Although resistant to choking, if enough force gets applied to the effort, Ss'sik'chtokiwij necks can be crushed, the soft interior organs irreparably damaged.
Mother was more than capable of providing such force.
My exoskeleton cracked further. I became fairly certain I was done for.
At least I had provided Brice with a distraction. Though Hissandra tried to break into the tool room by herself, she hadn't been quite as clever or strong as mother, so the man had relative safety for a few moments.
"You're brain damaged," mother growled through her teeth. "You've killed two of your sisters and infected a third. You understand why I'm doing this, don't you, Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik?"
"Yes, mother," I gasped, ineffectually attempting to pull her vice-like claws away. "...Mama?"
"Yes, Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik?"
"(Lord) Jesus forgives you."
Her claw tightened. "Even for this?"
"Yes."
"Well that's not very useful, is it?" My neck cracked more. Any further, and I wouldn't be long for this world.
A large dirty gray thing sped toward us, a machine in the shape of a seated headless man. Its arms consisted of sets of powerful looking drills, probably rock borers for base expansion projects. High intensity lamps blazed from its chest area, coupled with harmless sighting lasers for remote controlled drilling operations, the `seat' portion consisting of all terrain tires and tank treads.
Not being one for conversation, the machine only communicated with noisy beeping sounds, but the message was clear: `Get out of my way.'
The machine extended its drills, activating the kind of laser capable of slicing through granite.
Mother screamed when the first beam burned a smoking hole through her exoskeleton, roared in outrage as the drills ripped into her leg.
Mara, I thought.
At first, mom tried to kick the machine away, but it only shot her with a hook and tow line designed for yanking stubborn objects out of cavern walls.
Mom got so infuriated that she ripped the thing's arm off, beating the machine with the limb over and over again like a madman trying to destroy an insect colony with a stick.
Taking advantage of this diversion, I extricated myself from her other claw, but the moment I hit the floor, her tail whacked me against a wall and pinned me there.
Although not in itself insurmountable, the moment I squeezed myself out from behind the tail's serrated blades, Hissandra came bashing me into the concrete, one claw ripping at my mouth in attempts at removing my suaakudsi.
I fought my way out of her clutches, but the moment I got free, mom caught me by the neck again.
The drilling machine had been reduced to a comical lump of wiggling broken equipment on wheels. I would receive no further assistance from that quarter. This appeared to be it.
The mechanical scraping sounds of the power station door interrupted our family squabble. We all turned and stared through the opening.
A man and a woman kissed in the concrete and metal corridor beyond, bathed in red light and hot steam, the woman's hand pressed firmly against the door opening mechanism.
A series of fans came on, sucking the steam into vents. It seemed wasteful for a power station, but I supposed it depended on what kind of power they harvested.
The woman: Brunette, not exactly movie star material in her physical shape, but cute as humans go. The man, pasty skinned and bony, had male pattern baldness. Although hot in the chamber, but the two wore grimy white jumpsuits with tubing on the limbs for piping coolant into the suit. Gas masks hung around their necks, but neither fumes nor heat seemed to bother them, for they kept kissing, oblivious to us as they aggressively fondled each other's jumpsuits, unzipping them, exposing sections of tank tops and shorts.
Unconsciously I touched my mouth as I thought about what it must feel like, marveling at how, even in areas of great uncomfortable heat, the draw of human love, or maybe lust, could still compel a couple into doing things that made them even hotter. I doubted even those jumpsuits could make them that comfortable.
The female noticed us first, eyes widening in shock as she pulled away from the male's questing mouth. "John."
I've heard that human males tend to get dull minded when engaged in lustful pursuits. That's probably why he only muttered, "Huh?"
"John! John!" she cried, turning his head in our direction.
He gaped. "The fuck?"
Mother stomped through the threshold. "Two for the price of one!"
"No!" I yelled, jumping on her back.
Seconds later, I lay sprawled on a metal catwalk within the facility, watching with disgust as mother ripped open the woman's chest.
The man retaliated by swinging a steel pipe at mom's head, but Hissandra knocked him down, shredding him to pieces.
The power plant erupted in chaos, workers fleeing or arming themselves with whatever they could find, attacking any way they could manage.
The moment I rose to my feet, I found a bumpy shelled Ss'sik'chtokiwij bashing me into the catwalk. "Miss me?"
"How did you get out?" I cried.
Ahxalybij purred in amusement. "Magic."
My head exploded with pain as her fists pounded my dome. Ahxalybij definitely had mother's strength.
Geothermal energy is a fascinating science, and even in the midst of this brutal conflict, I could not help but admire the ingenuity of engineering.
Hadley's Hope had been built around a large volcanic vent, which human engineers harnessed to generate electricity by means of various apparatus.
The power station stood above the vent, railed platforms and catwalks overlooking a sea of boiling magma. Strategically placed metal pipes dripped moisture into this lava, and the steam, compiled with the naturally occurring vapors, forcefully turned the blades of enormous turbines, doubtless containing electromagnets and copper wiring. The machines nested, one atop another, in staggered fashion, to catch every bit of steam before it could lose force.
The staff members all wore vapor masks (volcanic fumes aren't generally breathable, and even with their channeling equipment, tendrils of it still hung about in undetectable traces, like the dreaded radon and carbon monoxide I've heard about).
Although fascinating, my environs gave the distinct impression of hell, and in the red lighting, Ahxalybij looked like Satan himself.
Before she could get in a punch, I shoved her off me, knocking her head against one of the many massive electrical transformers. Not the electrified part, of course.
Ahxalybij hurled me into a railing so hard that it broke off and shattered the blades of a large turbine, dimming the lights and making a cloud of foul fume rise from the depths.
I hung precariously from the lip of the catwalk by my claws, staring down with fright at thousand degree molten rock, deadly steel blades that whirled at speeds of a hundred miles per hour or more.
The dark Satanic looking shape loomed over me, purring unpleasantly. "Why Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik! Care to drop in?"
She pried my left claw away from the catwalk, leaving me dangling by one arm.
Hot steam rolled over my exoskeleton like a sauna, causing me to perspire from joints where my shell pieces connected.
Human palms sweat, which, to the best of my knowledge, does not provide them with any survival advantages. My palms, in contrast, do not. Still, I couldn't just hang from the catwalk indefinitely without falling off, it just meant I could hold on longer than most.
Ahxalybij pulled another one of my digits off the metal grating. "This little piggy went to market..."
"Actually..." I replaced the other claw she previously removed. "(Chair) I believe it's this one that goes to market!"
She grabbed both my claws, gritting her teeth as she attempted to crush them. "Who. Cares!"
She yanked another digit free from the catwalk.
Spread your limbs, not your claws, I heard mother saying in my head. Let gravity work for you.
She told me that information long ago, back when she wasn't trying to choke me to death. What did she mean?
Another digit became dislodged.
Your tail is an extension of your body. Use it.
Yeah. Like I can do that with a dead tail. Gee thanks, mom.
"Are you requiring assistance?"
I looked up and I thought I saw a ghost.
Mr. Hansen's wife. Fully intact. Like nothing had happened.
Well, nothing but black hair dye and a ponytail.
Clad in standard jumpsuit, the woman knelt in a rather undignified squat, tilting her head in a curious bird-like fashion. "Do you require assistance?"
"No, no," Ahxalybij gave a dismissive wave. "We're good."
My sister's response surprised me, but the apparition surprised me even more. "Mara? (Jehoshaphat)!"
The woman's expression made me think of an owl that discovered a talking mouse. "Mara Hansen is located in Hydroponics. Once repairs on Turbine 18 have been completed, I will be happy to escort you to the facility." She paused. "Jehoshaphat. King of Judah, 873-849 B.C. Son and successor of Asa. Cited as an ally against the Aramaeans in 1 Kings 22..."
As much as I enjoyed her thorough knowledge on the subject, not a convenient time. "Not Mara. Help!"
Her head snapped sideways like a predatory fowl, peering at me from another angle. "What kind of assistance do you require?"
Before I could reply, Ahxalybij growled, "I'm trying to get rid of this garbage. Can you help me throw it in?"
Ahxalybij's English was perfect. I almost let go of the catwalk in surprise.
Mara Number 2 stared at my sister like she'd just asked her who put the Bob in the Bob-She-Bob. "Dumping is not permitted in this area."
"Aw, please?" Ahxalybij asked. "Just this once?"
Mara 2 gave her head one sharp shake. "No exemptions permitted. Objects dropped from this location can cause turbine failure, serious human injury and harmful impurities in volcanic steam. Remove yourself and your waste from this floor segment at once, or I will be forced to eject you from the premises."
It seemed this Mara knew no anger, or emotion, period. If Ahxalybij defined me as garbage, that's what I was. As long as I got `disposed of' in the right manner, this Mara wouldn't care what happened to me. Still, I had to try. "Help me! I'm not waste! (Chair)! She's trying to kill—"
"Not to worry, robot," Ahxalybij shouted over me. "My trash will be gone in no time!" She removed one of my digits from the catwalk, leaving me dangling by the other.
Mara 2 did not appear to be upset about the rude disrespect, her face a calm, expressionless mask.
Without a word, she leaned over Ahxalybij, grabbing me by the neck.
Her strong robotic arm held me up to her face. I have never been so happy to have someone squeezing my neck. "Animal life does not classify as refuse."
The android's grip remained firm around my neck, making it clear this was only a business transaction. She knew nothing about this `Mu' thing that made the other one love people. "You are not permitted to dump animal lifeforms from this location."
She grabbed my sister's neck. "My apologies, but I must remove you from this facility. You have violated the visitor guidelines."
She forcefully dragged the both of us up the catwalk.
"Thank you, Mara!" I cried. "(Hosanna)!"
"Mara Hansen is located in Hydroponics. Once repairs on Turbine 18 have been completed, I will be happy to escort you to the facility." The robot then added, "Hosanna. Hebrew. Interjection. Shout of adoration to God."
A towering black shape stomped in front of the android.
Mom. "You again! Don't you ever learn!"
Being unfamiliar with the Ss'sik'chtokiwij language, Mara 2 ignored mother, attempting to step around her bulk.
Mom grabbed the robot's neck, baring her teeth. "Let my daughters go!"
I guess I should have been happy to be acknowledged by my mother again, but I knew she only wanted exclusive murdering rights.
Again, Mara 2 failed to comprehend mother's growling. "Excuse me. I am removing these animals from the premises." And she tried to push past once more.
Mom responded by tearing Mara's wrist off her forearm. White fluid sprayed everywhere.
The android defensively raised her other hand, dropping me in the process. I backed away.
"What is it with all these artificial humans? Is someone trying to give me a stomach ache?" Mom grabbed the android's head, smashing it into the railing over and over again.
Mara 2's head dented, a frown frozen on her face as she ineffectually grappled with the large Ss'sik'chtokiwij.
When her head struck the railing again, a large piece broke off, shattering another turbine blade. The lights flickered and dimmed.
My mother casually tossed the robot over the edge like an empty soda can.
Mara didn't scream. She just fell.
Without warning, mother kicked me over the side with a soccer punt. I flew shrieking off the catwalk.
I landed with a painful bang on the side of a large turbine, my claws making that unpleasant nails on a chalkboard sound as I fought to keep from getting chopped up in a massive spinning fan...or worse.
A little acid drool bought me some traction, and I managed to find enough purchase to not fall off.
I hung from the side of a large machine resembling the fan end of a jet engine. Below lay a grid-like arrangement of similar machines, blades spinning so dangerously close that I feared my tail would be sliced off.
The rings of the turbines stood in a complicated overlapping pattern, bringing to mind images of chain mail, or abstract stained glass, negative spaces creating the illusion of diamond shapes. The gray of whirling blades filled the circles.
Girders held the turbines in place, thick metal cables siphoning the power off into nearby capacitors and transformers. The workers, the androids, serviced these units by means of incredibly narrow catwalks and handlebars.
Other than the machinery, nothing below the catwalks and walkways but granite...and the lava at the bottom.
How was I supposed to get back up? I wondered. Was it possible? I supposed there had to be some way, or couldn't repair things in the first place.
I shakily clambered onto a narrow catwalk, searching for footholds, a vent, anything I could use to make my way back to safety.
I found a ladder, a slight one affixed to the rock by means of heavy bolts and rivets. Simple enough, right?
The moment I got halfway up, the ladder shook.
I stared in open mouth horror as the bolts and rivets tore free from the stonework with a nasty metallic squeal. I felt like a man in a sitcom trying to climb up a loose rain gutter.
A glance at the dark heavy shape up top confirmed my worst suspicions: Mom was trying to force me into the lava!
As she pushed the ladder further out, wrenching more and more of the bolts free from their support struts, I abandoned the object, backing away to as safe a distance as I could manage.
Tensing up, I drove my claws into the catwalk, watching with quiet horror as the ladder descended, casting a threatening shadow over me.
It looked heavy. A young Ss'sik'chtokiwij struck by a blunt object made from that material, going that fast, might end up permanently injured, perhaps dead, even if they didn't fall over the side at the initial impact.
"(Manna). The Lord is my shepherd..." I whispered out of fear as I searched for an escape route. "I shall not want. (Hosanna)..."
A maze-like configuration of catwalks surrounded the turbines, including one near a second ladder. Unfortunately for me, this catwalk had been dislodged by a falling rail, taking the ones adjacent as it fell.
"He makes me (maranatha) lie down in green pastures," I continued, trying to calm myself down. "(Lord). He leads me beside still waters..."
I only had one option left open, one which led to nothing of use.
As the broken ladder dropped lower, I came to the conclusion that I had no choice. I quickly dove to the next catwalk, watching the ladder groaning its way down.
False alarm. The ladder got caught on its bottom posts and hung in that position, useless in its forty five degree angle, but refusing to fall, bringing to mind the mystery of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
I crept back across the narrow walkway, checking for some way of crossing the gap left by the dislodged grating, but the ladder supports groaned, and another post snapped off, leaving the metal construct hanging by a single bolt.
I retreated, watching with nervous dread as it sagged, dangling above the row of turbines like a drunken skeleton.
It returned to its precarious balancing act, but I didn't trust it.
Without warning, a sheet of metal gave way beneath my claws. I scrambled to the safety of my turbine island seconds before that section of the flooring dropped into the magma.
I'm screwed, I thought. How could I ever get back up again?
I stared at the columns of granite that surrounded me, noting how their middle sections had been chiseled out in a square filled with cylindrical electrical devices, reminding me of the battery compartments of ancient toys. Once such square stood high above my head, seemingly impossible to negotiate without a Grapplinghook. I balked.
Ahxalybij snickered, watching my impending death with amusement.
"Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik!" a voice hissed.
I looked up. My Ss'sik'chtokiwij ally peered at me through the upper railing. "Sydjea! How did you get out?"
"A loose panel where they put the colorful ropes with the funny sparking. Ahxalybij followed me out. Not important. They're going to kill all the humans, and it won't be cruelty free! Get your tail up here!"
I frowned at her helplessly. "I can't! The ladder's (Jehoshaphat)! It's gone!"
I glanced that way, then corrected myself. "Unusable!"
Sydjea slapped her face plate, shaking her head. "Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik, you moron! Stop thinking like a frightened human for a minute and climb! Use your body the way that big Ss'sik'chtokiwij in the sky designed it! Or do you not believe in him or her anymore?"
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." I rubbed my claws together in nervous anticipation.
Spread your limbs, not your claws.
Forcing myself not to look down, I leapt over a set of turbines, stretching out my arms and legs like intended to hug the smooth granite face.
I hit the wall and found myself slipping.
No traction whatsoever, like trying to climb grease. My claws squealed, threatening to break as I scrambled to prevent, or at least slow, my descent into the volcano's hellish depths.
A titanium ring of some sort had fallen and gotten caught on a slight pockmark on the stone surface, probably due to clumsiness on the part of a technician. The only facet in the otherwise featureless wall, I attributed it with an evil personality as I missed it and continued to slip downwards. Conveniently close to my face, the thing seemed to mock me. How smug it seemed as it stared at me descending!
"No, no, no!" Sydjea yelled. "Use your slulwidmi! Your slulwidmi!"
I scowled scratching lines in the rock as I fought to keep my tail out of the path of a dangerous turbine. "My what? (Perfect)?"
"Your slulwidmi! Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik, by the tail of the great Ss'sik'chtokiwij, have you even looked at your feet? Or your legs for that matter?"
"Must you talk in riddles? (Jesus)! I'm at death's door!"
Shlurk! A turbine blade chopped off the tip of my tail. With my deadened nerves, the sound and sight of the bloody tip gave the only clue I was in trouble.
Sydjea had come to the point of sobbing now. "You poor fool! You've spent so much time studying human things that you can't even slulwidmi!"
Growling in anger at Sydjea, and myself, I willed my legs to flex, grunting as I blindly fumbled for the right muscle group. I felt like a human in a pitch black house trying to flip on a working lamp in a house full of burnt out bulbs. Yes, I did study human things a little too much.
"He (manna) He restores my soul. (Hosanna). He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."
Another chunk of my tail flew off with a nasty chop sound.
"(God)! Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil, for thou art with me."
Schlop. My descent came to an abrupt halt.
I looked down. Sucker-like appendages had popped out of sockets in my limbs, securing me in place. "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me!" I exclaimed with delight. "(Hosanna)!"
"Way to go, Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik!" Sydjea shouted. "I knew you could do it!"
Growling in frustration and anger at her unhelpfulness, I forced my strange sucker muscles to work, slowly shuffling, step by step, up the smooth granite.
"Who is a rock, except our God? The God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe..."
I felt other eyes, or rather, domes, gazing upon me.
When I looked back at them, the shock of surprise nearly sent me sailing into the lava.
Mother quietly leaned over a railing, watching me like a loving parent watching their son or daughter's first steps. To a human, it probably looked like she intended to eat me, kind of drooling hungrily until I climbed back out. But I only saw a proud mother. Overwhelmed with emotion, I coughed, forcing myself to keep going. "He made my feet (thanks) like hinds' feet, and set me secure on the heights..."
Soon, the catwalk came within in sight. Admittedly, not the best section climb over with the railing in the way, but I was there! "...Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip."
My claws closed on the bottom bars of the rail. I relaxed my slulwidmi, grabbing the bar above them.
Ground level! I had a chance!
I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I made it! "Praise be to God, the Father Almighty! (Perfect)!"
"Did I say you could come back up?" a voice growled.
A second later, a pebbled shoulder slammed into the railing, bending my steel climbing aid backwards, with me on it.
The attack failed to completely break the railing off its supports. I hung, petrified, over deadly spinning blades and lava, supported by nothing but a thin steel framework, like a character in one of those adventure movies about archaeologists.
Spread your limbs, not your claws. Let gravity work for you.
My visual receptors widened inside my dome. Of course! Mom had been climbing on the ceiling when she taught me that lesson!
Fortunate that I recalled that little detail when I did, for the posts broke off a second later. Scrambling like mad, I narrowly avoided another harrowing descent.
There I hung upside down, from the bottom of the catwalk, staring up through the slats at my enemy, who grinned at me with a look of evil mischief.
With a giggling purr, she lifted her leg, spraying me with urine. Not harmful to me personally, but disgusting, and damaging to the scaffold I hung from.
"Leave her alone," Sydjea growled.
I watched with unease as my ally leapt, flashing her claws.
Ahxalybij brushed her aside like a fly, sending her shrieking over the edge.
"Sydjea!"
I could neither see nor hear my sister any longer.
Gone. She had to be.
I straightened up. No time for grieving, for in doing so, someone would soon grieve me.
"Now..." Ahxalybij purred as she pressed her face up to the grating. Only that thin piece of steel stood between us. "I know there's a way to damage this thing just right to send you straight to the bottom. But how does one do it, hmm?"
I didn't want to let her find out. It was either her or me, and my friends' lives were at stake.
Ahxalybij had already weakened several key pieces of the catwalk with her urine, so when her neck came within range, I simply spat a glob and shoved my claw through the bubbling slag.
I grabbed her by the throat, brought her down forcefully, again and again. She clawed at the metal, shrieked and thrashed in my grip, dug her claws into my arm, but I didn't release her. I just bashed her head into the metal.
A blinding flash lit up the area above.
Through the grating, I glimpsed a dark figure brandishing a glowing object, short and knife-like. From my distorted viewpoint beneath the slats, the figure reminded me of a certain asthmatic movie villain.
I gasped. A laser cutter!
"Let me take care of that," Hissandra growled to Ahxalybij as she brought the weapon closer. "I can guarantee that claw won't bother you again!"