26 )
.
The Kalamond were a bothersome thieves. They would go to a planet and strip entire sections of land of plants, animals and easy to access minerals. They would sanitize their ships and leave the planet whenever authorities were detected.
The Kalamond had a system where they would blink out, essentially teleporting directly home. Their system was undetectable. the federation listened to some of their communications from their home planet, but there was no way they could reach it.
The Kalamond did great damage to environments, and seemed to like national parks best. They left major areas of bare rock and rubble, entire environments taken or destroyed. No one could seem to catch them.
One day, Sara was researching a series of planets. She detected the Kalamond in the area and sent out a warning. She told about her shipment of pests recently removed from the previous planets she had visited.
She sort of followed them to their destination and simply waited. Once they were fully involved in their thefts, she went to her ships and stored the pests in storage lockers behind things. She unloaded all her ships. She also set the containers to open once they were handled. A gamble in case they came back to the ships to get something.
She then set up some units in orbit that caused static on the main sensor signals the federation used.
The federation then sent a battle squadron aimed at the opposite pole than the operation. Spiraling into the planet took some extra time, but they got really close to the planet.
Sara, on signal from the squadron, started communications that sounded like a landing party. At the right moment, the scramblers were shut off and the Kalamond suddenly saw the federation ships.
Like Sara hoped, the Kalamond panicked and rushed to their ships and launched. They cleared the surface of the ship, then blinked out, just outside targeting range of the federation ships.
In that short time, the Kalamond did a lot of damage. There were several pieces of equipment left behind as they were too far from the ship to retrieve in time.
A few months later, the federation contacted Sara and asked her to return home. Once home, they played her some communications. the pests she placed on their ships had escaped and spread. The Kalamond had nothing to deal with the pests and were in an utter panic. It sounded like they were going to have to strip entire sections of their planet to rid the pests.
The Kalamond were never a problem again.

27 )
Back in the 70s, I heard about a bomb expert in Japan. He saw a can of what was suspected to be an explosive. Because it was filled to the very brim, he decided it was not a bomb as there was no way the people could move it as full as it was. He reached over to pick it up and it blew up. The bombers had froze the liquid and then placed it. He lost a hand in the event.
He was the leader of a radical group. He was said to be totally crazy. The only reason the rest of the group followed him was that he knew how get what they needed and to get things done. He was brilliant in confusing the authorities.
One day, they decided they needed to kidnap the daughter of a powerful businessman to force him to do something their way. they captured her quickly and easily in spite the high security around her. After several decoy trips, she was taken to their headquarters. She had no idea where she was. he made no attempt to hide who he was, though the others wore masks.
She was tied up most of the time. She spent most of her time watching him making bombs, with him explaining how they worked and how they were made.
One time, she was able to get free. she wanted to stop this group. She went into a room with a powerful stereo system. She saw that the lap was plugged into the wall. She turned the system to a banging rap station. She then plugged the system into the light plug and flipped the wall switch to turn it off, turned the volume to maximum. She then took an explosive liquid out of the freezer where he kept it and set that on the speakers. She then tried to get out. That was when he caught her.
She was tied up again, and tighter. She decided she wanted to die. She periodically ask if there was music they could listen to. He usually ignored her.
She acted obedient for a while. He got lax on tying her up, so she was able to slip free and finally escape.
he came back from casing a sight and got the entire group together to discuss in. he went to the room she booby-trapped and flipped on the light. He saw the stereo light go on, saw the can on the speaker. heard the music.

28 )
.
The people were making millions each year with the spending power of millionaires today. The gross pay of everyone, from a lowly drudge to the business tycoon was the same. One can, of course, save and invest money and make a little more money, though not as much as one could now.
There was a problem with this society. Senors were in everything everywhere. The sensors fed a computer system that was the government.
The sensors traced every action of the person during their day. There were millions of laws and the system tracked which laws one broke. Penalties would be taken out of a person's pay for each infraction before one got the paycheck. The infractions were listed in the pay stub (actually all electronic). If one studies the infractions, one can become a better citizen and make more money.
One can challenge an infraction, pointing to contradictory laws where if one follows one, the other becomes an infraction and those are almost always cleared from your record and paycheck.
There is a very limited number of people who never get infractions fees taken out of their pay. Most people end up making far less than the maximum million dollars.
Grimwald got fired from his job because of a computer glitch, then crashed his car into a government building when he was run off the road by someone else. He was then evicted from his apartment and quickly had to live entirely on the streets. Sleeping in a public place, facilitating in a public place, loitering, are all penalties. He did not get a paycheck and later found out that he owed four paychecks in penalties after his first month.
Grimwald was unable to buy anything, so he ended up having to steal. He was breaking into stores for food and things he needs, he would break into abandoned buildings to sleep. Of course there were penalties for that.
Usually, there was no need for police as sensors detect everything and fee penalties are more than enough to change the people's ways. Grimwald, though, now owed nearly a year's worth of penalties and there was no way he would be able to make that much to pay it off, since penalties come out first, there was nothing to stop him.
The few police were constantly sent to find him. They were not good at sneaking up so he always knew they were there before they got close to him. He was able to grab his stuff and escape.
The only prison system is for those with psychological problems who are a public danger. Criminals were released back into the public to work off their penalties.
Grimwald was finally captured and taken to court. The computer listed all the charges and then said he would have to work to make restitution.
Grimwald challenged the penalties and fees. The computer said there was no grounds for the challenge. He then pointed out that it was the computer's own glitch that got him fired. It was an action of another that got him in the accident in the government building. He lost his home because the computer closed his account for the accident and losing his job. Everything else was because he had to have food to eat and a place to sleep, and the penalties left him with nothing to live on.
The computer said that was not a defense. It was then that his court appointed lawyer was able to start challenging the penalties.
It took a number of months, but his lawyer finally got Grimwald cleared of all the penalties. He was given a job. He was on probation for several years. During that time, if his penalties got below what the average good person got, he would become liable for all his fees.
He was as good as he was before the problem which was more than enough. Once his record was cleared, he started a charity for people on the streets. He purchase several buildings and set them up with beds and had soup kitchens. He let people know that they were a place to come if in financial trouble. He would sell the meals cheap to those with some money and rent a bed cheap. He got his lawyer to have classes on the laws and how to avoid breaking them.
At first, it was paid out of his pocket without the computer paying him. Soon, though, the computer saw an improvement of the people he served and less penalties taken out of their pay, so the computer started handling it like it were a business. He was allowed to leave his old job and commit all his time to his project.
Grimwald learned a bit later that the computer was less strict on infractions on him as a business owner than as a worker. That little advantage allowed the really wealthy to become wealthy. The big thing was he had given others an advantage that he did not have when he was on the street.

29 )
.
They are on a asteroid station. The artificial gravity amplified the very light mass of the asteroid.
The crew seldom went to the lower levels. That was where the heavy equipment was. it was empty, lots of stairs or ladders to go down, lots of doors and noisy.
Victor and Bob were adding new tacks to the bulletin board. They placed the tack box on the rail. it was balanced nicely as usual. Victor turned and bumped the box. He grabbed for the box and caught the edge, but the contents, thousands of tacks, dumped out to clatter all over the floor on the lowest level.
"Victor, You had better go down and get them."
"I will."
"Better do it now. the captain will be really ticked."
"Victor, you are needed up her right now," the captain said on the speaker."
"I guess it will be later." Victor said as he left.
A week later, Victor still had not gone down to clean up the mess. Then something hit the asteroid hard. Everything was jarred for a moment. the following day, air lock alarms went off. The alarm then went silent. Bob and the captain went to check it out.
An hour later, there was as scream over the communicator.
One by one, people disappear. Victor and five others are being chased by a giant balloon creature. It catches one of them who slipped and fell. It lands on the person and they see a flash of a glow beneath it. When it lifts up again, the person is gone.
They have gone down stairs and ladders, ran through halls trying to lose it. They finally reach the bottom level. The creature is behind them. they are all barefoot as they tried to use their tossed shoes to misdirect it. It almost worked except a door clicked and it followed the sound. they suddenly find themselves between the tacks and the creature. They have to pick their way across the mess on tippy toes, brushing tacks to the side before the stepped. They get just to the other side of the tack field when the creature is near the tacks.
It pauses, looks around, then lunges forward. There is a sudden hiss of air, it starts to wrinkle, then bend over. It lays down with the end of the farthest piece. just inside the tack field. It had completely deflated.
The three of them go up a ladder to a higher level. Victor gets an idea and grabs a big box of parts and tosses it down onto the center of the fabric. It hits hard and stops right in the middle. The box seems to lift up slightly, then relaxes. it suddenly becomes a field of energy and is gone.
They make their way to the living levels. The tax and box are still down there, but the creature was still gone.

30 )
.
Born blind from birth, heard voices. He saw shadow people around him all the time.
As he grew, he found he paid attention to one set of voices which were clearer and seemed more intelligent. He tried to ignore the other set of voices. they spoke the same language.
He grew up and obeyed his family while ignoring the voices. He still learned how to make a living and live among a world he could not see.
When he became an adult, some special doctors arrived. He was taken to the local hospital and given all sorts of tests. He still talked to the voices which were interesting.
the doctors placed something over hie head. It was tight. there was a series of shocks. He suddenly could see bright lights. He could still see the shadows in the back of his eyes. The bright people he saw had the voices he was trying to ignore.
After the shock wore off, they got him to talk to them. Against the advice of the shadows, he told about the shadows and the discussions he had with them. He gave the doctors full details of what he saw, repeating their words.
He was given some medicine and then things were placed around his head. He blacked out for a moment and was then back to normal, still able to see. His hearing improved dramatically.
He found out that he was "possessed" by energy creatures that inhabited this world. He was not going to be bothered by them.
He had to learn to live in the world all over again now that he was able to see and hear.
He was a successful businessman and had healthy children. He got too old to work. His eyes and hearing was not as good as they once were. It was then that he noticed the shadow people were back. He started talking to them and learned they had never left, they were just waiting. He was happy to have them back and they kept him company for the remainder of his life. Others around him thought he lost his mind as he was carrying on heavy conversations with himself. the shadows were more interesting than those outside his world.

31 )
.
Watching a woodworking show, they were making furniture with the ball and claw foot. They carve the ball, leaving the claws as the corner, then carve the claws in the remaining wood. This idea popped into my mind while watching it.
Seth and Velm were woodworkers who were also master magicians. They used magic in their work quite often to meet their customer's needs. They really did not like each other, but worked together as that was the only way to get the work they needed.
One day, they got an order for a couple hundred pieces of furniture with ornate carving and the legs ended in dragon claws holding a pearl. A typical ball and claw foot on the furniture.
Seth started carving the ball and claws the same way someone would make them without magic. Velm told Seth that he was wasting his time. Velm quickly carved each claw separately, then made the balls.
Velm then did an incantation to cause the claws to open up. He set the ball into the claws and the claws clasped the ball firmly. He then did a second incantation and fused the claws to the ball.
"Are you sure that will bind the claw to the ball permanently? You know that they are always throwing magic around and they had furniture come to life."
"Don't worry, Gilmore uses this magic all the time. he has never had one release. they are one wood."
"Well, I will make mine the old way. Dragon claws are too dangerous to mess with."
"Don't worry about it. It will never release."
I will tell you what. Since we have slightly different styles, you do the grand room and I will do the dining room."
"All right. We will do it that way."
They worked hard. Seth was actually quicker than Velm so Velm's speed on making the claws was lost on the other work. Every piece of furniture was carved, inlays of bone and other woods were set into the surface.
They finished at the same time. When they looked at their work, they realized that Seth accidentally flipped the pattern everywhere, Instead of the curls of the decoration going in as Velm did them, the curls went out. "At least they will know which set goes where." Seth said.
Seth also signed his furniture while Velm did not bother. He depended on his style to tell who made it.
The lord was so excited about both sets, loving the fact that they were different. Seth and velm were paid well.
A few months later, the lord had magicians as guests. they were using all sorts of magic as tricks and demonstrations. There were a couple magic battles that broke out too.
That night, everybody calmed down and went to their rooms for the night. That night, the day's magic reached an even mixture and a side effect started. Things that resembled creatures came alive. Most could not move from where they were because some of their designs had flaws. Carved knights had feet set in blocks along with the ends of their weapons. animals carved on the walls could look around but they were stuck to the walls. A lion rug snapped his jaw but could not move. There were no bones in it.
Seth's ball and claw furniture came alive. The balls became like lead and the claws, while alive, could not release them or lift them up. They rocked the tables, knocking things over on them, but they could not move much.
In the other room, Gilmore's and Velm's ball and claw furniture broke the magic seals to the balls and stepped down onto the floor. The furniture started moving around and the dragon form slowly spread from the claws into the rest of the furniture. The magicians and guard found themselves facing half dragon, half furniture. It became an all out battle to hold off the living furniture.
Dawn came and the furniture calmed down and then froze in place. By noon, Seth, velm and Gilmore were before the lord. The lord yelled and screamed at them. the lord told about the punishment they were about to suffer. He then asked if any of them had anything to say.
Seth said that he signed every one of his pieces. If they find a signature on any piece that attacked them, he will lay his head on the chopping block.
Each piece of furniture was checked all over. no signature. they went into the other room and each piece was of his signature. they showed they had come alive, but were still holding the balls and therefore helpless.
The lord relaxed. Seth was sent out. Velm and Gilmore left the next day, badly beaten. they had to spend the night in the prison with their furniture when it came alive again. In the morning, they had to dismantle and burn the furniture and then were forced to run through a gauntlet of clubs.
Seth became the official wood worker for the lord while Velm and Gilmore left to go to another city and were never heard of ever again.

32 )
.
I saw a display, "Bells dollar Each." I thought of ringing a couple, but resisted. I then thought of someone who would ring all the bells.
Borzack fought against the greatest evil of all. He was helped by the population while evil was alone. He could not defeat evil, but he contained it.
Borzack then had to return to his realm. The people asked how to call him if they needed him. Borzack produced a ceramic bell. "With a pure heart, ring this bell and I will come."
Over the generations, he returned a dozen times to clear up some problems, Pure evil could influence the world even if it had not escaped.
Over time, much about Borzack was forgotten. It became more myth than anything and ceramic bells were being made. Evil, of course, caused a lot of the bells to be made to resemble Borzack's bell. Eventually the real bell was lost. It could not be broken or destroyed and tended to be stolen from the hands of evil. After a while, no one knew what it looked like.
Strongarm heard all the stories about Borzack and the bell. He found among the texts about how to be a pure heart and practiced it as a life style. Evil was everywhere and there were signs that pure evil was about to be released. His minions were working on it.
Strongarm started going to sales by individuals for bells. People were a little bothered but he would take each bell carefully, close his eyes, clear his mind and ring the bell. He would then look around for Borzack
He would do it even if he had been there some other time. He figured he might not have been pure enough of heart. He never said why he was doing it.
He knew people who were still on the true way when they would smile and help him to ring all the bells. He knew those who were following evil when they would get worried or bothered when he rung the bells.
He figured that eventually he would find the bell and call Borzack back. It was just a matter of time. Once Borzack returned, evil would be put back in their place.

33 )
.
They were part of an organization that was trying to force abandonment of a set of properties so the government could give the properties to a big developer. They acquired some special pests, a biting bug with special features.
The bug always left the area that their eggs hatched from, spreading out everywhere. they were immune to most known pesticides and because of their hard shells, were very difficult to kill.
There were repellents and barriers they would not pass which really was the only way to control them. they also did poorly in wet environments so they were horrible outside.
Several buildings had flood damage, an error in construction caused a backup of the roof drains and that forced the water into the building. Ambacromby was hired to repair the damage. To reduce the problems with the home owners, he worked one set of apartments at a time, and he rented apartments for the owners to stay in. While he was at it, he changed the insulation and wall construction. He added high quality materials and sealed them tight so nothing effected another apartment.
When he finished the last apartment, he was surprised to find that he actually made money. Checking the data, his actual profit was from the rental apartments the people lived in while he worked. Of course, other people were hired by the home owners to do the final finishing of the apartments, something he chose not to be involved in.
The organization selected some experts and gave them the bugs. the experts went to their selected building and rented an apartment. They got settled in, then laid the eggs of the bugs out all over the place, along with starting foods. They then went on vacation, letting everybody know they were going to be gone.
The bugs hatched, got a start, then left the area, the apartment, that they were hatched in. They found holes in the walls such as around plumbing, and headed into other apartments.
The experts came back and found the apartment clean of the bugs. They cleaned up the mess and then relaxed.
One by one, people started finding bug bites on them, usually at night. The bugs spread well through the building, over many of the floors half way across the building.
People finally see the bugs and find they are nearly impossible to kill. they step on them and the bugs keep walking. they spray them, they sprinkled poison dust on them, they fog their apartments. The bugs don't die.
The bugs reproduce and spread from there. By the time the bugs are being forced out of the buildings and into the wet weather, because of the eggs, the building is abandoned and the government purchases the property.
The experts do this to several more buildings and no one is the wiser. No one would think to link the experts with the bugs, especially since no one knows the nature of the bugs.
Finally the experts gets an apartment in a building that Ambacromby had refurbished. The people set the eggs and go on vacation. they come back and clean up the mess, satisfied they have done their deeds. Two days later, they start noticing bites. they find themselves soon covered by irritated bugs. The bugs won't go out an open door or window as it is wet out there. They stay put. the experts suddenly realize that if the show up covered in bug bites like this, everybody will know what is going on. they have to wait until other experts come with the poison that does work on the bugs.
Ambacromby's sealing of each apartment prevented the bug's escape. One of the experts puts a plug in a sink an turns the water on, then passes out because of the bug bites. when she wakes, the entire apartment has about an inch of water all over it. The water is flowing with dead bugs. A few days later, all the bugs are gone. they finally have the strength to open the door and the water flows out over the walkways.
People suddenly know it was them that passed the bugs around. They are linked up the line to several government officials that were going to make big money from the sales of these properties.
Ambacromby is brought in repairs the apartment, washing everything completely before rebuilding it. he is then brought in to rebuild the abandoned buildings, essentially gutting them, washing them down, and then rebuilding them.
He rebuilds them the same way, as he did for the first batch of buildings, each apartment completely sealed. This time, he got the money he really deserved for the work he does. Eventually, he rebuilds all the buildings to his level. When they decide to build a couple more buildings since the zoning laws were changed, he built the individual apartments to last.