Flinx Transcendent: A Pip & Flinx Adventure by Alan Dean Foster

Author:Alan Dean Foster
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Flinx (Fictitious character), Pip (Fictitious character: Foster), Fiction, Science Fiction, Humanx Commonwealth (Imaginary organization), Adventure, Pip (Fictitious character : Foster), General
ISBN: 9780345496072
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2009-05-19T10:00:00+00:00

They waited until Scrap had descended to land on his mistress's shoulder. Previous experience and subsequent research had shown that the safest way to neutralize the dangerous Alaspinian minidrag was to incapacitate it at the same time as its owner. Taking no chances, the self-sealing net they released from the boat was big enough to envelop the woman, the flying snake, and the male friend riding the sunfoil parallel to hers.

They were too far from shore for anyone on the beach or the slope below the medical convalescent facility to hear her screams or his curses. When the two captives tried to contact local emergency authorities via their separate communits, they discovered that all outgoing signals in their immediate vicinity had been blocked. The net that had been employed had been chosen with great care. It was flexible yet sturdy, self-sealing but not dangerously constricting. Insofar as their research had allowed them to determine, the members of the Order charged with carrying out the abduction believed that the material was impervious to the corrosive effects of the minidrag's venom.

A net had been utilized instead of direct deadly force because it was vital to keep the woman alive. Long enough, at least, to serve the purpose.

Seeing that there was nothing to be gained by screaming, Clarity went quiet as she, Scrap, and Barryn were hauled in like so many netted fish. The delicate sunfoils made faint crunching sounds as the net collapsed around them. At the same time as she was concentrating on her fear, hoping Flinx would perceive it, she spoke hurriedly to Barryn.

“I'm sorry, Tam, to get you mixed up in all this.”

In spite of Flinx's unexpected arrival he had insisted in seeing her through the last stages of her recovery. “I helped nurse you through the past couple of months,” he declared, “and even if you dump me for this creepy offworlder, I'm not giving up on you until you marry him or run off with him.”

She kept Flinx abreast of the medtech's persistence, of course. “Give him credit for perseverance,” Flinx responded. “Let him down easy. I don't like to see people hurt, and I know you don't either.” For a brief moment his thoughts went somewhere else. “I've come to understand how complicated relationships can get, especially when you don't expect them to develop the way they sometimes do. Especially when you're apart from someone for a long time and thrust into difficult circumstances. Things—happen. We're all human. At least, I used to think so,” he added ruefully.

“It's going to take a few days to reprovision and refit elements of the Teacher. Meanwhile you might as well be nice to him. But not too nice,” he had concluded, admonishing her.

Struggling ineffectually with entangling strands of net as Scrap's wings beat alternately against her shoulder and his back, Barryn tried to twist around within their constricting prison to meet her gaze.

“Mixed up in what? What are you involved in, Clarity? Something illegal?”

“In a manner of speaking.” She spoke as they were pulled through the water toward a waiting boat.

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