Lost and found_ a novel - Alan Dean Foster [86]
Klos-Jlad’s brightening silenced them all. Wealthy and knowledgeable, he had been on many voyages of collection and had dealt with innumerable kinds of inventory.
“I personally am of both minds. I do not think the inventory at large is ignorant. Were that the case, they could not have accomplished all that they have already. We know from recorded accounts that the enclosure barrier did not fail by accident, but was tampered with. I should not be surprised if the four for whom we continue to search were responsible. Taken together, these are not the actions of ignorant entities.” Murmurs of concurrence, some reluctant, acknowledged the senior association member’s observations.
“By the same token,” Klos-Jlad continued, “I do not think the absent inventory will initiate any action that could result in harm to themselves. They have worked too hard to stay alive to go to the trouble of killing themselves. Therefore, they must have some other purpose in mind.”
“Inventory struggles to survive,” Dven-Palt pointed out. “The natural desire of any captive upon regaining freedom of movement would be to retain it for as long as possible. That is their purpose.”
“Well appraised,” Klos-Jlad agreed. “Still, I cannot keep from wondering if there might be . . .” As his voice trailed away, his avatar faded commensurately.
Having held her peace for as long as possible, Shib-Kirn now clamored for attention. “I agree completely with Brid-Nwol. Inventory cannot be allowed to wander at will through the interstices of the ship. If they do not do something harmful out of malice, they may very well do it out of fatigue, or unawareness, or in the spirit of experimentation.” Her gaze encompassed every one of the other attendant avatars.
“I, for one, do not intend to stand quietly by waiting for calamity to strike. A manipulative appendage inserted in the wrong control field can be as damaging as a bomb attached to critical instrumentation. Furthermore, there is the matter of the murderous Tuuqalian. Four dead members is too high a price to pay for preservation of a future sale. It is true that these four remaining unrecovered inventory represent a profit. They also represent a grave threat. I do not believe that the former exceeds the latter. They should be terminated on sight.”
The uproar that ensued among the assembled avatars took all of Pret-Klob’s skill at soothing to quell. When at last the commotion had died down and the heads had resumed their normal positions and levels of brightness, he addressed the ongoing muttering.
“I agree that we cannot allow inventory, particularly this highly inventive and resourceful quartet of inventory, to run freely through our ship. At the same time it must be conceded that based on events to date, the four have demonstrated skills and talents that render them far more valuable than originally thought. Based on this new information, I have had the ship reappraise their potential value to certain of our regular, best customers.”
Mathematics appeared, superimposed on the spherical darkness. In response, comments flew. Like the discussion that had preceded them, they were mightily conflicted.
Silent up to now, Bren-Trad anxiously vouchsafed his opinion. “We cannot just throw away profit like that!” Though some were grudging, the accords that were declaimed in response to Pret-Klob’s presentation were largely of similar mind. This was duly noted by all.
“Such is our conundrum, members of the association. The more aptitude and skill the free-roaming inventory demonstrates, the greater their increase in value. The longer they remain at large, the more they validate their enhanced worth.”
“By that argument,” Brid-Nwol grumbled unrepentantly, “their value will be at its greatest when they have killed us all.”
“And so it would be,” agreed Pret-Klob without a hint of irony. “However, in order to take advantage of that increased value, we must see to it that it does not quite reach that rarefied level of accomplishment. The astray inventory must be recaptured alive.