read in a book a long time ago.” Moe and his brothers were all fans of ancient science fiction stories, and Dune was his personal favorite. “If there are sandworms on this world, I really need to read that one again. These worms don’t make a spice that enables you to see into the future, do they?”
“Nah. As far as I know, they aren’t good for anything. But then, I didn’t exactly go to biology class after I got dumped here. Might be all sorts of animals with abilities I don’t know anything about.”
Moe frowned. Granted, he hadn’t been there long and hadn’t done much in the way of exploring, but— “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any animals since I landed.”
“That’s because dwithans mainly come out at night. There aren’t as many in the inhabited sections of the city as there used to be, though.” He tapped his nearly nonexistent chin with a contemplative fingertip. “Not sure why that is.”
“Hunted to near extinction?” Moe suggested—a possibility to which any Zetithian could relate.
“Could be. You used to see them everywhere.”
Moe wasn’t too surprised that their numbers were dwindling. Haedus Nine was the closest thing to a dead planet he’d ever seen. “Maybe that’s because there isn’t anything for them to eat. Do any plants actually grow here?”
“Not a lot in the city,” Temfilk replied. “Things are a little less dead farther out.”
“You’ve been there?”
“Yeah. Not much to see, though. Just a bunch of wilted trees and a few weird-looking spiky things.”
“Some sort of cactus, you mean?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Dunno what they’re called. All I know is there wasn’t much to eat out that way, so we came back here where there was at least something to steal. We’d hoped to find edible stuff growing wild, but no such luck. Hardly any water, either.”
That explained why most of the cargo Moe had delivered had been foodstuffs and drinking water rather than the usual high-tech components. The Haedusians must’ve been hanging on by a thread. If it hadn’t been for interstellar traffic, they probably would’ve died out long ago. They certainly weren’t exporting anything. Moe had tried to arrange to pick up cargo for the return trip and didn’t come up with anything except passengers, which was unusual for any planet—none that were on the established trade routes, anyway—although that location might be the problem. Haedus Nine and its spindly, chronically destitute inhabitants appeared to have been sucked dry. But by whom?
Maybe their sun had simply gotten brighter. He’d heard of other planets drying up about the time their sun went supernova.
Is that happening here?
Temfilk made a loud pop with his fingertips, regaining Moe’s attention. “Listen, if you don’t want to talk anymore, I’ll go on to bed.”
“Sorry. I was just…thinking.”
“Plenty of time for that.” Temfilk sighed. “It’s pretty boring around here most days. But we’re getting short of food, and with one more mouth to feed, I’m guessing the boss will start planning another raid on the shops.” He gazed at Moe with hopeful eyes. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“Like how to get off this planet?” Moe shook his head. “I need to think on that some more. I’ll let you know what I come up with.” From what he’d seen, organizing a mass exodus wouldn’t have been too hard. The natives themselves would probably jump at the chance to evacuate.
“Sounds good. See you later.” With a quick wave, he turned and started off down the hallway. “I’m shutting down the power now.”
Moe waited until the flap-flap of Temfilk’s flipperlike feet died away before closing the door and activating the glowstone. A quick survey of the room proved that Nexbit either didn’t have any personal possessions or he kept them somewhere else. Aside from the makeshift bed, all he saw was a pile of what were probably the Sympaticon’s clothes in the corner. He sat down on the bed and pulled off his boots before lying down and dousing the glowstone.
Coming up with a plan didn’t take very long. With virtually no resources, their best bet was to gain access—legally or illegally—to a communications relay and send out a deep space com to his relatives. After all, his wasn’t the only starship in the family.
Surely someone would volunteer to pick them up.
Chapter 6
This wasn’t the first sleepless night Klara had endured and it probably wouldn’t be the last. It was, however, the first she’d ever spent thinking about a man she wasn’t planning to capture or kill.
Granted, Moe