“But why is it deserted?” I asked.
“We do not know,” said Eargon Fooz. “The two-leggers came from another world and built the city. They lived there for hundreds of years without bothering us. Then, one day, they left. We do not go there. Ever.”
“All right, that’s enough for now,” said Ellico vec Bur. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day.”
* * *
I slept badly that night, and was the first awake. After a light breakfast, we started out again. Ellico vec Bur had been right. The travel was hard. After a while Eargon Fooz again offered to let us take turns riding on her back. This time even I was willing to accept her offer.
Late in the afternoon we were passing beneath a tree that hung heavy with yellowish-orange pods. I was on Eargon Fooz’s back at the time. Given our previous experience with pods, I clung close to her neck, not wanting to get near the things. But they had the most enticing smell I had ever sniffed—an odor that seemed to sing to my nose of wondrous tastes, of a treat beyond all others. I found myself looking up in a dreamy way, wondering if these pods might be good to eat. Surely not all the plant life on Billa Kindikan was dangerous.
Then I saw a pod hanging so low that it was almost inviting me to pluck it. Unable to resist the smell, I stretched up, reaching out my hand.
To my horror, the instant I touched the pod a trio of small, beady eyes blinked open in its skin. It sprouted several long, skinny “arms,” grabbed my hand, and plucked me instead—dragging me up toward the tree.
My cries of terror alerted the others. I could hear them shouting in dismay.
I screamed again as the pod opened a horrible, fang-filled mouth. It smiled wickedly and drooled on my face. The vines gripped me more tightly, lifting me into the air.
I struggled to break free, kicking and screaming. Other pods sprouted legs and scrambled toward me along the vines, like horrid fat bypriemm. That was when I realized that they were not actually attached to the tree. I thrashed wildly, trying to evade their grasp. If I broke loose, I would plummet to the ground, but even a bone-breaking fall was preferable to letting these things sink their teeth into me.
Their limbs seemed to be neither arms nor legs, but to function as both. The only sound they made was a wheezy, sucking gasp. They were round and squishy, but that makes them sound less horrifying than they really were. The squishiness meant that they could not be hurt, or at least not easily. Kick or hit them, and it had no effect. Their skin could not be torn.
As I dangled there above the ground, I could see other pods attacking my friends. Then the pod I had tried to pick descended toward me, its mouth wide, its eyes glittering.
CHAPTER 14 [TIM]
BUR’S CHOICE
The pod-like creatures crawling over us were terrifying and disgusting at the same time. Their small, beady eyes, their squishiness, their prickly, plastic-like skin, and their terrible clutching limbs… even now, sitting here in the detention room of the Interplanetary Trading Federation’s court, I shudder when I remember them.
This wasn’t the first time I had been in a dangerous situation, of course. But it was the first time I had actually been in a physical fight for my own life, and I found strength and courage I didn’t know I had—especially when I saw one of the creatures trying to attach itself to Linnsy’s face.
Roaring with anger, I ripped away the two pods climbing up my legs. Then I lunged across the clearing and grabbed the pod attacking Linnsy. I had it around the middle. I started to squeeze, fury giving my grip unexpected power. Its nasty legs curled up, and it fell away from her.
I could hear Pleskit and Maktel screaming and shouting. I turned toward them and saw the Veeblax transform itself into a ferocious-looking head, so scary that two of the pods drew back in terror. Another was approaching Pleskit from behind.
“Watch out!” I cried.
Before Pleskit could turn, I heard a sizzling sound and saw a beam of purple light slice across the attacking pod. It split open, oozing out a thick brownish goo. The smell was horrifying.
Spinning, I saw that Ellico vec Bur had whipped out their ray gun. They were zapping the horrible pods, which fell to the ground with their legs curling and twitching whenever the ray hit one. With Ellico’s other hand the Trader(s) were slashing around them with their cane, beating the pods aside like so many incoming soccer balls. Fierce anger contorted their faces.
Eargon Fooz, too, was fighting savagely. Her voice like a trumpet, she reared back and stamped the vicious pods beneath her feet. Several were attached to her back, and I plunged toward her to help pull them away. But the pods had obviously spotted the Trader(s) as the greatest menace, because suddenly they all let go of the rest of us and began to surge toward Ellico vec Bur. They looked like a living carpet of coconuts scuttling across the jungle floor.
The Trader(s) fought valiantly, using one hand to lash out with their cane, which they used almost like a sword, and the other to fire the ray gun. I wanted to get in and help, but with their ray gun sizzling this way and that, I couldn’t get close. Despite the ray gun, several pods managed to grab on to the Trader(s). Others clustered around their feet. Suddenly Ellico vec Bur fell backward. I heard the Ellico portion shout in anger, or maybe pain, then a strange shriek of despair from Bur. The sound shivered down my spine.
Even though they were down, the Trader(s) continued to fire. The stink of sizzling pods filled the air. Then, suddenly, the two dozen or so that were left scuttled back into the trees, retreating in the same eerie silence with which they had attacked.
We rushed to Ellico vec Bur, who had undoubtedly saved all our lives. I choked back a cry of horror. The Ellico portion of the Trader(s) was severely wounded, his elegant clothing torn, his face and hands oozing blue blood.
“Help him!” cried Bur’s tiny voice. “You must help him!”
To my surprise, it was Maktel who hurried to the Trader(s)’ side.
“I had emergency medical training in Wilderness Way,” he explained quietly as he began to work on Ellico vec Bur’s body.
The Ellico portion remained silent. Bur, however, began to wail, a horrible keening that shivered up and down my spine.
Finally Maktel turned and said softly, “It’s very serious. He won’t be able to travel. We need to find someplace to shelter them.”
“The area has some caves,” said Eargon Fooz. “We might be able to find one where they will be safe.”
“Good,” said Maktel. “I’ll stay with Ellico vec Bur while you go look for a cave. Maybe one of the rest of you should stay too—so I’ll have help in case there’s another attack.”
“I’ll stay,” Pleskit said.
“Bad idea,” Linnsy said. “That would leave Tim and me with Eargon Fooz, and neither of us can speak her language.”
That was when I noticed that Linnsy’s leg had been hurt in the attack. “Why don’t you stay?” I suggested. She started to object, but I pointed to her leg and said, “Looks like it might be hard for you to walk anyway.”
She hesitated, but then agreed that it was probably the best idea. As Pleskit, Eargon Fooz, and I went to look for a cave, I glanced back and saw Linnsy gently taking the ray gun from Ellico vec Bur’s hand. She sat down on the ground next to Maktel, cradling the ray gun and staring nervously into the trees.
* * *
Following Eargon Fooz, Pleskit and I pushed our way through the jungle. It was dark, the blue sun mostly blocked by the huge trees that stretched above us. I was twitching with nervousness, wondering what vicious plant might be waiting to attack at any moment. Weird cries echoed high in the treetops. I looked up, trying to catch sight of the creatures that made them, but could see nothing except the dense foliage. Once, off to the right, I saw a pair of large green eyes. They blinked shut the moment I spotted them, and the creature, whatever it was, disappeared.
We were lucky to have Eargon Fooz with us. She knew the territory and had a good sense of where to look, so it didn’t take as long a
s I would have thought to find a cave.
It was Pleskit who spotted it. “Look,” he said, grabbing my elbow. “Over there.” He was pointing to a small hill, barely visible through the thick foliage. “See?” he asked. “That dark spot… off to the right.”
“Looks promising,” said Eargon Fooz (according to Pleskit’s translation), and we began beating our way toward it.
The spot was perfect, a dry cave that went nearly twelve feet into the hill, with no sign that Ellico vec Bur would be sharing it with any kind of man-eating critter.
Quickly we made our way back to our friends, who were plenty happy to see us, let me tell you.
“No problems while you were gone,” reported Linnsy.
“But some scary noises,” said Maktel. “I kept thinking things were gathering to attack.”
“Let’s get Ellico vec Bur to that cave as quickly as we can,” I said, feeling more nervous than ever.
But that was easier said than done, since the Trader(s) were too weak and wounded to walk.
“We can use something else I learned in Wilderness Way to handle this,” said Maktel. Then he showed us how to lash together some branches to make a travois—a simple job made more complicated by fear that any branch or vine we tried to cut might strike back!
When the travois was ready, we carefully placed the Trader(s) on it and dragged them to the cave. Bur complained all the way about the bumpiness of the ride. I might have found that really annoying, except it was clear the little creature was only trying to protect its partner.
Once we reached the cave, we faced a new question—namely, what to do next.
“We can’t just wait here for someone to find us,” said Linnsy.
“No, you have to go on,” said Bur, startling me when it broke in on the conversation. “Setting aside the fact that no one will be looking for us here anyway, we’ve got to get to the city to deal with the threat to the communication system.”
“We?” asked Pleskit.
“You cannot go alone,” said Bur. “You don’t know the way, or what to do when you get there.”
“But you can’t travel now,” protested Linnsy.
“Ellico cannot travel,” corrected Bur. “I, however, must. The fate of the galaxy depends on us stopping Mikta-makta-mookta’s plot.” It paused, then added, “That means that one of you will have to act as my host. Any volunteers?”
I stared at Bur in astonishment. The mere thought of letting that crablike thing crawl onto my head and stick its legs into my ears made me shudder with horror.
After a long silence Bur said angrily, “All right, if none of you will volunteer, I’ll have to choose for myself.”
Removing its right tweezik from Ellico’s ear, it pointed at one of us and said, “I want you.”
CHAPTER 15 [LINNSY]
ME, MYSELF, AND BUR
When Bur pointed at me, I felt a coldness seize my stomach. The idea of letting that crablike thing climb onto my head and attach itself to my brain was more horrifying than anything I had ever imagined.
I saw the others staring at me, their faces shifting from awe to pity to horror.
“Why Linnsy?” demanded Tim, asking the question I had not been able to get past the sudden dryness that had sealed my throat.
Ignoring Tim and looking directly at me, Bur said, “You were the one who tried to help us when we were injured on the ship. We can sense your empathy and your open mind, which are necessary for a successful meld. Besides, you are the most mature of your group.”
“Hey!” said Tim, as if to protest. But I could tell he didn’t really mean it. The funny thing was, I had been teasing him for years by calling him immature. Now I would have given anything to be the least mature person there.
“I cannot force you,” continued Bur. “The meld would never work if you were to resist. But you must understand that without my guidance it will be impossible for you younglings to do what must be done.”
“You know I cannot go into the city with you,” said Eargon Fooz sadly, as if to reinforce Bur’s point. “You will be on your own once I leave you at the edge of the jungle.”
I swallowed hard, trying to will my throat to open up so that I could speak.
Tim moved closer to me. “Linnsy, you don’t have to—”
“No,” I said, finally finding my voice. “That’s the point, Tim. I do have to. We can’t just stay here and let Mikta-makta-mookta take over the galaxy.” I looked directly at Bur. Bowing my head slightly, I said, “I accept your offer.”
Bur closed its eyes, and its tiny voice twisted out a cry of pain as it pulled the second tweezik from Ellico’s ear. Despite the fact that Ellico was still unconscious, he cried out too—a terrible sound, so filled with loss and sorrow that it almost made me weep.
As Bur clambered awkwardly down to the floor of the cave, I noticed that Ellico was bald, something it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder about when he had had a permanent attachment on his head. I wondered if he had always been bald, or if having Bur there had somehow removed his hair—or had there been tentacles, like his beard?
What is this going to do to my hair? I wondered. Part of me was disgusted by the vanity of the thought. What was my hair compared to the fate of the galaxy? Another part couldn’t help but wonder what I was going to look like the next time I saw Jordan.
I could tell from Bur’s slow, painful movements that it was not used to moving on its own. The sound of the creature’s claws as it dragged itself across the cave’s stony floor made me shiver. I felt I should offer to help, to pick it up. But my fear and revulsion left me mute, which made me ashamed.
At last Bur reached my side.
I stood still, trying not to scream as the crablike creature attached its claws to the side of my right leg and began to climb. When it reached my waist, it shifted around to my back. I could feel its tiny claws pierce the skin on either side of my spine. Each place the claws jabbed in immediately went numb, as if Bur were injecting some kind of anesthetic—almost like a bee sting in reverse.
I tried to stand still as Bur climbed my spine, but I could not stop the fearful trembling that shook my body.
Bur reached my neck, then climbed directly onto my head. I felt as if its claws were digging through the thin skin that covered my skull, going straight to the bone. The shell of its body was hard, but not cold.
“Calm, calm,” murmured Bur. “Stay calm or this will not work. The more you fight me, the more it will hurt.”
It settled around my head, its sides expanding, adjusting, then closing again to make a tight fit. I flinched as the edges clamped against my skull, just above my ears.
“Calm,” repeated Bur. “Calm. Relax.”
I took a deep breath and tried to hold still as Bur’s tweezikkle probed the side of my head, searching for my ears.
Suddenly they found the openings and thrust in. I felt a blaze of pain as they formed the connection to my brain.
Then everything went black.
CHAPTER 16 [TIM]
FALLEN COMRADE
When Bur settled onto Linnsy’s head, she started to shudder. Suddenly her eyes rolled back so that nothing but the whites were showing. The shuddering grew more violent. A scream ripped out of her—a terrifying scream that echoed horribly in the cave.
“Stop!” I cried. I lunged toward her, ready to rip Bur from her head.
Pleskit grabbed my arm. “You must not interrupt,” he said urgently.
“Let me go!” I shouted, struggling to get away from him. “Let me go!”
It was Linnsy who stopped me. Her scream ended as abruptly as it had begun. Her face twisted and twitched and then, suddenly, relaxed. She looked so surprised and happy, it made me almost as nervous as when she had been screaming. Putting out her hands to motion me away, she said softly, “It’s all right, Tim. I’m fine.”
“How do I know that’s you talking, and not Bur?” I asked.
“It’s both of us,” she replied, which gave me a little ripple
of fear. “We are one now.”
Bur, perched atop her head, was smiling. I found the sight of that smug face revolting.
I turned to Pleskit.
He nodded. “As far as I know, Linnsy vec Bur are speaking the truth.”
Somehow Pleskit speaking her—their—new name like that made the whole situation more real, and I shuddered at the words. Pleskit put his hand on my arm. “Tim, you must remember that Bur is a symbiote, not a parasite. This new being is a partnership.”
“We need to go now. We have delayed enough.” Though the words came out of Linnsy’s mouth, I wasn’t sure if by “we” she meant all of us, or just her and Bur.
“What about Ellico?” asked Maktel.
Tears welled up in Linnsy’s eyes. “We must leave the former partner. He will understand. We will seek aid for him.”
She seemed oddly confident of the things she was saying. Not that Linnsy had ever lacked confidence. But now she was—well, it seemed as if she had decided that she was going to be the leader, and there was no doubt that the rest of us would follow her. Them.
Ellico stirred on his bed of leaves. “Linnsy vec Bur are right,” he said, his voice soft and weak. “You can do nothing for me here. I will be all right on my own.”
We all knew he was lying, that he would not be all right. We could only hope he would survive long enough for us to get help.
“If it will set your minds at ease,” said Eargon Fooz, “after I accompany you to the edge of the jungle, I will come back here to watch over your comrade. I am not a healer. But I can at least try to guard him from attack.”
“We are most grateful,” said Linnsy vec Bur. She walked to Ellico’s side, knelt beside him, and kissed him gently on the forehead. Whether the kiss was supposed to be from her or from Bur, I could not tell.
Maybe there was no way to tell them apart now.
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