Pirates: Flight of the Maita, #3

By C. D. Moulton

The crew take on Tranz and set out to solve the pirate problem for the Kheth Federation. The result will be the beginning of the Maitan Empire

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. D. Moulton
• Release date: Jun 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201446840

Book preview

Flight of the Maita

Book 3

Pirates

© 1986, 2012 & 2016 by C. D. Moulton

all rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder/publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The crew take on Tranz and set out to solve the pirate problem for the Kheth Federation. The result will be the beginning of the Maitan Empire

Critic comment

A very good little space adventure story. Plenty of action and a solid moral. I recommend this one.

– PA ***½

Contents

About the author

New Adventure

Excitement

Bypass

Frim and Beyond

New Partners

Wonders

Zeena and Plans

New Boss

Consequences and Reality

Consolidating the System

The Construction Begins

On the Road Again

Parf

Dilemma

History Told

Reunions

The Danger Ahead

About the author

CD was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1938. He is educated in genetics and botany. He has traveled over much of the world, particularly when he was in music as a rock rhythm guitarist with some well-known bands in the late sixties and early seventies. He has worked as a high steel worker and as a longshoreman, clerk, orchidist, bar owner, salvage yard manager and landscaper – among other things.

CD began writing fiction in 1984 and has more than 300 books published as of 3/15/16 in SciFi, murder, orchid culture and various other fields.

He now resides in Puerto Armuelles David and Gualaca, Chiriqui, Panamá, where he continues research into epiphytic plants and plays music with friends. He loves the culture of the indigenous people and counts a majority of his closer friends among that group. Several have adopted him as their father. He funds those he can afford through the universities where they have all excelled. The Indios are very intelligent people, they are simply too poor (in material things and money. Culturally, they are very wealthy) to pursue higher education.

CD loves Panamá and the people, despite horrendous experiences (Free e-book; Fading Paradise). He plans to spend the rest of his life in the paradise that is Panamá

- Estrelita Suarez V. de Jaramillo – 3/15/2016

CD is the discoverer of the Chadam Protocol for curing cancer.

Facebook page Ambrosia peruviana for cancer

Pirates

New Adventure

Ape was gone.

The little group who had met when taken captive aboard the ship, Maita, had overthrown their captives, and had known adventures unlike any before them, was dwindling.

First, Joe and ET had left, each for his own reasons. Ape, Z, Thing and Maita had since spent some time adventuring, had met the Kheth diplomats, Sisstuh and Fesch, and were learning much about each other. They were comfortable together – and Ape was now gone.

He would find happiness on Vendu. They all wished him well.

Now it was time to find new things in new places in new situations. There was an excitement – and they each had decided what they wanted to do next, though it hadn't even been discussed.

Yet.

They would meet Sisstuh and Fesch, then proceed to what could be a great adventure. It would be a dangerous project. No one kidded himself about that!

Excitement

Well, where do we go from here? Z (Steve Zutec of Earth) asked of his partners and friends in adventure. Sisstuh and Fesch seem always to have a thing or two for us to do – or the federation does, anyhow.

He was referring to those two Kheth diplomats, beings of reptilian ancestry, they had met, then joined into an agreement with to act as troubleshooters for a large interstellar federation.

The clear bell tone (* – *) sounded that indicated Maita, the ship's computers (and leader of the three friends and partners) was about to speak. It sounded before and after any speech by Maita. There was no inflection in Maita's speech, so one had to learn to follow it, though Z was used to the pattern and didn't notice there were no pauses for paragraphing or thought changes.

Maita was just now, after three years, beginning to understand Z well.

Its speech tended to sound formal, due to the fact it seldom used contractions, but that was slowly evolving. It recently began using a few – particularly when it lost its temper.

*I rather imagine we will have a choice of assignments. I only hope it will be something not having to do with those religious things. We will miss Ape more than we yet know, particularly if we run into action. I tend to agree with his ideas about the religious things, however. We have surely made up our individual minds about what we want to do, but we will approach it as though it were a fresh idea.*

(Three different thoughts in one paragraph. Sometimes there were more.)

The other now-familiar tone, that of a middle C tuning fork, ([ – ]) announced when Thing was about to speak. Thing was the other member of the group. It was a small, squarish, rubbery animal with four tentacles, in lieu of arms and legs, and eyes on short stalks (eyes that worked independently). Thing was a small empath who breathed through membranes, so didn't have direct speech, so Maita designed circuits to use its mental abilities to remain in constant contact. It would translate what Thing wanted to say and would use the speakers it used itself to communicate with Z or others. The tones and different pitches of voice differentiated who was speaking.

Quite naturally, seeing Maita was translating thoughts, the form of the vocalizations for Thing and it were the same. Z was used to it and didn't much notice.

[ Do you think we can handle the pirates without Ape? He was so good in situations of physical exertion. We will miss ET's mind, too. We are going to try to handle those pirate things, so why play silly games? Our minds, such as they are, were made up before we finished the Vendu project and took Ape home. ]

Sisstuh had mentioned there were pirates working on the fringes of the federation, in passing, at an earlier meeting. The group were interested in adventure, so it was natural for them to decide to try their skills on that problem.

Ape had been a member of the group until earlier that trip, when he chose to remain on Vendu, where there was a colony of his people.

Ape was from a seeded race, as were the Vendans. He met a female when the crew saved their planet from colliding with another planet, and wanted to remain to raise a family.

ET had been an original member of the group. He had returned home to Tenddo, his native world, because of strong religious reasons, and because he had a family there when the insect-like captors were overthrown (through a wild plan and a lot of luck).

ET didn't resemble the character in the old Earth movie, except for the long splayed fingertips. Ape was very much like the Wooky, Chewbacca, in the old Star Wars movie.

Z, of course, had named everyone.

ET could usually come up with some startling insights into the true personalities of various beings they met.

The pirates. Yes, Z replied. We decided on that by the time Ape left, or I did.

[ We all did, in our minds. Sisstuh told us about them when we first agreed to handle these projects for the Kheth Federation, and we decided in our minds, right then. We have worked on the other things simply to learn about each other. We know we can function together very well, now. ]

*Yes. We decided right then. Ape did too, but he is far better off as things stand. He would never be happy away from Iron and Vendu.*

"Yeah. You know, I could use some action about now. I miss hell out of my Wooky. He didn't say much, but it was comforting to know he was there.

"I hate people who say 'you know'!"

Ape stood seven four, was very powerful, loyal and a definite plus in dangerous situations. He had no vocal chords, thus communicated mostly with signs, until Maita designed a way for him to use the teacher machine technology to vocalize through much the same method used with Thing.

Ape had to be wearing an inductor helmet that was used to communicate directly with the mind, not having the mental empathic ability that Thing used. The helmets were used in various ways already, so it was a matter of adding some new circuitry and a power pack.

Ape was working on a planoforming project on Vendu, having used the ship’s teaching inductor to learn everything in Maita's extensive files about such things. The teacher helmet was his communication method, there.

Maita built it. That meant it was as well-made and dependable as possible. It would outlast Ape by centuries.

*You would put the pirates over anything else we have discussed, Z?*

"Yeah. I already have. I said that.

I guess you would, too, Thing, or you wouldn't have even brought it up.

[ I voted yes. ]

*As did I. It is unanimous. We will rendezvous with Sisstuh and Fesch to find what we can from their records. Maybe they have some more crystals for you, Z. We can only hope their information isn't so sloppy as those earlier things. Bad information going into a deadly situation like this, we don't need!*

The crystals were small memory chips that looked like diamonds that fit into tiny sockets in Z's earlobes. A crystal of a language, for instance, made the wearer read, write, and speak the language, fluently. All necessary information was encoded in the crystals, including muscular control. The information was immediately available for use, but could be very tiring to muscles not generally used, as Z had discovered.

One crystal held phenomenal information and, with one in each ear socket, could be used more than one at the time, though more than the two could cause severe confusion from conflicting data. The sockets were wired directly to the brain.

With practice, one could learn to use as many as four crystals at once.

Z had made an ass of himself when the group first met Sisstuh and Fesch. He had an instinctive mistrust of them as reptiles. Now he had learned to like and respect them. He was able to consider them as real friends.

*We rendezvous in about ten minutes. Perhaps you would like to go to the pilot's dome.*

Maita was what had been referred to as a flying saucer on Earth, much to Z's initial surprise. It consisted of ten attenuated pie-shaped rooms: #1 was the hold and contained the access to the outside ramp running to the edge of the ship. Maita could extend the ramp to the ground.

#2, where they were at the moment, was called the medical and instruction room. It contained consoles which controlled the equipment used in those capacities.

#3 & #4 were where the Pweetoos, those now-extinct termite-like beings, had held interrogations.

#5 & #6 were holding cells for the Pweetoos' captives. Z, Ape, Thing, Joe and ET were held in #6 when they were first abducted and brought aboard.

#7 was special equipment. It and #5 and #6 were now used mostly by Maita, who invented and stored things in them.

#8 was an alien atmosphere room. Maita could house very different types of life there.

#9 was a bunk room.

#10 held the machines Maita used to run the ship, such as atmosphere regeneration, food preparation, etc.

The hold, or cargo bay, was used to store various things, as well as for coming and going from the ship. There was also a large shop area there, and the extra power spheres. It was about twice the size of the other rooms.

There were cubicles, or private quarters, behind five of the rooms – 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10. The one behind 2 was called Doe's room after a female Immin who had used it when they were first aboard.

The Immins looked like particularly coarse Terrans. Doe had committed suicide when the Pweetoos were taken over. Immins were known throughout the empire to be untrustworthy.

That was the best that could be said about them.

Thing liked that cubicle and had taken it for private quarters. There was a complete teaching machine there, and it had a bench that suited it well. There were several types of computer units it could use.

There were three other rooms in the center of the ship. The one at the level of the saucer rim was the engine room. On top and bottom of the ship were center domes. The upper dome was called the O (observation) dome. There was nothing in it, most of the time, though Ape had used it as his private quarters when he was part of the crew, liking the feeling of being open to the stars.

The lower dome was the pilot's dome. It contained all the consoles and computers that ran the ship.

Both domes were covered in a clear material that could be instantly enclosed and/or opaqued.

The pilot's dome contained an infinitely adjustable seat. Z spent a great deal of his time, there. It was now considered as his private quarters.

Maita didn't require a pilot, but could be overridden at the master console. Z was trained, through the teaching machine, to pilot the ship, before the partnership among the group was formed. The Pweetoos never discovered Maita could perform without a pilot. They had copied the ship, and knew little about the abilities built in.

There were gravity grids throughout the ship, so any part could become the floor when necessary. When one took the elevator from the other parts of the ship to the pilot's dome, he found himself with the floor at his head, as the dome had gravity toward the body of the ship. The elevator was revolved as it moved by turning a socket.

Thing rode Z's shoulder to the dome.

Thing was very active, mentally, but not physically. It wasn't designed for walking across smooth surfaces or level floors that were what were supplied in a spaceship. It had a floater it could use when someone wasn't carrying it around.

Hey! The Kheth ship's already here!

Sisstuh and Fesch used a spaceship that looked like a random collection of square boxes. Streamlining was pointless in space.

I still say that ship looks like a ... I don't know what. Weird!

*It doesn't matter, except in an atmosphere. They leave most of it in orbit when they go aground anywhere.*

I know.

[ Are they coming here, or are we going there? ]

*We go there. Suit up, Z.*

What about Thing?

[ I won't be in space more than a couple of minutes. I won't need a suit. ]

Thing was from a high density planet and had a skin so tough and insulated a spacesuit wasn't needed for short periods. After their initial fight with the Pweetoos, when Thing had been injured, Maita had strengthened the skin in the medbox.

They went across to the waiting Kheth ship, where they were met by Sisstuh, Fesch and another Kheth. Maita went along in the form of a communications floater with a fold-out screen. The floater would also translate for Thing and keep it in contact with Maita.

It wasn't the one Thing generally used, but Thing was as adaptable to the floaters as they were to it. Most of them had projections and handles it could hold onto.

Fesch was the female. She was about six feet tall, and was an even tan/gray with a human-looking head, except that she was hairless and had a fleshy crest on top of her head.

Sisstuh was the male, and was her mate. He stood about six five. He differed from Fesch in that, where she was quite thick in the middle, he was small in the waist. He had broad shoulders and a diamond-shaped patch of darker brown across the chest.

The third was a male, who looked almost identical to Sisstuh.

Hi, gang! Z greeted. This your kid?

Yes, Fesch replied. How did you know?

Language was no problem for them, because they used the crystals. The Kheth had flat lobeless ears, so wore their crystals in a small invisible slit in the neck.

When we were on Khee, we saw lots of your people. This is the first I've seen with the same chest patch as Sisstuh. It figures!

Sisstuh laughed. "It is a family trait. This is our eldest son, Tranz.

"Tranz, Z, Thing and Maita.

Where is Ape?

He elected to stay on Vendu. A girl there was going to have his kid. Pentah Iron. Ape's famous there.

Oh, no! Fesch cried. You meddle in the religion on Trat-il and Kroon. You give away dangerous technology to Chee-il, and now you breed with Vendans!

[ Ape was the same race as the Vendans. They couldn’t breed, otherwise. It was Iron's desire to have Ape's child. There was no alternative to the 'meddling,' as you call it, and the technology we gave the Cheeth was something they already had, in rudimentary stages. We merely saved them the pain of a lot of deaths, while improving and testing the drive. I don't think you can truthfully fault our decisions. Please give us honesty. ]

Thing is right, Fesch, Sisstuh chided. Would we have done differently, had we the option to do anything at all?

We are not allowed to interfere in other cultures! Fesch shot back.

*Which is precisely why you recruited us to handle these things.*

[ That is why you made us free agents. We can solve problems, where you would have to watch those peoples enslaved or destroyed. We saved Vendu from destruction and we saved the Trath from slavery. We gave the Cheeth a way to leave a dying planet. ]

Sisstuh held out his hands. "Please do not take offense at the words. There is no criticism meant. Fesch is under a great strain, and clings to a code that does not apply to you, but is necessary to us.

We would not think to ask you to take our son with you if we thought the training would not be proper and correct. We are quite confident of your verdicts in such matters.

*That is why Tranz is here?*

Yes. I did not mean to yet breach the subject, but it is truth, Sisstuh answered.

Z grinned at Sisstuh. Do you know what you ask – from the viewpoint of Tranz's sake and safety?

I think he does not! Fesch exclaimed.

And I think it's time Tranz had a chance to live his life on his own! Sisstuh shot back. He is fully grown!

Wait just a damned minute! Z said. "If Tranz is an adult, as you say, it's his decision. Not yours, and not ours. He can decide for himself – after