"You're serious," I said to my wife. "You're actually going to joust this thing."

"You got a better idea? Because if you do, I'd love to hear it."

I had none.

"What's a joust?" Kuqloz asked. "Is it the same as stomp stomp kill?"

"Yok," Pillow and I said in unison.

Pillow explained the process to the bird.

"Will I get hurt?"

"Yok," I said. "It's only supposed to injure the riders."

"But Bug Thing has no rider. And it has horns."

"We will stop it before it hurts you," Pillow said. "We just need you to get a running start."

The bird frowned. "When do I run?"

I glanced up at the horned monstrosity, who was, as we spoke, charging toward us. "Now!"

Kuqloz let out a loud woof and broke into a full gallop. Aerobacteria the size of gnats blew in our faces, got caught up our nostrils.

The smell of Pillow's musk, the gentle press of her body against mine, the ruffling of feathers between my skirted legs, the stirring of her tail against my lap, it all would have been a turn-on if we weren't facing certain death.

"David..." Pillow growled in annoyance at well...okay, so maybe it was a turn-on.

"Sorry."

The results of the joust weren't quite what I expected.

The bird collided with the giant bug at the same time the pitchfork buried itself in the monster's head.

As the weapon drove itself in, and the bug thing clawed into Kuqloz, a steaming eruption of green blood sprayed out, causing both Kuqloz and my wife to cry out in pain.

Kuqloz took wing, throwing us off her back, and we fell to the ground, watching helplessly as the deadly monstrosity rushed us.

And then, all of a sudden, it collapsed on its side, dead.

Our team hurried to help us.

"Pillow!" Matt shouted.

I frowned at him. "I thought Thonwa sent you back to check the egg."

He shrugged. "She got tired. Said I was too heavy. She said she'll check on it herself."

"Dear Ponai, are you all right?" Nabal cried.

They were even checking me.

I blushed as Norenio knelt next to me, checking my vitals.

"Dusaq," I stammered. "I'm all right. Check my wife, please."

Of course, being a nurse, Pillow was already on it.

She quickly rushed to the side of the barn, hosing herself with liberal amounts of water.

Kuqloz flapped down next to her, nearly crushing Pillow to death as she did so.

"Woof woof! I burn! I burn!"

Pillow sprayed her down, too.

"My eyes!" Kuqloz squawked. "My eyes!"

Pillow tried her best to spray off the stinging blood, but one of the bird's eyes had melted completely away. "We need to get you medical treatment, Kuqloz. You understand?"

Kuqloz bristled at this. "No doctor! No doctor! Kuqloz is fine!"

Pillow sighed, stroking the creature's uninjured parts. "I'm sorry, Kuqloz. I didn't know this would happen."

"We defeat enemy. It is good."

I glanced at my wife and saw that her eyes were fine, but her face had received some nasty scarring. "We should get some...surgery for you."

She nodded. "But first we must find father."

"I will find him," Kuqloz said. "I know his scent."

"Can you still see?"

"A little. I do not need eyes to follow scent."

Pillow nodded, touching the bird reassuringly. "Lead the way, dear friend, if you can."

Mr. Pulsa's research outpost stood at the end of a moss covered expanse of flat rock. As we crossed this spongy red field, Pillow spoke to her pet. "You have grown, Kuqloz."

"Yes. You are gone many time. Why you leave? I love you."

"Even now?" I asked incredulously.

"Me love foodgirl!" the creature said.

Pillow pet her. "I found a mate. And a new faith. I got very busy."

"I have a mate as well. He satisfies my urges. His name is Vadful and he has brown purple plumage. I have laid one egg so far."

"Congratulations."

Kuqloz pointed her beak skyward. "He escaped."

"That's good."

Mr. Pulsa lived in a large concrete building resembling a beehive. The interior looked like a dorm room at the Daxopa, jamassi beds, a kitchen, a game room and a little library. A tunnel at the rear led into one of the caverns the team had been studying.

None of us wanted to be caught outside anymore. Even Kuqloz stomped her way in, bowling over furniture.

When Pillow saw who lay in one of the cocoons, she drew in a sharp breath. "Leebmam! She was studying with father!"

The female, like the five other researchers with her, was dead, a hole in her chest cavity.

The moment we found Pillow's mom, my wife was all tiny tears. "No..." she sobbed.

I was crying too. I loved her mother. We never had a problem with each other. In fact, whenever we visited her, she treated me like a son. It was a shame that they had to live out in the middle of nowhere.

And now, as she lay dead in one of those cocoons, I reflected that it was a real shame. An earth man is supposed to be strong and silent in these times of grief, but I'd been among the Abreyas too long, so we instead held each other and cried like a couple girls.

"Maybe we don't need a nennop after all," I joked.

This made her laugh, and we calmed down a bit.

Matt grabbed my hand, then Pillow's.

"We should have done this hours ago."

He nodded to the others. "Let us pray."

We all prayed for the strength and courage to face those creatures and survive.

Kuqloz poked her beak into our prayer circle, staring at us in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"We are asking God for help," I said.

Kuqloz gazed at the ceiling with her remaining good eye, seeming to understand. "Pray for me too."

We did.

Zero rushed to a cabinet, throwing it open.

Norenio ran to his side. "What is it?"

Zero raised a hand to silence her.

A moment later, he dragged a small Abreya girl out by her tail. She struggled in his firm grip, the light flashing off her shiny black jumpsuit.

"Who are you!" Zero growled.

"Tanelle!" Pillow cried, running to the child.

"Cousin Tanelle!" I breathed.

Pillow pulled the child in her arms, crying as she squeezed her tight. "Thank Ponai you're safe!"

"You need to leave this place, Mrs. Barnes," the child said in a cold monotone voice.

"Are you all right, Tanelle?" I asked as I held her hand.

She smirked a little, then her face lost all expression. "I belong to the Aqsarki. I release you from all family responsibilities and obligations."

I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach. She used to be such a nice kid.

Pillow cried and rubbed the girl's back. When Tanelle responded stiffly, Pillow looked into the girl's eyes and said, "Oh Tanelle! Do you think it's really that easy to get rid of us? We'll never stop caring for you! You hear me? Never!" she held the girl tighter.

Tanelle's stiff, remote manner didn't change. "Then you will all die."

I sighed, looking at Pillow for a cue that didn't come. She didn't know what to say, either.

"Tanelle," Nabal said. "Where is Attavzo?"

"He's dead," said the girl. "They're all dead. Leave now while you still can."

Zero cleared his throat. "We will leave only when we have proof of what you say."

"Show us," Norenio agreed.

"You place your lives in your own hands, to see a corpse."

"Better that," Zero growled. "Than abandon a live victim because a child lied!"

"You will have your proof. And you will stay with it forever."

The caves of Wuxrinus are made of Novmebi, a mineral so hard that diamond drills can't cut through it. Abreya miners apply an enzyme called Mubvodu to the rocks and shine ultraviolet light on the mineral to break it apart.

Mubvodu in Wava literally means, "Not cut with Abreya hands." This makes sharing stories about Abraham's altar and Daniel 2 particularly interesting to them.

Gold and diamonds are sort of valuable to Abreyas, but they've been demoted. I'd compare their worth to copper and coal, because there's so much of it.

I admit, it was a little difficult, even for me, to comprehend at first, but imagine if gold were as abundant as iron ore. Instead of shaping it into jewelry, Abreyas put it in electronic devices.

What is valuable are the ores called Pajmonta, which do a color change thing like a lava lamp, several different types of gems (of the mineral family Qojrebaf) that do minute by minute color changes, and a non-harmful type of uranium called Azjekelt.

Mr. Pulsa's team actually wasn't interested in even these gems. A company called Nalsolm did the mining on the other side of the quarry, leaving the excavated caves to his team.

Excavators and researchers have a much more symbiotic relationship in Abreya society than they do on earth. If the excavators find skeletons or evidence of a lost civilization, they're not going to destroy the find for the sake of ores and profit. Of course, the scientific team has to make their own compromises, sharing their financial rewards and academic trophies with the company. There's an entire legal history of such arrangements, both good and bad.

"I'm claustrophobic," Nabal said as we stepped through the narrow cavern entrance.

Our Grunk couldn't even fit through the opening. In fact, she got stuck, grunting as she tried to break free.

"I think Kuqloz is claustrophobic too," Pillow chuckled.

"Perhaps it is for the best," said Zero. "We need someone to guard our rear."

"And our Grunkiahu!"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Wanna come along," Kuqloz said.

"I'm sorry, Kuqloz, you won't fit."

Kuqloz wiggled herself in tighter. "I try."

"Now, really, I insist that you get out of there at once!" Nabal said. "I will not spend one more moment in this tiny cave! Move back from there immediately!"

"It is very dangerous," I said. "You're safer out where you are."

Kuqloz stomped the floor. "Wanna be with Food Girl!"

Pillow stepped up to our ride, stroking her head. "Kuqloz, I love you, and I don't want you to get hurt. You need to stay where you are!"

"Kuqloz must protect Food Girl! If you die, who will bring Kuqloz food?"

"Someone else."

"Kuqloz no like someone else! Kuqloz want Food Girl!"

Pillow ran her hands down the bird's feathers. "You already lost one eye because of me. I don't want you to be hurt again."

Tears rolled down the bird's cheeks. "And you ruin pretty face, Food Girl. Please, go someplace safe and have sex with your strange mate. Kuqloz want Food Girl to be pregnant and happy! Lay many eggs in safety!"

Pillow blushed. "I can't be happy until I know what happened to father!"

"Then Kuqloz come along!"

Nabal leaned on Kuqloz's chest and pushed. "Back down that tunnel, you idiotic beast! You're blocking the air to the tunnel!"

Kuqloz pecked at him. "Yok!"

"Stand aside," Zero said. "I've owned a fair amount of Grunks in my time."

"Yeah?" I said. "Any that talk?"

"Yok, but I believe this will make the exchange even easier."

We gave Zero some room.

"Kuqloz," Zero said. "Do you love Food Girl?"

"Guep!" the bird cried. "She is favorite Food Girl! Kuqloz want no other Food Girl!"

"Do you want Food Girl to get hurt?"

The bird shook her head violently. "Food Girl must be safe! Kuqloz love Food Girl!"

"Kuqloz, if Pillow, if Food Girl is to be safe, you must stay in this building, and guard the tunnel until we return. Can you do that?"

The Grunk gave him a vigorous nod of her head. "I will guard! I will kill stomp!"

Zero patted Kuqloz's head. "That's a good girl. Stay here, and kill stomp anything that tries to come in and hurt us. And Food Girl."

"Kuqloz will guard!" the bird pulled out of the cave mouth, turning her back to us.

"That was great," Pillow whispered. "You should go into Sodbuci."

Zero smirked. "I know my animals."

Nabal rushed out after the bird.

We continued into the tunnel.

The cavern smelled strongly of model airplane glue. I knew for a fact it wasn't literally airplane glue, but some kind of secretion that smelled like it. Due to the organic process, it didn't have the tell-tale excavation marks you'd see in an earth cavern. In some ways, this made things more dangerous, since the enzyme could eat into rocks unpredictably and cause a cave-in. It wasn't the most handicap accessible place to be, either, due to all the stones you had to climb and descend.

Earth caverns are scary enough in the dark. If you switch off all the lights and cel phones and such, the darkness is absolute. You can't see your hand in front of your face.

Abreya caves contain added fear and danger due to the Yivembi, the `will-o-wisps', the boulders of Pajmonta or its derivative (like `fool's gold' is to gold) that create ghostly phantoms, and sometimes phantom ledges that trick unwary spelunkers into falling to their deaths.

We all had the specialized flashlights of the science crew that protected us from such pitfalls (in theory), but we progressed slowly, for even those devices have been known to fail from time to time. Although most of the Pajmonta had been extracted, we knew we couldn't be too careful.

Tanelle walked ahead with bold confidence, shunning our lights when we offered them to her. She clicked her tongue every foot, as if detecting passages by echolocation.

We found more cocoons deeper in, in a hole with natural `candle' formations and `popcorn' crenelations, pinned to `pillars' where the stalactites and stalagmites merged.

Tanelle calmly pointed to a dead body. "There."

The moment we shined a light on it, Pillow dropped to her knees and cried.

You know how that gets me started. I had only cried a little when I felt a rough hand on my shoulder. "I realize this is a cathartic moment for the both of you, but if we do not leave quickly, I fear I will require some of my own."

Zero nodded toward the darkness.

I glanced that way, but couldn't see anything, even when I pointed the light in that direction. All I could see in that large shadowed recess was a constellation of glowing dots, and a mass of squirming neon tentacles, attached to a black unseen body, shrouded in shadow.

A moment later, a cluster of white larva surrounded us, the same kind I'd seen scampering around the spaceport.

The creatures turned their heads to face us, all moving at the same time, like they were a single entity. Their mouths opened, all of them, and Tanelle, speaking in unison. "Welcome. Would you like to be free and at peace?"

Pillow frowned. "We already are. Through Jesus."

"You still have individuality. With individuality, you have greed. You have selfishness. You have lust, and all kinds of other evils. The sins that you say this Jesus creature saves you from arise from individuality. You crucify your Lord again each day with your individuality. Surrender to the Aqsarki, and you will be selfless. You will have no sin. You do your Lord a favor by joining Aqsarki. Surrender to us and be holy."

"Without freedom," said Matt. "There is no love."

"Without love, there is no true service to God," Pillow added.

Norenio stepped toward the thing that sparkled in the darkness. "Without free will, evil would not exist."

"But there would be no love!" Zero shouted. "Do not let these things lead you astray!"

"What good is the freedom to love, when the universe prefers to hate?"

"Without free will, there can be no evil," the creatures agreed, making a path for her. "We welcome you."

"How can there be true good with no freedom to choose?" Zero challenged.

Norenio scowled at him. "Did anyone ask me if I wished to have this freedom? Did Almighty Ponai ask me? Yok! It is a freedom that has only caused pain!"

"And you believe...these things?"

"These things understand more about theology than anyone here will care to admit!"

With that, she stepped into the darkness.

The creatures surrounded us once again.

"Since you did not wish to join the Aqsarki, you shall be our food!"