I HAVE RETURNED FROM the Pannar dominated world. I left a lady named Atera as a Queen, ruling the most powerful civilization on her planet. I also left her with two things that should aid her rule. I left her with a Keegor furnished book that describes, in some detail, how she should best run her Kingdom. I also left her carrying my child, a child who will eventually become the monarch.
I had to convince Atera that she should follow the directions laid down in the Keegor book on rule.
That she should have my child and that the child will eventually rule her kingdom was really Atera's idea.
Since I solved the Pannar problem, the Keegor have given me a bundle of things for my pay. The type of plants that caused the Pannar to conquer a civilization contain important medicines that will also work for we of Earth. The plants depend upon specific soil conditions and insect pollination and can only be grown in the place that the Pannar conquered. However, there are similar plants, known to the Keegor, that will do the same thing. There's a berry from yet another world that won't really change the food production of Earth, but will flavor many of the foods that we now eat. There are also some advances in technology, that will improve things, but not cause radical changes that would radically alter the development path of civilization back on Earth.
I'm a little leery of what I have been given in pay, until I have food people test the berries. I manage to not sell the berries, but to form partnerships with food producers. The berries have a whole new flavor. It will be like when chocolate was discovered.
The medicines are important. I'm able to sell the patents for big bucks.
Some of the technology items sell for big bucks, others not so well. I complain to the Keegor and they give me specific applications for the low selling stuff. Business picks up and my company, Merchant Adventurers, is making a lot of money.
The space travel device that has got me to two different planets is now powered on at least once a day, for testing and whatever. Apparently Earth scientists are learning a great deal from study of the machine.
(I don't have an advanced degree in science. I have no idea how the Keegor machine works. However, I can immediately see two things that escape the high powered science guys.
One of the things that I see is that Earth science is being pushed in the direction of Keegor science. If we of Earth should encounter another advanced civilization, say on the same level as the Keegor, we would tend to side with the Keegor, as we already have their technology.
The other thing that I see is really just a guess on my part, but it fits well with what I have learned so far. Maybe someday ...)
One day, another job assignment from the Keegor for James Aquila comes out of the space travel device when it's powered on.
I and any number of PhDs go over the assignment with considerable care. The assignment is to travel to a new planet and solve a problem that a people called Estarole are causing.
It seems that there are two civilizations battling for supremacy on the planet. The Porvar are losing to the Estarole and the Keegor want the Porvar to win.
The problem appears to be that the Estarole have just won a war with another civilization, In the process of winning the war, the Estarole have acquired a number of warships. The Estarole are now using the warships as pirate craft and making it impossible for the Porvar to conduct trade and thus strangling their economy.
Despite the fact that the Keegor are much more intelligent than I am, I'm smarter than the Keegor.
The Keegor envision building a sailing ship that can defeat any of the Estarole warships and thus can rule the sea.
