Chaos Space - Marianne de Pierres [117]
But a few steps later black ink squirted through the siphonophores’ bodies and they lost all transparency.
Mira tried to call out to Bethany but her voice was dry with fear.
Then she felt her body lifted up by their momentum and the light faded to something terribly, terribly dark.
JO-JO RASTEROVICH
‘You what!?’ Jo-Jo’s fists balled in anger and fear lodged in his throat. If Rast had endangered Mira Fedor he would rip the mercenary apart.
Rast saw his expression and squared her shoulders. She stuck out her jaw. ‘They were a few hundred mesurs from the docking tube. They’ve probably gone off sightseeing. Never seen such a pair of gawkers.’
‘Msr Rasterovich. You’re required to return to the Convocation.’ It was the uuli. It stayed outside their tense huddle, twisting its torso nervously.
Jo-Jo swore in every way he could. He had to finish the Convocation discussion to keep trouble away from Berniere—but right now there were only two things he wanted to do, and he wanted to do them at the same time. Find Mira and hunt down Tekton. He cut his losses and turned to the uuli.
‘Show’s over, mate. A friend’s in trouble.’
The uuli’s skin flushed a rainbow of colours, which Jo-Jo expected meant that it was pissed off. ‘It is not appropriate to leave Convocation before dismissal—’
‘Tell Convocation that they’ve got more things to worry about than my interrupted story. This place is crawling with Extros and I don’t think it’s for the sightseeing. I’d say you’ve got problems.’ Jo-Jo turned his back on the uuli then and faced Rast. ‘You’d better go and find her, hadn’t you?’
For a moment Rast looked like she might argue but Jo-Jo let his expression become ugly. Rast might be an experienced fighter but he had reason. Reason was worth shitloads. So was a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude.
Rast read all that there and nodded. ‘I’ll take Catchut. And you?’
‘Where is Berniere?’
‘Heijunka section near The Hoes. Factory unit is in FF. Will be a medi-lab, I would reckon.’
Heijunka was where Tekton had been reported. Jo-Jo pictured the tourist map. ‘Bell One. I’ll find Berniere and get him out of there. I’ve got a bad feeling about these Extras. They’re everywhere.’
Rast nodded. ‘That’s why I was looking for you. I think we should pull out.’
‘Agreed. See you back at the ‘zoon. And Randall -it better be good news.’
The two exchanged looks and walked away.
The fast-trak to Bell One only increased Jo-Jo’s agitation. It was crowded with strange Extro-inhabited creatures, many of the floating gelatinous kind but others as well, including a group of small, almost humanesque-shaped bodies who had what looked like bones protruding through their skin. The rattling as the bones clattered against each other was the most reassuring of their attributes. They bore no facial characteristics on the segment of their body that should have been their head but Jo-Jo noticed a bulbous pod under each arm that was coated in several layers of translucent tissue and was ringed by fine spines. They kept their arms permanently lifted, as if airing their sides but Jo-Jo wondered if it was to allow them to see. They were utterly silent and utterly alien.
By the time he reached the exit conveyor for Bell One, Jo-Jo was drenched in sweat and strung out with worry about the various possibilities. What if Tekton had left the area? What if he was still there? What if he couldn’t find Latourn and Berniere? What if Mira Fedor was in trouble? What if Mira Fedor—
‘Rasterovich!’
Jo-Jo jumped at the sound of his name. Latourn was standing in the up-queue waiting to get on the fast-trak. He glanced around for Berniere but couldn’t see the scholar. He threw up his hands in a questioning gesture.
Latourn dug his hands into his pockets and narrowed his eyes in a mirror of Rast’s action. Jo-Jo took