O Pioneer by Pohl Frederik

Author:Pohl, Frederik
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2020-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

XV

Well, what do you say, folks and folkesses? Did we have one grand time at the Taste of Tupelo yesterday or did we not? The beer was cold, the rides were fun, and weren't those little kids just adorable? Even the eeties. Sure, if you 're the picky kind of person that's always looking for the worm in the mango you can say a few things went kind of wrong. I'm sorry I had to arrest two of our citizens—I'm not going to say their names over the air, but you all know who they are—but, hey, a night in the cooler straightened them right up, and they'll be home with their loved ones this morning. And it's too bad what happened to the Kalk High Muckamuck, but if the Kalks can't play a friendly game of chance without throwing some kind of a tizzy fit when they lose, whose fault is that? Anyway, I'm sure we all join in offering our sincere sympathy to his spousal units and all the other Kalkaboos for his funeral services this morning.

But what's the use of looking at the dark side? Put it all together, it was a great Taste, and I want to be the first one to rise and move that we pass a real vote of gratitude to Chief Wili Tschopp and his hard-working, fun-loving men and women of the volunteer fire company, even if, heh-heh, I happen to be one of them myself.

—SILVA CRISTL'S EARLY MORNING CHAT

The funeral of the High Champion, like all major Kalkaboo events, took place at dawn. So an hour before daybreak Giyt had to visit the Kalkaboo general store in order to buy a firecracker for the ceremonies.

Giyt had never been in the Kalkaboo store before. It was crowded. Nearly everyone else present, naturally enough, was a Kalkaboo. None of them spoke to him, and they looked at him, if at all, only out of the corners of their eyes, but he recognized that they were all on the same errand as himself.

What puzzled him was what size firecracker to buy. The Kalkaboos themselves were buying all sizes, from tiny beads to things the size of a baseball. He looked around for a friendly face but found none. He did, however, see the Petty-Prime Responsible One picking up something about as big as a thumbnail, which emboldened him to reach for another of the same size from the bin.

It was the wrong choice. A feathery hand snaked past him to clasp his own, and the voice of the translator in his ear snapped, "No. Not adequate. Come with." And a Kalkaboo Giyt did not recognize led him to the back of the store. There was a muttered exchange with a clerk, who retired to the storeroom for a moment and emerged with what looked like a bright blue grapefruit. "Pay now," Giyt was ordered. "This little other thing is detonator for making bomb bang. Don't push till it's time. Now go."

The object weighed twenty kilograms at least.

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