Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,39

as taking all the glory and fame at the end. We’re talking tens of thousands, grandson. For each expert.”

The navigation console beeps a warning, and right afterwards the ship exits hyperspace on its own. In the distance is the system’s red sun, and right ahead of us is the moon Verv.

“You suggest something,” I demand. “Don’t just tell me what can’t be done.”

“I have a couple of suggestions,” Grandmother says, going back to our own language. “First option, and the one I would strongly recommend: dump her. Out the airlock, like the horrific monster that she is now. She could explode into a deadly mini-Fentrat at any time, right here inside your ship. That would be the end of you.”

“Forget it,” I snap. “What else?”

“You know as well as I do that she’s done for. Even that team of medical experts could get nowhere close to saving her now. Reconcile yourself that she’s dead. Then take her with you into that moon and see what happens. Keeping your distance from her, of course.”

“What could happen in there?” I groan in frustration, holding Averie’s slender little hands and gently stroking them. This is actually all my fault. I did this to her.

“Inside an Elder moon, anything could happen,” Grandmother says. “But let go of all hope. She’s a walking dead right now.”

“Right,” I say with determination in Interspeech, just so Averie won’t totally despair. “Grandmother is right. The Elder moon will cure you.”

I force a smile and let go of her hands, then fly us closer to the gray moon Verv, finding the navigation beacon that marks the entrance.

“How will it cure me?” Averie asks, reasonably enough. “I thought their things weren’t that useful.”

“Elder devices are usually of a medical nature,” I lie before Grandmother can say anything, gunning the engines to get there faster. “They have cures for all kinds of things. All their moons have hospital suites that are automatic. Robotic.”

“Okay,” Averie says, sounding brave and obviously wanting to believe me. “Then I guess I’ll come with you inside.”

I dive the ship into the dark crater that is really a tunnel leading deep inside the moon. “You will.”

- - -

“That’s spectacular,” Averie marvels.

It saves me the trouble of saying the same thing.

All Elder moons are different, but they follow certain patterns. Inside some, there are exotic landscapes. In others, there are only crystals and beautiful objects of precious metals. Others are dark and forbidding, while others again are just strange. Verv is clearly a machine moon, and that should make the search easier. And more dangerous.

Everything gleams around us. It’s all huge, immensely complicated structures made from a shiny metal. It’s as bright as a sunny day on my sorely missed Lancef, but there’s no sun. The ground is uneven and probably not meant for creatures like us to walk on – there are shiny pipes and small aggregates and housings that force us to lift our feet high with each step.

My tongue shoots out, but there’s nothing special on the air except for the faint, sour traces of looters that have been here in previous years. But of course, my tongue is not too reliable just now, so shortly after it has been totally overwhelmed by the female sexual juices from Averie’s sweet slit.

My heat sensors see only cold metal, nothing that seems to be running.

“Have you been inside a moon before?” Averie asks.

I glance at her hands. The leaves are bigger now, growing fast. “Just once. It was different from this. But I think machine moons are like shells within shells. This is the outer shell, and has probably been looted for everything that’s not firmly attached. We must find a way to the shells further in.”

“See that?” Averie points. “In the far distance?”

I squint. “The pillar?” It’s a thick, dark column that seems to stretch infinitely far upwards.

“I mean, something must hold that sky up. Don’t you think that the way further down should be inside a pillar like that? They might go all the way to the inner shell.”

“Human females have good brains,” I grunt. “That would make the most sense.”

“Actually, that one is closer,” she says and points. “There has to be a lot of them.”

“We’ll pick the closest,” I agree and start walking.

After a hundred paces I stop to wait for Averie. She’s having trouble with the endless ordered chaos of pipes that reach to her knees.

“Everything okay?” I ask when she gets to me.

“Yes,” she bravely chirps. “I’m fine.”

“Stand here. Spread your