Author's note: Elliott has such a hard time accepting ET/Vorxora being a female that it frequently shows in his description of events.

[0000]

A bullet shattered Spike's ram's horn.

Roy, limping, moved our carriers up front, to give us a rough shield.

Spike rushed out in front of them, using telekinetic power to fling the pistol from an enemy's hand. ET had to pop forward and use his power to drop Spike to the ground a second later — Yatgibi's friend had taken a shot at our nennop.

ET telekinetically smacked the attacker in the face with their own weapon.

I rushed to my girlfriend's side. "Jamie! Are you okay?"

She appeared to be breathing normally, and could still speak...kinda. "Not...really." It came out in a croaky rasp, like she'd contracted Strepp throat. "I think Warkinde..."

Jamie couldn't continue. It only resulted a coughing fit.

She swallowed, took a few breaths, and in a gasping whisper, added, "I think we're going to need some actual weapons."

With an expression of worriment, ET pressed a glowing digit to Jamie's throat. The black-purple stuff shrank a little, but the metal remained embedded in her neck, and the red thing still glowed.

For a moment, ET's finger worked, but then the red thing glowed and Jamie cried in a raspy voice, "Ow! Stop it! You're hurting me!"

She clutched her throat, coughing like she were sick.

ET quickly withdrew his hand, frowning at his finger as if it had broken, frowning at Jamie's neck. "Warkinde must have made things thing to stop you from singing."

"I'm going to kill him," Jamie gasped.

"Let's kill these guys first!" Roy picked up rocks or whatever else he could find, pelting our foes with the objects.

A thrown cube exploded, throwing a gun wielding cyborg backwards down a sinkhole.

My sister forlornly clutched her broken stringed instrument. I could tell by her facial expression that she wanted to repair it somehow, but couldn't think of any way to do it. She set the damaged parts aside.

I glanced anxiously between ET and our machine `enhanced' enemies. "How are we going to get rid of these guys? I think they want to kill us."

The moment the words came out my mouth, I had misgivings. His response to the scientist guys trying to dissect him had been to run away and hide. Violence didn't seem to be his thing. Even trashing those bikes seemed a bit extreme. "Look, ET, all I can do is make frost and snow, Roy does insects, and we can have some fancy light show with Charlie's drum."

ET hurried to heal Spike. "Elliott, use the purification song."

"You...sure? I mean, that's only for cleaning water and stuff, isn't it?"

ET closed Spike's bullet wound. "I hope you are wrong."

I played the tune on my flute. Roy, grimacing from his injuries, joined in, then Charlie, pounding a beat with his tail.

Meanwhile, My sister picked up the broken pieces of Jamie's collar, trying to fit them back together. No luck. She searched the carriers for parts.

Our enemies, made of flesh and blood, did not vaporize when we played.

Honestly, it seemed like we'd accomplished nothing.

Gertie still rooted around in our carriers, dumping items out. Roy tossed Gertie his harmonica. "Here, kid. Try this."

She tried to play with us, but stringed instruments were really her specialty. She made some brown notes, no noticeable effect.

We frowned at the cyborgs, disappointed at the lack of progress.

The moment we stopped playing, however, a foe tottered on his stumpy legs and slumped forward like he intended to do a pushup...exhausted or something, I guess. Probably would have dropped to his knees, if he had knees to speak of.

We kept playing. The cyborg we'd bested flopped on the ground, unconscious. Its companions, likewise, took on the fatigued pushup position and rolled into the dirt. They appeared to be dead.

Yatgibi's friend, groaning, rubbed his injured head and scampered away.

A modest victory. We stowed the broken instruments, the flutes and the harmonica.

Roy sat on the ground, watching ET heal his injured leg. "I...don't think we're ready to face Warkinde."

ET moved his glowing finger. "We may fare better once we find Gemovo's child...and repair our instruments."

"Repair?" Roy laughed. "More like replace. Or maybe reinforce with titanium alloy or something."

ET only shook his head.

Gertie leaned over Roy's shoulder, staring at my alien friend with concern. "Your nose is bleeding."

Indeed, liquid the color of fabric softener dripped from his turtle nostrils. "I have never used my power this much before..." He pointed to Roy's foot, giving me an expectant look.

I puffed air. "Well, if you think I can do it..."

I removed Roy's alien shoe, trying to ignore his normal Bromodosis as I examined the wound.

It looked like the same thing that had latched onto Jamie's neck. "I...don't know if this is going to work."

"Try."

I pressed my hand to his smelly foot, focusing my thoughts on caring, like how he's my friend and stuff. My chest and hand glowed, the black-purple thing shrinking.

Of course, then, the red eye on the...growth glowed like a coal, and he got this look on his face like a dentist had just drilled a nerve.

With fists clenched, Roy grunted, "Stop, please."

I got up, wiping blood from my nose. "Sorry. Warkinde's done something pretty nasty with these things."

"It's okay. It's better than it was...You'd think that purification song would have helped more."

"I've been wondering about that myself," Jamie croaked.

ET shook his head sadly. "As you already may have guessed, Warkinde frequently does illegal experiments with dangerous chemicals, diseases and living beings. He seems to have found a way to block a healer's power."

"No!" Roy said facetiously. "Really?" Wincing, he put his shoe back on.

Et held up a silver cube, frowning as purple smoke issued out. "Elliott...I think these are the pomegranates you heard Yatgibi talking about. We may face more very soon."

We searched the area carefully to make certain the threat had passed.

The cyborgs on the ground appeared to have no pulse, but I'm not sure they had for some time. We speculated that they'd been reanimated by mechanical means, and the devices had ceased to function. Roy made double sure by removing what he described as "Battery looking things" with a torch.

We checked the sinkholes, found the cyborgs down there unmoving, and down deep enough so they couldn't easily get back up.

"Do you think it wise for us to keep going?" Roy asked. "I mean, Warkinde knows where we are now, right? What if he's waiting up ahead with more of his robot drone guys, and when we get to Gemovo Junior, he just decimates us?...Worse than he already has?"

"Solid point," Jamie rasped. "We're...toast. Still...want to kill him." She had a coughing fit.

ET stared down a sinkhole. "Warkinde has likely seen what has happened and expects us to give up."

Roy crossed his arms. "Yeah? Before or after we beat his goons?"

ET had no answer to this.

I pocketed my flute. "We have to find the Gemovo's son. Even if we have to crawl on our bellies and sneak our way there."

Roy took a deep breath. "I am game for that!...And Jamie, no more blowing things up until we get some real weapons."

She answered him with an indignant frog noise and a cough.

He chortled. "Jamie, I'm sorry about the pain you're going through, but can't say I'm too sorry about not hearing your smart mouth."

"Roy Neary!" Spike scolded. "That is no way to speak to a daughter!"

"You're not my nennop, Vukvuzan."

"That does not mean that I am wrong."

"Hope your foot falls off," Jamie gasped.

I frowned at both of them. "Guys, this is no time to be fighting. C'mon."

I grabbed a carrier, but Roy pushed me away. "We'd better not. Just take the instruments. We'll come back for the rest when it's safe."

Jamie swiped my flute from my pocket, thrusting the broken bits of her collar into my hands. "Good luck."

"W-what?" I stammered. "Even if this thing worked, I can't sing!"

She barely managed a reply without coughing. "Elliott, I literally can't sing. The only excuse you have is that you're chicken." Jamie cleared her throat and played test notes on my flute.

Roy checked his map, and we continued onward.

Lucky for us, a canebrake stood nearby. Yellow-purple things, resembling sugar cane, but with masses of white tendrils poking out their tops.

Probably would have looked nicer if pollution hadn't touched them. Presently they all had an ugly, decayed appearance, cracked and drooping, tendrils blackened, with swarms of golf ball sized insects adding to the rot. Many canes had turned an unhealthy mica color. The place smelled strongly of spoiled lettuce.

Charlie didn't quite `get' the concept of stealth. We kept hissing and gesturing for him to fly low and out of sight. Eventually he seemed to understand the need to keep a low profile.

"ET," I hissed. "I thought you didn't have any power left, and that's why you didn't restore mine, I mean, let me have the power I had before!"

ET looked hurt. "Elliott, I gave what's best for you, because I love you. Do not be greedy for power like Sovirox. Remember why we face him in the first place."

I sighed, feeling ashamed and depressed. "I'm sorry."

We crept through a thin layer of baleza, searching the canes for signs of hostile life.

We caught one when we neared an area where the canes thinned out.

Two cyborgs, busily unearthing tons of rock with their telekinetic powers, a third felling trees, setting one tree ablaze as it uprooted itself and tried to creep away.

Roy made Indian signs for us to crawl, sneak around quickly and get out of there.

The canes went on for a few yards, thinned out further in clumps of sickly but microwave sized succulents, then turned to stretches of broken turquoise tinted pavement.

It descended into a dry streambed. The huge succulents regained health on the opposite side. We also spotted...cube shaped pine trees, Christmas tree sized, but...square.

Roy pointed to a spot a few yards down. "There! According to that map, I think that leafy thing on the ground—dammit, I knew this wouldn't be easy!"

Five Qulpari, clad in floral print robes, cowrie shells, and headdresses adorned with curving fins.

The moment they saw us approach, they charged, sounding like rain sticks with all the tinkling shells adorning their outfits.

Each stranger brandished a glowing staff threateningly...and then...their fingers ran up and down the lengths of their weapons, creating repetitive xylophone type music.

Two of them rushed forward, twirling their staffs...and danced.

I, Jamie and Gertie just stared at them.

Spike pantomimed fainting. Not really sure why.

ET, though, got this really serious expression, like he was going to kick butt...Charlie looked excited...

And Roy...

"What the hell's going on?" Jamie croaked.

"Territorial dispute. They're challenging our right to pass through the area. One wrong move, and no Gemovo Junior." Roy cracked his knuckles, rolled and popped his neck, and like a guy ready to go a couple rounds in a boxing ring, bounced on his feet...then winced at his injury. "Stand back. I got this."