A Transmutation of Muddles Read online

The rear contingent kept close to the cart, but the advanceparty had opened a noticeable gap between themselves and the hulkingteam.

  The procession halted, the soldier in charge raised his spear in saluteto Eemakh, and the shaken Terran was assisted to dismount. He introducedhimself to Mayne as Robert Melin.

  "Let's go over to the hut they made for us an' sit down," suggestedVoorhis.

  Melin, a tall, gloomy blond whose civilian suit seemed a trifle formalfor the surroundings, acceded gratefully. He mopped the dust from hislong face and watched the cart being turned around.

  The procession moved off in the direction of the village, the advanceguard stepping out especially smartly, and Mayne began to get hisconference arranged.

  He learned that the evicted crew of the _Gemsbok_ had been living in thehut nearby. Before it stood a long table with benches, all evidentlyknocked together from recently felled timber. Melin was given credit forthis by Voorhis, since before the arrival of the insurance adjuster andhis crew, no power tools had been available to the men from the_Gemsbok_.

  Mayne took a place at the end of the table. Some of the _Gemsbok's_ crewcame out of the hut to watch. Most of the Kappan warriors attending thechief took up stations between the table and the ship, in a mannersuggesting long habit. Mayne guessed that attempts had been made tore-enter the ship.

  He put Haruhiku at his right hand to translate should it be necessary.Melin and Voorhis sat at his left, their backs to the hut. To the otherside of the table, Eemakh brought two Kappans who were explained toMayne as being the tribal high priest, Igrillik, and Kaynox, whorepresented a sort of district overlord.

  "I meant to land up by _their_ city," Voorhis put in, "but we hit somebad winds up in the stratosphere. We got knocked around a bit in thestorm, and set down where we could."

  "Well, tell me about the details," said Mayne. "I want to get thisstraight from the start, if I can. By the way, Lieutenant Haruhiku,explain to the chief that a special envoy is on the way, that we wanthis friendship, and that he will be dealt with fairly."

  He waited out the exchange of choppy speech between the pilot andEemakh.

  "He says he is sure he will be fairly dealt with," reported Haruhiku.

  "I wonder what he meant by that," murmured Mayne. "If we make a dealhere, and thereby with his overlord, will that cover enough territory tobe official?"

  "As much as you can get together anywhere on this world, sir."

  Mayne nodded, then turned to Captain Voorhis.

  "Now about this so-called crash?" he prompted.

  "Well, there was this storm, like I said. Trouble was we didn't expectto hit it and ... well ... somebody took it in his head to blow some ofthe fuel tanks for a crash landing. That's why I'm not claimin' anythin'on the fuel," he finished, turning to Melin.

  "We are perfectly willing to pay on that item," replied the insuranceman.

  "Anyhow," continued Voorhis, "I set down here where we saw the openspot, an' then of course we were stuck with nothin' to lift off with. Itlooked all right. We'd unload our goods, an' if the local crowd couldn'tuse them all, why they'd pass the rest on at a profit to themselves. Sowe come out to palaver, an' then they won't let us go back in the ship.We were just lucky my com man had sent out a landing report when itlooked like we piled up, or the Space Force patrol never woulda heard ofus."

  "Was there any trouble?" asked Mayne. "Any unnecessary hostility?"

  Voorhis considered, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.

  "Well ... I suppose, lookin' at it their way, they coulda been a lotrougher. A couple of punches got thrown, an' one of my boys got a spearbusted over his head, but mostly they acted ... well ... maybe more likecops than cannibals."

  "Just enforcing the native laws, eh?"

  * * * * *

  Voorhis did not swallow that quite so graciously. He did not know orcare what the local laws might be, but he thought it suspicious in theextreme that he should have plopped down exactly upon the spot chosen bythe natives for a temple.

  "So do they have to use my ship to hang it on?" he finished plaintively.

  "The company is in agreement with you there, captain," Melin put in."You see, Judge, our point is that nothing is really lost or seriouslydamaged, neither ship nor cargo. They are merely being withheld fromtheir rightful owner, and we believe that puts the responsibility forrecovery upon the Terran government. Captain Voorhis has our entiresympathy--"

  "Yeah!" said Voorhis. "An' if I get my head sliced off tryin' to get atthat undamaged cargo, you'll come to my funeral! I say it's a loss!"

  "Now, gentlemen!" interrupted Mayne. "Let me get on with this. Both ofyou, I'm sure, realize that I'm not a lawyer in spite of being a specialjudge. If the colonies way out here had enough lawyers to spare, Icertainly wouldn't be sticking my head into this. Nevertheless, anydecision I make here will be regarded as legally binding by thegovernment of Rigel IX, so let us remain level-headed."

  "Very well, Judge," said Melin. "Here are the figures on--"

  "Please round them off," said Mayne. "If I have to listen to a long listin centicredits, I'll probably go off to see what kind of beer they brewhere."

  "You wouldn't like it," muttered Voorhis, staring sourly at the village.

  "No doubt," grinned Mayne.

  Melin swallowed and returned to an inner pocket a sheaf of papers he hadwithdrawn.

  "Speaking very loosely," he went on, as if hating to do anythingloosely, "the coverage was about as follows: for the _Gemsbok_ herself,two million; but that was really a nominal figure accorded as a sort ofcourtesy. Otherwise, at her true worth, the authorities would hardlyhave permitted Captain Voorhis to take her into space--"

  "Get on with it," urged Mayne, to forestall any wrangle.

  "Er ... yes. Then on the cargo, the purchase cost of two hundredthousand credits."

  Voorhis visibly flinched and began to acquire a ruddy hue.

  "And, finally, on the fuel load, the cost price of three hundredthousand. Of course, Judge, there are detailed clauses as to normal useof fuel. He was actually insured against defects, premature explosions,accidental loss, et cetera."

  Mayne did some addition in his head.

  "So your company," he said aloud, "is prepared to pay two and a halfmillion for the loss sustained by Captain Voorhis. What seems to bewrong with that?"

  Both men began to talk but Melin, struggling less with temper, got thelead.

  "Actually," he said, "we feel liable for only three hundred thousand."

  _Now it will get tough_, thought Mayne. He silently awaited elucidation.

  The combined stares of all parties, including the enigmatic glance ofEemakh, calmed the spluttering Voorhis. Melin continued.

  "In the first place, the true value of the ship, even if we consider herto be incapacitated--which we do not--is only about one hundred andfifty thousand."

  "She's worth more than that as scrap!" bellowed Voorhis.

  "No, captain, just about that. It is exactly how we valued her. Do youhave any idea, Judge, of how old that crock is?"

  "Let's not go into that just yet," suggested Mayne.

  "As to the fuel," said Melin, "I am willing, as a gesture of good will,to stick my company's neck out--and mine with it, you may be sure--andhonor a full claim."

  "Even though he used about half the fuel getting here?" asked Mayne.

  "We'll ignore that. We admit that he is out of fuel, and we want to--"

  "You want to give me a moon and take a star," said Voorhis.

  "Just a minute!" Mayne held up his hand. "That's the ship and the fuel.What about the cargo?"

  "Why, as to that, Judge, we do not admit that it is lost. It is rightover there, easily accessible. We consider it more the job of the SpaceForce to restore rightful possession than it is the responsibility ofthe company to reimburse Captain Voorhis for the inflated value he setsupon it."

  "I begin to see," murmured Mayne. "You can't stick each other, so you'reout to
slip _me_ the bill."

  That aroused a babble of denials. Mayne eventually made himself heardand demanded to know how the spacer's evaluation differed from Melin's.Voorhis pulled himself together, glowering at the insurance man.

  * * * * *

  "In the first place," he growled, "I don't want his lousy payment forfuel. I said I'd take the blame for that, an' I will. On the ship ...well, maybe she ain't worth two million. Maybe she ain't been for a fewyears now--"

  Melin made a show of