Progenitor - Michael Jan Friedman [43]
Simenon agreed that he and his comrades would do this. Then they followed their guides into the embrace of the undulating, dawn-speckled forest, leaving the pride and majesty of the Northern Sanctum behind.
Insects chittered at them over the sighing of the wind. There were scraping sounds of tiny creatures making their way from hiding place to hiding place. The occupants of the lowest rungs on the food chain, the captain thought, gathering to witness the trial of the beings on the highest rung.
Before long, they came to a large clearing ringed by immense crimson trees with mottled bark and broad, spade-shaped leaves. Picard had seen sequoias on the western coast of North America; it seemed to him that these behemoths were bigger.
As the captain and his officers entered the clearing, he saw that they were the last to do so. The other two teams were already standing in closely knit circles, munching on something that smelled vaguely like bananas but sounded a lot crunchier.
Seen in briefer and more informal attire, Kasaelek and his bunch looked even more imposing than they had in the sanctum—more massive and thickly muscled under their scales. The smallest of them was as tall or taller than Vigo, and Vigo was a head taller than Picard. It was difficult for an offworlder like the captain to believe the Aklaash and Simenon belonged to the same species.
The Fejjimaera group was decidedly less impressive-looking, their informal garb revealing small, slender physiques. However, as Ben Zoma had pointed out, it was their speed that had earned them a good track record in the ritual event—and quickness wasn’t likely to manifest itself in a display of bulging muscles.
But it wasn’t just their body types that distinguished the Aklaash from the Fejjimaera. While Kasaelek and his comrades seemed very much at ease, almost lethargic, Banyohla’s team looked fidgety. They kept darting looks at the other two groups and hissing their observations in each other’s ears.
Perhaps that was just the way they acted, Picard thought. Or perhaps they were actually worried about the competition the offworlders might offer them.
He chose to believe the latter.
Of course, the Gnalish in the white robes were in evidence here as well. There were three of them in all, including the individual who had led Simenon here—each of them followed closely by a couple of Aklaash in black garb.
According to Simenon, the rest of the Assemblage would be waiting for them at the “finish line.” They would sit there patiently, telling stories of their forebears and humming ancient melodies, until a victor appeared—the first of the three competitors to reach the nest of unfertilized eggs.
And when he did, they would oversee the fertilization process, as he added his DNA to that of the eggs. Apparently, that was one of the Assemblage’s duties as well.
Picard was hardly an expert on Gnalish biology, but he could imagine what the fertilization process might be like. It made him cringe a little to think of his engineer performing such an act in full view of both the Assemblage and his colleagues.
But then, he wasn’t a Gnalish. No doubt, there were human behaviors that occasionally made Simenon squirm as well.
As Picard thought this, a black-garbed Aklaash came over to the engineers’ group and distributed something small and flat to each of its members, with Simenon receiving an extra package of the stuff. When it was the captain’s turn, he saw that he had been given a couple of crackers with a strong, bananalike scent to them—the same sort of food the other teams were eating.
“Lovely,” said Greyhorse, an expression of displeasure on his face as he inspected the crackers more closely. “What are they?”
“Layfid,” Simenon replied, as he tucked the extra package into an interior pocket of his shirt.
“And what’s that?” asked Ben Zoma.
“Reconstituted worm waste,” said the engineer. He took a bite of one of his crackers and nodded approvingly. “And nutritious worm waste at that.”
Vigo swallowed back his revulsion. “I don’t suppose there’s an alternative