The Planet Dweller
Page 19
***
Having reached the spot where she had left Dax to pursue the three Olmuke who were pursuing the strange intruder, Reniola stood still, trying to sense Dax’s presence through the growing mist the planet dweller had rolled across the landscape. Moosevan was probably trying to confuse her sense of direction. It was pointless because all super intelligences had their own inbuilt compass, even if not an accurate grasp of mortal behaviour.
Reniola made her way down to the pebble beach where it was evident that Dax had met the others. The scattered pebbles and discarded weapons told her that her companion had caught up with them, and the combatants had run off in different directions. Briefly stopping to wonder how Dax had managed to chase all of them at once without reverting to her natural form, and probably in consequence forgotten what she was pursuing them for, Reniola located her trail and plodded on.
The mist began to lift and she sensed that Moosevan was being remarkably quiet for some reason. There was an element of the ominous about her mood, as though she was waiting for the opportunity to pounce on something. Reniola just hoped that it wasn’t going to be her and Dax. After all, they were trying to help the obstructive, temperamental creature. If it weren’t for Torran enterprise and evolution they wouldn’t be there at all and the malfunctioning accretion equipment would have sealed her fate. What was causing the accretion beam to stall was beyond even Reniola, since the technology their ancient engineers had perfected was unlikely to be anything but perfect.