Headhunters by Luis Paredes

Author:Luis Paredes
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9798990129313
Publisher: Platypus Book Press

CHAPTER 39

GINNIE FIGHTS BACK

Luther focused on the human female in front of him. She was even more hideous standing than laying down.

Her enormous, round head stood balanced on a thin neck and the plump hands lolling by her flanks resembled small boulders. One of those had almost knocked him unconscious and was now primed to do worse.

Without thinking, he raised his pincers and flared them open. Ginevra stepped back and raised her fists in response.

“Ginevra? That’s your name, right?” Luther asked. “My name is Luther. Now, I want you to stay calm. Please let me explain what’s happening.”

Luther quickly outlined Ginevra’s precarious situation in Irkalla, but the more he spoke, the more agitated she became. He realized that the sight of his insect mouth gesticulating was disturbing for a human. Instead of mandibles, Luther had two glossy, miniature pincers that pawed at the air.

She probably thinks I want to eat her, he thought.

“Ok, listen. I’m going to Su’en. I’m going to change my face. It’ll be . . . you know what? It’s better if I just show you,” Luther said, pointing to his jaw with the tip of his right claw.

There was an audible click as Luther’s mouth parts spread apart. Webs of spit crisscrossed the unfurling segments and pattered to the floor. A black vapor followed, pooling around the edges of the growing hole where his jaw used to be.

“Don’t be afraid,” Luther said, as his human mouth pushed through the mist.

Ginevra retched. Her vomit mixed with Luther’s viscous spit on the floor.

“Was that necessary?” Luther’s human lips frowned. “I’ve been told I have a kind-looking pānu.”

“What the hell is a pānu?” she asked, wiping spittle from her lips.

“A face, of course,” Luther said, as the black mist cleared around his flat nose and round chin.

“You remind me of those giant stone Olmec heads. Well, half of one.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You’re a Phantid, aren’t you?”

“Yes. How did you know that?”

“I studied some of your history. Sol insisted that your kind were real. I never thought that I’d actually⁠—”

“I was just talking to Sol,” Luther said, clicking his claws.

“My Sol? Sol Balam?”

“Yes. As I said, I was just talking to him, but you⁠—”

“How is that possible? How could he just be talking with you?”

“You know, this would go a lot faster if you’d stop interrupting me. Sol’s convinced me to help you get out of here. Now, are you going to listen to my plan?”

Ginnie raised her hand.

“Oh, my Gods. What?”

“Why do you have a pānu?”

“It’s what your scientists would call an adaptation,” Luther said, smiling. “Now, let me tell you about my plan.”

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