A Soft Barren Aftershock Read online

  “I’ll demonstrate that tomorrow,” Orz replied. “It’ll be easier to understand once you see the equipment.”

  A huge, balding man with a grizzled beard stood up without waiting to be recognized. “I’ve got a question, Ratman,” he said belligerently. “If all you’ve got are a few trained rats, why do you charge so much?”

  This elicited a few concurring mutters from other members of the audience. Here, no doubt, was the man Lesno had referred to earlier that day.

  “You have me at a disadvantage, sir,” Orz replied with a smile.

  “I’m Malcomb Houghton and I guess I rank third, or fourth, around here in cubic feet of warehouse space.”

  Orz nodded. “Very glad to meet you, sir. But let me answer your question with another question: Do you have any idea what it costs to operate a privately owned freighter, even a small one such as mine? My overhead is staggering.”

  Being a businessman, this argument seemed to make sense to Houghton, but he remained standing. “I just wonder,” he began slowly. “If you can train rats to catch other rats, how do we know you didn’t land some special trouble-making rats here on Neeka a few months ago to aggravate the situation to the point where we had to call you in?”

  The audience went silent and waited for Ratman’s reply. Orz cursed as he felt his face flushing. This man was dangerously close to the truth. He hesitated, then cracked a grin.

  “How’d you like to go into partnership with me?” he quipped. The tension suddenly vanished as the audience laughed and applauded. Orz gathered up 62 and left the podium before Houghton could zero in on him again. He couldn’t tell whether the man was stabbing in the dark, or whether he really knew something.

  Lesno escorted him out the door.

  “Wonderful!” he beamed. “I think you’re the man to solve our problems. But time is of the essence! The port residents have been on our necks for months; their pets are being killed, they’re afraid for their children and they’re afraid for themselves. And since the rats are based in the warehouse district, we might be held liable if we don’t do something soon. And”—he put his hand on Orz’s shoulder and lowered his voice—“we’ve been keeping it quiet, but a man went after a few of the rats with a blaster the other night. They turned on him and chewed him up pretty badly.”

  “I’ll start as early as possible,” Orz assured him. “You just send somebody around tomorrow with a good-sized truck and I’ll be waiting.”

  Rabb must have overheard them as he approached.

  “That won’t be necessary, he said. “We’re placing a truck at your disposal immediately. I’ll drive it over to your ship and Lesno will bring me back after dropping you oft.”

  Orz said that would be fine and he arranged a time and place of meeting with Lesno for early the next morning on the way back to the ship. A few minutes later he and 62 were standing next to the borrowed truck watching the two League officers drive away.

  “Ratman!” whispered a voice from the deep shadows under the ramp.

  Orz spun.” Who’s there?”

  “I’m your contact.”

  “You’d better come out and identify yourself,” he said.

  Muttering and brushing off the knees of her coveralls, a tall, statuesque brunette stepped out of the shadows.

  “Where have you been for the past hour? We were supposed to meet as soon as it was dark!”

  “Just who are you, miss?” Orz asked.

  She straightened up and stared at him. “You don’t take any chances, do you?” A wry smile played about her lips. “O.K. I’m Jessica Maffey, Federation agent NE97. I’m the one who received a smuggled shipment of fifty of your best harassing rats, drove them into town, and let them go in the warehouse district. Satisfied, Ratman?”

  Orz grinned at her annoyance. “You’re Maffey, all right . . . I’ve got a picture of you inside, but you can’t be too careful.” He glanced around.’ Let’s get inside where we can talk,”

  “Speaking of going inside,” she said, “there’s been a steady stream of rats going through that little opening in the hatch.”

  He nodded. “Good. I activated a high-frequency call before I left. All the harassers you loosed should be snug in their cages by now.”

  He unlocked the hatch and led her to the rat room. As he busied himself with transferring 62 to a cage and checking on the harassing rats, Jessica looked around. From the darkened recess of each cage shone two gleaming points of light, and all those several hundred points of light seemed to be fixed upon her. She shuddered.

  “Three missing,” Orz was saying. “That’s not too bad . . . accidents do happen.” He pressed a button on the wall and the open doors on the cages of the harassing rats swung shut with a loud and simultaneous clang. “How about a drink?” he offered his guest.

  “As a matter of fact, I’d love one,” she replied, sighing with relief as they stepped back into the corridor. Orz looked at her curiously. It gets a little dry and dusty sitting under a loading ramp,” she explained with a tight smile.

  With Jessica seated in his Spartan, fastidiously neat living quarters with her hand around a cold gin and tonic, Orz began to talk business.

  “Federation Intelligence gave me only a sketchy idea of what’s going on here. You were to fill me in on the rest, so why don’t I tell you what I know and you take it from there.”

  “Go ahead,” she told him.

  Drink in hand, Orz paced the room.

  “Let’s start with this planet. Neeka is a fiercely independent, sparsely populated world that exports a lot of food and imports a lot of hardware. Formerly a splinter world, it agreed to trade with the Federation but refused to join it. They were asked to join the Restructurists in their revolt against the Federation but turned them down. They want no part of the war . . . and I can’t say as I blame them.

  “However: The Haas Warp Gate is right outside this star system and the convoys stack up in this area before being shot through to the battle zones. Fed agents discovered a turncoat feeding information on the size and destinations of the convoys to someone on this planet. That someone, in turn, was transmitting the info to the Restructurists via subspace radio. He’ been stopped temporarily, but as soon as he makes another contact, he’ll be in business again, I was told to meet you here and stop him. That’s all I know.”

  Jessica nodded and drained her drink. “Right. But subspace transmission can’t be traced so we had to depend on deductive reasoning. First of all, you’re allowed to be pro-Federation, or pro-Restructurist on Neeka, and you’re allowed to talk all you want about either cause. Nobody minds. But try to do something to aid either cause and you wind up in prison. Strict neutrality is enforced to the letter here. Therefore, partisan natives, such as myself and the man we’re after, have to go underground.

  “Now, it would be as easy to smuggle in a subspace transmitter as it was to smuggle in your rats, but hiding it would be an entirely different matter. It’s a huge piece of hardware and it needs a large power supply.”

  “So the man we’re after,” Orz broke in, “is someone with easy access to a off-planet source of information, and a place big enough to hide a subspace transmitter without arousing suspicion.”

  “And a warehouse right here in port has the size and access to the necessary power,” Jessica concluded. “Since the members of the Traders League own all the warehouses, they are the obvious target for investigation.”

  “But which one?”

  She shrugged. “Their security is too tight for me to do much snooping. The only way to get into those warehouses is to be invited in. That’s where Ratman comes in.

  Orz was thoughtful. “It really shouldn’t be too difficult. I was informed by the Traders League when they retained me that their warehouses are fully automated and computer-operated,”

  “With a population density as low as Neeka’s,” Jessica added, “labor is anything but cheap.”

  “Right. And, if I wanted to hide a subspace radio in one of those
warehouses, I’d disguise it as part of the automation works and no one would ever be the wiser. All I’ve got to do tomorrow is keep my eyes open for an unusually large computer-automation rig. When I find it I’ll just ‘accidentally’ expose it as a subspace transmitter. The Neekan authorities will take care of our spy after that.”

  He halted his pacing and snapped his fingers. “Forgot to turn off the call signal for the rats . . . I’ll be right back,”

  “Mind if I come along?”

  “Not at all.”

  She watched Orz’s back as he led her down the narrow corridor to the bridge.

  “Can I call you something other than ‘Ratman’?”

  He grinned over his shoulder. “Sam will do fine.”

  “O.K., Sam: How did you get started in all this?”

  “Well, I got the idea a few years ago and thought I was a genius until I started looking for backers. Everyone I approached thought I was either a swindler or a nut. As a last desperate hope I went to IBA,”

  “What’s IBA?”

  “Interstellar Business Advisors. It’s a private company with some pretty canny people working for them. They dug up somebody who promised to back me halfway, then they approached the Federation with this undercover idea. Since I’d be able to get on otherwise unfriendly planets, the Federation put up the rest of the money. So now I’m a full-time Ratman and a part-time Fed man. And when my reputation spreads, IBA has got some ideas for selling franchises.”

  They entered the bridge as he was speaking and Jessica noticed that it was as meticulously ordered as his quarters. Two additions to the standard console caught her eye immediately.

  “Improvements?” she asked, pointing to a brace of toggle switches.

  Orz flipped one of the toggles to “Off” and turned to her. “Those are the high-frequency signals for my rats. They’ve got an effective range of about two kilometers. When a rat hears the proper tone, he makes a beeline for this ship.”

  “And what’s that?” She indicated a bright red lever with three safety catches and “Danger” written in white letters along its length.

  The lightness left his voice. “For the direst of emergencies only,” he replied.

  Feminine curiosity aroused, Jessica went to touch it. “What does it do?”

  “That’s my secret,” Orz replied with a tight smile and snatched her wrist away from the lever. “I’ve yet to use it and I hope the day never comes when I do.” To draw her attention elsewhere he pointed to the far wall. “See that inconspicuous little switch over there by the intercom speaker? When that’s in the down position—like now—-the controls are locked.”

  “You’re just full of tricks, aren’t you?” she said, trying to hide a smile. He was like a little boy showing off a new toy.

  “Can’t be too careful.”

  Lesno, Rabb, Houghton, and a few others were ready and waiting when Orz pulled up in front of the Traders League offices with the truck.

  “Straight ahead,” said Lesno as he hopped in beside Orz. “We’ll start with Rabb’s places first since they’re the closest.”

  Two left turns brought them up before a huge structure with a “Rabb & Co.” sign above the sliding doors. Orz waited until the others had arrived, then addressed the group.

  “First of all,” he told them, “you must keep all humans away from any warehouse where my rats are at work, so give whatever employees you have the day off. Next, let me explain that space rats set up a close-knit community within a warehouse—one community per warehouse—and that each community has a leader who achieved his position by being the most cunning and the most ferocious of the lot.”

  He reached into the back of the truck and brought out a simple cage. Inside was a very large and very vicious-looking space rat. “This is one of my Judas rats. I’ve selectively bred them for ferocity and any one of these is a match for any three ordinary space rats. Within hours after his release, my Judas rat will have established himself at the top of the community’s pecking order.”

  Once again Orz reached into the back of the truck and brought out a cage, but this one was larger and empty.

  “Normally a space rat wouldn’t go near a trap like this, but he’ll follow the Judas if the Judas is the community leader. And once the community has followed him inside and is busy at the bait, the Judas hops outside, releases this catch and a spring closes and locks the door. He then returns to the ship. The cage is made of a lightweight titanium alloy that not even a space rat’s teeth can dent.” He held up the cage, “Tomorrow morning this should be filled with a community of very angry space rats,”

  “Is that all there is to it?” Houghton blurted incredulously. Orz could imagine the man’s mind tallying and totaling, and deciding that no matter what his overhead, Ratman charged too much, “This is outrageous! I’ll have nothing to do with such nonsense! We’re being hoodwinked!”

  Somebody doesn’t want me in his warehouse, Orz thought and was about to say something when Rabb beat him to it.

  “The League has already retained Ratman, Malcomb, and we voted to use the treasury to do so . . . remember? So you have, in effect, already paid for his services, and it would be foolish of you not to take advantage of them.”

  Houghton paused, considering Rabb’s words, then glanced at the cage and shrugged. “I guess I don’t have much choice,” he said sullenly and turned toward his car. “Let me know when you get around to my places.”

  It was late in the day when they finally did get around to Houghton’s warehouses, but Orz preferred it that way. He had his suspicions and wanted to see as many of the other warehouses as possible before confronting Houghton, He’d found nothing suspect in the others, although Lesno’s computer setups had been somewhat larger than most, but nowhere near big enough to house a subspace radio.

  Houghton met them outside.

  “I’ve only got a few cages left,” Orz told him, “so we’ll do as many as we can and I’ll get the rest tomorrow after I collect the cages I’ve set out today.”

  “Might as well start with the main house,” Houghton replied and led them toward the largest building of his complex.

  The doors slid open to reveal a huge expanse of concrete floor with crates and boxes stacked almost to the ceiling. Huge cranes—controlled by a computer that knew the exact location of every item in storage—swung from above. Looming against the far wall was a large, metal-paneled structure.

  Orz pointed to it. “Is that your computer?”

  “Yes,” the bearded man replied absently, “now let’s get on with this . . . I haven’t got all day.”

  “Mind if I take a look at it?” Orz asked and started walking toward it. This was what he had been looking for: big enough to house two subspace transmitters. “Rats love to nest in those things, you know.”

  “I assure you there are no rats in there so stay away from it!” Houghton almost shouted.

  He began to follow Orz, and Lesno and Rabb trailed along.

  Orz went to the nearest inspection plate and began loosening the screws that held it in place.

  “Get away from there!” Houghton yelled as he came up. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You could mess up my whole operation!”

  “Look, if I’m going to do my job right, I’ve got to check this out.”

  The inspection plate came off in his hands then and he stuck his head inside. Nothing unusual. He replaced it and went to the next plate with the same result. Four more inspection plates later he was sure there was no subspace transmitter hidden within.

  Houghton was standing behind him and tugging angrily on his beard as Orz replaced the last screw.

  “Are you quite through, Ratman?”

  Orz stood and faced him. “Awful big computer you’ve got there, Mr. Houghton,” he said matter-of-factly, hiding his chagrin.

  “That’s the computer for my whole operation. I found it easier to centralize the system: Instead of installing new units all the time, I just add to the central uni
t and feed it into the new buildings as they are built. It’s much more convenient.”

  “More economical, too, I’ll bet,” Orz added laconically.

  “Why, yes. How did you know?”

  “Lucky guess.”

  Jessica was waiting back at the ship.

  “Don’t bother telling me you didn’t find anything,” she said as he collapsed in a chair. “That look on your face tells the whole story.”

  “I was so sure it was Houghton! The way he objected to the League retaining me, the way he tried to rake me over the coals at the meeting last night, the way he blew up this morning, I was sure he had something to hide. Turns out he’s only a cheapskate with a centralized computer.”

  “What makes you so sure he hasn’t got it stashed somewhere else?” Jessica asked, coming over and handing him a drink.

  He accepted it gratefully and took a long slow swallow before answering.

  “I’m not sure of anything right now. But, if that transmitter’s here—and we know it is—it’s got to be in one of those warehouses. Which reminds me . . .”

  He got to his feet slowly and trudged to the rat room.

  Jessica didn’t follow, but glanced out into the corridor when she heard the clang of cage doors. Furry gray and brown shapes were scurrying toward the hatch.

  “What are you up to?” she asked as Orz reappeared.

  “I had a brainstorm on my way back to the ship. We’ll find out if it worked tomorrow.”

  Orz noticed Jessica in the crowd outside Rabb’s main warehouse. She smiled and winked mischievously, knowing he couldn’t acknowledge her. The crowd was waiting to see if Ratman could live up to his claims and watched intently as he and Rabb disappeared inside. An uncertain cheer began and died as he reappeared dragging—with little help from Rabb—a cageful of clawing, squealing, snarling, snapping space rats. Having retreated to what it considered a safer distance, the crowd applauded.

  Lesno strode forward, beaming. “Well, Ratman, I knew you could do it. But what are you going to do with the little monsters now that you’ve caught them?”