Quest for the Well of Souls - Jack L. Chalker [74]
The Lata sighed. "I wish I could fly. It would make things so much easier." As it was, she was too small to keep pace, and so rode atop the supply cart.
The Dillians, Makorix and Faal, a male and a female who were married in the manner of their people, pulled the loads effortlessly and without complaint. Yugash had a slightly lower gravity than Dillia, which helped considerably, although they dreaded the idea that one or more of the places ahead might be just the reverse.
"How much longer before we reach the border?" Makorix asked the Yugash.
"Not long," the Ghiskind replied. "Just over the next rise."
Renard looked around dubiously. "Nice place for an ambush right here," he noted. Antor Trelig, peering around with his great independent chameleon's eyes, nodded in nervous agreement.
"They won't dare do anything in Yugash," the Ghiskind assured them. "The cult is not strong here anymore, and my own people have been with us, unseen, as guards and preparers. They know our strength, and they also know they'd face an attack on their main temple if they tried anything. No, an ambush won't happen here. And we'll outflank them in Masjenada, I think. If we don't jump ahead of them then, at least we won't run into them. The best place would probably be Pugeesh, about which we have been able to learn next to nothing. But—wait a minute! There! You can see the border now!"
They crested the hill. Although all on the Well World were used to sudden changes at hex borders, this one was more stunning than usual.
The dark bleakness of Yugash ran to that intangible line, and across from it the horizon exploded in light and color. The ground itself was ablaze with glowing light, iridescent yellows and greens and oranges that seemed to have a life of their own, and was dotted with thick pale-red plants, like exotic coral, all over the rolling plains. The sky was a bright green with clouds of wispy brown and seemed to reflect some of the colors radiating from the ground.
"Masjenada," the Ghiskind announced. "Do you see that outcrop of rock over to the left? That's our rendezvous."
They headed for it. As they crossed the border in their protective pressure suits, there was a slight gravitational adjustment downward to perhaps .8 Well World average, giving them additional quickness and buoyancy.
The plants proved as rock-hard as they looked, and the expedition avoided them as much as possible, for some of their growths were sharp and might puncture a suit. They reached the barren rock outcrop shortly, and the two Dillians unhitched the wagon.
Various supplies were unpacked, food and water cartridges were checked and changed if necessary. The rebreathers continued working normally; their action was primarily chemical, but the apparatus also had small power-storage cells that somehow worked within the semitech limitations.
Trelig and Burodir did little to help in the operation; they sat patiently and seemed to accept being waited upon as their due. Though this irritated the others more than a little, they could do nothing but grumble. Trelig was in the driver's seat and he knew it.
They didn't have long to wait for contact.
The Masjenadans were definitely unusual. Several were soon seen flying nearby; then a small number circled around, finally approaching slowly and circuitously. Resembling the kind of swan a master glass blower would create, but three meters long and of a transparent material that caught and reflected the predominant colors like small starbursts, the creatures appeared to have no functional neck or head, nor legs. They were stylized crystalline forms flying effortlessly on nearly invisible wings.
The team watched them in fascination. Renard gasped as two of the creatures headed right at each other. "They're going to crash!" he yelled, and stood up.
But the Masjenadans didn't crash. They met and seemed to pass right through each other as if neither were aware of the other's existence—as if both were made of air.
"How the hell . . . ?" Trelig managed.
"I'm afraid they exist in a few planes