Coward: A man in whom the instinct of self-preservation acts normally.
- Sultana Zoraya
By Monday evening, Melberg was in the Brigham Young University Library filing VISICOM data cubes with Earth culture. He could have downloaded the data at any remote link, but he chose the Library for several reasons. First, because the Library was an actual node for the national information grid, all the data he wanted was stored locally, and could be directly accessed using COM terminals in the Library. If the Earthers were looking for unusual activity occurring over the net, they would be disappointed.
Second, security in Universities was notoriously poor; so he had no trouble getting into the Library physically or in breaking the Library computer's security codes.
Third, it was late evening and the building was virtually deserted. Anyone who did see him probably thought that the thin, distinguished looking, middle-aged, gray haired gentleman was an eccentric professor working late.
Finally, the download process here at the node was very fast, and would take only a few minutes. With a few simple commands, tremendous amounts of data on Earth culture began to fill the cubes. The results wouldn't be nearly as complete or as theatrically palatable as the data that Barns had taken but it would do nicely. On the flight back to Ra there would be plenty of time to restructure it into a more commercially viable product for the Galaxy black market.
The last comprehensive data sample that the Ra took was assembled twelve Earth years earlier, and it had taken months to develop. Now the new improved VISICOM net of the humans made the process fast and simple. It pleased Melberg greatly to use human technology against them. But the human technological growth implied also demonstrated how dangerous the humans were becoming. Despite Ra meddling for many centuries, the humans continued to flourish. Now the Galactic League wanted Earth to join them!
While the cubes filled, Melberg caught up on human news. This was the first chance he had to do so since the Mother Ship dropped him and Twig off early that morning outside a small Utah town. Since then, things had not gone smoothly at all. He and Twig planned to use public transportation to get to Salt Lake City. After spending many years on Earth, they should have known better. When it turned out that there was no public transportation, or car rentals, or any other option, they ended up paying double or triple what it was worth for a used car at a wretched place called Uncle Phil's Used Cars, the only car dealer in town.
The damned piece of Earthier-junk broke down half way to Salt Lake City. Melberg made a mental note. If he ever returned to Earth after Dannos got through with it, he would to try to locate Uncle Phil's remains, and curse and scatter them in a special Ra ceremony of grave desecration that he was particularly fond of, if Twig didn't do it first. The last time he saw Twig, she was easily as angry as he was; she almost missed her flight to Central America due to Uncle Phil. Come to think of it there were many annoying humans that he wanted to personally kill, but unfortunately there just wasn't time.
The first COM news network that Melberg tuned in was showing an outside view of some sort of hotel constructed of logs. An indignant commentator was talking about the press being expelled illegally from the building. The subject matter seemed totally irrelevant and he almost changed the station, but then the newswoman said something about re-showing a news conference held there earlier with the Space Bus crew!
With the Space Bus crew? On a Library VISICOM screen Melberg was suddenly looking and hearing Narbando T. Bates! Melberg's usually bland, mocking face erupted into a hideous snarl that exposed razor sharp fangs and nearly exposed his alien identity to nearby human library users.
As he watched Bates ineptly describe the Ra situation, Melberg's mind raced through the possible implications. How had the accursed humans escaped the Mother Ship? Just before he and Twig had been dropped off, they had successfully attacked the Bus over Utah. After he was dropped off he watched the Mother Ship speed away to search for the wreckage of the Bus, and he was certain then that he would never hear from his fellow Civil Servants again. Yet here Bates was again, damn him; the very same inept individual that Twig arranged to replace Barns! How was it possible?
Bates then mentioned almost casually that 'the big Ra ship’ blew up today!
Melberg was stunned. Blew up? Impossible! How could such a thing happen? Then again, they had previously lost two Warren ships over Enterprise City. The humans seemed to be full of surprises lately.
Still, he reassured himself that the story was highly unlikely; the Mother Ship was equipped with the latest technology that the Ra had been able to steal from other members of the Galactic League. He continued to watch the Bates interview, including a laughable sequence in which Bates fired him. Melberg almost laughed aloud at that meaningless gesture.
The news report then switched to VISICOM footage apparently recorded from the Bus. Melberg soon watched the destruction of the Mother Ship by a second Earth ship called the Falcon!
His mind reeled. This changed everything. Master Dow and his plan were gone. The Mother Ship was gone. Of the Ra on this mission, only he, Twig, and Renson remained.
Worst of all, his way home was gone. The Mother Ship was supposed to pick him up tonight. The only serviceable Ra ship that remained in which to escape this doomed planet was the single Warren ship hidden in Central America by the Ca'Ra, and Twig was already en route to sneak it away.
Then another shocking realization hit him. Earth news broadcasts were no longer being blocked by the Mother Ship! Though Ren'Ca had set up a ground based jamming system, as far as he knew, it hadn't been fully powered up by Renson, probably as a ploy to keep Dow and the others from betraying him and leaving Earth without him on the Mother Ship. What if jamming wasn't fully effective?
Earth news broadcasts could soon be intercepted by the several League sensing devices that were operational in this solar system! If so, all hell would soon break loose on the home world, and in the League! The Ra's Galactic League membership would be threatened, and the Ra leadership would surely declare that Dow and his entire crew were renegades operating against Ra orders. If any Ra now on Earth escaped destruction by Dannos, they would probably become galactic fugitives, hunted by both the Ra and the League.
By now, Twig had probably also learned about the fate of the Mother Ship. What would she do? Would she spend precious hours rescuing an otherwise doomed shipmate, when the Earth was only a few days away from destruction, and the Galactic League may already be alerted and on their way to Earth? Highly doubtful!
He cursed, put the now completed data cubes in his pocket, and rushed out of the library. He didn't have a moment to lose. He had to get to Central America fast, and get to that Warren ship and steal it before Twig did.