Quest for the Well of Souls - Jack L. Chalker [67]
Yulin was uncomfortable with this line of thought. As long as he was the only pilot, it gave him absolute command. Mavra Chang was a threat to his power, an unknown quantity in that he did not know what else the computer had programmed in her brain. He didn't want her on New Pompeii again, that was for sure.
"But you can just deep-hypno the words out of her and leave it at that!" he protested.
"We've tried," the Yaxa told him. "So did Ortega long ago. It won't work. Whatever is within her brain by Obie's doing is accessible only in the applicable situations. She does not remember it until she needs it, and it's blocked to us as well as to her."
That was only partially true. Actually, the Yaxa had no love, let alone trust, for Ben Yulin, and they liked having a lever. They did, in fact, know the codewords, because she'd said them and used them consciously in the escape. It was the remainder of the programmed information that was blocked.
In addition to Yulin's basic amorality, his new culture was totally male-dominated; the women did the work, the men reaped the rewards. Yaxa society was more than the reverse: basically, male Yaxa were sex machines, killed and eaten by their mates after their performance. To an all-female society, Mavra Chang's additional knowledge was more trusted.
Yulin accepted the situation grudgingly. "All right, then, she's going with us. So what's all that?" He gestured toward the makeshift surgery.
"Chang and her companion were surgically altered by the Wuckl to look like pigs," the Yaxa explained. "Never mind why. But we have a lot of problems to solve: protective suits can't easily be altered; the reinstatement of vocal cords. Working on them are the Wuckl who did the original work and five surgeons from the best biologically advanced hexes we know who can be bought and trusted to stay bought. Some of their skills are incredible."
"You mean they're going to change them back?" Yulin gasped. "Wow! I'd think that was impossible!"
"Cosmetics," Ambassador Windsweep told him, "are easy. Form-fitting them to the spacesuits that we have is more difficult. I think you'll be amazed."
Yulin shrugged resignedly. He would be happier if they died on the table.
They entered the ambassador's office, and the minotaur took the huge fluffy chair there for his benefit. "So what's the timetable?" he asked.
"We've already contacted the Torshind," Ambassador Windsweep replied. "They'll be ready for us in another two days, which should be enough for the recuperation of our prisoners. All the equipment from our end is already here, and all of the major paraphernalia has already been transferred by the Torshind and its associates to Yugash." A tentacle snaked down and lifted a plastic cylinder holding a pale liquid.
"This is how you will survive. Taking four cows with us just to supply you with the needed calcium and lactose is an incredible expense. This will free you."
Yulin looked uncertainly at the container. "How much of that do you have?" he asked nervously.
"You need only a small amount per day, really," Windsweep noted. "We have a three-month supply. Even then, you could survive pretty well for another two months without it. If we aren't done with our business by then, we will be dead."
Yulin stared at the container and hoped the ambassador was right.
"You can always back out, you know," the Yaxa prodded. "After all—we can't force you into this, even though we need you to gain access to the computer."
The minotaur threw up his hands. "You know better than that," he said, defeated.
* * *
The surgeons had several problems to solve. The cosmetic changes would be easy to reverse, of course, but not the legs, which made it impossible to fit them into any available pressure suits. Though the Yaxa had manufactured suits based on their old forms, these were now deemed unusable because of the very different shape of the pigs' limbs. To return them in any way to their original form would be to have them small, weak, slow, and facing downward—in other words, tremendous burdens on the expedition.