Quest for the Well of Souls - Jack L. Chalker [96]
"The Yugash is rising!" she heard Vistaru yell behind her. Idly she turned and saw the pale-red specter, still looking not quite right, rise and form its cloak a few centimeters above the floor.
They all watched apprehensively. Clearly their hopes for its demise had not been realized: one of the eerie creatures was still around. They all remembered Wooley's contact with the Torshind, and the horror she found there.
The Yugash looked around at them uncertainly. In its present form it could not talk or even grasp a material object; it needed a vessel. A ghostly appendage pointed to them, then both appendages rose in a very human shrug. They got the message. It wanted to communicate, and needed a volunteer. In its weakened state, it probably couldn't fight for control.
"Get a Bozog," Wooley snapped, and Renard ran from the room. The Yugash seemed content to wait.
Several minutes later Renard returned with not one but two medium-size Bozog. While neither of the creatures had vision as the Southerner's understood it, all sensed that the Yugash was getting a good looking over. Finally, one said, "Yugash! You have my permission to use me as a vessel temporarily, but do not try anything. We are ready to assist in your dissipation if you do."
The hood of the ghostly creature nodded slowly, drifted to, and merged with the Bozog, which twitched slightly.
A minute passed before the Yugash traced the proper nerves and could activate the translator. It didn't even try for any other control.
"It is good to speak with you again," came a voice that was definitely not the Bozog's. "It is good, in fact, to be alive."
"Who—which one—are you?" Vistaru asked hesitantly.
"I am the Ghiskind," responded the Yugash. Several breathed sighs of relief, but Wooley was more cautious.
"Wait a minute," she said sharply. "How do we know that?"
The Ghiskind considered that. Like most creatures it considered itself a distinct individual. It simply hadn't occurred to the Yugash that others might not be able to see the differences.
They commenced a dialogue covering conversations on the trip, conversations with Ortega at which Renard and Vistaru had been hidden but present, details of the equipment and battle in Pugeesh. Finally, the Southerners were satisfied.
"It was an incredible battle," the Ghiskind told them. "Never before had I actually been forced to kill a Yugash. The Torshind was, like all fanatics, exceptionally strong; the final maneuver I used was sheer desperation—the Torshind was winning. I fully expected it to kill us both, and it almost did."
"So the final party is made," Renard said. "Wooley, Vistaru, the Ghiskind, the Bozog, Mavra, Ben Yulin, and me."
Vistaru nodded. "Such a group as no one has ever seen together before. But it's a highly important group symbolically."
They turned to her. "How's that?" Renard asked.
She glanced around at all of them. "Seven members, seven races. The Wars of the Well are over at last."
Aboard the New Harmony Shuttle
It took four days to raise, position, and lock in the ship, and another two were required for Yulin to check out the systems. Some vital power systems had discharged over the years, but were easily replenished by Bozog technicians. The craft was banged up, but a lot less so than the engineer would have believed. It needed a bit of internal work, but the engines and command computer needed only reenergized secondary systems to come to life again. The atmosphere of Uchjin had preserved everything marvelously.
The ship had been designed for humans. This presented little problem to Yulin or Renard, and neither the Yugash nor the Bozog required much, but the bulk and odd shapes of Mavra and Wooley presented real difficulties, and Vistaru's wings could not be pressed into a seat for long without damage. Tearing out some seats in the passenger compartment and replacing them with heavy cushions held down by wide belts solved the larger problems, and Vistaru decided she could live strapped on her stomach for a time.
Yulin spent another day assisted by Mavra—who seemed to be taking