Solomon's Private File #354
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 31 in this story, in the Fall of 2057.
Solomon's Private File #354 "...For The Trees"
START Page
At breakfast on the Forest World, Drogan, the Chief of Security for
the company, was unusually late. He sat at my table. I said to him,
"You look conflicted. Oh, that didn't help." He had to smile a little.
He said, "There was a break in, in Processing, last night." I said, "Do
you suspect I did it? I assure I was in my rooms all night." He said,
"Means of entrance and exit of the residence building are monitored." I
said, "Then you know it wasn't me. Or?" He said, "Do you have a way to
defeat our security measures?" I smiled, and said, "I think I would
rather not answer that. I would find your speculation on that to be
very interesting." He tried not to laugh.
He said, "Whoever did it, was clumsy. I think you would not be so." I
said, "More interesting. What if I wanted you to think I was clumsy?"
He grinned and said, "But you know I know you aren't." I said, "Please
don't argue effectively." He laughed. I said, "It's so sad that your
laughter has surprised a lot of people." He worked through that, and
looked at me in wonder and respect. I said, "There is another way to
look at this. It could have been a coincidence, to happen while I'm
here. I agree. We don't believe in coincidences, even when they
actually happen." He almost laughed again. I said, "I believe you when
you said it happened. Somebody had to do it. You must know what they
were looking for. Probably what they think I would be interested in."
He nodded. I said, "Either they wanted some of that for their own
reasons, or they wanted you to think I did it, for some reason."
I said, "One in security would be the likely person for the last
reason, but you didn't order it, and they wouldn't likely act on their
own. That leaves the manager going around you. He doesn't know you as
well as he should, to do that." He looked grim. I said, "But if he
"Thank you." He chuckled. I said, "That still leaves the option of
private interest. You might know if there was anything left to take. If
there was none, who wanted it might have become frustrated and less
careful, or even violent. You haven't mentioned signs of that." He
said, "There were none, both ways." I said, "If there are no other
speculations, that leaves two options. Manager caused it to cast
suspicion on somebody, or I did it in some er, devious plan to oh, ah,
confuse myself." He tried not to react. I said, "Good effort." He
almost lost control.
I said, "Now you know something of why I do this work." He said, "I'm
beginning to, and to realize that I'm not as good in security as I
thought I was." I said, "Good. Those who don't think they need to
improve, don't, who most should." He nodded, and said, "Wise." I said,
"Oh, not that word again!" Smiles. I said, "Your report to the manager
is going to be a little unusual. If only I could hear it. Er,
silently." Suppressed grins. He left.
My assigned guard was waiting for me outside of the dining hall. I
said, "I'm Solomon. Drogan assigned you to me?" He said, "I am Mastof.
Yes, sir!" I said, "Good. Seems my stunner didn't survive the
attentions of Security yesterday." He looked guilty. I whispered to
him, "You need to work on your control. You just made it obvious to me
who did it." He tried not to look surprised. I said, "Better." Louder,
I said, "I will visit Engineering now. Processing, this afternoon.
Should give them enough time to clean up." He tried not to look very
surprised. I said, "Try harder. Let's go." He was very relieved we were
doing something besides talking.
The supervisor came out to greet me. I said, looking around in the
big building, "Well ordered. What do you do here?" He proudly said, "We
service the equipment, maintain the facilities, and run
transportation." I said, "Do you divide into sections?" He said, "We
do, but many of our people are qualified in more than one area, so we
are able to shift people to different sections to address different
needs as they arise." I said, "That's unusual. Not what I expected, on
meeting the manager." He looked very proud. I said, "I see. Your idea.
Well done!" He was positively glowing in pride. I said, "Does he know?"
He said, "I'm not sure." I said, "I understand completely." We knew
what we meant, and he very much appreciated it. We discussed what they
did there the rest of the morning, even going deep into arcane
technical details. At the end of the tour, he said to me, "Sir, you
between the stars is SO boring. Learning about what contains my life,
is a lot less so." He said, "I can understand those motivations very
well." I said, "The day we stop learning and wanting to learn, is the
day we start dying. I'm not ready for that, yet." He said, "Will you
ever be?" I said, "Don't even think it!" Grins. We left.
I said, "There's Drogan. I'll see you after lunch." The guard nodded,
and left, and the chief approached, and said, "Already you're ordering
my people around?" I said, "Not around, just that way." Hidden grins.
He said, "Been improving him?" I said, "Tried. Practically gives
everything away. Embarrasses very easily." He tried not to laugh. He
said, "Chief Engineer loves you now?" I said, "Oh, been talking to
him?" He shook with silent laughter. I said, "Better be careful, or
you're going to need a new gasket." That REALLY didn't help.
When he had better control, he said, "Chemist going to love you,
too?" I said, "Absolutely not. What respect I have from people here
comes from my knowing their jobs, and helping them, and just being who
I am. Chemist will fear my knowledge, and I have to say, I like that."
He said, "Oh! I think I understand. You are so personable, I almost
forgot you're here on a mission." I said, "There are different levels
of loyalty and duty. There comes a time, sometimes more than once, when
we will have to decide where in that we will be, and what we will do
about it, which will seriously affect our future, and more importantly,
who we think we are, and who we want to be. It's better to be prepared
with the right decisions, before others decide for us." He stared at
me, and said, "You are more than an investigator." I said, "We are all
more than we are."
We continued walking. He said, "Have you discovered anything for your
investigation?" I said, "Do you expect me to tell you?" He said, "Yes."
I said, "Don't do that." He tried not to grin. I said, "Maintenance
records, and actual work, and other schedules, show extra hidden
activity in many areas. I have a complete memory. Easy to compare all
that." He said, "Oh! Instant reader, too?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do
you want me to tell the manager?" I said, "Does he use a truth teller?"
He said, "Sometimes." I said, "Then I won't tell you either way. You
will use your best judgement, after we visit Processing this
afternoon." I nodded yes. He indicated agreement.
We went to lunch. My first friend joined us at my invitation. We
talked about everything but my investigation. Then Drogan and I walked
to processing. I said, "I will go see harvesting tomorrow. You should
NOT be with me." He said, "You plan to do something you don't want me
to be responsible for?" I said, "I don't plan to, but the natives might
have other plans. And maybe one of your people, too. Better you don't
get caught in that." He said, "I'm concerned. I don't know how good a
fighter you are." I said, "You are fifth level." He said, "How did you
know that?" I said, "Because I'm better." He said, "I don't sense any
Ki." I said, "I'm restricting it, or it WILL be noticed." He said, "Oh!
You can block a stunner?" I said, "Those at my level can, yes, when
intent is detected in time, and there aren't too many of them. You know
that." He said, "I do. Most don't." I said, "We don't like to advertise
that for testing." He grinned, and said, "I understand that
completely!"
We went into Processing, and to the supervisor's office. He rose to
greet us. I said, "I'm Solomon. I've come to inspect your facility." He
said, "I am Instarach. Please be welcome. I expected you to visit
yesterday." I said, "I thought it better to give you time to prepare
for my visit. Oh, what an interesting expression. Did I say something
wrong?" He said hurriedly, "No, not at all. Just surprised." I said,
"Maybe I can help with that. In Processing, cleaning up is part of the
process. Difficult to find irregularities, if there are any. But in
Engineering, everything needs to be transported, and the kind of
cleaning you need to do here, isn't a priority there. Actually, it's
not even possible, without your system." His jaw dropped open in
complete surprise. Drogan almost felt the same. I said, "Hmm, I do like
to surprise people, but to paralyze them?" Drogan had to laugh.
I said, "So, may I look around?" He said, "Please. May I accompany
you?" I said, "Sure. Please bring along your assortment of unusual
expressions. Ah! Like that one." I said, "Well, we know who will
provide the laughter." There was more of it. I said, "Work doesn't have
to be without its pleasant aspects." I discussed with the chemist his
operation, and in detail. He was very surprised at my knowledge, and
said so. I said, "I wouldn't be much of an inspector if I didn't know
about what I'm supposed to inspect. It's my job to know your job better
than you do. Er, with the added optional job of encouraging surprise
and interesting expressions." Drogan tried not to laugh.
Behind a storage container, they saw me bend down and touch the floor
with a finger. I sniffed the tacky substance, and said, "Hmm, smells
nice. Tree sap?" Chemist said, "Probably." I wiped my finger on my
handkerchief. Chemist said, "May I have that, please?" I said, "Why?
You won't want to wipe your nose with that, now." He was a little
confused. He said, "Regulations. It's our product." I said, "No. Not if
it's tree sap. It's all over out there. Natural thing. And taking it
from me is in violation of Standards Inspection. So, what now?" Drogan
said, "Let's go see the Manager." I said, "Alright. He coming? Don't
want to miss any interesting expressions. Like that one." He said to
me, "Why are you doing that?" I said, "Because I can, and he cooperates
so well." We proceeded in silence.
In the Manager's office, the chemist explained the situation. The
manager said to me, "May I see it?" I took it out of my pocket, and
displayed the stain. He said, "It's our product. I require that you
give that to me." I said, "Are you aware that it is a sample of
Inspection, and taking it, is a violation of Standards?" He said, "It
may be, but that is to be decided by higher authority." I said, "Would
you use force to obtain it?" He said, "If required." I said, "In that
case, here it is." I put it on his desk, and said, "Violation noted. Do
you need anything more from me?" He said, "No, that's all. Thank you."
I said, "Then I hope to see you after I come back from the harvest
tomorrow. Be well." I walked out.
Drogan joined me at supper. He said, "You're playing a dangerous
game." I said, "It's no game. It's life and death for all here. There
is more than you know, that's involved." He said, "You won't tell me?"
I said, "You won't believe me without proof, and probably not even
then. Oh, and I touched that spot with TWO fingers." He had to laugh.
He said, "You tricked me, and I didn't even see it. I should have, with
what I know of you now." I said, "I caused that with the distraction of
the expressions comments." He stared at me, and said, "Wow!" I said, "I
hear that a lot. You should know by now what I'm really inspecting." He
thought a little, and said, "People! You're inspecting US!" I said,
"With people, it's they who usually cause their problems. Fix the
people, fixes the problems better, and longer lasting. Here, you aren't
aware of the real problem you're causing."
He said, "The natives?" I said, "Those green people are not a real
danger to this base." He said, "The people who took what caused you to
be here?" I said, "No. That just caused us to look at the situation
here. We aren't interested in your drug operation, as such. That's
going to end soon, when your presence here does. Those who manage to
escape this world, will face trials. I will decide who, and for what,
and how strongly, with my recommendations." He said, "For drug
dealing?" I said, "That's not my concern. I'm not doing anything about
that." He said, "You still won't tell me." I said, "It could be worse
for you if you believed me. I'll tell you something about me, instead.
I am not able to lie." He stared at me. Then he said, "Wow!" I said,
"Better save those for use later. You're going to need them." He looked
very odd. I said, "Oh, another interesting expression." He chuckled.
I said, "When is your ship leaving?" He said, "Scheduled to leave
late tomorrow." I said, "I request that you ask for a delay, to be
available for the needed evacuation after the real owners of this
planet attack." That surprised him, but not as much as he expected. He
said, "Estimated time?" I said, "Just vague guesses. They're slow to
act, or you would have been dead long since. I think one thing that's
delaying them is, er, me." He said, "The unknown quantity." I said,
"They might be waiting to see what I do in visiting the harvest, and
how the natives react to me." He said, "I want to see those things,
too." I said, "But you know the manager is going to try to have me
killed there. More, he suspects you won't do it. Principles; so
inconvenient." He smiled hard, and said, "Yes." I said, "What's going
to be interesting to me, is how to manage it so I don't reveal too much
of my abilities. My associate is interested in that."
He said, "So you DO have an assistant here!" I said, "Yes and no. My
friend never leaves her home, which is on a very inhospitable to us
planet, very far from here. Well, she can't. She's mostly a plant. But
her mind is free to roam. Normally, she just watches. She finds me very
entertaining." Grins. I said, "Sometimes we discuss things, mind to
mind, usually after my missions. Yes, she can read thoughts, and no she
doesn't actually DO anything. Usually, it's I who starts the
discussion. No, she doesn't violate the privacy of other minds. Yes, I
knew what you were thinking. Well, I would think that." Grins. I said,
"I don't actually need her assistance, but it could help, and she's
interested in this issue here. Who doesn't like friends?" He said, "I
almost understand that." I said, "At least you didn't say wow." Grins.
I said, "The Manager's assistant, my first friend here, what do you
think of her? How will she handle herself in an emergency?" He said,
"More competent than she shows. Been a few emergencies. Handled well,
better than the Manager." I said, "You may share of our conversations,
with her, what you wish, and she may do the same with you." He nodded,
and said, "The Engineer?" I said, "He's practically oblivious to
politics. Most of this will just confuse him, and with conflicted
loyalties, which are mostly to his machines. They're like his babies.
He'll have to abandon them, and that will hurt him. Be careful what you
share with him, and expect him to ask the Manager for clarification and
verification of anything unusual." He nodded, and said, "Chemist?" I
said, "An arrogant betrayer. He won't believe anything you say
regarding this, violently. He'll go straight to the Manager,
manipulating what he's told to make himself look intelligent and
courageous, and all others the opposite. The drug operation was
obviously his idea. He should be told nothing, except by the Manager."
He said, "Accurate and well expressed assessments." I said, "My first
and best academic interest was psychology." He said, "I should have
suspected." Grins.
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Grant
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