by A. Omukai
So apparently, this was still a dream. If she opened her eyes now, what would she see?
She concentrated hard and did so, and for just a second, eight orange lights seemed to hang over her, slowly rotating around each other.
The moment she blinked, they were gone.
What a crazy dream.
Deirdre tried to sit up and failed. She tried again and managed to support her weight with her elbows with Ailbhe’s help.
Another violent coughing fit shook her. She pulled her wet hand from her mouth and looked at it.
No blood, but a strange blue mucus.
23
Devouring Spores
“So what is it you want to show me?”
The old druid regarded Adams with a look he couldn’t interpret. Those wide eyes without iris and pupils were staring at him.
“I need you to check on the mycelium samples I took on the planet. There are some anomalies I can’t explain, and I hope that you might be able to tell me something new about them.”
“What makes you think so?” Brilann raised both eyebrows attentively.
“There are things about this mycelium I can’t explain with science. Nothing happens without reason, and maybe the problem is not biological, maybe it can be explained with magic. It’s a long shot.”
“Very well. So I suppose we must go into your lab then, right? I’ll get ready.”
“Actually, we don’t have to go to my laboratory. I brought the sample with me. It’s on a tray outside, in the corridor.”
“You’re making an old man very happy.”
Brilann looked like an old man, but he didn’t seem like one. Even though his eyes could not see, they could express his emotions well, and what Adams saw in them now was a mix of amusement and curiosity.
“Give me one moment, I’ll bring it in.”
The druid nodded.
Adams walked over to the entrance, hesitated for a moment, looked at the Cat Sidhe, then pushed the door open. The huge black animal with the white spot on its chest had been staring at him since he had entered the room. Adams had never seen a cat this large. Another one of those mysteries surrounding the oak seer.
He stepped out into the corridor, reached for the cart with the acrylic glass container, and rolled it into Brilann’s quarters.
The mycelium looked even bigger now, even though it shouldn’t have been able to grow that much in such a short time. The cloud chaser that had accompanied the mycelium for over an hour, was now gone, without a hint where it might have disappeared to. His glass container was warm to the touch. This was unusual, too. Was something inside the container producing energy?
He pushed the cart was into the room, closed the door, turned around and looked again into the deep, green eyes of the giant cat.
“This is it,” he said, and his voice shook a little while he stared into her eyes.
“Don’t mind the cat. She won’t do anything to you. She’s my assistant.”
The old man smiled, but Adams didn’t feel reassured.
Strange old guy. Maybe coming here had been the wrong decision, but it was too late now.
“Inside the glass container you can see here…”
Adams’ voice trailed off when he realized his faux pas.
“I am sorry. What I mean is, this container contains the sample I brought from the planet.”
“Don’t worry. I’m an old man with dead eyes, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t see.”
What was the druid talking about?
Anyway.
“So, this mycelium here looks exactly like its equivalent at home. Its physiognomy is very simple and resembles that of the Earth version. However, it doesn’t work the way it should. Actually, I can’t figure out how it works at all.”
He cleared his throat.
“Normally, a mycelium breaks down nutrients with an enzyme it produces, which this one doesn’t do. Its brother on Earth absorbs those broken down nutrients and uses them for growth. I haven’t been able to see any of this in this case. And yet, it keeps growing.”
The druid stepped closer. He lay a hand on the container and furrowed his brow.
What was it he was feeling?
The druid stood next to the container like a statue, not one muscle moving. What was he thinking? There was no way to tell.
“Hmm,” he said.
That wasn’t enough to make a guess. Adams had no choice but to wait.
He looked back at the Cat Sidhe, who was sitting on the ground in front of the bed, staring at the acrylic glass container, not moving at all. What was the matter with this animal? What did the druid call her, his assistant? How could a cat assist a druid?
“The little being inside your aquarium here has given birth.”
What did that mean? Did he speak about spores? Asking him would probably not answer the question, given that the druid possessed no background in biology. Adams would wait.
“I can feel it growing. I can also feel that it’s still connected to the planet. There are thoughts, I can’t hear them clearly, but I can make out the voices. Like a choir, speaking in unison.”
The druid sounded like an oracle. His words made little sense to Adams. Understanding the language didn’t equal understanding the person, he reminded himself.
“You severed it from the mother body. I can’t tell how it communicates, and maybe it doesn’t, but it’s active, and there’s traffic. This little one here is trying to reunite with its mother.”
Mother? Did he mean the original mycelium on the planet? Adams had taken the sample from a larger body. The mycelium at that place must have been pretty large. Large enough to develop a personality and self-awareness, though? Or even some degree of intelligence? How large would it have to grow to become sentient, and was that even possible for a mycelium, even if it resembled a brain in how it functioned? Adams didn’t know. All this was already crazy talk. Nothing here made any sense in scientific ways. As a xenobiologist, he felt cheated.
He smiled when he realised how stupid that sounded.
Especially for someone calling themselves ‘Xeno’.
“The children are hungry. I can feel how ravenous they are. They’re trying to expand and form a new mother body.”
The words of the druid sounded kind of scary. Adams still didn’t know what he meant with children, but the druid made it sound as if the mycelium in this glass container was trying to break free, as if it had its own goals. Adams didn’t speak. He didn’t want to interrupt the druid’s thoughts.
“I think the children are trying to eat the glass container itself. That’s why it’s so warm.”
The glass container? As if that was even possible. Or was it?
He had to do something against it. Spores able to eat plastic on board the ship could do tremendous damage.
“Are you sure? The mycelium is eating the glass container?”
“No doubt about that. They’re hungry. They need to grow. The only way to do that is by eating, and there is nothing else to eat.”
Adams understood the implications. Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to return the container to the lab and seal it with an energetic field. Worst case, they had to eject the mycelium from the ship. Neither of these thoughts made him happy. There was still so much to examine.
“I think I should return the container to the lab, and quick.”
Brilann looked up and turned his head towards the xenobiologist. Leaning forward, nodded and said, “I think we need to hurry. The children are almost through the glass.”
Adams reached for the container, but Brilann raised his hand.
“No, don’t touch it.”
The tone of his voice said more than a thousand words. Adams pulled his hand back and shoved it into his pocket.
“Sabia,” Brilann said, and the Cat Sidhe jumped on his shoulder. How he could not lose his balance, being jumped by such an immense beast, Adams did not know.
“I’m sorry.”
What
was he sorry about?
The old man reached for the cat on his shoulder and laid his hand on its back. The beast bowed down, and its eyes glowed in an aggressive green that was unsettling. This was a shade of green he had never seen and hoped to never see again. He only saw it for a brief moment, then it expired.
“I couldn’t risk a biohazard on board, especially not one able to eat the Tuatha De Danann, or even just part of it.”
The druid spoke in a sonorous voice, as if he felt no emotions. The cat jumped down and moved back to its old spot in front of the bed.
What was he talking about?
Adams’s gaze returned to the glass container and he couldn’t believe what he saw. He wiped his eyes and tried again, but nothing changed — the container was empty, safe for some small, black spots of residue. Where had the mycelium gone?
“Like I said, I’m sorry. I’m sure you wanted to do more tests, but I had no other choice.”
Adams could see that. Even though he did not know what had just happened, the thought of having alien fungi contaminating the Tuatha De Danann was a nightmare he didn’t even want to think about. But that wasn’t the only problem, there was something else.
“So, are there more of these… children on the planet?”
The druid nodded.
“I would think so. Why are you asking?”
“Deirdre MacBreen.”
The old man looked shocked.
“Shit!”
This was an answer Adams hadn’t expected, but there couldn’t have been a better reply at all. “Shit” described what he was thinking perfectly.
24
Momentum
Deirdre had to get out one more time. While she didn’t know why, exactly, she felt the need to; she realised that sitting around, waiting for the transport boat would be boring, and if there was one thing she couldn’t stand at all, it was boredom.
She did not know what was going on with her lungs, but the pain had stopped, her body temperature had gone down, and something inside her head had changed, as strange as that sounded.
Similar to what she had felt in the dreams she still remembered vividly, it was as though whatever had taken root inside her body, had added to her, instead of changing her. It was as if she had gained an additional sense.
Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and now this new sense, similar to… what?
Having a cough seemed like an unfortunate trade-off, assuming it didn’t kill her after all.
This new sense was like the receiver of a radio… maybe?
While the transmissions she seemed to receive were very vague, unstable and unclear, she was in a strange form of communication. Something on Gliese 667 Cc was trying to transmit information, and while she hadn’t decrypted those messages yet, some form of communication was indeed going on.
“According to the med system, your temperature has gone down. How do you feel?”
“Strange. Not terrible. Hard to describe.”
The Aes Sidhe cocked her head.
“Right now, it doesn’t feel as if it got worse, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“We must monitor your health.”
Ailbhe was right. She was still on a mission, and she wouldn’t be able to finish it if things got worse. If she had a coughing fit during a ritual, that might abort it.
Several follow-up checks by the medical system of the Wisp had shown no change of her situation. Right now though, her condition didn’t inhibit her much.
“How are you feeling though? You don’t have a cough.”
“It’s a fungal infection. I’m not sure I’m even compatible with that.”
Right. Ghillie Dhu were called ‘tree spirits’. She sure looked like a human with bark instead of skin. That didn’t have to mean anything. The Fir Bolg was an Aes Sidhe, too, and had caught it, and his cough had been bad after just one day. That, too, meant little. There were big differences among Aes Sidhe. Not only their looks and abilities, their whole nature had a lot of variation. This point was moot, though. They wouldn’t risk doing experiments. Two sick team members were enough, and how did Adams fare? Chances were he caught it, too.
“I’ll send a report to the Tuatha De Danann. We found the place of power I came to search, and both of us need a proper examination.”
Ailbhe nodded, which destroyed her camouflage and made her visible. Deirdre was already used to her ever-fading team mate. She didn’t have to search for her anymore.
She didn’t bother getting up and walking to the command console of the Wisp. She activated her own AI and called the Wisp’s communication program from here.
“Lieutenant MacBreen, sending a quick report. My mission here is complete. We found a place of power, coordinates are attached to this message. Requesting to be picked up as soon as possible. I caught an infection of my lungs. The Wisp can’t seem to handle it, and Sergeant Ailbhe can’t wear a helmet forever. Please send the transport vessel as soon as possible. MacBreen out.”
She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, when the Wisp shut down - again.
Did the message go out at least? She checked her AI. Yes, it did.
She requested a status report from the Wisp. No reply. Fuckin a.
“Accessing the redundant emergency system. Hardware error, the Wisp will conduct a thorough self-diagnosis, followed by a mechanical integrity test. According to the emergency system, this is a lengthy process.”
“Awesome. That means we can take a break. I’d like to go over to the monolith once more, are you down?”
The white lights of Ailbhe’s eyes hung in the dark, then danced up and down.
The visions she had had, especially of the flow of magical energy accumulating inside the monolith which had already been bristling with power, intrigued Deirdre. If she was able to somehow utilise that power, if she could channel it into a gate, her options for the future would look a lot better than they did now, on the surface of an alien planet, with a scary infection inside her lungs and a car with worse problems than just a flat tire.
Putting on the suit was a routine work by now. It didn’t even take a minute. Both the pain and the itching sensation in her lung had stopped, and she felt great, if weak. Maybe, if she tried to call Caillean in the grotto, her chances would be better. While there was no need for the Cu Sidhe to be around right now, she was also lonely, and there didn’t have to be logical reasons for everything all the time. If she could figure out how to use the place’s enormous power, that would help her later, in case she had to open a gate.
“That’s right, for science.” She chuckled, then coughed up a large ball of slime. Nowhere to spit it. Keep it in her mouth or swallow it?
She shut her eyes and counted to three.
They exited the Wisp, leaving the dead vehicle back where it was, and carefully walked over to the entrance of the grotto. The longer the night lasted, the colder it got. Currently, her suit’s thermometer showed minus ten degrees Celsius. This didn’t really worry her, she didn’t have any plans to strip.
Deidre entered the grotto for the second time in the flesh, but really for the third time. The longer she was thinking about her dream, the more she was convinced that it hadn’t really been a dream, but a vision. Deirdre had been part of that “group” she couldn’t define; She had flown over the surface of the planet, even though there were logical problems with all of this. She had seen all those places by daylight, the way they had been when she had first been there. It was night now, and had been while she had those dreams, but she wouldn’t stress details. She’d been a cloud chaser, that much was clear. She’d seen herself twice, her human body from above, then her cloud chaser form from below.
The dim light of the fluorescent mushrooms inside the cave was sufficient for her to see enough detail to walk without getting in trouble. The marine walked in front of her. Deirdre expected nothing to jump them, but Ailbhe’s presence had a calming effect.
She didn’t run into anything, stumble over rocks or step in
to holes. She could see well enough to make out the path she had to walk, leading into the cliff for a good bit before expanding into the grotto deeper inside. Both types of mushrooms, the blue ones and the green ones, gave a decent amount of light, and the atmosphere inside the cave was mystical.
It felt not unlike a landscape in the Otherworld. Did the Aes Sidhe feel nostalgic here?
Something about the environment was very soothing. She didn’t mind the cold air, or the cold water, when she stepped into it. The only thing she felt was the resistance of the water when she walked through it. The small island with the monolith lay still ahead, but she would reach it shortly if she kept up her current pace.
She was not in a hurry. She had done her part, completed her mission and sent a report to the Tuatha De Danann. Without the communication system of the Wisp, they wouldn’t receive a reply, their suits weren’t equipped with a receiver strong enough to get the signal. And without news from the Tuatha De Danann, she couldn’t even make an educated guess when the boat would come to pick up again. She couldn’t progress down here either, not knowing if the planet was okay for colonisation. That meant she couldn’t open the gate to Earth yet, even though now she felt confident that with her discovery of the place of power, she could do so.
All the Ifs and Whens were annoying. Patience was not an attribute anyone would think of when they heard the name Deirdre MacBreen. She didn’t even like the sound of the word either. Not that she liked her current nickname, ‘Jump Drive’, but she preferred it over ‘patience’ any day. She laughed, which triggered another coughing fit.