07. Ghost of the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker Read Free Book Online Page A

can do wonders with it. All you need is pressure and a way to control it and you have useful power. Give me useful power and you have machinery that can do a lot. Remember, the limitations imposed on the hexes were originally put in to simulate the properties of other worlds far away so that they might support the creatures who dominate there. Getting around these sorts of environmental handicaps was part of the exercise. Of course, now, and for millennia, we've been on our own, so we can cheat guilt-free. They have shipped massive tons of this seafood garden to Kalinda since we grew too lazy to remain self-sufficient in food, as well as a number of minerals that are nuisances here but very useful in our manufacturing and even medical systems. We make conduits and pipes and other things that make their lives easier here, and can be run using only their technology. We all benefit."
    It sounded clear and simple, and gave the best, succinct examples of how the international and even interspecies economy worked.
    "Do we do this with all our neighbors?" Ming asked her.
    "Well, most of them. And some much farther off. We even trade some things with nations halfway around the world. That's what those anchorages are for up top. There are some hexes, though, that just don't have anything we want or need, or we don't have anything they want or need, or they're just so downright spooky and strange that we can't deal with them. I'm told there are some races that shun all contact, that don't even send ambassadors to Zone."
    "That brings up an interesting point," Ari put in. "If you were in Abudan, there was a Zone Gate right there. How come you didn't just use that to come home?"
    The engineer laughed. "You must work for the government! Most ordinary folks can't use those routes unless it's a life or death situation. If we all did, why, the areas in and out of Zone would be crushed with people from all over and nobody could ever use them in an emergency or for diplomatic work. We do occasionally use them to ship delicate or time-sensitive stuff, but we have to set it up way in advance, on off-peak hours, using Yabban crews propositioned in Kalinda. The paperwork alone is a nightmare. No, I'm perfectly happy to go this way. After all, it's only a few hours by tube to Banu City, just a kilometer or so back. After I clear here, I'll pick up a company scooter and be in the office by midday tomorrow at the latest."
    "Urn—excuse me? Tube?"
    "Yes. It does cost, and you'll have to get your money changed, but it's pretty reasonable. Fast, too. My company built this line decades ago." She looked at the watch strapped to her wrist. "My goodness! Glad to have been of help, but I really must be going!"
    "Oh, that's all right. But this—tube . . . ?"
    The engineer was already heading away toward the hex boundary. "Don't worry. You'll see what I mean! Good fortune in your venture, whatever it is!"
    They watched her go, once more alone and regretting it.
    So, you want to see what she meant? Ari asked.
    Might as well, Ming responded. Since we're going that way anyway.
     
     
    It may have been little more than a kilometer to Banu City, but it took them a couple of hours to get there while they got used to the vastly different and very alien environment and the new way to breathe. Compensating for the lower oxygen content was much like it would have been for high altitude work back in the Terran universe from which they'd come.
    Iwonder if it's this hard for air breathers to cross a border up top? Ari mused.
    Idoubt it. Altitude and maybe temperature, but I doubt if there's anyplace where the air is so filled with food that you die of gluttony by simply breathing normally, she replied.
    Ain't that the truth!
    Still, they did make it to the city using the magnetic routing lines and the grids.
    Banu City was actually only a small town by Yabban or any other standards, but it certainly was impressive nonetheless.
    Impossible to ignore was the smell and