Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [68]
‘The ones we saw acted hungry enough.’
‘I guess while they’re active they need to eat. But in stasis they can go for years without it.’
‘Physical weaknesses?’
Jo-Jo screwed his face up in recall. ‘They’re plated in five sections by an exoskeleton. Then there’re the claws. Everything inside them is real basic: pharynx, colon, ventral nervous system. Not much to mess with.’
‘Ventral? Whassat mean?’
‘Their nervous system runs along their belly instead of their back. Bastards don’t even need each other to spawn.’
‘Wait! Along the belly. Gotta be something we can work with there.’
‘Maybe. But the exoskel – the cuticle – covers everything.’
‘Must be somethin’ that can dissolve the cuticle.’
‘Fedor will know that,’ he said.
‘You’re losin’ it, Rasterovich. No way you c’n know if it’s her up there.’ He heard her frustration.
They fell silent, both watching the display.
‘But it could be someone. Someone who can get us off this dead rock. It’s nearly daylight,’ she said eventually. ‘Get some more sleep. We’ll go tonight.’ She brushed past him and headed upstairs again.
THALES
Fariss’s gaze scalded Thales. ‘You ’n’ her?’
He turned from watching Mira Fedor disappear out of the doorway, and tilted his head to stare up at the woman he adored. Her wide eyes were narrow with doubt. At any other time he might have felt some satisfaction, even pleasure, that she was suspicious. Now though it seemed strangely unreal. ‘No,’ he said with finality. ‘Never. I want to find Gutnee Paraburd.’
Fariss accepted his clipped response without insult or comment. She was a pragmatic person, not a sensitive one, and she was shaking her head. ‘Best thing now is to get out of here. Sophos won’t listen to you, no matter what you got as proof. I say we go ’n’ hunt down those that don’t like the way things are here. Talk to them. Maybe they got some leverage.’
He smiled. ‘You sound like a member of Consilience.’
She cracked the door open again and squinted. ‘Whatever it is, you better decide, quick.’
A welter of thoughts ran through Thales’s mind. He knew that finding Paraburd was not just about proving his innocence to the Sophos. In all honesty he wanted revenge on the devious fellow. An image of Fariss placing her hands around Paraburd’s neck … No! He stopped himself and searched deep within to touch his Jainist beliefs. Revenge would not serve them at this point. Revenge was not a worthy motive.
‘We should go. Find the woman, Linnea. Build a case among those who would listen,’ he agreed.
Fariss glanced back at him and grinned approvingly. She pulled a small dagger from her boot and used it to prise an iron leg from a chair. Then she slipped the bar through her belt as a secondary weapon. ‘We go straight for the outside pad. Steal a local ride. Once we get out into the transit area again, I’m gonna start some trouble. Keep me in sight, but stay back. It’s gonna be untidy for a bit.’
Thales moved alongside her, and stood on his toes to kiss her mouth.
She responded by lifting him to her and sliding her tongue into his mouth – a moist, passionate, dominating kiss that left him weak. He clung to her for a moment or two, savouring her strength and solidity.
She lifted her head and set him on his feet gently, as if he were a child.
‘Fariss. Thank you for staying—’
‘’Nother time, hon. We gotta go.’
Her casual endearment filled him with unbelievable warmth.
Then she was all business. ‘Go left down the corridor and take the first door into the main port. I’ll be behind you. Once you’re out there, blend into the crowd and tail me. When we get close to an exit, go outside and find a taxi.’
‘What if I can’t get one? The terminal is frantic.’
She looked at him steadily. ‘Thales, I want you to steal one.’
‘S-steal? But I’m not—’
‘Just get the taxi and get it near me. I’ll do the rest.’ She gave him a confident smile. ‘Got it?’
He nodded and looked to the door.
She stepped in front of him and threw it open.
‘Go!’
He ran left without looking back. In a few seconds, raised voices echoed from the way he’d come.