'Kyle!' Valenti barked.
Before Liz could reach Max as he was dragged away, Kyle caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her. He locked down and stopped her, then dragged her back to the safety of the group.
'Let me go!' Liz demanded. 'Let me go!'
Valenti's shotgun roared, spitting out a bright yellow muzzle flash. For a moment, Liz was afraid that Valenti had shot Max. Then she saw the tentacle thing break away in a flare of popcorn-size explosions.
'That thing's made out of those drones,' Maria said.
In disbelief Liz saw that Maria was right. The sporadic flashlight beams, maneuvered by excited hands, crisscrossed the length of the tentacle, revealing the gleaming surface and some of the individual shapes of the drones.
Max lay in a loose sprawl on the ground. One of the flashlights revealed the blood gleaming at the back of his head. The severed section of tentacle remained around his lower body, writhing mechanically like an earthworm that had been sliced in half.
'Max!' Liz yelled, straining against Kyle's hold. Oh God, don't let him be dead. He can't be dead.
'Michael,' Isabel said.
Michael raised his hands and stepped forward. Before he was unable to unleash the power he wielded, a dozen lightning strikes strobed into the ground around him, blowing him backward, forcing them all back.
Static electricity popped and cracked in the air. Liz shielded her face with her hands.
Without warning the end of the tentacle that did not have Max shot forward and rejoined the severed section. They immediately melded and became one again. Effortlessly the tentacle lifted Max from the ground and drew him into the hole. He disappeared as Liz watched in horror.
'Max!' Liz pushed free of Kyle, accidentally hurting his injured arm. He yelped in pain. Then she was running, driving herself across the cavern floor.
By the time Liz reached the cavity in the wall and looked down, Max was disappearing into the side of the spaceship that was buried inside the hillside. The clouds of dust stirred up by the tentacle's passage floated slowly downward as they settled.
Tears came to Liz's eyes. Max couldn't be lost to her. Not like that. Not so final. She pointed her flashlight down into the cavity.
The spaceship lay embedded in the hill strata twenty feet down. The excavation that had progressed so far had been meticulous. The sides of the dig area looked like they'd been cut with a laser due to their smooth uniformity. The spaceship metal was a deep blue-green that looked iridescent under the flashlight beam, but partial patches showed obvious bum and impact damage. Judging from what she saw of the spaceship so far, it was huge. She just didn't know how huge.
And somewhere inside that ship, Max was hurt and alone.
'Hey,' Michael said, placing a hand on Liz's shoulder.
Liz turned and faced him, seeing the worry on his face. The emotion was something she'd seldom seen on Michael's features. He was so strong, so cynical about expecting the worst of situations, and so private that the worry looked out of place.
'We'll get him back,' Michael promised.
'Now may be the time to call in the military,' Kyle said.
'If we do,' Valenti stated grimly, 'they'll wonder what the travelers wanted with Max.'
'Look,' Michael said, 'I can hurt these things. They know that now, and we know that.'
'They can still hurt us, too,' Kyle pointed out.
Michael shrugged. 'Suit yourself. I'm going.' He turned and started climbing down into the cavern tunnel.
Without hesitation, Liz followed.
A blinding headache woke Max. He knew he was lying on the ground. A hard surface supported his back. His legs felt bruised from the vine-thing, but he didn't feel the constriction around his legs anymore. Slowly he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.
The smooth, metallic walls told him that he was inside the travelers' spaceship. He wondered if River Dog was still present somewhere, viewing everything from his vision quest. If he was, Max realized, then maybe Isabel and the others would at least know he was all right.
An ambient red glow, from scattered screens built into the walls and from consoles, filled the room. Max had no clue what the consoles were for. For all he knew, this could have been the pilot area or a library aboard the ship.
'Max.'
Max turned to the sibilant voice, watching in stunned fascination as a stream of drones flooded into the room and began piling on top of one another. The drones made a tower, building with unbelievable speed, like a dust storm in reverse.
In seconds the drones went from a pile of small insects to a vaguely human shape. The creature looked like something from a low-budget science fiction movie.
'What do you want?' Max asked, taking a step back. He spotted a door behind him. It was only partially open, six steel plates frozen in midiris. Evidently the door dilated to open and constricted to close. The six steel plates recessed into the surrounding bulkhead. Sand and rock had poured into the room through the door. Streams of drones worked like ants, carrying off the debris.
The creature hesitated. A rippling passed over its face, suddenly creating a mouth. A second later it opened its eyes. The eyes were hard and shiny, like hard silver marbles.
'This appearance is more pleasing to you?' the creature asked.
'Why did you bring me here?' Max demanded.
'We wished to speak with you.' The figure rippled, like a monitor repixelating, tightening the image and refining the features.
Max waited.
'You're afraid of us,' the creature said.
'Yes,' Max said.
'Why?'
'You've worked hard to be scary,' Max said.
The creature cocked its head, an altogether human expression that made the thing's alienness even more apparent. 'We have,' it admitted, and the voice almost sounded contrite. 'Those actions are part of our preprogrammed defense. Our primary functions are the defense and repair of this ship.'
'Who are you?'
'We are… ' The creature hesitated. 'Your language remains something of a problem to us. Our dealings with River Dog have been inaccurate and unsatisfying to a degree. Still we have learned much.' The image flickered and refined again, becoming more human. This time some of the metallic sheen faded, leaving a color much closer to human pigmentation. The color looked pale and unhealthy. 'You may address us as the Builder.'
Max waited, running his options through his mind. His head still throbbed. Running wasn't a good plan, because he didn't know where to go.
'Scaring the local populations from this area is necessary to the continued survival of our crew,' the Builder stated. 'We jettisoned an emergency beacon before entering this planet's atmosphere and gravitational fields. We are awaiting rescue.'
Max looked at the thing in front of him, watching as the image rippled again and the features became even more human. The eyes had true color now, and had turned greenish-gray.
'How long have you been waiting?' Max asked.
The Builder was silent for a moment. 'We are not certain. While we were in stasis to conserve power reserves, several systems failed. We have been working to bring those systems back in working order.'
'It's been thousands of years,' Max said.
'We are still here,' the Builder said.
'Where is the ship's crew?'
'They are awaiting rescue.'
Max looked around the room. 'Where?'
'It doesn't matter.' The Builder rippled again. The chameleon power of the drones was incredible. In the poor
