“Bleek,” he said, nodding. “Bleek!”
Me and Lionheart. Scott and Fisher. Now Jessica and Valiant…
Stephanie shook her head in wonder, then realized she hadn’t answered Jessica’s question.
“It’s just a burn. I gave him something for the pain and his family has him all warm. Next thing you know, they’ll be cleaning up his fur for him. You concentrate on getting well…Valiant’s going to need you, too.”
Anders awoke to screams of panic.
He sat up, wondering who was sitting on his chest, then remembered it was the weight of the world-literally the world, all of Sphinx’s 1.35 gravity. Switching on his counter-grav unit to the minimum setting alleviated the pressure, but did nothing to still the screaming.
It was Kesia.
“Oh God oh God oh God…” the linguist was saying without pausing for breath. Then she began babbling in some language Anders had never heard before but which, from the fluency with which she spoke it, must be her native tongue.
He glanced toward the forest, thinking that the fire must have reached the area. The picketwood grove, however, remained untouched. If anything, the smoke was lighter than before.
Kesia was pointing a few meters away from the islet in the bog on which they had made their new camp, pointing, apparently, at one of the patches of mud. An eddy of motion focused Anders’ attention. He froze, for a moment believing that he was still asleep and that this was his worst nightmare yet. Then he had to accept what he was seeing was real.
The mud was slowly crawling toward them. This mud had teeth, teeth between which it whistled as it moved, an eerie sound, soft and gentle, completely at odds with the horror before them.
Other voices were joining Kesia’s incoherent babbling. With a small corner of his mind, Anders realized he was not the only one who had fallen asleep. Exhausted from their recent labors and poor diet-probably also from breathing the smoky air-they had all drifted off. If Kesia had not awakened when she had…
Then Anders realized that Kesia’s waking had not been a complete coincidence. A cream-and-gray treecat, certainly one of the two he had spotted earlier, was standing next to her. One of its upper paws-one of the “hand” set-rested on her shoulder as if it had just shaken her, while the other still pointed in the direction of the mud monster.
The latter was moving forward with more speed than Anders would have credited for something that lacked any apparent legs or even tentacles. Despite its lack of features-except for the teeth, those were all too evident-it must have had something that served as sound receptors, because Kesia’s keening had caused it to pause, rippling in place.
…In thought? In anxiety? In contemplation of where to take its first bite?
One of the above. Some of the above. All of the above, Anders thought frantically. Certainly it showed no sign of retreating, so although Kesia’s keening had disconcerted it, it wasn’t about to be scared off.
And if the treecat had taken the risk to come out and warn them, then there was no way this thing wasn’t dangerous.
Come out to warn them…Wonder filled Anders. As he got to his feet, he switched his counter-grav unit to compensate fully for the extra gravity. If they didn’t get rid of this thing, well, they’d have more serious problems than functioning under and extra. 35 gravity.
“A new species,” Dr. Calida was saying. She sounded almost as much excited as scared. “It looks as it dwells mostly in this sort of terrain, so it might be amphibious.”
“We’ve got that single tranq rifle,” Virgil said tightly. “I don’t fancy taking on that thing with a short knife, no matter what Stephanie Harrington did to that hexapuma. Who’s a good shot?”
Virgil was looking directly at Dr. Whittaker as he spoke, but Anders’ dad was shaking his head. “Since we were camping out,” Dr. Whittaker said, “we were permitted to bring the tranq rifle, but I’m not a marksman. Our main defense was going to be a sonic perimeter. They’ve had a great deal of luck with those keeping off even hexapumas.”
Dacey Emberly held out a hand. “Give it here. I haven’t shot anything for years, but Calli’s father and I used to go hunting.”
Everyone watched, tense and uncertain as the older woman took careful aim and fired. Clearly the powerful darts hit, but they didn’t seem to have any effect.
“I think,” Dr. Calida said, with detached scientific interest, “the darts embedded in the plants that grow on the thing. I wonder if it deliberately cultivates them as armor?”
“Either way,” Dacey replied. “I’m not going to get through-and that was the last dart.”
“This thing didn’t seem to like Kesia’s screaming,” Anders mused. “I sure wish we had that sonic thingie.”
Virgil dove toward one of the bags. “I think I saw…”
He raised an arm triumphantly. “Got it! I didn’t bother to set it up when we were in the trees because we were pretty safe. It should still have juice…”
Anders had raced over to Virgil’s side. The sonic perimeter guard consisted of a series of slender rods connected by an almost invisible wire.
“I have no idea how this works,” Virgil said, thrusting a couple of the rods at Anders, “but I glanced at the instructions before deciding it wouldn’t work well up in the trees. Set the posts in the ground, far enough apart that the wire is taut…”
Kesia had fallen silent, but she wasn’t so far in shock that she couldn’t help set out the rods. As they worked, Dacey looked at her daughter.
“Calli, remember that horrible campfire song you tormented us all with when you were eight?”
Dr. Calida started, then grinned. Without a pause she started singing, “Oh! In the cave there was a bear!”
The word “bear” was almost shouted, hitting one of those annoying minor-key notes that delight small children and make adults grit their teeth.
“While over the cave a puma howled!”
This was followed by sounds that might or might not have been a puma howling, but certainly made the mud creature ripple back.
The song went on, introducing more woodland creatures-owls, gautiers, screeching snakes, misty drakes-all of which made very annoying sounds. Anders noted that the treecat was shaking its head in evident distress. Nonetheless, it was counterpointing the raucous song with shrill wails of its own.
Assembling the sonic barrier required three rounds of the song. The first time they didn’t have the rods in the right way. The second time the wire was stretched too tightly. At last, Virgil called out.
“Step back. I think we’ve got the rods in the right places this time. I’m going to throw the switch.”
As the singers fell silent, the mud creature began to slide forward. For a horrible moment, Anders thought the sonic barrier wasn’t working. He was opening his mouth to start again with the bear in the cave when he saw the treecat fold down its ears and wrinkle its nose in evident distaste.
The mud creature reacted far more violently. It reeled back, the ripples of its usual movement transforming into violent waves that revealed a sleek, rubbery hide beneath the coating of mud and ooze. It retreated at least fifteen meters, sinking down into a convenient pool covered with some tiny plants.
Anders didn’t think it was gone, though, and no one else suggested that they try for shore.
“Did you see where the creature went?” Dr. Calida asked. “It retreated to where the air-van went down. I wish it had stayed where I could get some pictures.”
Dr. Whittaker looked at her in shocked disapproval, but Kesia grinned.
“I’ll draw you a picture, dear,” Dacey said, reaching for her sketchbook.
“At least for now we’re safe,” Virgil said, wiping a muddy hand across his pants leg. He already had smeared streaks on his sweaty face. “It’s not coming any closer.”
“But our problem is the same as before,” Anders replied glumly. Now that the emergency was over, he’d turned his counter-grav unit down again and he felt doubly weary for having had the respite from the extra pull. “Power. We’re safe until the battery runs out.”
He looked over at the treecat who waited patiently, curled up against Langston Nez’s side. There had been so
