Big Bird pressed a palm to the Plexiglas. Her eyes fluttered for a moment. "The Security Spheres are on curfew settings. They will return to the base in eight hours."
"Is there any way to destroy those things?" I asked.
"Yes, but it would require explosives, armor piercing rounds, or an EMP."
"So a Ss'sik'chtokiwij couldn't just climb inside it and rip something out?"
"The core is armor plated, and the gel contains a paralyzing agent. Even if a synthetic human made the attempt, the electrical pulses would cause damage to its systems. There are other ways to deactivate them, but they require precise timing of shots at a specific component, or access to specialized tools not present at this location."
"All right, then. They can force us to stay here, but they can't force us to sleep."
Willie leaned on the window. "Eight hours! Every minute we spend in this ridiculous house is another minute those people can use to throw together another death trap. Right now, they could be sending another army our way, and those damned cars! I'm not spending the night in this place!"
"What do you suggest?" I said. "You heard Big Bird. You can't destroy those things out there. You have to wait them out."
"I'm sick of waiting. I'm going to check this place for another exit."
"Good luck with that!" Pillow said. "The only way out, as far as I know, is out the doors, or down the tunnels below, and you need special security clearance."
Willie scowled, facing Big Bird. "Android, you're hired."
We followed him and the robot back downstairs, to that door with the radiation symbol on it.
"Please understand that our path may intersect a nuclear power plant," Big Bird said as her fingers danced across the keypad. "There may not be enough protective gear for all of you."
"Those creatures and those demented children can rot here as far as I'm concerned," Willie said. "I just want out."
When I noticed my companions getting pissed off, I suggested, "We can do relays. Trade suits. It's like one of those limited information team building exercises, where you have to get everyone in your team across a pit of imaginary lava in only a couple trips."
The children didn't understand what I meant at all.
"We had a thing at summer camp. There were wooden platforms, and you pretended like the dirt was lava, and a stick was a magic thing that protected you from the lava, but you could only cross the dirt three times."
"I think you lost them on `pretend,'" Lovelace said.
I stared at her. "One thing still bothers me, teach. How did you know how to kill Bishop?"
"I was on the run from the law," she said. "You tend to pick up things like that quickly."
I explained my concept to the kids more carefully. They seemed to get the idea, but they were still bristling.
All of a sudden, the keypad went dark, and when it came back on, it had a blinking red light. A deafening alarm noise filled the room, making everyone cover their ears.
"It's MM7." Big Bird opened her finger. "She's fighting back. I'll need to reroute the wiring manually."
A second later, a massive explosion collapsed the tunnel beyond the reinforced bulletproof window, effectively shutting off our only other avenue of escape with a mountain of rocks and boulders.
"Any more brilliant ideas?" I said.
Willie snarled something, limping back upstairs.
"How is Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik?" Julia asked Hosea in Ss'sik'chtokiwij.
"Mother is still imprisoned. She takes to it well."
"That is not surprising. What about Shasharmazorb?"
"I do not know. I was not allowed to see her."
"Guys? A little help?"
Tido and the children had surrounded Charon, their knives drawn for a major bloodletting.
Mark, now hanging from my neck, muttered, "I don't like that woman."
"It looks like you're not the only one."
I stepped into the circle. "She just delivered Jen-Jen into your hands," I said. "Let her go."
"This woman lies." Tido said. "That's why the Security Spheres are here. It's a scheme."
"You're blowing this all out of proportion."
"She betrayed me and other children into the hands of those slavers!" Guessica shouted.
"She betrayed me too, but I forgave her. Let her go."
"But she's human scum!"
"Hey. You're human. Look, she's a sinner in need of grace, okay?"
"You don't understand what she's put me through! What she's put other children through!"
"I was a child once. I was on the Disney boat. Don't tell me I don't understand."
"If you understood, you'd kill her!"
"Forgiving isn't easy, but I forced myself to do it, and I don't regret it. Don't forget that she just double crossed Jen-Jen."
"How do you know it's not an act?"
"She's right," Tido said. "This could all be an elaborate ruse to once again deprive us of our god."
"I still don't know why you worship these space creatures." Charon looked my way. "They can bleed, can't they?"
I nodded.
"That means nothing," Tido said. "Christ himself could bleed."
This earned an eye roll from her.
Tido shoved Charon into a wall, holding his knife to her throat. "None of us would be sorry if you were dead. Tell us why we should not kill you now and be done with it?"
Charon actually looked bored. "I know some things about how to get closer to your so-called `god.' Who knows? It might be useful. Contrary to popular belief, I don't love this organization I've been thrust into. Maybe I want to create a little anarchy." She paused. "Got a cigarette?"
The man stared at her for a moment, then told her, "You should not pollute such an ideal host body as yours with such toxins."
She smirked. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
It was then that I noticed how much Tido had been staring.
"How long have you been out of prison?"
The man gawked at her. "How did you-"
"I saw the bar code on your neck."
"Four years. Conspiracy to commit murder. The victim was a Christian. I got out early on good behavior. There are others, but the police doesn't know about them."
"You know, I always had a thing for jail birds, and you're kinda cute. It's too bad you have so many religious delusions. We could have worked something out."
"And if you recognized the deity of Shasharmazorb, we could have produced many host bodies for her to bless with her young."
Charon laughed. "You'd do all that, huh? You're a terrible flirt."
"And you are a temptress sent by the evil one to separate me from Shasharmazorb."
"So you admit that I tempt you."
He swallowed. "Yes."
She pressed her body against his, lips brushing against his ear. "Perhaps I should do more of it."
I could see the conflicting emotions in the man's face. Lust, anger, indignation.
The woman smiled and walked away, teasingly using some kind of device to make a fan of tail feathers flash from her bikini bottom. Tido gawked open mouthed as she disappeared out the door. The children stared at their leader with suspicion.
"Where did you find that woman?" Lovelace asked me.
"Long story. I'm just...kinda glad she's helping us...I think."
"You're right to be cautious. No one in this place is what they seem to be."
The same could apply to you, I thought. "You couldn't be more right."
We returned to the dining room to check on our prisoner.
"How do you like the taste of your own medicine?" Willie mocked as he leaned close to the woman.
Jen-Jen mumbled something through her gag.
"My God, how refreshing it is not to hear you flapping your fat jaw! A fellow could get used to this!"
I could see the shape of the woman's teeth as they ground together in anger.
Caitlyn, who had also been standing near Jen-Jen, told me, "She tried to get me to free her."
I scowled. Ippi and Pillow snapped their tails (well, Pillow snapped her stub), glaring at the captive.
I scowled.
"We should kill her," Tido said. "The woman is too much trouble."
"She is a heretic," Guessica agreed. "Why don't we throw her to the Security Spheres?"
"That's a good idea," I said. "Maybe we don't need to kill her."
"Did she do something that bad?" Absolute asked, but this only made the other members glare at him.
Moe frowned at our captive. "I think we should do like that kid said and throw her to the massage ball. Let the higher-ups tear her a new one." He laughed as he thought about it.
I nodded. "I do like the sound of that..."
Charon put her hands on her hips. "She stays. I admit she's a bitch, but her ranking far exceeds mine. We need her information."
Now the cultists glared at her.
Tido raised a staying hand. "Great Julia," he said to the Ss'sik'chtokiwij. "What is your advice?"
"Tell them yes," Ippi said. "Kill her. She's a weaselly condescending ass."
"Do it," said Lovelace. "I never liked her anyway."
Julia turned her face toward me, letting out a questioning purr.
I shrugged.
"I will allow her to live." She paused. "I am hungry again. Meat please."
Tido jumped to his feet. "You heard the great one. I saw something in the freezer."
He and his followers ran, not walked, to the kitchen.
Well, except Absolute. He sort of waddled behind.
Ippi grinned at the larva. "What other tricks can you make them do?"
"There have been plays. But they were...embarrassing to me."
She laughed.
Charon limped up to the Abreya, speaking to her in a hushed tone. "You think we did the right thing?"
Ippi cocked her head in my direction, indicating that I was listening in. "I don't care what's right. Those bastards aren't going to let me leave this place. This girl, Ellie, is my only hope of getting out of here. What about you? What's your stake in this?"
Charon shrugged. "I always wanted to be an astronaut and travel to the Offworld Colonies, but I couldn't pass the entrance exams." She glanced at me with this expression that said this wasn't the only reason.
"What was in that green book?" I asked her.
"What green book?"
I could tell she was being evasive. "You know what I'm talking about. You were reading it in the library."
"The Cat In The Hat."
"Bullshit. If you were truly on my side, you wouldn't withhold information."
She glanced at the ceiling. "We're being watched."
I grabbed Big Bird, pointing to a camera bubble. "Can you disable the security in this area?"
"I have already removed several microphones. I will work on the cameras." She pulled open a light switch, working on the wires.
"I guess it won't do any harm telling you now..." Charon hushed her voice a bit. "It's an employee training manual, and the instructions on my objectives in the current stage of the program. You were supposed to go to sleep and run the gauntlet of Jen-Jen's tests, and I was supposed to help. We had specific tests for all your friends. The back had maps and instructions. Unfortunately, I left them at the boat. If you really want out of here I'd probably forget it."
I marched into the kitchen, stopping Pillow in the middle of doing dishes. "Do you know where we can find blankets and..." I gave her an apologetic smirk. "You know."
She laughed. "It's okay. You can say it. I've already heard it all from my husband. My favorite is `dirty pillows.' You don't want to know what Sikes means in my language."
I stared. "What?"
"Sorry. It's a quote from Alien Nation." The smile faded from her face. "So he's still loex, still good, then? My husband?"
"Yeah. He seems resigned to his fate."
"And...Camille...She's really dead?"
"I'm sorry. Was she a close friend of yours?"
She nodded sadly. "I'd call Matt and tell him, but they took my communicator. Even if I did have it, I wouldn't want him to come here. We're missionaries. We don't exactly have government backing. They'll see this as our fault, for landing in this hostile place to begin with."
"Doesn't your government have some sort of diplomatic protection for their citizens?"
Pillow rolled her eyes. "And what happens if a Christian missionary brings a bunch of Chinese language bibles into China? Or tries to open a church in a strict Islamic state? Does America go to war to save them?"
"No, they throw a party."
She pointed to my outfit. "I've been meaning to ask. What are you supposed to be? Minnie Mouse?"
I reddened. "A sexy French Minnie Mouse. Of course right now it just feels gross because I've been sweating in it all day."
"And your friend over there...is she Donald Duck?"
I gave Charon a sideways glance. "More or less."
Pillow tugged on her chintz dress. "Would you like one of these?"
I frowned. "You don't have anything with pants?"
"Kigo. I'm afraid not." She came close to me, stretching her dress, visually measuring me up. "I might have some outfits you can wear, but they may fit a little loosely on you. I'm not sure the underwear is suitable, either."
I scrunched my face in disgust. "Pass."
"We have a washing machine. It's a little primitive, but it dry cleans."
Noting my hesitation, she said, "Come upstairs with me. I'll show you some things. We need to bring the blankets and pillows down anyway."
I followed her up a grand staircase to a bedroom at the end of a hall. Caitlyn was nervous around the others, so she followed me.
With all the foliage, the room reminded me of a scene from the movie Troll, except in a brilliant white color.
The bed, the centerpiece, had been designed to look like an enormous lily, with huge cushiony petals that served as the bed's canopy, headboard and the bed itself, the other furniture carrying a similar motif. The walls were cream colored and covered in plastic bas relief plants.
"They asked me what Abreya bedrooms were like," Pillow said. "I didn't want anything special. I didn't care about it, but they insisted, so I just told them `The beds and furniture resemble plants.' They went to town." She paused. "Did I use that expression correctly?"
"Yeah."
She smiled at the alien child climbing up on my shoulder. "That's Sil's baby, right?...I worked on that project. He's not dangerous, is he?"
"Not...as far as I can tell."
Mark waved to her.
Pillow showed me the wide variety of dresses in her closet.
I examined the articles. "Why chintz? These look much nicer."
"People don't understand how hot my pelt gets. And these other dresses don't breathe."
"Neither does chintz."
"Actually, this one I'm wearing does."
"Have you thought about shaving?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please. Do you know how many hours that would take?"
I tried on a few things, then she showed me a pink colorblock outfit that actually matched my measurements. "This fits too tight on me. I forgot I even had it."
I took it, pleased that the sleeves were short and strong, and it wouldn't fall off me in battle, if I ended up in one.
Pillow had been right about the underwear. It had tail holes, and a shape to them that wouldn't be comfortable to a man or a woman. Her bras weren't the right shape either. She did, however, own a few pairs of normal boxer shorts.
Mark was still caked in blood and dirt. Since he kept following me, even into the bathroom, I took him in the shower and gave him an extra spray with the sprayer. He took it well enough.
Pillow's shower was like something you'd use on a dog, but I used it anyway. The soap felt like pumice on my skin, and my claw arm burned a little, but I still felt a lot better when I finished, and the drier could dry a storm drenched woolly mammoth in a couple minutes. I made Caitlyn go next.
When she came back out (with me, because I had to supervise and help her figure out the machines) I found Pillow coming into the room with a pile of clothing. "I found this in the linen closet. I think they intended for you to stay here."
Fatigues, both in my size and Caitlyn's, and underwear. I guess someone at HQ got tired of leering at my mouse costume. Since Pillow's dresses looked so nice, I decided to keep the dress and wear camo pants with it.
There were roughly a dozen blankets and pillows in the Barbie bedrooms next door and linen closet. When I brought them downstairs into the throne room, my new outfit turned some heads.
"You look nice," Moe said to me as I handed out the items.
I reddened. "You should bathe. There's probably clothes for you up there."
He looked like he didn't care. Years of playing war games in the jungle will probably do that to you. "Will you be all right down here?"
I shrugged. "I have an army."
"All right. Be back in a few." He spoke to Pillow for a moment, complimenting her cooking and stuff. The Abreya tried her best to be nice, but spoke in a rather short manner, suggesting hidden resentments. She hurried him upstairs.
"Hey, nice threads," Charon said to me as I spread a blanket on the chaise lounge for my daughter. "Not exactly matching with the camo, but I understand. Practicality."
"Do you want something?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"I just wanted to say sorry. For everything. I've been a real bitch."
I had a retort, but I bit my tongue. "I forgive you."
She put a hand on my shoulder. "I know. You're too good. Thank you."
Caitlyn curled up on the blanket, smiling at me with heavy eyelids. I rubbed her head affectionately.
I sat on the floor and kept watch over the girl. Mark, Hosea and the three Ss'sik'chtokiwij gathered around us like a pride of lions, the cult members forming a ring around us, making me think of supplicants outside the holy of holies at some temple.
The Korean boy appeared to be the runt of Tido's litter, probably because of his weight. Since he seemed lonely, I sat down next to him for a moment. "Hey, your name is Absolute, right?"
He nodded. "Of course they call me Mimi here." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "We're all musical notes here. It's kinda dumb. Absolute Li isn't much better, but it was the name my parents picked out."
"Did they die?"
"No, they were unemployed for two months, so the State took me away from them. Said they were unfit parents." His eyes turned toward the kitchen. "Since we're sleeping anyway, would it really be so bad to have one of those sandwiches?"
"Didn't you get enough to eat?"
"He never gets enough to eat," Guessica said. "He eats like a big fat pig."
"That's not nice," I said.
The boy looked depressed. "It's true."
"It's okay," Moe said. "I can help you get into shape."
I caught him staring at my dress. "What happened to the mouse suit?"
"I got sick of it."
"Aw," he groaned. "Those suits are totally hot."
"Tell me about it. All I did was sweat."
"No, I mean..."
"I know what you meant."
He suddenly looked depressed. "They say I can't be close to Ss'sik'chtokiwij because I'm unworthy."
"Nonsense. You can sleep next to me and Caitlyn if you want."
That cheered him up right away. "Really? You don't think I'm unworthy?"
"They're just creatures from space. They're not gods."
I led Absolute to my spot, near Caitlyn. The boy muttered some kind of prayers under his breath, but I couldn't understand them.
I introduced him to Mark. Absolute looked terrified, but he shook the creature's small hand. He looked Moe in the eye. "You're not afraid of the Ss'sik'chtokiwij or...Mark?"
"How could I?" Moe laughed. "It's part of the package."
Tido scolded the boy for getting too close to us.
"Why do you hang around him?" I asked.
"I don't know," Absolute admitted. "I stayed with Mr. Golic because he was the closest thing I had to a father here..."
I patted him on the back.
Absolute nervously approached Hosea. "Are...you a holy prophet of Shasharmazorb?"
The woman let out a laughing purr. "I am Shasharmazorb's great grandchild. Does that count?"
The boy swallowed. "Can you bring the dead back to life?"
"No."
Absolute looked disappointed. "Still, milady, I'm glad you are here to guide us."
"I do not wish to guide you. If I were not inhabiting this body, I would be tempted to consider your large bulk as a more than adequately filling meal."
The boy looked crushed. The other cultists laughed at him.
"Don't take it so hard," I said. "She's weird."
"I still think she's just a person," Moe agreed. "One that's a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket."
Fiat, the dragon tattooed boy, seemed to be in a perpetual state of catatonia, numbly staring into space or at Ss'sik'chtokiwij all the time. I tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he never said a word. One time he waved at Caitlyn, but didn't speak. I didn't know what to think.
When Ippi caught him staring at her, she asked, "What's your problem, kid?" but the boy didn't say anything.
Moe returned from his shower. His clothes looked exactly the same, but his face seemed a lot less dirty.
Ippi pointed her tail in Moe's direction. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"He's male and a friend," I said.
Her voice became hushed. "If you're not close, I wouldn't pursue it any further. Where I come from, we have a word called Rabhevua, `Tail Cutter'. It means someone who can't be trusted, someone who will stab you in the back when it suits them."
"Think what you want," said Moe. "But my loyalties aren't to the company anymore. They're with Ellie."
At first, Caitlyn had been a little scared of Mark, but now she had gotten used to him, even tolerating his prickly body when it curled up next to her, though I could tell she found it as comfortable as snuggling up with a wire brush.
Moe gave the drowsy girl a fatherly smile as he tucked her in.
Caitlyn's finger emerged from the blanket, pointing to Lovelace. "So she's really your school teacher?"
I nodded. "She was."
"I know what you mean," the child sighed. "They're always changing them every time a new module comes out. What module did you get to?"
I stared at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"I got to module 280." Caitlyn looked proud. "I would have gotten to 281, but I could never get past that final boss."
I furrowed my brow in confusion. "Your school is a video game?"
She gave me a look that said, `Why wouldn't it be?' "Yeah?"
"That...doesn't sound very educational."
Not even batting an eye, she sat up and said, with complete confidence, "Nintendo University is an accredited educational system that provides the children of today with the essential knowledge and skills required for the careers of tomorrow." It sounded like a script.
Lovelace, who had noticed us talking about her, had drawn in close during the conversation. "That's something students are trained to say to the auditors so the school retains funding and their football program."
Caitlyn suddenly looked sad. "You have to get to level 390 by age 14 or you can't qualify for the medical employment modules." She started crying. "I'm never going to be a nurse! It's not fair!"
I hugged her. "That's not how it works, honey. Education is not a game. If you study hard enough, you can still be a doctor or a nurse."
"I'm afraid you're wrong," Lovelace said. "The American Board of Medical Professionals has a deal with Nintendo. A student has to complete level 900 to qualify for the nursing edutainment programs. And even after that, a nurse doesn't get to touch a patient until they complete roughly four hundred modules. They have to go through a recertification module every week or lose their licenses."
"So...what, they have to play Super Mario to get a job?"
"Not Super Mario," Caitlyn said. "Cerebro. You're in a city and you go on quests. Sometimes you fight monsters or aliens or steal cars. You have to get a job and answer quiz questions all the time."
"The medical software isn't any better," said Lovelace. "They give you the impression that there are clear cut answers to every health problem. Nurses have to keep trying the modules until they `get it right.'"
"I don't understand. If you taught...out there, what did you really do?"
"Programming, mostly. Well, writing text for existing programs. And ten minutes of every day have to be devoted to real time instruction in reality. Most teachers just read out of a book." Her face developed an expression like she'd just eaten something spoiled. "I always gave more than twenty. Nobody liked me for that. I think that's really why they reported me. I made them think."
Caitlyn gave me this grin like I were some kind of Amish grandmother with a butter churn. "What was your school like?"
You left out the word `grandma', I thought.
And then another thought troubled me. My education had officially stopped at middle school.
Oh well. A freak like me didn't need a diploma. "We actually had desks and classrooms and studied textbooks all the time."
"Wow! How did you keep from getting bored?"
"We didn't."
Now she really looked at me like I were someone's grandmother.
Absolute, who was lurking behind the chair, suddenly chimed in. "I got to level 310."
"What was the central focus of the Civil War?" Lovelace asked.
Absolute answered, "Slavery."
"And...?"
The boy looked at the woman like she just asked him why Christopher Columbus landed on the moon. "What do you mean `and'? That's all it was about!"
Nonverbally, Lovelace telegraphed, `You see what I have to deal with?' "The war wouldn't have been fought at all, if there hadn't also been a conflict about the Intercontinental Railroad. While it's true that the abolishment of slavery created a hardship for the south, due to the drastic loss of labor, it wasn't the only reason why the war was fought."
Absolute frowned. "What, are you a racist or something?"
"No, I'm just interested in education."
We got settled.
Charon, who had initially stared at the aliens like they were zoo exhibits, had now grown somewhat used to the sight and now only regarded them with a wary calm.
Pillow and Ippi chatted with each other in Wava, appearing to have established an uneasy truce. At times they indicated the Ss'sik'chtokiwij in their conversations by the way they pointed their tails (or tail stump).
Big Bird, occupied with watching the perimeter and various unseen tasks in her brain, did not socialize, she only quietly observed our group in between searches.
On a sofa, Lovelace pretended to read a book she had found somewhere, The Face by Dean Koontz, but it was clear she was only trying to act nonchalant. She made it a point to keep her feet off the floor, like the Ss'sik'chtokiwij were mice and somehow wouldn't hurt her if she kept her legs up. She also shrank back whenever Tido walked by.
Willie looked similarly unsettled, like he were trapped in a lion cage at a zoo.
Fiat did nothing but stare blankly, not talking to anyone, except a few mutterings to his fellow cult members. Sometimes he and Guessica held hands.
Hosea seemed prone to aimless wandering. She came into the throne room at odd times, chattering away with the Ss'sik'chtokiwij in our tongue. She pretty much acted like nobody else existed.
She and Lammy asked the other Ss'sik'chtokiwij for an explanation about why the cult existed, but no one could give a satisfactory answer. They also discussed Ippi and the merits of owning humans as pets. After a long talk with Hosea, they all agreed that being put in a human body, while interesting in its sensations, was as horrifying as it was crippling.
The cultists were in awe, speaking to one another like they had just witnessed a miracle. Well, everyone except Absolute, who just stared her like a freak.
I thought for sure Tido would start hitting on Charon by now, but it seemed he was in love with Hosea now. He made attempts at very worshipful flirtations, but his mythological overtones didn't appeal to the woman, and neither did the hints at sex. He kept a respectful distance, out of fear of his god, but remained in constant contact with her, verbally, petitioning her for blessings from Ernie's grandmother.
Eventually Hosea told him to stop, and the petitioning turned silent. I could see his lips moving.
Grita was a strange character. Whenever near any of the Ss'sik'chtokiwij, he would cross himself and say prayers that sounded vaguely Catholic, like the Hail Mary.
He and the other cult members muttered prayers to her, Julia, me and Caitlyn. I wondered why they didn't talk to me directly, since prayer is talking to God, but a lot about their cult didn't make sense. Of course, it could have just been a backwards way of petitioning Ernie's grandmother, like they addressed the spirit that possessed me rather than me.
Throughout the evening, Tido had `petitioned' me to act as an intercessory mediator, speaking to Shasharmazorb, Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik and other Ss'sik'chtokiwij on his behalf, but each time I had told him he could talk to them just as well as I could, so I guess that's why he resorted to this strange prayer thing...This wasn't nearly as strange as when he'd uttered prayers and touched Big Bird, or kissed her hand, addressing her as `The Thing Blessed by Divinity.'
Pillow had a pitying look on her face as she watched them, but said nothing.
"Baaa!" Willie mocked. "You're all sheep!"
Tido rose to his feet, pressing his blade against the man's jugular.
Willie's Adam's apple bobbed. With eyes bulging wide, he slowly raised his empty hands.
Tido gave him a wolfish smile, putting the knife away.
Once properly recovered from the shock, Willie pulled out his map, showing it to Big Bird. The two compared notes, pointing to various sites. I listened in, but it didn't tell me anything much of use, at least not at the present moment.
Lammy purred and rubbed against the android's leg, scaring the man off. "Thank you for freeing us."
"Affection reciprocated," Big Bird replied.
Ippi slapped her on the back. "All right, robot. Entertain."
Knowing what I did about the android, I said, "Are you sure you should be talking to her like that?"
"It's okay," said Ippi. "We're buddies, aren't we Big Bird?"
Big Bird smiled. "Besties." She used her mechanical vocal chords to `sing' a recording of Redbone's Witch Queen of New Orleans, accompanied with saucy interpretive dance.
Moe clapped appreciatively. "Bravo! Now do a stripper dance to She's My Cherry Pie!"
Big Bird answered, "No. I don't feel like it. Plus, you will make your mate unhappy."
"My mate!" I cried. "He's not my-!"
Moe frowned. "See? She doesn't care. It's just for laughs. You can do Rebel Yell if you want."
"No. I refuse to do it."
"Whatever," he groaned.
Fiat, that tattooed kid, however, got her to sing Neal Young's After the Gold Rush.
Julia and Lacethanny connected worms with each other, practicing mind to mind communication with themselves. They lay like this for a few minutes before breaking off the link, muttering about keeping watch.
After she did a thorough check of the house and found nothing amiss, Julia tried to do a similar mind meld with Mark and other non-Ss'sik'chtokiwij people, but no one wanted to volunteer.
"No thank you," said Mrs. Barnes. "I have no desire to see what my husband did, and reopen old wounds."
"How about sharing with me?" Lacethanny asked her. "I could not possibly have been present at the events you speak of."
"You interfaced with Sarah," Julia pointed out. "You still received the memories."
Lacethanny frowned. "Ah. You are right."
"Why is this so important?" Pillow asked.
"It is a deep personal communication that does not use words."
Pillow frowned. "I can't be distracted from watching the babies."
The Ss'sik'chtokiwij peered at baby Quana, tilting her head in a way that indicated she wished to join minds with her.
Pillow didn't like that idea either. "You leave my babies alone. I have faced mind invading aliens before, and I don't appreciate their intrusion."
Lacethanny apologized, turning to Ippi with an expression that seemed hopeful.
"No way."
"I'll do it," said Sharad.
"Sharad," Pillow scolded. "Yok. You already know too much as it is." And the two debated the issue in Wava.
Sharad sighed, nodding in resignation.
"I'm just dying to know," Willie said to the Abreya girl. "Did the bullies at school ever tie your eyeballs in a knot?"
"No. Why would they do that?"
"It seems like a funny prank."
"It sounds disrespectful."
"And amusing." Willie limped off.
Julia and Lacethanny tried to `mind meld' with me, but I told her I needed to stay alert and aware of my surroundings. "I'd really like to know more, but this isn't a good time."
Since Lovelace stood nearby, watching the two like a nervous tourist on safari, Julia turned to face her. "I heard you were a teacher."
The woman swallowed. "I have taught school..."
"I am seeking to expand my knowledge of human life. Can I share minds with you?"
The woman paled. "No!"
Tido shoved the woman into a wall, growling threats as he clamped a hand to her neck, right hand raising its knife in a threatening fashion. "You dare refuse our Lord?"
I rushed in between them. "Whoa! Stop!"
He looked at me with dismay. "Milady. Ms. Sibers, I-"
"I know," I groaned. "She didn't want to join minds, and she smelled false. Still. No!"
He put the knife away. "As you wish."
It seemed Willie had seen enough. Without a word, he bolted out of the house.
"Hey!" I shouted, but it was too late.
I heard a bloodcurdling shriek, then nothing.
I rushed to the window.
I saw the Security Spheres had gotten him. The man lay prone in the dirt, unmoving, apparently dead. The body looked pale as a sheet under those floodlamps.
"Great," I sighed. "We can't even check if he's alive, or those things will get us."
"Allow me," Big Bird said.
I nodded. "Be careful."
"Carefulness is the foundation of my programming." The android rushed out in a gap between the Security Spheres, checking the man's vitals. The other machines hovered threateningly, but didn't touch her.
Big Bird looked up at me, shaking her head.
When she returned to the building, one of the giant orbs had already carried the man's body away.
Guessica, upon seeing all this, got up off her knees, and in a tremulous voice, said, "Please, O great god, share your mind with me." And she prostrated herself before the Ss'sik'chtokiwij, spreading her arms.
Purring, Julia climbed into her lap, inserting her worms into the child's nose.
The two collapsed on the floor, going into the trance.
A few minutes later, Guessica broke the connection sobbing uncontrollably, and shivering all over. She fled the room screaming.
Tido's flock murmured to each other.
"The tongue of Shasharmazorb is a double edged sword that cuts to the quick," the man cried in awe.
None of the other three children volunteered to meld.
"What did she see?" I asked the Ss'sik'chtokiwij.
"Some very bad things that happened in her life. Much sexual cruelty. I fail to understand why a human would do such a thing to a child." She shook her head sadly. "She thought I could bring back the dead and heal her. When I showed her Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik's memories of Ss'sik'chtokiwij death, the shock was too much for her to bear. That, and my intrusion into her painful memories."
I looked at Tido expectantly. "Guessica's your...sheep. Aren't you going to do something?"
"She's on a journey of self exploration. One does not interfere with this."
I found her in the corner of the outer foyer, curled in a fetal ball.
"Hey," I ventured.
Her reply came out in a croak. "Go away."
I came closer, but she ran away from me, into another area of the house. I gave up, returning to the throne room.
The cultists were worshiping Julia now. I rolled my eyes, tried to ignore it.
When Guessica at last rejoined our party, it was in Pillow's company, the Abreya holding her and speaking comforting words as the girl cried.
Pillow looked a little disgusted by Julia, but I think she knew that Guessica's trauma had been caused by facing unpleasant realities, so wasn't too overly mad at her.
"Let me get this straight," Ippi said to the xenomorph. "You can get information from people's minds with those worms?"
Julia nodded. "I have learned much. I have gathered much information about the child's family, history and employment. Why?"
Ippi rubbed her hands together. "That's perfect! I need you to do that same thing with Jennifer. Root around in there and gather as much information as you can."
"About which subject?"
"Anything she doesn't want you to know, about the island, the organization, anything we'd have to otherwise torture out of her."
Jen-Jen growled muffled protests through her gag.
I frowned. "That doesn't sound like a very Christian thing to do."
Ippi fixed her eyes on the Ss'sik'chtokiwij's shell. "Do you want off this island or not?"
Julia made a confused dog noise, turning to me for my advice.
"Do it. We need as much information out of her as we can get."
Lacethanny stepped around her kin. "Allow me. There is much I wish to know about this organization."
Jennifer tried to fight her off, but the Ss'sik'chtokiwij crawled up on the woman's barrel chest, sticking squirming ssujmarrux up her nostrils.
For a time, the two lay on the floor, twitching and spasming, but then something went horribly wrong, and Jennifer went into what appeared to be a violent epileptic fit, blue foam pouring out of her mouth.
The Ss'sik'chtokiwij thrashed, shrieked and retreated from the human, watching with stunned horror as she convulsed and coughed up blood.
Pillow looked horrified, uttering prayers.
Big Bird rushed to Jen-Jen's side, making thorough examinations, taking temperature, blood pressure and other vitals via sensors built into her fingers.
Pillow stared in worriment. "What's wrong? What just happened?"
The android frowned. "These are tell-tale signs of a brain plug. The poison capsule release system attached to the victim's cerebellum, activated by a remote system. There is nothing we can do."
Jen-Jen thrashed, coughed up blood, and died.
And then I heard the most horrible words coming out of the Ss'sik'chtokiwij's mouth: "Oh my God! Did I just watch myself die?"
Lovelace pointed to a camera bubble mounted on the ceiling. "See that? They've been watching us the whole time. They must have heard we were trying to pry secrets out of her and blew her plug."
I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach. "Who else has these...plugs?"
Nobody could tell me, not even Big Bird.
"What the fuck did they do to my body?" the Ss'sik'chtokiwij cried. "Oh my God!"
She growled, addressing what appeared to be thin air. "I didn't ask you, you disgusting alien creep! This is all your fault!...No you should be in there! You're the one that killed me! I tried to tell you to stay away and keep out of my head, that the people in charge wouldn't like it, but no, you didn't take the gag out of my mouth, so I couldn't tell you! And now I'm dead!"
The Ss'sik'chtokiwij smacked her head with her claw several times, made a strangling growling sound, running from window to window.
Finding one open, she leapt up on a sill, rushing outside.
A second later, a Security Sphere rolled over her, and she disappeared shrieking into the night.
"Well," Ippi remarked. "Can't say I'm going to miss her."
