Page 40 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Resolving the Mechanalog Ambiguity

With that he turned and headed for the door on all sixteen limbs.
Kaga was dumbfounded. He looked from the Mechanalogs to the
Hurgan’s retreating hindquarters and back again. Finally, he too stood
up.
“Your Majesty, ministers of state, I must apologize for Colonel
Krif. I don’t understand what is going on, but I will find out. The
PKU cannot take anything from you without your permission. Now,
excuse me, please.”
Kaga ran to catch up with Krif. He was afraid the King would not
open the door to let them out, but it opened just as they reached it.
Krif continued on in a beeline to the base, Kaga close behind with a
very worried look on his face.
Krif placed a deepspace call to the nearest PKU distribution
center, requesting a mining freighter. Kaga sat at his desk, waiting for
an opportunity to speak. When the Hurgan had finished, his junior
officer spoke up.
“Sir, I am concerned about what has just occurred. Perhaps I am
not very experienced, but I’m certain that we cannot take that
bintillium by force.”
“Captain Kaga, you are here as an observer; please remember that.
Now, as far as what has happened, I decided during the meeting that
the Mechanalogs are not intelligent life. Their lifelessness is obvious,
and their inability to deal with complex situations became apparent
from their remarks. They are, in fact, another case of caretaker
robots; they have no right to withhold anything on this planet from
us. I was more than generous in offering to exchange our goods for
theirs. Our exploitation of Mazinoza shall proceed as if it were a
totally uninhabited world. That is my decision.”
Kaga opened his mouth to object, but closed it abruptly as he
recalled something he had seen while going through the Ptolemy’s
databank. He thought for a few seconds, then said, “All right,
Colonel. You are the authority here.”
Krif seemed satisfied by this response, and got up from his chair.
“I’m going to sleep,” he said. “You can stay by the ComSet in case
there is a change in ETA for the mining freighter.”
The Hurgan went into his quarters and closed the door. Kaga
heard a popping sound from within Krif’s room, and guessed that the
Colonel was drugging himself for a long nap. Kaga himself was tired
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