TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6)

by Jean Kilczer

  That's where I got the idea to create this lifeform.

  Oh. We'll have to compare notes someday when this is over.

  My Terran friend, when this is over, only Great Mind knows what you'll be into next. He broke the link.

  Thanks a lot, I sent into the void.

  Chapter Nine

  “Look at that,” I said as I guided the hovair between blue shoulders of a mountain range. Ahead, a village sprawled on a plain of ochre and brown soil. Bristra poured through passes like the black cells of a growing cancer, moving east, toward the village. I circled the forest of bristra, low. The mother roots lifted and showed pink bellies and round mouths lined with teeth like white spikes. “I'd say it's more animal than plant.”

  “Some of its characteristics,” Gabby mused, “remind me of fungi.”

  “They're still spreading out,” Joe commented from behind my pilot's seat.

  “And coming this way,” Sophia added and put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you think they're aware of the village, babe?”

  “I'd bet a few creds on it,” I told her. “My guess is they know exactly what they're after, fresh meat on the foot.”

  “At this rate,” Chancey said from the co-pilot's seat, “they'll overrun the village before the transports land.”

  “If the transports don't arrive in time,” Bat said from behind Chancey's seat, and scratched under his cap, “we're gonna have to herd the people out to safer ground.”

  “They won't go,” Gabby said.

  “They don't have a choice,” Joe told her.

  I flipped on the radio. “Al,” I said, “do you read? Al?”

  There was a pause, then, “I hear ya, kraut,” he answered.

  “Listen carefully.” I didn't expect him to believe me when I told him that a very powerful entity from another planet was preparing to destroy Blackroot to save Equus' ecology, and if he didn't get off-planet within two days, he and his people would die too.

  “OK,” he said. “So where are you? We need ya to fly us off this dirtball.”

  “I've got a better idea. Wait for the military transports from Alpha to land, then fly Searcher to their site and give yourselves up.”

  “No. I've got a better idea! We're already crawling up your ass, and our boat's armed. Land your friggin' plane an' wait for us, or I'll turn it into a glider. You want your friends to live? Give yourself up now or watch them take a hot beam up the ass after we grab you, you friggin' frocio!”

  I looked around at my friends, gathered in the cabin, listening to the conversation. “If you don't surrender to the military, Al,” I said, “you and your buddies are dead meat. Think about it, paisan.” I broke the link, thought of Paulie, and sighed. “I didn't think it would work, Joe.”

  “They've made their choice,” he said.

  Sophia rubbed my shoulder. “You can't help them if they won't be helped, hon.”

  “We're probably doing the FBI a big favor,” Chancey said. “Saves them time and money if the crotes die here.”

  “What kind of favor?” Huff asked and sat on the deck beside me. He fished around in his belly pouch and pulled out a candy bar.

  Bat shook his head. “Killin' is never a favor.”

  “I hope they die here!” Gabby said through gritted teeth.

  We looked at her.

  “I hope they die.” She stamped a foot. “They killed my father!”

  Bat put his arm around her shoulder. “We understand, kid.”

  She leaned against him and wiped her eyes. “They're murderers.”

  “Can't argue with that,” Chancey said.

  Huff unwrapped the candy bar and took a bite. “Life is sweet.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “The damn candy bar,” Joe explained.

  “It's a Life Bar,” Chancey added. “Man, don't you know nothin'?” he teased me. “Company's got a franchise to operate on Kresthaven.”

  Sophia chuckled. “I guess McDonalds is next.”

  “Land o' the frozen arches.” Chancey swept a raised hand. “We specialize in fish burgers and snow cones. Drive right through on your ice floe.”

  “And chunks of lard with eyeballs,” Huff added. “Don't ever forget the eyeballs, Chancey. My people say `The more eyeballs you eat, the better you see'.”

  “Oh, yum.” Chancey licked his lips. “Rather go blind,” he muttered.

  Sophia kissed my head. “You've got some weird friends, babe.”

  I glanced at Chancey. “I seem to attract them.”

  The sun stood high in the sky as we slid open the windows and dropped our comlinks into a crevasse over a snowy ridge. “Go fetch!” I said.

  Cloud shadows slid across a swift-running silver river south of the village where groves of curly-branched trees with red pods hugged the banks. Native quadrupeds with olive-drab coats, and horns like a goat's, bolted from beneath the trees as we cruised by overhead. A large animal, perhaps the alpha male leader, reared up on hind legs, spread diminutive arms, and extended paws that jutted from his shoulders. He raked the air with sharp claws.

  “I'll be a Shayl's mother,” I said. “The pattern here is six limbs instead of four.” I turned to Gabby. “Did you know that?”

  She nodded. “Dad said we could spend our lives studying the faunae on this one planet.”

  “I wouldn't want to go head to head with those goat horns,” Chancey said.

  “Why not, Chance?” I offered. “With your thick skull, you'd probably inherit the herd.”

  “Someday, Superstar,” he wagged a finger at me, “you're going to push it too far.”

  I chuckled as I headed toward the village. Wind lifted the brown and ochre soil below into dust devils. Groves of trees stood in scattered patches of green. If snow ever fell in this valley, it would quickly turn to rainwater and be swallowed by the thirsty land. The village of white cottages, with picket fences and bloated red roses intertwined in arbors, looked like clones as they huddled around a stone church with an unusually high spire.

  But where were the farms, the livestock that colonists on other planets brought as fast-gro fertilized eggs? Where were the people out walking on dirt streets and the children at play?

  “How long have these people been here, Gabby?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “They wouldn't talk about it. Dad wanted to…he wanted to introduce systems for Terran soil fertility. It must be addressed for conservation of indigenous plant and animal lifeforms, you know?”

  “That's by the book,” I said, “for any newly colonized planet.”

  She nodded. “We intended to do a detailed ecological study on the dynamics of Equus' ecosystems.”

  “And?” I asked.

  “They weren't interested. They're strange people, Jules. Dad was a little leery of them.” She rubbed her pale forehead with thin fingers. “I think…I think he was more afraid of them than he let on. He finally said that we should just collect some native samples of flora and small insect life, and wait in our hut for Arcadia V to return and pick us up.” She hung her head. “That was the plan. They didn't even let us wait in the village. They made us feel like outcasts.”

  I glanced at Joe. He shook his head.

  “Well,” I said, “Let's go give them their ultimatum.” I turned the craft toward a flat plain east of the village.

  Huff reached up with the candy bar to Gabby. “It's long. Take a bite, my skinny Terran friend, and make it shorter.”

  She shook her head. “No thanks, Huff.”

  “On my world,” Huff said, “we have a saying.”

  I glanced at Chancey, who gritted his teeth. On Huff's world, they have a saying for everything, and Chancey has the patience of a wounded shark.

  “On my world,” Huff repeated and Chancey moaned, “we say that the outcast rides the river floe alone until he meets with other outcasts, and then he is no longer an outcast.”

  “Do tell?” Chancey said. “And what do all these outcasts do to make a living? Sell ice to each o
ther?”

  “Chancey,” Bat said, “that's not necessary.”

  Huff found a parasite in his belly fur and popped it into his mouth. “I think you are teasing me,” he told Chancey and crunched the bug's hard shell. It squeaked as he swallowed it. “My Terran cub Jules told me about teasing. We have a saying on Kresthaven about those who tease.”

  “I give up!” Chancey got out of the seat and strode into the living quarters.

  “Huff,” I said, “you're eating native lifeforms. Did you take a digestall pill?”

  He nodded. “I keep them in my pouch, along with Vegan Grow-Fur-Fast, and candy bars. I don't think Chancey wants to hear our saying on Kresthaven.”

  I scratched his shoulder. “Tell me, my friend.”

  “All right. On Kresthaven we say that the one who teases is trying to make himself look taller than the one he teases.”

  “Good saying, Huff.” I plucked a parasite off his shoulder and handed it to him.

  “That's disgusting,” Sophia muttered. “Has he ever offered you one, dear?”

  “Sure,” I lied. “Tastes like chicken.”

  I steered the craft toward the flat empty plain east of the village. “Gabby.”

  “Yes, Jules?”

  “You want to hand fly this baby to that open strip ahead?”

  “OK!”

  I unbuckled my harness, looked up at Bat and winked. “She's all yours, Captain,” I told Gabby as I stood up.

  Joe frowned at me.

  “Piece o' cake,” I mouthed.

  Normally, I would strap in for a landing, but to show Gabby my confidence in her, I stood by a window, and peered out. Sophia came and I put my arm around her waist, and held onto a wall strut. “Chancey,” I called back.

  “Yo?”

  “We're landing.”

  “Can Huff be my co-pilot?” Gabby asked as she took the controls.

  “Why not?” I said.

  Joe muttered something and strapped himself into a rear seat.

  Bat sat beside him and chuckled. “Bubba knows what he's doing, boss.”

  “I could tell you stories!” Joe replied.

  Huff squeezed into the co-pilot's seat, tried to buckle himself in, and gave up. Hovairs are designed for Terrans.

  “Hey, tags, look,” I said. “Real people!” They came out of the identical cottages and strode toward the landing site.

  “They're all dressed alike,” Sophia commented.

  “Now why am I not surprised?” I asked.

  The women wore long black dresses and white caps. The men were in black suits with buckles at the waist and round-rimmed hats. Children, dressed the same, ran out ahead of the approaching group.

  “Either they're Amish,” Bat offered, “or it's Thanksgiving on Equus.”

  The hovair suddenly nose-dived. “What the hell?” I tightened my grip on the strut and Sophia. “Pull her up!” I yelled to Gabby. Sophia's weight against me tore my hand from the strut. We both fell and slid across the deck into the bottom of the pilot's seat. “Pull her up, Gab!” I shouted and held Sophia's arm tightly.

  “She's not responding!” Gabby cried.

  The craft's nose suddenly lifted and she shot skyward. I lost my grip on Sophia, slid along the deck and slammed into the doorway. It knocked the wind out of me. “Get the auto pilot on,” I gasped.

  The hovair was roaring skyward with all engines wide open. “Sophia! Hang on!”

  Bat unharnessed himself and crawled to where Sophia was grasping the stationary legs of the pilot's seat.

  The craft suddenly rolled. I held onto the doorframe but was thrown to the floor as it righted itself. Sophia and Bat managed to hang onto the seat. Huff was still in the co-pilot's seat, but his candy bar bounced across the deck.

  “What the hell's going on?” Chancey called from the living quarters.

  I heard something break loose in there and crash into the wall.

  “Gabby!” I cried as I crawled toward the pilot's seat. “Autopilot, dammit!”

  “Auto's not responding!” she cried shrilly. “Neither are the controls. She's flying herself!”

  “That's not possible,” I said as I got up. “Sophia?”

  “I'm all right.” She got to her feet.

  Gabby left the pilot's seat, holding on from dizziness, and I fell into it and buckled up. It was only then I realized my right side hurt.

  “A piece of cake!” Joe remarked as I took the controls.

  “Gabby, strap in.” I activated the yoke button and took manual control of the craft. “Chancey, come in here and strap in. Huff, keep holding on tight. I don't know what the hell she's going to do next. It feels as though we're caught in a tractor beam and somebody's sending us a message.”

  “A message to get the fuck out!” Chancey said as he staggered through the doorway holding his head, and flopped into a seat. “The sous hit the wall. Got a big dent in the ingredients door.”

  “Strap in, Chance,” I told him.

  I flew the craft down for an uneventful landing and wondered if it had been Gabby's inexperience that caused the erratic flight path. I doubted it, though. A hovair will go to auto-pilot and bring the craft to a safe landing, if need be. It's a dead-man's switch, so to speak.

  “Is everybody all right?” I asked as I shut down the engines.

  “I'm checking them,” Bat said. His medkit was open and he was dabbing a cut on Chancey's forehead with some medication. “Are you all right?” he asked me.

  I rubbed my sore ribs. “I'm OK. Joe?”

  He nodded and unbuckled. “Were you serious about a tractor beam? That's a sophisticated piece of equipment, and considering where we are…” He stood up unsteadily.

  “I don't know,” I answered. “Maybe it was a glitch in the hovair.”

  “Sure,” Chancey said. “A glitch.” He unholstered his stingler, checked it and spun it to hot beam.

  I unstrapped from the seat and did the same with mine. They were the only two weapons we had among us, and whatever the people of the village were about, I was not taking any chances with Sophia and my team.

  Chapter Ten

  The hundred or so people were silent as they stood, wearing only dresses and suits in the cold evening air as they watched us disembark. The sky was darkening, the temperature was dropping even further. I blinked in the flurry of light snowflakes that burned my nostrils. There is a smell to snowy air that I can only describe as “cold.”

  “Hi,” I said and waved to the villagers. No one moved or smiled. A child picked up a rock and threw it at us. It fell short.

  “Friendly bunch,” I told Chancey and shoved my bare hands into my jacket pockets.

  “Yeah,” he said, “hope they didn't exert themselves. Hey!” he called to the group, “I like the way your town is laid out. When did it die?”

  There was no response.

  “And no sense of humor either,” Sophia said.

  “Is this the welcome you and your father got?” Joe asked Gabby.

  “Worse.” Gabby blew on her hands. “They wouldn't let us leave the hovair. We sneaked out a few times just to look around.”

  “They better get ready to leave the planet!” Joe strode toward the tight group of villagers, raising snow dust in his wake.

  They moved aside, making a path. I thought it was to let Joe through, but a tall man in black, with a dark beard flecked with gray, strode between the people and stopped in front of Joe, blocking his path.

  “C'mon, Chance.” I moved forward. “Gabby, stay near the hovair. If things turn bad, lock yourself inside. Leave if you have to.”

  She nodded, wide-eyed, her cheeks and nose red with cold, and hurried back.

  “Soph?” I gestured toward the craft.

  She lifted her chin. “Protect the women and children?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” I said.

  “Did you consider, dear, that having an unarmed woman with you might lower their defensive attitude?” She brushed snow off my shoulders
.

  Let's go, Jules," Chancey said. “You never could win an argument with your woman.”

  “Then stay behind me, Soph,” I told her. "You too, Bat. He was unarmed but carried his medkit.

  He lifted it. “We'll be here if you need us.”

  Huff went down on all fours in front of me, white as the ground, and prowled toward the group, head held low. He drew back lips that showed a predator's teeth.

  “Look at that!” Sophia pointed back to the advancing bristra.

  It had breached the pass and was flowing down the flanks of the mountain.

  Bat scratched under his cap. “Suckers is movin' like their tails are on fire.”

  Joe and the tall man were talking. Joe waved us back. We stopped and waited. Wind filtered through my ski hat and I shivered. How could the villagers stand this cold the way they were dressed?

  The conversation grew heated and loud. Chancey took out his stingler and let it hang at his side. The snow was thickening, but the villagers never moved. Joe jabbed a finger toward the advancing bristra.

  On a hunch, I spun a light tel coil and probed the tall man. What I felt turned me even colder. His thoughts were not the usual human pattern. It was as though his mind was a web, and images were hung in random patterns. I felt him pluck one and expand on it as he argued with Joe. Other patterns came and went. Suddenly he turned and fixed me with a glaring eye. I could not pull my gaze away. I grabbed Chancey's arm and gasped as a bolt of tel power hit my mind and my head suddenly felt hot.

  “What's wrong?” Chancey steadied me.

  I pulled off my hat and stared at the tall man. He turned away and the probe dissolved.

  “Jules!” Sophia said. “What is it?”

  “He's a tel,” I whispered. “I think he could rival Spirit in power.”

  “Are you OK?” Bat asked me.

  I nodded. “I am now.” I rubbed my head behind my right ear. “His probe was so close to my brain stem, he could've killed me if he wanted to.”

  “Jesus and Mary!” Chancey exclaimed. “What're we dealing with here?”

  I shook my head. “If his power extends to controlling the elements, he might have…”