Ascending - James Alan Gardner [51]
I did not care for such a plan. Perhaps it could be reversed: the human vessel might volunteer to smash the Shaddill, thereby allowing Starbiter to escape. But with our transmissions jammed, there was no way to suggest this scheme to the navy ship…and I did not believe they would spontaneously choose to destroy themselves for our benefit.
“Husband,” Lajoolie said in a soft voice, “there is some potential in what you suggest.”
Uclod snorted. “I didn’t suggest anything. Do you think I want to splash ourselves all over space on the off-chance—”
She interrupted, “Starbiter has emergency ejection procedures. And the human ship is right here to pick us up afterward.”
“Aww, no, sweetheart…” The little man’s voice filled with horror. “We can’t.”
“We cannot what?” I asked.
“We can’t!” Uclod repeated.
Lajoolie said nothing.
I opened my mouth to demand an explanation; but before I could speak, Starbiter shuddered and everything went black.
A Noble Sacrifice
At first, I thought we were under attack—perhaps the stick-ship had assaulted us with a sinister Blinding Weapon, robbing us of our sight. I had seen no beam or missile shoot in our direction, but I had been listening to my companions rather than paying attention to the Shaddill. It would be just like those villains to commit an atrocity while I was distracted.
But moments later, the intestinal hood jerked off my face and I could see again. The ship’s bridge showed no sign of damage…though I noticed the mouth of the exit corridor had sealed itself. Beside me, the hoods came snapping off Uclod and Lajoolie too: a fierce yanking motion as if Star-biter were pulling the guts away with all her strength.
Uclod cried to his wife, “Did you do that? Did you disengage the controls?”
“It wasn’t Madame Lajoolie,” said a voice beside me. “Starbiter is taking independent action.”
I was still strapped tightly in my chair, but I could turn my head far enough to see who was speaking: Nimbus, the infuriating cloud man. His ghostly mist was clotted thick and murky around the chair to my right.
“What do you mean,” Uclod asked, “independent action?”
“Starbiter was linked with your mind,” Nimbus said. “She saw the idea that flashed through your head…and she knew you’d never go through with it on your own. She informed me she was taking the initiative herself.”
“Aww, no,” Uclod groaned. “Aww, baby, no.”
The bridge shuddered again. From beyond the closest wall came a fierce ripping noise, wet and gooey. Uclod covered his face with his hands.
“What is happening?” I asked.
“When a Zarett is in mortal danger,” Nimbus said, “she can eject her passengers to save their lives.”
Another ripping sound tore across the room, this time from the opposite wall.
“But the passengers are housed in the Zarett’s lungs,” Nimbus said. “For us to escape, Starbiter has to expel a sizable wad of pulmonary tissue. She can’t survive such an injury.”
“You mean she will…” I did not finish my sentence. Starbiter would die? My fine bouncy Starbiter? But I did not want her to die.
“She thinks she can save us,” Uclod said, tears trickling down his cheeks. “Rip herself apart. Send us shooting to safety, then ram the main mass of her body into the Shaddill like a cannonball.” He caught his breath. “Oh, my crazy little girl…”
The entire bridge chamber jerked twice to the right, as if there was some stubborn attachment on the left that refused to pull free. One more lurch, and I heard something snap. Then we were moving, pushed off sideways by muscles that must exist for this purpose alone—to let my friend Starbiter commit suicide.
O Starbiter! You foolish one!
Rips And Tears
Our journey outward was not smooth, but a series of jerky jumps: ramming against a blockage of tissue, bouncing back, then bashing through the barrier. Things squished and popped all around us. I did not wish to imagine what internal organs were being crushed by our passage, what long strands of meat were left bloodily behind…but never once did Starbiter