Page 49 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Cooking the Cannibals of Kek-lawa

inside. Kaga noted, with a wrinkle of his nose, that PKU posts were
indeed the same throughout the Known Universe. No chance of
getting confused; every officer immediately knew where every facility
was to be found, no matter where he happened to land. Only in the
private quarters was individuality permitted, and much of Captain
Kaga’s shipment contained the elements of that expression.
“Let’s get down to business,” said Rem Fildop, closing the door on
Kaga’s room. “I’ll be leaving in the morning, and there must be one
or two questions in your mind.”
One or two! thought Kaga. Where do I begin? Aloud he said, “Of
course I need to know about your contacts among the Kek. I
suppose I’ll continue dealing with the same individuals.”
“I don’t see why not,” replied the Vindelgan. “Actually, it’s quite
simple. I made the original contract with Bezinflib, a member of the
Kek oligarchy, and he remains my counterpart to this day. I told him
I would be retiring the last time I saw him: when was it? Oh, about a
year ago. Anyway, he won’t be surprised to see a new representative
next time he comes by.”
“Oh.” murmured Captain Kaga. “And when do you expect this
Bezinflib to call again?”
Rem Fildop shrugged his eyestalks. “I’m not sure; we did set an
appointment up for next year. The date is in the desk memory if you
want to check. Are you surprised that I see him so infrequently?
Remember, we’re supposed not to interfere in their lives, and they’ve
been quite considerate in staying out of mine. The economic
arrangement has worked out to everyone’s satisfaction, so there’s
been no need for meetings on that account. Every so often the Kek
bring a metric ton of erglonium to the compound gate. When I
notice that it’s there, I bring it in and test the quality with a
tesserometer. Then I signal GHQ, which gets a fresh batch of sauce
from Gnur and sends it over here in a freighter. The Kek see it land
and bring out their own barrels to receive the stuff. Then the
freighter takes away the erglonium and I go back to my own pursuits.
It’s as simple as that.”
“But what about Kek culture?” asked the human. “What are they
like personally? How do they live? What do they think? Have you met
their leaders, their artisans, their healers?”

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