Quest for the Well of Souls - Jack L. Chalker [90]
Vistaru gasped and had her own pistol from its little holster in an instant. Yulin turned to face her, gun ready, and saw that she had him cold.
He paused, shrugged, and tossed his own energy pistol away to the other side of the room where it fell with a clatter.
The Lata was amazed.
"Why?" she asked him in wonder.
He laughed. "I'm your only way into Obie now," he reminded her. "And the only pilot with hands. I think it's time for a merger."
Vistaru didn't trust him, but was uncertain as to what to do. Mavra was apparently in shock; the Yugash, whichever it was, was badly hurt and unable to communicate; Wooley was out cold; Trelig was gone; the rest of her allies were out cold or dead.
She and Ben Yulin were the only whole and conscious people in the room, perhaps in the whole building.
Yulin stood up and looked around. His massive bull's head surveyed the wreckage of bodies, the charred and smashed equipment.
"God! What a mess!" he breathed.
The Launch Complex Four Hours Later
Bozog attendants wheeled out the last of the problem cases, janitorial crews swabbed down the floor, and blowers cleansed the air. Several decisions had been made by the survivors, which had pared things down nicely.
Of them all, Renard had been the least hurt; the paralysis from the Yaxa venom wore off within an hour of the battle. Wooley was slower to recover; she had lost some blood in the first clash and had a debilitating headache as a result of the second. Burodir and the centaurs were sent to the Zone Gate for return home. The form of a Yugash still lay on the floor, indistinct but definitely alive. The survivors still had no idea which Yugash had survived; to most of their tastes, it would have been better if the two enemies had destroyed each other.
And now they sat—just Renard, Wooley, Yulin, Vistaru, and Mavra Chang—and the odd red form on the floor.
With Bozog help, they'd managed to get Mavra to her feet; she hadn't made any protest, just remained limp and glassy-eyed.
Ben Yulin looked her over carefully, trying to get some reaction, but none was forthcoming. "Think it was the Yugash battle that did it?" he asked casually.
Wooley, still nursing her head, emitted a sigh that sounded like metal scraping glass. "No, I don't think so. Certainly her experience would have been no worse than what I went through, which was bad enough—and I surely had the crazy one. The creature was totally insane, its thoughts flooded into my brain somehow. It hated us—it hated all of us, everything and everybody. It was incredible. And I almost lost. If Vistaru hadn't yelled . . ."
"So what is wrong with her?" Vistaru asked, perplexed. "Why won't she say anything?"
Renard, now cleaned up thanks to a chemical suggested by Wooley and provided by the Bozog, got to his feet and walked over to her.
Twenty-two years, he thought. She has changed more than I; she had a nasty life for that period while I enjoyed things. The guilt he felt was mixed with admiration for her. She was here, she'd come this far. He was also convinced that she'd survived because of her total egoism, her absolute belief in self, in the ability to do anything no matter what the odds.
He looked at her. "Come on, snap out of it!" he said sharply. "You're Mavra Chang, damn it. Perhaps you loved him, cared for him as wife or mother, but you've gone through that before! You never let it get to you! You survived! You triumphed! That's what life's all about to you! The chase is coming to a climax after all this time! Come on! You can't give up now!"
He sensed a flicker in her eyes, minimal animation, fleeting but nonetheless very real. She heard him and understood him all right.
"Don't you think you're being a little hard on her?" Vistaru asked, concerned.
"Let him be, Star," Wooley whispered. "Let's face it, he knows her a lot better than we."
The Lata nodded silently. "You feeling as guilty and rotten as I am?" she asked after a moment. Wooley didn't reply.
Renard threw up his hands in exasperation and walked over to