Chapter 5

I did pick up my meagre harvest of asteroids and had little difficulty getting them to the ship in a much quicker time. Most of the original asteroid had been consumed and we now had not only many kilograms of the light metal lithium but we also had a small reactor. The asteroid I had brought weighted thirty seven tonnes and represented only a small portion of what my small ship had weighted when we had started to fight the Suma. With this asteroid the hull could be started but not completed. Ribs, keel and other structural members had to be replaced or repaired. The ship had originally been a hundred and forty six metres long. Its present length was only a third of what it was and still a wreck.

The new material would help fabricate additional devices especially probes and very small devices that the Seffra civilisation needed to survive.

With the decision to visit the planet there was other work to do. The boat had to be concealed somehow and a military shield was the usual way. Since there was enough raw materials now we began this project. The shield generator and the projectors themselves were all removed from the hull and replaced with the newer units. There was a bit of a problem when the military shield generator was larger than the space taken up with the old units.

My original inertial and the temporal compensator had been combined to produce one unit. It saved mass and volume and may be a bit faster in operation because of the proximity to other devices. This same idea was used on the shield generator. I found that quite a bit could be done. My family and friends flying with Soldoy didn't seem to try to find improvements in old devices that already worked well.

My body was next on the improvement list but this time I had to make it less improved. My tongue was quite a bit longer than the people on the planet and the end was much more pointed. I sat in the med facility and had my tongue altered in shape but the length was kept the same. They would never know unless I chose to let it all out of my mouth.

My pubic bone was more prominent and I decided to reduce its size. My penis though was different. It was larger than what a person of my apparent age would have. That did not take into account that mine could extend from my body and the six slits along the length would allow it to increase in girth as I chose. The end would also enlarge when needed. My testicles were internal and not held in a sack under my penis. I decided to leave this area alone for nobody would get a chance to really examine this portion of me in detail.

My hair was very long and reached half way down my back. It was my only vanity and I decided to keep it too. Some of the natives had similar hair and colouration. All the natives had two small clusters of hair over their eyes and this I had to copy. My eyes were close enough to what was normal on the planet to pass muster. My eyes had shining facets in the coloured section that assisted in seeing both into the infra red and the ultraviolet. I left them as they were, hoping to get by for I had to go into an unknown situation and needed all the assistance I could get. I didn't have Soldoy or my parents around to help me. The procedure to remove this ability was painless and could be rectified later but I again decided to keep my eyes as I wanted them.

The natives had hair all over their body and especially under the arms or legs. I looked like a young male of about twelve years of age which was close to the truth. A native of that age would not have this hair yet or just starting. They would though have a covering of very fine hair.

My body looked like a great many of the native boys except that I would be among the thinnest and my skin would be very close to white. The skin was darkened but the apparent thin state was kept to make me appear less of a threat.

I had more teeth than the natives so my jaw structure and teeth would have to change. My hands and feet though were considerably larger and this had to be altered to allow me to fit in These changes took only a day to complete. Any subtle changes could be made with the med unit I would be taking with me.

The natives ears were slightly different and it was no problem to make the modest changes without altering the lines of my body very much.

The fairly intelligent apes of the planet would not easily give up their rare elements but did like the crystalline forms of carbon. Borin mentioned that these were natural and thus had some impurities. Some research was done on the subject by small probes on the planet's surface. Borin made a few kilograms in the hopes of getting what we needed.

The sensors on the planet's surface sent back information about the various languages. Borin took the sounds and compared them to others that were similar. The range this language was spoken was then determined. Text of the language was easily found as it blew in the wind. The Humans didn't seem to care if they walked in refuse or to even dispose of it as it should. I see foolish natives simply throw something onto the ground that would take many centuries to finally decompose.

We determined that a region that had the most economic growth should have what I wanted. Here the elements should be more readily offered because here they would be also used for various processes. The languages spoken in this area was overall the same but slightly different for small enclaves or groups.

Where I would set up a temporary base though was not determined yet. I would have to make that decision after gaining much more data. My vocal cords had to come into play once again and I began to mimic the sounds picked up from the probes. It was not difficult for the Humans must not think too fast if their movements were any determining factor. I would just speak very slow and draw out the sounds so I could be understood.

When I was ready to go again, I looked in a display screen and saw that my face was just a bit longer than before and a bit closer to the planetary norm. The new growths of hair over my eyes looked odd but fit well with the hair on my head. My skin was a bit more pink and brown but didn't look offensive. The fine hair on the surface was though. It was now over the majority of my body but it was hard to see. The natives though would be sure to spot this inconsistency if I didn't have the hair. I did make it very light in colour so it would not be noticed. It itched till I told my mind to ignore the sensation. We as a race had shed our own body hair when we first climbed to the stars and we had found no reason to bring it back.

I would be gone for what I hoped would be only one cycle but from what I saw I felt it might be many more than just one. If I were dealing with rational beings then this could be started in only days after landing. I took one more look at my crew before going. I hoped that the next time that I came here one or more might possibly be awakened.

More probes left with me and three of the small antimatter missiles without their warheads. Six days later I was back at the ring of rock and selected five large asteroids and bound them together. I looked at this new structure and attached the three missiles securely to them. After I started the next part of my journey I could detect the large mass leave the ring of rocks and travel out to Borin. She would now control the unit and eventually command it to match her speed and course.

The ring of rock was one light thick but the rocks were widely dispersed. The distance to the primary was an additional light. This distance could at least be more rapidly crossed. I was above the plane of the elliptic and could easily see the planets. At a command to the computer I saw the orbits that each would have in its travels around its primary Though the passage was time consuming, I was able to make it bearable by studying the third planet itself and its natives.

I found that its day was slightly longer than our standard but the number of seconds in a real year was almost the same as what the Seffra homeworld had so our years were comparable.

The data was only from what we could piece together from what the probes observed. I was anxious to get connected to what the natives called the internet, where much more information was readily available. Soon enough I was above the planet which some natives called 'Dirt' but had an alternate meaning. Earth looked beautiful but this was mainly because so much of it was covered in water. Looking through a different set of data, I could see the filth and contaminants in the air. I would have to breathe this or use a respirator.

There were a considerable number of crude communications satellites in orbit. From two pieces of data I knew that they were for both military or civilian use. The civilians had small plays at regularly scheduled times for the viewers convenience and enjoyment. The other type of satellite provided voice and data. Some of this later type were hooked up to the internet. Before I landed it would be a good idea to find out more.

I came upon a particular group of satellites. Probes left my boat and studied the various devices while I did much the same. It took less than ten minutes to zero in on the ones I really wanted. Minutes later I was above one such satellite and a utility probe left the ship and cut a small hole into the device. The satellite was cruder than I thought. When the simple circuits were traced and then analysed I saw how wasteful of energy this system was. It was very slow but that didn't mean that I couldn't get the data I wanted.

The fabricator in the boat made some small parts that were carried by other utility probes and entered the satellite structure. They were bonded into place then connected. With this done the probes returned and I started to ask pertinent questions. The requests were made with the frailty of the satellite in mind but immediately I found problems with overloading the system. The requests were cut back then cut back another time till I was barely making a connection.

Borin and I searched through the link to find the data that I needed After only a few minutes the satellite acted even more unstable. A bit more research on this indicated that the natives were upset. They thought one of their number was actually sabotaging the system for his own enjoyment. Our requests for more data were slowed even more.

I found some information about the major economic centres. One was called Europe. It was not even one economic unit but a multitude of small countries working toward one goal. They spoke a great many different languages but English, German and French were very prominent.

The East as it was called had many fewer countries. Their language was similar but not the same. I had worries that I could not go there because of my looks. I found that the people of this world routinely travelled all over.

North America was made up of three countries. One spoke Spanish while the other two spoke English. I has learned a smattering of forty six Earth languages and would have to learn more when I got into negotiations. At the moment I could speak enough to get along.

Europe was my primary goal but the terminator was past that area and the businesses would soon be closing. In an hour the businesses would be opening in the first area and this is where I decided to meet my new neighbours.

The boat settled in a settlement called Saint John's in the jurisdiction of Newfoundland in the further jurisdiction of Canada. Before I got to land I cast my mind out to try to understand the natives a bit better. Their minds were very unorganised but still readable if I took my time. These people spoke English but did so in an odd way. It took me a few minutes to get this different method and intonation.

The acquisition of the data was fairly easy for the natives had only a rudimentary concept of their extra senses and had not developed a shield or a public mind. I treated each with respect and only looked at the information dealing with speech.

The weather was cool to me but the natives seemed to like it the way it was. Borin and I looked at the way the people were dressed then looked for children. For this was the age group I would normally be equated with. Most I found were in school. This was a place where people congregate to listen to a biological teacher I could see this concept if there was a pertinent point to be made or something that could be shown but it was only for convenience.

A large metallic vehicle went by with children in it. I sent the probes to investigate and found soon enough what the locals of my age group wore. Some of the better sets of clothing were inspected and the fabricator began to make what similar units. I insisted that it be soft for some of the clothing looked to be very crude and uncomfortable.

The clothing came out of the small fabricator and appeared strange. When I put it on, I looked at it as being in a play. In a momentarily quiet street my invisible boat settled and I was instantly out the hatch and the boat rose to the level of the tops of the low buildings Under my feet was a fabricated material that was cast into place. It was cracked in places but still usable. The building beside me was made of a different material and was not made right. The small portions of fused clay were not uniform and their placement was the same way. A sheet of fused transparent material was not clean for a corner had some dirt on it.

My mind detected people coming so I started to walk. It took a moment to adjust to my new feet and the gravity. The latter was roughly three quarters of what I was used to. My steps got surer after twenty metres but then I had to remember to slow my steps to mimic the locals. I instructed my body now to work at this plodding speed when I was doing other things.

Coming from around a corner and at the intersection of two roadways I saw a young female. She was pushing a metallic and plastic device containing an infant. I looked into her mind and saw that she was out for a stroll and to give her friends, that didn't have a child, the chance to see hers again. She apparently knew that they would be a bit jealous but that could be lived with. In this respect she was not much different from the Seffra except that she was much more blatant.

She looked at me though as I unabashedly looked at her. She became a bit flustered then got angry at herself for letting a young boy do this to her. She took another look and I could now see her deeper thoughts. I was apparently very beautiful. My face was very symmetrical her subconscious said. This and the proportion and placement of my features constituted what she saw as beauty.

She looked at my hair pulled back behind my head and was amazed again at the colour. My body was now admired and she saw me again as very beautifully proportioned. I could see that children grew at different rates for certain portions of their bodies. I was already like an adult but just small. The word angel came into her mind to describe me then the thought got processed a lot more and she began to wonder if I really was one She deduced that I was not anything that she had ever seen before. Her perception of my symmetrical features and clothing had very quickly set me apart from any that she had seen before.

Looking a bit deeper into her subconscious, I discovered that she could vaguely sense the aura most living things had. Mine though was probably stronger than she had ever sensed before. Borin provided the information that the angel she was referring to was a Devine being with powers and abilities that this woman's people didn't have. All this was from the open area of her mind for I restricted myself from looking deeply.

There was a lot of time to read her assessment before our steps got much closer. I would have liked to stop and have a polite chat. Someone thinking I was this beautiful couldn't be that bad. This would get a bit too deep I thought when I reconsidered and I wanted to cut our connection as soon as possible I didn't want this woman to dwell on this chance encounter. I just continued past but she stopped and turned to follow me with her eyes. The last thing she saw before I turned the corner to the very steeply inclined street was the sapphire ring holding my hair together.

When out of sight of the women and not noticed by others yet, I stopped and concentrate on my mind. The aura was a feature that could be manipulated somewhat in intensity but not in the type of radiation felt or seen. This natural ability had been used by the Seffra for swaying other races to what we would like them to do. An aura was generated by our mind mostly and was formed from our abilities, desires, health, physical abilities, state of mind, and our compassion. It fluctuated according to mood or emotion but some portions would either never change or very reluctantly.

My clothes I found from the woman's mind were perfect and I pulled a bit here and moved portions around, sometimes as much as a centimetre to produce a dishevelled appearance. This I figured would allow me to fit in a bit more.

I could still read the woman's thoughts and quickly moved into the jewellery store I had wanted to deal with. Just inside the door I could feel the woman's loss at seeing that I had disappeared from her sight when she retraced her steps and looked around the corner for me.

An old man with white hair looked up from placing a rack in his display counter. He looked at me the same way as the woman and even my subtle alterations were not enough. He too thought me too beautiful. Human minds I figured must all be hardwired the same way. I really didn't want to have to leave without offering what I had and the necessity of doing this job had not altered.

"Hello sir. My name is Leif. It's a Norwegian name. I have something to sell if you wish to see it." The name was close to my own in a way but still odd. English still struck me as odd to have so many words and still not enough to explain some simple things.

The man now had a big smile and said, "Well young man, what is it that you would like to sell?" He actually wanted to humour me.

"I have a small diamond. I am in need of some cash to make other purchases. It's only one carat but it is flawless."

"Let me see it please." He was now more curious. A carat was a large stone to him. One that was a full carat and flawless was also very rare.

I took out a small pouch from around my neck and felt one of the smallest stones. All of this size were of this weight. There were others in the pouch too but that was the size I thought that might work best. I extracted the stone. The man opened his hand and I placed the small gem in his palm.

The lights overhead shone down on the stone to make it gleam. The man turned and found his loop and put it to his eye. He stared at the stone for a long time. When I said flawless I meant exactly that. All natural stones had small imperfections, some were so small that they were difficult to find. This stone had been built up an atom at a time to its present state. This particular diamond had no impurities to mar its properties or give it colour. Others that I had were purposely formed with some small imperfections. They were in the way the carbon and the other impurities formed crystals and even that was made as uniform as possible. There was no included matter to cloud the brilliance.

The man finally came to the conclusion that this was either flawless or so close that he could not find any imperfections. When he looked back at me he studied my features just as closely and he did the stone. I seemed to compare favourably to the diamond between his finger and thumb.

He caught himself daydreaming about me and shook himself. "The stone certainly looks flawless. It would be worth a considerable amount of money." He took a stab at me by saying, "What are your parents going to say when they find this missing?"

"Sir, I look young but I have been on my own for a long time. The stone is legally mine. The wholesale price for this stone is 47,000 dollars in American funds. I am offering it to you for the same but in Canadian dollars." The figure I plucked out of his mind. It was also in the information we had found from the internet. This was a bargain and the man knew it. The stone would retail much higher but the merchant had to make money too. The entire diamond industry and its prices were artificially held in place. If many diamonds came on the market at one time the price would fall.

The Seffra didn't use money but other primitive races did. It was not that hard to find out what drove this world's economy and begin to take what I needed from it. I at least was going to give more than I took but then again any civilised person would.

The man ran a great deal of ideas through his head and reluctantly handed the stone back, "It is very beautiful but I think that I may get in trouble later from purchasing it from a young man of less than twenty one. Even if you say you are older you certainly are not that old yet. My advice to you is to find an adult to do the selling for you. When that happens, please have him contact me for I would love to buy the stone," he smiled at me and added, "and not at the price you wanted."

Some people would want me to have them take the stone and then give them money for doing so.

I could see in the man's mind that he was trying to give good advice though. Theft was a very common occurrence and he had no way of proving it was not already stolen. If the stone was illegally gained and somebody found out, his business would be hurt and he would be out the amount of money he paid.

The man did think of others in the small city that could or would sell stolen property but didn't think any of them would have the type of stone I had. This did present another avenue to me. A lawyer could sell the stones but through some criminals I could find those that wished to buy stones in unusual ways and get them cheaper. In any case a settlement this size would not have the people that would buy more than a few stones.

I thanked the man for his help and turned to leave. He was very quick though and said, "Please stop a moment. May I see your hair clasp?"

I returned to the man and turned around. The man carefully looked at the sapphire tube that held my hair in place. After looking at it for a few moments more he asked, "Do you know what this is?" He was thinking that it was worked by a gifted oriental craftsman for it looked old but not too worn. It was like other gems and very hard.

"A sapphire device used to hold my hair in place. My mother got it to complement my eyes."

"I have never seen one this size and the original stone must have been very large."

"My family takes such baubles for granted. I'm starting a new endeavour and just need the cash to make a fresh start. The sapphire though is not for sale."

"Your family though must be very rich."

"My family is rich but no more so than those in our community. We have a much different slant on things. Physical wants are easily met but duty. Civic responsibility is our main focuses now. We don't try to keep up with the Joneses but we are not perfect. We all have our faults and I am no exception."

The man nodded his head in understanding and I left the store. An alley two doors down provided enough of a place to allow me to get back into the boat. I now needed to find a larger metropolitan area that would have more rich people demanding pretty things and willing to pay for them

Montréal was the next stop but it would be in advance of the usual store opening hours. I did have a chance when I got there a few minutes later to find out how this particular society was different. The language here was a dialect of French. I followed a large dark machine taking a man to work. I was able to learn more of his language and customs. In a moment I was learning from others. These people were busy trying to find ways to promote themselves while negating their rivals. I felt sad for the race and the situation that would promote this.

When the closest jewellery opened, I was the first customer in. A good looking woman dressed in what I saw to be clothing befitting her clientele came to me to shoo me out of the store.

I said in Québécois, "Hello, is the manager in? I would like to have a moment of his or her time." This forestalled her removing me from the premisses.

"Wait a moment."

A young man came out from the back of the shop and walked with the woman to me. The man smiled at me, again overcome with the way I looked. He continued with the smile when he asked, "Hi, what can I do for you?"

I didn't smile but did ask, "May we talk in private? It will be less than a minute."

The man was thinking of all kinds of entrapment for children were sometimes viewed as sex objects by some. He had never followed any of his baser urges and wasn't going to start now. He was curious though. "Certainly."

Once in his office and the door closed, I opened the pouch and removed the clear flawless diamond once again. Another came out of equal weight but with a small amount of colour from different impurities. None had any included matter and were therefore very clear. Before I sat in a chair reserved for guests I placed the two stones in the man's hand. "These are my property. They do not belong to my parents. I wish to sell them. If you wish, I will stay longer than the minute I stipulated."

The jeweller had a loop on his desk and like the last took a long time examining both stones. He could see no flaws at all and worked extra hard to do so. These stones, as a pair, were worth even more I found. The fact that they were the most perfect formed stones he had ever seen made them also perfect for a project of his. He knew a wealthy woman that only bought quality and he could demand a premium for these two stones.

He was not as worried about the ownership and thought they were probably stolen. There was no numbers inscribed on the base of the stone with a light beam. Apparently this was a new way of tracing a stone. Mine had none.

"I might take these from you. I will give you five thousand dollars for the pair."

"Let me show you something." I stood up and took the two stones and said, "The stones are perfect and are worth much more than a ninety thousand dollars. Give me seventy thousand in cash and they are yours. I will take nothing less." Though the coloured stone was worth thirty thousand dollars and the clear one worth well over sixty thousand.

The man's greed came out and he thought of taking the stones from me but saw many complications in that. He ran through many ways of getting the stones for less.

A cheque book came out but I said before he could start, "I said cash."

"I have to go to the bank."

"Then let's do so."

In moments the man was in his car with me in the passenger seat. The ride was odd in many ways. The man was nervous to get the stones and was not concentrating on his driving. The people he was driving on the road with were aggressive and all of them must think that they were invincible. The car looked to be going very slow to me but a good deal of the man's mind was on what to do to get to his destination.

The car stopped in a small plot of land covered in a black petroleum based substance. The man got out and waited for me but I said, "I will wait here."

The man was out very quickly and breathing hard. He was afraid that I would change my mind and be gone by the time he returned. The man came back breathlessly and got into his car quickly. He counted out the money for me in bundles of paper money wrapped by the bank. When it was all there I handed him the two stones. He opened his pocket and took out another loop and inspected them. There was the possibility that I had switched them.

When he looked at me the smile was back till I opened my hand and showed him a much larger stone. This one was five carats or one gram. The man could see that there was no colour in the stone as I held it in the light coming into the vehicle.

To start things off I said, "Five carats, colourless and perfect. There are no inclusions. Check the stone then give me 200,000. Take it or leave it. The next jeweller would if you don't." The man wanted to grab the jewel but took it as if his firstborn child. This took ten minutes to inspect before I put my hand out demanding it back. The man reluctantly did so.

All he could say is, "That's all my money."

"You can sell these jewels for a lot more. Banks will lend you more money. Get the money now or I will leave."

The man didn't even close the door as he ran for the bank one more time. He was getting a good deal and he knew it. I used my PK and pulled the door closed and waited. This time it took longer. I could read the man's mind in the bank. The manager was worried that his customer was being compelled to get the money from his account under duress. The smile the man made was enough for the manager to bypass the police.

The man ran out but this time with a grey bag made of some plant material. Inside was the entire amount I asked for. He handed me the bag and wanted the diamond right away. I did as he wanted though no words left his lips. The man really smiled and held the large stone in two hands. He quickly made his inspection once more.