The Herb Plot

The Herb Plot
by Zack

Chapter 7

Interloper moved through hyperspace, if 'moved' could be applied in the context of traveling outside of space and time.

The message from the Admiralty was addressed to the Interloper's commanding officer, and after Captain Goda read the rescue orders she sent for Lieutenant Commander Pami Erig, Officer-in-Charge of the Special Activities Detachment. "Well, Pami, you're going to have a chance to try out your new organization. Two anthropologists from the University of Zarn have gone missing in Avorna. That's a medieval kingdom on the third planet of star H662541034." (Captain Goda always gave the star number. No one else cared.)

"Isn't this the same old story, Captain? Two woolly-headed academics who didn't pay attention to the danger that's normal on a primitive planet? They're probably dead by now, so what's the point in diverting Survey Service resources, especially since we've got this critical field survey coming up?"

"I don't like it either, but we've got orders from the Admiralty to find out what happened to these women and rescue them if they're still alive. Their names are Carin Zotsmuller and Jani Alenda."

"Alenda, Alenda. That name sounds familiar."

Captain Goda smiled cynically. "As in Senator Alenda, the chairman of the appropriations committee? The committee that decides how much money Star Fleet gets? Jani is his niece."

"Oh. So we won't be dodging this one, will we?" Erig sighed. "Might as well make the best of it then. I'll go myself, and I'll take Reg with me. He's finished all the training I can give him on the ship, and he could use some on-planet experience before he takes part in an actual field survey."

"That's fine with me. I'd really like you along for the survey, but we're stuck with this search and if you look for these women yourself no one can say we didn't take it seriously. The ship will divert just long enough to drop you off and won't be able to stay for support, but Zarn has a large field station there and they can provide communications and maybe manpower if you need it. They've been established in Avorna for several years now, and all of the data gathered by the university has been sent to us. That includes the staff personnel records and a good language transplant. I'm going to leave all of the details of your equipment to you. Any questions?"

Erig stood and saluted. "No, Captain. This seems routine to me."

Erig left the captain's office and went to the compartment she shared with Reg. He wasn't there, so she continued on to the wardroom. He wasn't there either; the only person in the wardroom was the supply officer, Lieutenant Miki Amano.

"Hi, Miki. Have you seen Reg?"

"Yes, he was here a few minutes ago. I think he'll be back soon; he left his cup on the table over there." Miki sighed.

"You don't seem happy, Miki. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, I just miss Bedg. It's been weeks since we left Gamma, and it'll be more weeks before we can get back there. You're so lucky that Reg could join the Survey Service and come with you."

"Don't I know it! It's too bad Bedg couldn't do the same."

"Yes, but there was no way. He's too busy at home. He and some partners are starting a bicycle factory and it's an immense job. I've been helping him with a business plan and I've been doing his accounting, but it's not the same as being there with him."

"You miss the sex."

Miki blushed. "That too. I really love him, and we plan to get married if I can ever get back to Gamma."

"Congratulations! Are you going to use the traditional ceremony?"

"Of course! Bedg and I met during Sonji's traditional ceremony. Oh, did you see the picture?" She pointed to a small photo taped to the drab gray bulkhead.

Erig examined the picture. It was a simple 2D photo showing the women members of Sonji's wedding party. It must have been taken just before the ceremony, because Sonji's hands were strapped to a restraint belt, part of the practical joke that was traditionally played on the bride. "This is nice! Has Sonji seen it?"

"Not yet, I just put it up." Miki giggled. "I'll take it down if she objects."

"I don't think she will. Oh, hi, Reg. I was looking for you."

Reg strode over to Erig and kissed her. Miki marvelled at the change that occurred in Erig when Reg was around. The normally aggressive woman seemed to melt. She admitted to herself that she sometimes felt intimidated by Reg. He was always polite and non-assertive, but just his physical presence seemed threatening. It wasn't just his tall, muscular body. His far from handsome face, the look in his piecing dark eyes, and the set of his jaw gave him an aura of menace.

"You were looking for me, Pami? That's nice. Shall we go to our compartment?"

Erig fought down a surge of lust. Business first. "Not just yet. The ship's got orders to find out what happened to a couple of anthropologists who disappeared on a primitive planet. I talked to Captain Goda, and she agreed that you and I will be the ones to handle it. This will be a good training experience for you, Reg. We have to fit into the local society, but we don't have to do any actual surveying. The ship will just drop us off. It has that big survey to do and won't be able to stay and give us support."

"You mean we'll be on our own?"

"Not entirely. There are other university personnel available, although they may not be much help."

"I don't understand. I thought non-Amalgamation planets were off-limits to everybody but the Survey Service."

"No, qualified academics can get a permit from the Service to do research. This is almost always done through some university, in this case the University of Zarn. They're always indoctrinated to keep them from violating the First Directive, and they rarely slip up there. The usual problem is they don't understand the dangers on a non-Amalgamation world, so they're always getting killed or kidnapped. Then we have to step in and try to straighten things out. That's what we'll do here; we'll find the bodies, maybe eliminate the killers. Nothing to it."

She ran her hands over Reg's arms. His muscles bulged the sleeves of the blue ship coveralls. Reg had been strong before, but since he joined the Survey Service he had been working out in the ship's training facilities and the results were stupendous. Erig suppressed another wave of lust. "Let's go to the office and look at the data the university sent us. We have to decide on what personas to assume on the planet, what equipment to take, all of the other details. I'll let you take the lead in this. It'll be a good opportunity for you to apply what you've learned."

"Thanks for your confidence, but I'm not sure I know enough to do all that."

"Sure you do. I'll give you suggestions, but you'll make the decisions."

Erig and Reg entered the Survey office and she activated a terminal and started a search of the data. Several images of the planet appeared, first as it appeared from space and then with an overlay of the political boundaries and inhabited areas. "That's the planet. There are four continents, but only one is inhabited now. All but the polar continent had cities before the Great Crash."

"Why are they uninhabited now? All the temperate zone continents are fairly close together. Don't they have any ships?"

Erig scrolled through more data and a picture of a sailing ship appeared on the screen. "This is supposed to be a typical merchant vessel. I don't know anything about ships, so I can't tell if it could sail between continents or not."

Reg carefully examined the image. "It looks as modern as the ships back home on Gamma. Look at the centerline rudder, and the combination of square and fore-and-aft rigged sails. I'd say this ship could sail around the world."

"I didn't realize you knew about sailing ships."

"Actually, I have quite a bit of experience at sea. Before I joined the Civil Guard I spent several years on my uncle's ship, first as a sailor and then as second mate. But I got tired of sailing up and down the same stretch of coast, so I gave it up. It wasn't a bad life, though."

"If we get the chance you can try your hand at anthropological research, and find out why only one continent on this planet is inhabited now. But let's press on with the mission planning." Erig manipulated the keyboard and the view shifted to show a continent in the northern temperate zone. She zoomed in on a triangular landmass protruding from its southern side. "That's Avorna. It's the largest country on this continent. Let's see, it looks to be about 500 kilometers from north to south, if you include this mountainous region in the north."

"Is that part of Avorna? The map labels it 'Piconia'."

"Let me check." Erig pressed some keys and the map was replaced by text. Reg and Erig spent some time reading the material that had been compiled by the university staff. "This looks good, Reg. Piconia is part of the Kingdom of Avorna, but it has a different language and culture. If we pose as Piconians it would cover any lapses in our local knowledge. According to this, the natives of Avorna consider Piconians to be crude and unsophisticated." She checked the index. "Look, there are even language transplants for the several Piconian dialects. I wonder...". Erig did a search and more data appeared. "I thought so. Some of the University staff also posed as Piconians. And that gives me another idea." She pressed some keys and pictures of three women and a man appeared on the screen.

"Who are those people?"

"The Zarn anthropologists who are pretending to be Piconians. Those two on the left are the missing women. Jani is the blonde and Carin is the dark-haired one. She looks a lot like you."

"Not really. She's pretty."

"Well, her coloring is the same as yours, and she's tall. With a little adjustment to your face you could pose as her brother."

"Why would I do that?"

"We're going to have to ask the locals some questions, and we'll need a plausible reason for doing it. It would be believable if you were a worried brother looking for a missing sister. We'll also need a cover story for you and maybe some documentation, such as a letter from Carin. I know! You can pose as an ex-soldier. What with the civil war, there should be a lot of people like that wandering around the kingdom. That's also close to your real history, so it will be easier to stay in character. You wouldn't be nearly as believable if you posed as a merchant, for instance."

"What role will you take?"

"I'll be your companion, sort of a camp follower type. Women warriors are rare on most planets, and it's probably the same in Avorna. This is actually an advantage most of the time. If we run into bandits they would probably ignore me initially, and by the time they discovered their mistake they'd be dead."

Reg nodded. He had been training with Erig and knew how skillful she was in all types of armed and unarmed combat. He also knew she was not squeamish about killing people who got in her way when she was on an assignment.

"That sounds like a good plan, Pami. What type of weapons and equipment will we take? I suppose the First Directive prohibits energy weapons."

Erig laughed. "The First Directive prohibits a lot of things, but we're usually flexible about it in the Survey Service. Captain Goda told me to take whatever I want. We'll have phasors, communicators, and whatever else I think we might need, as well as swords and other local weapons. I've got a standard list of what might be useful on an assignment like this. The only real limitation will be how much stuff we can carry. That reminds me, you don't have any experience with horses, do you?"

"No. As you know, they no longer exist on Gamma. We didn't do any mounted training on the holodeck, either."

Erig snickered. "There was plenty of mounting. Just not with horses." She suppressed yet another surge of lust.

Reg grabbed Erig and kissed her. "Want to take a break?"

She shuddered. "Yeah, but we'd better not. I want everything to be ready to go when we drop out of hyperspace. The captain won't want to stop any longer than she has to." Erig collected her thoughts with a visible effort. "So this is what we'll do. You'll be Carin's brother, an ex-soldier from Piconia, and I'll be your companion. The shuttle will drop us just north of Varnin, the capitol city. We'll make contact with the Zarn people there and then do some investigating on our own. I don't expect it to take very long before we find out what happened to the two missing women. Then we'll just wait around until we can get off the planet. The university supply ship makes a regular run, so we can take that if Interloper is still busy. Any questions?"

"No, you seem to have covered everything, in great detail."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Reg! I do seem to have decided everything, haven't I? It's no reflection on you, just my usual habits."

"It's not a problem, Pami. It was good experience for me to watch how you did it. I'd still be floundering around."

"Yes, but you learn best by doing. I'll still give you your chance. When we get to the planet you can be in charge, and I'll pretend to be a trainee."

"That's going to require a good disguise. You have the look and manner of an experienced field surveyor."

"I'll do the best I can. I don't expect that any of the Zarn people are all that familiar with surveyors, so they probably won't notice me if I keep quiet. Just be sure to refer to me as 'Pami'. I've published articles in the anthropology journals and some of them might recognize my full name. I've also discovered that some people outside the Service now know something of my reputation."

She printed out the list of equipment she wanted. "I'll get the storekeepers to collect and pack our equipment. Let's go to the biocomputer lab for the language transplants. Then we can go to our compartment, if you're still interested."

End of Chapter 7