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interesting than there fire. As the fluid nudged the chili's surface, the
fruit's yellow skin slowly changed color not to red, as you might think, but
to a dark purple. Even more intriguing, the chili's waxy texture grew puffy,
bulging and bloating with purplish glee... until the sharp tip of the chili
had turned to an ill-defined blob of purple jelly.
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I stepped back several paces from the fountain. Severallong paces. Taking
care not to let my voice quaver, I called to the others, "Um. You will be
pleased to learn my experiment has had a Result. Perhaps it would be useful if
some independent observer were to witness this Result, so I may believe my own
eyes."
Festina was inside the room even before I stopped speaking. She came quickly
forward, close enough to the fountain that she could see the chili lying
half-in, half-out of the clear crimson liquid. The top of the fruit was still
recognizable as a chili; the bottom was equally recognizable as a dollop of
purple gloop.
"Holy shit," Festina whispered.
"The holiest," I agreed.
Gray Foam, Purple Goo
I quickly explained what had happened. All the while, the liquid continued to
rise in the basin, turning more and more of the chili into quivering gel. When
I finished my tale, I asked Festina, "So... is the chili changing into a
Fuentes? And if it is, is it now intelligent and lying there listening to us?"
Festina gave a little laugh. "I doubt that a fruit can become sentient just
from getting dowsed with liquid. More likely, the fluid is breaking down the
chili's cell structure like the Modig powder back onHemlock. With Modig,
biologicals always decay into gray foam, whether you start with data circuits
or human fingers. With whatever's in that fountain... I suppose it rips the
shit out of something in living cells, and the result is purplish guck."
"If the Fuentes are also purplish guck, they must have used this fluid to rip
up their own cells. Why would they do that?"
"Presumably it was the only way to reach the next level of evolution. Maybe
you can't transcend the limitations of physical form unless you break down
your body structure. That could be the only way to free your consciousness."
Festina shook her head. "Or I could be full of crap. It's not like I
understand this any better than you do."
She turned her gaze to the mutating chili. The little fruit was almost
entirely covered with fluid by now... which meant it was almost entirely
converted to goo. Festina stared at it a moment, then shivered.
I was feeling the shivers myself. "Perhaps I am just an uncivilized one, but
I would not wish to turn into jelly. Not even if I became a million times
smarter."
"I'm with you on that," Festina replied. "But hey, I'm just a dumb old human.
Maybe when you're truly ready to jump up the evolutionary ladder, turning into
glup seems perfectly sensible. Easiest thing in the world: wake up in the
morning, eat breakfast, say, 'Shucks, it's time I evolved,' and splash, you go
for a dip in the nearest fountain."
"No," said a whispery voice. "It is not an easy thing. It is the hardest
thing in the universe."
A blindingly brilliant light stabbed down from the room's ceiling, and
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suddenly two furry creatures stood shoulder-to-shoulder before us.
25: WHEREIN I FACE THE FOE
Tahpo
The two were no taller than Uclod. One's fur was brown and the other's was
black; apart from that, they appeared exactly identical. Same height, same
width, same pose.
Despite their fur, they seemed more like insects than mammals each had two
faceted eyes as big as my fist, and four mandible attachments arranged in a
diamond shape around their mouths. The mandibles were constantly in motion:
first, the two side ones would rub together furiously, the way a fly rubs its
forelegs before eating; then those side parts would spread wide, giving room
for the top and bottom attachments to sweep lightly across the lips, as if
wiping off whatever dust might have landed in the past few seconds. After that
the cycle repeated, with the same fierce rubbing once more.
As for the rest of their bodies, each alien had two short but muscular arms
ending in small hands with three clawed fingers and a thumb. At first glance,
the creatures appeared to stand on three legs; but when I looked more closely,
I saw that only two of the lower limbs were legs (hinged like a rabbit's
haunches). The third limb was a thick tail that ended in a chitinous scoop;
the edges of the scoop looked sharp and sturdy, while the tail appeared
muscular enough to move the scoop with great force. One supposed having a
shovel on one's tail would be useful for creatures who burrowed underground...
but it would also be a powerful weapon in a fight, especially if someone
attacked from behind. Indeed, with shovel-tails at the rear, and claws and
mandibles at the front, these creatures would be formidable opponents if
encountered in a narrow tunnel.
The instant the beetle-things appeared, Festina dived to one side, rolling
across the dirt and vaulting to her feet again with her pistol trained on the
newcomers. She stood that way for several seconds, no doubt noticing that the
aliens carried no obvious weapons and showed no sign of combative behavior.
Without lowering her gun, Festina said, "Greetings. We are sentient citizens
of the League of Peoples. We beg your Hospitality."
The two furry beetles turned in her direction. This required a sort of
hopping move on their back legs; but despite the awkwardness of the maneuver,
they remained pressed against each other, keeping in physical contact at all
times. After they faced her, they said nothing for several seconds long enough
that I wondered if they had understood what she said. Perhaps they only spoke
their own language... in which case, it was fortunate I could serve as
interpreter. I was preparing to translate what Festina said when the
black-furred beetle opened its mouth and a glowing gold ball emerged from its
throat.
I had never seen a creature vomit a ball of glowing gold. The ball was not
solid, but a tight clot of mist about the size of my head. Its consistency was
highly reminiscent of Nimbus (who of course was a product of Shaddill
engineering). The mist floated upward to hover above the black beetle's
head... whereupon a voice sounded clearly from the gleaming fog.
"Greetings yourself," the voice said in English. The sound was identical to
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Festina's own voice; and it is most disconcerting to hear what seems like your
Faithful Sidekick speaking from a ball of fog perched atop an alien bug.
Clearly, the voice had to be a simulation... and when I thought about it, if I
were creating a golden mist-ball to communicate with others, I might construct [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]