Page 15 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Unloading the Warehouse of Nim

“Well, needless to say, I didn’t go any closer. I ran back here and
tried to study for the last exams, hoping it would all blow over. A
foolish hope, as it turns out. It’s just a matter of time before the
Rulers or the Colonel trace it back to me.”
“Quite true,” Kaga nodded. “They’re not very sharp, but you left a
wide trail and Lotfalla will be eager to pin it on someone. I warned
you, Lugo.”
“But, but— isn’t there anything we can do to get out of this?”
Kaga winced at the unwarranted pronoun, but said mildly, “I don’t
know. Let’s put our heads together and review the total situation.
Here, take a spray of this; it’ll calm you down.”
For the next hour they sat talking about the social structure of the
Nworg, their history on Nim, and the economics of the Appliance
system. Kaga called forth statistics from his CompTutor, performed
calculations, rejected hypotheses, and started over. Finally he signaled
Lugo that he was done.
“I think I see a way for all parties concerned to survive this
catastrophe, if not profit by it. But we have no power here to make
changes. This will be very tricky, indeed. Hmm.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Lugo, still a bit tranquillized.
Kaga again noted the shift in pronoun. “I don’t see any alternative
to going to Colonel Lotfalla. It would be a breach of protocol for us
to approach the Rulers directly. Why don’t you go to your room and
relax? I’ll go see what I can do.”
Lugo gratefully accepted this proposal. He took another sedative,
and lay down. He had made a recording of the Nworg jukebox
music, but he didn’t dare play it. Instead he put on a white noise
generator at low volume, and soon dozed off.
He was awakened by the beeping of his door. He struggled to his
feet groggily and admitted Kaga. Then he glanced at his ComSet:
little more than an hour had elapsed.
“What happened?” he blurted, as his friend sat down heavily at the
desk.
“I think it’s going to turn out all right,” said Kaga, managing a
feeble grin. “I’m sure Lotfalla is convinced that I’m the culprit now;
he’ll never be able to prove it, though, and I planted the seeds of my
plan in some very rocky soil.”
Lugo waved his hand impatiently. “But what is your plan?”
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