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Alf and Lorkan had walked away from the dead body deep in thought. Alf could feel herself tiring from the march across the bizarre topography and breakfast seemed like a lifetime ago. For his part, Lorkan just kept going, pausing every now and again to re-arrange his remaining, tattered robes. He seemed to be finding the going considerably easier than Alf and it had taken a while for her to realise that the gravity was considerably weaker here. Which meant they definitely weren't on Yahanis anymore. The landscape they had been trudging through had been made up of dense collections of the protruding ivory rocks, but now they emerged onto a plateau of the pinky-brown ground that was teeming with what appeared to be a variety of rosy alien plant. Alf extended a tentative hand to examine one of them and drew it back suddenly, as if scalded. 'Flesh ,' she exclaimed. Lorkan moved forward and stroked one of the think, pink stems. He nodded and then moved his hand further up the four-foot stalk, past several smaller branches to the cauliflower-like bloom at the top. This time, it was Lorkan's turn to snatch his hand away. 'Electricity!' he explained. 'Quite weak, though - like static,' Lorkan added flexing his three-fingered hand. 'Do you think they're edible?' 'That depends on what your definition is, Alf,' Lorkan said with a grim smile. 'We have no means of cooking it.' Alf was about to tell Lorkan that she had a box of waterproof matched in her pocket when she saw his expression. He was gazing past her at the rock outcrops behind them. Alf turned and froze. Emerging from the nooks and crannies were about ten other Yahanans, all dressed as scruffily as Lorkan, but ranging in age from what Alf guessed to be adolescent to old age. Lorkan stepped forward. 'Greeting,' he said. One of the younger Yahanans stepped forward. He was stripped to the waist, revealing a greyish body that was lean and toned. His neck was even thicker than most and his eyes were more deep set - pig like, in fact. 'Greeting,' he replied. 'You have just arrived?' Alf watched the small band closely. It was clear that they were frightened and that this grey Yahanan was the true leader of their group. If there was trouble, Alf thought, just take him out and they would scatter like an exploding puff pall. She had to stop thinking like this! 'We have been travelling for the best part of a day,' replied Lorkan. 'And you?' 'We have been here long enough,' replied the leader darkly. 'Long enough for what?' asked Alf. 'Long enough, female, to know not to venture too far into those fields of flowers.' 'Not edible then?' Alf asked. 'Not by us,' the leader replied. 'If you want to survive the day, you'd better come with us.' One member of the group stayed behind on the outcrop overlooking the flower fields while Alf and Lorkan allowed themselves to be escorted back into the rocky area. As they walked the leader - Vectis - told them how he had been injected by the Wasi two nights ago and had collected as many other victims together as he could. They had set up a camp within the rocks not far from the fields. The "camp" turned out to be nothing more than a collection of shallow caves under the ivory rocks, with robes spread about the ground. Vectis gestured for the group to sit and told one of his band to keep watch from one of the pinnacles. As they sat in a small circle, Vectis ordered that what food the group had should be shared out. Two Yahanans fetched a small, round loaf of bread and a bag of sweets. These were passed round as Vectis questioned the new arrivals. He frowned on Lorkan's decision to take on his death name, but Lorkan replied that he had become accustomed to it and said that until they returned home he would bear the name as a constant reminder to their predicament. 'And it is indeed a predicament, old man,' Vectis said. 'We aren't alone here.' 'What do you mean?' asked Alf, accepting the loaf and tearing of a hunk of bread before passing it to Lorkan. 'There are creatures here the likes of which I've never seen,' Vectis said. 'They look like the finest gemstones but they're as deadly as the most poisonous spile.' 'You've been attacked by these stone creatures?' asked Lorkan. 'Several times,' Vectis said, locking his hands together in his lap. 'Each time we have lost someone and each time we move on.' 'You didn't lose a female recently, did you?' Alf asked, frowning. 'We did.' 'We found her body,' said Lorkan somberly. 'That is why we moved our camp to this location,' Vectis explained. 'The creatures feed on those flowers and when we are near the field, they seem to be uninterested in us. I think it's something to do with feeding habits. The creatures don't seem to be very intelligent. If they come across a person before they reach the flowers, they "feed" on them instead.' 'Can't we fight them off?' Alf asked. 'How do you fight stone, Alf?' Alf nodded, stifling a yawn. 'We are all tired,' said Vectis. 'We should rest. Goxis will wake you when it is your turn to keep watch. When we rise, we must find more new arrivals if for no other reason than our food supply is now very low.' They all stood and retreated into the spaces under the rocks, drawing their robes about them, or rolling them up to make pillows. Alf and Lorkan crawled into one of the vacant caves and lay top to toe. Alf felt the warmth from the ground and wondered about its strange composition. As she was drifting off to sleep Lorkan spoke. 'This Doctor you told me about,' he asked. 'Do you think he will come for you?' 'I bloody well hope so, Lorkan,' Alf said and then sleep took her in a fitful embrace. |
