Nen shook his head rapidly.
The doctor stepped forward and pointed at Nen. “He is not,” she said, raising her voice and shaking her head, “with us.” She pointed at herself and shook her head then repeated the action, pointing at Nen.
The Barash carrying the urn tilted its head then turned toward the Lorock for guidance. The Lorock stared at the doctor. His eyes narrowed, angry, and it wasn’t hard for Glitch to imagine him swooping across the platform, slamming into the doctor, and knocking her into the forest below. The image of the young So-lang falling through the trees flashed through his mind, and he shuddered.
The Lorock nodded. Melian spoke, and Nen moved farther away, nodding and bowing with evident relief.
Zheng bowed low. “Thank you.”
The Lorock looked unimpressed and gestured impatiently toward the Barash carrying the urn. The urn-bearer bowed and walked the rest of the way to Glitch. It pointed at the urn, then at Glitch, then Doctor Zheng, then Anderson.
“I guess it wants us to drink from the urn,” said Glitch, trying to mask the fear in his voice.
“It certainly looks that way,” said the doctor.
“And I’m supposed to go first.”
“Uh huh,” said Anderson.
“In that case… unless anyone’s got any better ideas… that’s what I’m going to do…”
When neither Anderson nor Doctor Zheng said anything, Glitch took the urn. It was heavy.
The Barash carefully removed the wooden stopper. Whatever was inside sloshed around as Glitch raised the urn toward his nose. It smelled sweet with a hint of cinnamon and reminded him of the cinnamon rolls he bought from his local baker. Suddenly he was intensely homesick. He really shouldn’t have entered that competition.
The Barash’s wings twitched. It hissed and made a drinking motion with its hand.
Glitch took a deep breath. “If you have a plan, Captain… now would be the time.”
Anderson didn’t respond.
“Okay… here goes.” Glitch raised the urn to his mouth.
He took a sip. The liquid was thin and slightly oily, but it was so sweet it set his teeth on edge. He began to lower the urn, but the Barash tipped it back.
Liquid flooded Glitch’s mouth, and some of it dribbled out of the side. He suspected spitting out their holy beverage wouldn’t go down too well, so he swallowed. The liquid slipped down easily, coating his throat and leaving a thin layer around his mouth. He ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to wipe them clean.
The Barash watched Glitch intently then took the urn back.
Glitch looked around, waiting for something to happen.
“How do you feel?” said Doctor Zheng.
Glitch shrugged. “Fine. It’s just very sweet water.”
The urn-bearer, apparently satisfied, moved to Doctor Zheng and gave her the urn.
She grabbed it, took a deep swig, and handed it back to the Barash. She grimaced and swallowed. “I thought you said it was sweet? That tasted like liquefied jalapenos.”
“It was sweet when I drank it.”
Doctor Zheng scowled and coughed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. The Barash watched Zheng for a while, just as it had Glitch, then walked over to Anderson. Glitch thought he could see a hint of amusement on the Barash’s face, but it was hard to tell.
Anderson regarded the urn with suspicion. The Barash shook it toward her and gave a couple of agitated clicks. Anderson took the urn, sniffed it, then poured some of the liquid into her mouth. Glitch held his breath. He was convinced this was all some sort of practical joke and she too would get the jalapeno juice and hate him for it. Anderson squeezed her eyes shut as she swallowed.
She opened her eyes again. “It tasted like lemons to me.”
“Interesting,” said the doctor. “I wonder what it is.”
“Nen said it’s God’s Essence,” said Glitch.
Doctor Zheng looked at Glitch, one eyebrow raised.
Glitch shrugged. “I guess they’re not atheists.”
The Barash retrieved the urn from Anderson, bowed to the Lorock, and moved to the side of the platform. Glitch looked around at the Barash. They were all watching and waiting, the air filled with expectation.
“Did we pass?” said Glitch.
“I… don’t know,” said Anderson.
Glitch opened his mouth to ask Nen what was supposed to happen next, but before he could speak, an express train of pain tore through his stomach. He felt as if someone had hit him with a wooden plank covered in rusty nails. He crumpled, screaming. Tendrils of pain wove through his body, setting nerve endings alight as though the nails had brought with them thousands of fire ants swarming across his skin, biting and stinging.
Adrenaline flooded his system. His heart quickened. He raked his nails down his arms, trying to tear away whatever was burning his flesh. Glitch’s spine contracted, snapping him backward until he was lying on the ground, screaming. His right leg cramped up, then twitched. It shuddered and shook, his heel rapping out a rhythm on the wooden platform. Wave after wave of agony washed over him. A metal band wrapped around his chest, constricting his breathing.
Glitch lay on the floor, gasping for breath, clutching at himself as darkness swept over him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A Deadly Drink
Glitch, Anderson, and Doctor Zheng are saved from ritual execution by the Barash, Melian. In exchange, the humans agree to undergo a trial. They choose trial by liquid, and each of them takes a drink from an urn containing “God’s Essence.” Glitch tastes sweet water, but Doctor Zheng’s drink tastes like “liquefied jalapenos” and Captain Anderson’s is sour like lemons. Anderson and Zheng are unaffected by the drink, but a vicious pain tears through Glitch’s stomach.
Glitch fell to the floor, screaming. His arms itched and burned as though thousands of fire ants were swarming over his body. Adrenaline flooded his system. His heart quickened. He raked his nails down his arms, trying to tear away whatever was burning his flesh.
Glitch’s spine contracted, bending him backward until he was lying on his back, screaming. His right leg cramped up then twitched. It shuddered and shook, his heel rapping out a rhythm on the wooden platform. Again and again, agony washed over him. A metal band wrapped around his chest, constricting his breathing. Darkness took him.
Glitch floated in the blackness. The pain was gone, replaced by an all-encompassing numbness. Part of him welcomed it, embraced it, grasped at it as a way to escape the humiliation life so often sent his way. But that part of him was small, a tiny sliver of a multifaceted personality. The rest of him fought. Fought to drag him out of the blackness. Fought to find the light that he’d been told existed—the light that would bring him back to Anderson and Zheng, to Kalith and Nen. He wanted to see everyone again. All of them. Even the Barash.
Glitch tasted something bitter, sudden and unexpected, a beacon of sensation in the blackness, and he opened his eyes.
Nen was bent over him, his broad hands pressed to Glitch’s lips. He was forcing something into Glitch’s mouth, a paste, bitter and grassy. Glitch twisted his head away, but Nen pulled it back. “Eat.”
Anderson appeared behind Nen, staring at Glitch. Her forehead was creased with worry and, for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, that made Glitch happy.
“You’ve been poisoned,” she said. “Nen has an antidote.”
Glitch grimaced and swallowed the bitter paste, forcing it down. “Water?” His voice was dry, rasping.
Anderson looked around. “Please, help him. Get some water.”
It took Glitch a few seconds to remember who she was talking to. Then images of Melian and the other Barash came flooding back. They’d been undergoing a test, a trial.
Glitch tried to push himself upright, but Nen held him down. “Be still.”
Anderson reappeared. The emerald canopy behind her head reminded Glitch of a green-screen movie set. A wave of nausea rolled through his body, and his vision blurred.
“Stay with us,” said Anderson, pressing her hand against his forehead.
Glitch wondered if she’d brought him water. The world dimmed.
When Glitch opened his eyes again, he was back in the cage. He was propped up against its side, Anderson kneeling beside him.
She uncorked a leather pouch and held it to Glitch’s mouth. “Drink.”
Glitch let the cool liquid fill his mouth. If the gods had a nectar, he imagined that was what it might taste like. He swallowed. “Thank you.”
“How do you feel?” asked Anderson.
“I’m fine.” Glitch felt dizzy and had a vaguely unpleasant tingling in his mouth, but otherwise, he did actually feel fine. “What happened? I remember the trial. I drank something from a clay urn, but that’s about it.”
“It was God’s Essence—at least, that’s what the Barash call it. The doctor and I drank some as well. We’re okay, but you had some sort of allergic reaction and… passed out. Nen scraped some moss from one of the trees and gave it to you.”
Doctor Zheng appeared beside Anderson. “He saved your life.”
“Saved it? You mean I would have died?”
“No, you were dead,” said the doctor.
Glitch’s mouth fell open. “I died? I thought I just passed out.”
Anderson glared at Zheng. “I was trying to be discreet.”
Glitch ran his fingers through his hair, breathing heavily.
“You’ll be fine,” said the doctor. “Nen gave you the antidote.”
“No.” It was Nen. He was standing at the edge of the cage, his face dark. “It was not an… antidote.”
“What do you mean?” said Anderson.
“The moss only eases the effects of the God’s Essence. It does not cure.”
“So I’m still going to die?”
Nen lowered his head.
Glitch stared at the ground. If he hadn’t already been sitting down, he’d have collapsed. “How long do I have to live?”
“I do not know, but… less than a day.”
“So I’ve gone all Dennis Quaid,” said Glitch.
“Except you know who killed you,” said Anderson.
Doctor Zheng raised her eyebrows at Anderson. She mouthed “film,” and the doctor nodded.
“There must be something we can do,” said Anderson.
Nen shook his head. “Once the God’s Essence has a hold over you, there is no release, only death.”
“But why didn’t it affect us?” said the doctor.
“God saw fit to save you.”
Cursing, Anderson stood and stormed across the cage, fists clenched, looking for something to punch. Eventually she settled on slamming her hand against the wooden bars in frustration.
“Don’t worry,” said the doctor. “We’ll get you back to Earth and find a cure.”
Glitch raised his head then gestured around the cage. “We’ll need to get out of here first.”
Doctor Zheng crouched beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We will.”
There was unexpected warmth in Zheng’s voice, and Glitch forced a smile. Then he looked across at Anderson, and her defeated expression told him all he needed to know.
He lifted the waterskin and took another sip. This time the water tasted musty, ordinary. It wasn’t what he’d choose as a last drink—he was more of a Jack Daniel’s kind of guy—but it would do. A quiet calm settled over him. He was surprised. If someone had asked him what he’d do if he found out he only had a few hours left to live, he’d have said he’d rant and rave, throw things, curse God and everyone around him. He didn’t picture himself as the sort of person who’d jump directly to acceptance. Maybe he was still in the denial phase and anger would come later.
He raised the pouch to his lips to take another drink when Anderson called across the cage. “What’s that?”
She was pointing through the bars at the ground. A dozen dark shapes moved through the forest beneath them. They looked like people, or people’s shadows at least.
Nen stiffened. “Hunters.”
There was a high-pitched whine, and a bolt of blue light, about three feet long, flew from the ground and slammed into a nearby tree. Instantly, the wood caught fire. Blue flames wrapped around the trunk. Wood crackled and spat.
Somewhere off in the distance, a horn sounded, closely followed by another. A third joined it, this one nearby. Barash swarmed from the trees. Some dived toward the ground while others fled into the canopy. Two more bolts flew into the trees. One of them smashed through a walkway, shattering it. The other hit one of the Barash square in the chest. It burst into flames and fell screaming to the ground.
There was a flash of blue as another tree, this one on the other side of the village, caught fire. One of the bolts roared by, inches from hitting Glitch’s cage. He could feel the heat of the fire as it passed. Or he imagined he could.
Screams echoed through the trees as again and again, the hunters fired at the village. More of them appeared, at least twenty that Glitch could see, and untold numbers could be hidden within the undergrowth. He still couldn’t make out any details beyond a vaguely humanoid shape. They were just shadows darting among the trees. Glitch wondered if it was the Invisitude.
Some of the Barash had reached the ground and were fighting the hunters. They were losing. Their swords and spears were no match for the hunters’ energy weapons. One by one, the Barash fell to the ground. Even those who managed to get in close enough to fight hand to hand were quickly overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Glitch saw one of them caught, wrapped in heavy netting, then knocked unconscious. Two of the shadowy hunters dragged it off into the undergrowth.
Their cage shook as a Barash landed on top of it. It was carrying a small Barash child who was crying and making a plaintive chirping sound. The Barash brushed its head as it looked around, searching for something or someone. A streak of blue flashed past, and the Barash kicked off, launching into the canopy and out of sight.
“Who are they?” shouted Anderson, pointing toward the shadows swarming through the undergrowth.
“Relorians,” shouted Nen. “They hunt for sport, to show how powerful they are.”
With another burst of blue light, a nearby tree exploded into flame. The fire was spreading, leaping from tree to tree. Gray smoke hung around the village, obscuring their view. Most of the Barash were gone, either killed or captured or escaped, but the hunters kept firing until the entire village was ablaze. Flames flickered in nearby trees, jumping from branch to branch, spreading rapidly toward the cage containing Glitch and the others.
Glitch saw the shot a fraction of a second before it hit their cage, a thin blue smudge rushing toward them. It slammed into the tree in a blaze of blue light that hurt his eyes and showered them with fragments of burning wood. Clouds of smoke filled the cage. The cage shuddered and listed to the left. There was a creaking sound, and a lump of burning wood fell from the ceiling.
“We can get out,” said Glitch, pointing.
The impact had opened up a hole in the cage near the actual door. The edges were burning, and the fire was spreading quickly, but there was enough room for them to escape. If they were quick.
Glitch ran to the cage wall. “Come on.”
Doctor Zheng got there first. She jumped up, grabbed the wooden bars, and began to climb. The cage rocked ominously. Anderson followed her up. Nen stood at the bottom of the cage, looking nervously at the blue flames flickering above him.
“There’s no time,” said Glitch. “You have to go now.”
The cage shuddered, and Nen shook his head. He stepped backward.
Glitch leaned toward him, his eyes blazing. “If you stay here, you’ll die.”
Nen swallowed then ran to the side of the cage and climbed up. Glitch gave Nen a few seconds’ head start then followed him. Chunks of burning wood dropped from the roof. The floor of the cage was starting to smolder. At least the firing seemed to have stopped. Perhaps they would get out of this ali
ve after all.
As Anderson got to the opening, the ground shook, and the air filled with a low rumbling. The cage shifted again, pitching to the right. Nen yelled in terror, clinging to the bars. Doctor Zheng’s feet slipped, leaving her hanging from the roof of the cage. Glitch hooked one leg around the wooden bars to stop himself from falling. The smoke was getting in his eyes, making them stream. He could hardly see where he was.
Doctor Zheng swung her legs back toward the bars of the cage. Her hand slipped, and she screamed.
“I’m coming to get you,” shouted Glitch. Coughing, he started climbing toward the doctor.
There was a cracking sound and a cascade of sparks and fire. Burning wood fell from the top of the cage as the ropes supporting it gave way.
A moment later, the cage fell.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Human Prey
The So-lang Nen gives Glitch an antidote to the poison, but although it will buy him some time, Glitch will eventually die. As Glitch considers his fate, the Barash village is attacked by a group of Relorian hunters. Their energy weapons set fire to the Barash village, and Glitch, Anderson, Zheng, and Nen are trapped as the flames close in. A blast from a Relorian weapon hits the cage, opening a hole in the roof, and they climb toward it.
As Anderson reached the opening, the ground shook. The cage shifted to the right. Nen yelled in terror, hands clamped around the bars.
Doctor Zheng slipped and ended up hanging from the roof of the cage. Glitch hooked a leg around the bars to stop himself from falling. The air was filled with smoke, and his eyes were streaming. Doctor Zheng tried to swing back toward the side of the cage, but her hand slipped. She screamed.
“I’m coming to get you,” shouted Glitch, and he climbed up to the doctor.
There was a cracking sound and a shower of sparks, and fire and burning wood fell from the top of the cage as the ropes supporting it gave way.
A moment later, the cage fell.
Wood splintered and cracked as the cage crashed through branch after branch. Glitch clung to the wooden bars, trying to avoid being thrown loose as he was bounced around. The ball-like cage collided with a thick branch, and the right-hand side folded inward. Two of the bars shattered, creating a pair of lethal-looking spikes. A lump of burning wood bounced past Anderson, narrowly missing her head.
Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet Page 14