Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [98]
‘Mulravey? Yes, Randall knew her.’ Then he hesitated. ‘She did have a kid, but it died just as we got there. Killed in an accident. A fight between two of the men.’
‘A boy?’ she asked.
He nodded.
Her face went slack with shock, her hand dropping away from him and her whole body trembling. Though she shed no tears, her distress was like a knife twisting in his gut.
He slipped his arm across her and drew her as close as he could.
She didn’t resist, nor did she respond.
They lay together for longer than Jo-Jo knew. As he held her, he found himself caught in an inexplicable web of emotions, fear and sympathy overridden by a swell of protectiveness. His heart felt like it might explode with the volume of emotion pouring from it. He wanted to stay for ever with her in his arms, and yet he wanted to move. Get them out of there. See her happy again.
She stirred, leaning away from him.
Reluctantly he let her go.
‘Why do you think the Extros are here?’ she asked.
She seemed composed, though absent, as if only a part of her mind was with him and the rest was grieving.
‘For the quixite,’ he said. ‘The Saqr are loadin’ it into Medium like it’s food for a long journey.’
‘Not food,’ she said. ‘But a material that is versatile.’ Her eyes lost some of their cloudiness as she visibly forced herself to think. ‘I learned some things on the Post-Species world I was taken to. The Extros exist within two main divisions: those with Host bodies and those without. We call those without, ‘Non-Corporeals’. The Non-Corporeals still need the corporeals to perform certain tasks for them.’
‘Why?’
‘Even with their ability to manipulate material at the atomic level, they cannot create everything they need. I think that somehow the quixite will help eliminate their dependency.’
Jo-Jo thought about what she said. He lifted his head carefully to inspect the object filling the huge space. ‘Could this … thing … be part of their independence from the corporeals?’
She lifted her head as well. ‘Si.’
‘Then what in Crux is it?’
‘I have an idea.’
‘Tell me.’
‘See … how it’s growing?’
Jo-Jo considered the sticky mass. It did seem closer, but then he’d only glanced at it briefly before snatching Mira from the floor. Now he studied its organic contours. It was alive; he was convinced by the way it glistened, the faint sense of movement.
‘Look.’ She pointed to the ceiling where the mass appeared to touch the curve of the ship. ‘See how the light is different up there.’
She was right. It was brighter there, but it wasn’t direct light – more like the external skin of Medium had opened to the sky, yet the gap remained invisible to them, blocked by the mass within.
‘Maybe that’s where they’re loading the quixite?’
She lowered her head to the floor gently. ‘Si. I think so.’
He did the same, and their faces were close again. ‘When I landed, I saw the Saqr trail to and from the mine. Knew they must be bringing the mineral on board.’
‘Do you notice the scent? The sweetness?’
He nodded. ‘That’s them. The Saqr. I’ve smelt it before.’
‘It’s also the scent of ligs.’
Jo-Jo frowned, not understanding. ‘What’s ligs?’
‘Ligs are one of the few insect species on Araldis. We use their pollen extract to scent our candles.’ She ran her tongue over her teeth in a nervous gesture. He’d forgotten how crimson her skin was, and how deep the colour of her lips. ‘Ligs are as much a part of Araldis as the dust and the rock. There is something in the ligs that the Post-Species need. The ligs and the quixite. I think it is enabling them to—’
But she stopped short as the object shifted.
‘Josef,’ she whispered. ‘I think … we must get out.’
‘If the tunnel stays there – there wasn’t one before when I was here. All we saw of the ship was a small space. Then the floor liquefied, and we were trapped undern—’
A loud crackling noise stopped him. They both looked at the object again. It had split some of its skin, and a wet mound of tissue bulged out towards them. As they watched, the bulge grew, oozing through the fissure like thick liquid until it stopped