Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [94]
He started the TerV and they moved slowly along the circumference of the enormous ship. ‘That … you’re about to find out.’
‘But it’s so large? Many times the size of a biozoon. If they are all Non-Corporeal then why would they need—’
‘Shut your mouth, Baronessa. I ain’t here to satisfy your curiosity.’ He suddenly stopped the TerV and pointed out of the window to a mild blemish on the pitted metal. ‘Get yourself over there and push against that spot.’
Despite the fellala, the heat was like a wave rising up to roll over her. The skin of the ship was burning hot, even through her gloves. She flinched and stepped back; the blemish was too high to reach.
‘Get up on the front of the TerV,’ Jancz called out. He waited while she climbed awkwardly onto the vehicle.
She hesitated before she touched the ship again. What would happen to her?
‘Get on with it,’ bellowed Jancz.
She pressed her hands against the hot skin. She had come here to do something and she would do it. Nova was safe in Primo, being tended by the membrane that would feed and clean her, and keep her muscles stimulated. Her babe could exist comfortably there for an indefinite time, if anything happened to Mira. Insignia would not leave Nova alone, though, without another humanesque. They had discussed that, and Mira knew that Insignia would find another innate to care for her child.
When the skin began to soften, Mira guessed what would happen next. The Hub world’s wall had behaved in a similar manner when she and Wanton had escaped into the Bare World, sucking her through its semipermeable membrane.
She didn’t panic as she felt the pressure of being drawn in. This time she was not able to move her arms and legs, and had no sensation of her own movement. Matter pressed around her, changing and conforming as it pushed against her body. She felt neither breath nor the lack of it, only pressure, and Nova’s curiosity prickling through her mind.
What’s it like, Mama?
Shh, Nova. Not now.
Mira fell out and down, as if spat or propelled, onto a hard surface. She wiped her eyes and blinked. Ambient light glowed, but she couldn’t determine its source. She tested her legs, climbing first to her knees, then to her feet. Though firm, the surface beneath her was springy, as if it might suddenly change consistency, or break. She stood, breathing softly, looking around. She was in a tunnel of sorts. With no other idea as to what to do, she followed its course.
It wound for a time, narrowing and then enlarging like the intestines of a large creature. The walls were semi-opaque and tinted amber, similar to the floor, and gave the impression that they were recently formed.
When the tunnel finally widened into a huge space Mira felt no wiser for the greater view. The near section – as far as she could see – was filled with a large slick object that pulsed with the regularity of a giant heart torn from a humanesque body. From where she stood, the object looked higher than Insignia and twice as wide. Silver tributaries of fluid streamed across it, encasing it in a silvery web.
Mama.
Nova, I told—
Mama, Wanton asks you to put him on the pupa.
Pupa?
That is what he says.
Mira stared at the throbbing slick mass before her. What could be encased in such a thing?
Wanton asks that you hurry.
Mira slipped her hand into her pocket and took out the little Extro.
Just step towards it, she told herself.
She reached up high, to place Wanton in a fold of the glistening wet skin, tucking it under the web of red vessels. In the time it took her to step away again, Wanton had disappeared, absorbed in the way Mira had been drawn through the craft’s wall.
Nova? She waited for her daughter to reply.
Si, Mama. Wanton is healing. The pupa is full of the mineral amalgam that it needs.
Quixite? It’s full of quixite?
There was another pause. Si. Wanton says the quixite will seal the crack in its casing. It is not required to meld with the Non-Corporeals.
I’m pleased.
Wanton says thank you. It will do what it can to help you.
What do you