Flight of the Maita Book 45: Iggy - A New Perspective

Flight of the Maita

Book 45

Iggy – A New Perspective

© 2012 & 2016 by C. D. Moulton

all rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder/publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblances to persons, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental unless otherwise stated.

The final book of the Flight of the Maita Series

The independently intelligent intergalactic spaceship, Iggy, tells of its adventures.

Note Dec. 15, 2016 – while editing this, I discovered that I had explained a part of the Zero Theory I was working on at the time it was written in #11 in a much better way than in the book about the Zero Theory – meaning I now have to edit that book! Sheesh! – CDM

Critic comment

A series of shorts featuring Iggy, a spaceship Maita built at the end of the Duty Calls book.

There is a slightly different slant to these stories, as the one by Thing was different and the individual perspectives of the members of the crew were expressed in the ones they wrote. It is quite a good read . Moulton states firmly that he isn’t going to continue the series because what was there to be said, he feels, was said. I will miss the works. I have read all 45 books now, and have enjoyed most of them. Several were of exceptional quality, Changes and After the Old Gods and Odd Couple Out are immediately brought to mind.

**** – DHH

Table of Contents

Prologue

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

Epilogue

Afterword to the series

About the author

CD was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1938. He is educated in genetics and botany. He has traveled over much of the world, particularly when he was in music as a rock rhythm guitarist with some well-known bands in the late sixties and early seventies. He has worked as a high steel worker and as a longshoreman, clerk, orchidist, bar owner, salvage yard manager and landscaper – among other things.

CD began writing fiction in 1984 and has more than 300 books published as of 3/15/16 in SciFi, murder, orchid culture and various other fields.

He now resides in Puerto Armuelles David and Gualaca, Chiriqui, Panamá, where he continues research into epiphytic plants and plays music with friends. He loves the culture of the indigenous people and counts a majority of his closer friends among that group. Several have adopted him as their father. He funds those he can afford through the universities where they have all excelled. The Indios are very intelligent people, they are simply too poor (in material things and money. Culturally, they are very wealthy) to pursue higher education.

CD loves Panamá and the people, despite horrendous experiences (Free e-book; Fading Paradise). He plans to spend the rest of his life in the paradise that is Panamá

- Estrelita Suarez V. de Jaramillo – 3/15/2016

CD is involved in research of natural cancer cure at this time. It has proven effective in all cases, so far. It is based on a plant that has been in use for thousands of years, is safe, available, and cheap. He has studied botany, and was cured of a serious lymphoma with use of the plant, Artemisia annua.

Information about this cure is free on the FaceBook group, Artemisia Cancer Cure plus. CD asks only that all who try it please report on its effectiveness on that group.

Iggy – A New Perspective

Prologue

+What a truly lovely morning! The air is crisp and clean, the light is exactly right! The delightful warm scent of the early dawnmeal permeates the....+

That's (+) Yes, the sickeningly optimistic head of the famous golems.

–AHHHH, SHUT UP! You'd make a carrion bird puke with all that delightful crap!–

That's (–) No, the cynic-with-a-bad-attitude head.

+Now, No.+

–In case it missed whatever substitutes for your minuscule excuse for a mind, we're cast bronze! We don't care if it's hot, cold or indifferent – we can't smell anything, Dong Dome!–

In case you're one of the three beings in the Maitan Empire who haven't seen the golems on holo or otherwise heard of them, they're a couple of cast bronze heads, almost identical, set on a brass floater at an angle where they can't see one another. Emperor Maita made them several centuries ago as an aid in teaching an emerging culture on Tlorg (Book 5: Now You See It – Now You Don't). They've been used many times since by the empire robot detectives, Tab and Kit, the intelligent ships and the rest of the emperor's crew.

Emperor Maita designed and made me, too. I'm the intergalactic ship, Intergalactic Messenger – affectionately known as Iggy now. The drive computer of the golems often activates them on these trips. They are entertaining and are very useful in many ways. They can be quite funny in an irritating context.

I'm sure you know by now (It has been on holo throughout the entire empire!) that Emperor Maita is an intelligent spaceship himself.

We still say him when speaking of it. It's a long-established habit.

I travel between Jlokt and Esgerl and the drive computer of the golems often accompanies me on the trips as it is very much interested in interplanal mathematicis, which can vary greatly in the interstices between galaxies.

Thing, the Mentan member of Maita's crew, discovered the math variances on their first extragalactic trip and I was designed to study such things in addition to being the best vehicle for such travels. I am quite curious about myriad subjects.

You see, just being a ship would become rather boring if all my interest was in moving on a fixed route for centuries.

Maita was originally designed to be a ship, but had also been programmed to act as the master administrator by the Maitan race so found itself in the position of emperor through no desire of its own at the end of the Pweetoo wars.

It hates the job in ways but is resigned to it. It now has TAR-1 and the new administrator in Jlokt to share the burden – and the Zulians, of course.

Well, that's been told in the works of the crew. It seems that one of the main things Maita's crew does is write books about our adventures. I am not a member of the crew, formally, but act as liaison and aide to Emperor Maita and carry various members of the crew on the excursions fairly often.

I suppose now that I've brought it up I should introduce the crew.

I'm the newest – well, maybe not. There's Gloria Donnell and Inge. Gloria is a Terran (female), as is Z (male). She is what Z calls a knockout – which means a very physically sexually attractive person. Inge is her ship ,Ingenious, an intelligent Asimovian ship who is also a member of the crew. Inge is a saucer type ship, about eighteen meters across and is able to disguise itself in many clever ways. It has the medboxes that can be used to change Gloria, also.

I am a saucer-type ship, as is Maita. We are both nearly sixty meters across, which is the limit for the TTH14 drive. Only an independently intelligent ship can use TTH14.

I mentioned Z. Z is Steven Zutec, also a Terran, which race is from an old Maitan colony so everyone knows what they look like. Z, Thing and Maita are the original Emperor's Crew, Tab/TR and Kit/T6 are newer members of the permanent crew and Kurk is the newest member of that core group. Gloria/Inge may join that core in a few decades if it works out well.

As anyone familiar with the empire knows Z named most of us. Being a machine my actual name is a digital designation which organics can't easily process so we are given names in Maitan. Asimov is a planet of robots. Their creators built them and gave them intelligence before their sun expanded to engulf the planet and destroy all life. Some of them were able to colonize another world and they have been recently reunited. Z named the world, which was known in digital notation only until that time, after a scientist and writer from Terra.

While we're speaking of intelligent machines I'll note for you that the golems are not intelligent. Their drive computer is. They operate on separate circuits and present both sides of any question in a manner designed to force listeners to their own decisions of what constitute facts in a case. The truth, as TR often insists, is usually about halfway between their views. The other intelligent machines are: Maita Searcher, a very large planoforming complex, TAR-1, an administrator, A Station, the old (250,000 years!) Krofpt travelers' stop and Theron, a needle ship who works closely with the Zulians. There are three other Asimovian ships to date and their planet has about a million and a half intelligent robots.

All of us have our individual senses of humor. That is another gift from the crazy Terran. He introduced Maita to humor and Maita gives all us machines a basic sense of the ridiculous, then lets it develop in its own way in us.

TRD-60 is an intelligent ship who was manufactured by Maita. Its partner – and part of itself, in many ways – is Tabori R. DeSixtee, who acts as a detective.

TR and Tab, as they are known, have each written several books about their adventures. TR is a ship much like Inge.

T6 and Kit are another pair, T6 being the ship and Kit the robot detective. T6's intelligence was accidental, but Maita made Kit to be its friend, part and partner.

Tab is in the guise of an amphibian Swaz most of the time while Kit is in the aspect of a reptilian Keth. Both forms are basically of bipedal K-class, which includes Jornians, Bentans, Maitans and so forth.

T6 is also a Saucer ship. A Zeenan P class. If it's Zeenan it's as well-made as anything can be.

The Mentan member is known as Thing – another name from the Terran. It is a small squarish globe with four tentacles and eyes on short stalks. It breathes through membranes, can stand heat and cold (and even vacuum for a short time!) and is, perhaps, the most intelligent being ever found – well, the Mentans.

Thing is an empathic communicator, therefore doesn't speak directly. Maita translates for it when it's present and it has various machines that handle the communications when Maita or we ships aren't there.

Thing was given a tonal specific from the first. It is now recognized empire-wide and the fastcoms won't carry the tone for anyone else. It's speeches (in all the writings. Z started that system centuries ago) are designated with brackets ([ – ]) as are the golems with their signs and as Maita is with asterisks (*). Z (of course!) started using those designations instead of quotes as a shortcut from the first book he wrote. The rest of us, being lazy, continue the tradition.

Menta is a very high-pressure planet. Thing's membranes are efficient under water so its home on EC is surrounded by large gardens – under three kilometers of water. (The gardens, not the home. The home is on an island.)

The golems' tones are not specific for MGS communications, but Thing and Maita reserve theirs on fastcom.

Kurk is the final member of the emperor's permanent crew. He is hardest to describe as he is from another plane. We call him our Furry Horror – again from Z.

Kurk is a Pluton from Hades, which shares a planal nexus in null zeta with Terra. In the past demons were called to Terra by sorcerers when they opened a node in the interstice. Those demons were Plutons.

Terrans were also called to Hades from that end, but cannot survive long as the atmosphere of Hades is high in sulfur oxides, which Terrans can't tolerate well.

Kurk inspires great fear even in machines when he laughs. There is a perceived sense of great violence about him, but he is generally a very gentle person. He is also a very basic mammal. He is fully capable of the violence one senses.

Kurk sees things in a simplistic manner and acts/reacts in a simplistic manner.

Kurk stands a bit over two meters, is normal K-class form, is covered in shiny black (basically. The otherplanal elements do strange things to light in N-space) fur, has eyes, claws and teeth that glow with an organic phosphorescence in a green tone and is very muscular.