Fat chance of that, thought Genevieve, but the
Chimera
was also capable of interstellar travel.
“How would that affect you? Removing the crystal?”
“Well you should ask,” he growled in a savage tone. “While the
vishna
is our true symbiont in the life force, much of it is accessed, magnified and directed through this crystal. If your colleagues were to remove the Great Crystal, it would result in great chaos and hardship for my people.” He blew out a breath of angry frustration. “It will take a thousand years to grow another one and only if they leave a seed crystal behind.”
“Good God!” she murmured. But there still remained something that wasn’t right with this picture: “Why aren’t they using
this
ship to fetch the crystal, particularly since that’s where they want to put it?”
“Yes,” he said, stroking his chin pensively with a thoughtful frown. “I wondered the same thing. It is possible that their pilot could not get this ship to function. It may be broken in some other way, despite all the crystals being in place.”
Genevieve studied Azaes for a long moment and decided that he wasn’t very good at lying. It looked more complicated than Zac but seemed to be in full working condition, except for a part that was missing
—
the crystal sphere and rod in his private chambers. It was obvious to her only because she had seen it in Azaes’s room. And Gordon Porter hadn’t, she thought, letting a wry half-smile cross her face. She turned to Azaes from the controls. “So you think they’re cutting their losses here and simply going for the Great Crystal?”
“Would it fit in the
Chimera
?”
She pondered the dimensions he’d quoted to her earlier and nodded grimly. “Definitely. It’s as if the Chimera were made for it…” she trailed, feeling her stomach curdle. Her mind raced with choices. “Are we sure they’re abandoning this ship? Should we simply go after them and risk missing them? What if they’ve already retrieved the crystal?”
“They haven’t.”
He was too certain and she tilted her head, looking at him in inquiry.
He firmed his lips. “They can’t remove the crystal without a device. My flame crystal,” he said grimly.
That flame crystal again! One of its hundred and one uses. “Good,” she said. “Then we have them.”
“There is another complication,” Azaes added, looking suddenly more uncomfortable than before. He released a long exhale and looked at her with intense pleading eyes. “I actually came for your help, Genevieve. My intended is there now, serving part of her training as future
kusha
. As a shape-shifter, she can interact with the
shwarma
at a level far beyond ours. Genevieve, I think they are being besieged. I have not heard from her since yesterday.”
“Then what are we waiting for!?” She sprang to her feet and pelted down the hall toward the exit of
Atlantis II
, Azaes at her heels.
He said between panting breaths, “It will be dangerous for you, Genevieve, to go into the deep jungle. It will play tricks on your mind. Shiva, like I, can withstand much of the influence of the
vishna
mist, but you are not used to it.”
Was he alluding to her sexual transgression with the
vishna
tree? She stopped suddenly and Azaes bumped into her, knocking her off balance. He seized her to keep her from falling and held on to her a little longer than she thought was necessary. She slithered out of his hold and turned to him. “What about weapons? Do you have any?”
“You mean to injure?”
“Maim and kill,” she finished for him. “Yeah. Because you can bet your ass the crew of the
Chimera
will,” she ended grimly.
He looked disturbed. “We have nothing.”
“Nothing? Not even to punish wrong doings?”
“Genevieve,” he said gently, “We have no violence and no murders. The last one occurred two hundred years ago. Our domestic disputes are largely settled through arbitration. Wrong doings, once assessed by our
Sthanu
Circle, are treated quite effectively by ostracizing the perpetrator, who without exception complies to do some work of good will that will redeem them.”
Genevieve stared. They were going to get slaughtered. “We need to make a quick pit stop at my ship, then.”
Genevieve left Azaes outside with the scree as she pelted to Zac’s armoury. As she feared, most of their standard weapons had been removed
—n
o doubt by the
Chimera
crew. She grabbed what was left, a weapons utility belt on which she clipped a knife, a concussion pistol and extra laser clips. There was one long-range laser rifle left. She fastened the belt on her waist, cinching it tight, slung the rifle over her shoulder, then pounded back outside to where Azaes waited patiently, stroking the scree.
“It isn’t much, but it’ll have to do,” she said, catching his uneasy gaze at the little armoury slung over her shoulder and on her waist. Azaes came out of his daze when she tried to mount the scree. He helped her get on then slid on behind her, and they were off again.
“Remember what I said,” Azaes warned. “The vapours of the
vishna
jungle can overwhelm, even from up here, because the jungle is so dense. The suspended oils rise with the heat and linger in the atmosphere with amazing persistence. The jungle will play tricks on you. Do not succumb to its dizzying suggestions. Be brave and strong, as I know you are, Genevieve.”
She pulled in a long breath and nodded.
Chapter Twenty
They flew in silence for several hours. Genevieve fell into a reverie, comfortably nestled in Azaes’s arms and leaning against his chest. She couldn’t help thinking that Azaes’s interest in her was purely utilitarian. It made the most sense. He’d decreed her useful to him because she was likely the best person to have around when dealing with other humans. There was no need for even fascination or inter-species concern. Certainly no place for love…
She lost track of time, and of herself. When Azaes nudged her, she realized that she’d fallen into a kind of sleep. She’d turned to cuddle him and buried her face in his chest, arms entwined around him. Genevieve blushed and turned back to look forward, heart pounding up her throat.
She saw the huge spire of the Great Crystal before she recognized the
Chimera
beside it. At least they hadn’t missed them, she thought. It didn’t look like they’d made much headway moving the crystal into the
Chimera
. It looked like it was still in its original position. They wanted it in one piece, and the only way to move it was with the flame crystal.
As Azaes’s scree banked toward the crystal installation Genevieve made out several large animals lying on the ground. They looked a little like wolves. Probably some of the
shwarma
that had been guarding the crystal. She took in a deep breath
—
the carnage had begun. If Bragg had little compassion for the Eosian bipeds, he’d have absolutely none for these wolf-like creatures.
It didn’t seem like anyone had spotted them yet. In fact, there was no one moving in the clearing. Maybe they were lucky and the
Chimera
crew were immobilized, having succumbed to the enticement of the forest―
She had no warning between the brief flash and high-pitched squeal of the laser cannon. The scree jerked with a shriek. Genevieve felt a violent tug, as though her leg had ripped on barbwire, and she saw the bird’s left wing shatter and spatter her with blood. Sharp pain flaming up her leg, Genevieve grabbed on to the bird’s neck to keep from falling off. They’d been hit! When she looked down, her leg was covered in blood. She wasn’t sure if it was mostly the birds or hers. Her leg had gone numb. Despite trying to fly with one wing and wheezing with effort, the scree plummeted down toward the jungle at breakneck speed. Genevieve felt a rush of wind on her face and grit her teeth, expecting the worst.
Azaes leaned forward and urged the bird on in words Genevieve could not understand. The bird seemed to listen and tried valiantly to change course even as it fell, into a spiralling glide toward a small clearing. The ground rushed toward them and the bird finally hit with a bone-wrenching thud and splash, toppling into a summersault that tossed Genevieve off. She landed hard with a splat in a thick bed of vegetation and muck. The shallow quagmire was springy and provided her with some cushion even as it released a thick perfume on impact. It caught her breath and she felt herself stuttering a long inhale. As though the ground caved in from under, she had the sudden impression of falling into an abyss of a thousand penises.
Azaes grabbed her and hauled her up to her feet, shaking her. “Genevieve! It’s the
vishna
! The ground is saturated with its pollen. You just got a major dose of it when you disturbed the moss with your fall.”
His smell was so enticing. She grabbed his face with her hands and stared into his eyes, desire seizing her. “I love you!” she exclaimed and kissed him full on the lips.
“It’s the
vishna
!” he insisted through her mouth and gruffly pushed her away from him. He glared at her with stern eyes. “Genevieve! I told you this would happen. Take control!”
He didn’t understand. She really
did
love him. But the daze lifted as embarrassment set in. “I’m all right now,” she said in a subdued voice, looking away. Her gaze rested on the dead scree. A large blood soaked wound on its chest still seeped blood into the standing water around it. Half of its wing was blown away.
“That bird was my friend since I was a little boy,” Azaes said quietly. “I think we’re two
dugos
, eh, five of your kilometres, from the Great Crystal.” Then he picked up her rifle, handed it to her and turned to the deep jungle without another look at the bird or at her. He pried the thicket of vines apart to penetrate the forest. “If we walk fast we’ll make it before sundown. Let’s go.” Then he disappeared through the doorway in the wall of vines he’d created, leaving her behind to fend for herself.
It was only as she rose to her feet and started walking that she noticed the wound on her leg. So, it
was
her blood. She must have received a residual hit from the laser cannon. Azaes, who’d already disappeared through the vine thicket, obviously hadn't noticed, and she was determined not to let him. Controlling her breaths in an effort to keep up, Genevieve ignored the oozing blood. The pain flamed up her leg at every step, and she wished for stim pills.
She struggled through the thick vines and plunged into the darkness of the jungle. The ground beneath her bare feet changed from the spongy prickles of moss and fern to a slimy layer of decaying leaves. Once she’d gotten through the vine thicket that had overgrown the clearing, the sparse ground cover of the jungle was fairly easy to maneuver, and she spotted Azaes right away, only ten meters in front of her, walking slowly for her to catch up.
The vegetation steamed with moist heat. Dewdrops rolled down from the canopy overhead and dropped with a loud smacking sound on giant fronds. They shivered as if with excitement.
She remained a few paces behind Azaes, focused on the lithe movements of his muscular back, butt cheeks and legs. He walked with the sureness and elegance of a predatory animal. Frequently her mind slid into a kind of momentary delirium and she imagined pouncing on him, mauling that firm butt and fucking him. Then a wave of shuddering threw her out of the hazy trance and she swallowed down the crazy compulsion.
Genevieve picked her way over ropes of lianas and surface roots that snaked over each other like the entwined limbs of lovers. She passed beneath large palms heavy with a profusion of flowers. The bright flowers hung swollen with perfumed sexual organs, huge pistils that resembled thick penises and long stamens with bright lips.
She recognized a wild
fika
tree whose branches were festooned with yellow gourd-like fruits and imagined the tiny
feeks
fucking happily inside. Insect pairs whirred past her, shivering and gyrating in frantic copulation. A bright red butterfly-like creature blinked into startling mauve as if displaying to a mate. She passed bunches of tiny scarlet fruit hanging like grapes from a palm tree’s slim trunk. They were covered with small beetles, all mounted on each other and wriggling vigorously, eating and fucking at the same time. At the base of its trunk, millions of shallow roots radiated outward, as if searching for a mate.
She staggered on and nearly collided into a palm with stilts for roots, except for the warning flash of blue. Two huge electric blue flowers burst out of its trunk, one at eye level and the other at crotch level. Pistils that looked like veined flesh with bulbous heads hung enticingly like penises, surrounded by downy golden petals that resembled labia. Genevieve stared, awestruck, as the penis-like pistils thickened and grew engorged, erect and slimy in front of her eyes. The slime dripped like semen and plopped on the soggy ground.
“Don’t touch it!” Azaes shouted, breaking the trance. “That is the…” he cleared his throat, betraying some embarrassment, “the
quisha
, the genital tree. It has an olfactory sense that reacts to approaching animals and is very poisonous. Its poison penetrates your skin, slowly burning you from inside. If you were to touch both flowers you would be at first enticed by the light electrical charge buzzing through your body, just enough time for the slime on the pistil to do its work. It’s sticky like glue. Within moments of touching it, you are trapped and doomed to a death of sheer agony as the slow acting poison eats you from inside. It takes days for it to kill you. “