Trade World Saga 1: Manual Interpretation by Ken Pence

of the natives?" the being asked.
    "No," Rett replied and was hit by the strongest jolt yet. When he returned to full consciousness, he was prepared for another jolt which didn't come. How did this being know, he was lying? The artifacts! Of course, he knew. Rett anticipated the reply and said, "Yes, I had contact with one native."
    Rett was pounded with another small series of jolts.
    "Only one native?"
    "Yes," Rett answered and was jolted again.
    "How many natives?"
    "Just one," he answered and tensed for the next jolt which didn't come.
    "Did you give the native any artifacts?"
    Rett decided that since Trade training didn't count and the belt had been taken, he could answer a negative. "No, I didn't," he answered and again came the mind-searing jolt.
    "What did you give the native?"
    "Nothing," he said and again came the jolt.
    "Well, how is his story so far?" the questioner asked the Tros at the console.
    "Relatively truthful on all counts, but with indications of information withheld."
    "Let us continue then," stated the questioner.
    Rett's story was enlarged bit by bit but many of the details were omitted. The questioners seemed to be just going through a routine and had no real interest in his answers.
    The service personnel knew nothing of his mobile stressed space field belt and Rett didn't feel inclined to mention it since he knew the penalty for culture contamination through technology transfer.
    A small delegation, led by a Tros this time, came to his craft as he was readied to leave the service ship.
    "You will be destroyed if you attempt to enter this section of the spiral arm again. Also, if upon subsequent investigation, we find that you have misrepresented yourself or your intentions on the planet where you landed; the nearest ship will be sent to eradicate you and all your associates. This ship is now recorded as being warned from this area," the Tros said and without waiting for an answer spun around and walked away.
    Rett began to make plans for his moving from his planet even before his craft sped out into the brilliantly speckled void.
     
    Susan and Tod had finally figured out how the belt had been assembled. It slid together like a puzzle box with no adhesives or extraneous screws or connectors. After careful diagrams and notes had been gathered, they consulted with Steve, John and Joel to assist them in disassembling the component parts. It was a relatively safe procedure with Steve's electronic background, Joel’s mechanical aptitude, and Tod's background in physics, particle physics in this case.
    Only after it had been safely disassembled did Susan, as materials specialist, and John, the chemist; begin to figure out of what it was made and why it had fractured in the first place.
    It became Steve, Tod, and Joel's job to figure out how the belt had been powered and to duplicate the power source. Then they’d have to figure out the stressed space field after they got a power supply working.
    Ling, Desiree, and Fran were given a separate task of preliminary work, whose purpose Andrew wouldn't even reveal to the rest of the members in the group. When asked he would just say he would tell them soon. All members were ordered not to ask the three about their activities until allowed and this hurt the harmony of the group. Andrew had explained that early answers would prejudice their investigations. Nobody liked it. They were supposed to work together, they muttered.
    At a called meeting, Andrew prepared to tell all members of the team his purpose. He also knew that the three men had made a great breakthrough on the belt power supply. The tension was palpable.
    As the members settled into their places, Andrew spoke, "We should get right down to business. I'm sure you're all interested in the results of our sub-group on the power supply. Our women's sub-group has been doing some preliminary work that we shall discuss later.” The women frowned at this potentially sexist remark. “First; Tod, why don't