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(here are the missing chapters 11 thru sixteeen of Vel's unfinished masterpiece)
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Episode Eleven: - Pets....
The Apartment of Lady Deidre Skye
The scream that erupted in his head was sharp enough to break Deidre’s communal channel, and as the ghastly images began fading from his mind, Velociryx had never felt such a sense of relief in his entire life.
It was short-lived.
The terror that flooded all through his body was nearly enough to send him into a convulsive fit.
“Velociryx....what is it? What’s wrong?” Deidre’s hands had slipped from his temples, and now framed his face.
Concern evident in her eyes.
He tried to speak, but the terror paralyzed him.
***Danger....We have need of you, Son of Chiron*** That calming voice again.
***Planet?***
***The same, child....you must return to your home.***
“I must return to my home.” He repeated, his voice thick and heavy.
He stood.
Deidre had thought to ask why, but when she heard that sound in his voice, she understood. He was communing. A brief stab of envy assaulted her. But why not? He was clearly a part of the intricate, delicate system, and now, with her experiences as his own, that was even more pronounced.
The envy faded, and was replaced with a smile. “Walk the Planet, Velociryx.” She whispered as he moved slowly towards her door.
He did not answer back.
*********************
Psi-energy. That was what he had detected. In town? That was impossible. He was the only Human capable of such a thing, and of course there couldn’t be any MindWorms in town. At least not without starting a general panic.
Still, it was coming from somewhere.
He turned a part of his cybernetic awareness loose to begin tracking it. Felt the computer in his head leaping into action, powering up. He closed his eyes as he walked. Senses keyed up to the point now where he did not even need his sight. It felt great. Better than great.
He added to that feeling by building up an answering call of Psi-energy, to let whatever it was that was crying out to him know that he was coming. The cry was tiny, and he Like a mother hen clucking to her chicks.
The terror in the Psi-scream abated somewhat.
***I’m coming, little one.*** He telepathed.
Calming. Calming. He could feel it.
And suddenly the location floated up to him from his cybernetic awareness.
He nearly stopped walking.
His apartment.
But how?
It did not matter.
He ran.
***********************
“Get it off!” Kennerly screamed as the tiny Locusts launched themselves toward him, bee-lining toward his left ear.
It was quick and its movements erratic, and Sergeant Detrick couldn’t quite get his hands around the mass of wriggling larvae.
As Detrick struggled with it, something tickled the back of Lieutenant Wilkes’ neck. Maybe it was too many years as a policeman, or maybe just blind luck, but something made him go to the window.
He peered down the quiet street.
It took him a moment, but he made out a shadow. Man sized. Running.
Almost no doubting who it was.
“Damn!” He muttered, turning back to his men.
Detrick had finally grabbed ahold of the writhing larvae and was trying to decide what to do with it next.
“We’ve got to go....just....throw it to the corner or something!” Wilkes told him more loudly than he would have liked.
Detrick drew back and released with all his strength.
The tiny locusts, their wings under developed, attempted to brake, but they were not fast or strong enough. They smacked loudly into the wall, and several of their number died on impact, streaking the wall with their russet colored blood, and the whole mass landing on the floor near the corner. Flopping. Writhing. Trying to get back in the air.
Detrick took two steps toward it, intent on stomping it out, but Wilkes grabbed his arm. “No time.” He muttered and hauled his men out the door just ahead of him. Left the door standing wide open, and went out the back way, not two minutes before Velociryx came pounding up the stairs to his home.
Once they were well clear of the place, they paused to catch their breaths.
“How bad, Kennerly?” Wilkes asked him breathlessly.
Kennerly shook his head. “Hurts some, but....I’ll be okay.” He wiped his hand across the side of his head, and came away with a small amount of blood.
He nodded, and they were quiet for a long moment.
“Hadn’t been expecting that....keepin’ worms in his house! In town, no less!” Detrick muttered blackly. “Worm lovin’ bastard!”
“One more bit of proof that he’s dangerous.”
“Yeah....damned thing attacked me!” Kennerly said glumly.
“Well....it’s not like we can report the incident.”
And that was true. They fell silent again.
“So I guess I’ll be needing to get ahold of my buddy on Former Duty.”
Wilkes nodded.
“I’ll call him tomorrow....see what he can put together for us.”
“It’s more important than ever, in light of finding the worms.” Wilkes told them. “He may be breeding them....we don’t know.”
Frightening thought indeed. Breeding mindworms in a residential section of the colony.
“We should have killed the one we found.” Kennerly said.
“No....that’ll slow Velociryx down. He’ll see the door open. Find the worm. It’ll be on him to make sure none of them get loose, and that will keep him busy.”
“I don’t like playing Russian Roulette with innocent lives though.”
“I’m not fond of it either, but somebody’s got to do something.” Wilkes said tiredly. “Here we’ve got a guy....this worm-loving, Psi-weilding freak of nature living right in our midst....he’s breeding worms in his apartment and carrying around the only shredder pistol in the whole colony....if we’re going to do something about it, then there are going to be risks....I don’t like it, but it’s what we’re facing.”
The silence returned yet again.
“If we’re gonna do it then....why stop at one gun? I say we get at least three....one for each of us, and maybe a few more besides.”
Wilkes shook his head. “I can agree to three, Sergeant, but no more than that. That’ll give us each a weapon, and that’s enough. We don’t want to turn this place into an armed camp, so before we get any more guns than these first three, we’ve all got to agree, yes?”
They nodded their assent.
“Okay....call your friend, Detrick. The sooner the better....no telling how many more worms he’s got up there.”
“Tomorrow.” Detrick replied.
And the conspiracy deepened.
******************************
He closed the door to his apartment, and relocked it. Now anyone who might still be inside was trapped. The would-be theives would have to come through him to escape, unless they wanted to try their luck with the window and the thorny but beautiful bushes that lined the building.
Considering the mood he was in, the thorn bushes would probably be the safer of the two ideas.
He stood still for a moment to control his breathing, stretching out his awareness and feeling for the neural connections of Planet.
At about the same time he latched onto one, he saw the blood stains on the wall.
As if responding to his connection to the planetary consciousness, the tiny larval mass flopped weakly and as a single body on the floor. So many of its tiny wings had been damaged that it could not even hope to lift itself.
Velociryx went to the tiny mass of creatures, so interwoven that they became a single unit, a single being. He could feel the fear growing in the little creature as he drew nearer, and sent out peaceful, soothing thoughts to it.
In a moment, he felt the fear subsiding.
He knelt beside it.
Held out a hand slowly.
The creature quivered.
He gently stroked and petted. “There now, little brother....it’s okay....everything will be okay now....”
Images flooded into his head. Big, faceless Humans....three of them, maybe more, it was difficult to tell....a constricting feeling as a massive hand clamped down on the tiny larval mass, and the force of impact with the wall.
It was a lucky thing that the impact didn’t kill it.
Gently, he lifted the creature and held it to his chest. “I have no idea how you came to be here, little brother....or why, but I know what to do now that you are here....”
The would be thieves be damned! Anything they wanted from his apartment, they could have. He had a higher mission at the moment.
Planetsong whispering in his ears, Velociryx left his apartment door standing wide open, just as the thieves had done, and went out into the night.
It would be a long walk.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Episode Twelve: Exploration
Kevin Aldridge came awake with a start, bewildered. *That sound?*
But there was only silence.
He settled back on his pillow and closed his eyes.
It came again, making him jump nearly a foot.
Half a second later, he realized what it was, and felt foolish.
Someone knocking on his door. Pounding, actually.
Then he looked at the clock.
At two in the morning? Perhaps he was right to be a little jumpy.
Slowly, he got out of bed. Made his way down the hall.
The knocking came again. Louder this time, more insistent.
Kevin looked through the eyepiece on the door with an emotion that felt somewhere between apprehension and genuine fear.
Breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was.
Velociryx.
He opened the door.
“Hey Vel....what the Hell are you....” His voice died in his throat as he saw what lay in the crook of Vel’s arm, resting against his chest.
“Shhhh.” Velociryx said quietly. “You’ll scare him.....Get dressed. I need your help....your objectivity.”
“What do you....”
“This little fellow was in my apartment....I don’t know how he got there.”
Kevin looked stunned.
“And he wasn’t the only thing in my apartment tonight.”
“What else?”
“Who else.” Velociryx said flatly. “Someone broke in.”
“Here? A breakin at the landing?” The realization hit Kevin like a physical blow. But then, considering the riots, perhaps the Landing was not the glowing paradise he’d once imagined it to be.
“According to my little friend, there were at least three of them.”
Kevin gaped for a long moment. “Come in...just give me a second to get dressed.”
Velociryx nodded, and took the Shredder Pistol from his belt. “Can you fire one of these?”
The researcher nodded slowly. “I’ve had a little practice.”
“Good. You’ve just been deputized then. I don’t know who the men in my apartment were, but they might try for us while we’re traveling. If they do, I won’t need a gun, but you might.”
Kevin nodded and finished getting dressed.
He held the pistol carefully, turning it over in his hands. It glinted malignantly in the eerie half-light.
“So where are we going, and why?”
“Back to the Fungal Bed....I....I have been communing with Planet....I don’t know if it’s related to the men who broke into my apartment or not....all I know is that she wants us to go.”
“Planet?”
“Yes....and....” His eyes teared up suddenly, and Kevin’s stomach lurched.
“Gayle?” He whispered.
Velociryx nodded. “Whatever it is....it’s big....important.”
There were tears in Kevin’s eyes as well. “Let’s go.”
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The Monolith loomed before them, rising up from the depths of the Fungus like the blade of a mighty sword, it’s hilt, pommel, and more than half its length buried in the alien soil.
They both scanned the area for Gayle’s body, not really surprised when they didn’t find anything, but....They had to look.
Velociryx was quiet for a long time, holding the tiny larval mass against his chest, eyes closed. Kevin could almost hear the constant, high pitched whine of the Psi-Energy buildup, and he could certainly feel it, but it was different this time, than he’d ever felt before. It did not feel like he was building for an attack.
Communication then? Trying to contact Planet?
Then he heard the music. Planetsong.
He did not realize the worms were there until he heard their chittering all around them.
Hundreds, of all shapes and sizes, from creatures even smaller than the one Velociryx was holding, all the way up to boils spanning several meters in diameter.
The PlanetSong grew louder, seeming to swell up from the ground itself, until they could both feel it trembling beneath their feet.
At some point, almost without realizing it, Kevin found himself gazing almost lovingly at the creatures that surrounded them. He was mystified by what he saw, but also amazed.
The worms were *self-aware.* He knew that by watching them. The way they bent toward one another when they chittered and “talked.” The way they pulled and contorted portions of their mass aside to allow others to pass. They had a kind of body language with each other, and it fascinated him, though he had no idea exactly how to interpret their motions.
*This is why Vel wants me here....somehow, he knew* The thought drifted into his mind almost casually, and as that sank in, he felt the researcher in him dig deeper and begin to analyze, his hand drifting to his wrist-comm, activating it, and speaking quietly, so as not to disturb the creatures.
“Body language notes: For lack of a better term, I will collectively call the movements of these creatures “The Dance of Planet.” Clearly, these movements have meaning that go well beyond simple reflexive or automatic responses, and I believe that they may be part of a language structure.” He took a deep breath and continued. “Given the Psi-abilities and other behaviors we have already documented from Worm Boils, and given what I have seen here so far, and in my past association with the worms, I feel nearly certain that the MindWorms communicate through empathy on a basic level, and possibly use telepathy to get across more complex ideas.”
The true meaning of what he had just said began to seep into his bones as soon as his voice died away, and it made him shiver. “The Worms, the Fungus, the Planetsong....it’s all tied together....all interconnected....” He felt as though the slightest breeze might topple him over. Dizzy with the intoxication of discovery and realization. “The Lady Deidre was not being eccentric when she said it....Planet really is alive....if all of these things are interconnected....”
He couldn’t even finish the thought, but he *did* suddenly realize that several of the MindWorms were *looking* at him.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to relax, hoping to feel them.
Nothing.
But if they’d wanted him dead, they could have already killed him. Small comfort, but at least it was something.
He opened his eyes again and continued to watch them. *Now, if we could only figure out how these strange Monoliths fit in to the....*
As if in answer to his unfinished question there was a strange whirring sound, and the monolith (though no seams were visible on the surface of it) began to open.
Even though Kevin was clearly not empathic, he could sense the excitement(?) running through the worms, and feel the uneasiness coming from Velociryx.
*He doesn’t understand this anymore than I do.* Kevin realized, somewhat relieved.
Scared or no, he edged forward.
Closer.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Velociryx.
The Monolith opened further, revealing nothing but thick shadows of some open space within.
Drawn to it, both men took a step forward at about the same time.
And then another.
The shadows were stubborn, and refused to reveal any of the details about whatever might be inside.
Then a click.
A humming noise. Generator kicking in?
And a faint light near the back of the chamber.
An outline.
Someone approaching them.
Humanoid. Biped.
No.
It was human.
A woman.
Kevin felt his throat constrict as she grew closer. His heart nearly stopped beating. *Could it be....*
He wanted to glance over at Velociryx to see what his reaction to this might be, but found himself unwilling to tear his eyes away as she drew nearer.
Slowly, finally, her face broke free from the shadows.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Episode Thirteen: Revelations Abounding
Gayle stepped from the shadows and smiled at them. Both men stood motionless. Speechless. Hearts constricting in their chests as they took her in.
*How?*....was the question that sprang to both of their minds, and Gayle’s smile broadened. “My two heroes....you came.” There was something in her voice that wasn’t quite right. The tone and pitch were hers, but....it was different somehow. Hollow? That wasn’t quite the word, but it was close. Either way, it was Gayle, and it was wonderful.
Velociryx still seemed unable to speak, and it was Kevin who found his voice first. “Gayle...but you were...how....”
She stepped completely out of the Monolith and took one of his hands, slipping her other hand into Velociryx’s, then drew them together in a hug, even taking a moment to run her fingers lightly over the tiny quivering mass in the crook of Velociryx’s other arm. It shivered in what could only have been delight. “Thank you so much for taking care of me....bringing me here was the best thing you could have done!” She kissed Velociryx on the cheek and then backed up a bit to look at them. “There’s so much to tell, and I promise I’ll answer every question you’ve got....there’s a lot we have to do.” She was nearly bursting with excitement, and it was infectious, even as it was strange and surreal.
She tugged gently and took a step back, and they followed her.
Another two steps, and they were inside the Monolith.
As soon as they stepped into the chamber, there was a brief rush of air. Kevin glanced back once and saw that the Monolith was sealed again. No matter, they were with Gayle and she’d never....
Her eyes changed as they were looking at her. They blacked over completely, and her face grew several shades paler.
It was such a sudden, dramatic change that Kevin found himself taking a step back. Velociryx half-crouched and growled as he ratcheted his Psi-Talents up. Whatever it was....
“We must now have a truthsaying between us.” The voice that came from Gayle’s mouth was deeper and even more hollow than before. It almost sounded like multiple voices, fused into one. “This body before you is not the woman, Gayle McGinnes. At least not as you know her.....that being, EarthGayle has....left us.”
“But....” Kevin began, tears springing to his eyes again.
Gayle, or the thing that *looked* like Gayle held up a hand, and then caressed Kevin’s cheek. “We scanned many images from EarthGayle as they faded from her. Much of her personality we have been able to preserve, but to complete her, we need your help. And yours, Velociryx.”
Velociryx peered suspiciously at the strange-eyed, beautiful creature before them, still saying nothing.
Suddenly, the color returned to Gayle’s face, and her eyes reverted to their normal, warm brown shade. “Please trust me....and them....you know I’d never do anything to hurt either of you.” She waved her arms about expansively, and it drew Kevin’s attention to something he had not noticed before. The Monolith was big...perhaps twenty feet or more across, but the chamber they were now in was....cavernous. In fact, he could not see to the other end of it. It seemed to go on forever. *That* thought put a tickle in his stomach.
“What is this place?” Kevin asked finally.
“The Builders have long since gone, but their wisdom still resides here....intact. Encased in these structures.”
“The Monoliths....there have been all sorts of reports of them having strange powers....repairing damaged flesh, bone and equipment....”
Gayle nodded. “And more....so much more....I will show you.”
“Not yet.” Velociryx said quietly. It was the first time he’d spoken since setting foot in the Monolith.
Gayle stepped toward him, and his eyes narrowed, taking on the look of a hunter.
“You....no longer trust me?” She looked hurt.
“You are not Gayle.” He said stiffly. “You are not the woman I left here....this wasn’t....”
She smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek. He started to flinch and back away from her hand, but fought the impulse after only a tiny twitch. He held still.
Such a warm, soft *alive* hand. Wonderful.
“It is true I am not the same person you left here before the Monolith. You left me as a corpse....but look at what they’ve been able to do for me!”
He started to say something else, but she put two of her fingers to his lips. “Shhh....just as you are no less Human because of the Cybernetic Implants you carry with you, I am no less human because of how they re-made me.....we are the same, Velociryx....please believe me....please trust me....*please*.
There was a sadness in her eyes. An almost pleading quality to her gaze.
It melted away his resistance.
“Gayle.” He whispered.
And she smiled.
“I thought I’d never see you again....I thought....”
“I know....Even then, Planet was speaking to you....working through you....that’s why we’re all together now. There are big things in the works, and if the Landing is to survive, we need to get busy.” She held out her hands, reaching toward the tiny creature in Velociryx’s arms. “And we’ll start with this little guy right here.”
***************************
She dropped the mass of writhing creatures into a nutrient bath and made a few minor adjustments at the alien control panel next to it.
Velociryx went to it and studied it, wracking his Cybernetic Brain to attempt to come up with some kind of translation....trying, ultimately in vain, to decipher the alien language.
“Who were the Builders?” Kevin asked her. He had the cam-unit on his wrist-comm activated, and was documenting everything in the chamber. No doubt, it would be the most exciting footage at the Landing when they returned.
“The Builders were like us....they came here from afar to colonize this world....and like our Lady Deirdre, they were interested in integrating themselves as much as they could with the life-systems of Planet.”
“What happened to them?”
Gayle shook her head. “I don’t know that....I know a good bit about them, but everything I know comes from their version of the “Datalinks.” Whatever happened to them, it must have developed quickly because there’s no mention of any trouble at all. One day, the entries just....stop.”
“When? How far back?”
“My best guess would be something close to a million and a half years ago.”
That silenced the room for a long time.
Velociryx went over to the nutrient bath. Already, he could see that the creature was taking on more mass. Growing, literally right before his eyes. “I wonder why we haven’t found any ruined cities? If the Monoliths are any indication of their construction skills, you would think....”
She shook her head. “No....the Builders weren’t like that. These *are* their cities. From the outside, the Monoliths appear small, but they warp space somehow....I don’t understand it exactly, but trust me, these chambers go on practically forever....you could fit tens of thousands of people inside just one of these things.
“Then why don’t we start colonizing them? Hey, we go public with this knowledge and it would....”
“No....the Monoliths are strange devices....it’s almost like they’re self-aware....they only reveal as much about themselves as they deem it necessary. They’re landmarks, supercomputers, and cities, all rolled into one. "
“Amazing.” Kevin said quietly. “Absolutely amazing.”
“And....” She added with a smile. “They’ve even got a zoo....this one does, anyway, and I’m sure the others do as well.”
“A zoo? You’re kidding? I mean, we’ve all heard that there *are* other lifeforms on Planet, and the word is that the University has actually captured a few odd creatures, but....
She nodded and held out her hands, taking Kevin’s and Vel’s. “Come on....I’ll show you!”
And they wandered deeper into the Monolith.
****************************
“....of course, Chiron does not have anything *close* to the bio-diversity the Earth has, and another interesting thing I’ve found out since I’ve been here is that Planet’s evolutionary path is the same every time. Sometimes the branches are in different locations, but the end result is always the same. What that end result is, I have no idea, because none of the records are complete, but apparently the Builders were not the first alien civilization to arrive here, either.”
All of that information made Kevin’s head spin.
“Hold on just a minute....what do you mean “the evolutionary path is the same every time.”?
“Exactly that. There’s no telling how many times life has evolved and then vanished without a trace on Chiron. The only constants seem to be the Fungus and the Worms. I’ve found references to both going back six iterations.”
Kevin was stunned. The time scale that encompassed was....unbelievable. “Six iterations?....Did you say *six*?”
“Yes. Apparently, the Builders came across an alien satellite that monitored the happenings on Chiron for millennia.”
“But it never recorded the ‘final event’?”
“No....apparently whatever it is, it always occurs when Hercules makes its closest approach, and it blinds the satellite during that period. All we get is static....it’d still be up there now, actually, but we destroyed it without even realizing.”
“We did? How?”
“The Unity....When it broke up, some of the debris took out the satellite. That’s the very last satellite image, pieces of the ship flying toward the camera....then nothing.”
Too much information. It made him dizzy. But it made sense. Who the Hell would have even thought to check for anything orbiting Chiron? And even if the proximity alarms went off (which they surely must have), no one would have noticed with everything else that was happening on the doomed ship.
Still, to discover that they were not the first had been a big enough thing, but to discover that they were not even the second? That was huge beyond describing.
His mind jumped backwards and he picked up her other thread. “Something confuses me about what you said earlier....Chiron following the same evolutionary path....”
She read him. A thing she had been so good at....before. It put his mind at ease as she launched off again.
“Right!” She said, cutting him off in her excitement. “That’s the most amazing thing....sometimes the “supporting creatures” might take different forms, but all the elements are there, all the time.....for example, this time it’s Rock Beetles, last time though, it was Rock....bats, for lack of a better word.”
Kevin and Velociryx looked at each other, mystified, and she laughed. “You guys have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
They both shook their heads and she grabbed their hands. “Come on then, I’ll show you the zoo and maybe things will start making more sense.”
And they went with her, more amazed by the second.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Episode Fourteen: The Xeno-Zoo
“....and the really interesting thing about the worms is the fact that they all spring from a ‘Proto-Worm,’ which has the traits and characteristics of all the variants we know about, they’re....”
“You mean they all three spring from a common ancestor?” Kevin asked her.
“Exactly. The Proto-Worm has the potential to become either a LandWorm, an Isle or a Locust.”
“So what determines that?”
“Prevailing environmental conditions, believe it or not.”
Kevin stopped in his tracks. “You mean to tell me that the Proto-Worm evolves on the fly, depending on whatever conditions it finds itself in?”
She nodded.
“That’s....that’s incredible. What kind of timeframe are we talking about here?”
“About fourteen weeks.”
That made Kevin’s head spin and ache. “So....not only do they evolve on the fly to suit whatever environmental conditions they find themselves in, but they do it in fourteen weeks? That’s unheard of!”
“I wonder what would happen if we put a ProtoWorm in an entirely different environment?” Velociryx asked quietly.
They both looked at him for a moment.
“In space, perhaps? Would it evolve into a new “fourth” kind of Worm, or would it simply die out?”
“You’re really onto something there.” Kevin said thoughtfully. “It might be that the ProtoWorm’s evolutionary patterns are pre-programmed to account for the most common conditions here on Planet, which is why it can execute them so quickly, but if faced with a truly different environment, it wouldn’t fare any better than any other creature.” He sighed heavily. “So many questions....you’re right Gayle, we really *do* have a lot to do.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” She said with a smile. “But that’s why we’re here....and speaking of being here, I present the Xeno Zoo.”
They rounded a corner in the expansive corridor they had been walking in and found themselves standing before a massive archway, flanked on both sides by exquisitely manicured Xeno-Fungus stalks. What made it all the more interesting was the fact that the stalks were of several different colors. The standard dusty red of course, and a pale yellow, deep green, something close to burgundy, deep purple, and even a pale blue. A staggering array of colors.
“But why haven’t we seen....” Kevin started to ask, but Gayle simply shook her head and pulled them with her through the archway and into the zoo.
******************************
It was staggering.
Beyond words.
Kevin suddenly found himself quite glad that he had his wrist-comm with him, and the cam-unit was functioning, because the images he recorded took the place of the words he simply couldn’t find.
The plant life catalogued was staggering. All the different colors of XenoFungus. The strange, leafy tubers and vines which constituted the Monsoon jungle. Fungal Coral from the seabeds, strange hybrid FungalFlowers from the higher elevations (Gayle referred to these as “Poppies,” which were her favorite flower, and they really *did* look a bit like Poppies). A multitude of rare and wonderful plants from all over Chiron.
And then on to animals, and oh God the animals he saw.
Rock-Beetles, giant, sometimes luminous “jelly fish” which looked uncannily like Isles of the deep (a built in defense? If so, a defense from what?). As Kevin watched them swimming lazily through the waters of the tanks which served as their home, he realized that many of the so-called “sightings” of Isles of the Deep were most likely these Jelly Fish creatures, which explained why when the “Isles” were spotted, the ship in question managed to make good its escape. Kevin had often raised a skeptical eyebrow at such tales, but now he thought he understood.
But there were yet more. Magma Mites (which looked curiously like Seahorses, actually), which thrived in the hot springs in and around Mount Planet and the Uranium Flats, and even more amazingly, a variant of the Mites which thrived in the Magma itself! Ice Worms, very much like their Earth counterparts, save for the fact that they survived on nutrients trapped in Ice Floes near the polar regions. Giant Spike Fish with armor-like skin, which swam alone and without any fear of anything. (And, Kevin noted with some satisfied amusement, their overall shape was very similar to the needlejet design he’d seen over at the Transportation Division....seems like somebody had been fishing...) Strange and tiny bird-like creatures, only a few millimeters in size. It was they who spread the microscopic Fungal spores from place to place. “Fuzzy Fish,” who were coated with thick “hair” (for lack of a better word to describe it) which offered them some protection from the deadly tentacles of the Jelly Fish creatures.
Gayle was right. Chiron was not as biologically diverse as Earth had been, but the system of interlocking abilities and defenses of each creature that made up Planet’s Eco-system was nothing short of amazing. It was easy to see how some of the creatures (like the birds) fit into the scheme of things. Other creatures were less easily placed. What purpose did the Fuzzy Fish serve, for example?
“Or the beetles?” He asked her. “I’m not sure I *get* them.”
Gayle shook her head. “The creatures are simply on display here....there’s no information on what overall purpose they might serve to the Eco-system as a whole, but they do explain a good number of things.”
She could see his mind turning on the subject, even as she spoke. “Yes....the strange rocky areas....”
“Right....it always seemed anomalous to us before, because we couldn’t figure the erosion patterns....we’d have an area of extreme rockiness right in the middle of a ridgeline in a very advanced stage of erosion....it didn’t make any sense.”
“But these creatures....these beetles....”
“Feed on soil nutrients and excrete the rocks....those areas of rockiness are....”
“Like a litter box to them.”
Gayle laughed at that. “Something like that, I suppose.”
Amazing.
It was all so intricate....so beautiful. Standing in the Xeno-Zoo and admiring the different and reclusive creatures of Planet made them all the more mindful that there was a pattern here. A vast and subtle, complex pattern, and they were just beginning to find the edges of it. Thoughts of what the pattern as a whole might reveal were as terrifying to consider as they were fascinating.
Gayle and Kevin walked from exhibit to exhibit, holding hands and talking about the different animals and their theories on what role they might play in the greater scheme of things. It was three or more hours before they realized that Velociryx was not with them.
When they realized though, it hit them at the same moment.
“Vel?” Kevin called out softly, suddenly feeling much too small and exposed in much too large a place.
“Vel?” Gayle called out as well, louder than Kevin. He winced when he heard that strange hollow sound in her voice. It reminded him that, wonderful as she was, she was still....*alien* to them somehow.
Different.
Changed.
Without his conscious mind even realizing it, his hand strayed briefly over the shredder pistol tucked beneath his shirt, taking a measure of comfort from its presence.
**************************
Velociryx sat at the console in the small “office building” just inside the Zoo, eyes locked on what passed for a monitor. Actually, it was a clear jelly-filled square perhaps two inches in diameter, but when you focused on it, it seemed to positively *loom* before the viewer. No eyestrain here.
His brain was straining though. Whirring frantically as he continued his attempts to decipher at least some portion of the Builder Language.
Even if Kevin didn’t realize it yet, there were a number of things wrong, and for the first time since he’d begun communing with Planet, he began to doubt the wisdom of coming here. What if Planet saw all Human life as being akin to a nettlesome parasite? What if it was all an elaborate ploy to destroy them? The more he thought about it, the more likely that seemed. The MindWorms made very efficient killing machines, and with Hercules about to make it’s closest approach of the century, their activity would pick up enormously....
*Wait a minute....how the hell did I know that?* He thought to himself.
And then it hit him.
He didn’t know it all. He read it. Or....something.
He looked back at the screen.
Focused on it.
All gibberish.
Then how....
But somehow he understood. It was hovering at the edge of his awareness, but he knew.
Frame of mind? Opening himself up to....what?
He tried the same routines which enabled him to commune with Planet, focused on the Alien Computer.
Nothing.
Tried *communing* with Planet.
Nothing there, either.
Frustrated, he turned his attention back to the monitor, and his brain shot off again trying to decipher what all the strange characters meant.
****************************
Kevin realized one of the things Velociryx had realized earlier. Something was definitely wrong. It had eluded him for a while, but when it came smashing down on him, it nearly took his breath away.
“Gayle....”
She turned to look at him, smiling.
“The Builders have been gone for....”
“Best guess, a million and a half years.” Still smiling. That was important. That was good....at least he hoped.
He nodded. “And all the animals in the Xeno-Zoo....they’re all from this iteration....”
The smile began to fade, replaced by a look of genuine confusion in Gayle’s eyes, and then understanding.
“....Even if we assume that they’re needs are somehow being met by the Monolith computer, who brought them here to begin with?”
“I....” Her voice was cut off abruptly, and something began to change.
The color drained out of her face, and her eyes darkened.
Kevin took a step backwards and filled his lungs to capacity. “Velociryx!”
The Dark-eyed creature who had occupied Gayle’s body stepped toward him, and then another.
Reflexively, almost in a panic, Kevin fumbled for the Shredder Pistol at his belt.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Episode Fifteen: A Few Minor Problems
Even as he pulled the Shredder Pistol from his belt, he knew he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t shoot her....it....whatever it was.
It was *Gayle*, damnit, and the irony did not escape him, either. Here he was, holding the very same pistol on her which had ended her life the first time.
It made him sick (not to mention angry with himself), but the terror won out. He could not kill her, but he could not stay, either. The dark-eyed creature had taken control of Gayle. Cut her off in mid-sentence. Suppressed her. That was part of the terror. The thought that perhaps it could do the same to him. And even if the creature had nothing but the best of intentions for them, suddenly he just didn’t want to know. What he really wanted right then was to put as much space between him and those unblinking dark eyes as he could.
He had no idea where the exit was, or even if it would appear to him when he got close, but that didn’t matter either, so he ran.
“EarthKevin, please....all will be explained....come have a truthsaying with us.” The creature called after him, but it was too late.
He didn’t look back, or even slow down.
The creature sighed, then made a chittering noise deep in Gayle’s throat, and looked around.
In seconds a pair of massive Worm Boils shambled down the corridor toward her.
Demon Boils.
She stroked them as they came up to her, and communicated with them briefly, then communicated with the core system. Located Velociryx in a matter of nanoseconds, and then the three of them headed toward the zoo’s entrance.
He would be difficult to reason with, but he was important to Planet, so she did not see that she had much choice, especially with Kevin running off like that.
She sighed heavily, not looking forward to what would follow.
*****************************
Even though the bulk of Velociryx’s awareness was focused on the computer in front of him, his training served him well. He detected the Psi-potential from the WormBoils long before they got to him. Bigger and more powerful than anything he’d ever felt from a worm. Individually, he could top their peak levels, but as a pair, if they coordinated their attacks....
And of course, other than the Planetary Consciousness itself, the only people who knew anything about his technical specifications or Psi-Limits were dead, so Planet must have arranged this....which meant he was right to doubt. Too late, but apparently right.
He stood and limbered. So be it. He couldn’t beat them both, but he could give them one hell of a fight, and if he was fast, and got very, very lucky.....
He smiled grimly.
“Ready or not....here *I* come.”
His eyes took on a glassy, far-off quality as he willed his Cybernetic Self to take command.
***Psi-Defense Theta-Six....Mind Cloak Activated***
Hiding mechanism. He could sense them by their Psi-Potential, but they could not return the favor. It might mean he could arrange to strike first, and if his attack was hard enough....
Calmly, cooly, he left the office building and went in search of a suitable hiding place.
******************************
*The Son of Chiron moves* One of the Demon Boils telepathed to her. *I am interlinked with the Monolith, even now*
*As am I, Goliath, as am I....he is very good, and very strong....I want you to be careful when you engage him....he can kill you.*
A faint chuckling filled her head, calming those fears as he gently filled her up with his own emotions.
Strength.
Confidence.
Peace.
*Fear not, Daughter of Chiron....Death means little to us....we are One with Planet.*
*And besides, he cannot best us both.* Behemoth telepathed with an unseen (but certainly *felt* grin). *If he tries for my brother, I will give him a good thrashing until he calms himself.*
She nodded and grinned for them. *Just remember....although he is a Son of Chiron, he is not truly one with Planet as you are....* She did not have to continue.
*We do not fully comprehend the EarthDeath, but no fear....we will take care with him.*
They drew closer.
********************************
Velociryx cursed under his breath, and did a quick system check. The mind cloak was working. Then how? Why?
They seemed to be zeroing in on him with uncanny ease and accuracy.
Then he realized.
He was inside the computer.
Of course.
There would be no hiding.
He nodded to himself and stepped out in the open, right under the archway.
Waiting.
Waiting.
********************************
The corridors twisted on forever, and Kevin ran blindly. He could not say if the things he passed were familiar to him or not, because he wasn’t looking at the scenery, and big as the chamber was, he felt claustrophobic.
Trapped.
So he ran.
Off to his right, there was a....what?
Something caught his eye, and he slowed down to look.
A lever, set in against the wall.
He checked behind him.
The thing-that-looked-like-Gayle was not pursuing him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at the lever.
It seemed innocent enough.
He smiled wryly and remembered back to his college days on Earth....too many all-nighters spent playing Dungeons and Dragons. “And they always said not to pull on levers.” He mumbled to himself as he reached for it.
Pulled it down with a click.
Another rush of air washed over him as the Monolith opened up, and he stared out, expecting to see the now familiar features of the Fungal Bed near the Landing.
He was more than surprised when his eyes took in the low, sprawling, (*Go on* His mind prompted him, *Just say it...UGLY*) structures that made up the Spartan Base, far below him.
And he was shocked beyond words when he found himself staring down the barrel of an Impact Rifle.
The Spartan soldier grabbed his arm roughly and yanked him out of the Monolith as he looked over his shoulder.
“Tell Captain Garrity that it appears we have ourselves a spy.”
He turned his attention fully to Kevin. “And what do you have to say for yourself, little man?”
Kevin opened his mouth to speak, but just then, the Monolith began closing back up. Slowly. Purposefully.
Kevin’s mind raced with possibilities.
“Hurry up men.” The soldier who still held his arm yelled. “Into that damned thing before it closes back up! We’re gonna find out what makes these things tick, and our little man here is gonna show us!”
Before his jumbled thoughts could even crystallize in his mind, Kevin found himself being forced back into the Monolith, an entire squad of Spartan Soldiers right behind him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Episode Sixteen: Showdown
Somewhere inside the Monolith
He did not have to wait long.
Three of them, all told, and by the time they came into his view, he was more than ready, and he wasted no time.
They came almost leisurely....*strolling* toward him, but he would not be taken in by it.
He attacked.
His Psi-Levels were peaked out, but he divided them, holding back a portion for defense and lashing out savagely with the other part.
In his mind, the Psi-energy took on the form of a deadly, invisible sword which swung down toward the smaller (but not by much) of the two Demon Boils.
The creature Psi’d up as well, peaking out at just a shade over 500, and unlike Velociryx, he held nothing for defense. His was a juggernaut, intended to simply roll through his defenses, and that was the creature’s mistake, because Velociryx had struck first.
Defenseless, the creature wailed as the energy hit home and began overloading its synapses. Boiling them into nothingness. And as the number of neural connects began dropping off, so too, did the Psi Energy in its attack.
435....402....388.....And by the time it found its mark, Velociryx was ready, turning some of his attack energy into defensive....a shield, which easily warded off the first attack.
*Overconfident.* His Cybernetic self told him coldly. *And it will cost them.*
He hit the weakened one again, with half his total strength, and it was brutal.
Then he felt the other wave approaching.
Winced.
It was going to hurt. No doubt about it.
Still, he was relentless. If he could just put the weakened one out of commission....
He checked. Still peaked at 245....high enough to be dangerous, even though nearly half his mass was burned out.
Not good enough. He pressed the attack.
The Psi-Wave from the other one loomed up before him like a tidal wave at the periphery of his vision.
Then it hit.
Hard enough to knock him back a several steps, and then off his feet entirely.
His Mind Cloak shattered, and his Psi-Defenses cracked, then crumbled.
And then there was only the pain as his own attack levels began tapering off.
The weakened one summoned up enough energy for another attack, adding his energies to the assault.
And now that they were attacking together, they were winning.
With supreme effort, he regained his feet, ignoring the warm trickle of blood as it ran down from his nose to his chin.
Wincing slightly as one of his eardrums blew out.
He kept fighting.
No time for defense, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. They could overpower anything he could muster, so he struck again at the weakened one. Only at 400 now, and dropping rapidly, but it was enough to blast him out of the fight.
He felt, rather than heard the creature’s scream, and then smiled with grim satisfaction as it crumpled to the walk and did not move.
Without skipping a beat, he turned his attention to the larger. Did a quick system’s check, or, as quick as he could under the circumstances. His Psi-Levels were peaking at 308, the Worm’s at 511.
No chance.
Defeating the first one had cost him too much of his strength.
This was a fight he could not win, unless....
No.
He couldn’t do it.
There was enough of Gayle in the creature with the Demon Boils that he could not bring himself to strike out at her, even if it might force the other Boil to break off his attack.
He looked into her eyes, warm and brown. There was sorrow there. Pain.
She was crying.
Crying for him.
And he was crying too, he realized. His were Fairy tears, and a result of the relentless assault, but those were mixed with real ones as well.
“Gayle.” He whispered, and let his Psi-Energies fall away, exposing himself completely to it.
Hastening the inevitable.
****************************
His mind raced and spun as the Squad shoved him down the hall in front of them.
*Tattooed Baboons!* He thought darkly. *Wanting me to tell them how the Monolith works....They have no idea....*
But then, neither did he, really. It almost made him laugh.
Strange, was the fact that when he’d been alone and facing the dark eyed creature, he had been filled up with an all but blinding terror, and now that he was in the company of others (“baboons” or not), he felt more secure. Safety in numbers, perhaps? At least until his captors turned mean once they discovered that he couldn’t show them much of anything about the workings of the Monolith. And he had no doubts at all that the Monolith would choose to keep its secrets from these lunks....
And that was just it, wasn’t it? He could no more tell them how the Monolith worked than he could give them the layout of Sparta Command. The Monolith would choose.
He let the full weight of that settle down on him.
The Monolith would choose because....the Monolith was....sentient? Aware? They’d talked about that before, and it certainly seemed so. Small things, like the fact that the first time it opened to him, it did so slowly....almost to impress. But then it closed in an instant.
And when he pulled the lever, just the opposite had occurred. It had opened up in the blink of an eye, but began closing slowly....
He shook his head, and more of his fear left him.
He should not have run. He knew that now. Like his first trip to the Fungal Bed with Velociryx, when the worms came. If they’d wanted him dead, they would have killed him outright. No, the Monolith wanted him here. Its reasons for that were still a mystery, but that much was clear, at least.
The Monolith wanted him.
That thought had no sooner hit him with full force than another washed over him.
Sparta.
The Monolith had opened in Spartan territory.
His mind chewed on that for a long moment.
The realization was more massive and incredible than any so far.
He suddenly knew why the Monolith was so well-preserved, even after a million and a half years.
It not only warped space, but the very fabric of time as well. Not in a time traveling sense....or at least he didn’t think so. Not exactly, anyway. He almost giggled as the awareness of it all flooded into him. He could *feel* the massive computer massaging his brain, coaxing him toward the revelation. *Or maybe I’m just losing my mind.* He thought as he fought off another giggle.
Monoliths might appear (and had been reported) all over the globe, but there was only the one “Monolith,” which existed in several places simultaneously. It was the Builders city, computer, and mode of transportation, all rolled into one. It allowed them to go almost anywhere on the surface of Planet by simply stepping outside.
The computer coaxed more thoughts and images into his mind. Melding with him.
He felt his synapses burn with the unfamiliar contact, and sensed an image forming. Building. It worked its way to the forefront of his mind and then broke through, revealing itself to him.
A Builder.
*******************************
Behemoth choked off his attack the moment he felt Velocirix’s energies fall away. It was a small gap, but it was there, and in that moment, his worthy human opponent was hit with the full force of his energies.
It was enough to send him to his knees, and he bit his lip hard enough to draw a line of blood, but he did not cry out.
Then the pressure was gone.
Velociryx opened his eyes warily.
Gayle was coming toward him.
Her eyes shifted to black as she drew nearer.
No matter.
He was too tired to fight.
Instead, he shifted backwards a little, and sat before her, leaning against the arch at the entrance of the Zoo.
“We must have a truthsaying, you and I.” She said, quietly.
He absently wiped some of the blood from his face onto his palms, and sighed heavily. “You have my attention.”
So she sat with him.
[This message has been edited by Rynn: (edited November 21, 2000).]
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