03 Hair Peace by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreaming Big Publications
Published: 2019-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7: Worm Chase

They were back on the jet ski, moving at speed through an ancient chain of caverns, or so it seemed to Quiti’s interpreting mind. There were stalactites hanging from above, and stalagmites rising from below, like closing teeth.

“I can never remember which is which,” Idola said.

“There’s a mnemonic device,” Quiti replied. “The one with the C is for Ceiling, so those hang down. The one with the G is for Ground, so they ascend from below.”

“Say, neat!”

Never mind that there could hardly be caves in deep space. It was much less mind bending to see caves than cracks in nothingness.

Then she spied giant bones.

“Dinosaurs!” Idola exclaimed.

Were dinosaurs in space any less credible than caves? Quiti decided not to argue.

“There’s my scent,” Flower’s grill said.

“Okay,” Quiti said. “Now we can expect the Worms to be lurking along it, because they know you have to follow it to find your family. So we had better prepare now, before they intercept us.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s start with the circle. I will loop about, while you lay down the scent.”

“Yes.”

They emerged from the caves to a mountainous landscape. “There’s a mark!” Flower exclaimed.

“I don’t see anything,” Idola said.

“Only a Ghobot can detect it.”

Which was of course the idea. If the Worms could see the marks, they could set up ambushes beside them. “Ignore it for now,” Quiti said. “But keep it in mind.”

“But if we’re following your scent trail—” Idola said.

“Scents are different,” Quiti reminded her. “They get left wherever a person goes. We’re leaving our own scents. But the marks are deliberate, for jumping to.”

Quiti steered around a mountain back to where they had emerged. “Now can you set up a jump to your nearest mark?” Quiti asked Flower.

“Yes.”

“But what about us?” Idola asked. “We can’t teleport, even in spirit form.”

“I am gambling that the Worms are tracking only Ghobots,” Quiti said. “So we human spirits are effectively invisible. We’re not yet on the enemies list. So we can go wherever we want and they won’t notice as long as Flower isn’t with us.”

“But he is with us! That’s the whole point of this operation.”

“Yes he is. But for this circle trick, we can get away with a brief separation.”

“That’s pretty nervy.”

“We’re nervy folk.”

Idola smiled, liking that description. “I guess we are.”

Flower jumped to his mark, the jet ski disappearing. Then Quiti and Idola walked across to join him. That was all there was to it.

“Now for Part Two,” Quiti said. “The back trail.”

“The what?”

“The Worms won’t know which direction it’s going,” Quiti explained. “When they follow it one way, they’ll wind up on Bezel 4. The other way, the circle. With luck they’ll be lost, and by the time they figure it out, we’ll be finished and gone.”

Idola nodded. “I like it. What now?”

“Now we head for Flower’s folks. We come back this way in a hurry when they intercept us.” She addressed the Ghobot. “Jump back to the circle. When they are chasing us, and we flee back this way, you jump to your mark and cower down out of sight until they give up in disgust.

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