Keith Laumer: Greylorn

The reply was quick; they did.

“Tell them we will exchange electric power for a supply of these foods. Tell them we want samples of half a dozen of the natural substances.”

Again Mannion coded and sent, received and translated, sent again.

“They agree, Captain,” he said at last. “They want us to fire a power lead out about a mile; they’ll come in close and shoot us a specimen case with a flare on it. Then we can each check the other’s merchandise.”

“All right,” I said. “We can use a ground-service cable; rig a pilot light on it, and kick it out, as soon as they get in close.”

“We’ll have to splice a couple of extra lengths to it,” Mannion said.

“Go to it, Mannion,” I said. “And send two of your men out to make the pick-up.” This wasn’t a communications job, but I wanted a reliable man handling it.

I returned to the Bridge and keyed for Bourdon, directed him to arm two of his penetration missiles, lock them onto the stranger, and switch over to my control. With the firing key in my hand, I stood at the side-scan screen and watched for any signs of treachery. The ship moved in, came to rest filling the screen.

Mannion’s men reported out. I saw the red dot of our power lead move away, then a yellow point glowed on the side of the vast iodine-colored wall looming across the screen.

Nothing else emerged from the alien ship. The red pilot light drifted across the face of the sphere. Mannion reported six thousand feet of cable out before the light disappeared abruptly.

“Captain,” Mannion reported, “they’re drawing power.”

“OK,” I said. “Let them have a sample, then shut down.”

I waited, watching carefully, until Mannion reported their canister inside.

“Kramer,” I said. “Run me a fast check on the samples in that container.”

Kramer was recovering his swagger. “You’ll have to be a little more specific,” he said. “Just what kind of analysis do you have in mind? Do you want a full…”

“I just want to know one thing, Kramer,” I said. “Can we assimilate these substances, yes or no? If you don’t feel like cooperating, I’ll have you lashed to your bunk, and injected with them. You claim you’re a Medical Officer; let’s see you act like one.” I turned my back on him.

Mannion called. “They say the juice we fed them was ‘amusing,’ Captain. I guess that means it’s OK.”

“I’ll let you know in a few minutes how their samples pan out,” I said.

Kramer took half an hour before reporting back. “I ran a simple check such as I normally use in a routine mess inspection,” he began. He couldn’t help trying to take the center of the stage to go into his Wise Doctor and Helpless Patient routine.

“Yes or no,” I said.

“Yes, we can assimilate most of it,” he said angrily. “There were six samples. Two were gelatinous substances, non-nutritive. Three were vegetable-like, bulky and fibrous, one with a high iodine content; the other was a very normal meaty specimen.”

“Which should we take?” I said. “Remember your teeth when you answer.”

“The high protein, the meaty one,” he said. “Marked ‘Six’.”

I keyed for Mannion. “Tell them that in return for one thousand KWH we require three thousand kilos of sample six,” I said.

Mannion reported back. “They agreed in a hurry, Captain. They seem to feel pretty good about the deal. They want to chat, now that they’ve got a bargain. I’m still taping a long tirade.”

“Good,” I said. “Better get ready to send about six men with an auxiliary pusher to bring home the bacon. You can start feeding them the juice again.”

I turned to Kramer. He was staring at the screen. “Report yourself back to arrest in quarters, Kramer,” I said. “I’ll take your services today into account at your court-martial.”

Kramer looked up, with a nasty grin. “I don’t know what kind of talking oysters you’re trafficking with, but I’d laugh like hell if they vaporized your precious tub as soon as they’re through with you.” He walked out.

Mannion called in again from communications. “Here’s their last, Captain,” he said. “They say we’re lucky they had a good supply of this protein aboard. It’s one of their most amusing foods. It’s a creature they discovered in the wild state and it’s very rare. The wild ones have died out, and only their domesticated herds exist.”

“OK, we’re lucky,” I said. “It better be good or we’ll step up the amperage and burn their batteries for them.”

“Here’s more,” Mannion said. “They say it will take a few hours to prepare the cargo. They want us to be amused.”

I didn’t like the delay, but it would take us about ten hours to deliver the juice to them at the trickle rate they wanted. Since the sample was OK, I was assuming the rest would be too. We settled down to wait.

I left Clay in charge on the Bridge and made a tour of the ship. The meeting with the alien had apparently driven the mood of mutiny into the background. The men were quiet and busy. I went to my cabin and slept for a few hours.

I was awakened by a call from Clay telling me that the alien had released his cargo for us. Mannion’s crew was out making the pick-up. Before they had maneuvered the bulky cylinder to the cargo hatch, the alien released our power lead.

I called Kramer and told him to meet the incoming crew and open and inspect the cargo. If it was the same as the sample, I thought, we had made a terrific trade. Discipline would recover if the men felt we still had our luck.

Then Mannion called again. “Captain,” he said excitedly, “I think there may be trouble coming. Will you come down, sir?”

“I’ll go to the Bridge, Mannion,” I said. “Keep talking.”

I turned my talker down low and listened to Mannion as I ran for the lift.

“They’re transmitting again, Captain,” he told me. “They tell us to watch for a display of Mancji power. They ran out some kind of antenna. I’m getting a loud static at the top of my short wave receptivity.”

I ran the lift up and as I stepped onto the Bridge I said, “Clay, stand by to fire.”

As soon as the pick-up crew was reported in, I keyed the course corrections to curve us off sharply from the alien. I didn’t know what he had, but I liked the idea of putting space between us. My P-missiles were still armed and locked.

Mannion called, “Captain, they say our fright is amusing, and quite justified.”

I watched the starboard screens for the first sign of an attack. Suddenly the entire screen array went white, then blanked. Miller, who had been at the scanner searching over the alien ship at close range, reeled out of his seat, clutching at his eyes. “My God, I’m blinded,” he shouted.

Mannion called, “Captain, my receivers blew. I think every tube in the shack exploded!”

I jumped to the direct viewer. The alien hung there, turning away from us in a leisurely curve. There was no sign of whatever had blown us off the air. I held my key, but didn’t press it. I told Clay to take Miller down to sick bay. He was moaning and in severe pain.

Kramer reported in from the cargo deck. The canister was inside now, coating up with frost. I told him to wait, then sent Chilcote, my demolition man, in to open it. Maybe it was booby-trapped. I stood by at the DVP and waited for other signs of Mancji power to hit us.

Apparently they were satisfied with one blast of whatever it was; they were dwindling away with no further signs of life.

After half an hour of tense alertness, I ordered the missiles disarmed.

I keyed for General. “Men, this is the captain,” I said. “It looks as though our first contact with an alien race has been successfully completed. He is now at a distance of three hundred and moving off fast. Our screens are blown, but there’s no real damage. And we have a supply of fresh food aboard; now let’s get back to business. The colony can’t be far off.”