Mid-Flinx (21 page)

Here it comes
, Flinx thought as he prepared possible explanations, excuses, and evasions. But how had they found out about him? How had they come to learn of his unique talent? What did they know about him from their observations of what had happened on Ulru-Ujurr years ago and on Longtunnel comparatively recently?

The noble performed a gesture indicative of first-degree interest and admiration. “You travel aboard a most remarkable vessel, Lynx-sir. Most remarkable.”

So that was it! Fighting to conceal his relief, Flinx forced himself to relax. This wasn’t about his distorted genetic background, about what the outlawed Meliorares had done to his nervous system prior to his birth. It wasn’t about his carefully concealed abilities at all. It was the
Teacher
they were after.

Initially relieved, he had to remind himself that this revelation did nothing to enhance prospects for imminent freedom. With Pip still trapped in Coerlis’s infernal catch sack, he and Teal and the children weren’t about to disarm and disable nearly a dozen highly trained AAnn soldiers.

The situation had changed, but whether for better or worse it was too early to tell. Lord Caavax was nonhuman, representative of a species that was a traditional rival of humanxkind. On the other hand, unlike Coerlis, he was rational and might be swayed or influenced by logical argument. Better to contest with a rational alien than an obsessed human.

To do that, he needed to learn as much about Caavax and his backup as possible. Casual conversation was always a useful way to begin.

“Did you arrive via shuttle? If so, it must be getting awfully crowded on that mountaintop.”

“There was only just enough room,” the noble replied. “Landing required much delicate maneuvering. You will understand also a desire on our part not to upset or interfere with the situation we found you in until we were able to ascertain the details. We have managed.”

“Why the intense interest in my ship?”

“
Pssussk
. You are making jovial. We have reports that it is capable of achieving planetfall, a feat practically but not theoretically impossible for any KK-drive craft. If the reports are accurate, it would seem that you or some others you have had contact with have effectively resolved the theoretical contradictions. Even making allowance for your youth, I do not think I need to explain the interest those of a military bent would have in such a scientific breakthrough.

“Yet our information also suggests that this is a discovery you have kept to yourself and not revealed to anyone who is of the Commonwealth. This is something of a puzzle to us, but one that I assure you we will do our utmost to preserve.”

“The ship was a gift.” Flinx tried to impart the attitude of one for whom the matter was of little import. “A present. For that and other reasons, I’ve decided not to reveal its capabilities at this time.”

Clearly Lord Caavax did not understand. “But it would give your people a significant military advantage over the forces of the Empire.”

Flinx’s response expressed confidence rather than military expertise. “The Commonwealth can handle the Empire just fine the way things are. Sure, having ships equipped with drives the equal of the
Teacher
’s would give an advantage, but it would only be a temporary one.”

“Why temporary?” Slitted pupils dilated.

“Because I know how good your agents are, remember? Sooner or later they’d manage to bribe, steal, or cajole their way into possession of the necessary information. Soon Empire ships with similar capabilities would be plying nullspace. That would make the military on both sides happy, but only increase the misery of impacted noncombatants. The balance of power would be restored but the potential for destruction increased. So I prefer to keep the secret to myself.

“For one thing, unlike some humans and thranx, I have nothing against your kind. As far as I’m concerned, the issues that inspired historical conflict are as dead as those who disputed them.”

The noble twisted in a manner suggestive of second-degree understanding seamlessly infused with first-degree disagreement.

“A very self-centered explication, and therefore also very human. It remains, however, that I am bound by different cultural paradigms. The Empire wants the secret of your drive because it promises advantage. It is the essence of AAnness to seek advantage. Therefore I am afraid that your youthful idealism will have to be set aside should you wish to preserve your continued good health.”

“I can’t help you,” Flinx replied tartly. “I’m not an engineer or physicist. I have no idea how the
Teacher
’s drive operates or how it sidesteps the Kurita-Kinoshita equations, or whatever the AAnn equivalent is.”

“
Ssissi
. You needn’t worry about that. On board my vessel are many who are competent to analyze the workings of your drive. But as you know, your craft is programmed to defend itself against unauthorized intrusion.”

Flinx worked to suppress a genuine smile. “You tried to board her.”

“Obviously. Otherwise there would be no need for me to be standing here in these infernal, oppressive surroundings trying to reason with you. We simply would have put a crew aboard your vessel and departed quietly.”

“Leaving me stranded here.”

Once again the essence of a smile was visible only as a portion of the noble’s emotions. “You have friends. You would have survived.” He indicated Coerlis’s body. “I offer you more than what your fellow human was willing to allow.

“While the weaponry mounted on your vessel is no match for that aboard my own, we were of course constrained from firing by our desire to obtain your craft intact and undamaged, as well as a fear that if disabled and subsequently boarded, it might self-destruct, thereby obviating our whole purpose in coming here. The solution was straightforward: you had to be located and convinced to give us what we wish.”

“How did you manage to penetrate this far into the Commonwealth?”

“With great care and difficulty. We were helped by the fact that though this world lies within the self-proclaimed illegal Commonwealth sphere of influence, it is well away from major routes of trade and communication. We were cautious.

“You should also know that the mandate I was given, while all-encompassing, is possessed of a certain flexibility. I was told simply to obtain the secret of your ship’s drive. The actual methodology is left to my discretion. I am authorized and prepared to offer you a considerable fortune in return for access. You may even retain ownership of your vessel.

“Should you decline this very generous proposal, I am equally prepared and ready to use other methods to secure our objectives. These will be unprofitable to you except perhaps from the standpoint of experience, and considerably less comfortable. The choice is yours.” He took a step forward.

“I do not expect gratitude for having preserved your life from others of your own kind. I do expect, and insist, that you will accompany me back to my vessel and thence to your own in the company of myself and an advance team of designated specialists. Under their supervision you and your ship will retire via nullspace to Blasusarr, where you will be well treated for the duration of your stay.”

“So I’m a prisoner?”

“Guest. As for your indigenous friends, they are self-evidently not in a position to alert Commonwealth authorities to what has transpired here. It is also apparent that they have not the slightest inkling of the substance of this conversation. Therefore they may remain and depart in peace.”

Flinx replied quietly. “I can’t and won’t be a party to anything that increases the likelihood of conflict between the Commonwealth and the Empire. Besides, you have no intention of letting me go free, either with my ship or without. Even if I can’t explain the functions of the modified drive, I could still alert Commonwealth authorities to your possession of it.”

“Do you doubt my word,
Ssisstin
?” Several of the soldiers tensed in tandem with their superior.

Flinx smiled thinly. “Of an AAnn noble? How could I? You said I could retain ownership of the
Teacher
and that I’d be well-treated for the duration of my stay on Blasusarr. It won’t do me much good to retain ownership if I’m never allowed to leave.”

Amusement as well as appreciation figured prominently in the aristocrat’s reply. “Better a life of good treatment in the capital than a swift death by decomposition here.”

Flinx drew himself up so that he could stare sharply down at the noble. “That’s my choice to make. I can’t allow you to have the secret of the
Teacher
. It would be a betrayal of those who gave her to me.”

“An interesting problem in and of itself,” declared Caavax. “Who ‘gave’ the vessel to you? Where was this scientific breakthrough accomplished?”

Flinx thought of the childlike yet incredibly advanced Ulru-Ujurrians and had to grin. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I am not overly credulous, but I am certainly prepared to accept any reality that is supported by evidence.”

“What reality?” Flinx argued. “If my ship is capable of the feats you suggest, why didn’t I just land her here? There are no cities to damage, no developed areas to threaten.”

Lord Caavax eyed him pensively. “I have been wondering that myself. In time I am certain you will enlighten me. Now we will go.” He turned.

Flinx took a deep breath as he scanned the surrounding greenery. Surely his conversation had bought enough time? He knew it would be helpful if he could keep the AAnn noble’s attention focused on him.

“Sorry. I’m staying here, with my friends.”

Lord Caavax LYD turned back to him. “I said that your friends were free to depart in peace. For one who declares himself dedicated to forestalling conflict, you are remarkably shortsighted. How if I were to kill them one at a time, beginning with the youngest child?” A clawed hand rested on the handle of his long-muzzled sidearm.

“How if that doesn’t persuade me?” Flinx replied tightly.

“I believe it will. Your human-type is fairly straightforward in that regard. To save time and display my personal magnanimity I will not kill outright. I will amputate the female child’s limbs a joint at a time until she expires. If you still refuse to comply, I will resume with the male child and conclude with the female parent. If your obstinacy persists, I shall then begin on you, but not here. More sophisticated technology is available aboard my vessel.” As always, he remained correct and polite, an admirable representative of the AAnn aristocracy.

“Better for four of us to die than thousands or millions.”

“That is not logical, but you are not AAnn and will eventually come to realize as much. Why not spare your friends as well as yourself unnecessary unpleasantness? The end will be the same.” Flinx noted that emotionally, at least, the noble was utterly convinced of this.

What was delaying the others, he wondered nervously? Caavax was watching him intently, and it was clear he couldn’t stall the noble any longer.

He tried to make himself look as resigned and disconsolate as possible. “All right, you win. I’ll go with you.”

The AAnn gestured second-level gratification. “Of course you will. It was inevitable.”

Flinx started forward, only to have the reptiloid block his path.

“Where are you going, Lynx-sir?”

Flinx blinked at him. “To the landing site, of course. The place where the shuttles are.”

The noble gestured contrariwise. “Do you think me a complete fool that, having lost two of my party already to the inimical and subtle biota of this world, I would so readily offer up others for similar sacrifice?” With a perfectly trimmed and unpainted claw he pointed in the opposite direction.

“The depression in the forest is more than large enough to admit a shuttle. A skilled pilot interacting closely with a sensitive descent program should have no trouble positioning his ship so that we may board right here. It will be compelled to hover carefully, though I suspect that many of the remarkable growths around us would be quite capable of supporting its weight. Lifting off under such conditions, however, could prove difficult.”

Turning, he hissed in his own language to one of the attentive troopers. Flinx knew some of the sibilant AAnn tongue, having studied it on his own, and the noble’s terse command was relatively easy to understand.

Responding, the trooper removed a nonreflective cylinder from his duty belt. Telltales winked to life as he activated the communicator and spoke into the pickup. After exchanging a few words with the trooper, Lord Caavax turned back to Flinx.

“In a very few moments we will be gone from this place.”

“Programming notwithstanding, your pilot better be good,” Flinx replied. Hope continued to dominate his thoughts. Judging from the look on Teal’s face, he could see that hers were following a similar course. Since the ongoing delay did not seem to be troubling her, he made an effort to appear similarly indifferent.

Aware of his attention, she addressed him softly. “I don’t understand, Flinx. What is happening?”

Caavax watched closely as Flinx put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “These nonhuman skypersons want something from me. It’s important that I don’t give it to them, even at the risk of our lives. I’m doing my best to convince him that since you’re not directly involved, he should let you and the children go.”

“That is what I thought.” Her gaze probed his own. “If it is that important, you must do what you think best.”

She really was beautiful, he mused. “They want me to go with them.” He gestured upward.

Her eyes widened slightly. “Into the Upper Hell?”

“No. Beyond that. To—” He really wasn’t very good at this, he realized. “—a place beyond the sky. Where your people came from originally. Where I’ve come from. In a shuttle.”

“A skyboat,” she declared, sifting ancestral memories for a suitable term.

He nodded. Together, they settled down to wait.

Chapter Sixteen

The AAnn soldiers talked continuously. Flinx could sense their unease. They were anxious to leave what to them was not only an unremittingly hostile environment, but one that they found physically uncomfortable as well. The special fabric of their camouflage suits did its best to wick away the moisture that formed on their skin. Meanwhile their jaws hung slack as they panted, trying to cool themselves down. They were unable to perspire in the manner of a human.

The only lapse in the admirable display of discipline came when two of them fired shots into the hylaeal depths, certain they had seen something large and threatening moving toward them. Flinx had seen it as well, salmon-colored and spiked like a medieval armory. Three maniacal eyes had glared furiously in the group’s direction, only to vanish into the green depths in response to the first shot from the agitated troopers. It missed, of course, as did the several follow-up bursts.

After calming his jittery soldiers, Caavax stalked back to confront the humans.

“What was
that
?” To all outward appearances unaffected, the noble’s unease was apparent only to Flinx, who found himself inordinately pleased by the AAnn’s distress. Lord Caavax was more shaken than he showed.

“Probably a cheleac,” Teal replied, as if the apparition’s appearance was of no consequence. “They’re very fast. And very dangerous.”

“Its aspect was indicative of that.” Caavax was squinting warily into the verdure. “Do you think it will come back?”

“No. If it intended to attack, some of you would already be dead. The cheleac is a streaker, not a sneaker. Once it has fixed on its quarry, it comes straight at it. With a cheleac it’s kill or be killed quickly.”

“Is that so? Then how do you explain the fact that my soldiers have frightened it away?”

She turned hard green eyes on the AAnn. “If the cheleac did not attack it was because it had other prey in mind. You cannot ‘frighten’ one away.” She smiled thinly. “Besides, what makes you think it has gone ‘away’?”

The noble’s head snapped around and slitted eyes once more searched the greenery. “It is still here?”

Teal shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know. Why don’t you send some of your soldiers to look for it?”

Lord Caavax postured appreciation for the jest combined with unalterable determination. “You will forgive me if I say that that is a request in which I choose not to indulge.”

Flinx gazed longingly at the double mesh sack that held Pip. It lay on the branch between two of Caavax’s troops.

“Put that thought out of your mind, Lynx-sir.” Caavax was alert as ever. “Your dangerous pet will remain as it is, ensuring continued comfort for all.”

A muted roar reached them from above, echoing through the yellow-green firmament. The feelings of relief this engendered in the AAnn soldiers was strong. Several of them glanced toward the valley in the forest, but none left his post. There were no wild demonstrations. They were too well trained for such overt displays of exultation. That was a human failing.

Lord Caavax stepped past Flinx. Squinting through the curtain of creepers and lianas, the noble located and tracked the tiny glistening dot in the sky until it grew large enough to identify with certainty.

“It will be a blessing,
sissink
, to get off this homicidal world. I loathe the flora and fauna, the light, the climate, everything about it. Unpleasant day gives way to unbearable night. One might as well try swimming like a human as endure the demonical rain. This is a climate fit only for a thranx, and I believe it too damp even for them.”

“It’s too wet for me, too,” Flinx told him. “I don’t like getting drenched every night any more than you do.”

“Then you will find Blasusarr infinitely more appealing.”

Flinx was watching the AAnn shuttle as it descended. “I tried a desert climate once. Didn’t care much for it, either.”

Conversation became difficult as the thunder from the shuttle’s engines drowned out forest sounds as well as speech. Dwell and Kiss were gesturing excitedly, astonishment temporarily overcoming their fear.

Teal put her lips close to Flinx’s ear. “Fire comes from its belly! Why doesn’t it burn itself up?”

He turned his head and raised his voice. “The skyboat rides on fire!”

“Fire,” she avowed, “is very dangerous! Very threatening!” Her eyes were intent on the descending craft.

To Flinx’s regret, it appeared as if the AAnn pilot knew what he was doing. The shuttle descended in a smooth arc that would bring it alongside their branch in a few minutes. At that point his options would be drastically reduced.

Despite the deafening rumble, Teal was still talking to him. “You have lived the rain at night. So you know that with the rain comes sometimes the fire that scars the sky.”

He nodded absently, paying only cursory attention to her words. “Lightning.”

“Yes, lightning. Haven’t you wondered, Flinx, why there are so few lightning-caused fires in the forest? Why there are no large burned places?”

“What?” Mildly irritated by her persistence, he turned to meet her gaze. “I suppose it’s because everything is so wet.”

“Partly so, but lightning can make anything burn.”

“Then why doesn’t it?” he asked, only half curious.

He felt her lips touch his ear so that he could hear but no one else. “Because the forest has ways of protecting itself.”

For a moment he was uncertain. Then he remembered. “Stormtreader tree,” he murmured.

“Stormtreader—and others.” She joined him in observing the shuttle’s final approach.

It was larger than his own landing craft, but that was to be expected. Stolid and utilitarian of design, it was descending on four vaned lifting jets. Next it would position itself alongside and align itself with the branch on which they were standing. The trooper Caavax had spoken with earlier was holding his cylinder close to his mouth, speaking steadily and evenly into the pickup.

Halting its descent level with their branch, the sturdy landing craft began to hover sideways toward them. It was too loud to talk now. As it adjusted its position, the shuttle’s exhaust blasted into the vegetation below, burning and crisping dozens, hundreds, of growing things, scorching a black path eastward through the verdure.

A port opened in its side. Flinx could see armed troops milling about within. An extensible ramp extended toward the branch like a long gray tongue. A moment later the muzzle of a sidearm was prodding him in the ribs. It was a gesture whose meaning was universal.

Shouting to make himself heard, the AAnn noble leaned close. “As soon as the ramp is near enough, you will start across!” Behind him, his troopers were collapsing their perimeter, gathering in a tight, protective mass behind their superior. They continued to watch the surrounding greenery.

Flinx nodded to indicate he understood. Turning to Teal, he tried to think of something final to say. She wasn’t looking at him. Instead her gaze, as well as those of the children, was focused on something off to their left.

The trunks of three fairly large trees had swollen to several times normal size. So intent had he been on the descending shuttle that he hadn’t noticed the measured but steady expansion. Neither had the soldiers, preoccupied with both the shuttle’s arrival and watching the forest behind them.

Amidst the muffled roar of the jets, the ramp continued to lengthen. Flames began to leap from the inner forest canopy as the intense heat from the shuttle’s engines inflamed and blistered the exposed vegetation. The spreading conflagration had no effect on the ship’s systems and her pilot ignored it, knowing that they would be sealed up and on their way before the blaze could blossom into anything threatening.

As he took his first resigned step toward the beckoning ramp, Flinx could feel the heat from the fire burning below. While he was confident that Teal and the children were in little danger from the blaze because it would quickly die out due to the greenness and dampness of the surrounding vegetation, he still felt sorry for the plants and slow-moving animals below that were threatened by the shuttle’s indifferent jets. They would be at the mercy of the flames until the blaze burnt itself out.

That was when Teal screamed, “Get down!” and flung herself flat onto the branch. Dwell and Kiss followed by nanoseconds while a comparatively laggard Flinx didn’t begin to drop until the mother and children were already pressing themselves against the wood. Noting that instead of trying to protect their heads, as one would expect, they instead concentrated on shutting their eyes tight and covering their noses and mouths, he endeavored to do the same.

“What is all this?” Lord Caavax bellowed. Keeping his sidearm aimed in Flinx’s direction, he turned to roar at his troops, several of whom had already fallen uncertainly to their knees. “There’s no danger here. Get up!” Jumpy, but regaining confidence when nothing continued to happen, they straightened.

Flinx felt a heavy foot prod his left leg. “Enough foolishness. I am hot and damp and it is time to board. Don’t force me to have you carried. My soldiers are in an ill mood and can be ungentle.”

Flinx was pondering a reply when something blew up with enough force to momentarily drown out even the thunder of the shuttle’s hoverjets. The eruption had been preceded by a fleeting but intense surge of emotion the likes of which he had never experienced before. As he tried to isolate the source, he felt pressure on his forehead and exposed arms. Keeping his face pressed firmly to the wood, he cupped his right hand over his nostrils and his left over his tightly shut mouth.

The immense bladders incorporated inside the three tumescent trees had reached their limit of containment and ruptured spectacularly. The heavily aerated latexlike sap they had contained spewed forth in truly prodigious quantities, smothering everything within a circle some forty meters in diameter. It was a natural response to the threat of fire that Teal had alluded to, very different from the reaction to lightning of the stormtreader tree but no less effective.

On contact with air, the puffy, sticky white substance began to expand farther, transforming from a fluffy sap into a foaming aerogel. Ethereal but persistent, it clung to Flinx’s hair, his ears, his back.

He could feel the bubbles expanding as the original volume of the sap ballooned to encompass ten, twenty times its original volume. Within that space the movement of air was restricted or cut off entirely. No wonder Teal and the children had been so careful to cover their mouths and nostrils. Growing anxious for air, he wondered when or even if it would be safe to part his lips just a little and try to breathe. He envisioned inhaling a mouthful of the sticky foam and having it settle in his lungs.

A small but strong hand was tugging at his shoulder, trying to lift him. Turning, he saw Teal peering anxiously down at him. With her other hand she was tearing at the congealed foam that clung to her face. He rose and copied her movements.

Then they were both thrown to the ground as the branch beneath their feet heaved violently. Crackling, ripping sounds mixed with the rumbling whine of the shuttle’s engines. Madly he tore the clinging translucent whiteness away from his face in a frantic effort to see what was happening.

With both portside hydrajet intakes completely clogged and one of those on the starboard side at least partly obstructed by the organic aerogel, the AAnn vessel was skewing wildly to port. Neither its computational navigation system nor its pilot was able to compensate for the abrupt and drastic loss of lift.

With full power to only one jet, the shuttle had swung around to slam into the tree on whose branch the prospective passengers had been waiting. Encased in sticky white foam that was hardening rapidly as it dried, Flinx stared as the shuttle lurched away from them. The deeper-throated roar of the craft’s rockets, normally not utilized until a shuttle had left atmosphere behind, coughed to life, intermittent and uncertain, as the pilot tried to bypass the smothered hydrajets and gain altitude.

The rockets appeared to do the trick, as the bulbous craft began to climb. But while it gained altitude, it was at the expense of a continuing loss of maneuverability. Once it cleared the crest of the canopy, that wouldn’t matter. All the pilot had to do was break atmosphere and wait to be picked up by the parent vessel.

Simultaneously climbing and sliding to port, it had nearly surmounted the top of the sunken valley when it slammed into the big trees on the far side. A muffled explosion echoed from within the shuttle’s underside. Falling backward out of control, it plunged into the vegetation below, landing upside down amidst a great crackling and tearing of greenery. A dull
whoom
obliterated the craft from sight, and Flinx spun away as a gust of superheated air rushed over him.

The fires resulting from the crash stimulated half a dozen of the foam-producing trees in the immediate vicinity to balloon and release their flame-retardant sap. In seconds the wreckage was completely engulfed in an expanding white cloud. Taking into account the crash, the explosions, the resultant fire and consequent suffocating reaction of the foam trees, Flinx doubted anyone aboard could have survived.

Pulling and scraping foam from his face and upper body, he assured Teal he was all right before he began hunting through the pale white, rapidly solidifying dreamscape. Bubbles clung like overripe fruit from every branch and vine, burst with soft popping sounds as he forced his way through them. The all-pervasive whiteness made walking tricky. He was wary of pushing through a mass of congealed foam only to find that he’d stepped clean off the branch.

Eventually he found the sack, knelt to feel Pip moving energetically within. A rush of familiar warmth swept through his mind as he made contact with the flying snake. There was nothing to suggest that she’d suffered an injury, and in fact the mesh sack had probably protected her from the choking effects of the foam.

As he reached down to release her, cool ceramic contacted the back of his neck. The attendant emotions were not filled with warmth.