that it is within your power to shatter this planet into pieces with an asteroid bombardment. You may have to decide for yourself whether to fulfill that threat."