Planet of Flowers by Warren Norwood

Author:Warren Norwood [Norwood, Warren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1984-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

“We have come to say goodbye, immortal.”

Spinnertel jumped and spun around. “Damn!” he said aloud. “Do you have to frighten me like that?”

“We did not mean to frighten you,” Shttz squeaked.

“Well, you did. Now get out of here.”

“If you insist on being rude, we can stay awhile longer.”

It was the she-ghost, Ronda. Spinnertel shuddered at the thought of having to put up with them any longer. “You disturb me,” he said. “I can’t help that. You got your energy. Now why don’t you just leave?”

“I think we should stay,” four-arms said gruffly. “He could be fun to play with.”

“No,” the luminescent blob said, speaking for the first time in Spinnertel’s presence. “The immortal has done nothing to deserve that—yet.”

As if its words were a prearranged signal, they all disappeared with a harsh pop. A bitter odor clung to the air in the cabin and settled into Spinnertel’s fur. It made him angry and uneasy. He wasn’t sure if they had really gone. And he might never be sure.

“Damn ghosts,” he whispered under his breath. With a sudden burst of energy he left the cabin and went down the companionway to the maintenance controls. After turning up the air filtration system to its maximum level he decided to bathe.

Spinntertel hated water, but he hated the ghost-smell worse. He would have to deodorize everything to get rid of it, starting with himself. But he knew he couldn’t get comfortable again on his own ship as long as the slightest trace of that smell lingered to remind him of them.

As he lathered his fur with the oil-rich shampoo he used on those rare occasions when dry brushing wouldn’t get him clean, the real-time message bell started dinging insistently. He turned the water jets to full power and furiously tried to squeeze the lather from his body. Then he stopped and a puzzled frown changed the flow of water down his forehead.

A real-time message could only be from Askavenhar or—

He decided to let it ding. If it was Askavenhar, he did not want her and the Constant to know he was already here. If it was from Cosvetz, it was a mistake. Spinnertel had told him never to use real-time messages unless there was an emergency. And no mortal’s emergency could be important enough to make Spinnertel answer while he was soaking wet.

Spinnertel forced himself to relax and make sure the lather was thoroughly rinsed from his fur. Then he turned off the water and turned on the airstream. As he brushed himself in the warm rush of air the bell finally stopped dinging. Spinnertel smiled with satisfaction, then realized it was the first time he had smiled since the ghosts had popped in on him.

After carefully powdering and then brushing out his armpits and crotch he took a liter of alcohol from the cabinet and headed up to the flight deck, stopping on the way to turn the air filtration system back to normal. He sniffed several times and the odor seemed to be gone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.