“I remember having so much more energy on Earth,” said Lim.
“That’s the other extreme,” said Huey.
“It took my body years to adjust to life on Shalasing,” said Joeum.
“Which is hardly surprising, but any closer to the forbidden zone and there would have been health issues.”
A flash of lightning was a reminder that they were still in danger and Huey wanted to distance himself from the group to reduce the risk of attracting a bolt from the blue.
They were about halfway down and had just noticed a white substance seeping out of the back of the Manui and mixing with the water. Huey hadn’t mentioned anything about this, so they guessed it was a natural secretion. As harmless as it may have been, they all started to lose their footing and began sliding out of control.
This stuff was as slippery as ice and they caught up and passed Huey in no time. Only Laja remained on his feet, but like everyone else, he had shot off at a rate of knots. They had certainly found a quick way down, but it was now up to Huey to bring the situation under control and he powered down the slope after them.
It was quite a ride and Huey knew there was little point in him intervening until they reached the bottom, so that was where they found him waiting. Seeing how unflustered he was, they actually managed to enjoy the experience and everyone got back on their feet with a smile on their face.
“What a ride,” said Clom.
The back of the Manui had levelled off, but the conditions underfoot were still very slippery.
“What is this stuff?” asked Lim.
“An organic secretion,” said Huey. “A sign that the female is getting ready to mate.”
Clom held up his hands, which were covered in the white substance. “And I’m covered in it.”
“That’s the least of your worries,” said Huey.
“Don’t remind me. How are we going to get inside this thing anyway?”
“Leave that to me,” said Huey.
“How did this animal manage to fashion itself a shell out of obsidian?” asked Joeum.
A young female Manui will gather it over the course of her lifetime and to do this she must go down to the planet’s surface, to run a gauntlet that any lesser life form would not survive. By the time she comes into season for the first time, she has to have a shell of obsidian that completely covers the upper part of her body. Without protection, she can’t come up to the level necessary to breed, because the rays from Rezim would kill her.
Above them, the two males were still fighting and it was conceivable that whilst these two were engaged, another male could come in and beat them to it, but there could be no copulation until the female had collected sufficient water.
“What’s it doing with all this water?” asked Lim.
“It’s filling its birthing chamber and it is within this chamber that its embryo will form.”
“You know rather a lot about this thing,” said Joeum. “Since we’ve only just got here, I mean.”
“I’ve been privy to more information than most and kept myself busy while I’ve been waiting for you to join me.”
“I understand we’re here to gather information, but why do we have to go inside this thing to do that?” asked Joeum.
“This is only one of many female Manui that have been adapted and together they form a network, which is capable of focusing matter from outside of this dimension. If we hadn’t been rejected, we wouldn’t need to go inside this female, but since we were, it leaves us no choice.”
“We were rejected! But we’re here, aren’t we?” said Clom.
“Yes, of course, we are here, but here is not where we want to be.”
Huey explained that the planet’s atmosphere had been divided into two. An upper zone, where they were currently and a lower zone. Another of the network’s functions was to maintain a physical barrier, which kept the two zones separate.
“Think of it as a perimeter fence. Well, we are on the wrong side of it,” said Huey.
“I can see why you might have been rejected, but why us, we’re human?” said Clom.
“There must be some sort of filter in place that keeps out undesirables.”
“I’ll try not to take it personally.”
“There is more to this place than meets the eye,” said Laja.
“A lot more,” said Huey.
“We aren’t going to be inside this thing while it’s copulating, are we?” asked Miar.
“Sounds disgusting,” said Clom.
Huey explained that they needed to make their way to the birthing chamber before it completely filled with water and the chamber had to be full before copulation.
“There has to be another way,” said Clom.
“You can see how hostile this environment is. If you want to survive and stand any chance of returning to your own dimension, then there really is no other way.”
It seemed that the Manui’s birthing chamber was designed to hold two developing eggs, but the chamber had been modified so only one embryo would form. Taking the place of the second egg was an obsidian sphere and to be sure that it wouldn’t be rejected; the sphere had been manufactured to have the same characteristics as a developing egg.
“And the significance of all this, is what exactly?” asked Clom.
“Since these spheres are what is keeping the network functioning, investigating the one inside this Manui is probably our best chance of making it through to the lower atmosphere.”
It was difficult to say how aware the Manui might be to the part it was playing in all of this. The life cycle of this animal wasn’t overly complicated, perhaps to maximise efficiency, with just enough of a struggle, to keep it real.
When the time came for the Manui to give birth, she had to travel to the upper reaches of the atmosphere and enter a layer where water could not exist in liquid form. Once there, the female would release her maturing egg and with it the water from her birthing chamber. The water would freeze almost instantly around the egg, which even at this stage was capable of generating its own gravity and floating Islands of ice were the result of this activity.
“So that huge black sphere we saw stuck in the ice, was this thing’s egg?”
“Yes, Clom and with the atmosphere warming up again, the islands will continue to melt, releasing the eggs, so that the young Manui can hatch and begin the cycle once more. While the obsidian sphere remains inside the female to maintain a stable network.”
“What else do we know about these spheres?” asked Laja.
“They are the same size as a maturing egg, so quite substantial, around fifty metres in diameter. This is just one Manui and there would need to be hundreds, perhaps thousands of these animals in the atmosphere with spheres inside of them to support the network.”
“If these Manui were destroyed that would close the portal and stop the Formless Ones returning,” said Lim.
“The Manui are not holding the portal open, they’re merely directing what comes through it. At the moment our findings would suggest that the Formless Ones are behind the network, but the portal is still a mystery.”
“And this portal was created for the sole purpose of ejecting the Formless Ones from this dimension?” asked Joeum.
“That’s how it looks and those responsible had no intention of reusing it for any other purpose. They simply got rid of the Formless Ones, then closed it. There is a good chance that the Formless Ones saw this coming and created the network, to enable them to return here, but it is too early to be sure. There is speculation that the very act of sending the Formless Ones through the portal, led them to lose their form. Losing their form doesn’t seem to have hindered them, but tethering them to Vulsumar certainly has and yet the Formless Ones have proven that persistence pays off.”
“So everyone that gets brought here by the Formless Ones normally ends up on the other side of this barrier?” asked Clom.
“Yes. They are being held somewhere on the planet’s surface.”
“Why can’t we forget this sphere and take a look at the barrier for ourselves?”
“That would accomplish nothing.”
“And let’s not forget how crushing the pressure might be at lower altitudes,” said Joeum.
“The pressure in this upper zone seems to be in a constant state of flux, but I think the barrier could be stabilising the pressure in the lower atmosphere. Although not necessarily created for that purpose, it has stopped this planet from ripping itself apart.”
“Is there a way back for those that have already been brought here?” asked Lim.
“If there is a way back for us, then there should be a way back for them, but we have to find them first.”
“That’s it!” said Clom. “And we now have to go wallowing about in embryo juice to get to this sphere and for what?”
“Calm down, Clom. Huey has explained the situation. We have to get inside the network so that we can discover what these Formless Ones are planning and with the help of the messenger, stop it,” said Joeum.
Clom screwed up his face in disgust. “Sounds to me like we don’t have a choice.”
To reach the birthing chamber they were going to have to traverse the plumbing of this creature and for an animal of such monstrous proportions, that meant a lot of pipes.
They were approaching a natural channel that ran around the edge of the central mound, which separated the smooth part of the creature’s back from a rough outer rim. Without this channel, water would run straight off the Manui’s back, but it was only open during the process of collecting water. Once enough water had been collected the channel would close.
The rim served another purpose. Its main function was to aid in the collection of molten rock from the planet’s surface, which would then solidify as obsidian and give the Manui the protection it needed.
Upon reaching the channel they were expecting to see it filled or partly filled with water, but the water running around their feet was falling over an extended lip, which obscured their view. This made the channel appear dark and bottomless, but Huey assured them that it was only designed this way, to help shield its delicate parts from direct sunlight.
To prove this, he dropped into it and his light brought understanding and yet the sight of the bottom of the channel was a bit disconcerting. It was fleshy and pink and punctuated by circular depressions.
“Oh my god,” said Clom. “That looks like a line of arseholes.”
They were all shocked by what they saw and couldn’t help but see the funny side of Clom’s comment. What they were looking at were the ends of the tubes that took water down into the body of the Manui. These valves were kept closed by a muscular reflex that would open as water collected.
It was about twenty feet to the bottom of the channel and Huey assured them of a soft landing. Time was ticking and he hurried them on. Joeum was the first to take the plunge and he gave them the thumbs up at the bottom. Not too different from falling on a soft mattress, but as difficult to remain upright on as a bouncy castle.
Safely down, Huey guided them over to the edge of one of the valves and Clom was still complaining.
While standing there they witnessed a few of the valves in operation and Huey informed them that it didn’t matter which one they chose because they would all lead to the same place.
“You’re telling me I’ve now got to climb into one of these arseholes?” said Clom.
Lim was going to ask what they were to expect, except Joeum beat him to it.
“We might be rejected,” said Huey. “These tubes are only used for moving water. The first bit is going to be tight, but once we’re in about fifteen, twenty feet, the tube will open up.”
So who was going first? No one liked the look of it, so Joeum decided to show the way and as soon as the nearest tube opened, he was straight in.
A substantial amount of water had gathered at their feet, so when Joeum took the plunge, it was a very wet experience. Wet and warm and Clom muttered something under his breath.
Joeum’s head disappeared followed by an unattractive squelching sound and Huey got himself into position, as it would be his job to keep the valve open. After a few moments, they heard Joeum’s muffled voice, saying he was okay and Miar found herself at the front of the queue. It was wet and slippery and the look on her face said it all. Trying not to think too hard about what he was about to do, Lim eased himself into the tube behind her.
By this time the valve was trying to close, but Huey’s magnetic field was stopping it from doing so. In response to this, the tube walls began to vibrate and close in on themselves, to compensate. Lim was still holding onto the rim because he didn’t want to step on Miar. He waited until he saw her disappear around the bend and finally let go. Lim could now see about six inches of water in the bottom and rising. He got himself down there and heard Clom coming in after him.
After the bend, the tube narrowed considerably and the only way he could move forward was on his hands and knees. The worst part about it was that he couldn’t see where he was going. Something moved under his hand and he realised he’d caught up with Miar. She yelped, probably wondering what had just grabbed her.
Lim couldn’t remember doing anything like this before. The conditions were hot, it was wet and moving forward was becoming a problem.
Everything looked okay from Huey’s perspective and the valve wouldn’t close until he was ready for it to do so, but he could see things were starting to get tight down there.
With no light and the walls closing in, it was a claustrophobe’s worst nightmare. Lim could feel something pushing him from behind. It was Clom and he was shouting something, but Lim had too much water in his ears to hear what he was saying.
Up front, Joeum was having the same problem and was fighting his way through and if he didn’t die of suffocation, then he would surely drown from the build-up of water.
Sensing the problems towards the front, Huey released the valve and dropped into the tube and this had an immediate effect. The muscles in the tube relaxed and the walls expanded. Just seeing his light was a relief and he was soon up beside Joeum and pleased to see that the only thing blocking their way was another valve.
This first bit of tube had a valve at both ends, which helped create suction, enabling the Manui to draw water into its body at a steady rate. With the first section out of the way, Huey positioned himself at the next valve and kept it open, while everyone spilled through.
They were wet and exhausted and now in one of the main tubes, they were finally able to stand up. Compared to what they had just experienced, this tube looked positively inviting. Inviting was stretching it a bit, an environment that reminded Joeum of an old sewage tunnel, but without the unsavoury smell.
After giving everyone some time to catch their breaths, Huey glided forward and his light revealed a steady flow of water, a few inches deep, running off into the distance.
Clom coughed and spluttered. “I thought dropping into the sewer of Omzimza would be the lowest I would ever stoop, but this! This is a step too far.”
Huey pressed a metal finger to the place on his face where a pair of lips would have been. “I want to keep talking to a minimum. The last thing we need is for the Manui to flush its system in a bid to rid itself of impurities.”
Heeding Huey’s warning, they worked their way along the tube at a steady pace, while trying not to think too hard about where they were, which was easier said than done. What were the chances of ending up in the stomach of this animal rather than its birthing chamber? Being slowly digested over the course of a month or longer was playing on Clom’s mind. He kept his thoughts to himself or thought he had, but the look on the faces of those around him, suggested otherwise.
Laja assured them that water was far too precious to end up in the Manui’s stomach, so it was very unlikely that they would either.
The water around their feet picked up momentum as the tube began to slope downwards and at random intervals, they started to see o
ther valves. These valves gave access to sub-tubes, which took water to other parts of the Manui’s anatomy, for cooling purposes and to aid other bodily functions. Huey informed them that the Manui had five hearts and several sets of gills rather than lungs and yes, it did have a stomach, but it used gas rather than liquid to help it digest a meal.
“Does it have eyes?” enquired Miar.
“It has a physical eye for general use, but also an inner eye that enables it to see vibration, which it uses in parts of this planet’s atmosphere where sound as we know it, is not possible. Instead of ears, it has a sound chamber, which doubles as a voice box.”
The Manui also used sound as a means of defence, by hitting the note of an attacker’s harmonic structure. A technique that Laja knew all about.
Apart from the warm damp conditions, there was an odour that no one could place, not particularly offensive, but it was getting stronger. This was a good sign, as it meant they were closing in on the birthing chamber. Then something unexpected happened, Huey’s lights went out and in the darkness, their hearing seemed to sharpen. Above the constant sound of running water and occasional groan that rumbled down the tube like a distant thunderstorm, there was a chirping sound. Could it be that a number of birds had somehow flown in here and become stuck? Was there anything like a bird in this dimension? The chirping rose and fell in pitch and there was a strange metallic quality to it.
Huey’s voice came into their minds. The chirping was not birds, nor was it being made by the inner workings of the Manui, it belonged to another life form, an Ohzit. Apparently, they lived exclusively on, but mostly inside the female Manui and yes, they could cause them some problems. The Ohzits helped keep any foreign bodies out of the Manui’s plumbing and more importantly, out of the birthing chamber. The trade-off must have been that these things found sustenance here.
Clom could feel his stomach churn at the thought of these Ohzits, slurping up titbits.
The Formless Ones had chosen a good hiding place for these spheres, inside the Manui with its natural defences. If they were to get anywhere near this thing, then it looked like they would have to find a way around these Ohzits.
Alliance Page 44