Fuzzy Ergo Sum Read online

  LITTLE FUZZY RETURNS

  Six months travel by hyperdrive from Terra is the planet Zarathustra, a world still in the early stages of colonization. Zarathustra was thought to be devoid of intelligent life until prospector Jack Holloway discovered a race of small sapient beings, the Fuzzies. The Pendarvis Decision had declared the Fuzzies to be sapient beings and cost the Chartered Zarathustra Company its charter.

  Things had been quiet on Zarathustra for the Colonial Government, Jack Holloway, the Fuzzies and the Charterless Zarathustra Company for the last few years. Baby Fuzzy made his first kill, the sunstone agreement with the CZC kept the colonial government in the black and the Fuzzies and humans peacefully co-existed in a nearly symbiotic relationship.

  When John Morgan from the planet Freya touches down in Mallorysport, people want to know what he is up to. Morgan digs through the Charterless Zarathustra Company files doing research, but nobody knows what he is looking for and how it could affect the Company. This worries the Company CEO Victor Grego, who assigns a young woman, Akira O’Barre, to keep an eye on the mysterious Mr. Morgan. What Akira discovers could put one of several men at risk, among them Jack Holloway and Gus Brannhard. John Morgan is looking for someone, not something, and he intends to kill him when he finds him.

  To make matters worse, the most infamous criminal on the planet escapes from Prison House with the aid of unknown confederates. These confederates have plans that could shake the foundations of the colonial government and the Charterless Zarathustra Company.

  H. BEAM PIPER CONTINUATIONS AND ORIGINALS FROM PEQUOD PRESS

  The Fireseed Wars

  Siege of Tarr-Hostigos

  Kalvan Kingmaker

  Great Kings’ War

  Time Crime

  TERRO-HUMAN FUTURE HISTORY

  FUZZY ERGO SUM

  SPACE VIKING

  RETURN OF SPACE VIKING

  For

  H. Beam Piper

  who inspired me

  &

  John F. Carr

  who encouraged me.

  PROLOGUE

  John Morgan looked up to see out of a portal hoping for a view of the planet, but all he could see was the surface of Darius, Zarathustra’s inner moon and the Terra-Baldur-Marduk transfer station for passengers from ship to shuttle. As with most hyperspace ships, the portals were on the ceilings due to the spherical design of the craft, so, for the convenience of the passengers, video displays were also provided throughout the ship. Artificial gravity originated at the core of the ship and radiated outward, forcing the designers to construct the floor-plan in concentric circles outward from the center, much like a Terran onion.

  It was an efficient design that was comfortable for the passengers if not for the crew. Near the core of the ship, where crew quarters were situated, the floors curved noticeably while in the outermost levels the curvature was so slight as to be easily dismissed.

  This was John Morgan’s first trip to Zarathustra, though far from his first planet-fall. He had seen several other planets such as Mars, Terra, Yggdrasil, Nifflheim, Gimli, Baldur, Thor, Fenris and especially Freya. Morgan was looking for someone and hoped to find him on Zarathustra.

  It had taken a lot of planning and money to get here. He had invested tens of millions of sols to get a working control of the local company. As a major shareholder in the Charterless Zarathustra Company, he would have access to files and computer databases that would help him in his search. He had used this same method on every planet he had visited. In the past he even hired private investigators, bribed planetary officials and, when necessary, used blackmail.

  A soft feminine voice from a loudspeaker informed passengers making planet-fall to go to shuttle dock 7-A in ten Terran minutes. As many passengers were accustomed to other world’s time units, the interviewer’s always reminded them that ship time was based on Terran standard. Morgan hustled back to his room, inspected it thoroughly to be sure nothing was left behind, collected his luggage and sealed the room behind him.

  In the corridor he opened his wallet to make doubly sure that his portfolio card was safe. In a universe where communications depended on hyper-ship couriers it was necessary to keep financial records in a portable form. Bank account balances, stock shares and other information was recorded and encoded on the card, along with the bearer’s thumbprint, retinal scan and a DNA sample. Only the person possessing all three could authorize access to the card. As a final security measure, there were matching microchips implanted in the card and in some random location inside the bearer’s body. If the portfolio card and its owner were more than ten feet apart, the card would not function.

  Every time the card was accessed any changes were automatically recorded and transmitted through secure frequency to all outgoing hyperspace ships. The information would be retransmitted to every port where the ship made planet-fall. Financial transactions, planetary news, police reports and other information were also updated world-to-world in this manner. If stolen it was impossible to use. If lost, there was hell to pay to get it replaced. Once satisfied that everything was in order, Morgan hurried off to the shuttle dock.

  On the journey from Darius to Zarathustra the flight attendant gave a brief seminar about the planet below. “Zarathustra is roughly 2% larger than Terra but has only .95134 of Terran gravity. The lower gravity is due to the lesser density as opposed to Terra, which is the densest planet in the Sol System. The Zarathustran day consists of twenty-four hours, twentythree minutes and fifty-nine point nine-one seconds in Terran units, closely mirroring a Martian day. Local time is based on a twenty-four hour clock with the hours lengthened to accommodate planetary rotation. Seconds and minutes are Terran standard, but the Zarathustran hour is 61 minutes long. If you do not have a multi-zone watch, Zarathustran time pieces are available in the gift shop in the Mallorysport spaceport.

  “The Zarathustran year is approximately 396.1 days. There is a Leap Day every ten years. On Leap Day the clock is reset to account for 0.09 seconds gained in the Zarathustran day. This makes Zarathustra unique from many other Federation worlds where T-time is the standard.

  “The axial tilt of the planet is roughly 11.2 degrees as opposed to Terra’s more extreme 23.4 degrees. This means seasonal change is far less variable than on Terra and many other planets. Seasonal change is only significant near the polar regions of the planet, though cold snaps are not uncommon at the extreme north and south. While the equator is typically warmer than the rest of the planet, it does not reach the extremes common to the equator on Terra. This is due to the greater distance of the planet from its primary, which is a K0 star. Were it not for the less extreme axial tilt, most of Zarathustra would be unbearably cold.

  “Darius, the inner moon, is one fifth the size of Zarathustra, unlike Luna which is one fourth the size of Terra. Like Luna, Darius controls the Zarathustran tides. Unlike Luna, Darius rotates on its axis once every six and a half days. It completes an orbit around the planet every 32.97 Zarathustran days. Xerxes, he second moon, is roughly one-half the size of Darius and twice as far from the planet’s stratosphere, so tidal effect is negligible.”

  The brochures tended to compare the planet with Terra in its pre-atomic era, but to Morgan it looked more like Freya; blue water, green landmasses, wispy cloud cover…and maybe the man he was looking for. Morgan stopped paying attention to the attendant in favor of the portal. Zarathustra grew large as the shuttle approached. Unlike the great spherical hyperspace ships the shuttle was designed around an egg shape. As such the portals were on walls instead of ceilings.

  Absently, he extracted an old photo from the inner pocket of his jacket. The picture was laminated to preserve the image. It was a picture of a man somewhere in his late twenties to early forties. He po
ssessed one of those faces that defied exact age classification. He would be much older, thought Morgan, maybe scarred or bearded. For all he knew, the man in the photo could have changed his name and had reconstructive surgery on his face.

  Morgan let out a long breath. He had the same thoughts before every planet-fall, like his subconscious was telling him how impossible his search was. He had spent fifteen years searching for a man with a twenty year headstart. He might not even be alive, anymore. The universe was a dangerous and unpredictable place. That was the possibility that disturbed Morgan the most; he wouldn’t be able to kill a dead man.

  I

  “Mot shuka! Fak hat-zu’ka!”

  It was early morning and everybody was hungry. As such it was Balf’ ke, Red Fur’s, responsibility to find food for his tribe. He was the best hunter and thinker so he was made the kim-chu, the leader of the tribe. Red Fur didn’t like being the leader but he didn’t want his tribe to make dead, either. A tribe worked best when a wise one led them.

  As the leader, Red Fur led the hunting party to find hat-zu’ka, a main source of meat for the Fuzzies. When the hat-zu’ka stood on their hind legs, they were nearly as tall as the people. They also had strong jaws with sharp, buck teeth. The hat-zu’ka was a burrowing animal that liked to chew the bark of trees. They moved about on all four legs as did every furry animal that the Fuzzies were familiar with, but would stand on their hind legs to fight if they had to.

  Red Fur didn’t see hunting as a chore, regardless of the potential danger. Hunting was fun if one wasn’t too hungry, and hat-zu’ka were tricky and dangerous if one wasn’t careful. The challenge of hunting difficult prey could also be fun, provided nobody was seriously hurt.

  Red Fur signaled Healer, Silver Fur and Makes-Things to move to the right and for Little One and Stonebreaker to move left. Even though he knew the hat-zu’ka could not hear him speak, he preferred to use hand gestures when hunting with the tribe. Little One tended to talk too much and distract the others from what they were doing, so nobody was allowed to speak until after the attack began.

  Red Fur waited until everybody was in position then signaled to attack. Healer, Silver Fur and Makes-Things moved in throwing their pointed sticks while Little One and Stonebreaker cut off the escape of any hat-zu’ka that tried to run.

  He watched as two of the hat-zu’ka fell dead or wounded while the other two launched themselves at Little One and Stonebreaker. Using his axe, Stonebreaker chopped one of the hat-zu’ka in the head and it immediately fell and stopped moving. The other hat-zu’ka attacked Little One who barely managed to avoid its sharp teeth by forcing the shaft of his chopper-digger into the beast’s open maw.

  Red Fur moved in quickly and used his own chopper-digger to kill the hat-zu’ka before it could hurt Little One.

  With four hat-zu’ka, there was enough meat for the whole tribe to fill their stomachs. The members of the tribe who stayed behind would be unhappy that they could not hunt while caring for the young but glad for the meat. It used to be much harder to find enough meat for everyone but lately there were fewer gouru in the skies. It had been many-many days since he had seen the last one. This was a good thing; less gouru, more hatzu’ka, and fewer people being carried away.

  As expected the camp Fuzzies were happy to see the hat-zu’ka. There were Tells-things, the eldest and Little One’s mother, Runs Fast who was Red Fur’s mate, Climber who was Stonebreaker’s mate and Sun Fur who was still too young to take a mate. The infants, three males and two females, did not yet have names.

  As kim-chu, Red Fur doled out the meat making sure that the females and infants were fed first, then the males. If any hunters were still hungry they could go out and find more food, but the females with infants had to stay with their young. There were some things the males simply could not provide.

  After the meal, Red Fur congratulated Makes-Things for the pointed throwing sticks and asked how he had come up with them.

  “Watch shimo-kato use horn on shikku,” Makes-Things explained. “Think if I have horn like shimo-kato, can make hat-zu’ka dead fast. Not work on head but in hand. hat-zu’ka fast. Not catch with pointed stick, get mad, throw stick like rock. Hit hat-zu’ka. Hat-zu’ka make dead. Make more pointed sticks for throwing,”

  “You very wise,” Red Fur said, “maybe find way to make throw-stick go very far, kill shikku?”

  “Not know how,” Makes-Things admitted. “Not make arm longer.”

  A strange noise from above interrupted the ultra-sonic conversation. Red Fur looked up and saw two hands of melon seed shaped birds with no wings; one of them was larger than all of the rest combined. The birds flew overhead and continued on for a moment before stopping.

  Makes-Things observed that no birds could fly without wings or stay still in the air and said so.

  “Not birds,” Red Fur said. “Made-things, like pointed sticks for throwing.”

  “Made-things?” Makes-Things considered for a moment. “Who make such things?”

  “People,” Red Fur said. “People not like us. Wise people.”

  The melon seed shaped things lowered down to the ground. Makes- Things asked, “What they do?”

  “Leave sky. Go to ground.” Red Fur thought for a moment, then said, “Get Stonebreaker, Healer, and Silver Fur. Tell Little One stay. We go look at fly-like-bird made-things.”

  * * * * * * * * *

  “Is this the right place? the taller man asked. The shorter man checked his map then nodded. “All right, we have a lot of digging to do and every inch of dirt has to be analyzed, labeled and stored. When we are done, there must be no sign that we were ever here.”

  “Break out the excavation robots,” the shorter man ordered. “Make sure they are all programmed to strip off the surface in two inch layers. All equipment must be cleaned before moving on to the next level. There must be no contamination between the layers. I want every square foot photographed and scanned before surface removal. Any and all fossils will be photographed then carefully removed, bagged, tagged and stored for reburial.”

  Six men armed with digital cameras and other equipment moved over the area with almost mechanical precision and coordination. Next, robots painted in the fashion favored by military ground units rolled out of each of the smaller vehicles and lined up as if awaiting inspection. Several men, all dressed in camouflaged fatigues, quickly opened the chest panels of each robot and tapped away on the internal keypads. Once they were satisfied with the programming, the panels were sealed and the robots would begin carefully removing the small plants and rocks before stripping-off the topsoil. Everything would be bagged, tagged or potted for replanting and stored in the warehouse ship, the largest of the contragravity vehicles.

  “All contragravity vehicles and equipment must be camouflaged in the next thirty minutes,” the taller man demanded. “Remember, from 0945 to 1015 all equipment must be out of site and powered down to avoid satellite detection.”

  Another man ran over to the first two. “Updated weather report, sir. We can expect about three inches of rain tomorrow evening.”

  The taller man swore blasphemously. “Can we get the canopy up in time to prevent contamination?”

  “Yes, with the robots’ help.”

  “Do it.” The taller man looked about quickly then made another announcement. “Remember, no smoking or dropping trash or even spitting on the ground. We were never here and the landscape must reflect that. All surplus material will be thrown into the mass/energy converter. Anything strange comes up, Geology and Paleontology will be consulted. Any dangerous wildlife comes around use the sono-stunners; absolutely no gunfire! Bronson, if you use that bow of yours, you good and damn well better police-up the arrows afterwards. And if I catch anybody pocketing sunstones, well, I guarantee they will not like what happens next. All right, let’s make it happen, people.”

  “What are we going to do about the sunstone flint?” the shorter man asked. “We’ll have to break it up pretty badly to get at t
he sunstones.”

  “According to Geology, this was a pretty seismically active area some millennia back. Broken flint could be explained away by that. And with a little heat and pressure we should be able to reform enough of it that it won’t raise any eyebrows when or if it’s ever discovered. By that time I expect to be on Freya with a pretty little gal to keep me company.”

  “Do you really think the haul will be as large as projected?”

  “According to Geology, this will be the largest single deposit of sunstones on the planet.”

  “That’s what I don’t get,” the shorter man said. “Why didn’t the Chartered Zarathustra Company find this before we did? They’ve had, what, twenty-five years to study this planet?”

  The taller man shrugged. “Sunstones were discovered by accident by a non-company man. That was, I don’t know, ten or twelve years ago. The company was happy to let prospectors do all the work. Why not? The CZC owned the planet out-right, so they were the only people who could legally buy the stones. Nobody knew that there were concentrated deposits until Native Affairs Commissioner Jack Holloway discovered Yellowsand. But by then most of Beta continent was one big Fuzzy Reservation.”

  “Okay, then how did the Boss get into the picture?”

  “Ah, he was on Zarathustra back then. When he left, he took along every geological survey map he could lay his hands on. When he got to Terra he looked up some brain-boys who studied the maps and other information.” The taller man shrugged. “Then they did their thing and determined that this was the most likely location for a major deposit. Beats hell out of me how they did it, and I don’t really care. We just do our job and get the Nifflheim out before we get caught.”

  * * * * * * * * *

  “What make do?” Red Fur asked. Makes-Things, Healer and Gold Fur were hiding in the brush with their leader observing the strange, almost completely furless giant people. Even stranger were the things that looked like people without legs that moved back and forth putting other things together. “How move with no legs?”